Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Many events took place in the thirty-third spring of the new era.

Firstly, the Emperor of the Great Zhou issued a decree requesting that the Li Palace choose a new Pope as quickly as possible. This decree engendered massive controversy, and only a few people knew that after issuing this decree, the Emperor sat in a daze on his throne for a very long time. He then had his junior brother write a letter to Holy Maiden Peak.

The Road of Peace was also very busy. The Prince of Zhongshan had recently cursed out his new chef because the taste of his zhajiangmian wasn’t right. In the nearby Xue Estate, Xue Yejin, who had obtained second place in the Grand Examination, left the Mausoleum of Books and was immediately brought around by his mother to meet potential marriage partners, spending every day and night in a most exasperated state. Next door to the Xue Estate, Zhou Tong’s former secret residence had been quietly possessed by Mo Yu. Recently, her favorite thing to do after concluding the court sessions was to accompany the Prince of Louyang in this place in researching the method which resulted in the tastiest pickled radishes. It seemed that she really was pregnant.

The former Governor of Xunyang City, Feng Guijun, had stayed in Xuelao City all this time. It was said that he was studying how to sing opera. Without the slightest courtesy, the Great Zhou Dynasty had begun to share the culture of the Demon race with the world. The precious research notes of Grand Scholar Tungus had been evenly divided between the Imperial Court and Mount Li. By now, Gou Hanshi had not left the principal mountain of Mount Li for three years, those research notes his constant companions. Qiushan Jun, on the other hand, had only read them for three days before casting aside the desperate pleas of his father and leaving Mount Li alone, his destination the cold and distant snowy plains. By the time Guan Feibai heard of this news and came back from Wenshui, he was too late, and he no longer had the chance to ask his eldest brother just what had been written in that letter to Liang Banhu.

No one knew that Qiushan Jun had gone to the Northern Sea. There, he found Mountain Men Yichun and Jingbo. He did not conceal his intentions, and told the two Mountain Men that he was prepared to live on the shores of the Northern Sea for many years. He would wait for them to die of old age, and then he would take Grand Scholar Tungus’s notebooks and dissect their bodies in the hope that he could find a solution to the Demon race’s decreasing fertility. The two Mountain Men were not angry, nor did they think him crazy. Smiling and laughing, they agreed to his request.

On the next day, Qiushan Jun saw Nanke. Only then did he realize that she had been living here for many years. It appeared, however, that not only had her illness not been cured, it had even worsened.

He smiled and said, "What a coincidence. I’ve recently learned a sword song. Do you want to listen?"

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......

Everything in the world was faring well, but not so much for Tang Thirty-Six.

Now matter how arrogantly he acted in Wenshui City, he couldn’t show off his skills, and back in the capital, he couldn’t stand the lovey-dovey couple that was Zhexiu and Qi Jian. The Old Master was hale and hearty, and it was clear that he wouldn’t be dying for the next few decades. His father had been completely cleansed of the poison and could live for at least a few more centuries, so what was left for him to do?

He went to that plum-blossom-covered mountain outside the city, went to that nunnery cloaked in plum blossoms, and ordered a cup of plum blossom tea. He sat for three autumns, but he never received a response.

Luoluo was also not faring very well. She had been formally conferred the title of Crown Princess, but this had little effect on her life. Besides reading books, cultivating, and painting pear blossoms, she would often look at the sea of clouds, a lonesome expression on her face as she subconsciously caressed that stone pearl.

Xuanyuan Po did not continue to lead an army, nor did he join Jin Yulu in the pursuit of agriculture. He chose to act as Luoluo’s personal guard.

When Luoluo was standing in front of that round window and gazing blankly at the sea of clouds, he would blankly watch her. He knew that the princess would stand there for a very long time, because the princess truly was a diligent cultivator, and the day she crossed that threshold, she would go to that world to find Chen Changsheng.

The Tong River in the twilight was a gorgeous belt of gold.

Life in the village was peaceful and leisurely.

A jade tile fell onto the table, attracting a burst of gasps.

An All-One Suit.

Xu Yourong quietly gazed at the tile and suddenly said, "I’m feeling rather good."

The woman and the other two mahjong players were preparing to add their comments when they suddenly realized that something was off.

Her words did not seem to be referring to the tiles.

......

......

The clouds which lingered around Holy Maiden Peak throughout the year suddenly parted. An uncountable number of strange and rare birds flew over from all parts of the continent as if they were coming to pay respects to a Saint.

An autumn rain washed the Tong River as every place in the world responded.

Beneath a Wutong tree, Wang Po looked in the direction of South Stream Temple and sighed, "Outstanding."

He was keenly aware that the reason Xu Yourong had not left together with Chen Changsheng was not that there were too many matters in South Stream Temple, or that the situation of the world was not stable.

She was unsatisfied. She wanted to leave on her own.

There had been various reasons that had allowed Chen Changsheng to break into the Divine in Xuelao City, and the process was impossible to repeat.

In these circumstances, it was Xu Yourong who was the youngest to enter the Divine Domain.

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......

Before leaving, Xu Yourong received a letter from the capital.

The writing was very clean, somewhat similar to both Chen Changsheng’s and Yuren’s.

The contents of the letter had been dictated by Yuren.

"I will abdicate in three years. Bring him back to replace me."

......

......

Someone had left this world even earlier than Xu Yourong. She had also gone to find Chen Changsheng.

A black-clothed girl walked out of the abyss. Gazing at the awesome fortress of ice before her and hearing the shouts from the walls, she wore an expression of confusion.

If she was hearing things correctly, those people were shouting about dragon knights, but wasn’t that a pack of lizards flying through the snowstorm?

......

......

Chen Changsheng squatted by a creek, using a handkerchief to wipe the beads of water off his hand. Rising, he walked through a forest and past a fence, making his way toward that building in the distance.

His hair had been cut short and was slightly curled. It was impossible to comb this black and luxuriant hair into a topknot, but he also looked very refreshing this way.

The clothes he wore were spotlessly clean, a stark contrast to the rest of the magic apprentices.

Perhaps it was this reason that so endeared him to both the professors in the school and the aunties in the pastures.

Chen Changsheng was currently an ordinary magic apprentice.

The Duchy of Greyfort had tens of thousands of magic apprentices like him.

He was not worried that people might discover the secret that he was from another world, even though there were many outstanding magicians in this school, even two sorcerers.

His performance in this magic school was very mediocre. There was nothing special about him, not in the ripples of his mana or the strength of his telekinesis.

If he was willing, he could make his weak mana ripples vanish at any time, making himself into a truly ordinary person.

Even if God saw him, it would be impossible to realize his true identity, because he had truly succeeded in concealing his divinity within him.

When he arrived at the Sacred Light Continent, he had realized that this world was packed with Sacred Light.

This Sacred Light and the Sacred Light in his body had once been one, so they naturally melded with each other. This also meant that he had truly become one with the world.

Yes, he was currently at the Concealed Divinity Realm, the same realm that the Tianhai Divine Empress had reached.

Other humans who came to the Sacred Light Continent would probably not receive as terrifying a boost as he had, but they would still become much stronger.

This world was bursting with energy.

This was probably one of the reasons Su Li had been able to sever the spatial path with one slash of his sword several years ago.

Although his sword had been very formidable on the Central Continent, it had not been at that level.

In the Forsaken Land, Chen Changsheng had once wondered why God did not use the spatial fissure in Sangharama Temple to create a spatial path.

Wang Zhice explained that this was because God could not guarantee that this spatial path would be one-way.

He now understood the reason.

God was afraid.

He was afraid that humans would come to the Sacred Light Continent.

......

......

The light of dusk fell on the window.

Chen Changsheng walked up to the window and looked out at the lawn around the school.

Many teachers and students were eating dinner on the lawn. When they saw him at the window, they cheerily called out to him.

He was suddenly a little unwilling.

It was time to leave.

He had been a very diligent student in these last few years. He now had an excellent grasp of this continent’s history, knowledge of magic, geography, and culture.

And based on his calculations, Yourong was going to get here soon.

This world was so big that he worried that she would not be able to find him.

He had once attempted to inquire on Su Li’s whereabouts but had come away empty-handed. Even a cardinal he had happened to come across by chance had never heard of him.

It was only the leader of the assassins who could so perfectly conceal any news of his whereabouts.

Of course, it was also possible that the Holy See had deliberately blocked any information on him from getting out.

He decided to go to the Holy City and see what was going on at the Holy See.

Most importantly, he was sure that Xu Yourong would go to the Holy City.

Because the Pontifex Maximus was there.

The Holy Emperor and the Pontifex Maximus were the two most powerful people on the Sacred Light Continent. No one was sure which of them wielded the most authority.

What one could be sure of was that the Pontifex Maximus was the strongest expert of the Sacred Light Continent.

He was called the man closest to God.

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......

Half a month was needed for the fastest carriage to travel from Greenbow County to the Holy City, which was considered a very long journey.

Most usually stopped at La Roussel Monastery for a while, resting and replenishing their supplies.

As Chen Changsheng contemplated the mashed potatoes, hard black bread, and fried fish on his plate, for the first time, he began to think of home.

After casually eating his dinner, he returned to his room and diligently cleaned himself. At ten o’clock, he promptly lay on his bed and began to sleep so that he could wake up at five o’clock in the morning.

Strangely, maybe because the moonlight outside the window was too white or the last cries of the autumn cicadas were too plaintive, he couldn’t get any sleep.

As he gazed at the frosty moonlight in front of his bed, he decided that once he picked up Yourong and traveled around with her for a bit, he would go home, not waiting for Luoluo and the others.

This decision failed to compose his mind. He still could not sleep.

Chen Changsheng did not wave his hand to instantly kill all the autumn cicadas around the monastery, nor did he summon a cloud to block out the Moon. He put on some clothes and took a stroll.

Unwittingly, he walked into the deepest part of the monastery. The stone bastion here was unlit and appeared rather sinister.

To cultivators of the Concealed Divinity Realm, there was no such thing as ’unwittingly’. He had already sensed that there was a problem here, but he had elected to ignore it.

Excepting those few existences like the Pontifex Maximus, there was no one in this world that could threaten him, and traps and ambushes were meaningless.

There was an array under the stone bastion, and invisible magic lines crisscrossed through the weeds. Even experts like archbishops or paladins would not be able to cross these boundaries.

Chen Changsheng heard several cries for help.

The calls for help were coming from a dungeon. Only by pulling aside the weeds would one be able to see a very small air vent.

There were no lights in the dungeon, but he was able to clearly see what was inside.

The person imprisoned in that dungeon had a sealed iron mask on his head and was wearing tattered clothes.

The stark white moonlight on the iron mask made it look even more terrifying.

A few blades of grass were growing in the chinks of the mask.

It was hard to say how many years this person had been imprisoned here.

The prisoner became ecstatic upon seeing Chen Changsheng, even a little crazy, ramming his metal mask against the walls.

Chen Changsheng quietly watched, waiting for him to calm down.

"Teacher, save me!"

The man in the iron mask crawled up to the air vent and pleaded for help in a trembling voice.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Who are you?"

The man in the iron mask replied, "I am Augustus."

Chen Changsheng asked, "You were waiting for me?"

It was obvious that someone had done something in the monastery to intentionally draw Chen Changsheng to this place.

Someone who could silently influence Chen Changsheng’s judgment had to possess an unfathomable cultivation.

Chen Changsheng also smelled a very familiar scent on these plans, so he was in a rather good mood and was willing to listen to what this prisoner had to say.

"Someone who called himself a traveler told me that as long as I patiently waited and sincerely prayed, Sir would take me as a student and rescue me from this place."

The man in the iron mask was clearly not lying.

Only that person would be so bored as to call himself a traveler and say such things.

"How could you be sure that the person he spoke of was me?"

Chen Changsheng asked.

The man in the iron mask excitedly said, "You were completely able to ignore the seal laid down by that evil traitor Richelieu! It must be Sir!"

Chen Changsheng recalled that Cardinal Richelieu was a supporter of the Holy Emperor.

"Just who are you?"

The man in the iron mask said, "I really am called Augustus. I was once a paladin, and I was the Holy Emperor’s younger twin. I’ve already been imprisoned here for many years."

At the end, his voice began to tremble once more. He appeared to be in great pain, full of venom and resentment.

His eyes naturally contained none of these emotions. They were full of hope and anxiety, afraid as he was that Chen Changsheng might leave, and there were even a few tears.

These simple words allowed one to imagine an oft-seen story of court politics.

Chen Changsheng fell into thought and said, "I’m going to the Holy City. We might not be going the same way."

The man in the iron mask nervously said, "We are! We definitely are! Even if Sir wants to go to the Netherworld, I’ll absolutely follow in Sir’s footsteps!"

Chen Changsheng asked, "But what if I want to go to the Divine Kingdom?"