Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were also on the White Grass Path. Throughout the entire journey, the Yellow Paper Umbrella was always held open, regardless of whether it was raining or if the skies were clear.. By now, Xu Yourong had roughly guessed that the reason he was able to so confidently determine the Sword Pool’s location and why he walked on the path that lead to the mausoleum in the stars was mostly likely related to this umbrella.

Only when dancing snowflakes began falling out of the sky did the seemingly worn-out umbrella display its most primitive function. Extremely thick snowflakes silently landed on the umbrella. The layers gradually thickened as the snow accumulated, and the White Grass Path was changing the same way. The accumulation of snow slowly rose above their ankles, making it very difficult to see the grass.

Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong both found it slightly strange. Clearly, it was just like spring a while ago, so why had it suddenly begun to snow?

The grassy plains in front of the two turned white with a speed observable with the naked eye. Only at that moment did they realise that the vegetation beside the path had long already withered, and the pools of water in the vegetation had already frozen into solid ice.

A chilly wind blew along with the snow. The Yellow Paper Umbrella could cover them from snow, but it was unable to protect them from all of the surrounding winds. The temperature suddenly dropped, and the chill encased all of the surroundings.

Xu Yourong had lost too much blood, so she was unable to resist this kind of coldness at all, and her body began to tremble slightly. Chen Changsheng felt the trembling, and did not dare to continue on forwards. After putting her down, he took off his outer clothing and helped her put it on, before tightly pulling her cuffs and collar closed. Seeing that he was only wearing a single piece of clothing, Xu Yourong was somewhat worried, and was about to decline his kindly offer. However, afterwards, she remembered that he was a secret disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect, and he cultivated the true coldness of Black Frost.

She did not thank him. If they exchanged thanks like this, that would be the only thing they would have been saying throughout the entire journey. Softly, she said, “May the sacred light be with you.”

Chen Changsheng did not hear it clearly and asked, “What did you say?”

Xu Yourong said, “Nothing, how far until the second temple?”

Chen Changsheng calculated the time and said, “If you ignore the difference in time flow, it should be… soon.”

It indeed was soon before they saw the second sacrificial temple in the snow.

At the same time, they learnt that there were only nine hundred li left to Zhou Dufu’s tomb.

The sacrificial temple in the snow and wind was very run down and abnormally cold.

There was white snow everywhere, whether it was on the eaves of the building or the stone steps in front of the temple.

As a result, the huge bloodstain on the stone steps seemed slightly breathtaking.

Xu Yourong leaned on the pillar and sat quietly with her head down. Her face was pale and she seemed extremely weak.

Chen Changsheng looked at her and stayed silent for a very long time before saying, “From now on… don’t be like this.”

The moment they entered the snowy temple, a ferret snuck in through a pile of snow on the side of the temple, and lunged to bite Chen Changsheng’s neck.

Although the word ‘ferret’ sounds very ordinary, in the world outside the Garden of Zhou, it was a word that could instill dread in even proficient cultivators of the Ethereal Opening realm. This type of monster was extremely intelligent and extremely cunning, and it also possessed patience that did not lose to a wolf’s. The most terrifying part was that its body contained an extreme type of venom; a single drop of it could poison several hundreds of humans to death.

What was somewhat hard to understand was, although it could be said that Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong had not recovered from being heavily injured, the Qi they gave off should have been enough for an extremely intelligent monster to understand that they were not ordinary Ethereal Opening cultivators. For that matter, Nanke had already used the piece of black wood to express her own determination to the Plains of the Unsetting Sun.

However, the ferret still attacked them without any hesitation at all, as if their flesh and blood were irresistibly enticing. Just when the ferret leapt through the snow and wind and suddenly appeared, Xu Yourong, who had seemed asleep on Chen Changsheng’s back, extended her hand, and transformed the ferret into a wisp of green smoke.

For that, the slight amount of true essence that she had spent a great difficulty to store up was once again completely depleted.

“From now on, don’t be like what?” she looked at Chen Changsheng and asked.

Chen Changsheng thought about how to word his thoughts while building up a fire, before saying, “Don’t… try to be so brave.”

Xu Yourong said, “You think I’m trying to be brave?”

Chen Changsheng looked at the slowly growing embers. He could tell that that her mood was slightly off, so he avoided the question and said, “In brief, don’t act however you please in the future.”

Before the ferret had attacked, he had already drawn his dagger. However, he was just not as fast as Xu Yourong.

Xu Yourong did not say anything.

The reason why she had expended her true essence without hesitation and rushed to act was because she felt that it was her own responsibility.

It was obvious that the ferret had only gone crazy because it had smelled the remaining true blood of the Heavenly Phoenix in her body.

Chen Changsheng did not say anything either.

The reason why he said those words to her was because he had a guilty conscience, and felt that it was his own responsibility.

It was obvious that the ferret had only gone crazy because it had smelled the blood in his body.

Crackling sounds could be heard from the burning bonfire. The temple was even more run-down than the previous one. The image of a god Chen Changsheng had cut for wood had some snow on it, so it was slightly wet.

The temple fell into a deathly silence. For some reason, the two of them stayed quiet for a very long time.

Suddenly, Xu Yourong stared at him and asked, “You feel that I am trying to be brave?”

Chen Changsheng kept his head down and answered, “If you feel that that wording is unpleasant, I can change it.”

Xu Yourong stayed silent for a while before saying, “Whatever, I’ve heard those words countless times since I was young, so I’ve already gotten used to it.”

Chen Changsheng passed the roasted ferret meat to her and said while looking at her pale face, “If you’re tired, close your eyes and rest a little.”

Xu Yourong accepted the ferret meat, but did not eat immediately.

The words ‘tired’ and ‘trying to be brave’ made her remember a lot of things.

In such a weak condition, the memories were not too nice, and really had made her feel rather tired.

Since she was very young, when the blood of the Heavenly Phoenix had awoken, she had bore the weight of countless people’s hopes, and the three words ‘family’, ‘country’ and ‘race’ all rested on her shoulders.

How could it not be tiring? However, how could she let it go?

She placed the ferret meat down on the grass in front of her and said quietly with her head down, “Some matters just cannot be let go of. Even if I’m just pretending to be brave, I have to keep going.”

Chen Changsheng looked at her, and some pity bloomed in his heart.

The girl had extremely great talent in cultivation, and she must have carried all of the hopes of the Elf race. However, the Elf race had suffered so many hardships in the past thousands of years, almost becoming extinct several times. Now, their homeland had already been occupied by the demons, and many of the powerful forces of the continent only indifferently watched from the side. Reviving the elves was easier said than done.

She carried the future of the entire race. How tiring was that?

He consoled, “Great power comes with great responsibility. Some matters indeed cannot just be put down when you don’t want to do it anymore.”

Actually, was he not living like that the whole time? That was the shadow of death, and it was heavier than any other pressure. Also, it was not related to capability at all, only related to fate.

Xu Yourong stayed silent for a long time before saying, “Actually, I only know how to cultivate. I’m not good at anything else, nor do I wish to do them. Every time I think of the ardent hopes of the older generation and those extremely complicated affairs, not only do I have no confidence, I truly feel that I am useless and gutless. I have even begun to feel inferior.”

She had never told anyone this before, not to the Divine Empress or her teacher, the Holy Maiden, not to those close teenagers from the Mount Li Sword Sect or the juniors of the outer sect of the South Stream Temple, not to the fellow students of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, let alone her parents in the estate of the Divine General of the East. However, at this moment, she had told Chen Changsheng.

If it were not for the fact that she was overly weak from heavy injury, if she were not in this grassland that nobody had ever walked out of, if she were not in front of death, her pride and extraordinary will would have prevented her from saying such things. As soon as she stopped speaking, faint feelings of regret bloomed in her heart. However, the words had already left her mouth, so she did not pay any more attention to it.

Chen Changsheng thought perhaps the members of the older generation of the Elf race had treated her and raised her as the next leader, so she naturally had to understand the matters within the race. It was just that she was so intelligent, and her talent was so astonishing. Thinking about it, her capabilities must have been extremely great, so why did she feel inferior because of these matters?

Seeing his expression, Xu Yourong was slightly puzzled and asked, “Have you never felt inferiority because of something?”

She had already begun to talk about these things; since he did not know who she was and still believed that she was Lady Chujian from the Elf race, what harm was there in asking a few extra questions?

Chen Changsheng contemplated this seriously, thinking about the past fifteen years and searching for a similar feeling. However, in the end, he could not find it at all.

He really had never felt inferior. Even when he thought about the humiliation he had gone through when he was about to withdraw the marriage contract at the Divine General of the East’s estate, he had only felt some helplessness and irritation.

“I never thought you were actually such a narcissist.”

Xu Yourong looked at him with a smile and asked, “But do you feel that you really are that perfect?”

Chen Changsheng thought how Tang Thirty-Six was the true narcissist and replied, “There is no one in the world who is perfect in every aspect.”

At that moment, he suddenly thought of someone he had never met but had heard of countless times—Qiushan Jun.

He shook his head, threw that name out of his mind and continued speaking, “However, not being perfect does not mean that you should feel inferior.”

Xu Yourong was unable to understand and said, “If you work so hard, but are still unable to win against the opponent, won’t you feel shame?”

Chen Changsheng asked in confusion, “Why would you feel shame?”

Xu Yourong said, “Doesn’t that mean you don’t know shame?”

Chen Changsheng was slightly taken aback; he had never thought that this lady was actually such a person. He asked, “Are you crazy?

The crackling of the bonfire had already stopped. It was very quiet in the temple, and only the sound of the snow and wind outside could be heard, as well as the sound of Xu Yourong’s breathing gradually growing heavier.

She was slightly angry. She had enough reason to be angry.

Since she was young, from the capital to the Holy Maiden Peak, no one had ever dared to speak loudly to her, let alone use such criticizing words to teach her a lesson, including the Divine Empress and her teacher, the Holy Maiden. That was until this moment, in this run-down temple in the wind and snow, when this young man had said: Are you crazy?

She even doubted whether she had heard it correctly or not, but she knew she had not misheard.

As a result, she looked at Chen Changsheng. She asked while struggling to keep her composure, “Do you want to die?”

Author’s note from the future: ...also, about the question on how the ferret became a piece of meat in Chen Changsheng’s hand after it was turned into a wisp of green smoke by Xu Yourong… I completely don’t know how. I can only say that there has to be sacrifice for a great goal. I dare to make the ferret die three times, but the next chapter is still going to be posted after 7.