Chapter 1025 – Trying One's Sword (I)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
A tree had once stood where the Demon Lord was standing.
The tree was now void, sliced into the finest powder by Chen Changsheng's sword intents and the blind zither player's zither notes.
The moment the zither notes and sword intents descended, a green leaf on the highest and thinnest branch of the tree was blown away by the wind.
This green leaf fell on the tightly-shut eyes of the stone sculpture next to the rear gate of the courtyard.
Neither Chen Changsheng nor the blind zither player noticed this stone statue, so it naturally followed that they did not notice when the stone statue opened its eyes.
But when the stone statue opened its eyes, the green leaf was flicked away to gently drift back into the wind.
The blind zither player's ears vibrated. With a flip of his hands, he bared the ancient zither in front of him. He stimulated his true essence and pushed Chen Changsheng away.
There was no sound, only an abrupt flash of light in the darkness.
This light was a thin line of light, like a needle.
This needle of light traveled so fast that it seemed like actual light. A moment ago it was in the depths of the darkness, and now it was right in front of the pair.
Puff.
The thin needle of light easily stabbed through the ancient zither, penetrated the zither player's left arm, and then silently vanished in the darkness.
The blind zither player's face became a ghastly white as blood gushed out. His hands shuddered as they held the zither, seemingly about to lose their hold.
The slender needle of light had only left a tiny puncture mark, but it had apparently inflicted terrible wounds.
Seven hundred swords howled as they returned, shielding Chen Changsheng and the blind zither player.
The swords pointed their tips outward, making them look like a fruit growing countless thorns.
This was the most defensive form of the South Stream Temple sword array.
The blind zither player's mind was slightly eased, and he could no longer endure the pain. With a grunt, he put down the ancient zither.
The slender needle of light had only pierced through his left arm, but the strange and holy Qi attached to it was continuously gnawing away at his meridians.
Even with the blind zither player's cultivation level, only half a step from the Divine, even if he used all his true essence, his spiritual sense still could not expel that Qi.
What sort of Qi was this? Just what was that needle of light?
The eyes of Chen Changsheng and the blind zither player looked past the storm of swords and fell on that stone sculpture.
The stone sculpture's eyes were open and it was now standing.
Its eyes held an extreme apathy. It was a void of emotion, with neither love nor hatred. There was only ice, as if this was not a living being.
But the powerful Qi in the depths of its eyes was so real and alive.
If one looked even deeper into its eyes, perhaps one would see a pure intelligence. Those were the laws of the world.
Without question, this stone statue was an actual living being.
But it was completely different from any living being that had ever appeared on the continent, both in its method of existence and its source.
The blind zither player could not see its naked and perfect body, nor its pair of sacred white wings.
But he could clearly sense its existence.
His face paled even more.
The stone statue slowly raised its right hand.
In the gloomy confines of the darkness, even Chen Changsheng could only rely on his spiritual sense to observe the surroundings.
But when the stone statue raised its right hand, it managed to take from that deepest darkness those slivers of light hidden in spatial cracks.
Those rays of light congregated in its hands, gradually bundling together and taking shape.
This was a spear made of condensed light.
The blind zither player inclined his ears in that direction. He heard the sound of space being pierced by that light, being annihilated, but his face did not further pale.
He was no longer thinking, so there was no need to be wary or uneasy.
He took the zither in his trembling hands and whispered to Chen Changsheng, "Go."
He had not even been able to counter that needle of light, and now they were facing a spear of light!
Chen Changsheng understood the zither player's intentions.
The blind zither player intended to use his own life to block the light spear and a possible attack from the Demon Lord so that Chen Changsheng could retreat from the darkness.
As long as Chen Changsheng was able to retreat into the courtyard, he could enter the center of the Li Palace's grand array.
Even if they could not defeat these two peerless powers from the other continent, they could at least buy a chance to live, or more time.
Chen Changsheng did not accept the blind zither player's request.
At this moment, even more time would not offer a better chance at survival.
And he would not let the blind zither player remain here alone.
He had already made his preparations.
He knew that when they attacked the Demon Lord, there was a high chance that they would encounter the second Angel of Sacred Light.
This was the living stone sculpture.
According to Bie Yanghong's account, this Angel governed judgment, and its holy name was Hidden Thunder. It was even more terrifying than the Angel contending against the Li Palace's grand array.
Chen Changsheng unsheathed the Stainless Sword and fixed its hilt into the sheath, then used both hands to grip the hilt.
With this action, he also hung the string of stone pearls in his palm onto the hilt.
……
……
In the distance, the Demon Lord slightly perked his brows at this sight.
He naturally knew what it meant.
At this point, the entire continent knew that when Chen Changsheng put his dagger and sheath together, it would become a longsword of sorts.
This would only happen when Chen Changsheng was putting his life on the line.
The problem was that Chen Changsheng should have known who he was facing.
The Demon Lord knew that Chen Changsheng knew, so he did not know why Chen Changsheng had come to kill, or why he insisted on staying instead of retreating.
Did he really think that he could terminate this powerful being from the other continent?
Did he really think that in this hopeless situation, putting his life on the line would be of any use?
Chen Changsheng had a very calm expression. There was no sign of passion or impulse.
There was no atmosphere of tragedy in this night-shrouded courtyard.
He was well aware of the horrors of this Angel of the Sacred Light.
And for some reason, these two Angels were even more powerful than when Bie Yanghong had seen them.
But he still wanted to try.
Just like Wang Po did in that storm in Xunyang City, as he confronted the moonlight manifested by Zhu Luo's sword.
……
……
The Angel's gaze was indifferent.
It treated that storm of seven hundred swords with the gaze of indifference.
Its gaze fell on Chen Changsheng.
Its eyes gradually began to change.
Crueler and crueler, harsher and harsher, scarier and scarier.
But even more shocking was that these were all emotions.
This was incredibly rare.
Just what had this Angel seen on Chen Changsheng?
Or was it that it had sensed something in Chen Changsheng's body?
Extremely archaic and strange syllables emerged from the Angel's lips.
It was like peals of thunder in the sky.
When he heard this voice, the Demon Lord's complexion became rather strange.
So did Chen Changsheng's.
The laws of the world did not need to translate.
He vaguely understood the Angel's meaning.