Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1036 – What Buddha Comes Now to Watch the Master Sleep1

Chen Changsheng knew what his teacher intended to do, so he naturally did not stop him.

Even if he wanted to stop him, he did not have the ability.

Shang Xingzhou grasped the sword.

This sword had a rather simple and unadorned style, perhaps described as old-fashioned. In the storm of swords, it was very unremarkable.

When Chen Changsheng was bringing out the ten thousand swords from the Garden of Zhou’s Sword Pool, he also had not noticed this sword.

Later on, when the Orthodoxy had decided to send the swords back to their old sects, the Li Palace had dispatched extremely qualified and experienced priests to manage the registration for these swords. Still, no one could figure out this sword’s background, but since this sword was too unremarkable, nobody cared very much.

Since they could not figure out its background, they naturally did not know where to return it, so this sword had remained at Chen Changsheng’s side. In the following battles, this sword had been just like its companions, acting according to his will, becoming a part of the sword array, a drop in the rain of swords.

It remained unremarkable.

Until today, when Shang Xingzhou grasped this sword.

The gloomy confines of this shady world beneath the leaves of the Celestial Tree suddenly brightened as if another sun had appeared.

This sword was the source of the dazzling light.

This sword was a meditation sword of the Buddhist faith.

This sword was called Buddha Vairocana2.

The Buddhist faith had gone extinct many ages ago, with neither the Daoist Canon nor secular texts containing any record of it.

Who could still recognize this sword?

In the present-day continent, only three people knew of this sword’s background.

Two of them were still probably in a stalemate in the snowy plains to the north of Tianliang County.

Only Shang Xingzhou was present.

With a glance, he had seen this sword in the storm and plucked it out.

Buddhism cultivated the heart, and the meditation sword steadied the heart.

Buddha Vairocana meant to follow one’s heart. It was a true sword of the heart.

Xining’s temple cultivated precisely the heart.

One could imagine just how terrifying this sword would be in Shang Xingzhou’s hands.

The Angel sensed danger. It let out a low thunderous roar, wanting to push away the White Emperor’s soul so that it could use all its power to fight.

A blue blur tore through the sky.

It was Shang Xingzhou’s Daoist robe.

The White Emperor’s soul gradually dispersed.

A golden stream of blood gushed out of the Angel’s stomach.

It had been unable to avoid Shang Xingzhou’s sword and its body had been run through.

This sword arose from the void and struck with absolute resolve.

Who could avoid it?

……

……

The mountains were deathly still.

The Angel lowered its head to the hole in its stomach, a pained expression on its face.

The golden blood continuously dripping down produced many phenomena.

Grass began to sprout from the ground soaked with blood, along with holy flowers of white.

Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were not too elated. On the contrary, their bodies felt rather cold.

They had seen that sword.

That sword was far too frightening.

Or perhaps Shang Xingzhou was the frightening one.

His sword had traveled completely according to his heart. His will was as unfathomable as the heavens.

Who could avoid this sword?

Even if Chen Changsheng harmonized swords with Xu Yourong, all they would be able to do against such an attack would be accepting death.

The chill they felt did not merely arise because of this conclusion, but because Shang Xingzhou was currently gazing at Chen Changsheng.

Yes, Shang Xingzhou was now ignoring that Angel, not even giving it a glance.

Wielding the Buddha Vairocana Sword, he quietly gazed at Chen Changsheng.

No one knew what he was thinking or what he intended to do.

But one could be sure that, in Shang Xingzhou’s view, this heavily wounded Angel was no longer a threat.

So if one looked across the Red River, who presented the most dangerous threat?

The events over the last few years were proof of the conclusion.

Countless waves appeared on the vast surface of the Red River.

The White Emperor did not come over, but he drew back his gaze from the western sky and gave the opposite shore a profound gaze.

His eyes were completely white, making him seem somewhat fiendish, and extremely like the coldest and fiercest blizzard.

Shang Xingzhou turned away from Chen Changsheng.

Separated by the surging river, the two strongest Saints of the current age on this continent stared at each other.

For a moment, turbid waves beat against the sky, chill winds roared, and the clouds roiled.

The situation had changed too suddenly.

A moment ago, Shang Xingzhou and the White Emperor were working together to kill one Angel and heavily wound the other.

In the next, they entered a standoff.

But why had Shang Xingzhou glanced at Chen Changsheng?

Was it for a more profound reason?

Chen Changsheng did not understand, nor did he continue to think about it.

Although that Angel had been run through by Shang Xingzhou’s sword, it had not been completely robbed of the ability to fight.

If it were allowed to leave alive, a future human expedition to the north would assuredly meet a monstrous opponent.

Perhaps Shang Xingzhou’s sword would be running through his chest next, but he still wanted to stop this from happening.

But Xu Yourong snatched onto his sleeve.

The Angel flapped its wings, transforming into a stream of light heading north.

Chen Changsheng knew that he was too late.

Shang Xingzhou and the White Emperor were still in a standoff.

The only person present who could chase after the Angel was Xu Yourong.

The Angel was already severely wounded and so was probably not her match.

But if she left, what would happen to Chen Changsheng?

Even if they combined swords, they were still not necessarily a match for Shang Xingzhou, but it was still better than facing him alone.

Chen Changsheng turned to Xu Yourong and said, “The White Emperor will not let me die.”

Xu Yourong replied, “Neither will I.”

Shang Xingzhou gazed across the river at the White Emperor, a subtle smile appearing on his face. And then he spoke.

“Zhusha, kill it.”

The White Emperor’s expression shifted.

Chen Changsheng was flabbergasted.

A black-clothed girl walked out from the hollow of the Celestial Tree.

At some point, the chain that had connected her to the entire mountain had been removed.

Chen Changsheng now understood why he had found this mountain somewhat familiar.

He turned to Xu Yourong.

Xu Yourong smiled.

And then he understood even more.

He understood why she had been so calm when the Angel had forced them into such desperate straits.

He understood why she had said that he should have at least told his plans to a certain person.

And he understood the current situation.

Shang Xingzhou had laid this trap for the purpose of killing the two Angels of Sacred Light.

For various reasons, the White Emperor did not want to let him kill the last Angel.

Of course, he also did not want Chen Changsheng to die.

And so, Shang Xingzhou and the White Emperor abruptly went from comrades to opponents.

But the White Emperor had not expected that Shang Xingzhou had already arranged for someone to send off the Angel for the last time.

As for… whether or not Shang Xingzhou wanted to kill him…

It was fine to not think about this question.

The little Black Dragon turned to Chen Changsheng.

Although it was Shang Xingzhou that had saved her, she still only listened to Chen Changsheng’s orders.

Because she was his Protector.

Shang Xingzhou said nothing, appearing very calm.

But he understood his student and knew what Chen Changsheng would choose.

Without hesitation, Chen Changsheng said, “Go.”

Winds howled and leaves flew in disarray as the black-clothed girl vanished.

High in the skies, the heavily injured Angel had just made its way around the fissure torn in the air by the Clear Sky Mirror and was now turning north.

Suddenly, it saw a black mountain range, ten-some li long.

It was like the Starfall Mountains had suddenly come up from the earth to the heavens.

1. This is the last line from a poem called ‘题支山南峰僧’ by the Tang Dynasty poet Pi Rixiu. As far as I can tell, the poem is praising a monk, whose devotion and virtue seems to make the creatures in the mountain he resides on become Buddhist as well. The poet then proposes to the reader that instead of going to see the sights of a city, why not come to this mountain to see this venerable monk. In this case, however, I believe that Mao Ni is playing with the words 何如来. 何如 means ‘why not’, so 何如来 means ‘why not come’. 如来, however, is the Chinese translation of the word ‘tathagata’, a term that the Buddha often used to refer to himself, which makes the line 何如来 read as ‘what Buddha’.↩

2. In Chinese, Vairocana is translated as 大日, or ‘Great Sun’.↩