540 The Old Bullying the Young

The academy wall noiselessly collapsed and the old Daoist nun strode inthrough the breach. With the fall of her footsteps, an incomparably powerful Qi, carrying themight of the ocean, instantly enveloped the entire Orthodox Academy. The students in the dorms were still sleeping and the Orthodoxy cavalry in theside courtyard had also not sensed this. In the house, Chen Changsheng and the rest had sensed it in the first moment,because what the old Daoist nun wished for was precisely to wake them up andfor them to remember the events to follow. They opened their eyes and felt that cold aura of silent extinction. It feltlike they had fallen into a frigid icehouse and any drowsiness had vanishedinto nothingness. One after the other, the windows of the house were pushed upon, revealingthose young faces of theirs. They looked at the old Daoist nun on the other side of the lake. The instant they set eyes on the old Daoist nun, the aura of extinctiontransformed into an aura of death and endless fear. This old Daoist nun was far too powerful, so powerful that they found it hardto even gather the will to resist. When he saw the old Daoist nun, Tang Thirty-Six thought of one time when hisgrandfather got angry—all of Wenshui City shook three times. Zhexiu thought ofthe time when he was young, not long after he was driven from his tribe, thathe had once seen from a distance an enormous Mountain-toppling Fiend as well asthat short yet absolutely terrifying figure sitting on its crown. Su Moyu's face became abnormally pale because he knew who this old Daoist nunwas. At this time, Chen Changsheng very naturally thought of that storm in XunyangCity. He then realized in shock that this Daoist nun was actually an expert ofthat level. Logically, with Chen Changsheng's current status, no one would dare moveagainst him in the capital. But now, he did not have this self-confidencebecause this old Daoist nun was no ordinary person. Even the Pope would have togive this person a little face. Moreover, she was currently giving off anextreme feeling of obliterating extinction. The extinction of 'one thousand mountains, but extinct are the birds flyingover them'. The obliteration of 'ten thousand roads, but all traces of menobliterated'. (TN: Both portions in quotes are from the poem "River Snow" by Liu Zongyuan, aTang Dynasty poet.) She viewed all living beings of the world as pigs and dogs. Just who wouldn'tshe dare to kill? At this time, Su Moyu's voice rang out. He asked the old Daoist nun in shock,"Auntie, what are you planning to do?" Upon hearing this, Chen Changsheng and the rest finally confirmed theirconjectures and knew the identity of the person that had come. Tang Thirty-Six's expression did not change, but his fingers on the windowsillsomewhat paled. Zhexiu's expression did not change, but the fingers of his right hand hadalready slowly begun to release his walking stick and move to grip the hilt ofhis sword. She had finally come. This peerless expert who pampered her son, covered forthe faults of others, who was irritable, prone to kill, and was famed for hermood swings, had finally come. Wuqiong Bi, the sole woman of the Storms of the Eight Directions. Her husband was called Bie Yanghong, also on the Storms of the EightDirections. They had only one son called Bie Tianxin. One could imagine just how the sole son of two of the Eight Storms had beenraised. Bie Tianxin had lived his entire life drifting along with the wind andcurrent, all the way until several months ago, when he encountered ChenChangsheng and Tang Thirty-Six in front of the Orthodox Academy. At the time, Su Moyu had warned them that the Orthodox Academy might encounterthis sort of trouble. Chen Changsheng disagreed, thinking that the Orthodox Academy had not doneanything excessive to Bie Tianxin. With Wuqiong Bi's status and position, therewas no need for her to make things difficult for them. Only now, upon seeing that old Daoist nun across the lake, did he finallyunderstand that not all people up high were people up high that had transcendedthe world, that not all of them had a frame of mind that had broken away fromthe secular world. "Senior…entering the Orthodox Academy in the middle of the night, I ask whatteachings you wish to impart." He gazed at the Daoist nun, his voice firm as he asked. He was the Principal of the Orthodox Academy, the Pope's appointed successor.Solely in terms of status, he was not at all beneath this old Daoist nun, sowhen he spoke, he spoke with great composure. With an apathetic expression, the old Daoist nun questioned, "You are ChenChangsheng?" Ever since he had come to the capital from Xining, Chen Changsheng had heardthis sort of question countless times. At times, it had been very annoying, like the time he encountered thatMonolith Guardian in the Mausoleum of Books. At other times, it had been anhonor, like that time he met Zhu Luo outside of Hanqiu City. The old Daoist nun that was asking this question was of equal status to ZhuLuo, but he knew that this was certainly no honor, but a danger. With an indifferent expression, life and death already decided, the old Daoistnun declared, "In a moment, I will kill this person." As she spoke, she stared at Chen Changsheng and pointed at Xuanyuan Po's back. Xuanyuan Po's body faintly trembled, but under this incomparably terrifyingpressure, he found it simply impossible to turn around or escape. "I will also do a few more things for all of you to see." All this time, the old Daoist nun did not even glance at Xuanyuan Po and theruins of the kitchen. In her eyes, Xuanyuan Po was already a dead man. Tonight, she had already arranged many plans for these young men of theOrthodox Academy, had decided their lives. Zhexiu was greatly admired by the Divine Generals of the Great Zhou Army, sothis wolf cub would only suffer heavy injury. Cutting off an arm or a leg wouldsuffice. She would not kill Chen Changsheng or Tang Thirty-Six, because even someone aspowerful as her did not wish to offend the Orthodoxy or the Wenshui Tangs. But this did not mean that she was letting them go. Before their eyes, she would beat Zhexiu into a cripple and then slowly killthis demi-human youth. She wanted them to watch as the blood of their friends stained the scene whilethey were powerless to act. She wanted them to understand what was meant by true helplessness, by truedespair. She believed that in the aftermath, their lives might be more filled withsuffering than if they had died. This was very good. She had originally come to instruct them, so she wouldengrave deeply into their minds an unforgettable memory. As for whether or not these youths of the Orthodox Academy would resist…shehad never even considered this question. It was said that these youths were alltrue geniuses, but so what? Disregarding the Proclamation of Azure Sky or theProclamation of Golden Distinction, if they were juniors like Wang Po or XiaoZhang, she might have to pay them a glance or two, but what did these youthsamount to? Yes, if these were some other youths, after feeling such powerful andfrightening Qi, and especially after knowing of this old Daoist nun's identity,they would probably give upon any sort of resistance because they were simplyno match for her. If they were eagle chicks, the old Daoist nun was the frigidand high altitudes of the sky. If they were young tiger cubs, the old Daoistnun was the unseeable bottom of a deep valley. However, they were not other youths, they were the youths of the OrthodoxAcademy. In Xunyang City, Chen Changsheng dared to wield his sword against Zhu Luo. Onthe snowy plains, Zhexiu dared to flash his fierce teeth against the demons.When he was three, Tang Tang dared to urinate on the Tang Old Master's face.Just after entering the capital, Xuanyuan Po dared to strike Tianhai Ya'er. In any case, if they had no means of winning no matter what, then theyshouldn't fight? This was not their logic. In their view, since they couldn'twin no matter what they did, it was only natural that they fight first. If theycouldn't win? So what if they couldn't win? If they were looking fordeath, then they would look for life in the middle of death. Youths began to prepare for battle, each with their own methods of battle. The walking stick lay in the shadow of the ground, Zhexiu stood in the shadowof the window. His face was completely veiled in shadow that obscured hisblood-red eyes, his firm wolf fur, and his sharp claws. He quietly stared atthe old Daoist nun, his right hand gripping the half-broken Demon CommanderSword, so calm and indifferent as to engender fear in others. Tang Thirty-Six exerted a little force in his palms, causing the windowsill toinstantly crumble. With several strange sounds, several fireworks shot off intothe night of drifting snow. As it turned out, he had installed severalmechanisms in the Orthodox Academy. This was his way of fighting. Whenencountering such a terrifying enemy, the first thing he did was to naturallysend out warning fireworks. The place closest to here was the Imperial Palace,and Xue Xingchuan would most likely hurry over as quickly as possible. As forthose experts the Wenshui Tangs had sent over to guard him in secret, theyshould appear even sooner. Of course, even when the second-ranked DivineGeneral and the Guardians of the Wenshui Tang clan worked together, they stillwould not be a match for this old Daoist nun, but he did not believe that thisold Daoist nun would dare commit murder under the gaze of thousands. With a pale face, Su Moyu looked at the Daoist nun and asked in a shaky voice,"Auntie, do you really want to have two families fall out and become enemies?" Chen Changsheng stared at the old Daoist nun, not preparing to use the tenthousand swords in his sheath or the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, but insteadholding a letter. He knew that no matter how desperately they fought, they werenot even worthy of a single finger of this Daoist nun. He could only hope thatSu Li's letter could display its use. With several extremely faint sounds of extinguishing, before those warningfireworks were able to release their light, they vanished without a trace. Tang Thirty-Six's face carried an unsightly expression. This was his firsttime encountering this level of expert. Now, he understood that all these plansand stratagems regarding fighting and the human mind were absolutelymeaningless in the face of such opponents. These people had already transcendedthe secular world, so how could they be entrapped by its wisdom? Chen Changsheng's tightened his grip on the letter, his mood rather grave. Suddenly, the seemingly forgotten Xuanyuan Po, already marked as dead by theold Daoist nun, began to move. In the ruins of the kitchen, he turned around slowly and with greatdifficulty, and then he slowly raised the sword in his hands. He was closest to the academy wall, closest to the Daoist nun, could sensebest the Qi of obliterating extinction, and bore the greatest pressure. When Chen Changsheng, Zhexiu, and the rest were preparing to fight, he wasstill resisting this pressure. Ultimately, he had finally managed to turn around and raise his sword. In order to confront the terrifying expert that was the old Daoist nun, inorder to overcome the innate fear of death, Xuanyuan Po had used all of hiscourage. A simple action like this had completely consumed all his strength and spirit. As he directly confronted the old Daoist nun, his whole body incessantly shooklike he was just beginning to recover from some serious illness. The sword inhis hands was the same, tottering around like it was about to collapse. He had already displayed enough courage, but how could the present him fight,how could he wield his sword? For the first time, the old Daoist nun looked directly at Xuanyuan Po. Her eyes revealed endless, boundless scorn and contempt. Logically, exceptional experts on the level of the Storms of the EightDirections would not humiliate young members of the junior generation. But today, she had come for the explicit purpose of humiliating the OrthodoxAcademy. Xuanyuan Po was a bear youth. He placed the greatest importance on chivalryand honor and was the most unable to endure humiliation. In his blushing face, between his somewhat immature features, a hint ofdetermination appeared. With a roar, his two hands tightened their grip on thesword and slashed at the old Daoist nun! The sound of whistling winds erupted from the house as Zhexiu, like a grayshadow, instantly leaped across the icy surface of the lake and arrived on theother side. Chen Changsheng's figure vanished as he used the Yeshi Step. Carrying bits ofsnow from the forest, he rushed to Xuanyuan Po's back. His two hands tightenedas he prepared to rip open the letter. Su Moyu revealed an expression of resolve and stuck his hand into his bosom. Tang Thirty-Six was the last to act, but his voice was the first to arrive. "Wuqiong Bi, **** your ****!" ……