Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 538 – The Greatest Crisis of the Orthodox Academy, She Has Come!

“With the Golden Light Array safeguarding his Dao heart, no external factors can affect Chusu’s cultivation.”

Elder Liang continued, “On the contrary, I want to use the array to suppress Su Li’s sword intent, and then, after grinding it to pieces with the myriad mountains, I will send it to Chusu to comprehend!”

Upon hearing this, the two others elders relaxed, thinking, if we really can smash Su Li’s sword intent and send it off to Chusu, then perhaps Chusu can be presented to the world many years in advance of what the Sect Master calculated before his death. At that time, the Longevity Sect will truly begin to flourish once more!

Just as these three were caught up in these rapturous dreams of the future, a sudden change occurred.

The letter on the table began to fiercely judder.

With a rip, the letter tore apart and transformed into countless paper butterflies that scattered in every direction.

How could Su Li’s letter require someone to open it to be seen? How could the sword intent he left behind be like some magical artifact, requiring some sort of stimulation?

He wanted the people of the Longevity Sect to see this letter, to see this sword, so regardless of whether or not someone opened it, he would definitely have the other side see it!

Tyrannical and swift, this sword intent soared upward and then slashed down!

The cave echoed with the shrill cries of a sword, so much so that those similarly shrill screams of misery were snuffed into silence.

The fierce and swift sword intent had severed all it had encountered.

The swords of those three elders of profound cultivation.

The cave of the Longevity Sect which had been unbroken for ten thousand years.

The pliant ivy in the depths of the cave.

The transparent water dripping off the ivy.

The invisible wind shaped by the flowing of the air.

In a flash, all this was sliced to shreds by the sword intent.

A mist of blood floated in the air. It was extremely grisly but also possessed a soul-stirring beauty.

Three swords had been sliced into ten-odd pieces.

Elder Liang’s body had been covered with several dozen sword slashes and lay collapsed amongst the rubble. As he saw the sword intent rush out of the cave, his wan face revealed limitless surprise and remorse. Already on the verge of death, he gathered up the rest of his strength and sharply yelled, “Quickly shut the array!”

When those two other elders heard his cry and realized the problem, their eyes were filled with despair, yet they were powerless to stop the sword intent from flying into the sky. Their arms had been severed by that sword intent and they were covered in blood, powerless to stand.

The sword intent became a magnificent streak of light. It swiftly flew down from the mountain, crossed over the gate of the Longevity Sect and shot straight into a mountain stream enveloped in clouds and mist.

An enormous and terrifying sound boomed through the mountains. A dome of clear light covered the ten-odd mountain peaks within a radius of several hundred li.

This was the Sect-Protecting Array of the Longevity Sect.

Soon after, countless tooth-aching sounds of metal on metal rang out from the mountain stream. Countless golden rays of light shot out and the sea of clouds roiled in unease.

Deep within the stream came a voice, immature yet full of hatred.

This voice was like that of a man, but also like that of a bird, or even some sort of repetition from a machine.

“Chusu! Chusu!”

The whistle of the sword suddenly grew sharper!

This voice gradually faded away, ceasing to be heard.

……

……

It was already late at night, but many people were still not asleep.

For some, it was because they were in love with someone. For some, it was because they hated someone. For some, it was because they longed for someone. But there were some people that were longing for good food.

Before going to sleep, Xuanyuan Po had eaten a Tangjing roast goose for a midnight snack, but after lying down on the bed, it didn’t take long before he felt hungry. How could one sleep when hungry?

He walked down to the kitchen by the lake, intending to take the crab paste that he had pickled a few days ago and eat it.

Upon walking into the kitchen, he realized that the fire under the oven was extinguished. He didn’t care, nor did he re-light it. In the darkness, he very accurately felt his way towards the location of the pickling jars.

In those seemingly unremarkable pickling jars was a rather extraordinary crab paste.

He had used the incomparably precious blue lobster in place of crab, so it should be called lobster paste.

He was presently the head of housekeeping for the Orthodox Academy, so he had an extremely good relationship with the chefs from Clear Lake Restaurant. He would naturally not be lacking in anything to eat, but he ate so extravagantly, even wastefully, that if Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six were to find out, there would definitely be a massive response.

So he had not let a single person find out about this pickled lobster paste and had secretly hidden it away.

The more secretively one ate the food, the more delicious it was.

Xuanyuan Po didn’t understand many principles and rules of the human world, but he knew this one clearly. As his hand extended towards the pickling jars, he could almost taste the sublime salty-fresh flavor of the lobster paste, the rich sweetness contained within, and that exquisite texture that gradually coated his tongue…

But then, his hand hit nothing.

Those pickling jars that should have been there were not. All of them were gone, and the lobster paste within those pickling jars was also naturally no longer there.

Xuanyuan Po became abnormally angry, several extremely thin strands of electricity coursing through his pupils. His slightly curled and messy hair faintly began to crackle.

The world before his eyes moved from darkness to light, making the scene in the kitchen plain to see.

Not only the pickling jars, the pots, bowls, chopsticks, firewood, and even the kitchen counter had all been sliced into chunks and were piled on the floor.

The entire floor was a mess of debris and cooking broth, filthy beyond compare.

Xuanyuan Po grew even angrier but also warier. Just what had happened, just who had displayed such frightening sword intent?

The entire room was filled with items that had been cut apart by sword intent. Only the Mountain Sea Sword was still there, quietly lying amidst the chunks of firewood.

Xuanyuan Po picked up the Mountain Sea Sword and followed the traces left behind to search for the sword intent. He realized that it was in the oven, faintly attached to some differently-colored ash.

This ash did not seem like that which resulted from the burning of wood, but more like that of paper.

He hesitated for a while, then used the Mountain Sea Sword to lightly prod at a ball of this ash.

This ball of ash instantly scattered.

An unimaginable cold suddenly enveloped the room.

Xuanyuan Po’s body suddenly went stiff, his breathing grew coarse, and his heart was filled with an unfathomable sense of danger.

This cold and danger did not arise from the ball of ash that had just dispersed. Instead, it came from behind him, from behind the academy wall.

It was the deepest depths of the ocean, possessing a suffocating pressure and cold.

Endless blue-green waves had always been the ocean of death.

Xuanyuan Po began to sweat. Before the sweat could moisten his clothes, it was frozen into ice by that chill that symbolized death.

Gazing at the Orthodox Academy in the darkness, the old Daoist nun walked forward.

A line of ice appeared on the wall, which then noiselessly crumbled away into dust.

This scene seemed straight out of myths.

The academy wall collapsed and what appeared before her was the kitchen. Thus, the kitchen also noiselessly crumbled away.

Xuanyuan Po, holding the Mountain Sea Sword, stood amongst the ruins, his body continuously shaking.

Because he was very afraid.

Even though he was very brave, he was still very scared.

The person who had come was powerful beyond his imagination. The Qi was very cold, exuding the sense that it wished to extinguish all living things.

The small house on the other side of the winter lake.

Zhexiu opened his eyes.

Chen Changsheng opened his eyes.

They had both sensed this feeling and were taken by an indescribable fear.