Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Sword intent crisscrossed, sword glows flowed like water. This was the hall in which the people of the Orthodoxy resided, but now it was under the control of Holy Maiden Peak.

Several hundred people stood outside, the Orthodoxy's people standing at the very front. Upon hearing this female disciple from South Stream Temple's declaration, their faces put on nasty expressions. They asked, "Just what does the Holy Maiden want to do?"

This was the question that everyone wanted answered.

The crowd had still not completely awoken from their shock. In the first place, why had Chen Changsheng suddenly fallen unconscious? Could it be that he had failed in breaking through and the star radiance had flowed in reverse? But at the time, everyone had clearly seen that he had succeeded in condensing his own Star Domain. In the past records, there really had been no other cultivator who had experienced this sort of problem.

The second point was the appearance of Holy Maiden Xu Yourong. Just when everyone else was too late to respond and could only look on in shock as the Heavenly Dao Sword descended, she surpassed the expectations of all by appearing on the platform and not hesitating to suffer a heavy wound to block that strike for Chen Changsheng. How had she been able to anticipate this strike? Why had she been willing to block it for Chen Changsheng?

The story of the engagement had circulated throughout the continent for quite some time. Everyone knew of the grievances and resentments that existed between the Divine General of the East's estate and Chen Changsheng, everyone knew that she and Chen Changsheng were enemies, even regarding them as predestined rivals. Yet she had embraced Chen Changsheng to her chest and gazed at him as if nothing else in the world existed, revealing feelings of helplessness and fragility. Who dared to continue believing in those rumors?

Zhexiu was not thinking of these questions, he was only thinking about Chen Changsheng's current situation. To be pushed back by the sword array laid down by the disciples of South Stream Temple was a matter he could not accept. The only reason he did not continue to charge forward was that Tang Thirty-Six stood in his way.

There were very few people in the world that knew of Xu Yourong and Chen Changsheng's relationship, and Tang Thirty-Six was one of them.

Now, the Elder of Heavenly Secrets also knew, or perhaps he had merely confirmed his speculations, because he was now within this building, gazing at Xu Yourong.

Xu Yourong sat by the couch, no longer as panicked and helpless as she was before, already back to her customary calm.

But her beautiful appearance was still written over with worry and concern, her usual bright beauty greatly dimmed.

Her hand softly held Chen Changsheng's hand.

Seeing this sight, the Elder of Heavenly Secrets mentally sighed.

Chen Changsheng was still not awake.

Xu Yourong gazed at the Elder of Heavenly Secrets. She did not speak, but her question was clear.

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets shook his head, saying, "His meridians are already severed. No medicine or stone can recover that."

Chen Changsheng was the successor to the Pope, the future of the Orthodoxy. No matter what sort of relationship the Elder of Heavenly Secrets had with the Pope, he could not stand by and see something happen to Chen Changsheng on Mount Han. The countless precious medicines accrued by The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had long been delivered within, and a pile of crystals was stacked next to his body, but none of it had any effect on his wounds.

Anyone hearing this would probably feel despair, but Xu Yourong's expression remained calm. She asked, "How many places were severed?"

The human body contained seventy-two meridians and three hundred and sixty-five Qi openings.

As the Holy Maiden who had been cultivating since she was a child, she knew more than anyone else the position and directions of these meridians and Qi openings, and also clearly understood the serious consequences of these meridians being severed.

She was very concerned about Chen Changsheng's situation, but she had to clarify the situation even more clearly so that future treatment could be more focused.

After a very long silence, the Elder of Heavenly Secrets said, "All of them."

"All of them?" Xu Yourong repeated.

Her delicate, thin, and supple brows arched upwards, seeming like swords.

Her eyes as bright as limpid autumn waters narrowed, also like swords.

She did not trust in the words of the Elder of Heavenly Secrets. Even if Chen Changsheng failed in breaking through and the star radiance flowed backwards, based on the records and medical cases of the past with similar situations, no matter how severe the backlash suffered by the cultivator, it was impossible for all the meridians to be severed in such a short time.

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets explained, "His meridians have always had problems. I faintly knew of it in the past, but I did not expect for the problem to be so severe."

Xu Yourong gazed to Chen Changsheng on the couch, gazed at his closely shut eyes, his pale cheeks. She asked, "Just what sort of problem is there with his meridians?"

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets replied, "His innate sun wheel was destroyed in the womb, blocking and rupturing his meridians. Simultaneously, the walls of his meridians were also made much weaker than a normal person's."

Xu Yourong fell silent for a very long time at these words, the gaze she aimed at Chen Changsheng now tinged with pity.

"Why would a problem occur at this time?"

"I also did not expect for his problem to break out at this point. It now seems to me that when he broke through and the star radiance poured in, it directly broke the walls of his meridians."

"This problem…why had he never attempted to resolve it before?"

"This is an illness, and there is no cure."

"There is no such thing as an illness without a cure," Xu Yourong calmly replied as she gazed at the unconscious Chen Changsheng.

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets looked at her with a hint of pity, saying, "This is an illness he has had since he was in the womb—this is his fate."

The world had no illness that could not be cured?

It did—it was fate.

……

……

The stone seal appeared intermittently in the wind and snow.

The Demon Lord stood at the highest point of Xuelao City, looking over the country that he led. His expression was extremely indifferent, the broken mountains and rivers on his face already faded.

In the snowstorm, a thin and small figure slowly approached and then knelt before him.

"Rise," the Demon Lord emotionlessly said.

She stood up, her expression even more indifferent than the Demon Lord's, her voice even colder. "Imperial Father, I want to go to the capital."

As she said these words, she thought of those encounters in the Garden of Zhou, those words Chen Changsheng had said to her, and she subconsciously creased her brow.

In this way, the wide distance between her two eyes seemed to slightly shrink.

"Denied," the Demon Lord impassively declared as he gazed at his daughter.

Nanke's expression did not change. "Chen Changsheng will return to the capital."

The Demon Lord listened in silence.

Just a moment ago, the persimmon on that persimmon tree he had brought back from the stream in Mount Han had ripened, fallen to the white jade steps, and smashed into a pool of fruity pulp. It had looked just like a crushed head.

Only because he had sensed this did he come into the snowstorm to view his country, to ponder matters related to longevity (Changsheng).

His longevity as well as that human called Changsheng.

"I'm very curious to see just who will eat that fruit in the end."

The Demon Lord continued, "No person can resist that allure, just like your elder brother."

The aroma exuded by the ripened fruit was just like the throne of the Demon Lord which represented supreme authority.

Nanke calmly replied, "I will kill him."

It was unknown whether the 'him' here was referring to Chen Changsheng or that elder brother of hers.

……

……

Daoist Ji and Yu Ren entered the capital and also didn't enter the capital.

They had gone to the Mausoleum of Books. In an apple tree grove on the east face of the mausoleum, they had found a thatched hut to temporarily stay in.

Perhaps it was because of the existence of the Mausoleum of Books, but nobody in the capital sensed the return of this party which was involved with that bloody incident in the Orthodox Academy.

The Mausoleum Guardian sitting under the pavilion at the end of the Divine Path, the number one Divine General of the continent, Han Qing, also seemed to be asleep.

Summer was quietly passing and autumn was on the verge of arrival.

Yu Ren went outside the grove to the abandoned garden nearby to pick some peppers. Because it was difficult for him to walk, he didn't walk far before he grew tired and extended his hand to lean against a tree for a brief rest.

With just this gentle touch, quite a few apples fell from the tree and rolled around. They must have been quite ripe already.

Yu Ren showed an expression of joy, crouching down to pick an apple and have his master try it later tonight.

However, the moment his hand touched the apple, his expression changed.

For some reason beyond his understanding, he felt a deep sadness.

He suddenly greatly missed his junior brother.

……

……

The Heavenly Tome Monoliths were the source of all the Orthodoxy's knowledge.

The starry sky was the focus of all the Orthodoxy's drive.

They were all fate.

The faithful could not help but feel reverence for them.

Holy Maiden Peak was the true successor to the Orthodoxy's southern faction and was naturally no exception.

Xu Yourong had received these teachings since she was a child and these beliefs had long since sunken into her bones. She could not be like Wang Zhice and Chen Changsheng and say 'I don't believe in fate'.

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets said that Chen Changsheng's illness had no cure, that it was fate.

She lowered her head, her eyelashes softly trembling.

"I want to bring him back to the capital. The Empress and His Holiness are both there—they can cure him."

"No person can cure him."

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets looked at her and said with a grave expression, "The Empress can defy the heavens and change fate, but can you?"

After a moment of silence, Xu Yourong replied, "Perhaps I can't, but I want to try."

She believed and revered fate, and was perhaps even willing to calmly accept any sort of fate that was granted to her, whether good or bad.

But she could not accept the tragedy and unfairness that fate had thrown upon Chen Changsheng.

She released Chen Changsheng's hand and gently placed hers on Chen Changsheng's forehead.

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets knew what she wanted to do and warned, "Do not use the Sacred Light technique, that will only worsen his injuries."

Xu Yourong did not respond, nor did she seem to have any intention of moving her hand.

The elder's voice grew somewhat colder. "You do not believe me?"

Xu Yourong indifferently replied, "Yes."

After a moment of silence, the Elder of Heavenly Secrets asked, "Why?"

Xu Yourong raised her head to look at him and calmly replied, "Because you did not act."

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets had just admitted that he had known of the problem with Chen Changsheng's meridians, which meant he had already prepared for this matter.

When Guan Bai's Heavenly Dao Sword descended, he was the only person that could reasonably change the final result.

But he had done nothing, remaining seated on his high platform.

Xu Yourong calmly stared at the Elder of Heavenly Secrets.

In both seniority and cultivation, she was very lacking when compared to the leader of the Storms of the Eight Directions.

But she was the Holy Maiden of the south, representing one of the most powerful factions of the Orthodoxy.

Her calm had a sort of majesty, her questions had an edge. "Do you not really wish for him to die?"

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets turned to the unconscious Chen Changsheng on the bed. After a few moments of silence, he said, "I already told him that if he continued to cultivate, problems would definitely occur, but he did not listen, so he will become a problem for the Empress. If you let him continue to live, then who will resolve this problem for the Empress in the future?"

He had not directly answered Xu Yourong's question, but he had already tacitly admitted it.

Xu Yourong stared into his eyes and asked, "What does his problem have to do with the Empress?"

"I am called Heavenly Secrets, but even if I exhaust my mind, I can only pry into one or two of them. I know the external reason, but I do not know its cause or motives."

After saying this, the Elder of Heavenly Secrets held his hands behind him and walked out of the house.

As a member of the same generation as the Demon Lord, the oldest expert of the Divine Domain on the continent, he truly was very old. Even his back was somewhat stooped.

In truth, the Elder of Heavenly Secrets enjoyed speaking with young people. He had been willing to support the Divine Empress in the past for the same reason. He very much liked Xu Yourong and Chen Changsheng. He had originally intended to explain to Xu Yourong that he had attempted to imprison the Demon Lord in Mount Han with the Heavenstone array, and when the Demon Lord ultimately broke through, he had suffered heavy injuries.

But in the end, he had said nothing.

Because his being heavily injured was a fact, and his wanting Chen Changsheng to die was similarly also a fact.

Seeing the Elder of Heavenly Secrets depart, Xu Yourong's mind finally relaxed somewhat. Her appearance which had previously been sharp as a sword finally returned to gentle tranquility.

It was just then that Ye Xiaolian, female disciple of South Stream Temple, arrived outside the hall and prostrated herself in front of the door. "Temple Master, there is a matter to urgently report."