Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1085 – Where the Dust Rises

Historians had many ways to divide the last one-thousand-some years. The most common choice was the founding of the Great Zhou, and many of them also chose to use the chaos of the Hundred Herb Garden and the ascension of Emperor Taizong as a crucial point. Amongst the populace, quite a few people also chose the moment when Wang Zhice suddenly leapt onto the stage of the world as the start of a new generation, dividing those one-thousand-some years into history before and after Wang Zhice.

Because the roles he had played in the northern expeditions against the demons had been far too important, his deeds far too legendary.

On this day in history, his appearance also divided history into a ‘before’ and ‘after’.

Before Wang Zhice appeared, the air inside and outside the Mausoleum of Books was fraught with tension and everyone was uneasy and apprehensive to the extreme. After he appeared, many negative emotions were instantly banished and many people began to show expressions of joy, even ecstasy.

The people had finally confirmed that the rumor was true, that he was still alive, so he could naturally resolve all the problems the Human race would encounter.

Even the sunlight of early spring seemed to grow more brilliant in anticipation.

It was at this moment that they heard a question.

“Lord Wang, Sir, have you gone senile?”

……

……

The conversation between Wang Zhice and Xu Yourong was not intentionally concealed from the people within and without the Mausoleum of Books.

The former did not due to his self-confidence and because there was nothing that he was not willing to speak of, while the latter did not because of a faint disappointment and the will to fight that came with it.

Xu Yourong’s question threw everyone inside and outside the Mausoleum of Books into an uproar.

‘Lord Wang’ was the respectful address that the entire Human race had given Wang Zhice, and she had even called him ‘Sir’.

But nobody would believe that this question was out of true concern.

Even though she was the Holy Maiden of the south, was the greatest pride and treasure of the capital, the people could still not accept such disrespect from her.

Outside the Mausoleum of Books, excited chatter could be heard, mixed with angry rebukes.

Even the Mount Li Sword Hall elders and the other experts in the forest slightly creased their brows at this question, deeply disapproving of this discourtesy.

The Old Lady of the Mutuo clan and the head of the Wu clan once more glanced at each other, and then they wordlessly shook their heads, already prepared to concede and leave the capital.

Xu Yourong ignored the turmoil outside the Mausoleum of Books, and she also cared not for the reactions of the southern experts.

She calmly gazed at Wang Zhice.

Shang Xingzhou stood within the sword array, silently and apathetically watching on.

Outside the sword array, Wang Zhice faintly smiled, apparently unconcerned by her deep derision.

He was well-read in the Daoist Canon and well-versed in worldly matters. He was naturally aware of Xu Yourong’s current emotional state and where those emotions came from.

When Xu Yourong spoke of how he had never appeared when he should have appeared, she naturally referred to those times when the world needed him.

Like that sea of blood that engulfed the Orthodox Academy twenty-some years ago, or that heaven-shaking coup that had taken place in the Mausoleum of Books three years ago.

At these crucial pivots in history, Wang Zhice truly had not appeared, but he had appeared at other moments.

Back then, he had left the capital in low spirits, no longer concerning himself with the battles for power and authority in the court.

He wandered the four seas and secluded himself deep in the wilderness.

But he still cared about the future of the Human race.

So when the Demon Lord attempted to kill Chen Changsheng, he had appeared in Mount Han.

On the night that the Demon Lord died, he had appeared in the snowy mountains.

During White Emperor City’s internal strife some time ago, he had appeared in the snowy plains of the north.

Wang Zhice said, “I once saw Chen Changsheng.”

Xu Yourong answered, “I know.”

Wang Zhice added, “At the time, I was also prepared to go and see you and Qiushan.”

Xu Yourong asked, “You’ve seen me today. Are you disappointed?”

Wang Zhice smiled and shook his head.

He did not care about Xu Yourong’s rudeness from just now.

In his view, this was just a little girl getting angry after failing to collect all sorts of rouge, despite many days of hard work.

Xu Yourong’s performance today was sufficiently outstanding. Disappointment was out of the question.

But he had confirmed today that Xu Yourong had grasped the supreme and emotionless Dao.

And he had always been a man of many emotions.

Their Daos were different, so it was naturally hard to scheme against him.

Two people walking different paths could naturally only be strangers.

This made him feel somewhat regretful.

“You say you want to try, and so I also want to try.”

Wang Zhice looked at Xu Yourong and said, “I want to try and persuade you to give up on this crazy way of thinking.”

“Persuade?”

Xu Yourong’s lips curled into a smile.

This time, the derision in her smile seemed even thicker.

In her view, Wang Zhice’s saying that he wanted to persuade her to give up was proof that he had already made a choice.

And he had also made a choice for the entire Human race.

What other choice did she have than to accept?

Such persuasion was not real persuasion, as it had nothing to do with reasoning.

Today, Xu Yourong had been able to force Shang Xingzhou into this impasse because she had ultimately not chosen victory, but to set the entire world ablaze.

This was Zhou Dufu’s blade style.

She could do this because many factions were willing to follow her.

These were the sects and clans of the south, the cavalry and believers of the Orthodoxy.

But now that Wang Zhice had appeared, her plan had been shattered.

And this was not even taking into account his unfathomable cultivation, that he was a supreme expert on par with Taizong and Zhou Dufu.

Just his name alone was enough to alter the entire situation.

His prestige was so high that no one in the world could surpass it.

Now that he stood across from Xu Yourong, who would still be willing to follow her?

The disciples of South Stream Temple had not put down their swords, but upon learning of Wang Zhice’s identity, the looks on their faces became rather strange.

And just which of the Orthodoxy’s experts, whether in the southern region of the Mausoleum of Books or within the capital, would dare attack Wang Zhice?

Even if there were still people loyal to her, she could no longer accomplish her goal of burning down the entire world.

In other words, she could no longer threaten Shang Xingzhou.

From this perspective, the person most familiar with the Halving Blade Style was still, as expected, Wang Zhice.

Even on the day that Zhou Dufu returned to the sea of stars, he had still not managed to surpass his elder brother.

But he knew that if one wanted to stop the blade that was the World Ablaze, one had to do so before the fire was lit.

The chilly spring breeze was still chilly. It blew from beneath the cloud over the two sides of the Divine Path, rustling the grass.

The two plumes of dust rising from the plains were a sign that the terrifying black-armored heavy cavalry were about to return to the capital.

The entire world was silent. Everyone was waiting for Xu Yourong to admit that she had lost.

Suddenly, the Mausoleum of Books began to quake.

The water of the shallow canals in front of the Divine Path began to lift from the ground like clear sheets of paper.

The river around the Mausoleum of Books began to ripple and slosh. The green duckweed that had just grown out a few days ago was stirred by the turmoil into pieces.

The quaking came from the plains to the south.

The capital had the barrier of the Mausoleum of Books, so, fortunately, no houses collapsed, but countless people still walked onto the streets in the panic, looking just like ants.

In shock, the crowd looked toward those plains and witnessed an extremely bizarre sight.

The dust stirred from the black-armored heavy cavalry that were only ten-some li from the capital had suddenly disappeared.

It had been replaced by an even thicker plume of dust. It rose into the air, obscuring the sun. It looked just like a black dragon.

The terrifying plume of dust rising from the plain caused the complexions of Wang Zhice, Shang Xingzhou, Wang Po, and the Prince of Xiang to change at the same time.

As experts of the Divine Domain, they could naturally tell that this black dragon really was formed from dust.

The problem was that the place where the dust was rising from was the capital’s final barrier to the south: Mount Mo.

Mount Mo had collapsed!