Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

"If he really is Crown Prince Zhaoming, I think that there are probably many people that want to kill him, even though they might already know that he is about to die. But you should clearly understand that their lives and even the continuation of their clans rest upon your body, so they will not take any risk, will not permit him to live a single day more."

Xu Yourong calmly concluded, "So I cannot leave the Orthodox Academy and the sword array of South Stream Temple can never be lifted."

The simple and elegant cup made of azure porcelain slowly turned under her finger just like a waterwheel pushed along by a stream, gentle, smooth, silent.

The Divine Empress gazed at the cup under her fingers, revealing a faint smile that seemed to contain a deeper meaning. But she said nothing.

The azure porcelain cup was very beautiful and seemed very tough, but to her, only a thought was needed to smash it into fine powder.

Xu Yourong had no expectations that the Divine Empress would save Chen Changsheng, even if he might be her own son.

Moreover, the Pope had no means of curing Chen Changsheng's illness, so the Empress was not guaranteed to have one.

But she hoped that in Chen Changsheng's final months, he would have a beautiful and tranquil period that could not be disturbed.

After the age of ten, Chen Changsheng had always been bearing the shadow of death as he arduously marched forward without any time to rest. Every time she thought of this matter, she would feel somewhat sad.

"If Empress agrees with my words, I will leave the capital with him tomorrow."

Xu Yourong looked at the Divine Empress and said.

The Divine Empress's smiled faded, leaving behind an expression of apathy. "If he really is my son, then every day more he lives is a day that I will be concerned."

Xu Yourong replied, "On the journey back from Mount Han, I consulted all the scriptures. There is no actual proof of the backlash of the Heavenly Dao."

"That is because both Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong did not violate the oaths that they made. The former caused the death of all his children excepting Taizong, and the latter straightforwardly killed all those old men who have their portraits hung up in the Lingyan Pavilion. If Wang Zhice had not run off so quickly, perhaps Taizong really could have lasted for a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations, even now sitting at my position."

When she mentioned Emperors Taizu and Taizong, there was no respect in her voice. Especially when she mentioned Emperor Taizong who was admired by all, her tone seemed to even be mocking him, to regard him with no small measure of disgrace.

"Two years ago when Chen Changsheng lit up his Fated Star in the library of the Orthodox Academy, I and Mo Yu just happened to be on the Dew Platform. At the time, I noted that a Fated Star could also be the foreordained baneful star upon one's fate…if fate has foreordained that between me and him, only one of us can live, will the Heavenly Dao allow him to live or me to live?"

The Divine Empress's voice was gradually getting colder.

Xu Yourong was keenly aware that before the Heavenly Dao passed its final judgment, the Empress would move to give an answer.

The Divine Empress stood up, indicating that she no longer needed to speak. Holding her hands behind her back, she walked to the window and gazed out at the sky which seemed ablaze.

Xu Yourong also walked to the window and gazed at the splendid red of the evening sky. She narrowed her eyes, subconsciously also placing her hands behind her back.

From the back, the two had the exact same posture, like duplicates, or like a mother and daughter.

The Divine Empress commented, "It’s apparent to anyone that you are much more like my daughter than the Princess of Ping."

The Princess of Ping was a daughter that she had adopted from the Tianhai clan. Their blood relationship was extremely close and their appearances were somewhat similar.

When the Divine Empress was young, she had been one of the most renowned beauties of the world. At present, Xu Yourong was publicly acknowledged to be the most beautiful young woman, but their similarly sublime beauty was not the same.

But it was just as she said: anyone would think that Xu Yourong was her own daughter.

This was because of temperament, bearing, spirit, and similar reasons.

"In truth, I have also always treated you as my own daughter because we have identical blood."

The Divine Empress gazed at a blazing cloud on the horizon, a dazzling radiance emanating from her beautiful face along with an incomparably firm self-confidence. "Back when I made the offering to the starry sky and defied the heavens to change my fate, I was perfectly willing to die without descendants so that I could ascend to the imperial throne. I have never regretted this matter because I am very well aware that even the Heavenly Dao cannot prevent the rebirth of the Phoenix."

The blazing cloud slowly moved west like a Phoenix breaking free of encircling flames.

"You are my descendant, my successor."

The Divine Empress turned to Xu Yourong and indifferently said, "As for whether or not he is my son, I simply don't care."

Xu Yourong thought, he's still your flesh and blood. Does not a single strand of affection exist in you?

"I've taught you for so many years, but it seems to me that your teacher has untaught everything."

The Divine Empress expressionlessly asserted, "Affection is the world's most cheaply bought item, virtue an excuse for the weak to protect themselves. None of them are important."

Xu Yourong asked, "Then what is the most important thing?"

The Divine Empress looked up towards the sky and leisurely said, "To exist."

After a moment of silence, Xu Yourong asked, "How should we exist?"

"How to exist? Take all that is wondrous, see how long can one exist, how can one make the soul inextinguishable, and proceed in the direction of the Great Dao."

"All things have a beginning and an end. Even those of Concealed Divinity and those above, who have obtained Grand Liberation, have a birth and death."

"Things easily decay, but the effects they leave are everlasting. Ultimately, one must see how deep the tracks are that one has left."

The Divine Empress turned and looked at her, continuing, "And those tracks come from your and my footsteps, follow the directions of our hearts."

Xu Yourong asked, "And if someone blocks your way?"

The Divine Empress answered, "So we need the strength to kill all those who obstruct us. Only this way can we march the world forward according to our desires, to brand our souls upon history such that even the reprimands of tens of thousands of people after we depart cannot wipe it away. Only this way can we get close to true eternity."

Xu Yourong was somewhat confused. Wrinkling her brow, she asked, "What if everyone opposes you? How is it possible to kill them all?"

"Of course you can kill them all. This is a very simple task."

The Divine Empress's voice resounded through the vast and empty palace hall.

"First kill everyone over there."

She gazed towards the distant north as if speaking towards those snowstorms that never ceased throughout the year.

"Then you kill everyone over there."

She gazed towards the distant west as if making a proclamation towards the boundless ocean.

"After that, kill everyone there."

She drew back her gaze towards a certain place in the capital.

With her words, the trees lining the Divine Avenue of the Li Palace suddenly began to move without wind, countless leaves rustling to the ground.

"Finally, kill everyone over there."

She gazed to the sky, her eyes deep as if she wanted to see through the blazing sky.

……

……

Twilight gradually retreated and darkness fell. The restaurants outside the Orthodox Academy remained closed, leaving Hundred Flowers Lane very quiet. There was only the occasional call of those peddlers, but having been warned by the Orthodoxy cavalry, they knew that the Holy Maiden and disciples of South Stream Temple were all living in the Orthodox Academy, so their calls were very controlled and not very loud.

An old man selling gardenias borrowed the cover of night to draw close to the Orthodox Academy's walls. It looked like he planned to relieve himself when he suddenly vanished.

The carriage delivering ingredients from Clear Lake Restaurant entered the Orthodox Academy through the rear gate. The unusually large amount of night snacks was carefully carried by the chefs into the kitchen to be prepared for the students of the Orthodox Academy and disciples of South Stream Temple. One of the middle-aged men that had delivered the food chatted with a chef and then disappeared in front of the gray walls outside.

Similar scenes occurred in many other places, yet nobody noticed.

In total, fourteen people infiltrated the Orthodox Academy in the darkness, all of them assassins or killers.

Other than the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets and Black Robe, in the entire continent, only the Department for Purging Officials could find so many powerful assassins and killers in such a short time.

No matter how high the cultivation levels of the South Stream Temple disciples, how powerful their swordplay, or how formidable the sword array they had laid down, they were still disciples of the Dao who quietly cultivated on their mountain peak and so were far too lacking in experience on this aspect. Moreover, there were more than ten points of entry along the Orthodox Academy's outer wall. No matter how tight the patrols of the Orthodoxy cavalry, it was impossible for them to have complete control.

Not everyone in the Orthodox Academy was unaware of these assassins infiltrating the Orthodox Academy.

When that old man selling gardenias arrived at the Orthodox Academy's perimeter wall, Zhexiu opened his eyes.

He was not in the house, but in the great banyan tree standing by the lake.

During the day, Chen Changsheng had communicated his last will and had also spoken of many other things.

Tang Thirty-Six and Su Moyu were very quiet while Xuanyuan Po had run off. Zhexiu said nothing, simply climbed up the tree, and fell asleep with the Demon Commander's Banner Sword in his embrace.

Behind him was the sword array of the South Stream Temple, and further behind that was the house. Chen Changsheng was inside.

In order to kill Chen Changsheng, they first had to get through him.

In the Proclamation of Azure Sky, he was ranked second, the sole young genius able to threaten Xu Yourong's position. It was not because of how high his cultivation level was, but because his fighting strength was incredibly formidable.

His cultivation level was not the highest in the Orthodox Academy either, but if magical artifacts and other items were not counted, even Chen Changsheng was not his match.

He had grown up in the desolate yet treacherous snowy plains, a wolf club that had lived after confronting death.

Last autumn in front of the gate of the Orthodox Academy, Chen Changsheng had used one strike to break through a Star Domain, shocking the entire crowd. At the time, he had said that there were at least five people that could perform a similar feat, to defeat a Star Condensation cultivator while being in Ethereal Opening.

The five people he spoke of were Qiushan Jun, Xu Yourong, Gou Hanshi, himself, and Zhexiu. (TN: This seems to be retconned, as the original list did not contain Zhexiu or Chen Changsheng, instead including Nanke and Xu Yourong twice under her pseudonym of Chujian.)

Zhexiu was extremely sensitive to danger. He impassively stared into the darkness of the Orthodox Academy. It didn't take too long before he discovered the tracks of at least seven assassins.

However, something very strange occurred soon after, because those assassins began collapsing one by one. Some collapsed in the weeds, some collapsed in the forest, and one assassin attempted to escape into the water, but sank down and never floated back up. Under the starlight, only a few dull patches of red could be seen in the lake.

Only then did Zhexiu realize that so many experts were actually concealed in the Orthodox Academy. Although those experts were clearly friends and not enemies, this fact still made a chill run through his body.

……

……

A carriage stood outside Hundred Flowers Lane.

The lantern light in the carriage compartment was very dusky, somewhat yellowing the white paper on the table and turning the letters on the paper somewhat blue.

The complexions of the two officials of the Department for Purging Officials grew paler and paler.

It was without question that ever since the Divine Empress came to power, the government office within the alley of the Northern Military Department was the most sinister place in the continent and had always acted the most wantonly.

But the person the Department for Purging Officials wished to kill tonight was not an ordinary person but the future Pope. Upon thinking of this fact, the two officials still felt incredibly nervous and afraid.

Of the assassins that had infiltrated the Orthodox Academy, not one had returned.

Even more frightening was that no sound had come from the Orthodox Academy. It did not seem like a battle was occurring within.

The darkness enveloping the Orthodox Academy was like an abyss, silently swallowing the lives of the Department for Purging Officials' fourteen most outstanding assassins.