The Sword of Hithering Light was a sword art, but also a sword. It was the sword of Heavenly Academy, or more accurately, it had always been the sword of Principal Zhuang. This sword wasn't ranked on the Tier of Legendary Weapons, but its power wasn't far off from the weapons at the bottom of the tier. If a normal person was hit three times by the Sword of Hithering Light, no matter how perfect their Purification was, they would still be beheaded or at least heavily injured and unable to stand up. Chen Chang Sheng, however, used his hands to support himself against the stone wall and stood up.
But he still received heavy injuries. Blood seeped out from the three sword marks on his chest, looking rather terrifying.
"Is this all you've got?"
Zhuang Huan Yu looked at him expressionlessly, paused for a moment, then said with a heavier tone: "How can you be qualified to be Her Highness' teacher with this level of skill?"
The Highness he was referring to was obviously not the Princess of Ping Guo, nor Prince Chen Liu, but Princess Luo Luo.
"If you truly mastered the Discerning Step, perhaps you could make me wary, but your Discerning Step is still fake, or perhaps just an imitation. It looks right but isn't, how can it be used in battle? It's just an illusion. As long as you close your eyes, your movement won't be able to deceive this world. "
Zhuang Huan Yu looked at him and continued, "It's just like how you taught Her Highness those True Essence circulation methods. They seem exquisite, but in reality, they're all evil paths that won't allow her to reach the next level. They're just playing petty tricks. If you really want Her Highness to have a better future, then you should let her continue to stay in the Heavenly Academy, and solve that problem by studying the orthodox cultivation methods of the profound sects."
Yes, this was the origin of his resentment towards Chen Chang Sheng, this was why he wasn't satisfied with Chen Chang Sheng. He hoped that Chen Chang Sheng could become stronger, to prove to himself and the world that he was qualified to be Her Highness' teacher, and not like now, easily defeated by him. So he was just a deceiver.
"That's our Tradition Academy's problem. Thank you for your suggestion, but I may not accept it."
Chen Chang Sheng lifted his right arm and used his sleeve to wipe off the blood on his chin, then looked at Zhuang Huan Yu and said.
Zhuang Huan Yu's eyebrows twitched, looked at him unhappily and shouted: "Are you still going to be stubborn? Reality has already proven that no matter how perfect your Purification is, no matter how strong your defense is, you are still no match for the truly strong, because your True Essence is too thin and your stage is too low. "
Chen Chang Sheng was silent. He lowered his head and looked at the sword hilt that he was tightly holding.
Zhuang Huanyu saw that he did not respond, and for some reason, became even angrier. In a cold voice, he said, "Cultivation is a great learning, but in the end, one still has to rely on true essence to strike. Since ancient times, the first step in cultivation is Purification, followed by Meditation and Ethereal Opening. Every stage has its own logic, Purification is the prerequisite for Meditation, but it is not a method of battle. Your True Essence is so thin, and you are only at the initial stage of Meditation, yet you want to rely on the power of Purification to defeat your opponent. How arrogant and ignorant, am I wrong to say that you have embarked on the path of evil? It's fine if you leave on your own, but do you want to bring His Highness to this path of no return? "
The Tower of Purging Dust was silent, only the voice of this young expert from the Heavenly Academy reverberated coldly and valiantly, landing on the yellow sand covered floor.
"His cultivation level is too low. What can he do? As expected, Chen Chang Sheng can only reach this point."
In the dark room on the second floor, the voice of the headmaster of the Starseeker Academy resounded. It was a little emotional, a little regretful, and also a little relieved.
This room was very large. Everyone sat in their respective seats, remaining silent. Listening to Zhuang Huanyu's voice that came from outside the window, they all came to the same conclusion regarding this match.
In the previous round, Chen Chang Sheng was able to defeat the young expert from Shuang City, who was ranked in the top 20 on the Proclamation of Azure Clouds. This was because he had used his speed to its maximum, and had suddenly displayed Discerning Steps, causing the expert from Shuang City to be somewhat unprepared. In the end, he lost due to the level of strength that he could fully display in close combat.
But in this round, his opponent was Zhuang Huanyu.
Zhuang Huanyu was the most outstanding student from the Heavenly Academy, he cultivated the orthodox cultivation method of the Xuan Sect. Every step of his cultivation was extremely solid and stable, never advancing prematurely. In addition, he had the guidance of the academy's teachers, making him extremely experienced. When he attacked, he relied on his absolute superiority in True Essence and moves to directly crush Chen Chang Sheng, not giving his opponent any chance to get close to him. This naturally prevented any accidents from occurring.
"Principal Mao Qiu Yu's disciple is indeed extraordinary," His Eminence, the Bishop of Temple Seminary, sighed.
The personages in the room had been observing the match for a long time, having seen Zhe Xiu and Gou Han Shi fight, they knew that Zhuang Huanyu wasn't the one with the highest level of cultivation, but he was the one with the steadiest cultivation. In other words, while it would be difficult for him to explode and defeat an expert like Gou Han Shi, as long as it was an opponent with a lower level of cultivation, it would be impossible for them to defeat him.
Especially after witnessing this match, people could faintly feel that Zhuang Huanyu's level was even higher than what was rumoured to be. Even if he were to go against Her Highness or Zhe Xiu, he would still have the strength to contend with them. Victory or defeat was difficult to determine, how could his opponent for this round, Chen Chang Sheng, be his match?
That's right, the personages observing the match, including the Li Palace clergy in the other rooms, had already declared Chen Chang Sheng's defeat.
After a few matches, people had already confirmed that this student of Orthodox Academy, who couldn't cultivate a few months ago, had indeed completed his Purification, but he was only at the initial stage of Meditation. Whether it was True Essence quantity, purity or other aspects, there was still a large gap between him and the true experts that participated in the Grand Examination.
For Chen Chang Sheng to be able to reach this stage and enter the top 8 of the Grand Examination, apart from luck, he had completely relied on his unimaginable speed and strength. But now, his luck had lost its meaning, because all of his opponents were true experts, no matter how unfathomable speed or strength was, it was meaningless, because those experts could directly crush him in terms of cultivation level and quantity of True Essence. As long as he didn't act like the youth expert from Shuang City in the previous round and make a huge mistake in tactics, he had no chance of victory – the difference in cultivation level wasn't something that could be made up for with hard work or courage.
… …
… …
"Sure enough, quantity of True Essence is still the most important?" Chen Chang Sheng looked at the dagger that was tightly gripped in his hand and said to himself.
Zhuang Huanyu looked at him and faintly frowned, not knowing what he meant by those words.
Chen Chang Sheng's face didn't show any expression, seeming a little wooden, no one could see that he was currently struggling internally, hesitating whether or not to take the risk.
A cultivator's True Essence originates from the stars in the night sky, while absorbing Starlight for Purification, the Star Brilliance that contained a strange energy would also enter the cultivator's body, waiting for the moment of Meditation to be triggered or ignited by the cultivator's divine sense, becoming True Essence that the cultivator could use as they wished.
Chen Chang Sheng's True Essence quantity was indeed very small and impure, his meridians were all broken, how could he allow his True Essence to circulate freely? But his body still contained a large amount of Star Brilliance, in other words, if he wanted to, he could allow himself to have even more True Essence, but that would be an extremely large risk.
In the underground space beneath the abandoned well at New North Bridge, before that Black Dragon, he didn't know why, but he had actually skipped over the bottleneck of Purification and directly succeeded in Meditation. His current body was much stronger than it was at that time, but it was still very difficult for him to make the decision to attempt Meditation again, because if he failed, there was a high chance that he would die.
The medical record on the Scripture of Meditation, as well as his own experiences, both proved this point.
To brave the shadow of death for the first time, all you needed was courage, but the second time, you needed even more courage.
Thankfully, on the night of the Ivy League gathering, on the day of forced Meditation, in the underground space, before that Black Dragon, he had already experienced two life and death situations. Towards death, which he had pondered for many years, he had undergone two true reflections. He had thought through many things – facing death, he still wouldn't surrender, but he wasn't as fearful as before.
Just like now, facing a strong foe like Zhuang Huan Yu, he wouldn't surrender, nor would he fear.
He raised his head, looked at Zhuang Huan Yu and said: "If that's the case, then I'll try."
Try what? Apart from him, no one in the tower knew, they couldn't even guess.
Chen Chang Sheng closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then let it all out.
It was as if bubbles were bubbling up from the bottom of a spring.
In between breaths, his lungs seemed to be devoid of air, it was suddenly empty, an emptiness that didn't even have air.
His sea of consciousness awoke, the surface of the sea lightly rippled.
An extremely condensed divine sense emerged from within his sea of consciousness, drifting upwards, heading somewhere in the azure sky, as if it was about to leave this world.
In another instant, that divine sense returned from the azure sky to the ground, shrinking back, entering his body from the outside, arriving within that small world.
His divine sense transformed into a gust of wind, freely traversing within that world.
The gust of wind was him, he was the gust of wind.
He saw the nine mountain ranges, saw the boundless wilderness, saw the lake that was suspended in mid-air.
Finally, he saw that snowy plain.
The snowy plain had been sliced into dozens of pieces by extremely deep cracks.
Compared to the time he had used Meditation and Introspection a few days ago, this snowy plain was much thicker. Even at this moment, there were still snowflakes continuously falling.
These past few days, he had never stopped drawing Starlight into his body.
Those snowflakes were all extremely pure Star Brilliance, as long as they were touched by divine sense and ignited, they would become clear water that nourished this world, that clear water was True Essence.
Using Zhuang Huan Yu's words, using many people's words, using the Scripture of The Way, for cultivators, the most important thing was True Essence.
Chen Chang Sheng hesitated for a very short moment.
He really wasn't afraid of death, but he didn't want to experience that kind of pain again, because that kind of pain could very well cause him to faint on the spot, once that happened, he would naturally lose this match.
But it was something that had to be done.
Hesitation was hesitation, but that gust of wind didn't stop, it floated down towards a snowy plain in the Southeast corner.
Like a wildfire, it landed amongst the mountains that were piled with dried leaves.
With a boom, that snowy plain began to fiercely burn.
… …
… …
The room on the second floor was very quiet, the important personages sat in their respective seats in silence, waiting for Chen Chang Sheng to admit defeat, waiting for this match to end, waiting for this year's Grand Examination to finally come to an end, the Orthodoxy's conservative faction's plan, or perhaps it should be said, attempt, had suffered the heaviest blow.
Yet, at this moment, an aura suddenly emerged from within the Tower of Purging Dust.
That aura was a little berserk, it was extremely blazing, as if someone had lit a bonfire downstairs, and the intensity of the fire was extremely great.
Mo Yu's expression became slightly stern, she stood up, her palace dress leaving behind an afterimage in the dusky room, she instantly arrived before the window.
Her gaze passed through the paper flowers on the window, looking downstairs, her face was expressionless, but her eyes revealed a strange splendor.
The great figures present were all experts with profound realms. How could they not sense what that aura represented? No one paid any attention to the realm of strength that Mo Yu had displayed in that instant. They all came to the window and looked downstairs. As their gazes fell, their expressions changed abruptly. For a moment, they were speechless.
In front of the stone wall downstairs, Chen Chang Sheng stood within the yellow sand, his eyes closed, beside his bare feet was the sand that had been drenched by the blood that had flowed from his body.
That berserk, blazing aura, originated from his body.
Everyone could clearly feel that his cultivation level was rising, the True Essence within his body was increasing, his aura was becoming stronger.
Within the perception of divine sense, he was becoming brighter and brighter.
Akin to a real bonfire.
"How is this possible?"
"How is this possible!"
Everyone stood by the window, witnessing this scene, the expressions on their faces became extremely strange, abnormally shocked.
Chen Chang Sheng had actually begun Meditative Introspection, he was converting Star Brilliance into True Essence!
The problem was, apart from the very beginning, when moving from the Purification stage to the Meditation stage, a cultivator would burn all of their accumulated Star Brilliance into True Essence, causing such a strong aura to leak outwards. Afterwards, cultivators using Star Brilliance to nourish their True Essence was a simple matter, how could there be such a large disturbance?
Was this Chen Chang Sheng's first time undergoing Meditative Introspection?
Impossible, through the previous few rounds of battle, everyone was very clear that he had already completed his cultivation from Purification to Meditation, otherwise, his body wouldn't have True Essence circulating within it.
Then what was with this scene?
Could it be, that there was someone in this world that could undergo the first stage of Meditation twice?
The Tower of Purging Dust was deathly silent.
Everyone was shocked speechless.
Whether it was the knowledgeable personages by the window, or the Li Palace clergy.
Zhuang Huan Yu was even more shocked, to the point of being speechless.
The temperature within the tower instantly rose.
Chen Chang Sheng closed his eyes, the sand by his feet began to float upwards. The sand that had been congealed into a ball by the blood, after being roasted by an invisible high temperature, began to dry up and scatter.
The blood, had all turned into green smoke.
Within the fluttering sand, Chen Chang Sheng's face grew redder and redder, his body could be felt becoming hotter and hotter.
Seeing this scene, an Archbishop of the Holy Church slightly frowned and calmed down.
He didn't know how Chen Chang Sheng was able to undergo a second stage of Meditation, but he could see that this youth had no way of controlling the burning of Star Brilliance within his body.
"If this continues, even if he doesn't burn to death, his mind will suffer from the burn," said Prince Chen Liu worriedly.
As long as Purification was successful, a cultivator's body would be able to withstand the high temperature and strength brought about by the conversion of Star Brilliance into True Essence during initial Meditation. But Chen Chang Sheng's current Meditation was clearly a little strange, the amount of Star Brilliance burning within his body seemed to be a little too much, his body's temperature couldn't help but continuously rise.
The Tower of Purging Dust became hotter and hotter, the sound of cicadas could suddenly be heard from outside, as if Summer had arrived early.
… …
… …
Deep within Li Palace, there was a palace.
In a corner of the palace, there was a grey clay basin.
Within the basin was a plant, with several green stems, but only a single green leaf.
The edge of the green leaf was slightly withered and slightly curled.
"My memory has indeed deteriorated when I get old, I actually forgot to water it again."
His Holiness walked to the side of the basin, sighing as he looked at the green leaf.
He then picked up a wooden ladle and extended it towards the pond beside the basin.
… …
… …
(I just remembered that today is Monday, I'll have to trouble everyone to vote for me. Thanks, I'll try to finish the next chapter before 12: 30.)
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