Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Wang Zhice became somewhat emotional as he gazed at the black stone in his hand.

This black stone had originally been his.

After the Grand Examination, Chen Changsheng had taken this stone out from the stone wall in the Lingyan Pavilion.

At the time, Wang Zhice had been acting on a whim, but also out of an evil interest, a silent jeer at Emperor Taizong.

He had not expected that after so many years, someone still knew of this secret, and that someone would get this black stone.

What happened after that was starlight bathing the capital for the night and the sudden rise in Chen Changsheng’s reputation.

Many people said that Chen Changsheng was a lot like him, whether it was in terms of talent, temperament, or encounters.

Chen Changsheng had found the objects he had hidden in the Lingyan Pavilion, so from a certain perspective, he really was his successor.

Perhaps it was for these reasons that Wang Zhice had always rather admired Chen Changsheng.

As a result, he had appeared at Mount Han and saved Chen Changsheng’s life from the Demon Lord.

Today, he had come to the capital to persuade Xu Yourong also out of the compassion he felt for Chen Changsheng.

When he snatched the black stone that Chen Changsheng had thrown over, he realized that all his efforts had been unnecessary.

Chen Changsheng had made preparations long ago, preparations to fight with his teacher.

He had chosen the ideal battleground.

It was precisely the place the black stone led to.

......

......

While Wang Zhice was looking at the black stone, the little Black Dragon was looking at him with eyes brimming with resentment.

One could only imagine how deep was the loathing that had been built up over several hundred years of imprisonment.

When she saw Chen Changsheng throw the black stone to Wang Zhice, she became very angry and let out a resentful snort.

Wang Zhice ignored her. He said to Shang Xingzhou and Chen Changsheng, "Both of you take care of yourselves."

Shang Xingzhou said nothing, his expression indifferent.

Chen Changsheng calmly bowed and then nodded at the Black Dragon in greeting.

In a gust of wind and dance of snowflakes, the little Black Dragon left the Orthodox Academy.

Shang Xingzhou turned to Chen Changsheng.

Waves began to stir despite the lack of wind, causing the thin layer of ice on the lake to crack and release a cold fog.

The lake began to rise and fall, at first a gentle complaint, and then a furious roar. The waves crashed against the shore, flinging up countless pieces of snow.

The spray from the waves, countless pearls of water, looked just like a torrential rain.

Chen Changsheng turned to Shang Xingzhou.

The eyes of master and disciple met.

There was a dull boom.

The dancing snowflakes, the cold fog, and the lake water falling in a torrential rain all went up in smoke.

Innumerable wisps of smoke flowed all across the lake, reflecting the sunlight and producing all sorts of gorgeous illusions. Even a rainbow could be glimpsed within.

When the mist and smoke settled, Chen Changsheng and Shang Xingzhou had already vanished.

Wang Zhice walked underneath the great banyan tree and silently gazed at the distant other end of the rainbow.

The Orthodox Academy truly was the ideal place for this master and disciple to fight.

But the fight had begun in the Garden of Zhou.

......

......

The Garden of Zhou was a miniature world, possessing extremely special laws.

The upper limit of the cultivation level that the Garden of Zhou could hold was based on the cultivation level of the Garden of Zhou’s master.

In Zhou Dufu’s age, his cultivation level was supreme, and so the cultivation level that the Garden of Zhou could contain could be regarded as without an upper limit.

Whether it was the previous Demon Lord, that mighty Black Frost Dragon, that dazzling youth whose talent rarely appeared even once a generation, Chen Xuanba, or any other of those exceptional experts that followed, they could all enter the Garden of Zhou, and they could even use their maximum strength. From a certain perspective, this implied, or proved in advance, that the strength of these experts could not possibly exceed Zhou Dufu’s. At most, they could draw equal to him.

After Zhou Dufu died, the Garden of Zhou lost its master, so the rules changed on their own to allow only cultivators of the Ethereal Opening Realm to enter, with any that exceeded it triggering the seals. This would lead the laws to kill the perpetrator, or backlash and trigger the collapse of the Garden of Zhou.

Now that the Garden of Zhou was in Chen Changsheng’s hands, it had restored its upper bound to the peak of Star Condensation.

In the last few years, when he was facing the Demon Lord in Mount Han or in the snowy mountains, or when he was facing any other Divine Domain expert, Chen Changsheng had never attempted to use the Garden of Zhou to hold his opponent. Other than the fact that he was worried that these Divine Domain experts might have a grasp over the laws of space, he was even more worried that the Garden of Zhou might collapse...

Precisely as it almost did when the Golden-winged Great Peng and the dragon of ten thousand swords clashed.

Today’s circumstances were completely different.

This was an arranged fight.

By agreeing to enter the Garden of Zhou, Shang Xingzhou had agreed to the conditions.

He would suppress his cultivation level to below the Divine Domain.

In this way, he would not suffer an attack from the laws of the Garden of Zhou, and the Garden of Zhou would not risk the danger of collapsing.

More importantly, master and disciple would be put on the same level.

The two sides were competing in terms of Dao, battle prowess, and intelligence.

This was a fair battle.

......

......

The first to notice the warping of space within the Orthodox Academy were Wang Po and the Prince of Xiang.

After them were the three elders of Mount Li’s Sword Hall who had once guarded that rainbow.

More and more people began to realize that something had happened in the Orthodox Academy.

The silence brought on by shock and surprise did not last too long. At last, the stillness in Hundred Flowers Lane was broken.

The Prince of Zhongshan coldly laughed while several Divine Generals revealed expressions of scorn.

The sound of a cup shattering came from a tea house. It sounded like it had been broken out of anger.

That Chen Changsheng was the master of the Garden of Zhou had ceased to be a secret a long time ago.

Logically speaking, he could use the laws of the Garden of Zhou in his battle, giving him a massive advantage.

But still no one would believe that he could defeat Shang Xingzhou.

An entire cultivation realm lay between them.

Even if Shang Xingzhou suppressed his cultivation to below the Divine Domain...

This gap still remained.

To exist was to exist, and it would not just vanish for any random reason.

Whether in experience, intelligence, insight, or any other domain, Shang Xingzhou far surpassed Chen Changsheng.

How could a person who had once walked across a vast ocean not be able to stride over a small stream?

Would someone who had climbed the highest mountain forget how to walk upon returning to the ground?

It was just like the little Black Dragon. Although she had not yet matured and formally entered the Divine Domain, several of her attributes were innately Divine, so she could be considered invincible beneath the Divine Domain.

A Shang Xingzhou who had voluntarily suppressed his cultivation to below the Divine Domain was a similar existence, perhaps even more frightening.

How could Chen Changsheng defeat him? More importantly, even if Chen Changsheng had hidden some mystical strategies within the Garden of Zhou, if he really did reach a critical juncture, Shang Xingzhou was completely capable of forcing his way out of the Garden of Zhou. When that time came, what could Chen Changsheng do?

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......

The questions occupying the minds of the crowd had naturally been thoroughly pondered by the participants, Chen Changsheng and Shang Xingzhou.

At this moment, they were standing in front of Sunset Valley.

The distant red sun was slowly walking along the perimeter of the grassy plains, painting the cliffs red.

Many extraordinary characters had come to this place.

Zhou Dufu, Chen Xuanba, the owner of the Mountain Sea Sword, and many others.

Many miracles had taken place here.

One was when Xu Yourong was about to die, and her Phoenix soul had awakened once more.

"You want to create a miracle, but this place proved long ago that there are no miracles."

Shang Xingzhou continued, "Xi Ke lost, the grandmaster of Mount Li lost, and Chen Xuanba also lost. Zhou Dufu was always the winner."

If one claimed that there really was such a thing as fate, then the annotation of ’fate’ would be that the strong would always be strong. In the face of true strength, hot blood, desire, dreams, ideals, persistence, courage, sacrifice, and all those other fine-sounding words were utterly meaningless.

Chen Changsheng said, "Master, you said that I couldn’t live past the age of twenty, but I did it."

Shang Xingzhou said, "But that also depended on her strength."

"But that is not fate. At least, it is not the fate you arranged for me."

Chen Changsheng gazed down at the plains below Shang Xingzhou, at the water grass that flourished after three years, at the monsters roaming in and out of the grass. He was quiet for a while, then he turned back to Shang Xingzhou and said, "I declare this a miracle."

Shang Xingzhou calmly looked at him and asked, "Is that so?"

With a flutter of his sleeve, he raised his left hand.

Five steady and slender fingers pointed at Chen Changsheng.

A cool breeze rustled the old trees of Sunset Valley.

It was a beautiful sight, but Chen Changsheng felt an incredible danger.

His hand immediately went for his hilt.

He was prepared to take out the Stainless Sword and hold it in front of his chest, using the Stupid Sword that he had not used in so long.

He was wearing Zhexiu’s clothes, so his sleeves were very short.

His shoulders had been relaxed this entire time.

In the entire continent, no one other than Liu Qing was faster than him at striking with the sword.

If even this was still not enough, he had even faster swords.

Just a thought would cause the several thousand swords in his sheath to pour out and form a sea of swords.

Let alone Shang Xingzhou suppressed to below the Divine Domain, even Shang Xingzhou at his normal level of strength could not instantly break the South Stream Temple sword array.

As long as he was given a few moments, he could find an opportunity.

And yet...

His hand could not fall upon his hilt.

Several thousand swords failed to soar through the air and form the South Stream Temple sword array.

Because his sword had vanished.

Both the Stainless Sword and its sheath were no longer there.

The cool breeze running through Sunset Valley ruffled his empty belt.

In the next moment...

A sword appeared in Shang Xingzhou’s hand.

His fingers were slender and steady, acting like this sword had always been his.

"Everything of yours belongs to me, including this sword and sheath."

Shang Xingzhou calmly asked, "How could you possibly defeat me?"

The gentle breeze lingered, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Clouds emerged from beneath Shang Xingzhou’s feet.

Shang Xingzhou floated up to Chen Changsheng, his right hand descending.

His palm seemed ordinary and unremarkable, but it seemed in accord with the laws of the world, seemingly unavoidable.

Chen Changsheng could not avoid it.

Shang Xingzhou’s palm landed against his stomach.

There was a light clap.

Chen Changsheng was jolted off the cliff.

An arc was drawn in the sky outside Sunset Valley.

It was like a falling leaf or a stone was silently dropping toward the plains several li away.