Guan Bai had given his opinion, and now it was up to Chen Changsheng whether or not he would accept it.
To him, this truly was a rather troublesome problem. In the view of many people, at least today, he should not have taken action.
Guan Bai was not one of those ordinary initial level Star Condensation cultivators who had once lost to his sword, but a true expert of the sword, his cultivation far above Chen Changsheng's. More importantly, Guan Bai had for some reason been heavily injured, his right arm severed. Even if he did as he said and mastered the sword with his left hand in this year, it was still impossible for him to recover his peak strength. Even if Chen Changsheng used all his strength to defeat his opponent, it would not bring him any glory.
He was the future Pope. If he won, he would only provoke criticism, but if he lost, it would be extremely humiliating. The best method was to not accept his opponent's challenge.
It was very quiet. Everyone was looking at Chen Changsheng, waiting for his decision. No one dared to urge him, but the silence and those gazes were also an invisible pressure.
Just at this moment, a clear and cold voice rose up from behind the layers of white gauze. "The road is long and arduous, but since you've already begun, how can you stop? As long as you continue to walk, there will always be a day when you reach it. There's no need to care about whether it's sooner or later, much less about victory or defeat. What need is there for your heart to be disturbed by the slander of the world? Could it be that you still can't see this clearly?"
The number of people in the world that could speak to Chen Changsheng in this tone did not exceed ten. Of the people present, only the Elder of Heavenly Secrets and … Xu Yourong had the right.
The speaker was Xu Yourong. Her voice could be described as clear and cold, but it could also be described as apathetic. There was not much clear emotion in it.
Many people followed the voice to the high platform behind the layers of white gauze, gazing at that faintly discernible beautiful figure. A strange emotion arose in their hearts, because the atmosphere had become rather strange.
Xu Yourong's words seemed to be encouragement, but if understood from another perspective, they were more like goading, even taunting.
When the crowd thought of this, they couldn't help but sigh. They thought, even a Holy Maiden with a brightly lit Dao heart would still be somewhat resentful at the humiliation of having her engagement annulled in the capital.
When the people of the Mount Li Sword Sect heard these words, they began to have other thoughts.
Guan Feibai looked at Gou Hanshi and said somewhat uncertainly, "From Junior Sister's reaction, Eldest Brother … should still have a chance?"
Gou Hanshi was well-versed in the Daoist Canon, but he really did not understand these matters.
At this moment, the only person present who truly understood the truth of the matter was Tang Thirty-Six. He looked at the expressions on the faces of the crowd and the movements on the side of the Mount Li Sword Sect. His lips curled into a cold smile, tinged with ridicule, as he thought, how could you people understand the affections of this young couple and their display of affection?
People thought Xu You Rong's words were meant to mock Chen Chang Sheng.
Tang Thirty Six knew it wasn't, and Chen Chang Sheng knew even more that it wasn't. He understood what she meant.
Cultivation required continuous tempering, and progress required continuous challenges. Victory and defeat were not important, and slander was even more insignificant.
If he wanted to break through, he needed to learn to ignore all of this and return to the essence of cultivation.
— — Through life's comprehension, through battle to obtain perception beyond the normal value, through the greatest pressure between life and death to obtain powerful spiritual power.
He did not look at her behind the white veil, but at the hot mist in the depths of the lake. Finally, he withdrew his gaze and looked at Guan Bai.
The lake breeze blew gently, blowing up the dust between the stone slabs, the light sleeves that had lost their substance, as well as his sleeves.
He walked to the center of the field and arrived in front of Guan Bai.
This was the first time many people had seen him up close.
They discovered that the legendary Chen Chang Sheng was not particularly handsome, but his brows were extremely clean, even carrying a hint of youth.
He stood there, like a fresh and clean spring breeze, possessing an aura of detachment from the mortal world.
The crowd began to sigh with emotion, as well as praise.
Guan Bai was very calm, saying nothing more. He took the longsword from his waist, grasped it in his hand, and raised it in front of him.
He only had one hand left, so how could he draw the sword?
His hand slowly moved up, arriving at the hilt. His knuckles slightly tightened as he tightened his grip.
With a pleasant grinding sound, the sheath slowly slid down, revealing the bright blade.
This scene was very beautiful.
It was like several dozen mu of moss on the surface of a lake being slowly swept up by a great gale and then carried away.
It was more like a general who had fought a bloody battle on the yellow sands, slowly but firmly taking off the armor on his body, revealing a body brimming with strength.
This was armor stripping.
Armor stripping did not always mean returning to the fields. It could also be the beginning of a grand battle.
Or it could be said that this was a battle that returned to its essence, even carrying a childish and clumsy intent.
This battle was not influenced by any external factors, was not entangled by the interests of factions, had no bargaining chips or gambling stakes. It was just a simple battle.
It was a competition of strength, a struggle for victory and defeat, a battle to one's heart's content.
It was just a simple sight of his sword unsheathing, but Guan Bai had completely revealed his intentions and fighting spirit.
Many people's eyes lit up.
Especially cultivators like Guan Fei Bai.
Who did not like this sort of battle?
Even Tang Thirty-Six felt his body heat up. He subconsciously walked over to the battlefield, arriving at the side of the Mount Li Sword Sect, wanting to get a little closer to this battle.
Only Zhexiu had no reaction. His expression remained indifferent, unable to arouse any interest — unlike what the common people imagined, he actually did not like fighting. In his view, the goal of fighting was to kill the enemy. Victory and defeat, such matters as satisfaction, were truly too excessive.
In the next moment, the fighting spirit that had just been stirred up in the crowd rapidly vanished.
The light in the eyes of Guan Fei Bai and the others instantly vanished, replaced by astonishment or defeat.
Because a sword intent had appeared at the peak of Mount Han.
This sword intent came from the sword in Guan Bai's hand, from his brow and eyes, from his tightly bound black hair, from his empty sleeve, from every part of his body.
This sword intent was incomparably awe-inspiring, incomparably sharp. The gravel and grass that Liang Banhu and Guan Fei Bai's swords had previously chopped into even finer granules.
The lake water and wind that had once been severed and then restored were severed once more. Countless cracks appeared on them, and for a moment they could not be restored. The scene was rather mystical.
Such a powerful sword intent. Even the proud and confident Guan Fei Bai and Tang Thirty-Six were forced to admit that they were no match for this sword intent.
The crowd cried out in alarm, and then quickly grew even quieter.
Everyone's gazes fell on Guan Bai's body, their eyes brimming with shock and reverence.
He was truly worthy of being an expert of the Proclamation of Liberation, a famous figure of the Heavenly Dao Academy. Guan Bai had lost an arm and his strength had been severely damaged, but not only had his cultivation not dropped, his comprehension of the path of the sword had even advanced!
Just like what Xu Yourong had said to Chen Changsheng earlier, opportunities often came from setbacks, breakthroughs often originated from trials between life and death.
Last year in the capital, because of the miserable encounter of the wild dog in the alley, Guan Bai was not willing to let the old Daoist nun leave, and then he suffered the greatest humiliation and blow of his life.
He left the capital and secluded himself in a remote mountain village. He used half a year to recover from the wound of his severed arm, and then he began to quietly comprehend.
By the stream at the base of the cliff, by the pond behind the farmhouse, he calmly and seriously pondered for a very long time.
He confirmed that he had not done anything wrong that night. Let alone the fact that he was already an expert of the Proclamation of Liberation, even if he was still that five or six year old child who could not cultivate, he would still have stood up.
Because this matter was right, was something that he should have done, so why bother with it, why care who that old Daoist nun was? Why regret?
No, there was no regret.
Guan Bai did not know that many years ago, in the wilderness of Tianliang County, a person called Wang Po had once thought about this problem by the stream and pond.
After Wang Po thought through this problem, he finally obtained his own path of the blade.
Although this path of the blade was still far from being as powerful and terrifying as Zhou Dufu's path of the blade, in terms of cultivation, it was already qualified to be discussed in the same breath.
This path of the blade was called straight.
After Guan Bai thought through this problem, he also obtained his own path of the sword, which was also called straight.
On that day, the mountain was covered with maple leaves, the cicadas by the pond were silent in winter. His path of the sword was complete.
… …
… …
Chen Changsheng sensed Guan Bai's sword intent and felt admiration.
He viewed Wang Po as his idol, so how could he not like this sort of sword intent?
Moreover, he faintly knew what Guan Bai had encountered in the capital.
He greatly admired his opponent for being able to recover from the severe injury of his severed arm in a short year, and for his cultivation of the path of the sword to even surpass it. He even more admired the reason for his injury.
Such a person, such a sword intent, how could he repay him? Of course, it could only be straight.
With a boom, the plain of snow in his body began to fiercely combust, transforming into countless strands of true essence that passed through those narrow meridians and was transported everywhere.
His body dragged out a blur on the stone plateau, transforming into a straight line. He arrived in front of Guan Bai and stabbed out with his sword.
This sword was incomparably straight.
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