Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

"What matter?" Xu Yourong did not raise her head or even blink her eyelashes.

"A person wants to break in. It’s...a person of the Orthodox Academy," Ye Xiaolian replied uneasily.

Xu Yourong was keenly aware that the person that dared to rush the sword array of South Stream Temple and also wanted to see Chen Changsheng could only be Zhexiu. She impassively responded, "Chop off his legs."

Ye Xiaolian asked, "What of the two archbishops?"

This was speaking of Mao Qiuyu and Linghai Zhiwang. As Prefects of the Orthodoxy, even South Stream Temple had to pay them due respect.

Xu Yourong did not reply because she had already given her orders.

She only calmly gazed at the couch-ridden Chen Changsheng.

Ye Xiaolian gazed at the distant beautiful figure from outside the door, mentally quite surprised.

Her talent was not bad and when she was very small, she entered Gentle Stream Monastery to begin cultivating.

Gentle Stream Monastery was very close to the sword training grounds of Mount Li. When she was small, she would often see Qiushan Jun practicing his sword there. Like all the other female children, she very naturally became one of Qiushan Jun’s ardent followers, which is why she had spoken so rudely to Chen Changsheng on the Li Palace’s Divine Avenue, only to be scolded so harshly by Tang Thirty-Six that she wept bitter tears in an extremely pitiable display.

Later on, many things happened. She had gone to the Garden of Zhou and the objects of her worship and respect...now included a person called Chen Changsheng.

Perhaps for this reason, she had always concealed a little jealousy towards Xu Yourong, but because their positions were too different, she could not voice her complaints.

In the spring after the conclusion of that year’s Grand Examination, she moved from Gentle Stream Monastery to South Stream Temple and was even less prone to revealing such emotions before Xu Yourong. With the passing of time, the jealousy that she had concealed deep within her heart had vanished without a trace. In the end, her target of worship and respect had even moved from Qiushan Jun and Chen Changsheng to Xu Yourong.

Just like the common people of the capital and her senior sisters of South Stream Temple.

Now, seeing Xu Yourong sitting by the couch, she felt her to be high and noble.

If Mo Yu were present and heard Xu Yourong’s command, saw her figure, she would definitely feel that she was growing more and more similar to the Divine Empress.

Not long after Ye Xiaolian’s departure, the noise outside the hall gradually grew silent.

Xu Yourong quietly stared at Chen Changsheng, realizing that from time to time, he would frown his brow. It seemed that even while unconscious, he could still feel an inexhaustible pain.

Her medical arts could not be compared to Chen Changsheng’s, but they were quite good. After gripping Chen Changsheng’s hand for so long and silently feeling his pulse, she had affirmed that the Elder of Heavenly Secrets’s conclusion was correct.

His meridians were all severed, so how could it be treated?

She turned her head to the pitch-black darkness beyond the window. The lack of the many stars made her understand that there were clouds tonight.

After confirming that there was no one outside the building spying in, she turned her head and unfastened Chen Changsheng’s clothes.

His tattered Daoist robe was thrown on the floor and his underpants were also taken off.

In this entire course of events, her fingers were very steady, her movements very straightforward. There was no hesitation and no shyness on her pale and beautiful face.

Chen Changsheng’s skin was very smooth, seeming just like an infant’s, breakable by the slightest gust of wind. Representing the fact that he had undergone the most perfect of Purifications, even after engaging in such an intense battle and receiving such severe internal injuries, the surface of his skin was without blemish, with not even the smallest wound present. It looked just like the colored porcelain popular in Xuelao City, painted over with a faint layer of pink.

This sort of skin was perhaps the dream of all young girls, but Xu Yourong’s expression became particularly grave.

Because that layer of pink was not because his skin was tender, but because blood was seeping out right below Chen Changsheng’s skin.

The blood seeping out of the severed meridians was now slowly permeating through his body. At any moment, it could contaminate the surface of his body or flow out of his eyes and nose.

This blood was not any ordinary blood, but his true blood, every drop containing a part of his divine soul.

Xu Yourong thought of what Chen Changsheng had told her in the Mausoleum of Zhou and her expression grew even graver, her face paler, a tinge of apprehension finally emerging in her clear and bright eyes.

This was the matter Chen Changsheng had been most concerned about for his entire life, and also what she was most concerned about at this very moment.

A moment ago, she had intentionally questioned the intentions of the Elder of Heavenly Secrets, not even hesitating to treat him with hostility, precisely so that she could intentionally have the Elder of Heavenly Secrets depart this house.

In the capital, Chen Changsheng had once told her that the blood he bled right now no longer contained that most terrifying smell, but it was obvious that circumstances had changed.

Perhaps it was precisely that moment when he successfully broke through and guided the boundless radiance of the stars into his body.

She had no means of confirming whether her deductions were correct or not, but she could not risk it; she could not allow the blood within Chen Changsheng’s body to flow out.

A faint light imbued with a sacred intention fell from her palm and covered Chen Changsheng’s body.

The Elder of Heavenly Secrets had warned her that now that all of Chen Changsheng’s meridians were severed, the slightest strength, even the Sacred Light, entering these meridians would only cause him to bear an even greater burden and only worsen his injuries.

But she still used the Sacred Light technique without hesitation, not because she had no faith whatsoever in the Elder of Heavenly Secrets’s words, but because this Sacred Light was somewhat different.

The clear light fell on Chen Changsheng’s body but did not enter it. Instead, it paused in the air, extremely close to his body, separated by not even one-tenth the thickness of a strand of hair.

Xu Yourong’s palm slowly moved and the clear light followed, slowly wrapping Chen Changsheng’s body within, not leaving the smallest gap.

This sort of skill required an extremely firm control and an extremely composed, stable and powerful spiritual sense. Very few people in the world could accomplish it.

Xu Yourong’s Dao heart was brightly lit, yet after displaying this Sacred Light technique, even her face paled significantly.

The faint layer of pink on Chen Changsheng’s body grew even fainter after being wrapped in that thin layer of Sacred Light.

Even if the scent of his true blood exuded from his pores, it would still be completely isolated by the Sacred Light.

Upon confirming that the problem had been momentarily resolved, Xu Yourong’s expression finally relaxed.

The wind off the lake blew in from the window, tousling the hair on her temples, causing it to catch on the fragrant sweat on her powdered cheeks. She looked very beautiful.

With the gusting of the wind in Mount Han, the clouds in the night sky instantly dispersed. Silver light descended and the pine forest became a sea of silver, a beautiful sight.

Perhaps because they had smelled something or were frightened by the sudden descent of the starlight, the beasts in the mountain forests howled to the sky of multitudinous stars with unease.

Deep within the silver sea of pines arose a rustling sound.

The tree leaves were numerous, obscuring the majority of this thing’s body, but the lines that were visible were extremely graceful. Moreover, when suffused by the silver starlight, they seemed exceptionally pure and holy.

An eye appeared amongst the dense leaves, brimming with intelligence and serenity. But when this eye turned to the house by the lake, it revealed a tinge of frustration.

It had clearly smelled that scent, been willing to travel a thousand li, disregarded those repulsive straight-backed monkeys on the lake shore...so why had that scent disappeared?

After a long time passed, it finally gave up and turned back into the sea of pines, borrowing the trees to completely hide its tracks and body.

In the sky filled with starlight, only a silver-colored horn could be faintly seen bobbing in and out of the leaves.

The beasts of Mount Han, due to some indescribable agitation, howled towards the starry sky.

The fish within the Heaven Lake were also taken by an indescribable excitement, swimming back and forth in the waters by the house.

Several hundred small black fish surrounded the date pit in the fine sand of the shallows, incessantly pecking at it, even kissing it, pushing that date pit farther and farther away until it vanished into the depths of the lake.

Xu Yourong took out the cloth bag from her sleeve, took a candied date and threw it into her mouth, and began to suck on it.

Very sweet.

At these moments, sugar could assist one in calming the mind. And she liked eating sweet things. The first time she was brought to Holy Maiden Peak, she had still been very small. When her teacher the Holy Maiden had asked her how one could maintain the unity of the Dao heart, she looked behind her teacher at the box of candied dates on the table and twisted her small body as she shyly answered, "Only candied dates can."

When she thought of her childhood as she sucked on the candied date, she began to laugh.

Then she also remembered that a few nights ago, she was sitting next to Chen Changsheng on the lake shore and had also been eating a candied date, but how had she been able to safeguard her Dao heart...her mind became a tad disordered.

But it was still very sweet.

She turned to Chen Changsheng on the couch, thinking, although he’s not as handsome as Senior Brother, he’s still rather handsome. I can look at him, and he has more of a lingering charm.

Though asleep, Chen Changsheng still pursed his lips and creased his brow, seeming to be in deep pain.

Xu Yourong caressed his forehead. Her fingertip fell on his lips, lightly pricking it like a dragonfly before returning.

"I will not let you die," she said to him.

Because she was sucking on the candied date, her voice was somewhat indistinct, yet extremely clear.

By blocking off the scent of Chen Changsheng’s blood, she had only addressed the first problem. Next, she would have to resolve an even more troublesome problem.

If he continued to lose blood in this way, even if the blood was being lost in his internal organs, he would still die from excessive blood loss.

How to staunch the bleeding? This was a very troublesome problem, as his body could no longer bear the Sacred Light technique.

And even if the bleeding were staunched, how to supplement his blood? This was also a very troublesome problem. He had clearly lost too much blood, so the mechanisms of his body could not be counted on to replenish his blood.

Any other person would be powerless to resolve these problems. Just as the Elder of Heavenly Secrets had said, and just as what was faintly expressed in Guan Bai’s strike, the Heavenly Dao could not be defied.

In the end, could the Heavenly Dao really not be defied?

Xu Yourong wished to fight a battle against the Heavenly Dao, just like she had blocked that sword for him.

She had faith.

Because he had taught her when he had saved her back then.

She took out the Tong Bow and then directed the forefinger of her right hand to lightly scratch the wrist of her left.

A line of blood appeared on her jade-like wrist and then gradually began to expand, spilling out more and more blood.

The true blood of the Heavenly Phoenix blazed when struck by the wind, emitting countless rays of light, illuminating her appearance clearly, a beauty beyond compare.

......