Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1105 – A Strength Above Laws

The Mausoleum of Zhou spanned the space between the heavens and earth, and it also spanned the distance between Shang Xingzhou and Chen Changsheng.

They were separated by several hundred zhang, each a black dot in the eyes of the other.

But they could clearly make out each other’s faces and the emotions in their eyes.

They didn’t even need to look to know what the other was thinking.

No matter how much they had treated each other like strangers in the last few years, they were still a master and disciple that had lived together in that old temple for ten-some years.

After some time, Shang Xingzhou finally said, “He is already dead.”

Chen Changsheng replied, “I don’t know how your story from back then ended, but I know that his body is not inside this mausoleum.”

Shang Xingzhou said, “Given that reckless brute’s personality, if he were still alive, how could he stand to remain silent and not make trouble?”

Chen Changsheng was quiet for a while, and then he said, “Yes, he’s probably dead, or else Emperor Taizong would not have been at ease.”

“Was this your final move? Using him to scare me?”

Shang Xingzhou derided, “Truly childish.”

Chen Changsheng admitted, “Yes, I just wanted to scare you.”

Shang Xingzhou asked, “Was it interesting?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Master’s look just now truly was very interesting.”

After this, he gave a delighted smile.

To him, this was a very rare emotion.

From this, one could determine that he was speaking the truth.

The truth was always the most hurtful.

From Xining Village to the capital, whether it was that nanny, maid, and madam in the Divine General of the East’s estate, or the students of the Ivy Academies, including Tang Thirty-Six, they had all been hurt by the truth of Chen Changsheng’s words. Even though Shang Xingzhou was his master, he still found it rather hard to endure.

Shang Xingzhou’s gaze turned even colder.

He looked at Chen Changsheng, standing at the end of the mausoleum path, and took a step forward.

In the Garden of Zhou, he could not use the strength of laws that belonged to the Divine Domain, so he naturally could not disregard space.

He could not directly appear in front of Chen Changsheng.

In truth, the distance of his one step was precisely one step’s worth.

Wind stirred beneath his feet.

His blue Daoist robes were blown straight.

Several hundred flickering streams of light traveled along the path and toward the main gate of the Mausoleum of Zhou.

The gale exploded, causing dust to rise from the surrounding wasteland, gradually obscuring the sky and dimming the world.

Hacking sounds, dense yet distinct, could be heard from within the gloomy world.

The surface of the mausoleum path and the massive stones lining it were covered in countless straight and deep scars.

These massive stones visibly began to blacken, then soften, and then be blown away by the wind as the finest gravel.

Those streams of light seemed ordinary, but they were in harmony with the laws of the world, the physical manifestations of Daoist techniques. They were imbued with unimaginable power.

Shang Xingzhou had struck with all his might, tens of thousands of Daos contained within. How could Chen Changsheng oppose them?

On the other side of the plains, the Monster Bull and the Mountain-toppling Fiend slowly stood up, turning into two small mountains.

Strangely, these two terrifying giants did not go to Chen Changsheng’s aid. Instead, they retreated into the dust storm enveloping the world.

The barrier that was the Mausoleum of Zhou meant that Shang Xingzhou could not see this, nor could he see what was revealed after the Monster Bull and Mountain-toppling Fiend left.

The two giant beasts had been lying to the north of the Mausoleum of Zhou precisely in order to obstruct the ground here.

Here were four objects that seemed like sacrificial altars. They were already in a terrible state, but one could still tell that they had once served as plinths for monoliths.

Suddenly, the fierce gales ravaging the wasteland and the even farther grasslands suddenly vanished, as did the dust that they had stirred.

The warm sun once more appeared at the edge of the plains, quietly suspended in the sky.

The Mausoleum of Zhou had become absolutely still.

Those tens of thousands of Daos that represented the supreme principles of the world suddenly disappeared.

The string noiselessly snapped, and four stone pearls dropped down from Chen Changsheng’s wrist and began to roll down the slope of the mausoleum path.

Those stone pearls looked very ordinary, devoid of any special traits. Nothing mystical happened when they dropped down. They just began to roll along the mausoleum path, lightly clacking against the massive stones. It seemed like they might drop into the gaps between the massive stones, where they would no longer be able to roll out or might even be smashed into powder by the fall.

In terms of probability or law, these were both very likely outcomes.

But none of these things happened.

The four stone pearls rolled over the mausoleum path and over the massive stones. They seemed random and without purpose, but they were rolling with remarkable precision toward the four sacrificial altars on the north side of the Mausoleum of Zhou. It was like these stone pearls had their own will, their own goal.

As time passed, in this seemingly both random and orderly way, the accident became the inevitable, in complete defiance of the laws of the world.

Perhaps it was because these four stone pearls had always been existences above laws?

……

……

It was completely unreasonable, yet it also felt like this was the only proper course of action.

The four stone pearls arrived at the base of the Mausoleum of Zhou and split up to travel to the four sacrificial altars.

The wind abruptly stirred once more. Accompanied by a sense of vastness and distance, four monoliths appeared in the world.

The earth quaked and the monsters in the plains howled with some sort of unknown meaning.

The surface of these black monoliths was smooth and carved with incomprehensible lines seemingly imbued with a void-like magic.

These were the Heavenly Tome Monoliths that Zhou Dufu had taken from the Mausoleum of Books.

The wind in the sky and the plains began to pour into the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, vanishing into some unknown place.

Innumerable bits of grass and stone followed, but they did not disappear.

It was like time was reversing as the dirt gradually wrapped around the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, making them into stone pillars, their surfaces seemingly eroded by the wind and rain.

Shang Xingzhou looked at Chen Changsheng and said, “As expected, these Heavenly Tome Monoliths ended up in your hands.”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Yes.”

Other than the two reasons he had spoken of before, he had chosen to challenge Shang Xingzhou in the Garden of Zhou because of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths.

At his current level, he simply could not comprehend the ultimate mystery of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, so he naturally could not use them.

When facing the Demon Lord in the snowy mountains and the Angel of Sacred Light in White Emperor City, he had only been able to use the Heavenly Tome Monoliths as indestructible weapons of infinite weight.

Only in the Garden of Zhou could he use at least a part of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths’ true power.

This was because of the sacrificial altars and array that Zhou Dufu had set up here.

The Heavenly Tome Monoliths were not stable in their stone pillar state. Their surfaces were constantly cracking and repairing.

Timeworn and ancient Qis were emerging from these cracks, transforming into terrifying streams of light.

These streams of light drifted down from the sky, down to where Shang Xingzhou was standing.

“You think that this can defeat me?”

Shang Xingzhou slapped his palm.

He was standing on the ground, but his hand seemed to touch the dome of the heavens.

There was a light clap.

The streaming lights flowed across the curtain of the heavens.

Shang Xingzhou’s complexion was rather pale, but he remained indifferent.

“It is now time for you to choose.”

Amidst the flowing lights, several fine cracks appeared on the sky.

The frightened yowls of the monster packs could be heard from deep within the plains, perhaps because they had recalled the near-apocalypse from several years ago.

If Chen Changsheng continued to use the Heavenly Tome Monoliths to attack Shang Xingzhou, he was highly likely to win.

But the Garden of Zhou might also be destroyed before this happened.

This was the choice Chen Changsheng had to make.

At this moment, he truly missed those swords.