Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chen Chang Sheng’s speed was indeed very fast and his punch was indeed very straight.

Logically, his punch was sure to hit thin air, unable to land upon Huo Guang, who had used the graceful motion technique, Unfettered Cloud to soar upwards.

His punch did indeed hit thin air; it landed upon the air and let out a resonating sound, akin to an old bell being rung.

The formless air seemed to have been crushed under this strike.

Yet, his punch didn’t stop, continuing to advance forwards.

From within the air that had been struck, there seemed to appear a path. That path couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, yet gave people a sense that it was a real existence.

The important figures within the hall, gazing at the scene upon the mirror, could also feel the existence of that path.

That path was something sculpted out by Chen Chang Sheng’s punch, but it wasn’t straight, it was an arc, its front lightly sloping upwards.

This formless line was very smooth, very pleasant to gaze at, having a type of natural beauty.

How could a perfectly straight punch, strike out a curved path?

There could only be one explanation and that was, upon the last moment of his fist manifestation’s projection, it had changed direction.

What fist technique existed in this world that can do this?

Huo Guang soared towards the sky.

Chen Chang Sheng’s fist followed that formless arced line and headed towards the sky.

“A Sword that Sears the Heavens.”

Xue Xing Chuan’s shocked voice erupted within the Hall of Zhao Wen.

There was indeed no fist technique that could change the direction of its fist manifestation at the last moment.

The personages within the hall were all knowledgeable people, they are certain that there didn’t exist such a technique.

But there did exist a sword art which could achieve this, changing the direction of a sword manifestation at the final moment of a sword manoeuvre.

Previously, the personages within the hall had silently counted within their minds that there were approximately three skills that could do this, this sword art was one of them.

Li Shan Sword Arts’ Sword of Searing Heaven.

Successive sounds of moving chairs could be heard scraping against the ground from within the Hall of Zhao Wen.

These important figures all rose in surprise, staring at the mirror and the scene of the youth who was currently clenching his fist and slamming into the heavens, they were shocked beyond reason.

How could a student of Orthodox Academy have possibly learnt a secret sword of Li Mountain’s Sword Secrets that isn’t taught to others?

It was said that the Sword of Searing Heaven from Li Shan Sword Arts was something self-created by that legendary Junior Uncle of Li Mountain.

It was never shown to others, until several hundred years ago, having returned to Li Mountain after travelling the four seas, had he recorded this sword manoeuvre into the main form of Li Shan Sword Arts after incessant pleading from the then current substitute headmaster.

This sword manoeuvre was very famous, but very few people trained it, that was because this move is very hard to practise, its requirements on condensing divine sense was far too high.

Within this generation of disciples from Li Shan Sword Sect, it was said that only Qiu Shan Jun and Gou Han Shi knew this move.

Currently, this move had appeared within the hands of Chen Chang Sheng.

He hadn’t used a sword, but a fist.

A Sword that Sears the Heavens naturally became a fist that slams into the heavens.

Between his fist and the deep blue sky above, was Huo Guang.

Therefore, before his fist slams into the deep blue sky, it needed to land upon Huo Guang’s body.

A loud explosion reverberated.

This was the sound created by a fist landing upon a body.

Chen Chang Sheng’s fist explosively landed upon Huo Guang’s chest.

Simple, accurate, powerful.

A second explosion rung out.

This was the sound of a body clashing with the air.

Huo Guang’s body suddenly rose farther from the ground, flying towards the sky, momentarily after, it became but a small black speck.

Outside of the tower, the examinees stood before the stone steps, awaiting the match’s conclusion.

It was at this moment, that they heard the sound of two successive explosions.

Due to the silencing array used within the tower, they previously hadn’t been able to hear anything, neither had they seen any projections of sword manifestations in the sky above, unlike in the battle between Tang Thirty-Six and Liang Ban Hu.

This inevitably led to them looking down slightly upon Huo Guang and Chen Chang Sheng.

Until those two thunderous explosions reverberated, akin to having detonated right beside their ears.

The examinees were astounded beyond belief; following the explosions, came the howling of air being breached; gazes turned upwards, seeing the figure that flew towards the heavens.

The grounds were dead silent, a lot of the examinees had their jaws hanging, yet no one said anything.

They all stared wide-eyed at the figure that was hurtling to some incredibly high location and its subsequent descent.

Momentarily after, a faint tremor could be felt from the ground.

The examinees all lowered their heads and looked towards their feet, then they lifted their heads and looked at the Tower of Purging Dust, they were too astonished for words, to the point where they felt as if their hearts were also tremoring.

That tremor, it should have been that person impacting onto the ground?

The majority of examinees didn’t see clearly as to who it was that was sent flying up into the air, but for some reason, they all subconsciously concluded that it wouldn’t have been Chen Chang Sheng.

Within the tower.

Chen Chang Sheng stood, with his right foot in front and left leg behind, looking akin to a bow.

His right arm was slightly angled, fist towards the sky, akin to a torch.

Huo Guang had been sent flying.

He withdrew his fist and right leg, standing straight, turning his gaze skywards.

His line of sight shifted upwards and then down; following that figure and returning to within the tower.

A thud resounded, dust abounded and the ground lightly tremored.

The dust gradually settled, Huo Guang lay upon the ground, continuously spewing up blood, having an untold amount of broken bones.

From the moment he had left the ground, the examiners from the second floor had rushed down, making preparations for emergency treatment.

The clergywoman from Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green continuously poured upon him a clear radiance, helping to stanch his bleeding, ensuring that he wouldn’t suffer from the danger of death, only then, would he be moved over to Li Palace.

Lying upon the sand strewn floor and staring at the deep blue heavens above, Huo Guang’s expression was filled with pain while his eyes were filled with anger and unwillingness to accept his state; what he felt even greater amounts of, was bewilderment.

He couldn’t understand; why did he lose this match.

It had to be known that he already knew who his opponent was going to be from before his entering of the Capital.

If Chen Chang Sheng couldn’t even pass the Martial Trial, then he naturally wouldn’t be able to participate in the Duelling Stage. If he couldn’t even pass the first round of the duelling phase, then they naturally wouldn’t run into each other.

All he knew was that if Chen Chang Sheng entered the second round, they would become opponents, he would become an unscalable mountain. History would be corrected at this moment and the alliance between the North and South would be put back on track…

Yet, he current lay upon the floor, having sustained severe injuries, unable to move; even an act as simple as turning his neck was something he couldn’t do.

He wanted to say something to Chen Chang Sheng, but he couldn’t look at him, nor could he say any words, all he could do was to stare at the deep blue skies above.

The sky within the Education Palace was far lower than the sky outside, previously, he had even felt as if he would touch upon that piece of heaven.

Just as how he had felt he could easily defeat Chen Chang Sheng, when they were still outside of the tower.

Yet reality was, the heavens could not be reached.

Neither could he win against Chen Chang Sheng.

Why was this?

Chen Chang could have pondered over Huo Guang and those important personages behind him, pondered over their current complex emotions, their feelings and their thoughts, but he didn’t.

The feelings and thoughts were unrelated to him, whether if their poison was his tonic or not, it had nothing to do with him; he would never waste time on such pointless matters.

He didn’t look at Huo Guang whom was lying upon the floor, instead turning towards the Li Palace clergy member in charge of the duelling phase and did a formal gesture, then he headed out of the tower.

That clergy member came from the Education Board, seeing the image of that youth’s back, they praisefully nodded their head.

From entering the tower to leaving, Chen Chang Sheng hadn’t uttered a single word.

Before the start of the match, Huo Guang had said he wouldn’t use words to insult him, because it was both shameless and dull, that he would simply defeat him.

Chen Chang Sheng had used reality to show his opponent that saying anything at all was inherently dull and inane.

I am here for a duel, not a conversation, not to mention we’re not familiar with each, we don’t even know each other.

In the same way, before the start of the match, Huo Guang had said to him from some lofty ideological position that if he didn’t draw his sword, he wouldn’t have the chance to draw it again.

Chen Chang Sheng had used reality to show him, that he himself was the person who needed to draw his sword.

Within the Hall of Zhao Wen, it had once again returned to being quiet.

Those present, had used a long period of time before finally suppressing the shock they felt within their hearts.

Mo Yu looked upon the deserted sand covered floor displayed on the mirror, the edge of her lips lightly twitched, as if she wanted to laugh, in the end, she maintained a look of cold indifference.

Xue Xing Chuan looked towards His Eminence, Mei Li Sha, he felt a lot of perplexity over the ability displayed by Chen Chang Sheng.

It was only at this moment that they noticed, unknown when, His Eminence had once again closed his eyes, as if he had once again started to sleep.

Only, the wrinkles upon his face had loosened considerably.

The old age spots that had been rather unsightly, had also diminished considerably.

Upon his face, a faint smile could be seen.