Chapter 763 – The Mysterious Strum of the Zither
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The deputy general from the Mount Song Army headquarters dragged up his heavily injured body and staggered in front of Chen Changsheng and Zhizhi, blocking the following ripples of Qi, after which he slammed against one of the walls of the courtyard and collapsed into the rubble. An Hua could no longer pay attention to the young array master on the stretcher. She crawled up to Chen Changsheng and Zhizhi, grabbed them by their collars, and used all her strength to drag them backwards, wanting to make as much distance between them and that monstrous figure as possible.
Countless beads of ice ruptured into threads that drifted about the ruins of the courtyard like willow catkins, as if this really was the south, if not for the endless cold and Lord Hai Di's terrifying figure walking from the bridge. The threads of ice drifted away from him, not daring to touch him.
As he looked at Chen Changsheng collapsed on the lake shore, Hai Di remained expressionless, but a ghostly fire blazed in his green eyes. He was a powerful personage of the demons and had experienced countless matters in his life. However, when thinking about how a Pope of the Human race was about to die at his hands, even he felt somewhat nervous and incredibly excited.
The thin mist enveloping the lake and courtyard had been completely replaced by Demon Qi. As if sensing his agitated emotions, the Demon Qi also began to shudder, transforming into a cold wind.
Upon careful observation, one might be able to see that the vast majority of this frigid wind was coming from the weapon, the broken monolith, in his hands.
An Hua's pale face was covered in despair. She lowered her head to avoid looking at this invincible and horrifying foe, and continued to drag Chen Changsheng and Zhizhi behind the courtyard wall.
Suddenly, she realized that Chen Changsheng's body had become much heavier, and she found it impossible to drag him any further. Immediately afterwards, a hand, a very clean, warm, and firm hand, patted her on the shoulder. At the same time, a very clean, warm, and firm voice spoke.
"I can still do it."
The speaker was Chen Changsheng.
He rose up and looked toward the bridge, his hand already gripping his sheath.
The sword was called Stainless, the sheath called the Vault Sheath, and within this sheath were countless renowned swords, as well as his truly most powerful technique.
The moment he gripped the sheath, a string of stone pearls appeared on his wrist.
These stone pearls were simple and unadorned, perhaps even somewhat crude, and they gave off no ripples of Qi.
But when Zhizhi's eyes fell upon them, she felt her heart begin beating faster.
She was one of the highest-class beings of this world, but she still could not see through the truth of these stone pearls. However, from such a close distance, she still felt an innate sensitivity to these stone pearls.
Just what sort of objects were these stone pearls that they could astonish her so?
An Hua's cultivation was not sufficient to sense the special qualities of these stone pearls, but she had devoted her heart to the Dao and her Dao heart was dazzling bright, allowing her to sense another sort of Qi.
This Qi also came from the stone pearls, but not from the stone pearls themselves. Instead, it seemed to come from some extremely faraway world hidden behind one of these stone pearls.
Countless strands of primitive, savage, barbaric, and blood-soaked Qi seemed to be currently rushing over from that world.
……
……
Of the string of stone pearls on Chen Changsheng's wrist, one had been given to Luoluo, half had been given to Xu Yourong, and the remaining pearls were now tied together with a red string. However, they did not seem particularly sparse, as these stone pearls were the Heavenly Tome Monoliths he had taken from the Garden of Zhou and possessed indescribably profound properties.
The savage and blood-soaked Qis that An Hua had sensed were also coming from the Garden of Zhou.
Although he had still not been able to completely comprehend the secrets of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths and his companions in the Garden of Zhou might not be able to transform the heavens and earth, this was still his most powerful technique. Of course, besides this, he also had the letter that he still had not opened.
With these techniques, he was confident that even if he could not defeat Hai Di, he could at least endure for some time.
But if he were to use these techniques and still be unable to change the situation, what then?
Before tonight, he had never considered this problem. He had experience fighting with Hai Di, so he had made preparations. He had originally thought by relying on these techniques, he would be able to beat Hai Di, but he was surprised to find that Hai Di was even more powerful and frightening than last year.
His gaze fell on the broken monolith in Hai Di's hands.
This object was the source of the change, or else Zhizhi would have been able to last for a little longer, enough for him to kill off all the demon experts in the snowy valley.
This broken monolith was probably not a weapon that Hai Di frequently used. At the very least, he had not seen it last year on the snowy plains.
"No matter how many tricks you have, you will definitely die at my hands tonight."
Hai Di stood on the bridge and indifferently said, "With this divine object in my hands, who can resist?"
Was he speaking of this broken monolith?
Earlier, this broken monolith had struck a crack in the Green Leaf in Zhizhi's hands. Although it was a very thin crack, it still gave her and Chen Changsheng an unprecedented shock.
After all, this was the Green Leaf World.
A real and true weapon that could resist, and even slightly harm this world? What could it be other than a divine object?
Chen Changsheng naturally recalled a sight from that night in the Mausoleum of Books.
His martial uncle the Pope's green leaf floated through the darkness and arrived before the Tianhai Divine Empress.
The Tianhai Divine Empress stretched out her hand, took an object from the Mausoleum of Books, and savagely and absurdly struck out with it.
Although the power levels involved in that battle and in this battle tonight were vastly different, the battles were truly rather similar.
The more he associated these two battles, the more Chen Changsheng found the broken monolith in Hai Di's hand to be familiar, even feeling an intimate connection to it.
Could this really be the Heavenly Tome Monolith that had been lost?
This seemed to be the only conclusion, but Chen Changsheng still could not understand it.
If Hai Di really was holding that vanished Heavenly Tome Monolith, then with his monstrous cultivation, as long as he struck with full force, Chen Changsheng and Zhizhi would be powerless to resist. There wouldn't even have been a chance for him to grip this sheath and prepare to use all of his final techniques.
Why had Hai Di not done this? And why was he still standing and speaking on the bridge? Was he afraid of the Li Palace's treasure, or was he waiting for some sort of change?
Something really did change.
The threads of ice drifting about the ruins of the courtyard suddenly vanished.
This was because the extremely clear strum of a zither had occupied every part of the world.
To the Demon race, an opportunity to kill the Pope of the Human race was not an opportunity that could be missed. Even if they had to pay countless lives, they would still do it.
At this moment, Hai Di was only ten-some zhang away from this historic incident certain to shock the world. He could accomplish it in the space of a single breath.
Logically speaking, even if the White Emperor or Shang Xingzhou were personally present, they would be unable to stop him, even though Hai Di would die in the aftermath.
Yet with this clear strum of the zither, Hai Di stopped.
The sound of this zither was extremely clean and cold, carrying a chill that bored into the bones, perhaps representing the mood of the zither player.
As the sound of the zither descended, the bridge was covered in a thin layer of frost. Crossing its slippery surface would presumably be rather difficult.
Hai Di's body was also covered in a layer of frost, as if he had been transformed into an ice sculpture.
He slowly turned around, seeming to move with abnormal difficulty.
He looked towards where the strum of the zither had originated, his green eyes surging with all sorts of emotions.
They were confusion, shock, and fear.