512 The Compass of Fate

At the age of five, Xu Yourong’s blood awakened and she began to cultivate.She seemed to randomly pick out a star to be her Fated Star, but the brightnessof that star could be ranked in the top three within the past century. After afew years, she concluded her studies at the Thirteen Divisions of RadiantGreen. The Holy Maiden of the south personally came to the capital and took herfrom the hands of the Divine Empress and the Pope to South Stream Temple. At South Stream Temple, her cultivation level remained in Meditation, but shehad already begun to study the Heavenly Tome Monoliths. Moreover, one could seefrom those notebooks that she really had comprehended them. He and she were the youngest upper level Ethereal Opening cultivators inhistory, but he had relied on lucky encounters and the true blood of the BlackDragon, while she had relied completely on her innate talent and perception. She and Qiushan Jun were alike in that neither had encountered any sort ofobstacle on their path of cultivation. As long as they wished to learn it, theywould learn it. In terms of quantity of true essence, strength of spiritual sense, or Daoisttechniques, she far surpassed her peers. She was the true Phoenix. Chen Changsheng was quiet for a very long time. With regards to the battleseven days from now, he had no confidence whatsoever. At present, there were many people who said he was a cultivating genius,especially with regards to the path of the sword, but only after reviewing XuYourong's life did he understand what being a genius truly meant. Precisely as Tang Thirty-Six had said last year in the Plum Garden Inn, XuYourong was a person that made others speechless. However, also precisely as Tang Thirty-Six had said, this battle had to befought. He represented the Orthodox Academy and the Li Palace. Even if theyweren't enemies, even if he didn't want to fight, they would still have tofight before talking about other things. He stood up and walked over to the wardrobe, intending to take out a new toweland wash his face. He was a person that lived a very simple life. Only in this aspect did heindulge himself. Whenever some major event occurred, he would always washhimself spotless and he would also choose to use a brand-new towel. Upon opening the wardrobe, he was stunned on the spot: one of his towels wasmissing. Several dozen towels were neatly stacked and folded. Besides him, there wasprobably no one else that would notice one was missing. That night, Xu Yourong had taken one of the towels and wiped the snow off thedesk. He quietly stood in front of the wardrobe, standing there for a very long time. For whatever reason, he ultimately did not take out a towel. He slowly closedthe wardrobe door and walked back to the window, gazing at the nearby ImperialPalace. Right now, she should be at the Imperial Palace, right? …… …… The Imperial Palace of the Great Zhou had many palace halls, but only theelderly ones within the palace still remembered that one of these palace hallswas left for Xu Yourong's personal use. This palace's location was rather remote, very quiet and beautiful. Moreover,it possessed an exceptionally fine garden and the scenery outside the windowwas sublime. This was a matter the Divine Empress had decided on ten-odd years ago. Lateron, when Xu Yourong went to Holy Maiden Peak, the Princess of Ping wanted tomove into this palace, but she was denied. At this moment, Xu Yourong was sitting by the window. On the other side of thewindow, snowflakes were gently drifting down and the tree branches werespeckled with snow, but she was in no mood for taking in the scenery. Her gaze rested upon the Fate Compass in front of her. Her fingers were softly gliding over the Fate Compass. As they moved, thecomplex lines and patterns on the Fate Compass moved with them. Like flowingwater, they congregated and dispersed, as unfathomable as the drifting clouds.There were even times when they seemed just like the Heavenly Tomes. Those lines which traveled along with different orbits represented countlessfactors, down to this very moment. They represented the history of theOrthodoxy, the inheritance of the Li Palace, the Orthodox Academy's past, ShangXingzhou, the Pope, Su Li, that rumored senior brother, Tang Thirty-Six, ClearLake Restaurant, and countless pieces of information regarding Chen Changsheng.Those sword styles which Chen Changsheng was most skilled at would naturallynot be missed out. As the night gradually deepened, she continued to calmly stare at the FateCompass, performing her deductions and calculations. Finally, after a very long time had passed, the snow came to a stop, theclouds scattered, and the starlight fell on the snow covering the ground of theImperial Palace. The starlight reflected into the room and fell upon the FateCompass. She stood up, clasped her hands behind her back, and proceeded out of thepalace hall. The Fate Compass was still quietly sitting on the ground. Under theillumination of the stars, those lines and patterns gradually ground to a halt. It was a star chart. …… …… Events of this nature repeated themselves in the Orthodox Academy and theImperial Palace for six whole days. Papers were piled high at Chen Changsheng's side, sentences and numberswritten all over them. He had even been too busy to take a bath. He was stillincessantly calculating, exhausted, but growing ever more confident. Xu Yourong was also incessantly using her Fate Compass to perform calculationsand deductions. Ultimately, she obtained seventeen star charts. As expected,each one of these star charts pointed towards victory. As the atmosphere in the capital grew increasingly excited, the atmosphere ofthe Imperial Palace and Orthodox Academy grew increasingly tense. This was because many people had seen how much time Chen Changsheng and XuYourong had taken to prepare for this battle—how much effort, mental andphysical, they had put into it. After six days was the seventh day. The seventh day was the day on which thebattle would begin. Not long after early morning, all the other places of the capital grew quietas countless people made their way to the Luo River. The location of Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong's match was the Bridge ofHelplessness, over the Luo River. Everyone judged this to be the most fittingbattlefield. It wasn't because the Bridge of Helplessness was famed for its scenery, afitting spot for the battle destined to be recorded in the annals of history.Instead, it was because of the Bridge of Helplessness's location. To the west of the Bridge of Helplessness was the Li Palace, to the east wasthe Imperial Palace, and it was equidistant from both palaces. The choice of this location definitely had some deeper meaning, and it wasalso fair. Xu Yourong had stayed in the Imperial Palace the entire time. In a shortwhile, she would most likely come out of the Imperial Palace. However, ChenChangsheng did not leave from the Li Palace, but from the Orthodox Academy.Just as he normally did, he woke up at five o'clock, steadied his mind for amoment, then opened his eyes. Under the earnest gaze of Xuanyuan Po, he ate twobig bowls of beef noodle soup. With the assistance of Su Moyu, he put on theuniform of the Orthodox Academy. Whether it was how much of the collar wasexposed, how the clothes were arranged, or the difference in the heights of theshoes, all of it was perfectly brought into line with the strictest ofstandards. Tang Thirty-Six did nothing. He just sat on the side, picking at his teethwith a toothpick, at the same time grumbling nonstop about how today's braisedbeef was not tender enough. The gate of the Orthodox Academy slowly opened. Accompanied by Tang Thirty-Sixand the rest as well as the new students, Chen Changsheng walked throughHundred Flowers Lane and arrived on the main street. Then, under the attentionof countless eyes, he began walking towards the Luo River. At some point, a bowl of soy milk and two youtiao had appeared in TangThirty-Six's hands. When Priest Xin noticed this upon reaching the main street, he helplesslyshook his head, "At such a tense moment, you actually didn't forget about thismatter." Tang Thirty-Six replied, "What's there to be nervous about? In any case, it'sjust determining winner and loser, not life and death. That's not evenmentioning the fact that good food is always above life and death." For some reason, Chen Changsheng's mood became much calmer upon hearing thesewords. But today, the entire capital was bound to find it impossible to remain calm. The news that Chen Changsheng had departed the Orthodox Academy was carriedalong with the chilly north wind to every corner of the capital. "Chen Changsheng exited Hundred Flowers Lane." "All the students of the Orthodox Academy are following him." "The people from the Li Palace have already caught up with him." "They've already reached the Ink Pond." "They've passed Tiantong Park." "Chen Changsheng is about to reach the Monastery of the Returning Dragon." ……