The sound of the zither lingered around her body.
She could not see the zither player. She could only hear the sound, but she did not know where it was coming from.
The zither player, where was he?
It was just one song.
She took out a square plate and placed it on the ground in front of her.
She did not know what material the square plate was made of. Its body was pitch-black like pig iron, but it was a bit more gentle than iron. It was like black jade, but it was a bit more resilient than jade.
The surface of the black square plate was painted with very complicated patterns and lines. If someone who understood saw those patterns, they would probably associate it with those fake Daoists outside the Li Palace who swindled money from fortune-tellers.
Yes, this was a Fated Star Plate used to calculate fate.
The places where those lines intersected were the positions of the stars, and in the entire continent, only she and a few experts understood that those lines were the trajectories of the stars.
Her two hands fell on the Fated Star Plate and began to move. Her movements were very natural and smooth, like a wind summoning clouds on a cliff, or a phoenix bathing its wings on the shore.
With her movements, the patterns and lines on the Fated Star Plate began to move. The countless rings rotated at different speeds, some fast and some slow. It seemed incomparably complicated. If one stared at it for a long time, their eyes would probably become blurry and they might even faint. But she did not. She calmly gazed at the Fated Star Plate, her eyelashes not trembling. She did not miss even the slightest change in those patterns and lines.
After some time, she concluded her calculations and put away the Fated Star Plate. She walked a few steps away from the tree, unstrapped her longbow, nocked an arrow, and shot it towards the end of the mountain path.
With a whoosh, the cliff in the night was roused from its sleep.
The vibration of the bowstring caused the solitary tree to sway unsteadily, as if it was about to snap.
Then, another long time passed.
Nothing strange happened. The arrow seemed to disappear into the void. She raised her head to look at a certain place in the night sky — the place where the arrow had passed — and silently pondered for a very long time.
This was her arrow. No matter how powerful the enemy was, even if it was a Star Condensation expert, it could not be so silent. At the very least, there should have been an echo.
No echo could only mean two possibilities. Tonight, her enemy was much stronger than her, or there was a problem with the position she had calculated.
The former was impossible, because this was the Garden of Zhou. Moreover, if it was a demon expert on the level of a Demon General, there was no need to wait until now. They should have acted long ago.
That meant there was a problem with the calculated position. She was very confident in her deduction skills. If it was really wrong, then there was only one possibility, and that was that there was a problem with the location itself.
At this moment, she was just like Chen Changsheng when viewing the monoliths in front of the Mausoleum of Books. She thought of a phrase.
The position is relative.
The relative here referred to the relative in space, the relative from afar. If space itself wasn't real and couldn't be calculated, then the position in this space naturally couldn't be calculated either.
Did this lonely mountain path lead to an illusory space? Was the clear sound of the zither welcoming her into this place of death? Was that why it was so joyful?
She walked to the edge of the cliff with her hands behind her back. She looked at the grassland in the distance and began to think.
If the Black Dragon could see this scene, he would definitely understand why the Divine Empress doted on this white-clothed girl so much. It was because her current appearance was very similar to the young Divine Empress.
But the Black Dragon could not see it.
In her eyes, after that white-clothed girl walked to that solitary tree, she never moved again. She did not take out her Fated Star Plate to make a divination, nor did she draw her bow and shoot that arrow into the night sky.
…
…
It was already night in the world of the Garden of Zhou.
But it was also not possible to see a sky full of stars here. It was not because the snowflakes were flying too quickly or the snowy clouds were too thick, but because the shadow that had crept over from Xuelao City had obscured the entire sky.
This place was too close to Xuelao City. The terrifying Demon Lord did not need to leave the city to push his will into this place, transforming it into a shadow that indifferently gazed at that human.
If it were an ordinary human, the moment this shadow approached, they would have been frozen into a pillar of ice, their spiritual sense destroyed, and finally transformed into dust on the snowy plains. But Su Li did not, because he was not an ordinary person.
There was a clear wound on his left shoulder, but there was no fresh blood. There was only a pitch-black substance that was as thick as ink, and this black liquid was still bubbling.
Just what poison was this to be so terrifying?
Su Li gazed at the distant Demon General that was like a small mountain and mocked, "After so many years, you still only know how to make these petty poisons. No wonder you've only been able to add to Big Brother's feet your entire life."
This Demon General was ranked second in the Demon Army. He was precisely the incomparably terrifying and powerful Lord Hai Di.
Some sort of intense battle had taken place earlier, but the second Demon General Hai Di had left this terrifying wound on Su Li's shoulder, but he had paid an even more painful price.
His right arm had been chopped off by Su Li's sword.
But there was not much pain or anger on Hai Di's face, only indifference.
He looked at Su Li and said indifferently, "I was chopped off by you once more than a hundred years ago, so I'll just need to raise it for ten-some years to recover. As for Big Brother's feet, if she was willing to let me lick them, I would have already knelt."
Su Li clicked his tongue in wonder. "Only you demons can be so shameless as to act so boldly and confidently. But even if you make Big Brother comfortable, now that I've chopped off an arm, aren't you afraid that Third Brother will take advantage of the situation and take your life, then tear you apart and eat you?"
The demons respected strength, so the scene he spoke of really might happen.
A voice rang out in the snow. It was Black Robe's voice. "That sort of thing won't happen, because I won't allow it, and His Majesty won't allow it either."
Hai Di nodded at Su Li, picked up his arm, and retreated into the distance. With each step, a crack several zhang deep would appear on the snowy plains. This was the result of his difficulty in controlling his Qi after his injury. It was truly difficult to imagine just what sort of terrifying strength he possessed when he was in perfect condition. Of course, it was even more difficult to imagine just how powerful Su Li, who had chopped off his arm with a single strike, was.
Although Su Li had won a battle, he had no chance.
Because two more mountainous demon figures were slowly approaching.
They were the fourth and seventh Demon Generals.
In order to kill this Junior Martial Uncle of Mount Li, the demons had mobilized far too many experts.
They were all true experts.
This was the first time since the conclusion of that great war several hundred years ago that had cast the heavens into darkness had appeared.
Su Li spat a mouthful of bloody saliva in front of him and rubbed his rather cold face. "Battle after battle, aren't you all annoyed? Can't you be a little more straightforward? "
Black Robe began to laugh. Although his face was hidden by his hat, the smile in his eyes, which were like the deep sea, was so clear that the night could not hide it.
He smiled at Su Li and said, "You're starting to panic."
Su Li mocked, "Only people who are truly panicking would panic and use this sort of psychological warfare."
Black Robe calmly said, "Time slowly passes. You don't know how much longer your daughter can last, so how can you not panic?"
Su Li was speechless at these words.
From the very beginning, the corners of his lips had always perked up, even in his bloody battle with Hai Di. He had amply expressed his contempt and disdain for the demons' scheme and this world of ice and snow.
At this moment, that wisp of a smile finally vanished.
… …
… …
(I bow and thank everyone for your votes. I will continue to write this story well. Although it's an old cliché, it's also the truth. Although it's still a cliché, I wish everyone a pleasant Monday at work.)
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