To use strong wine to calm one's heart with the blood of one's enemies — these words, when carefully tasted, were truly heroic.
Chen Chou was quiet for a while, then said, "I know that at the very beginning, you were drowning your sorrows in wine because of a woman."
The young officer smiled and said, "Yesterday, I received a letter from her from the south. She found the man she thought was dead, and … coincidentally, that man was the fiancé she disliked the most in the past. Tell me, should I congratulate them or congratulate them?"
Chen Chou looked at him with much more sympathy. Patting him on the shoulder, he comfortingly said, "Then it really is over. Don't think about it anymore."
On that night when they were besieged by the wolf cavalry on the snowy plains, the two of them had chatted about many things. Of course, the topic they talked about the most was men and women, so he had a rough idea of what the story was about.
The young officer's eyes suddenly brightened, as if they wanted to illuminate the dark night before him, the snowstorm in the dark night, and the road ahead through the snowstorm. He calmly and firmly said, "No, if that person really was dead, I naturally wouldn't be able to defeat him, wouldn't have any hope. But now that he's alive, for me, it means that hope has reappeared."
… …
… …
At the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, the Boiling Stone Summit was about to begin. People from all over the continent were beginning to set out.
Unlike the Grand Examination or the Garden of Zhou, the Boiling Stone Summit was not famous. It was only circulated among the upper echelons of the cultivation world, and only those people with the qualifications to be invited knew of it. Every time the Boiling Stone Summit was held, it would be held in the Heaven Lake in the Cold Mountains of the distant northeast of the continent. Whether one set out from the capital, Tianliang County, or the south, it was a very long distance to reach the Heaven Lake. To many people, rather than calling the Boiling Stone Summit a grand meeting of the cultivation world, it was better to call it a journey.
Of course, to cultivators at that level, travel had always been a kind of cultivation, so not many people would use immortal birds or arrays. Instead, they would follow the official roads of the human world that extended in all directions, cross the rivers that were as dense as cobwebs, take in the scenery, and sincerely advance.
According to legend, countless years ago, countless meteorites transformed into streams of fire and fell on the continent. Many of these meteorites landed where the capital was today. The yellow earth was at the tip of the mausoleum, and those meteorites transformed into Heavenly Tome Monoliths, opening the continent's life and intelligence. This was the current Mausoleum of Books. Besides those meteorites that had fallen into the Mausoleum of Books, there were also many meteorites that had turned to ash in the sky. There were also many meteorites that had once again returned to the sea of stars. There were also some meteorites that had been lucky or unlucky. They had not fallen into the Mausoleum of Books, nor had they been completely incinerated. They had become broken pieces of true stone that had fallen to the earth. They were called Heavenstones.
Miraculously, those Heavenstones had not been scattered throughout the continent. Instead, just like the Mausoleum of Books, the vast majority had fallen in the same place.
That was Mount Han in the northeast of the continent, especially near the Heaven Lake at the peak of Mount Han.
The Heavenstones had burned too fiercely, leaving no mysterious lines on their surface, much less any of the marvels of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths. However, they were still existences that shared the same origin as the Heavenly Tome Monoliths. To cultivators, they were still incomparably precious. It was said that many experts had used these Heavenstones to successfully break through their original cultivation levels.
What the Boiling Stone Summit boiled was Heavenstones. Of course, it was impossible for countless stoves to be lit on the shores of the Heaven Lake to boil water. Boiling stones had always been done in the Heaven Lake, because the water in the Heaven Lake was condensed from hot springs. Its temperature was extremely high, like a furnace created by the heavens and the earth.
The Boiling Stone Summit was a grand gathering held by the human world for the sake of increasing the cultivation speed of cultivators. Any cultivator that could rank at the very top of the Boiling Stone Summit had the right to obtain a Heavenstone to comprehend and sense. The marvels of the Heavenstones were far inferior to the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, but the Heavenly Tome Monoliths were in the Mausoleum of Books, while the Heavenstones could be brought along and interacted with day and night. Thus, to cultivators, the importance of the Heavenstones was actually not above that of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths. To some people, it was even more important.
After Emperor Taizong returned to the sea of stars, the Five Saints and the Storms of the Eight Directions decided on when to hold the Boiling Stone Summit, and it was arranged by the Elder of Heavenly Secrets. As for when it would be held, it would depend on the cultivation of the younger generation of experts in the cultivation world at the time. Only after confirming that their cultivation levels were sufficient to comprehend the Heavenstones would it be held.
After Emperor Taizong's generation gradually withdrew from the stage of history, the cultivation world became increasingly cold and cheerless. The Boiling Stone Summit would not be held once in several decades. It was only after Wang Po's astonishing feat that the cultivation world once again entered an era of blooming wildflowers. Only then did the frequency of the Boiling Stone Summit gradually increase.
The most important goal of the Boiling Stone Summit was to allow the cultivation geniuses of the human world to obtain assistance at crucial moments in their cultivation, so that they could break through the barrier of knowledge as quickly as possible and advance. As a result, very few people were invited. For example, this year, there were only thirty-some young cultivators on the list.
On that list was the famous name of the Heavenly Dao Academy's Guan Bai, so it was only natural that Qiushan Jun was on it. Naturally, there was also Xu Yourong and Chen Changsheng, as well as Gou Hanshi and the fourth-ranked Zhong Hui of the Proclamation of Golden Distinction. Zhexiu and Tang Thirty-Six had not been able to ascend to the Proclamation of Golden Distinction, but this did not mean that the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets did not view them favorably, so they were also on the list.
Besides these familiar names, there were also a few obscure wandering cultivators and experts from small sects on the list. These wandering cultivators and experts were all around forty years of age. Amongst cultivators, they were rather young, but compared to the young geniuses on the list, they were clearly much older.
Several hundred Orthodoxy cavalry escorted several carriages into the capital.
These Orthodoxy cavalry and Divine Generals were indifferent, their bodies exuding a somber aura, but they could not stop the determination and courage of the common people of the capital to watch the spectacle.
Mao Qiuyu and Linghai Zhiwang sat in two separate carriages, their eyes closed in rest as if they could not hear the shouts coming from outside.
Those shouts were all for the people in the carriage behind them.
In the carriage, Tang Thirty-Six put down the list in his hand and scratched his somewhat itchy ear from the shouts. Shaking his head, he said, "It's not like you know what we're doing, so why are you shouting so loudly? And also, Rou'er … last night, I just gave you one thousand taels of silver, so why are you putting on this show of sending off your husband?"
He gazed at the mournful young dancer leaning against the railing of a building by the street, the expression on his face rather unnatural.
No one paid attention to him, and no one paid any attention to him, or else he would have been even more embarrassed.
Zhexiu's eyes were closed in rest, his true essence scraping at his somewhat deformed meridians like little knives, but no pain could be seen on his face.
Chen Changsheng was reading a scroll of the Daoist Canon, his expression very focused and serious. In his sea of consciousness, he was constantly calculating how to break the array left behind by Wang Zhice.
Tang Thirty-Six felt somewhat ashamed, thinking, why can't I be like them, completely unconcerned about everything?
"Listen … someone actually guessed that you went to South Stream Temple to propose!"
The crowd on the street suddenly exploded with shouts. When Tang Thirty-Six heard this, he rocked back and forth with laughter, feeling very happy.
"Only these people could think of something like this, but this array really is rather similar. If you want to marry the Holy Maiden, you naturally have to send out two Prefects of the Orthodoxy."
He was speaking of Mao Qiuyu and Linghai Zhiwang in the carriage in front of them.
Only Chen Changsheng and the others were going to the Boiling Stone Summit this time, but they were sending out an extremely large array, with two archbishops personally escorting them.
This was because Chen Changsheng's current status was no longer the same, and the journey was long. Mount Han was not far from the land of demons, so who knew if the demons would have any designs on this future Pope? With two experts at the peak of Star Condensation overseeing it, it would presumably be much safer.
Chen Changsheng still had his head lowered, reading his book without any reaction.
Tang Thirty-Six finally felt that something was wrong. Patting him, he asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Chen Changsheng raised his head and took out two balls of fur from his ears. Somewhat perplexed, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Tang Thirty-Six was very speechless. Pointing at the paper, he said, "Shouldn't you be concerned about what sort of opponents you'll encounter in the Boiling Stone Summit?"
Chen Changsheng stared blankly, then smiled. "I don't plan on entering the arena."
To cultivators, Heavenstones were naturally extremely precious objects of comprehension, but to him and Xu Yourong, this sort of comprehension had almost no effect.
With the Heavenly Tome Monoliths in their hands, what need was there to care about Heavenstones?
Besides broadening his horizons, he had gone to the Boiling Stone Summit because he wanted to see a few people. For example, Wang Po, who might appear in the Heaven Lake because of Scholartree Manor's bell. For example, Gou Hanshi and the other disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect that he had not seen for a very long time. For example, Xu Yourong, whom he had not seen for very long.
Tang Thirty-Six said, "That's right, you're the future Pope, so it's truly not suitable for you to compete with us. In addition, you can now enter the Mausoleum of Books at will, see whichever Heavenly Tome Monolith you want to see, take a girl with you to see a Heavenly Tome Monolith …"
Chen Changsheng glanced at Zhexiu. Only when he realized that Zhexiu was not paying any attention to their conversation did he relax.
Seeing his nervous expression, Tang Thirty-Six shook his head and placed the paper in his hands. "Since you won't enter the arena, our strongest opponents will definitely be those fellows from the Mount Li Sword Sect. The demi-humans will also come, and I hear that even that Xiao De of the Proclamation of Liberation will come."
Upon hearing the name Xiao De, Zhexiu suddenly opened his eyes and asked, "Are you sure?"
"I'm basically sure." Tang Thirty-Six creased his brow and asked, "You have a grudge with that guy?"
Zhexiu asked, "If I had a grudge, would you help me?"
Tang Thirty-Six said matter-of-factly, "Of course not. That's an expert in the top five of the Proclamation of Liberation. Am I that familiar with you?"
… …
… …
On the long journey, there were new sights, but not too many new stories.
Chen Changsheng spent the vast majority of his time on the carriage reading, cultivating, and thinking, treating Zhexiu's injuries, and then the two of them would watch Tang Thirty-Six grow more and more acrimonious and unkind out of boredom. Occasionally, Mao Qiuyu would find him to chat about a few things, but besides eating in the wilderness, he had never seen Linghai Zhiwang.
Just when the summer was about to depart, the convoy finally arrived at Mount Han.
This place was already the extreme north. After passing through the endless mountain ranges, one would enter the domain of the snowy plains of the demon realm. Moreover, as the mountains rose, the temperature dropped, as if deep winter had come early. The armor of the Orthodoxy cavalry was gradually covered in a thin layer of frost.
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