Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Tang Thirty-Six did not leave with Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong.

He stood in front of the gate of the Orthodox Academy, watching as the dense crowd swiftly dispersed like a retreating tide.

Hundred Flowers Lane quickly regained its usual calm.

Su Moyu led the teachers and students back to the Orthodox Academy.

When they saw the ruins of the Maple Forest Pavilion, the toppled walls, the complete mess of the forest, and the clear evidence of the battle, the teachers and students imagined the heaven-shocking battle that had taken place not too long ago and couldn’t help but be rather perturbed, feeling like all of it had just been a dream.

Of course, it was a good dream, because the Orthodox Academy currently belonged to the Li Palace’s side.

Su Moyu paid no attention to the agitated moods of the teachers and students, nor was he in a rush to begin arranging repairs. He was more concerned with another matter.

"Is everything okay?"

He stared into Tang Thirty-Six’s eyes and said, "I noticed that his eyes were really red."

He was naturally referring to Chen Changsheng here. Su Moyu was worried that his wounds might have been too heavy.

Tang Thirty-Six threw up his hands in speechlessness as he thought, how could I tell you that Chen Changsheng and His Majesty were crying on each other’s shoulders?

......

......

In a quiet hall, water gurgled into a pool. A ladle aimlessly drifted on the surface like an unmanned ferry.

Wang Zhice took his gaze away from the pool and out of the hall.

The sun had not gone down yet, so he could clearly make out the surroundings in its light, but he did not see Daoist Wu.

A hint of white appeared between the heavens and earth, pure and holy, like both snow and a lotus. This was Xu Yourong.

She stood in front of the door to the Great Hall of Light, her head tilted as she peered inside, her appearance very cute.

Linghai Zhiwang and the others accompanied her, silent and prepared to fight.

Several years ago, a similar sight had taken place.

Chen Changsheng had just returned from Mount Han with a severely wounded body and was speaking with the Pope in that quiet hall.

At the time, Xu Yourong had been ready at any time to fight.

It was clear today that she was also prepared to fight at any moment.

Even if the one sitting across from Chen Changsheng today was Wang Zhice.

......

......

In the Orthodox Academy, when Chen Changsheng seemed about to fall to Shang Xingzhou’s sword, Xu Yourong was compelled to move, but she was blocked by Wang Zhice.

But Wang Zhice had deeply admired her response at the time. If he was not mistaken, she had used the Divine Finger of the Worldstream.

"What I admire most is that she actually did not devote all her time and energy to Big Brother’s blade style. You are the same."

Wang Zhice spoke with heartfelt sincerity.

Because he was well aware of how terrifying the Halving Blade Style was.

It was not merely because he and Zhou Dufu were sworn brothers, a matter that the entire continent knew and had already been recorded in the history books.

Did Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong not know? Of course they knew.

In that year, while he and Wang Po were walking along the Luo River, he had displayed Zhou Dufu’s blade intent. Wang Po had used this to break through and slay Tie Shu with a single slash of his blade.

The Halving Blade Style was currently in his and Xu Yourong’s hands.

In possessing the Halving Blade Style, they could continue Zhou Dufu’s legacy, possibly becoming the second supreme expert beneath the starry sky!

How could any normal cultivator resist this temptation?

They would undoubtedly spend every day diligently cultivating that blade style, spending all their time and life upon it.

But Chen Changsheng did not do this, nor did Xu Yourong. Other than when they studied it together in the Mausoleum of Books, they never again arranged to meet solely for the purpose of cultivating the Halving Blade Style. It was something they even often forgot.

"The Halving Blade Style is too fierce. It feels a little uncomfortable."

This was the explanation that Chen Changsheng gave to Wang Zhice.

He thought some more and added, "And besides, we have our own Dao, and it’s also quite excellent."

The composure with which this answer had been delivered originated from self-confidence.

This was what Wang Zhice admired the most, and also what confused him the most.

From the Mausoleum of Books to the Sword Pool to the Garden of Zhou, all these lucky encounters had failed to effect any change on Chen Changsheng’s mind.

Who could treat the Heavenly Tome Monoliths like stone pearls and casually wear them on their wrist?

He and Xu Yourong were so young, but where did their self-confidence come from that they could treat the world so calmly and leisurely?

"This world is ours, and it is also yours, but in the end, it will be yours."

Wang Zhice looked at him and said, "I originally believed that all of you were still young and could wait until we grew old, that there was no need for you to take such risks."

Chen Changsheng understood that he was explaining why he had accepted Shang Xingzhou’s invitation to appear in the capital.

He didn’t know what to say.

Because the person giving the explanation was called Wang Zhice.

This fact was truly liable to make one feel frustrated and helpless.

......

......

Xu Yourong turned around to peer at those black eaves deep amongst the palace halls.

Upon confirming that the conversation in the hall was proceeding very smoothly, she would naturally not break through the stone wall and ignite her Phoenix flames. Linghai Zhiwang and the others had also dispersed.

For her to hear Wang Zhice’s words at this moment was naturally because Wang Zhice wanted her to hear them.

These words caused her brows to rise like flames prepared to burn the heavens.

A silhouette of a person was reflected in her eyes.

"It looks to me that your will to fight has still not completely vanished."

Mo Yu smiled at her. "After so many years, you still like to fight."

Other than her, Prince Chen Liu, and Ping, all of whom had grown up with her, very few people knew of Xu Yourong’s real personality.

Xu Yourong looked at her and said, "I also see nothing but discontent in your eyes."

"For all the countless preparations you and I made to miss the mark, it’s hard to not feel a little uncomfortable."

Mo Yu shrugged her shoulders as she said this, appearing to not care very much.

Such simple words concealed a storm of blood.

If not for Chen Changsheng’s seemingly naive and silly plans, rivers of blood really might have flowed through the capital today.

"Your man really is quite good."

Mo Yu sighed, "It’s a pity about Lord Wang."

Xu Yourong teased, "You still think that he’s really like in the books?"

When she was still a child and Mo Yu was a teenaged girl, they had obsessed many times over Wang Zhice while studying.

There were far too many young girls like this in the world. In their view, Lord Wang was assuredly someone that dwelled above the clouds, living off dew.

If they could really see him, they would learn that such an exiled celestial did not exist.

He was just an old man, rather lamentable, even uninteresting, who knew how to compromise.

While Mo Yu and Xu Yourong were talking about Wang Zhice...

Wang Zhice heard a sentence.

This sentence was a response to his explanation.

It was unyielding and straightforward.

"Since this world is destined to be ours, why do none of you retreat? Why must the young wait?

"If we wait too long, we will also become uninteresting elders like you.

"Then wouldn’t that mean that the world will always be yours?"

It was not Chen Changsheng, and it was not Tang Thirty-Six.

The speaker was Linghai Zhiwang.

With a glance, Wang Zhice recognized that he was an archbishop.

A so-called Prefect of the Orthodoxy was not even worth his gaze.

But one matter did catch his gaze and became very difficult to ignore.

Linghai Zhiwang was very young.

Of the Prefects of the Orthodoxy, he was the youngest.

Tang Thirty-Six had said something like this before.

’To be young is to be correct.’

Wang Zhice pondered these words and said, "This is reasonable."

......

......

A carriage galloped out of the Li Palace.

The somewhat deformed wheels let out unpleasant sounds as they rolled against the hard stones of the plaza, and they looked incredibly shabby.

The bloodstains on the gray stones had been washed away long ago.

Daoist Wu’s angry howls came out from the carriage.

"I’m going to kill all of you!

"You lot of bastards dared to treat this old man like this!"

No one responded to Daoist Wu’s curses.

Not a single person, because the plaza had been cleared ages ago.

This was an expression of the Li Palace’s respect.

Linghai Zhiwang stood under the eaves, watching the carriage gallop away with a calm expression.

An Hua stood beside him. As she thought about what she had done today and listened to those curses, her face paled, her expression rather helpless.

Daoist Wu’s rage came from defeat, but also because he had not felt any respect while in the Li Palace.

According to common sense, no matter the outcome, an elder of his seniority should have received respect.

And he was representing Wang Zhice.

But there was none.

From Chen Changsheng to Xu Yourong, from Linghai Zhiwang to An Hua, from Wang Po to Mo Yu, none of them said anything.

Perhaps this represented the end of a generation.

That generation.

Daoist Wu was extremely angry, but he was even more disappointed. Wang Zhice, on the other hand, was very calm, even relieved.

Because he had sensed a certain energy today.

It had once been a very familiar energy, but after the founding of the Great Zhou, it gradually began to fade into the distance.

It was a somewhat crude energy that easily made one feel unhappy. It had no laws, but it did have an extremely lively vigor that was extremely moving.

A thousand years ago, the world was in chaos, the government in shambles, the demons invading from the north. The people had no means to live while the roads were paved with white bones.

And then, the wildflowers bloomed.

Zhou Dufu, Chen Xuanba, Chen Jiexing, Shang Xingzhou, the Prince of Chu, Ding Zhongshan, Li Mi’er, Qin Zhong, Yu Gong, and the other people in the Lingyan Pavilion.

And there was also him.

They had all been very young back then, but who had they respected? Who had they feared?

It turned out that that generation had never ended.

It was still that generation now.

The generation of youths.