Chapter 204: The Stone Statue Opened Its Eyes
Chen Changsheng saw it very clearly. The pressure exuded by that Holy Light Angel deep within the night was immensely powerful. Even among the Eight Winds and Rains of yesteryear, only the Heavenly Mechanism Old Man or, in these past two years, Bie Yanghong could contend with it.
No one could judge whether the Li Palace Grand Array could suppress this person, or for how long it could hold him.
The current Li Palace Grand Array was not complete; Mao Qiuyu was still in the capital.
More critically, according to Bie Yanghong, two Holy Light Angels had appeared alongside the Black Robe that day.
Since one Holy Light Angel had already appeared, the other must be able to appear as well. Where was it now?
This was Chen Changsheng’s greatest worry.
Clearly, the appearance of these two Holy Light Angels was related to the Demon Lord.
In an extremely short time, he made a decision.
He had to kill the Demon Lord now, before this Holy Light Angel broke through the Li Palace Grand Array and before the other Holy Light Angel appeared.
This meant he needed to enter the night within the courtyard, even risk going deep into it.
At the same time, he had to maintain the Li Palace Grand Array to suppress that Holy Light Angel and ensure the Demon Lord couldn’t escape.
How should this be done?
“Don’t let him out.”
Chen Changsheng shoved the Divine Staff into Tang Thirty-Six’s hands.
Tang Thirty-Six looked incredulous. “Me again?”
This question was meaningless. No one else present could temporarily replace the array’s core.
In other words, aside from Chen Changsheng, the Divine Staff of the State Religion was only willing to be held by him.
After all, when the Pope had passed down the Divine Staff back then, it had first fallen into his hands.
Though Tang Thirty-Six’s expression was furious, and his words sounded like a pained groan, he didn’t refuse.
Because he knew he couldn’t refuse.
He stepped forward and raised the Divine Staff in his hands.
His expensive leather boots from Tianliang Commandery landed on the hard bluestone floor, leaving a deep imprint. The Divine Staff blazed with light in his hands, driving the five great treasures, including the Falling Star Stone, to unleash an even more terrifying pressure that surged toward the Holy Light Angel deep in the night.
Tang Thirty-Six’s face instantly turned pale, but his gaze was exceptionally resolute.
Chen Changsheng didn’t see this scene. Before Tang Thirty-Six took that step, he had already vanished into the night.
The sacred power of the Li Palace Grand Array separated the courtyard from heaven and earth, suppressing the night and the otherworld, but it had no effect on him.
The night was so deep it obscured all sight, but it couldn’t slow his speed in the slightest.
His divine sense was like water, able to illuminate the farthest stars in the night sky, and naturally able to see through the darkness before him.
But the Demon Lord had retreated very deep, merging with the night. Finding him would take some time.
Right now, time was what he lacked most.
Fortunately, he wasn’t alone.
When he handed the Divine Staff to Tang Thirty-Six, that person had already entered this night.
More precisely, that person had never withdrawn from the night.
The sound of the zither rang out sharply, coldly piercing into the darkness.
The Blind Zither Master’s cultivation was indeed unfathomable, his mind immensely strong. Even the descent of a Holy Light Angel couldn’t shake him in the slightest.
Chen Changsheng heard that zither note. His gaze shifted slightly, and the Wind and Rain Sword Array followed.
The night was torn apart by the stern sword intent and the piercing zither sound, opening a passage.
At the end of the passage stood a tree.
The Demon Lord drifted backward, his hands forming barriers before him.
The sword intent and zither sound pursued him, shattering those barriers like mirrors of glass.
With countless crisp cracks, the Demon Lord landed on the ground. His black robe, as dark as the night, was slashed with countless sharp gashes.
From those tears, faint golden blood slowly seeped out.
The wind still howled, but suddenly there was a moment of stillness.
Chen Changsheng and the Blind Zither Master appeared on the scene.
The zither sound lingered, and the sword array formed naturally like wind and rain.
That tree suddenly vanished.
It didn’t truly become nothingness but was cut into the finest powder by the zither sound and sword intent.
Those particles were so fine that even the wind couldn’t stir them, couldn’t be seen.
Chen Changsheng and the Blind Zither Master didn’t continue their attack, because they felt wary.
The Demon Lord stopped retreating.
He stood where that tree had once been, within his own night, gazing calmly at Chen Changsheng and the Blind Zither Master.
—As if looking at two works of art worthy of appreciation, even admiration, perfect pieces.
The artistic style of Snow Old City had always followed a path of intricate splendor, but when you looked at its core, it was always filled with the cold meaning of death.
The best art was death itself.
In the Demon Lord’s eyes, Chen Changsheng and the Blind Zither Master were already two dead men.
……
……
The premonition of danger in Chen Changsheng and the Blind Zither Master’s hearts grew stronger.
Where did the Demon Lord’s confidence come from? Where was that faint, hidden threat lurking?
The misty light mass in the night sky?
No, the Holy Light Angel within that light mass couldn’t yet break through the Li Palace Grand Array’s restrictions.
There was still another Holy Light Angel.
Chen Changsheng was already prepared for this.
The string of stone beads had somehow slipped from his wrist into his palm.
He gripped the cool stone beads, silently watching the surrounding night.
As long as he could determine the other’s position, he would launch his strongest attack against that otherworldly powerhouse.
He was confident that even if he couldn’t kill or severely wound the opponent, he would cause them great trouble.
Because his sea of consciousness held the combat experience and wisdom passed down by Senior Bie Yanghong.
Because he had the Heavenly Book Monoliths.
At that moment, he believed the Blind Zither Master would seize the opportunity to slay the Demon Lord amidst the zither’s sound.
But now he realized his plan might fail.
As he had said earlier, his divine sense was as calm as water, able to see the farthest stars in the night sky and ignore the deepest darkness.
Yet he couldn’t pinpoint the location of that Holy Light Angel.
The courtyard in the night was so silent.
Whether it was the standoff between the Li Palace Grand Array and that Holy Light Angel, or the Demon Lord right before them, it all seemed like something from another world.
Chen Changsheng looked at the Demon Lord, his expression still calm, but his palm was already damp.
The five stone beads, transformed from the Heavenly Book Monoliths, grew slippery with sweat. That feeling was very unpleasant, heightening his sense of alarm.
The current situation had become like quicksand, impossible to grasp.
His divine sense, spreading in all directions, and the zither sound in the night sky all told him:
That Holy Light Angel was not in the night, not in this courtyard, and probably not even on this continent.
Why did that premonition of danger still exist, and grow stronger?
The Holy Light Angel in the sky, confronting the Li Palace Grand Array, had also appeared without any warning.
Was he about to face the exact same situation?
……
……
From the moment that tree vanished, only an extremely brief moment had passed.
Chen Changsheng and the Blind Zither Master’s sword intent and zither sound had swept through this night several times.
They had never noticed, not far to the side near the courtyard’s back door, a stone statue.
Even in the thick night, that stone statue was conspicuous. If they turned around, they would surely see it.
It was a half-kneeling, naked male figure with a pair of wings behind him.
It looked somewhat similar to the angel in the light mass in the sky.
In fact, this naked stone statue was originally an angel.
Chen Changsheng and the Blind Zither Master hadn’t discovered this stone statue because it was a real stone statue.
This stone statue had no aura, no breath, no life, no warmth, and no movement at all.
In other words, this stone statue was a dead object.
No matter from which angle you looked, whether you used divine sense, sword intent, or zither sound to probe, you could only reach this conclusion.
Suddenly, the stone statue opened its eyes.
It came to life.