"Do we have to wait another few centuries?"
"Perhaps we really should study the power of time. No matter how powerful those legends were back then, they couldn't surpass time."
"Of the three thousand scriptures of the Daoist Canon, there is only one scroll of time."
"Then let's first look at that scroll."
"I understand. When the time comes, please help me study it."
With his mind set and the sky darkening, Chen Changsheng stood up, bid farewell, and walked out of the hall.
Shuang'er stood on the snowy ground outside the hall, constantly paying attention to what was going on outside. When she saw him walk out, she had a very complicated expression.
Chen Changsheng was prepared to say something to her when he suddenly heard Xu Yourong's voice from behind him.
"You're very close to Lady Zhusha?"
Chen Changsheng froze for a moment before realizing that the Lady Zhusha she spoke of was the little Black Dragon. Confused, he asked, "Close?"
"Mo Yu saw you two hugging each other."
It was obvious that Xu Yourong was intentionally keeping her voice calm, because it was so calm that it was almost stiff.
Chen Changsheng was speechless. He thought, the Black Dragon is like a mountain. How can I hug her?
"Don't you know … if she doesn't maintain her dragon body, she would be a pretty girl?"
… …
… …
Night had fallen. Chen Changsheng silently gazed at the calm pond and the shattered ice on its surface.
The girl and the Black Dragon might have only changed their appearances, but the feeling they gave off was completely different.
There was a huge difference between having a name and not having a name.
In the past, Wang Zhice had given her a name: Zhusha.
He had also given her two names: Zhizhi and Hongzhuang.
There seemed to be a faint connection between the two.
The Black Frost Dragon that had died in battle in the Garden of Zhou had a noble and limitless soul that yearned for freedom.
She was the daughter of that Black Frost Dragon. Presumably, she also had a heart that yearned for freedom, yet she had been imprisoned for so many years.
It was truly pitiful.
He did not speak to the pond, but left.
On the same night, he used the stone pearl left behind by Wang Zhice to enter the Garden of Zhou.
He paid no attention to the low tide of monsters. He only noticed that the current Garden of Zhou was much better than before.
The lakes around the plain had already been dredged clean, and the collapsed cliffs had already been tidied up.
He went to the lakeshore on the other side of the waterfall and found the Scroll of Time amongst the dried books on the rocks.
He returned to Sunset Valley. Borrowing the light from the distant horizon, he began to read.
After a long time, he put away the scroll and said to the majestic mountains in front of him, "Please rest assured, I will save your daughter."
…
…
In the courtyard of the Northern Military Department's alley, Zhou Tong was also reading the Scroll of Time.
At present, the common people only remembered him as a cruel and terrifying minister. They had long since forgotten that he had once been renowned for his erudition, and that he was a peak Star Condensation cultivator who had attained the Dao.
Ever since Archbishop Mei Lisha had returned to the sea of stars, he had been studying the Scroll of Time. It was only recently that he had finally comprehended the true meaning of this Daoist scripture.
"Can it really change the flow of time?"
As he gazed at the snow in the courtyard and the lonely crabapple tree in the snow, the sea of blood in the depths of Zhou Tong's eyes incessantly roiled, seeming abnormally tyrannical and terrifying. This represented that his mind was currently in a state of shock, his sea of consciousness uneasy. Even his callous Dao heart found it somewhat difficult to control.
As time passed, the sea of blood in his eyes gradually calmed, and his pale face began to show signs of exhaustion and sorrow. He knew that ever since he had decided to follow the Divine Empress in opening a golden age and sank into this sea of blood that would never recover, it was impossible for him to reach the end of the long path of cultivation. Whether it was time or space, they were both domains that he could no longer touch. However, this did not mean that there was no one in this world who could do this.
He believed that if he could enter the legendary Concealed Divinity realm, or perhaps if he could borrow the help of some extremely powerful array, he really might be able to use the Scroll of Time to change the flow of time. This also meant that a certain person's age might have been altered by someone. Perhaps that youth was the same age as Crown Prince Zhaoming?
… …
… …
Two rumors were spreading through the capital.
The first rumor was rather nonsensical. It said that Little Principal Chen of the Orthodox Academy was a descendant of the Chen Imperial clan, and was even highly likely to be that Crown Prince Zhaoming who had disappeared during the coup in the palace. No one believed this rumor, because Chen Changsheng was clearly much younger than Crown Prince Zhaoming. Moreover, compared to this somewhat shocking rumor, the common people of the capital were more willing to believe the even colder and sinister rumor — the pitiful Crown Prince Zhaoming had long since been smothered to death in his swaddling clothes by the Divine Empress.
The second rumor aroused the interest of even more people, and it also obtained even more people's approval. Perhaps Tang Thirty-Six had drunk too much that night and told the dancer in the restaurant. Perhaps Shuang'er had returned to the Divine General of the East's estate to retrieve the hand warmer that the Young Lady often used, and had been indirectly probed by the Madam and revealed the matter. Perhaps it was even more likely that some truly powerful person had occasionally looked down from a high platform in the capital and discovered the scene of that young man and woman walking side by side. The Yellow Paper Umbrella had not been able to cover Chen Changsheng's face … many of the people of the capital had heard that in the days after the battle of the Bridge of Helplessness, the Holy Maiden and Little Principal Chen often met, and it was said that Little Principal Chen would occasionally enter the palace to visit her.
Today was Prince Chen Liu's treat day, and Chen Chang Sheng was the main guest. The theme of today's gathering was to admire the snow. While admiring the snow, of course, they had to recite poems. The few students of the Tradition Academy who followed Chen Chang Sheng to the palace to broaden their horizons lost to the students of the Five Ivies in a few rounds of poetry debate. Now the status of Chen Chang Sheng and the Tradition Academy was completely different from before. No matter if it was the teachers or students of the Heavenly Academy or the Priest Academy, no one dared to use this incident to mock them. However, the students of the Tradition Academy still felt that they had lost some face, and they kept sneaking glances at Chen Chang Sheng.
Of course, Chen Chang Sheng felt these glances, and he naturally began to miss Tang Thirty-Six. That guy was the best person to handle this kind of situation. No matter if he was mocked, humiliated, or ignored, or if his side's morale was low or even fell into despair, he always had a way to turn the atmosphere around.
Just like before, Tang Thirty-Six, who didn't like Prince Chen Liu for some reason, didn't even bother to give an excuse. He directly refused to participate in today's poetry gathering, but he didn't stay too far away. He sat in the carriage of the Tradition Academy with his dancer and waited outside the palace. He pointed at the falling snow outside the window and recited poems, acting like a playboy.
The gate of the palace opened, and Prince Chen Liu personally escorted Chen Chang Sheng and the others out.
The falling snow had already stopped. A lot of the citizens of the capital who liked to watch a show had gathered outside the palace. At this time, as Chen Chang Sheng appeared, countless gazes were instantly focused on him. At the same time, countless whispers were heard. The quiet street in front of the palace seemed to have become a classroom.
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