Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 516 – Half a Bridge of Rain, Half a Bridge of Snow

“This sword technique is somewhat out of the ordinary.”

Linghai Zhiwang stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the stone bridge a li away covered in snow. Upon sensing that sword intent, his emotionless face finally showed a little change.

Daoist Siyuan commented, “Principal Shang’s disciple is naturally out of the ordinary.”

The sword intent Chen Changsheng was releasing was very powerful, but this alone was not enough to shock experts of this level. The reason for the change in mood was from the two flavors merged within the sword intent.

This sword intent was burning hot.

Chen Changsheng was very much aware that in both quantity of true essence and strength of spiritual sense, he was far from reaching Xu Yourong who possessed the blood of the true Phoenix. As a result, he did not hesitate to ignite the ball of fire in his heart.

This battle had just begun and he had not yet made a genuine attack. The attack he now made was by necessity his most powerful one.

A strand of his spiritual sense fell upon the vast plain of snow surrounding his Ethereal Palace. Immediately, the vast plain of snow began to blaze. The Bridge of Helplessness also began to blaze, and although not an ember of flame could be seen, one could feel the temperature rise.

In a flash, all those pieces of snow falling towards his body melted, transforming midair into water and splashing onto his body and the bridge. As a result, all the snow he had endured from the exchange just a moment ago was completely washed away.

The sword intent was very straight, sharing some similarities with the technique he had used to block Xu Yourong’s mighty avalanche of a sword. However, it was even straighter, not a mountain cliff or a river dam, just a straight line.

Solely because it was straight, it was unyielding. The Stainless Sword was still in his hand, not moving to strike, but amidst the freezing wind and snow of the Bridge of Helplessness, a perfectly straight line appeared on the surface of the bridge.

This line divided the Bridge of Helplessness into two completely different worlds.

He was on this side, Xu Yourong was on that side.

Rain was on this side, snow was on that side.

……

……

The sword intent enveloped the stone bridge, giving birth to rain and dispersing the snow.

Chen Changsheng raised the Stainless Sword, his eyes calm and resolute.

This was the first time after learning the Blazing Sword from Su Li that he had attempted to ignite his true essence to such a frenzied extent, but the amount of true essence and energy on his sword was still less than that of Xu Yourong’s great avalanche. However, it was more brimming with spirit, sharper and more focused.

Mao Qiuyu suddenly took a step forward. Staring at the distant bridge, he wrinkled his brow in disbelief, “Why does it feel a little like Po’s path of the blade?”

Tang Thirty-Six replied, “It’s precisely Wang Po’s path of the blade.”

As he spoke, he had a very solemn expression. Previously, he had said that since this battle only decided victory and defeat, not life and death, he didn’t care that much about it. Now, however, upon seeing Chen Changsheng’s sword intent, he began to lose faith in his judgment. And then, he began to get worried.

Once those people standing at the bow of the ship heard Mao Qiuyu and Tang Thirty-Six’s words, they were all rather shaken. Soon after, they very naturally began to think of that battle in the rain at Xunyang City. As for Xue He who similarly walked the path of the blade, his mood was complex. His eyes were fixed on the Bridge of Helplessness, not wanting to miss a single detail of the following action.

Xu Shiji expressionlessly commented, “For this child to have the opportunity to study from so many experts, his luck is extremely good.”

“This has nothing to do with luck.” With a dignified expression, Mao Qiuyu declared, “To learn Wang Po’s path of the blade, to walk his path of the blade, this isn’t something that just anyone can do.”

This statement was correct.

Chen Changsheng’s previous use of the sword style of South Stream Temple, his display of the Descent of Heavenly Music, could be explained as a result of him being widely-read. Moreover, he had the assistance of the Orthodoxy and had also had many fortuitous encounters in his cultivation of the path of the sword.

But to learn Wang Po’s path of the blade was not so simple.

He needed to believe in Wang Po’s path of the blade, to practice it with absolute confidence.

And this was precisely what concerned Tang Thirty-Six.

Wang Po’s path of the blade rested on the word ‘straight’.

No matter how powerful the enemy before the blade, even if it were an expert simply impossible to defeat, the hand holding the blade had to be steady, and the direction the blade edge pointed still had to be straight.

To accomplish this, the heart of the wielder had to be as straight as the edge of his blade.

That seemingly poverty-stricken middle-aged man had used his countless battles, in Tianliang County, at the Wenshui Tangs, in Scholartree Manor of the south, and in Xunyang City to demonstrate this point.

A silence hung over the bow of the ship. Those experts who far surpassed Chen Changsheng in strength all asked themselves if they would be able to walk Wang Po’s path of the blade. Ultimately, they could only reject the notion.

On the Bridge of Helplessness.

Chen Changsheng’s sword had not struck, but his sword intent had already emerged.

The snowflakes falling from the sky transformed into raindrops and wove themselves into curtains before splattering against the ground.

The raindrops closest to him all evaporated into mist, enveloping his body within.

Xu Yourong stood in the snow, her eyes a little apprehensive, revealing a grave expression. The white gauze obscured her face, the mist disturbed her vision, but none of this affected her perception of this sword intent.

She was keenly aware that if she were to cross that line in the middle of the Bridge of Helplessness, she would have to confront Chen Changsheng’s full-throated and, by necessity, most powerful attack.

This attack would inevitably decide victory and defeat.

Of course, she could continue to stand in the snow, waiting for some change to possibly occur. But this could also mean that Chen Changsheng might be able to push this sword intent to an even more terrifying realm.

If he could, that is.

Without any reservation, Chen Changsheng ignited his true essence. Using Wang Po’s unsparing path of the blade, he drew a distinct path through the wind and snow of the Bridge of Helplessness.

He drew a path for this match.

He allowed Xu Yourong to make the choice.

The white gauze fluttered.

Xu Yourong closed her eyes.

Then, she opened them once more.

To close and open her eyes required only a brief moment.

In this moment, she made her choice.

Under the bridge, the Luo River received the incessant battering of snow and rain and lightly swayed.

The great ship a distance from the bridge also lightly swayed.

The painter from the Pavilion of Divination sitting at the very front of the ship suddenly began to sway. The other two painters also seemed to be shaken.

Then, their shocked, trembling, and uneasy voices rang out.

“This sword technique?”

“It is going to end so quickly?”

The three painters were all of the Star Condensation Realm, but they were not the strongest people present.

However, they had spectated and recorded countless famous battles and so were very sensitive to changes in a battle. As a result, they were the first to understand just what had occurred.

Soon after, Mao Qiuyu, Daoist Siyuan, and the rest understood.

A deathly stillness hung over the Luo River.

This was all because the young woman atop the Bridge of Helplessness had once more opened her eyes.

The fluttering white gauze and the flurry of snow could not obstruct her sight.

Faint golden specks of light floated out from the white gauze.

Did those specks of light originate from her eyes?

The temple sword trembled in the snowstorm, the snowflakes falling upon it jolted into fog.

The Bridge of Helplessness was half a fog of snow, half a mist of rain. It seemed to be amongst the clouds, bearing no resemblance to the mortal world.

At this moment, Xu Yourong also seemed to be no longer part of the mortal world.

She was so solemn and divine that even the most ordinary of people would be able to tell that a strength that exceeded the realm of mortals had appeared on her body.

At this scene, Mao Qiuyu, Daoist Siyuan, and Linghai Zhiwang were all struck with profound disbelief. They simultaneously asked with trembling voices, “The Sword of Great Light?”