Chapter 675 – Feeling for the First Time
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Eunuch Lin's face was a ghastly pale white. Blood flowed from his body, yet it could not conceal the dense collection of sword wounds upon it. He presented an abnormally mournful and wretched figure.
He no longer had any of the lofty bearing from when he was standing outside the Orthodox Academy. He looked like an old beggar, his sight evoking pity in onlookers.
"Just what's going on here?"
His voice fiercely shook, his eyes filled with a disbelieving shock, and then they became somewhat blank.
Even now, he still did not understand what had happened when this battle had begun, why that black stone had possessed such a terrifying weight. Perhaps it was from the Divine Staff? But what truly shocked him, what he found impossible to accept, was that after Chen Changsheng had released the swords, he had not been able to find a single chance to counterattack.
In that period of time, sword glows had illuminated the library and thus concluded this battle. Chen Changsheng's sword was too fast, his swordplay incomparably sharp, his sword energy formidable beyond belief. His progression on the path of the sword had far surpassed Eunuch Lin's imagination, and he could not understand—even if this youth began learning the sword in the womb, it would still not be possible to reach such a level in a mere seventeen years.
Moreover, in this battle, Chen Changsheng had also displayed even more inconceivable abilities, like his quantity of true essence, or like his…
"Perfect Star Domain! How is this possible!" Eunuch Lin shrilly yelled at Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng replied, "Master might have forgotten a few things. With his blessing, my illness has already been cured."
Three-hundred-plus faint spots of starlight were currently seeping back into the depths of his uniform. It was possible to imagine how beautiful the sight was when, earlier, these stars had all simultaneously brightened.
When he spoke of blessings, his expression was very flat with no sense of gratitude.
However, he spoke the truth. On the peak of the Mausoleum of Books, the Divine Empress had changed his fate for him, curing his illness.
He had already succeeded at Star Condensation in Mount Han, and he had even condensed a perfect Star Domain. Now, his illness was cured and his true essence flowed freely, so he naturally became a perfect Star Condensation cultivator.
His meridians were now completely unobstructed, those blockades like mountain ranges having completely melted away into flat and spacious plains. Those snaking streams that always found it difficult to move forward had long since transformed into great rivers. Several years ago, the radiance from the stars had fallen from the night sky, penetrated through the library, and entered his body, becoming an extremely thick mantle of snow. Now, this snowy plain could be ignited with abandon and flow to its heart's content.
In the past two years, his meridians had been blocked, and he had only been able to rely on his sword techniques and Daoist techniques to repeatedly surpass cultivation levels to defeat his opponents. Several days ago, when heavily injured, he had only been able to rely on innumerable magical artifacts and tricks, Su Li's sword and Zhou Dufu's blade, and had still been able to almost kill a grand expert like Zhou Tong, but what about now?
It could be said with great confidence that the current Chen Changsheng finally possessed the ability to resist a true expert for a short period of time.
He was no longer that young patient who had come from Xining Village to the capital to seek a cure and change his fate. Now, he was a genius well-versed in the Daoist Canon, possessing a vast experience and incredible talent, taught by many great teachers.
Perhaps he still did not know what fate had in store for him, but at least there was no more shadow, only light.
Right now, killing him had already become an extremely difficult task. As long as they were opponents below the Divine Domain, even if he could not defeat them, he could at least hold on for a period of time.
Those who had not thought of this point, such as Eunuch Lin, would receive a lesson that they would never forget.
Eunuch Lin had looked down on him and allowed him to make the first move. Consequently, he now sat on the ground, covered in blood, so shocked that he seemed to have taken leave of his senses.
Chen Changsheng, carrying his sword, walked towards the door of the library, the starlight gradually concealing itself back in his clothes.
The pale-faced Eunuch Lin leaned against the shattered threshold of the door, gasping for breath, but he discovered that some invisible barrier was cutting the library off from the outside world.
The Orthodox Academy had only reopened to take in new students a year ago and was still far from reaching the glory of its past, much less gaining back all the resources and strength it once held. However, as principal, Chen Changsheng was still able to control a few arrays.
"You are afraid." Chen Changsheng walked up to him and looked into his eyes. Somewhat confused, he commented, "It turns that you are also afraid of death."
Eunuch Lin, humiliated and furious, shouted, "Kill me if you want, but cease disgracing me."
Chen Changsheng shook his head. "You've misunderstood. I truly believed that you were not afraid of death."
Eunuch Lin froze.
Chen Changsheng seriously looked at him and said, "I've read many stories in books. Don't famous scholars and loyal ministers like you always believe that righteousness is in your hands, so you are never hesitant to die?"
Just as he said, this was a misunderstanding. He was not deliberately shaming his opponent, but his flat tone still enraged Eunuch Lin. Coughing blood, he sternly rebuked, "Not hesitating to die does not mean being unafraid of death! But everyone is afraid of death, because there are always people or concerns that can't be let go, like His Majesty."
"I'm not afraid," Chen Changsheng suddenly said.
Eunuch Lin was startled, asking, "What are you saying?"
Chen Changsheng earnestly stated, "I'm not afraid of death."
The library turned silent once more, the only sound being that of the autumn wind rushing in through the shattered windows and doors, flipping the pages of books and spreading around the scent of dust from years past. This scent was just like his words, an extremely sorrowful scent, brimming with hopelessness. A life devoid of hope was just like those books on the shelves that no one had ever opened. No matter how abundant the contents, it was all meaningless.
If everyone was afraid of death because there were people or matters that they could not let go, then if he said that he wasn't afraid of death, did that mean that he had no people or matters to let go?
Eunuch Lin stared at Chen Changsheng, yet he could find no ripple of emotion on his face.
He was seventeen, in the prime of his youth, yet he was quiet like an old well, autumn waters, a fallen leaf, a dried-up tree: lifeless.
Eunuch Lin suddenly felt pity and sympathy for him and said no more.
But Chen Changsheng said something rather surprising.
"Go. I won't kill you."
Eunuch Lin narrowed his eyes and coldly replied, "This is the best chance for you to kill me, maybe even your last chance."
Chen Changsheng understood his meaning.
Eunuch Lin was a cultivator at the peak of Star Condensation, a true expert extremely close to the Divine Domain. If he had not looked down on his opponent and been suddenly attacked by the black stone, such a conclusion would never have come to pass.
If Chen Changsheng were to let him go, when next they met, Eunuch Lin would assuredly not act this way. Given the discrepancy in strength between the two, Chen Changsheng would have no chance.
"In the future…it might be very difficult for us to meet again," he told Eunuch Lin finally. "Please take good care of my senior brother."
Eunuch Lin was quiet for a very long time, then said, "It seems that you know very well what will happen today."
Chen Changsheng said nothing.
Eunuch Lin continued, "Principal Shang went to the Li Palace. After today, you will no longer be the Pope's successor. No one will come to help you, and you will have to directly confront the pressure of the entire world. Your position and the events that took place in the capital in the past three years have made many people uncomfortable, and those people were the victorious side in this incident."
Yes, whether it was the princes of the Chen clan, the Tianhai clan, or those ministers of the court, none of them were willing to continue seeing Chen Changsheng in the capital.
Because of the problem with the division of benefits, because of the problem of position, and also because of a problem that no person was willing to voice.
When seeing Chen Changsheng, people would very easily recall the Divine Empress.
……
……
The library was very quiet.
Eunuch Lin's figure gradually faded into the distance, but Chen Changsheng never once spoke.
There were no spectators, no records of this battle. In the coming days, very few people would recall it, much less mention it, and it would naturally not go down in the history books. However, in reality, this battle was very important. It was Chen Changsheng's most perfect battle since coming to the capital, and it was also the battle in which he finally became a true expert.
He had won and could have killed his opponent, but he did not, because this old man was loyal to his senior brother, and because he only wanted to win.
He just wanted to win once, to feel for once just what he was like when he wasn't sick, how it felt to not think about life and death.
As for other things, they didn't matter.
Those people wanted the Divine Empress's body, but he would not give it.
Those people knew he would not give it, so they wanted to use this matter to condemn and kill him, but he did not care.
So be it.
He turned to gaze at the sky above the Orthodox Academy and could faintly see the traces of several Red Falcons in the air.
The heavy stamping of hooves came from outside the Orthodox Academy, a torrential rain, a rumbling thunder.
The black-armored cavalry began to charge.
The sword array of the South Stream Temple would naturally be unable to withstand it.
This was not even accounting for those stern and gloomy Qis coming from the autumn forest of the Orthodox Academy. He just didn't know if they belonged to assassins of the Department for Purging Officials or the army.
Soon after, countless people would pour into the Orthodox Academy and render the forest, the lake, the great banyan tree, and the buildings into dust.
Chen Changsheng would not accept this.
He took a letter from his bosom.
If he opened this letter, many people would die, and then he would probably die as well.
But he was very calm, very composed. The hand gripping the letter did not tremble in the slightest, as if he simply did not care about any of this.