557 The Boiling Stone Summi

To calm the heart with strong wine and the blood of one's foes: carefullyconsidered, these words were incredibly heroic. For a while, Chen Chou said nothing. Finally, he spoke, "At the verybeginning, I knew that you were drowning your sorrows in wine because of awoman." The young officer smiled, saying, "Yesterday, I received a letter sent by herfrom the south. She found that person she thought to be dead, and…it's such acoincidence, that person is actually that fiancé that she hated so much. Tellme, do you think I should congratulate them or congratulate them?" Chen Chou looked at him with much more sympathy. Patting him on the shoulder,he soothed, "Then if it's really over, it's better not to think about itanymore." Back on the snowy plains, on that night when they were surrounded by wolfcavalry, the two had chatted about many things. Of course, what they had talkedabout the most was men and women, so he could roughly guess at what was goingon with this story. The young officer's eyes suddenly glowed as if illuminating the dark night,the wind and snow, and the path within. He calmly but firmly replied, "No, ifthat person had really died, I would naturally not be able to beat him and Iwould have no hope. But now that he's alive, it also means that my hope hasbeen reborn." …… …… Summer was coming to an end and autumn was beginning to set in, the BoilingStone Summit about to convene. At various locations in the continent, peoplebegan to set out. Unlike the Grand Examination and the Garden of Zhou, the Boiling Stone Summitwas not famous. Knowledge of it only circulated in the upper layers of thecultivating world, and only those worthy of being invited knew of it. Everytime the Boiling Stone Summit convened, it would always do so at the HeavenLake in the distant Mount Han at the northeast of the continent. Regardless ofwhether one departed from the capital, Tianliang county, or from the south,reaching the Heaven Lake required traversing a great distance. To many people,rather than the Boiling Stone Summit being a grand meeting of the cultivatingworld, it was better to call it a journey. Of course, to cultivators at this level, a journey had always been a sort ofcultivation. As a result, very few people used immortal birds or arrays totravel, instead walking along the official roads that ran all across the humanworld. They crossed through dense spider webs of rivers, soaked in the scenery,and earnestly advanced forward. It was said that countless years ago, innumerable meteorites crashed down uponthe continent in streaks of fire. Many of these meteorites fell at thepresent-day location of the capital at the place where soil formed into amountain. Those meteorites became the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, opening theminds of the continent's lifeforms. That location was the Mausoleum of Books.Besides those meteorites that fell into the Mausoleum of Books, many meteoriteswere burned into ash in the sky while many others returned to the sea of stars.There were some fortunate, or unfortunate, meteorites that did not fall intothe Mausoleum of Books, nor were they rendered into ash. Instead, theyshattered into countless stones and fell upon the earth. These stones werenamed Heavenstones. Miraculously, these Heavenstones did not scatter over the continent. Instead,just like the Mausoleum of Books, the vast majority of them fell in the sameplace. This location was Mount Han in the northeast of the continent, and they wereparticularly numerous around the Heaven Lake at the peak of Mount Han. Those Heavenstones had been burned too severely, leaving no mystical lines ontheir surfaces, nor did they possess the wonder of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths.Still, these Heavenstones were ultimately existences that shared the sameorigin as the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, and so to cultivators, they were stillincomparably precious. It was said that many experts had used theseHeavenstones to successfully break through their original cultivation levels. What the Boiling Stone Summit boiled was these Heavenstones. Of course, it wasimpossible for countless stoves to pop up on the shore of the Heaven Lake toheat water for this purpose. The boiling stones had always been boiled in theHeaven Lake itself, because the water within the Heaven Lake was thecongregation of many hot springs and its temperature was incredibly high, likethe world's natural stove. The Boiling Stone Summit was precisely a grand meeting held for the sake ofincreasing the cultivating speed of the human world's cultivators. As long asone was ranked at the top in the Boiling Stone Summit, one would be qualifiedto obtain a Heavenstone to comprehend and receive. The wonder of theHeavenstones was far inferior to that of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, but theHeavenly Tome Monoliths were in the Mausoleum of Books, while the Heavenstonescould be carried on the body and interacted with whenever one wished.Consequently, to cultivators, the importance of the Heavenstones was no lessthan that of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, and to certain people, it might evenbe greater. As for when the Boiling Stone Summit was held, after Emperor Taizong returnedto the sea of stars, the Five Saints and the Eight Storms jointly drew up aplan, with the Elder of Heavenly Secrets placed in charge of organizing it all.The specific time at which it was held could only be decided after looking atthe cultivating situation of the younger generation of experts. Only afterconfirming that their cultivation levels were enough to comprehend theHeavenstones would they decide to hold one. As Emperor Taizong's generation gradually took a step back from history'sstage, the cultivating world gradually grew more cold and cheerless, with theBoiling Stone Summit not being held once over the span of several decades. Itwas not until Wang Po shocked the world and the cultivation world once moreentered a generation of blooming flowers that the frequency at which theBoiling Stone Summit convened gradually increased. The most important objective of the Boiling Stone Summit was for thecultivating geniuses of the human world to gain some assistance at the mostcritical points of their cultivation, thus allowing them to quickly recognizetheir obstructions and advance over them. Thus, very few were invited. Forexample, this year, only thirty-some young cultivators were on the invitationlist. On this list, there was the famous name of the Heavenly Dao Academy's GuanBai. Qiushan Jun was there, as was right. Naturally, Xu Yourong and ChenChangsheng were also present, as well as Gou Hanshi and fourth place on theProclamation of Golden Distinction, Zhong Hui. Although Zhexiu and TangThirty-Six failed to enter the Proclamation of Golden Distinction, this did notmean that the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets did not view them highly, so theywere also on the list. Besides these names that were familiar by dint of repetition, the list alsocontained a few obscure wandering cultivators and experts of small sects. Thosewandering cultivators and small sect experts were all forty-some years old. Inthe cultivation world, they were still rated as rather young, but when comparedto those young geniuses above, they were older by quite the margin. Several hundred Orthodoxy cavalry escorted several carriages out of thecapital. These Orthodoxy cavalry and Divine Generals all had cold expressions andexuded a stern aura, but they could not obstruct the resolve and courage of thedenizens of the capital to see the excitement. Mao Qiuyu and Linghai Zhiwang were sitting in two different carriages, theireyes closed in rest as if ignorant to the shouts from outside. Those shouts were all aimed at the people within that carriage. Within this carriage, Tang Thirty-Six placed down the list in his hands andscratched his ears that had gotten somewhat itchy from all the yells. Shakinghis head, he said, "They don't even know what we're doing, so why are theyyelling so loud, and there's Rou'er…I just gave you one thousand taels ofsilver last night. What are you planning, acting like you’re sending off yourhusband?" He looked at the upstairs of a building by the street at the mournful dancinggirl leaning on the balcony, the expression on his face rather unnatural. No one paid him any attention, and no one was interested in him, or else hewould have been even more embarrassed. Zhexiu had his eyes closed in rest. His true essence traveled along hissomewhat deformed meridians like a scraping small knife, but no pain could beseen on his face. Chen Changsheng was studying a Daoist scripture, his expression focused andserious, while his sea of consciousness performed incessant calculations tofind a way to break down the array left behind by Wang Zhice. Tang Thirty-Six felt somewhat ashamed, thinking, why can't I detach myselffrom all things like these two? "You hear…there's actually a person who's guessing that you're going to SouthStream Temple to propose!" A burst of shouts rang out from the streets. Upon hearing them, TangThirty-Six rocked back and forth in laughter, incredibly amused. "Fancy that some people would think of that, but this sort of display reallyis rather similar. If one wants to marry the Holy Maiden, one definitely needsto dispatch two Prefects of the Orthodoxy." This was speaking of Mao Qiuyu and Linghai Zhiwang who were seated in thecarriages in front of them. In this year's Boiling Stone Summit, only Chen Changsheng and his group weredeparting from the capital, but a vast force had been mobilized, even sendingtwo archbishops to personally escort them. This was because Chen Changsheng's status was no longer the same and thejourney was long. Moreover, Mount Han was not far from the land of demons, andwho knew if the demons might not move against this future Pope? With two grandexperts at the peak of Star Condensation personally standing guard, it wouldpresumably be much safer. Chen Changsheng kept his head low, focused on his book and showing no response. Tang Thirty-Six finally felt that something was off. Giving him a few pats, heasked, "What are you thinking about?" Chen Changsheng raised his head and took out two balls of fur from his ears.Somewhat vacantly, he asked, "What's wrong?" Tang Thirty-Six was quite speechless. Pointing at the paper, he said,"Shouldn't you be concerned about what sort of opponents you will face in theBoiling Stone Summit?" Chen Changsheng froze for a moment, then smiled and replied, "I don't plan tostep onto the stage." To cultivators, the Heavenstones were naturally extremely precious objects ofcomprehension, but to him and Xu Yourong, the effectiveness of this sort ofcomprehension was almost nil. The Heavenly Tome Monoliths were in their hands, so there was no need to careabout some Heavenstones. His reason for attending the Boiling Stone Summit, besides broadening hisexperiences, was to meet a few people. For example, because of ScholartreeManor's Zhong Hui, Wang Po might make an appearance at the Heaven Lake. Asanother example, Gou Hanshi and the rest of the Mount Li Sword Sect disciplesthat he had not met for so long were also coming. Or for example, she who hehad parted from not too long ago. Tang Thirty-Six replied, "That's true, you're the future Pope, so it's trulyinappropriate for you to fight with the rest of us. Moreover, you can enter theMausoleum of Books whenever you want, to see whatever Heavenly Tome Monolithyou want to see. If you want to bring your girl to look at the Heavenly TomeMonoliths together, you'll take her…" Chen Changsheng glanced at Zhexiu. Only after affirming that Zhexiu hadabsolutely no interest in their conversation did he relax. Seeing his nervous expression, Tang Thirty-Six shook his head and then placedthat list of names in Chen Changsheng's hand. "Even if you don't plan to fight,our most powerful opponents will definitely be these guys from the Mount LiSword Sect. The demi-humans will also be sending people. I hear that even XiaoDe of the Proclamation of Liberation will be coming." Upon hearing Xiao De's name, Zhexiu suddenly opened his eyes and asked,"Confirmed?" "Basically confirmed." Tang Thirty-Six creased his brow at him and asked, "Doyou have a grudge against that guy?" Zhexiu asked, "If I do, will you help me?" Tang Thirty-Six responded in a matter-of-fact manner, "Of course not, that'san expert of the Proclamation of Liberation's top five, and was I that close toyou?" …… …… On the long journey, there were fresh sights, but not many fresh stories. Chen Changsheng spent the vast majority of the time reading, cultivating, andthinking. He would treat Zhexiu's illness, and then the two would look togetherat Tang Thirty-Six who, due to his boredom, was getting sharper and unkinder bythe day. Occasionally, Mao Qiuyu would find him to chat about a few things.However, other than when they were eating in the wilderness, he actually neversaw Linghai Zhiwang. Just as summer was on the verge of departing, the convoy finally arrived atMount Han.