Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chen Changsheng did not know what Xu Yourong was thinking at this moment, much less the fact that her emotions underwent such great change in such a short time. He removed the fireflow pill from the jade box, and directly placed it to her lips. Afterwards, almost instantly, or even somewhat roughly, he shoved it in. Xu Yourong’s lips opened slightly. She was about to say something, to express her gratitude… and her moved feeling to him. However, she did not speak. It was directly blocked by the pill.

“An hour before and after consumption, you cannot drink water, otherwise it will decrease the essence of fire within the pill.” Chen Changsheng stared at her, who was currently red-faced from being choked off, and spoke seriously. However, some worry bloomed in his heart.

The fireflow pill was very large. Xu Yourong was unable to speak at all, and only swallowed after a very long time. It was very tiring, and afterwards, she began to cough. A while later, when she recovered slightly, she looked at him and said in an irritated manner, “Even if I can’t drink water, give me a reminder. Don’t you know that coughs are uncomfortable?”

Although she spoke irritatedly, her voice was instead slightly peaceful. It was a grumble, but it slightly seemed similar to a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

Chen Changsheng was unable to tell and said with his eyebrows slightly furrowed, “Sorry, I was slightly anxious. However, there is nothing to fear about coughing. It is not choking. It should be a common sign of expelling poison.

Even Xu Yourong herself did not realise that she had revealed a spoilt look just before. However, she felt slightly embarrassed, and said quietly, “I don’t know whether it is the effects of the medicine, but I feel slightly sleepy.”

How could it be a common sign of expelling poison? She was just looking for an opportunity to speak. How could the medicinal effects kick in so quickly, it was only because he did not how to respond to it. In the end, it was still like what Tang Thirty-Six had said in the Plum Garden Inn, he and she were really two people that caused others to be speechless.

Whether it was because of the medicinal effects, or for some other reason, Xu Yourong did feel slightly sleepy.

Chen Changsheng carried her out of the stone room and into the corridor to take shelter from the wind. He removed some cloth from the seventh stone room and covered her. All of the most valuable silks and satins in the mausoleum, including the extremely rare silk created by the snow silkworm, had all turned into broken fragments. Interestingly, the most worthless sackcloth remained as it was before. What he lay on her was the curtain screening made out of sackcloth.

Gazing at the sleeping girl, he secretly prayed that the fireflow pill still contained enough efficacy. Afterwards, he walked into the stone room again, and opened that jade box again, carefully sniffing it. The worry in his heart did not disappear, instead, it grew stronger and stronger.

Only after discovering and collecting the different types of spirit medicines that had not completely deteriorated did he finally have time to have a look at the harvest from the stone rooms. Using his spiritual sense to scan over it slightly, the items he inspected first were the secret manuals and techniques.

He read through the Daoist Canons since childhood. After arriving in the capital, he had also read all of the several tens of thousands of books within the Orthodoxy Academy library diligently. As a result of this, when he read through the secret manuals and techniques, he only needed to see the name to know which school or sect it belonged to.

Contrary to what ordinary people imagined, the secret manuals and techniques were not rare in the slightest, and he was naturally unable to master all these techniques in a night. Speaking of which, the experts that had the qualifications to be Zhou Dufu’s opponent had all originated from famous schools and sects. They had all become ghosts under Zhou Dufu’s blade, but the legacy of the schools and sects were not broken.

Similar to how Mount Li remained strong even though the secrets of the Mount Li Sword Style were taken by the White Emperor Clan. However… it was just like the secrets of the Mount Li Sword Style; thee secret manuals and techniques naturally were extremely valuable, or at least to those schools and sects, as these were all the original copies.

Afterwards, he began inspecting the magical artifacts. Over time, an overwhelming majority of the magical artifacts had decreased in power. Under the directions of Xu Yourong, he collected a few artifacts that still had some power, but they were still far from as they were years ago, and could not be compared with the divine weaponry on the Tier of Legendary Weapons at all. Only the black Soul Pivot was an exception.

Time was indeed the greatest magical artifact in the world.

Chen Changsheng suddenly had a theory. Zhou Dufu was the true legend of the continent, an unrivalled existence. The Garden of Zhou was his world, and this was his mausoleum. Logically, there should have been some objects of even better quality, that had the qualifications of being picked to be buried with him. Were these objects taken by someone?

In the long corridor before the nine stone rooms, there was a thin layer of dust which had many disorderly footprints. However, these footprints were all left by him, and all the magical artifacts, treasure and secret manuals still remained. This was proof that nobody had entered before.

In the past several hundreds of years, there were countless cultivators who wanted to locate Zhou Dufu’s mausoleum, and wanted to receive his legacy as well as the the treasures from it. These cultivators were either brimming with talent, or they had made extremely sufficient preparations. These people were all at least peak level Ethereal Opening before they dared to enter the mysterious Plains of the Unsetting Sun, yet, they never arrived there, and instead died on the journey. For him to be able to enter this grassland, and arrive at this mausoleum, it was not because he was more outstanding and stronger than these seniors, it was due to the fact he had the Yellow Paper Umbrella.

After a moment of pondering, he gazed at the Yellow Paper Umbrella in his hands once again.

After entering the mausoleum, he did not put the umbrella away.

If he did not have this umbrella, or if he had not chased after the faintly discernable sword intent which led their way, it would be impossible for them to arrive here in the first place. There was a higher possibility that they would have already become lost in this dangerous grassland, becoming the food of the groups of monsters. However, how would they leave afterwards? Would they still have to rely on the Yellow Paper Umbrella? Or would they have to look for the strand of sword intent?

He had always felt that the Yellow Paper Umbrella bringing him here was the beckoning of fate.

Yes, he believed in fate.

This seemed extremely preposterous, because when he came to the capital from the old temple in Xining Village, he objective was to change his own fate. However, in the deepest region within his consciousness, he truly believed in the existence of fate, and even believed in it more than anyone else.

There must be a mountain in front of him for him to climb the large mountain.

There must be a large, rough river for him to cross the river.

There must be an objective for him to strive towards the objective.

There must be fate for him to change fate.

The final words of Wang Zhice’s diary had said, “There is no fate.”

These four words could shake the world, but to him, it was just a new view.

His view was different from Wang Zhice’s. It had to be different. He wanted to see his own fate clearly before changing it.

If fate allowed him to meet so many people, to do so many things in the capital before finally bringing him to the Garden of Zhou, then in the Garden of Zhou, what kind of fate was awaiting him? The Yellow Paper Umbrella had sensed that strand of sword intent and brought him to this mausoleum. There was definitely some deep meaning hidden behind it. If he wanted to leave the Garden of Zhou, did it mean that he needed to find the strand of sword intent?

Was the sword intent in the Sword Pool? Where was the Sword Pool? Walking through the long passageway and arriving outside the mausoleum, he stood on the tall platform. Chen Changsheng used his left hand to support his back while his right hand held onto the Yellow Paper Umbrella, and gazed at the grassland before his eyes.

It was already sunset. The distant sun had already arrived in its fixed position for every night—the edge of the grassland, above the horizon. Under the warm and red light, the endless grassland seemed to be burning. The ponds hidden within the grasslands were similar to countless small rivers, reflecting the appearance of the sky. Behind him was the mausoleum of Zhou Dufu.

If the person who saw this scene at this moment was a gifted scholar who has grieved for the changing seasons, he would probably feel even more sorrow, and sigh sorrowfully because everything in the world could not win against time. However, he did not.

The setting sun remained at the distant edge of the grasslands, however, the surroundings of the mausoleum suddenly began to rain.

Chen Changsheng raised the Yellow Paper Umbrella.

Drops of rain pitter-pattered on the surface of the umbrella. The droplets transformed into countless small splashes, constantly leaping up before falling down.

He released his spiritual sense, extending it from the shaft of the umbrella, all the way up to the canopy of the umbrella. Finally, like the leaping small splashes of water, the spiritual sense left, dispersing into the surrounding grassland of the mausoleum.

He was well-versed in the Daoist Canons, and was confident about the fact that the sword intent could not gain an individuality. Since it did not have an individuality, it was impossible for it to change its own state of its own accord. At the very beginning, he could feel its existence beside the cold pool, because the sword intent had always existed, waiting to be discovered. In this case, the sword intent should not have been able to disappear on its own accord.

If an object could not disappear on its own accord but was unable to be found, then it must have been hidden by someone.

Chen Changsheng stood in the rain, and released his spiritual sense into the grassland. He searched for the target, and at the same time, he began to comb out the changes that occurred when he approached this mausoleum—in the instant Xu Yourong laid eyes on the mausoleum, the sword intent disappeared. At that time, he thought that the sword intent had already completed its orders of leading the Yellow Paper Umbrella, so it naturally disappeared. After he had calmed down, and arrived at the same conclusion, he had naturally confirmed that this was not the case; the strand of sword intent should have been hidden away by a certain ‘person’.

And that ‘person’ should have been the mausoleum.

He turned around and gazed at the mausoleum behind him.

The mausoleum formed from piles of huge rocks grew steeper the higher it was. It was unbelievably tall.

Chen Changsheng stood at the centre of the mausoleum; the mausoleum seemed even taller, as if it pierced the layer of clouds in the sky.

His gaze followed the upper component of the mausoleum and landed on the grey and dull clouds. He only saw the dark clouds surge, and in the depths were the faint but constant flashes of lightning, they seemed especially terrifying. Even though they were separated by thousands of zhang, he could clearly feel that there was a great Qi within the clouds that was capable of destroying the world—the mausoleum was the core of the Garden of Zhou. This Qi should have been the tangible form of the rules of the Garden of Zhou.

The rain gradually fell heavier and heavier, and most of the huge rocks within the mausoleum were wet. Between every layer of rock, there would be countless thin streams of waterfalls flowing. If one were to look at it from outside the mausoleum, he would definitely feel that this scene was very spectacular, with a hair-raising beauty. However, for he who stood within the mausoleum, he could only feel his hair rise and naturally could not feel the beauty.

“If there is time, I must leave the area of pressure from the mausoleum, and see if that sword intent will appear once again or not.”

He thought silently, and then heard a vague sound of someone calling for him. Holding the Yellow Paper Umbrella, he once again walked into the mausoleum.

Xu Yourong had awoken. Her complexion remained pale, but she appeared slightly better, and seemed to have recovered some energy.

He asked, “Were you calling for me?”

The rain outside the mausoleum was extremely heavy, and even though he had the umbrella, he was still wet. He appeared to be in a rather sorry condition.

However, Xu Yourong did not laugh at him and shook her head. She said quietly, “You heard wrong.”

Chen Changsheng thought that it was probably due to the fact that he was far too worried about her injuries and had really misheard it.

Xu Yourong looked at him silently. Her two hand beneath the sackcloth were slightly clenched.

When Xu Yourong first woke up, she could not see him by her side. The surroundings were gloomy, actually causing her to feel scared, or more accurately, flustered.

Ever since her bloodline had awakened by itself, she had never felt flustered.

She knew, that this was unrelated to her dependence on Chen Changsheng, and was also unrelated to other things.

This was the manifestation of the low spirits of will. She had become weaker and weaker, even her bright lit will of Dao slowly began to grow gloomy.

This was a sign of death.

Chen Changsheng crouched down beside her, and extended his hand to feel her pulse. He stayed silent for a long time, before saying with a smile, “Yes, the medicinal effects are currently dispersing. The poison can be considered to be not completely gone, but there should be no more major problems.”

The art of lying paid particular attention to ninety percent real and ten percent false.

Not a single word he had said was real.

Xu Yourong looked at his eyes and said indifferently, “Do you know that your smile is really fake?”

Chen Changsheng’s body became slightly rigid and laughed, “How can smiles be fake?”

Xu Yourong smiled slightly, “It indeed is not fake. It’s idiotic.”

Chen Changsheng acted as though he was slightly annoyed and replied, “I just hate your cold and arrogant way of speaking.”

“I will notice it… at least, on your face.” Xu Yourong said something that he did not expect.

Chen Changsheng stared blankly. Xu Yourong smiled and continued, “Your smile just a moment ago looked as if you were crying. It is indeed very idiotic, and anyone can tell it’s fake.”

Chen Changsheng was speechless. He lowered his head, and extended his hand to pull the edge of the sackcloth, helping her cover her legs.

“The medicine was useless, right?”

She gazed into his eyes. Her expression was very calm, as if she did not know that his answer would determine her own fate.