446 The Sword Is Like the Person II

In that carriage at the end of the street, the official was still writing hisreport. On this paper, he wrote, "According to the information from XunyangCity and the accumulated analysis, Su Li should have passed on three swordtechniques to Chen Changsheng. One of them can help him quickly ignite his trueessence. It possesses an enormous power. It had originally been surmised thathe would use this technique. Unexpectedly, Zhou Ziheng's level was lacking andhe was unable to force out this technique." There was another official in the carriage who had similarly come from theDepartment for Purging Officials. Supplementing this report, he said, "It ispossible that it has to do with Chen Changsheng's dagger being too sharp." The official holding the brush fell silent, then said uncertainly, "But thatsword clearly didn't give off any ripples of Qi. Is just sharpness enough?" The other official also had no way of confirming this. Besides those legendarydivine weapons, what sort of sword could so effortlessly pierce through thebody of a Star Condensation cultivator? At the moment, the street was very quiet. All gazes were fixed on the daggerin Chen Changsheng's hand. That dagger looked very common and unremarkable, but everyone knew that it wasdefinitely not as ordinary as it seemed. For a long while, the painter that had come from the Pavilion of Divinationcould not draw his third picture, with the right hand holding his brushincessantly shaking. He was already incredibly shocked. It must be known that the Pavilion ofDivination was responsible for evaluating and choosing the weapons to be placedon the Tier of Legendary Weapons. His insight was naturally not ordinary. Witha single glance, he was able to tell the extraordinary properties of thatdagger in Chen Changsheng's hands. Yes, the dagger did not exude any Qi. It was just sharp. Anything, if developed to the absolute pinnacle, would be exceptionallyfrightening. If a sword was sharp to an unimaginable degree, was anything else needed? Eventhe support of sacred Qi was not required. What shocked the painter even more was that Chen Changsheng's dagger wasobviously not an old object. "Stainless…" The painter from the Pavilion of Divination thought inastonishment, could it be that a new name will finally appear on this year'sTier of Legendary Weapons? The conclusion of this battle before the gates of the Orthodox Academy wasquickly spread to the entire capital. At the top floor of Clear LakeRestaurant, Tianhai Chenwu was admiring the natural beauty of the lake andmountains. Suddenly, he felt somewhat annoyed. However, a powerful figure suchas he took only a moment to recover. He calmly thought, it turns out that healready had the strength to surpass cultivation levels. Then it's fine tocontinue. My Tianhai clan is master of the four seas with countless powerfulexperts at its beck and call. I'm really interested to see just how long theOrthodox Academy can last by relying on this young principal. Then he turned to the subordinate kneeling on the ground. Smiling, he said, "Ino longer wish to eat. Finish off the dishes on the table. Don't waste any." The subordinate raised his head in amazement. Gazing at the dozens of disheson the table as well as the massive blue lobster, he thought in panic, just howcan I finish it all? Tianhai Chenwu's smile vanished. As he began making his way out of Clear LakeRestaurant, he emotionlessly said to his subordinate as he walked past, "If youcan't finish it, then your entire family doesn't need to live anymore." The lake of the Heavenly Dao Academy was similarly quiet and beautiful, exceptthere was no restaurant on the lakeshore, only cliffs and willows. Principal Zhuang stood beneath the willow branches, gazing at Guan Bai's back.He seemed to want to say something, but ultimately chose not to, only sighing. Suddenly, several Heavenly Dao Academy students rushed over. Guan Bai haltedhis steps and turned his head. "Chen Changsheng won!" A student yelled at Principal Zhuang from afar.Simultaneously, he turned to Senior Guan Bai with a face brimming withadmiration. Previously, Guan Bai had only needed to look at that hasty drawing to concludethat Chen Changsheng would inevitably obtain victory. This sort of insight andexperience was truly extraordinary. Yet what took these students by surprisewas that when Guan Bai heard the news that Chen Changsheng had won, hissword-like eyebrows leapt up. It was obvious that he was rather taken aback.This was because not even he had imagined that Chen Changsheng would win soquickly. He had only disdain for Zhou Ziheng's swordplay and paid a great deal ofattention to Chen Changsheng. However, there was still an entire cultivationlevel of difference between the two of them. He had originally believed thateven if Chen Changsheng were to win, he would have relied on the mentaltechnique of the old school of the Orthodoxy as well as the unswervingdetermination of his sword heart. Only after a long and bitter struggle wouldhe finally be able to obtain victory. And yet…from the time the drawing of thefirst clash had arrived to his speaking a few words to Principal Zhuang, only ashort time had passed. In such a brief span of time, Chen Changsheng was ableto win? "What sort of sword technique did he use?" Guan Bai asked. "I don't know." The student shook his head, then he swiftly handed over thejust-transmitted second drawing to Guan Bai. Guan Bai took the drawing and saw countless lines drawn across the paper, insuch disorder that it was hard to make anything out. "From the drawing, it would seem that both sides attacked so many times thateven the sir from the Pavilion of Divination could not draw it out clearly.It's just that no matter how you calculate the time, it doesn't match up," onestudent said in confusion. Guan Bai gazed at the several hundred fine and faint lines on the paper.Wrinkling his brow, he said, "These aren't the trajectories of swords, it's aStar Domain." The Heavenly Dao Academy students were even more shocked by this statement.They thought to themselves, Zhou Ziheng so quickly used his Star Domain? Justhow powerful is Chen Changsheng? What stunned them even more was that ZhouZiheng had used his Star Domain, but Chen Changsheng had still won. Just howhad he done it? There was still one more line on this drawing, coarse and faint, extremelyuninteresting, but the strength of the stroke penetrated through the back ofthe paper. Guan Bai gazed at this brushstroke. Abruptly, a sword glow flickered throughhis eyes. Several willow branches at his side were buffeted by the wind andthen snapped into approximately a dozen chunks that fell into the lake. "He still only used one sword technique,” he murmured. "This technique…" He did not continue, instead shaking his head. Previously, when he saw Chen Changsheng's first sword technique, he had saidthat it was a good sword. Now when he saw Chen Changsheng's second sword technique, he realized that hedidn't know how to evaluate it. "Although his sword is fast, even if he were given ten years, he stillwouldn't be able to catch up to you." At some point, the principal had come to his side. Looking at Guan Bai, hesaid, "Is there any need to be so anxious?" "The demons could invade south at any time. I will go to Snowhold Pass. Tenyears later…perhaps I might already be dead, so before I leave the capital, Imust bring this matter to a close." Guan Bai calmly continued, "It was just that I didn't imagine that his swordwould be so strong. If it's like this, I have to personally take a look." With this statement, the willows by the lake rustled in the breeze, the summerwinds gusted up, and his figure vanished. The sorrowful mood of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, with news of ChenChangsheng's victory, became very much less so. In that room in the deepest depths of the great hall, Luoluo was actually verycalm. She had never doubted that Chen Changsheng would be able to emergevictorious in this battle. Similarly, the archbishop in his room of plum blossoms was also very calm, asif he was sleeping. The priests of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green were treating ZhouZiheng's wounds. Zhou Ziheng grasped his stomach, but blood had already ceased to flow frombetween his fingers. However, his face was as pale as a sheet of paper. He knew that Chen Changsheng had gone easy on him. When that sharp dagger hadgrazed past his internal organs, it had only done so by a hair's breadth. If Chen Changsheng's wrist had given the smallest shake, if the tiniest strandof true essence had been released, Zhou Ziheng's Ethereal Palace would havebeen completely destroyed and he would have died on the scene. Thinking about Chen Changsheng's graceful sword technique that had brokenthrough his Star Domain, Zhou Ziheng was taken hold of by a monstrous fear.With a shaky voice, he said, "This…just what sort of sword is this?" Yes, he had asked not about the dagger in Chen Changsheng's hand, but abouthis sword technique. Ultimately, he still walked the path of the sword. After such an excessivelycrushing defeat, this was what he most wanted to know. Chen Changsheng naturally knew that he was not asking about the Vexing NightRain that he had used in the final moment. Rather, he wanted to know how hisStar Domain had been broken through. Of course, Chen Changsheng would not give too extensive of an explanation. Heonly said, "This was a sword technique that Senior Su Li passed down to me." Hearing the two words 'Su Li', the peaceful street suddenly became bustlingagain as the crowd erupted with discussion. As it turned out…Chen Changsheng had used Su Li's sword technique! The continent contained countless experts, not just those experts on theproclamations of the Pavilion of Divination. There were still many exceptionalexperts who stood above these proclamations. Who was weak and who was strongamongst these experts had always been the most interesting topic with thecommon people and also the matter which attracted the most commentary. Therewas only one matter that no one had ever questioned, that did not requirediscussion. It was a fact publicly acknowledged by the continent, and even inthe past one thousand years, was a conclusion reached by the vast majority ofthe populace. Zhou Dufu, number one in the path of the blade. Emperor Taizong, number one in the path of the spear. Su Li, number one in the path of the sword! At Chen Changsheng's words, the expressions directed towards him were allrather queer. This was especially true of those people under the pavilion thatwalked the path of the sword. Their emotions were extremely complicated:admiration, envy, frustration, resentment, and so on. Zhou Ziheng was even morewracked with remorse—if he knew that Su Li had actually taught Chen Changshengsword techniques, how could he possibly have been so arrogant and self-assured! Yes, the information provided by the Tianhai clan had mentioned and the entirecontinent knew of what had gone on in Xunyang City, but still no one believedthat Su Li would pass a sword technique on to Chen Changsheng. Because Su Liwas very lonely and very proud and his gaze was set very high, for him to passdown a technique was absolutely no trifling matter. In addition, ChenChangsheng was the successor to the Orthodoxy, a natural enemy of the Mount LiSword Sect. "So that’s it." Zhou Ziheng stared at Chen Changsheng and said resentfully,"Or else how could you surpass cultivation levels and defeat me!" Chen Changsheng shook his head at these words. "No, by my knowledge, there areat least five other people who could defeat you while in Ethereal Opening." Zhou Ziheng looked into his eyes and knew that this was not a lie. His senseof defeat grew even worse and his expression became as vacant as a fool's. Chen Changsheng paid him no more attention. Turning around, he walked back tothe Orthodox Academy's gate. Seeing his back, many cries arose from the crowd. Some of them were asking himto say something while others were asking him to directly give the names ofthose five people. All currently on the street had come to see the excitement,so excitement was naturally what they loved the most. Upon hearing the finalexchange between Chen Changsheng and Zhou Ziheng, it was a matter of coursethat they would thirst to know just which Ethereal Opening geniuses in ChenChangsheng's eyes could perform a similar feat, surpassing cultivation levelsand defeating a Star Condensation expert. Chen Changsheng did not answer their cries. Under the guard of the Li Palacepriests, he passed through the crowd and returned to the Orthodox Academy'sgate. A carriage was already at the ready in front of the gate, Xuanyuan Po at thereins. The carriage made its way through Hundred Flowers Lane and passed through thecrowd, arriving on the street. The crowd gazed at the carriage with great interest. The Orthodox Academy hadjust obtained victory in its first battle, but now they were going out? Wheredid they want to go? The Orthodox Academy's carriage traveled along the street, but when it passedby the awning, it came to an abrupt halt. The curtain of the carriage window was opened, revealing Tang Thirty-Six'sface. This immediately attracted the cheerful cries of quite a few young ladies. Tang Thirty-Six flashed a smile at those girls, then shifted his gaze to thosepeople under the awning. "Yesterday you used six hours to set up this oldawning. What a waste of time." The awning had been erected to watch a show, but the time it took for thisshow to run its course had been much less than the time it had taken to erectthis awning. It was very ridiculous. Tang Thirty-Six did not like these people that had come to watch this show, sohe had made Xuanyuan Po deliberately stop the carriage here so he could laughat them. The many powerful figures under the awning had rather unsightly complexions,but the stewards of the Four Great Markets were unmoved. Tang Thirty-Six drew the curtain back down and then gazed at the dagger atChen Changsheng's waist. "Stainless, this name's not bad." Back then at the Plum Garden Inn, he had wanted to take a look at this swordbut he had been stopped by Chen Changsheng. He had always been rather upset bythis. Today, he finally roughly understood the reason. Chen Changsheng was rather unsure about his naming skill, so asked, "Is itreally not bad?" Tang Thirty-Six answered, "The sword is like the person. It's really not bad." Chen Changsheng gave a faint smile and was prepared to say a joke, like howthe person was like this sword. Although easily beating Zhou Ziheng was within his expectations, to finallyconclude this matter was worthy of being happy over and he was very happy atthe moment. Just at this moment, his gaze fell over a gap in the curtain that had beenraised up by the wind, and onto a certain place in the crowd on the side of thestreet. A man stood there, his posture abnormally tall and straight. His expressionwas tranquil and indifferent, but his temples still had a few grains of dust,as if he had just ended an extremely long journey.