novelKilling Zhou (The Middle of the First Season Again)
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Chapter 620 - Killing Zhou (The Middle of the First Season Again)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Everyone said that Chen Changsheng was a genius of cultivation. After all the things that had occurred in the past two years, this conclusion had already received the widespread acknowledgment of the entire continent. But in reality, many people had no idea in just which aspect he was strongest: quantity of true essence or comprehension ability? Of course, being well-versed in the Daoist Canon was an extraordinary feat, but between accumulated knowledge and fighting power, specific techniques were required to act as a bridge.
Only after the three great feats that were sending Su Li ten thousand li back south, the several dozen matches in front of the Orthodox Academy, and the battle of the Bridge of Helplessness, did the people gradually begin to affirm that the most formidable aspect of Chen Changsheng was his sword.
This made many people, especially the priests of the Orthodoxy, feel rather surprised, even vaguely uneasy.
Of course, the Orthodoxy also had sword styles, like the True Sword of the Orthodoxy, the Heavenly Dao Academy's Sword of Hithering Light, or even the temple sword of the south, but the Orthodoxy's resources were even more numerous in other aspects. Despite being the successor to the Pope, what Chen Changsheng was most skilled in was not the divine arts of the Orthodoxy, not the Daoist techniques of the Daoist Canon and its scriptures, but the swordplay he had inherited from Mount Li...
Zhou Tong had an even clearer understanding of Chen Changsheng and knew that his strength not only lay in his impressive talent in the sword, but also in the sword itself.
He vaguely understood that Chen Changsheng had some sort of fortuitous encounter within the Sword Pool of the Garden of Zhou and he had dispatched people in an attempt to find out where those remaining famous swords had been hidden. Yet a year had passed and even the spies of the Department for Purging Officials that covered the world had ultimately only managed to find one in the Orthodox Academy's latrine. The rest of those renowned swords had all vanished without a trace, a fact that made him very vigilant.
He was even more vigilant about that sword displayed in the open, the sword currently being held in Chen Changsheng's hand.
The Stainless Sword, the newest divine weapon on the Tier of Legendary Weapons.
This dagger had nothing mystical about it besides its sharpness.
But just as the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had commented, any item that was developed to the extreme was extremely terrifying.
This dagger was far too sharp, able to easily pierce through the divine artifact of the Tianhai clan, the Six Protections Divine Armor.
Although Zhou Tong was a grand expert at the peak of Star Condensation, his body as hard as steel, he did not dare test his body against this sword.
And he did not want Chen Changsheng to display the full extent of his cultivation in the sword.
So even in this room, he was prepared for Chen Changsheng when the latter raised his head.
He spread out his Star Domain of blood and waited for Chen Changsheng to use his sword to break it. He then used an extremely risky and mentally exhausting method to forcefully break free of his own world and grasp the sea of blood in his hand.
Chen Changsheng's sword was in the sea of blood and was thus in Zhou Tong's hands, under the inflexible control of his might.
No matter how sharp this sword was, it was incapable of touching his body or soul. No matter how profound or masterly Chen Changsheng's path of the sword was, there was no more space to display it.
At this moment, Chen Changsheng's Intellectual Sword had fallen into nothing but space, and then it had fallen completely into Zhou Tong's calculations.
Sensing the boundless energy transmitted through the edge of the sword, sensing that blood-soaked and terrifying might, Chen Changsheng raised his eyes up to the great crimson official's robe drifting in the air, his face abnormally pale.
From the time he had unsheathed the Intellectual Sword in the Plum Garden Inn to now, he had already consumed too much mental power and focus.
This was the first time since he had learned this sword in the wilderness that his Intellectual Sword had been completely ineffective.
His sword was now in the hands of his powerful foe, his path of the sword bogged down in the sea of blood, unable to express itself.
His face turned pale, perhaps because he had exhausted too much of his mental power or because he had lost his self-confidence.
The Stainless Sword was now stained by blood, no longer as bright and incapable of continuing his sword techniques. However, he still had one sword technique that did not require movement, that he could still use.
His spiritual sense descended upon the snowy plain outside his Ethereal Palace. The flakes of snow formed of condensed star radiance flew crazily into the air and then were all completely ignited, releasing in an extremely brief span of time a limitless quantity of light and heat.
A powerful Qi and a seemingly real flame exploded from the edge of the sword, attempting to break through the gruesome and evil sphere of blood within Zhou Tong's palm.
Boom! A gale howled through the room as countless rays of light burst through Zhou Tong's fingers, illuminating his finger bones through the skin!
The sphere of blood wrapped around the dagger shuddered in unease, its surface fiercely seething. Drops of blood shot out from the sphere, and when they fell against the ground, the gray stones hissed as they eroded!
Zhou Tong's expression became solemn. He knew that one of Chen Changsheng's sword techniques could massively increase his true essence output, but he had not imagined that this attack could be so explosive!
Another harsh whistle issued forth from his thin and stern lips. The night winds howled into the room, causing his red official's gown to madly flap in the wind as an extremely cruel and powerful Qi appeared!
As the great crimson official's gown madly danced, Zhou Tong's body grew several times larger, bursting through the back half of the room and transforming into a magical image ten-odd zhang tall!
Chen Changsheng's sword exploded with light and heat, sword intent and killing intent!
Countless bright rays of light and shapeless sword intent shot out together from Zhou Tong's fingers, cutting the walls of the room into innumerable chunks of stone.
Yet the sword was still unable to truly break out of Zhou Tong's palm, unable to break out of the pearl of blood formed from the sea of blood that was Zhou Tong's Star Domain!
This was precisely the gap between peak Star Condensation and peak Ethereal Opening that nothing could offset. No matter how high Chen Changsheng's cultivation in the sword was, how sharp the Stainless Sword was, there would still be no means of doing so.
Before Zhou Tong's magical image that seemed like a demon god, Chen Changsheng on the ground seemed all the more puny and insignificant, just like an ant. The light, heat, and sword intent emitted from his sword seemed extremely dim in Zhou Tong's palm, just like a flickering firefly, on the verge of extinction at any moment.
Would this assassination on this night in early autumn just end like this? Was Chen Changsheng's facing death to live going to ultimately end in him helplessly awaiting the arrival of death?
No, although he was just a firefly, many of them could still illuminate the dark night, and even more would ultimately burn the plains, and even burn the heavens themselves. The Blazing Sword that Su Li had taught him drew materials from the Secret Sword of the Golden Crow, used the energy of the Burning Heaven Sword, but its true imposing manner came from the last move of the Mount Li Sword Style. The special aspect of that move was precisely... to cast away one's life!
When Chen Changsheng came today to kill Zhou Tong, he had never thought about returning alive. He had truly come to face death in order to live, and had long pushed life and death out of his mind.
He knew that he was about to die, so he was naturally able to use his life however he pleased.
If there really was such a thing as the Heavenly Dao above the starry sky, it would probably be able to perceive his current mood. If there really was such a thing as fate within the starry sky, then his fate was still within his hands.
Suddenly, another extremely tiny firefly appeared. It was on his wrist.
This firefly continued to grow brighter and brighter until it finally became a star.
Soon after, several more of these lights appeared on his body, star after star igniting upon his body.
The places where these stars appeared were all at his Qi openings.
At Mount Han, he had done something similar. At the time, he had nearly died. But now, since he was going to die anyway, since he had already prepared himself for death, he no longer cared.
He had long since made the preparations to once more light up his Qi openings in this courtyard of crabapple blossoms, to bring the sea of stars once more into his body!
The radiance of the stars descended from the heavens, noiselessly passing through the destroyed room and falling upon his body, causing those stars on his body to grow even brighter.
Countless stars were faintly visible on his clothes, connecting into lines, connecting into pieces, transforming into a star map, condensing... a Star Domain!
After Mount Han, Chen Changsheng once more condensed his star!
Zhou Tong's expression subtly changed.
He knew in Mount Han, it was precisely because Chen Changsheng had attempted to break into Star Condensation that he had suffered severe injuries. So he had not imagined that at this moment, Chen Changsheng would actually attempt to condense his star again, and even succeed!
Starlight vanished into Chen Changsheng's body. His Qi did not decrease, but rather rapidly increased, blocking the pressure of the sea of blood. The edge of the sword burst with light and heat as if it wanted to burn away the ball of blood in Zhou Tong's palm, while the sword intent seemed already on the verge of breaking through the blood!
Zhou Tong's face became rather pale, and the hairband holding his black hair snapped. His hair danced in the wind as his Qi rose once more, seeking to forcefully suppress the sword intent in his hand!
As long as Chen Changsheng's Stainless Sword could not break out of the sea of blood that was his Star Domain, then there was no possibility of him losing this battle!
If this battle continued to develop in this fashion, if Chen Changsheng's sword remained under control, unable to add to its sharpness using the sword energy, then it would truly be unable to break through Zhou Tong's sea of blood.
Even if he had succeeded at condensing his star, he was still only at the initial level of Star Condensation, still very far from the peak.
But even if his Stainless Sword could not move, it did not mean he could not attack. The sheath called the Vault Sheath still contained countless swords.
With a swish, a cut seemed to be slashed through the space of this room. For no reason at all, ten-odd clear sword cuts appeared on the trunk of the crabapple tree in the courtyard!
An ancient sword flew of out the sheath gripped in Chen Changsheng's hand. Traveling along the Stainless Sword, it stabbed into the sea of blood within Zhou Tong's palm!
This sword was called the Yue Maiden, precisely the renowned sword that Mo Yu had sought from him but failed to obtain. This sword had once slept within the sea of grass within the Garden of Zhou for several centuries and was speckled with rust, no longer the image of intimidating radiance it was in the past. However, in these two years of nourishment within the Vault Sheath, it had already regained its edge of the past!
With a whoosh, the Yue Maiden Sword plunged into the sea of blood!
It was swiftly followed by countless other swords flying from the sheath, stabbing into the sea of blood in an unending assault!
For several centuries, ten thousand-some famous swords remained buried in the Sword Pool of the Garden of Zhou. Only when Chen Changsheng brought the Yellow Paper Umbrella into the plains did these swords begin to wake up. Together with Chen Changsheng, they battled against the monster tide, broke the Soul Pivot of the Mausoleum of Zhou, and then held up the vault of the sky. Finally, they departed with him together from the Garden of Zhou, returning to the world that they had left a very long time ago.
Many of these famed swords returned to their former sects and monasteries, like the temple sword or the Sword of Holy Light. Some swords found new opportunities, like the Mountain Sea Sword and the Demon Commander's Banner Sword. Many swords were hidden by a certain person in various niches within the Orthodox Academy. And there were many swords that had always remained with Chen Changsheng, at least six thousand of them.
As comrades-in-arms, as fellow soldiers, when today Chen Changsheng was challenging a most powerful and frightening foe, confronting a most challenging and dangerous situation, how could they allow themselves to be outdone?
Sword after sword exited the sheath, striving to be the first to charge forward!
In a flash, the courtyard was filled with an awe-inspiring sword intent!
Let alone the crabapple tree, even those hard gray flagstones were covered in countless perfectly straight sword cuts!
Cheng Jun let out a shriek of fear as he sent his cultivation soaring. Holding out his two palms like metal shields in front of his body, he made to escape the room.
......
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