Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 1020 – The Grand Array of the Li Palace

“So you’ve actually wanted to kill me this entire time.”

The Demon Lord looked at Chen Changsheng and said, “I thought you gave up on that idea after that day.”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Having once given up does not mean that one will not try again.”

The Demon Lord sighed. “You really are Shang Xingzhou’s student. As expected, you are just as formidable a hypocrite.”

Chen Changsheng said, “The opportunity that day was not that great.”

“And you think today’s opportunity is excellent?”

The Demon Lord smiled. “You should be well aware that neither the White Emperor nor Madam Mu will let you kill me.”

“Are you talking about equilibrium?”

Chen Changsheng noted, “It’s very difficult to maintain an equilibrium, and those who walk the tightrope rarely have good ends. It is true that whether it’s the White Emperor that wins or Madam Mu, neither of them will let me kill you, but they have still not decided who wins and who loses.”

The Demon Lord asked, “You think that someone like the White Emperor won’t have the mind to pay attention to any other matters while dealing with Madam Mu?”

A few moments of silence passed, then Chen Changsheng declared, “Even if this is his stance, I am not prepared to accept it.”

In the Starfall Mountains, he had used the South Stream Temple sword array to break the sealing array. He had confirmed that the White Emperor was still there, obtaining the best answer.

Unexpectedly, he had Linghai Zhiwang, the Tang clan’s Fivekind Man, and all the others return to White Emperor City.

And then he hurried back with Tang Thirty-Six.

It was precisely because he wanted to carry out this task.

Those seemingly perfect answers had all been given out by someone else.

He wanted to write his own answer, one that could not be faked.

He wanted to kill the Demon Lord.

“No one knows if the White Emperor can stop you, but at least for now, he has not stopped you.”

The Demon Lord stared into his eyes and profoundly asked, “Did you ever think about why he is doing things this way?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “Perhaps we are all thinking too much. Maybe there is no equilibrium. Maybe His Majesty the White Emperor also wants to see you die.”

“No, he does not stop you because he knows that you cannot kill me.”

The Demon Lord smiled at the human experts standing outside the courtyard. “All of you together cannot kill me.”

……

……

Several years ago, the White Emperor engaged in a world-shaking battle with the Demon Lord on the snowy plains. He was heavily injured and was then imprisoned by Madam Mu in a Starstone array for several years. Now that he was released, he should have needed time to recover his strength. Moreover, there were many matters in White Emperor City that he needed to handle, like vengeance.

But he was a true Saint, the hegemon of the west. If he really wanted to stop Chen Changsheng from killing the Demon Lord, he had a variety of methods.

He did nothing, only quietly watched Chen Changsheng have Linghai Zhiwang’s group leave, then watched Chen Changsheng fly off on a crane.

Why was this? Was it really as the Demon Lord said?

Chen Changsheng had no idea where the Demon Lord’s serene confidence or the White Emperor’s tacit approval came from.

He was confident that none of the demon experts would appear today, not the Demon Commander, the legendary Eighth Great Hermit, or even the most enigmatic Black Robe.

Even an expert of the Divine Domain would need some time to fly across tens of thousands of li.

Crucially, he knew that these demon experts had no means of coming here today.

Thus, all the clues pointed at an undisclosed possibility.

Seeing Chen Changsheng’s expression, the Demon Lord knew that Chen Changsheng had guessed at something. He calmly asked, “You still insist on killing me?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “If this really is the case, then it’s even more important that I kill you. Of course… your place will drop down on the list.”

The Demon Lord curiously asked, “Because of Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi?”

Chen Changsheng answered, “One who comes from afar is a guest, and the earlier that one dies, the earlier one can go home.”

At the start of this part of the conversation, no one understood what they were talking about.

The first to realize was Tang Thirty-Six, and his complexion instantly paled.

He knew the truth of that battle between the Divine, knew why Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi had been so severely injured.

The next to react was Linghai Zhiwang. His eyes became dazzling bright, like the hottest flames engulfing the world. However, right in the center of these flames was a crystal core that not even the highest temperatures seemed capable of melting.

He also understood the meaning of Chen Changsheng’s conversation with the Demon Lord, but the change in his eyes was not merely because of the explosion of his will to fight. Much of it came from the Qi of the crystal core. Yes, the crystal core was not a manifestation of thought, but a real existence.

The crystal that blazed with endless Celestial Fire but could not be melted by the flames was one of the Li Palace’s legendary treasures.

Soon after, three more Qis of absolute divinity and power emerged, coming from Daoist Siyuan, Archbishop An Lin, and Hu Thirty-Two.

A willow branch suffused with a gloomy luster appeared in the sky.

A thin piece of paper, like a banner and a painting, appeared in the sky.

A divine stamp carrying an ancient and simple aura appeared in the sky.

Gloom Willow!

Mountain River Map!

Universe Stamp!

……

……

There were many archbishops in the Li Palace, but only six were called Prefects.

These six archbishops resided in the Sacred Halls of the Li Palace, each protecting a most precious and most powerful treasure of the Orthodoxy.

These treasures were either strange objects like the crystal core in Linghai Zhiwang’s eyes, or divine artifacts forged by previous Saints of the Orthodoxy.

These treasures were the foundation of the Li Palace’s grand array, the true source of its edge.

Even a Saint like Madam Mu had to be cautious when she confronted these treasures in the Li Palace.

Today, although Mao Qiuyu, the most powerful of the Prefects, had not come and the Wall of Illustrious Heroes that he was responsible for was not present, there was probably enough power.

Cries of shock rose outside the courtyard at the sight of the divine artifacts in the sky and the holy and blazing Qi that they rained down.

These cries were brimming with respect and yearning, and at their very core, a fervent piety.

The Demon Lord finally turned serious.

This was the Li Palace’s grand array?

Who was presiding over it?

Chen Changsheng was present.

As the Pope, no one had more right than him to oversee the Li Palace’s grand array.

His right hand was already gripping the hilt of his sword.

The world’s sharpest sword, the Stainless Sword, did not leave its sheath.

What emerged were countless rays of pure white light.

These rays of light seeped out from between his fingers, illuminating the stone steps in front of the courtyard’s gate and those gradually blackening bloodstains.

A spherical white stone followed those four strands of divine Qi into the sky.

The white stone had been inlaid with an extremely complex array of black gold and was breathtakingly beautiful.

This was the Falling Star Stone.

After Daoist Baishi was killed in the Daoist church of Wenshui, this treasure of the Orthodoxy was kept with Chen Changsheng.

The Falling Star Stone flew up into the sky, unleashing a timeworn Qi as it began to suck in everything in its surroundings.

Wind and gravel were pulled towards it and even the laws of the world began to twist and deform.

A deep black hole appeared in the sky, the Falling Star Stone calmly floating within it.

The Mountain River Map, the Gloom Willow, and the other Orthodoxy treasures released a sacred Qi and began to rotate along the brim of the black hole, began to link together.

Countless dazzling and splendid golden rays of light descended like a curtain of water.

The entire courtyard was enveloped by the array, making it impossible for anyone to leave.

Chen Changsheng took his right hand off his hilt and gripped the Divine Staff, pointing at the figure deep within the courtyard.

An unimaginable amount of divine energy, containing a boundless radiance, smashed towards it like a massive wave.