Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Nora

Silence.

Xue He’s left arm was already severed, and he was covered in fresh blood from chest to shoulder.

His face was pale and his right hand held onto the blade which was placed upon Chen Changsheng’s neck

Chen Changsheng’s head was not chopped off.

Xue He’s blade energy was already exhausted, unable to continue forwards anymore.

Between the edge of the blade and Chen Changsheng’s neck, an old umbrella appeared at some moment.

A rather tired voice uttered, “You have lost.”

The old umbrella was in Su Li’s hand, and the voice originated from his mouth.

Xue He pulled back the blade, and slowly, but heavily took two steps back. He looked at Su Li with a pale complexion and asked with a slight frustration, “This... is that Yellow Paper Umbrella?”

Afterwards, he looked at Chen Changsheng who was still in front of the carriage. He looked at the teenager covered in dust and confirmed that his head was still on his neck. The frustrated emotions on his face increased, and he mumbled, “How is he so sturdy?”

Previously, when he had chopped down with that blade, despite the destruction of his Blade Domain, he had concentrated all his cultivation and struck out with the full strength of a Star Condensation expert. Even if Su Li exceeded expectations and still had some battle power, even if the Yellow Paper Umbrella could block all sharp edges in the world, it would still have been unable to stop the transfer of force. Logically, no matter what, Chen Changsheng’s neck should have been chopped off, but looking at it now, it was actually completely unharmed.

Xue He was very confused. Just what material was the teenager’s body made of, actually even more exaggerated than a perfect Purification by countless times.

Suddenly, the carriage collapsed. It turned into countless fragments, which formed a pile half a foot tall on the ground below the carriage.

Su Li fell on the ground and coughed several times from the dust. He waved his hand without stop.

Chen Changsheng stood up with great difficulty, and place his dagger horizontally in front of himself, ready to try and receive Xue He’s next attack. At this moment, he was in terrible pain, and his sea of consciousness had been shaken to the point where it could collapse at any moment. The world before his eyes was a blur, and he could fall unconscious at any moment. Fortunately, Su Li’s gaze was very accurate, so he could see through the blade moves, and point out the only flaw in Xue He’s Blade Domain with no difficulty. If he said Xue He was defeated, Xue He must have been truly defeated.

Chen Changsheng’s dagger had caused a deep wound through his armor. Although he was unable to break through his true essence defense and pierce the heart, the sword energy of the Burning Heaven Sword had already completely shattered the meridians on the left half of his body. Xue He no longer had the power to battle. If he could leave there alive, who knew how long it would take him before he could recover his strength.

Xue He covered the area of his severed limb that constantly bled with his other hand. He looked at Chen Changsheng, and his emotions were complicated. No matter how he imagined it, he never would have thought he would actually suffer defeat under the dagger of this teenager.

Suddenly, he thought of a certain possibility. His expression changed slightly and he asked, “You are... Chen Changsheng?”

Chen Changsheng had just come back from a waltz at the edge of death, so he was still rather distracted. The strength of Xue He’s blade was still wreaking havoc in his sea of consciousness, so he was unable to hear him clearly at all.

Xue He thought that he was silently admitting it, and could not help but stare blankly. He wanted to say something, but could not say anything in the end. He turned his gaze at Su Li and said, “I never thought that Sir Su Li can still strike with a sword. My journey really has brought disgrace to my name.”

Su Li raised an eyebrow and responded in a rather unsatisfied manner, “This is only an umbrella, not a sword. If I struck with a sword and you were still able to stand, it’ll be me who should feel disgraced.”

Xue He stayed silent for a while, and discovered that what Su Li had said was irrefutable. He stayed silent for a while again, and then asked for guidance sincerely, “Sir, is my blade really not as great as Wang Po’s?”

Of the thirty-eight Divine Generals of the continent, very few people used the blade, and none of them used the blade as well as Xue He. However, in the continent, there was another expert who used the blade, and was believed to be the strongest blade-user after Zhou Dufu. That person was Wang Po of Tianliang. Whenever people mentioned Xue He, they would praise that his blade was incredible, but they had to include a sentence, that it was just not as great as Wang Po’s.

Today, Xue He had come to kill Su Li, but in the moment where his life was about to end, the matter that he could not let go the most was not Su Li’s death, nor his own death, but this matter.

He wanted to hear what Su Li had to say about it, and only like this could he pass away peacefully, or in other words, convinced.

“You obviously aren’t as great as Wang Po, no matter in the blade or in person.” Su Li did not give the Divine General at the brink of death any comfort or warmth, and said very directly.

Xue He did not become angry, and asked for guidance seriously, “Why is that?”

Su Li said, “Wang Po only uses one blade, and you use seven, so you obviously aren’t as great as him.”

It was as if Xue He finally understood something, and knew that if he understood what he had said, he would definitely have had a great advancement on the path of the blade. Just when he began to feel happy, he suddenly remembered that he was about to die, so he could not help but laugh at himself.

Chen Changsheng was knocked rather absent-minded by the blade, and finally slowly regained his senses at this moment.

Su Li did not speak, and nor did Xue He. There was silence.

He looked at Xue He and then looked at Su Li. He asked with some frustration, “Next... what do I do?”

Su Li looked at him like an idiot and retorted, “What to do next? Obviously quickly kill him, and then continue our journey.”

Xue He looked at Chen Changsheng and also felt very baffled. He thought, boy, what are you waiting for?

“Ah? Senior, you want me to kill him?” Chen Changsheng felt the most baffling person was actually Su Li.

Su Li stared into his eyes and said, “Perhaps you are still prepared for me to take action?”

Xue He said slightly angrily, “Perhaps you want me to take action myself?”

Chen Changsheng stared blankly and said, “Isn’t it possible for everyone to do nothing? Does there have to be killing?”

It became silent once again. A breeze blew past the green fields.

After a very long time of silence, Su Li sighed regretfully, “My understanding of current young people is becoming less and less.”

Xue He nodded his head in agreement.

Chen Changsheng looked at Xue He and said, “My Lord, can you treat it as if this has never happened today... Yes, what I mean is, is it possible for you to not hold a grudge?”

Xue He suddenly felt that the teenager was very pleasing to his eyes. No wonder his elder brother had said this teenager was very pleasing to the eye. The more he looked at him, the more pleasing he became. He said, “You have spared my life, I will remember this kindness.”

Chen Changsheng looked at Su Li, and used his gaze to express doubt.

Su Li was very annoyed and said, “Since you aren’t acting, what are you waiting for? Go.”

Chen Changsheng collected the six swords off the ground and returned them to his sheath. Afterwards, he put his fingers in his mouth, and whistled twice.

His whistling skills were not good, and the whistles he made were rather flat, not pleasant in the slightest and it did not travel far. Fortunately, the two furry deer had not run far away, and came over after hearing the sound.

Chen Changsheng placed Su Li on the back of one furry deer, and then rode on the back of the other furry deer.

Seeing the two people and the furry deer that slowly disappeared into the green wilderness, Xue He said nothing. It was unknown as to what he was thinking.

Su Li sat on the furry deer and said while looking at Chen Changsheng, “I really have to give it to you.”

Chen Changsheng smiled rather embarrassingly and said, “Senior, you’re too polite.”

Su Li forcefully withheld his anger and retorted, “Polite your eighteenth ancestor, am I talking about that?”

“Why are you giving it to me then?”

Su Li said, “Are all the young people these days as stupid as you?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Are you saying... I didn’t kill him? I think that if it was Gou Hanshi, he would also not have acted.”

Su Li sneered, “It’s very difficult for a soft-hearted individual to become great. If the future of the Human race are guys like you, then what future would we have? We’d definitely become extinct due to the demons.”

Chen Changsheng thought about it and said, “Isn’t it because that I am such a person that Senior is willing to teach me, and wants me to become the next Pope?”

Su Li went silent for a while and then said, “It seems... rather logical. But have you never thought Xue He will reveal our tracks? And take revenge against you in the future?”

Chen Changsheng said, “I haven’t thought about it in detail... Senior, if you are able to return to Mount Li alive, who would be daring enough to take revenge against me?”

Su Li said, “Hidden in the sorghum is an assassin. It’s possible that he will kill Xue He, and then kill you. Have you ever thought about this?”

Chen Changsheng turned around and looked at him. He replied with surprise, “This... I really haven’t thought about it.”

Su Li looked at his bright, clear eyes, and suddenly did not want to continue with the topic anymore. He sighed emotionally, “How can I hope for a guy like you to become Pope?”

For some reason, Chen Changsheng felt slightly sorry for him and comforted, “Senior’s insight should never be wrong.”

TL: Insight (眼光) can also be gaze or vision, hence the play on words with the title, as well as the previous few chapters.