There were many paths in the Mausoleum of Books, but there was only one path that led directly to the top. It was the southern Divine Path paved with white jade.
Ascending the mausoleum through the Divine Path was a very symbolic event.
Only the Emperor, the Pope, and the Holy Maiden of the south had the right to walk the Divine Path. This represented supreme authority.
Before Xun Mei, many people had attempted to break through the Path of Divinity, but other than Zhou Dufu, there seemed to be no other successful example.
Wang Po wanted to intrude upon the Divine Path to fulfill his promise to his old friend, to provoke the Imperial Court, and to take revenge on Emperor Taizong.
Xu Yourong stood deep in the forest of the Hundred Herb Garden, gazing at the slightly raised patch of grass. In a low voice, she said, "Sir said that Daoist Ji was Emperor Taizong's most loyal subject, even a somewhat perverted and fanatical follower, so how could he allow such a thing to happen?"
A gentle breeze ruffled the leaves and the tender green grass that had just emerged from the ground. The Tianhai Divine Empress slept here, and no one could answer her question.
"It's really nerve-wracking to be enemies with such a freak."
Xu Yourong's expression was very calm. One could not see the nervousness in her words. Only her slightly trembling eyelashes revealed her true feelings.
What she was about to do, or rather, the decision she made, was far too terrifying. If she was even the slightest bit careless, tens of millions of people could die miserably.
To make such a decision, or to make the entire continent believe that she dared to make such a decision, she needed to have an extremely strong will.
When one's will was powerful to the extreme, one would naturally be emotionless. This was the Dao of the Supreme.
Xu Yourong's brows were slightly furrowed. She looked a little weak and pitiful.
No one had ever seen her like this.
Even when she was heavily injured and on the verge of death in the Garden of Zhou, even someone as close to her as Chen Changsheng had never seen her.
Only the smooth stone path of Sunset Valley and the tree at the edge of the cliff had been seen.
The index fingers of the two hands touched gently in the breeze.
She looked at the place where her fingertips intersected and said to herself, "You can do it, you can do it."
Her eyelashes gradually stopped trembling as she murmured in a seemingly weak and timid manner.
She raised her head and once again looked at the slightly mound of green grass, her eyes already calm.
The ultimate calmness was indifference.
Not to mention a patch of green grass, even a monstrous flood would not be able to make her care.
"May the holy light be with you forever."
Xu Yourong turned around and walked out of the Hundred Herb Garden.
As her skirt fluttered, a path of wildflowers sprouted from the green grass. Then, a golden flame suddenly ignited and disappeared.
…
…
The distance from Xun Mei's small house to the bottom of the divine avenue wasn't very far. Back then, when Chen Chang Sheng, Gou Han Shi and the others hurried over, it didn't take long.
But Wang Po had been gone for a very long time.
The iron saber had been unsheathed at some point in time and was now in his hand.
If someone were to see this scene, they would definitely be shocked and confused.
That year, when he fought against Tie Shu in the snowstorm, he did not draw his saber for a very long time. It was only at the very end that he used his saber to cut through the world.
Why did he pull out his iron knife so early today? Who is he going to slash at?
What Wang Po wanted to kill was not a person.
Today, the Mausoleum of Books was excessively deserted. There were no cultivators viewing the monoliths, and even the Monolith Guardians were nowhere to be seen.
Even if these people were here, none of them were qualified to make him draw his saber.
What he was chopping at were those branches that blocked the path, those fences that had already rotted away, and those stones that had become uneven from years of disrepair.
As the blade fell, the branches turned to dust, the bamboo fences to powder, the stones to powder, and then they were blown away by the wind, becoming brand new.
After he left, the clear slashes on the mud and stones gradually vanished, but the blade intent had hidden itself even deeper into space, concealing something.
Wang Po walked to the bottom of the divine avenue and gazed at the pavilion that had once existed.
The common people now knew that Divine General Han Qing had already broken into the Divine.
It was no wonder that when Xun Mei had just woken up from his dream and was at his peak, he was still unable to get past Chen Changsheng.
Who would stop him from intruding on the Divine Avenue today?
Wang Po did not walk down the Divine Avenue. He quietly waited for that person to arrive.
His blade was sheathed once more, but the energy of his blade continued to stretch across the world, and it was even slowly rising.
He was not in a hurry, because the longer he waited, the more perfect the accumulated energy of his blade would become. Eventually, it would fuse completely, leaving no gaps.
Perhaps for this reason, it did not take long for the person he was waiting for to appear.
The breeze stirred the clear water in the canal, creating countless fine ripples that formed countless complex and incomprehensible designs.
The ripples seemed to conceal the mysteries of the world, greatly diluting the energy of Wang Po's blade.
Shang Xingzhou appeared on the Divine Avenue, his Daoist sleeves drifting in the wind and his black hair neatly combed.
Wang Po commented, "As expected, there's nothing new."
He was not surprised by Shang Xingzhou's appearance, and presumably, no one else would be surprised.
In the present world, the only person capable of stopping him from intruding on the Divine Avenue was Shang Xingzhou.
Shang Xingzhou did not respond.
He cared more about the actual result than what he said.
He looked at Wang Po, his eyes brimming with admiration, like he was looking at his most outstanding junior.
But that wisp of admiration had turned into regret in the end.
In his plans, Wang Po would play an extremely important role in the upcoming northern expedition, and he was even prepared to give him the heavy responsibility of breaking into Xuelao City.
Alas, such an outstanding human expert would die today.
A rain descended upon the Mausoleum of Books with Shang Xingzhou's arrival.
This was not a spring rain, but a rain of arrows.
With a dense buzz, countless arrows and ballista bolts descended like a torrential rain.
These arrows fiercely scraped against the air, leaving behind sparks and glimmering with Sacred Light.
Wang Po did not turn around. He had already sensed the arrival of this rain of arrows.
He was rather surprised, and also rather emotional.
He had not expected the Imperial Guard outside the Mausoleum of Books to possess so many Sacred Light arrows.
It was obvious that the Imperial Court had long ago predicted that he would appear in the Mausoleum of Books. This many Sacred Light arrows was a terrifying and highly targeted attack.
As it turned out, three years ago, when he broke into the Divine by the Luo River, the Imperial Court had begun to prepare a plan to kill him.
Shang Xingzhou stood on the Divine Avenue, also within the range of this rain of arrows, but he had no intention of leaving. He only calmly gazed at Wang Po.
It was like he was looking at a dead man.
He had cultivated the Dao for more than a thousand years, so he naturally had the ability to deal with Sacred Light arrows. At the very least, he was much stronger than Wang Po.
And if he did not leave, Wang Po would not be able to leave.
No matter how strong Wang Po's blade was, it could not cut down the sky full of arrows while simultaneously blocking his attack.
At this moment, a sword glow suddenly appeared in a forest to the southwest of the Mausoleum of Books.
This sword glow was extremely plain and clean.
A bird was alarmed, but before it could fly out of the forest, it was cut down by another sword glow.
This sword glow was extremely beautiful.
Soon after, more and more sword glows appeared in the forest. (To be continued.)
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