Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-657

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The darkness outside the Mausoleum of Books suddenly grew lighter, not because the sun was about to rise, although it truly was very close to dawn, but because a tinge of green had descended. This was an extremely rich green, brimming with life, so much so that the autumn trees in the Mausoleum of Books all seemed to feel somewhat inferior, their branches bending lower.

It was the Green Leaf, its green leaves fat and tender. From just a glance, one would be able to tell that it had been raised extremely well, never missing out on nutrients or fresh water. The surfaces of its leaves were very smooth. From a glance, one could tell that it had been tended to with great care. If even the smallest amount of dust fell upon it, it would be wiped away as quickly as possible by that most esteemed elder using the most expensive towels.

Chen Changsheng was very familiar with this Green Leaf. In the Li Palace, he had seen it far too many times.

This Green Leaf had appeared in the night sky because it had naturally followed the Pope.

The Pope's Divine Robe gently swayed in the breeze.

The Divine Crown upon his head shone with a sacred luster, dazzling in the darkness.

A ripple came from Chen Changsheng's sheath. He knew that the Divine Staff had sensed the arrival of its companions.

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The rain over the capital had ceased, but the rain over Luoyang had intensified.

On the drenched wasteland, only two extremely faint footsteps remained. Daoist Ji had already entered Luoyang. Under the cover of the pouring rain, he had reached the back gate of the Monastery of Eternal Spring.

The Black Dragon formed from clouds and starlight in the night sky had already vanished. In the streets of Luoyang, a howl would occasionally shatter the air, or a streak of black light could be seen.

Suddenly, those harsh howls vanished.

The streak of black light vanished in front of the Monastery of Eternal Spring.

A jade ruyi quietly hovered in the torrential rain.

The horizontal signboard of the Monastery of Eternal Spring was suddenly crushed into powder and then instantly washed away in the rain.

With the moisture of the rain, the opening of the monastery's gate did not make the slightest sound, just like the array energy that suddenly enveloped several streets.

Several dozen Daoist priests sat cross-legged in the pouring rain, their eyes closed as they incessantly recited Daoist scriptures.

Countless Qis that seemed to flicker in and out of existence penetrated through the pouring rain and formed into fence after fence, preventing the jade ruyi from leaving whenever it wished.

Daoist Ji walked out of the pouring rain, walking on the monastery's thousand-year-old path which was covered in potholes, and arrived on the street.

He calmly gazed at the jade ruyi.

Just like he was looking at her.

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By the stream near Xining Village's old temple.

Splash.

The stream water that seemed to have come to a halt suddenly began to move.

This was because the monk had thrust his other bare foot into the water.

The splashing continued.

The monk calmly walked to the other side of the stream.

The stream was not deep, not even reaching up to his knees. It also was not particularly swift, unable to even wash away those blood lotuses. Despite these things, he seemed to walk with extreme difficulty as if each step required breaking through a massive blockade.

Perhaps it was because she stood on the other side of the stream.

She was tall and lofty, her might and pressure striking straight into the soul.

The monk calmly continued forward.

He had a very similar mental strength to hers. Now, approaching her on his own volition required him to suffer greater pain and pressure, to place himself at an even greater disadvantage, even greater danger.

But he still continued forward, steadfast and fearless.

Finally, he was in right in front of her.

The Tianhai Divine Empress calmly gazed at him and asked, "Worth it?"

The monk replied, "It was worth it, because now, you cannot go back."

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Under countless gazes, the Tianhai Divine Empress raised her right hand and thrust it towards the night sky.

A heavy drone suddenly arose over the capital, a frenzied howl of wind, the result of the air being speedily pushed aside.

The trees of the Mausoleum of Books slightly bent in the wind.

A metal spear, in the form of a streak of light, breached the darkness and arrived at the Mausoleum of Books, falling into the Tianhai Divine Empress's hands.

This metal spear was pitch-black, its surface glowing with a faint golden sheen, but it gave off no sense of luxury, only an incomparable chill.

This golden color was not the shine of gold, but the color of the autumn forest.

Besides the chill and sternness contained within the spear and its autumn forest color, there was nothing too special about this spear's external appearance.

But everyone that saw this spear could sense its boundless power and divine might.

The crowd was shocked and then stern.

The Frost God Spear!

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The Tianhai Divine Empress gazed at the Frost God Spear in her hands, looking at the handprint on its shaft, simultaneously seeing an extremely small patch of dark green.

Her brows slightly rose, a hint of anger appearing in her eyes.

With a thought, a golden flame spat out of her palm and instantly burned the Peacock Plume poison off the surface of the Frost God Spear.

Then, she hurled the Frost God Spear to the base of the Divine Path.

Seeing her action, the experts surrounding the Mausoleum of Books were all startled. One by one, they used their greatest techniques, transforming into countless blurs as they made to escape.

In the next moment, they realized that the Tianhai Divine Empress was not attacking them, so their actions could not help but seem rather comical and amusing.

The Frost God Spear transformed into the streak of light landed in the ruins at the end of the Divine Path, and was taken up by Divine General Han Qing.

The Tianhai Divine Empress did not give him any orders, instead turning her gaze to the Pope walking out from the darkness.

Han Qing had broken into the Divine Domain two years ago and his understanding and grasp of the principles of the world were still somewhat lacking in depth, but he had earlier killed Zhu Luo, so his grandeur was at its peak. Taken together with the Frost God Spear in his hand, he was completely capable of doing battle with experts on the level of the Eight Storms, and even held the advantage.

Bie Yanghong was heavily wounded and probably had no more strength to fight. Wuqiong Bi's courage was shattered, but even if she suddenly regained it and exploded with her true might, even if Mao Qiuyu, Mu Jiushi, and those sect elders concealed in the darkness all displayed strength beyond expectations, he would still be able to hold on until that time.

That time was precisely when she defeated her three strongest opponents.

Yes, from the very start, the Tianhai Divine Empress had made this decision.

She had first taken care of Guan Xingke and Bie Yanghong, the two more troublesome of her opponents, sweeping clean the area around the Mausoleum of Books.

Then, she prepared to face off against the Pope, Shang Xingzhou, and the monk who had come from the distant Sacred Light Continent.

The Pope, Shang Xingzhou, and the monk by the stream were all experts above the Storms of the Eight Directions. In terms of the realms of strength used in the continent, they were all Saints.

With such an array of forces, if Zhou Dufu, Chen Xuanba, or Emperor Taizong were reborn, even they would feel in great danger.

But even though she had changed Chen Changsheng's fate and was no longer at her full might, she was still completely confident.

Thunder rumbled from the night sky.

Wind blew through the forest, passing through the rain water on the tree leaves and curling about the Tianhai Divine Empress's body, wafting up her hair and clothes.

She still stood at the peak of the Mausoleum of Books, but she had already gone elsewhere.

When not obscured by the clouds, the profuse stars in the night sky were very beautiful and dazzling, but now, they suddenly seemed to lose all their brilliance, because a shadow had cast itself over the world.

It was an absolutely enormous black wing that seemed about to envelop the world, both gloomy and majestic to the extreme.

Thunder was the clear cry of the Black Phoenix.

The black form of the Heavenly Phoenix and the Pope's figure simultaneously vanished into the highest cloud in the night sky.

All starlight was torn to shreds, all clouds thrown into turbulence, ripping away at each other.

Countless lightning bolts constantly flashed in the depths of the thick clouds.

The crowd could faintly see two figures in the clouds, traveling with unimaginable speed through flashes of lightning, yet it was impossible to get a clear view.

Then came the sound of countless rumblings of thunder.

Lightning was the will of the heavens brought down by the two Saints.

Thunder was the ripples brought about by the exchanges of these two Saints.

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An earthquake suddenly ran through Luoyang.

From Peony Park to the Pavilion of Lotus Fragrance, the buildings in a twenty-odd li radius shook on the verge of collapse. Cracks appeared in the street and dust rose up while the populace jolted from their sleep, cried, screamed, and ran in all directions, clueless as to which direction to run in the darkness.

Ten-odd Daoists were sprawled in the rain; whether they were alive was unknown. Their bodies were covered in stones or shattered wood. The Monastery of Eternal Spring had already become a ruin.

The jade ruyi had not been able to break out of this Daoist array, but it had never thought about breaking through and leaving. Just a moment ago, it had broken through the curtains of rain and collided with Daoist Ji's finger.

Two masterly and incomprehensible Qis met, and two ultimate Daoist techniques at this moment released their most powerful might. The Qi of Luoyang began to twist and move like a mountain about to collapse, a sea about to dry up. Even the stars behind the rain clouds trembled in response.

The earth shook, the rain vanished, and Daoist Ji's finger incessantly shuddered. The jade ruyi also incessantly shuddered, causing tiny particles to peel off it and smash countless deep holes in the ground.

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Behind Xining Village's old temple.

The monk walked across the stream and came to her.

He calmly gazed at her and then raised his right hand, jabbing at her forehead.

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This battle occurred at the Mausoleum of Books, at Luoyang, at Xining tens of thousands of li away.

Three Saints simultaneously attacked the Tianhai Divine Empress.

With her body, Dao, and soul, the Tianhai Divine Empress fought them all.

Even the ministers who had the most faith in her also clearly understood that now was the most crucial moment.

Chen Changsheng was nearby, right behind her, so his view was the clearest.

He did nothing, only watched it all.

Logically speaking, it was only right that he be part of the Orthodoxy's faction, he should stand across from the Tianhai Divine Empress, since she and he were not mother and son. Yet she was the entire reason he was alive.

Anyone else would also probably not know how to choose.

Let alone the fact that he was currently very tired and simply didn't want to make a choice.

Yes, he had survived, and it seemed that he would be able to live for a very long time. However, this world that he lived in apparently had already ceased to have any relationship to him.

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The darkness in front of the Mausoleum of Books had been torn apart by the sudden appearance of many figures.

Wind howled like the strongest of crossbow bolts, starlight cut down and deformed, almost as if the Heavenly Tome Monoliths were taking action.

Wuqiong Bi put down the heavily injured Bie Yanghong. Her face full of loathing, she turned to the ruins at the base of the Divine Path. After all, she was one of the Eight Storms, and she still had a formidable capacity to fight.

Mao Qiuyu, Mu Jiushi, and the other Prefects of the Orthodoxy also came to the front of the Divine Path.

With wind flapping against his white sheet of paper, the blood-drenched Xiao Zhang also arrived.

The hidden experts of the noble clans and sects were all silently waiting in the darkness.

Of the experts of the human world, at least half had appeared in front of the Mausoleum of Books. Against these forces, no matter strong Han Qing was, even with the Frost God Spear, how could he resist?

Suddenly, Han Qing found an item in the ruins and used his hands to wipe the dust off it. It was a lunchbox containing rice as well as green peppers with dried pork.

Right after, he did something no one expected.

He began to eat.

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