542 The True Objective of the Burning Heaven Sword

"This is impossible!" the old Daoist nun shrilly cried. When she sensed that even her own Dao heart seemed to have been cracked by theBurning Heaven Sword, she was so shocked and angered that she almost went mad. Why would the Orthodox Academy have Su Li's sword intent? Could Su Li haveguessed that she would come? Once she had confirmed that this powerful swordintent was the Burning Heaven Sword, she was constantly and worriedlyconsidering this question. But what shocked her, angered her, and even left hersomewhat perplexed was just why this sword intent was so powerful. It waspublicly acknowledged that Su Li was the supreme expert of the path of thesword, but how was she unable to even receive a single attack? Moreover, thiswas merely a sword intent that Su Li had left in the Orthodox Academy, not evenhis real sword! She was no ordinary expert, she was one of the Storms of the Eight Directionswho had stepped into the Divine Domain many years ago. She used to believe thatalthough Su Li had also stepped into the Divine Domain, he had done it manyyears after she had—that no matter how prodigious his talent, he was still nomatch for her in terms of cultivation. But now it turned out…she could not evenconfront a single strand of sword intent from Su Li! After being stricken with anger, the old Daoist nun became stricken withpanic. As she stared at the terrifying sword of fire, a desire to retreatnaturally took root in her Dao heart. In the past, she would definitely have continued to battle, but now that shehad confirmed that she was no match for Su Li, why wouldn't she retreat? Shehad infiltrated the capital without telling her husband, so there would be noone coming to her rescue. More importantly, Su Li was not the Pope nor was hethe Tianhai Divine Empress. He was a cold-blooded, emotionless madman, a personwho would really dare to kill the Eight Storms! The Luo River was once more disturbed by countless waves. In the snowy night,they were like piles made of countless bits of paper. Just as the sword intentslashed down once more, the Luo River resounded with the old Daoist nun's howlof reluctance. Her figure instantly vanished and appeared on the other bank,then quickly vanished into the boulevards and alleys of the capital. …… …… Chen Changsheng and the rest used their fastest speed to follow the trail ofrestaurants and houses collapsed by the old Daoist nun's retreat. When theyreached the banks of the Luo River, however, no one was there, only snowdancing in the night sky, those threads cut down from the horsetail whisk, andthat sword of fire suspended over the Luo River. Those threads were not willow catkins nor were they snowflakes. Even thethinnest of these threads contained a monstrous power that could easily slaythem. If that horsetail whisk were to strike with full force, it might reallybe able to shake the entirety of the Luo River…truly worthy of being a peerlessexpert who had stepped into the Divine Domain! Upon sensing the power contained in those threads, Chen Changsheng and therest all subconsciously turned to Xuanyuan Po who was the first to dare attackthe old Daoist nun, their gazes filled with admiration. At the same time, theythought, then how powerful is the sword of fire that cut this horsetail whiskinto a defeathered chicken and forced the old Daoist nun into retreat? "What's going on here?" Tang Thirty-Six asked at that blazing sword hanging inthe night. Earlier on in the night, Chen Changsheng had comprehended the sword intent inthe letter, so he had a rough idea what was going on. "This is Senior Su Li'ssword." Tang Thirty-Six's lingering fear still had not dissipated. He thought, if notfor this sword, the Orthodox Academy might have run with blood tonight. Even ifthat old Daoist nun had not made things too difficult for Chen Changsheng, TangThirty-Six and Su Moyu for the sake of the Orthodoxy and the Wenshui Tangs,Zhexiu would definitely suffer all sorts of humiliation while Xuanyuan Po wouldbe completely out of luck. This battle of experts that had been fought from the Orthodox Academy all theway to the banks of the Luo River had alarmed many people. Not long after they reached the Luo River, a flame plunged down from thenight. Xue Xingchuan on his Red Cloud Qilin had hurried over as quickly aspossible. Simultaneously, the three Guardians dispatched to the capital by the WenshuiTang clan also finally appeared in the darkness and surrounded Tang Thirty-Six. This was the first time Chen Changsheng and the others were able to get a lookat the true strength of the Wenshui Tangs, so they couldn't but curiouslyglance over. The streets rumbled with a storm of hooves, most likely the Orthodoxy cavalryand Imperial Guards rushing over. Xue Xingchuan examined the collapsed Luo River dike and the line of houses andrestaurants that had been transformed into ruins. With a grim expression, heasked, "What happened here?" "Wuqiong Bi came," Tang Thirty-Six replied. One of the Eight Storms actually sneaked into the capital? Xue Xingchuan'sexpression flickered, then his gaze turned to that massive sword of fireblazing above the Luo River and his expression changed once more. With hislevel of cultivation, he could naturally tell that this was not a real sword,but a phantasmal one. However, what made him wary was that even at his level ofcultivation, he was still far from being a match for this sword. Thus, withouteven needing to ask, he knew who this sword intent belonged to. "Su Li…why did he hide this sword intent in the Orthodox Academy?" He looked into Chen Changsheng's eyes and asked, "Don't tell me he knew inadvance that Wuqiong Bi would mean you harm?" This was the matter the old Daoist nun least understood before she left and itwas also a matter that Chen Changsheng had not yet understood. He had originally thought that of the two letters that Senior Su Li hadrequested Xu Yourong give to him, the letter that he was requested to burnpromptly after reading was meant to assist in comprehending sword intent whilethe letter in his bosom was a life-saving treasure. Now it seemed that Su Lihaving him burn the first letter had some other, deeper meaning. Only by borrowing natural flame to ignite its sword soul could the swordintent of the Burning Heaven Sword truly display its mightiest power, but howhad Su Li confirmed what time this sword intent would appear? Had it beenaroused by the completely unreasonable courage Xuanyuan Po had displayed or wasit because Su Li had calculated in advance that Wuqiong Bi would come? The Orthodoxy cavalry and Imperial Guards had hurried onto the scene, as hadthe Li Palace priests and the official labor corps of the capital's government.They began to clean up the scene and assist the wounded, to carry over sandsand stone to stabilize the collapsed dike. The scene began to grow livelier andthe Burning Heaven Sword in the night sky began to lose its light, growing verydifficult to see. Xue Xingchuan still kept his eyes fixed on that location. Chen Changsheng and the others also continued to stare at that place. This matter seemed ready to come to a close; all had returned to tranquility.But was this really the case? For some reason, none of them thought so. They all felt that something elsewas going to happen. Just as expected, in the next moment, in the most unreasonable fashion, thenight sky above the Luo River began to burn. It was like countless Golden Crows had flown out of the sun and descended uponthe human world. The world was bathed in a pure, white light and the capitalseemed to be transported from night to day. Those workers and soldiers laboring on the dike raised their hands instupefaction, wondering just what was going on. The Burning Heaven Sword began to burn and expand. In a few breaths of time,it encompassed the entire sky. From the ground, it was as long as at least halfa street! The laborers and soldiers and those denizens of the capital that had beenstartled awake all stared up at the enormous sword burning in the night sky,crying out with countless gasps of shock. The Burning Heaven Sword fiercely burned. No snow could fall from the clouds, nor any rain, and there wasn't even anymist. The clouds in the night sky were burned clean away by this fire, graduallyrevealing the sky studded with stars. Xue Xingchuan's face instantly grew pale beyond compare and he immediatelyroared out a shout of warning in the direction of the Imperial Palace.Simultaneously, he leaped onto the back of the Red Cloud Qilin and flew offinto the night! Chen Changsheng had also guessed and his eyes were filled with astonishment.He thought, no way, Senior. You've already left; why do you still have to actcrazy? The old Daoist nun did not understand why Su Li had left this strand of swordintent in the Orthodox Academy. Xue Xingchuan did not understand, and neitherdid Chen Changsheng. This was because no matter how high Su Li had cultivatedon the path of the sword, even if he could use his sword to divine the will ofthe heavens, it was still utterly impossible to anticipate the movements of anexpert of the Divine Domain and thus lay an ambush for them. This strand of sword intent that Su Li had left in the Orthodox Academy hadnever been prepared for the old Daoist nun. He had left the world seven letters, and the sword intent he had concealed inthis letter he asked Chen Changsheng to burn after reading was the strongest. The old Daoist nun's arrival at the Orthodox Academy and Xuanyuan Po's swordhad roused the sword intent within the ash. Consequently, the sword intent hadrepelled the Daoist nun in passing. Yes, in passing, on the way, conveniently, because it could do it without anyextra trouble. Even if the old Daoist nun was one of the Eight Storms, she was not worthy ofSu Li especially preparing a strand of sword intent for her. He held her in complete disregard and disdain. The person he wished to fight, the objective of this most powerful swordintent, had always been that person. That person was in the Imperial Palace, had always been in the Imperial Palace. That person was no ordinary person, but a Saint. With a whistle resounding through the night sky, Xue Xingchuan rode the RedCloud Qilin into the air. A streak of fire, he stabbed at the massive BurningHeaven Sword with his spear! Yet before his spear could even touch the Burning Heaven Sword, it was halted.A violent gale suddenly snapped the streak of fire and it plummeted to theground. Xue Xingchuan and the Red Cloud Qilin fell into the river and he spit out amouthful of blood. The massive sword of fire finally moved. Carrying along countless flames andheat, it shot through the sky from the Luo River towards the Imperial Palace! As they watched this magnificent and spectacular sight, all the people on theground were so shocked that they could not speak. Chen Changsheng, Tang Thirty-Six and the others' eyes were filled withreverence and admiration. Only by cultivating to this sort of level could onebe content and without grudges, right? Zhexiu's face was emotionless, but his eyes were filled with enthusiasm andresolve. He thought, even if you're stronger, in the future, there will be aday where I defeat you! Ever since the beginning of winter, snow had fallen on and off over thecapital, but the clouds above rarely scattered, until tonight. The strand ofsword intent formed into the massive Burning Heaven Sword emitted boundlesslight and heat into the world, and the snow clouds were instantly burned away,revealing the stars in the sky. As the Burning Heaven Sword shot towards the Imperial Palace, the snow cloudsscattered before it, revealing star after star. It was a very beautiful scene,seeming just like a brush painting the sky, countless stars lighting up as thesword surged forward. Star after star lit up in the night sky. The starlight did not fall upon thehuman world, but on the trajectory of the Burning Heaven Sword as ittransformed into countless scales of light. The Burning Heaven Sword had finally transformed into a dragon! At this point, the entire capital was finally awakened. There was someone that had never fallen asleep. When that old Daoist nun passed that alley, the Tianhai Divine Empress awoke. Then she ascended the steps and stood upon the Dew Platform. Besides the Mausoleum of Books, this was the highest point in the capital.From there, one could observe the closest stars and the vastness of the humanworld. She watched as the old Daoist nun stood outside the Orthodox Academy, herexpression indifferent. She watched as a powerful sword intent appeared in the Orthodox Academy. Herexpression was still indifferent, but she raised her brows, apparently ratherinterested. Now, this sword was flying from the banks of the Luo River to the ImperialPalace. She stood on the Dew Platform, the gale gusting against her perfect face butunable to disperse her indifferent expression, merely causing her fine blackhair to drift about. She held her hands behind her back, gazing at the ever-nearer sword dragon inthe night sky. Her expression was calm, a sense of graveness finally appearingin her eyes. ……