Chapter 243: Outside the Zhou Garden, Wind and Rain Approach (Part 1)
“Although no one has ever seen the Yellow Paper Umbrella with their own eyes, because of this matter, the umbrella is very famous. Someone in the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion even said that if the Hundred Artifacts Ranking were ever to be revised, among the famous weapons and artifacts of the present age, this umbrella should be the most qualified to be listed.”
Zhe Xiu looked at him and continued, “Don’t say you and Tang Thirty-Six are just friends... Even if it were because you are now the Dean of the National Academy and Tang Thirty-Six is a student there, the Tang family wouldn’t need to use this umbrella just to curry favor with you. Moreover... the Tang family has always bought people off, not curried favor.”
Chen Changsheng thought of what Tang Thirty-Six had said when he lost his temper at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum and knew this was true. Whether it was the Heavenly Dao Academy or the Ancestral Sacrifice Temple, one-third of their annual funding came from the Tang family of Wenshui. That old master truly didn’t need to treat the National Academy specially, even if his most beloved grandson was now a student there.
But at this moment, he was thinking about something else.
“If that Junior Master of the Li Mountain Sect saw the artifact he poured his boundless effort into appearing in the hands of a junior like me, wouldn’t he be displeased?”
“If it were you, would you be displeased?”
“Of course.”
“So, naturally, he would be too.”
“Then... would he come to snatch it, or even kill for the treasure?”
“Don’t think so lowly of all senior experts. Besides, which of those priests earlier would have dared to imagine that Old Master Tang’s gift to you was the Yellow Paper Umbrella? As long as the Tang family doesn’t tell, and you don’t tell, who would know?”
“You know.”
“Alright, but since it’s a very powerful artifact, you’ll use it eventually.”
“We’ll talk about that when I use it.”
“I’m just worried that when the day comes to use it, it might provoke the Li Mountain Sword Sect.”
“The Green Vine Banquet, the Grand Examination, the engagement with Xu Yourong... haven’t you provoked them enough?”
“That’s true. So, the next question is... how do you use this Yellow Paper Umbrella?”
Zhe Xiu thought for a moment and said to him, “Try channeling your true essence into it.”
This was the most common method of using an artifact.
Chen Changsheng did as he was told, releasing a stream of true essence and slowly feeding it into the metal ball.
A very strange sensation, as the true essence entered the metal ball, fed back into his sea of consciousness.
Inside that metal ball, he sensed countless undulating surfaces, like rolling hills.
To the eye, the metal ball’s surface was perfectly smooth, so these undulations must be on the inner side of the sphere.
His true essence slowly traveled along those undulating surfaces until it reached a certain central point.
A flash of light sparked there, like lightning, or like the birth of a star.
A gentle breeze stirred within the hall. The metal ball in his palm trembled slightly, and the scale-like lines on its surface split open to both sides.
Accompanied by a series of fine clicks and light metallic clashes, the split metal ball continuously transformed, endlessly reassembling itself.
Several film-like metal umbrella panels appeared.
Next came the ribs, then the handle.
Before long, an umbrella appeared in Chen Changsheng’s hand.
From the panels to the handle, this umbrella was entirely made of metal, gleaming brightly, like a silver ingot just taken from a furnace.
The breeze continued to swirl inside the hall.
Then, something unsettling happened to Chen Changsheng and Zhe Xiu.
Those bright metal surfaces, meeting the breeze, began to change. Some areas darkened, others dulled. In just a few breaths, the once-brilliant umbrella panels became mottled and worn, looking like an ordinary oil-paper umbrella used for many years, covered in thick dust, extremely dirty.
“What’s happening?” Chen Changsheng asked nervously.
He noticed that even the handle he was holding had turned black and old, as if it were wood.
“Don’t panic yet.”
Watching the transformation of this metal umbrella, Zhe Xiu was first startled, then calmed down, but his eyes grew even more intense.
He reached out to Chen Changsheng and said, “Lend me your sword.”
Chen Changsheng glanced at the short sword at his waist and shook his head, thinking that since Old Master Tang had given him this treasure, he couldn’t just let it get scratched up.
“Even Lord Qiushan’s Dragon Scale Sword might not be able to break through this Yellow Paper Umbrella.”
Zhe Xiu said to him expressionlessly, not insisting further, and raised his right hand, saying, “Hold the umbrella tight. I’m going to strike with full force.”
Chen Changsheng quickly gripped the umbrella handle with both hands. No sooner had he braced himself than he saw Zhe Xiu swing his fist at him.
Having broken through to the Penetrating Darkness realm by observing the steles at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, Zhe Xiu was now even stronger than during the Grand Examination battle.
Several straight lines tore through the air, striking directly from beneath the umbrella toward Chen Changsheng’s face.
For an instant, Chen Changsheng vaguely saw sharp claws at the tips of those lines.
He even had the feeling that Zhe Xiu really wanted to kill him.
But by then, there was no time to do anything. He could only grip the umbrella handle tightly.
*Sssssss*
The handle trembled slightly.
Five clear scratch marks appeared in the air before his eyes, then gradually faded.
He could faintly sense that the terrifying force between Zhe Xiu’s fingers had been entirely absorbed and dissipated by some kind of energy fluctuation hanging from the umbrella’s edge. Then, through some unknown method and channel, it was transmitted into the ground beneath the umbrella, so that he didn’t feel even a trace of the force’s aftermath.
Truly worthy of being an artifact that even the Junior Master of Li Mountain couldn’t afford.
The defensive capability of this Yellow Paper Umbrella was incredibly strong.
Zhe Xiu looked at the claw marks that had vanished into the vertical plane at the umbrella’s edge and was silent for a moment.
Chen Changsheng looked at him and asked, “That’s it?”
Zhe Xiu said indifferently, “Isn’t that enough?”
Chen Changsheng said, “This umbrella is so famous... I thought it would perform something more remarkable.”
Zhe Xiu said, “Just in terms of defense, this umbrella can withstand a strike from a Star Gathering realm expert. That’s already remarkable.”
Chen Changsheng thought to himself that even if Zhe Xiu’s bloodline talent was exceptional and couldn’t be equated with an ordinary Penetrating Darkness realm cultivator, equating his own attack to that of a Star Gathering realm expert—wasn’t that a bit much?
That’s what he thought, but he naturally wouldn’t say it out loud.
After thinking it over, he said, “Don’t you think this umbrella should have other uses?”
Zhe Xiu said, “I don’t know.”
Chen Changsheng said, “Or should I go ask Old Master Tang?”
By now, the umbrella had become very ordinary, looking like a truly dirty, old one.
Zhe Xiu looked at the umbrella in his hand, was silent for a moment, then said, “Clearly, since this umbrella was made, today is the first time it’s been opened. I think... even Old Master Tang might not know all its functions. If you want to figure it out, you’ll probably have to ask that Junior Master of Li Mountain.”
Chen Changsheng said no more. With a slight mental command, he withdrew his true essence from the umbrella handle. With a series of crisp sounds, the Yellow Paper Umbrella left several afterimages in the air, rapidly folding back together, finally returning to a metal ball in his palm. But the surface was no longer smooth and bright; it looked like a pebble just dug out of sand.
Leaving Wenshui City and heading northwest, one reached the Qinling Mountains.
The Qinling range stretched over a thousand miles. At its northeastern foot, a great river ran through, with fertile soil on both banks—that was Tianliang Commandery.
The place Chen Changsheng and his group were going was still a long way from Tianliang Commandery’s city, but now, countless experts from the commandery’s great families had already surrounded the area.
Because this year, the Zhou Garden was located in Hanqiu City, right here.
The Zhou Garden was a small world, opening once every ten years, each time in a different place. Sometimes in Jiangnan, sometimes in the Eastern Mountains, sometimes on the snowy plains, sometimes near the capital, sometimes outside Snow Old City, and twice even on the vast ocean between the continent and the Western Continent.
The carriage convoy from the capital arrived at Hanqiu City in the evening, with only one night left before the Zhou Garden officially opened.
Penetrating Darkness realm cultivators from all over the continent, along with their sect elders—at least several hundred people—were all waiting in Hanqiu City.
That final night felt especially long to many. Quite a few young experts, unable to bear waiting in the inns, had already left the city and gathered outside a certain forest.
Behind the forest, in the distance, snow-capped peaks could be seen, burning in the twilight. There was nothing else.
Those young experts looked at the twilight and murmured among themselves, but no one dared approach the forest.
Because outside that forest stood several thatched huts, beneath which sat some important figures.
Sitting in the huts to intimidate the petty—that was what it meant to hold the line.
This year, overseeing the Zhou Garden were a Grand Archbishop of the National Church’s Holy Hall, two Divine Generals of the Great Zhou, and an elder of the Eternal Life Sect.
But what truly kept those young experts from approaching was the person in the foremost thatched hut.
That was a middle-aged man, with long hair flowing over his shoulders, an air of unrestrained elegance, and an icy indifference in his gaze.
Cultivators emerging from Hanqiu City bowed respectfully from afar toward that thatched hut, but the middle-aged man ignored them entirely.
No one had any objection to this.
Because that middle-aged man was the Sect Master of the Absolute World Sect, and also the head of the Zhu family of Tianliang.
The first family of Tianliang Commandery was, of course, the Chen clan of the Great Zhou royal family.
But the Chen royal family now resided in the capital. After the Wang family, where Wang Po was from, declined, the Zhu family had become the de facto first family of Tianliang Commandery.
Of course, his status in the cultivation world was even more astonishing.
Because he was Zhu Luo, one of the Eight Winds and Rains.
Drinking Alone Under the Moon, Zhu Luo.
The Five Saints, the Eight Winds and Rains, and the figures on the Carefree List—these were the true peak experts of the continent.
Compared to the Five Saints, the Eight Winds and Rains had less worldly power, but in terms of cultivation realm, they were not much weaker.
This expert was revered by the world as Drinking Alone Under the Moon, not because he loved wine, but because three hundred years ago, he had traveled far to the extreme northern snowy plains. Outside Snow Old City, he watched the moon and composed a poem. Upon finishing the poem, he revealed his Entering Saint realm and killed the Second Demon General in one blow, shocking the world.
The Absolute World Sect cultivated the severing of emotions and the extinguishing of nature.
In the poem he wrote under the moon at Snow Old City, there was a line: “Drinking alone, no one to share.”
Everyone knew that this continent’s strongman had a bad temper.
So, no one dared approach that thatched hut.
Even the celestial horse seemed to feel the terrifying pressure and cold intent emanating from the hut, lowering its head in submission.
Chen Changsheng gently stroked its wings to comfort it, then looked at the lean, domineering figure in the hut, remaining silent.
Someone noticed the palace insignia on the carriage’s axle, guessed their origin, and a slight stir passed through the quiet crowd. Faint whispers could be heard asking who Chen Changsheng was. In the dim twilight, the snow-white celestial horse was very conspicuous. Many looked over, wondering if this seemingly ordinary youth was that person.
Just then, a cold voice sounded from beneath the thatched hut: “Are you Chen Changsheng?”
Finally writing about this level of expert, haha... The Pope and the Holy Empress don’t count, of course... See you tomorrow.)