Eunuch Lin's face was ghastly pale, his body dripping with blood, but it could not conceal the dense sword wounds. He seemed abnormally miserable and wretched.
At this moment, he no longer had the appearance of an expert outside the Orthodox Academy. He was like an old beggar, pitiful at the sight of him.
"What's going on here?"
His voice trembled violently, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock, and then he became somewhat absent-minded.
Even now, he still did not understand what had happened at the start of this battle. Why did that black stone possess such terrifying weight? Perhaps it had come from the Divine Staff? But what truly shocked him, what he found impossible to accept, was what had happened afterwards. When Chen Changsheng had attacked, he had not found a single chance to counterattack.
In that moment, the sword glow had illuminated the library and ended the battle — Chen Changsheng's sword had been too fast, his swordplay incomparably sharp, his sword energy incomparably powerful. His cultivation on the path of the sword had already far surpassed his imagination. He could not understand. Even if this young man had begun learning the sword in his mother's womb, it was impossible for him to cultivate the path of the sword to such a level in seventeen years.
And in this battle, Chen Changsheng had also displayed a few other inconceivable abilities, like his quantity of true essence, like his …
"Perfect Star Domain! How is this possible! "Eunuch Lin shrieked at Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng replied, "Master might have forgotten a few things. Thanks to him, my illness has already been cured."
Three-hundred-some faint starlight was currently receding into the depths of his academy uniform. One could faintly imagine how beautiful it must have been when those stars had all lit up at the same time.
Although he said it was thanks to him, his expression was very flat, devoid of any gratitude.
But what he said was the truth. At the peak of the Mausoleum of Books, the Divine Empress had defied the heavens and changed his fate, curing his illness.
In Mount Han, he had already succeeded in Star Condensation and had even condensed a perfect Star Domain. Now that his illness had been cured, his true essence flowed freely, so he had naturally become a perfect Star Condensation cultivator.
The meridians in his body were incomparably smooth. Those mountainous blockages had all been transformed into flat and vast grasslands, those meandering streams that were difficult to advance had long ago become great rivers. In the past few years, the starlight falling from the night sky had penetrated the library and entered his body, turning into an extremely thick snowfield. Now, the snowfield could burn wantonly and flow to its heart's content.
Two years ago, when his meridians were blocked, he could rely on his own swordplay and Daoist techniques to consecutively complete breakthroughs. A few days ago, when he was still heavily injured, he could rely on his endless magical artifacts and methods, Su Li's sword and Zhou Dufu's blade to almost kill a powerful expert of Zhou Tong's level, let alone now.
It could be said with certainty that the current Chen Chang Sheng finally had the ability to fight against true elites for a short period of time.
He was no longer that young patient from Xining Village who had come to the capital to seek treatment and change his fate. Instead, he was an extremely talented genius who was well-versed in the Daoist Canon, extremely knowledgeable, and had encountered many brilliant teachers.
Perhaps he still couldn't see his fate clearly and what was waiting for him in front of him, but at least there was no longer that shadow, and there was light.
Right now, killing him was already a very difficult task. As long as it was an opponent below the Divine Domain, even if he was no match, he could at least last for a while.
Those who still hadn't thought of this point, like Eunuch Lin, would all receive a deep lesson.
Eunuch Lin had underestimated his opponent, allowing him to strike first. As a result, he was now covered in blood and sitting on the ground, so shocked that he was somewhat absent-minded.
Chen Chang Sheng raised his sword and walked to the door of the library, the starlight gradually concealed in his clothes.
Eunuch Lin's face was pale as he leaned against the half-broken door sill. He opened his mouth to shout, but he realized that there was an invisible barrier separating the library from the outside world.
The Orthodox Academy had only been accepting new students for a year and was still far from its former glory, much less able to recover its former resources and strength. However, as Principal, Chen Chang Sheng could still control a few arrays.
"You're afraid." Chen Chang Sheng walked up to him and looked into his eyes. Somewhat confused, he said, "It turns out that you're also afraid of death."
Eunuch Lin was furious and humiliated. He yelled, "If you want to kill me, then kill me! Don't humiliate me!"
Chen Chang Sheng shook his head. "You've misunderstood. I really did believe that you weren't afraid of death."
Eunuch Lin was dumbfounded.
Chen Chang Sheng looked at him and seriously said, "I've read many stories in the books. Famous scholars like you, loyal ministers, don't you all feel that you have a righteous cause in your hands and are not afraid of death?"
Just as he said, this was a misunderstanding. He was not intentionally humiliating him, but his calm tone made Eunuch Lin extremely angry. Coughing up blood, he harshly said, "Not afraid of death doesn't mean that you don't fear death. As long as you're human, you will fear death, because there will always be people or things that you can't let go of, like His Majesty."
"I'm not afraid," Chen Chang Sheng suddenly said.
Eunuch Lin was stunned. "What did you say?"
Chen Chang Sheng looked at him and seriously said, "I'm not afraid of death."
The library once more fell silent. Only the autumn wind blew in through the broken doors and windows, ruffling the pages of the books and emitting the smell of the dust of many years. It was just like what he had said — it was a smell that easily made one feel sad, filled with hopelessness. A life without any expectations was like a book on a bookshelf that no one had opened. No matter how rich the content, it was all meaningless.
If one said that people feared death because they still had people or things that they could not let go of in this world, then when he said that he did not fear death, perhaps it meant that he no longer had anything that he could not let go of?
Eunuch Lin looked at Chen Chang Sheng, unable to find the slightest fluctuation of emotion on his face.
He was seventeen, in the prime of his youth, yet he was quiet like an old well, autumn waters, fallen leaves, withered trees, deep and heavy.
Eunuch Lin suddenly felt some pity and sympathy for him and said nothing more.
Chen Chang Sheng then said something unexpected.
"Go, I won't kill you."
Eunuch Lin's pupils constricted as he coldly said, "If you want to kill me, this is your best chance, perhaps your last chance."
Chen Chang Sheng understood what he meant.
Eunuch Lin was a peak Star Condensation expert, a true expert that bordered on the Divine. If he had underestimated his foe and allowed that black stone to suddenly attack him, he would never have fallen to such a state.
If he let him go now, Eunuch Lin would definitely not act like this when they met again in the future. The difference in strength between the two meant that he had no chance at all.
"In the future … it might be very difficult for us to meet again." He looked at Eunuch Lin and said, "Please take good care of my senior brother."
Eunuch Lin fell silent for a very long time, then said, "It seems that you are well aware of what will happen today."
Chen Chang Sheng said nothing.
Eunuch Lin said, "Principal Shang has gone to the Li Palace. After today, you will no longer be the successor to the Pope. No one will help you, and you will have to directly face the pressure of the entire world. Because of your position, the events that have occurred in the capital in the last three years will make many people uncomfortable, and those people will all be the victors this time."
Yes, whether it was the princes of the Chen clan, the Tianhai clan, or the ministers of the court, none of them were willing to continue seeing Chen Chang Sheng in the capital.
Because of the problem of the distribution of benefits, because of the problem of his position, and also because of the problem that no one had ever declared.
When people saw Chen Chang Sheng, they very easily thought of the Divine Empress.
… …
… …
The library was very quiet.
Eunuch Lin's figure gradually vanished, but Chen Chang Sheng still did not speak.
This battle that had no spectators and no records would be remembered by very few people in the future, much less mentioned. Naturally, it would also not be recorded in the books of history. But in reality, this battle was very important. It was the battle in which Chen Chang Sheng had displayed his most perfect strength since his arrival in the capital, and it was also the battle that laid the foundation for him to become a true expert.
He had won and could have killed his opponent, but he had not, because this old man was loyal to his senior brother, because he only wanted to defeat his opponent.
He only wanted to win once, wanted to experience for once what it was like to not be sick, what it was like to live without thinking about death.
As for the other matters, he truly did not care.
Those people wanted the Divine Empress's body, but he would not give it to them.
Those people knew that he would not give it to them, so they wanted to use this matter to denounce him. It was best to just kill him, but he did not care.
So be it.
He gazed up at the sky above the Orthodox Academy and could faintly make out the traces of several Red Eagles flying past.
Outside the Orthodox Academy came the heavy stamping of hooves, like a torrential rain, like thunder.
The black-armored heavy cavalry began their charge.
South Stream Temple's sword array naturally could not stand against them.
And this was not even considering the many somber and sinister Qis that came from the Orthodox Academy's autumn forest. It was just that he didn't know if they were the assassins of the Department for Purging Officials or the Army.
In the next moment, countless people would surge into the Orthodox Academy, destroying the forest, the lake, the great banyan tree, and the pavilions.
Chen Chang Sheng did not accept it.
He took a letter from his bosom.
After tearing open this letter, many people would die, and then he would probably also die.
But he was very calm, very composed. The hand that gripped the letter did not tremble in the slightest, as if he did not care about any of this.
… …
… …
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