Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 430 – Morning Rain

Thinking of that plain within the Garden of Zhou, the Sunset Valley, those Daoist scriptures and old things he had lost in that lake, Chen Changsheng was excessively astonished and very pleasantly surprised.

Back then when he left the Garden of Zhou, he simply had no idea what had occurred. From another point of view, he simply had no idea how he had managed to leave the Garden of Zhou and suddenly appear tens of thousands of li away in the snowy plains of the demon realm. Because he didn’t know of the metal plate in Black Robe’s hands, he was completely lost with regards to everything that had happened shortly after he left the Garden of Zhou. It was only afterwards on the journey back that he heard Hua Jiefu’s report.

If the Garden of Zhou was not destroyed, wasn’t it possible that those Heavenly Tome Monoliths that Zhou Dufu had stolen away could possibly see the light of day once more?

Yes, the most important and most valuable object in the Garden of Zhou was not that mausoleum, nor was it those magical artifacts lost by those people of the past, and even less was it those roast chickens and lambs, those silver ingots and those books. Of course, it was those Heavenly Tome Monoliths.

No, Chen Changsheng stiffened as he thought of a possibility. He had suddenly realized that the most precious object in the Garden of Zhou was not necessarily those Heavenly Tome Monoliths.

At least for him.

If that girl Chujian…had not been able to escape the Garden of Zhou, then could she still possibly be in the Garden of Zhou? If the Garden of Zhou had not been destroyed, didn’t that mean that she might still be alive? That she was inside right now?

He knew that this possibility was extraordinarily minute, but since he had thought of it, he didn’t possess the slightest hesitation. His spiritual sense directly charged at the black monolith’s illusion!

A massive explosion boomed through his sea of consciousness.

That strand of his spiritual sense abruptly scattered into countless trails of gray smoke and then vanished without a trace.

He woke up in the Orthodox Academy’s library, his sea of consciousness shuddering and suffering an incomparably acute pain, so unbearable that he felt like vomiting.

Only after a long time had passed did the pain gradually fade.

Without delay, Chen Changsheng split off another strand of his spiritual sense and sent it into the sheath. He requested that the ten thousand swords give way and instantly appeared on the other end of the ocean of sword intent.

And yet, there was nothing there.

The ten thousand swords had complied with his command and opened a path. The sword intent had retreated, so there was naturally no ocean of sword intent.

Without an ocean, how could there be a shore on the other side?

Without a shore, there could naturally be no black monolith waiting on the shore for his arrival.

Chen Changsheng thought about it, then released his control over those swords. As a result, the harsh sword intent once again filled the space and the ocean appeared once more.

With extreme difficulty, his spiritual sense crossed the ocean of sword intent and arrived at the other shore. He saw the black monolith and descended.

Exactly according to expectations, his strand of spiritual sense exploded into nothingness and he once more woke up.

Chen Changsheng fell into a long silence, and then he stood up and walked out of the library.

Tonight, he had consumed too much of his spiritual sense. He could no longer endure another attempt.

Re-discovering the Garden of Zhou, finding all those Heavenly Tome Monoliths…the fierce impulse brought about by that girl—to suppress all these things was very grueling.

Even if he were the world’s most intelligent youth, able to best resist such enticements, he would still find enduring it incredibly painful.

There were some matters which Chen Changsheng had long since found completely unbearable. One of these was that it had already been many days since he had taken a bath—from the time he entered the Garden of Zhou to his journey back south, just where did he have time to take a bath? Consequently, the first thing he had done today upon returning to the Orthodox Academy, putting aside everything else, was to use three large basins of hot water and one hour to clean himself from head to toe, scrubbing down every part of himself with meticulous care. Unfortunately, even after he did all this, he still felt like he wasn’t clean.

After returning to his small building, he washed himself two more times. After determining that there wasn’t even the tiniest speck of filth on his body, he began to use the Dragoncry Dagger to cut his hair, shave, cut his fingernails round, and cut his toenails square. After all this, he changed into a clean set of clothes and finally felt a bit more comfortable. Walking over to his window, he once more gazed at Zhou Prison and the Mausoleum of Books. In his heart, he called out to Zhexiu and Tang Thirty-Six, then he got on his bed and began to sleep.

This hour was still one of deep darkness.

At five o’clock in the morning, he promptly woke up.

There was a faint scent in the room. It wasn’t the smell of makeup nor of flowers, but it was a very soothing scent.

There was a fine black hair on the edge of his pillow.

Presumably, Mo Yu had come over.

Chen Changsheng was somewhat in a daze. He thought to himself, did I really sleep so deeply last night? Or is it that Mo Yu is much stronger than people imagined?

It must be known that he was already a cultivator at the peak of the Ethereal Opening Realm. Even if Mo Yu was in the Star Condensation Realm, that didn’t explain how she was able to noiselessly appear by his side and sleep by him on his bed for an entire night without him sensing it.

Of course, he even more felt rather uncomfortable, that this was rather preposterous.

Mo Yu was the Great Zhou Dynasty’s most famous beauty.

She was the Great Zhou Dynasty’s second-highest woman.

And they were enemies.

He had just returned to the capital, but she didn’t even give him one night’s worth of time before stealthily coming over to sleep in his bed. Just what was she doing?

A rain suddenly began to fall outside the window. It wasn’t a very cold rain, but it still made the beginning of summer abruptly return to the spring season.

Chen Changsheng looked out the window and suddenly heard a big noise coming from the distant school gate.

Everything was rather familiar, just like that drizzling day when Tianhai Shengxue had brought the cavalry of the Great Zhou Northern Army to knock down the gate to the Orthodox Academy in the early morning.

Who had decided to come today in this morning rain?

It was still someone from the Tianhai clan. It wasn’t Tianhai Shengxue, but it was also someone that Chen Changsheng and Xuanyuan Po were acquainted with.

When Xuanyuan Po saw the youth sitting on the wheelchair, his emotions were somewhat complex. Back then, his right arm had been crippled by this youth. Logically, he should be very hostile to this youth, but later on, Luoluo had made this youth into a cripple and wounded him far more severely. Moreover, his right arm’s injuries were all basically healed thanks to Chen Changsheng’s treatment. This simple and honest bear youth really didn’t have much hostility, but on the contrary felt some sympathy.

Sitting in the wheelchair was Tianhai Ya’er, that powerful youth who once possessed an extraordinarily terrifying and evil reputation in the capital. Of course, all that was now in the past.

Now, Tianhai Ya’er’s face was pale and his cheeks slightly swollen. The muscles of his two legs had clearly atrophied somewhat. He was already crippled. Anybody who saw this youth, if they hadn’t heard of his past vile deeds, would presumably be like Xuanyuan Po, filled with pity and sympathy.

But Tianhai Ya’er was a person that did not require sympathy. He had never sympathized with someone else, nor did he need someone else’s sympathy. Whether it was to himself or to others, he was always very cruel—even as a cripple, he was unwilling to suffer in silence.

“Chen Changsheng, f*** your ancestors to the eighteenth generation!”

Chen Changsheng had just arrived at the gate to the Orthodox Academy and the first words he heard had to do with him. Although he still didn’t even know who his father and mother were, let alone where his ancestral home was, when he heard Tianhai Ya’er’s sharp voice, he couldn’t help but get angry.

The gate to the Orthodox Academy was pushed open. Just like last year, Chen Changsheng walked through the morning rain into the Hundred Flowers Lane to confront his enemy.