Chapter 248: Outside Zhou Garden, Wind and Rain Approach (Part 2)
When Merisa said this, he looked at the hundreds of cultivators preparing to enter Zhou Garden. These cultivators all possessed the Penetrating Darkness realm, which by common standards already counted as experts. None were too advanced in years. It could be said that these hundreds of Penetrating Darkness realm cultivators represented the future of the human world.
Chen Changsheng was among these hundreds. He knew the Lord Bishop's words were directed at him, nodded slightly to show he understood, and then followed the crowd as they walked toward the forest.
The early morning forest was tranquil and quiet. Perhaps because of Zhou Garden faintly visible in the distant mist, not even a single bird's call could be heard—only the rustling sound of people stepping on the old fallen leaves in the woods.
They hadn't walked long before the hundreds of cultivators reached the densest part of the mist. The quiet garden, appearing and disappearing within the fog, became clearer, seeming both right before their eyes and yet still at the edge of the sky.
Many cultivators could already clearly sense that this mist was filled with abundant primal energy—an energy similar to starlight, more like the power contained in crystal stones. Cultivators couldn't absorb it directly, but it still offered great benefits, greatly aiding in calming the mind and focusing the spirit.
But deeper within the mist lurked immense danger. Some cultivators with keen eyesight even saw, beyond that illusory quiet garden, extremely brief flashes of lightning continuously igniting and vanishing within the fog.
The national religion priests overseeing Zhou Garden's opening, along with the senior teachers and elders from various sects and academies, all remained outside the mist, not advancing a single step further. Perhaps those lightning bolts within the mist would trigger some reaction from cultivators above the Penetrating Darkness realm, bringing about terrifying consequences.
This was already the outer garden of Zhou Garden.
The hundreds of cultivators stood divided by the Northern and Southern sects, plus several dozen unattached rogue cultivators and shamanic practitioners from the wilderness. The misty forest remained very quiet; no one spoke.
Everyone was waiting for Zhou Garden to open.
Zhou Garden appeared on the continent once every ten years, each time opening for a full hundred days. But it wasn't always discovered by people—in the past several decades, it hadn't appeared even once.
This year, Zhou Garden would appear outside Hanqiu City, and it wasn't discovered by humans first, but confirmed by the Demon race's mysterious and unfathomable strategist, Black Robe. Fortunately, one of Black Robe's subordinates had attempted to assassinate Luoluo at the National Education Academy in the capital but failed. Greedy for survival, he hadn't committed suicide on the spot and was captured alive by Xue Xingchuan. Later, Zhou Yong, using his unparalleled interrogation methods, uncovered a spy network Black Robe had deeply planted within human society. Following this lead, they discovered the location and time of Zhou Garden's opening.
To control Zhou Garden, the location wasn't the most important thing—the key was mastering the garden's key. During that period unknown to the world, the Demon race had dispatched several Penetrating Darkness upper-realm experts, intending to seize the key first before Zhou Garden drifted to Hanqiu City. The human world, having received relevant information, pretended ignorance on the surface but secretly sent someone to quietly infiltrate Zhou Garden's outer garden. To deceive the Demon race's eyes and seize the initiative silently, only one person was sent.
This important decision was made collectively by the Five Saints. The person they sent was Qiushan Jun—whether human, Demon race, or demon, at the Penetrating Darkness stage, the senior disciple of Li Mountain was undefeated.
Qiushan Jun succeeded, appearing perilous but actually without surprise. He paid the price of severe injury, but also used this opportunity to become the world's youngest Gathering Stars realm expert.
The world had begun to acknowledge that Chen Changsheng was qualified to be compared directly with Qiushan Jun. Yet Chen Changsheng's first-place victory in the Grand Examination happened once a year, while Qiushan Jun obtaining Zhou Garden's key was a major event occurring once a decade. Not to mention the gap between Gathering Stars and Penetrating Darkness, more importantly, Qiushan Jun's glory came from battle against the Demon race. No matter how astonishing Chen Changsheng's performance in the Grand Examination was, it was ultimately an internal matter of the human world. The significance of the two was completely different. If not for Chen Changsheng viewing all the front tomb tablets at Tianbook Mausoleum in a single day a few days ago, and then succeeding as the dean of the National Education Academy, his image might have been even dimmer.
During this brief time waiting for Zhou Garden to open, many people unconsciously looked toward Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng didn't notice this. He was still thinking about Xu Yourong's matter. Confirming that Xu Yourong wasn't among these hundreds, he inexplicably felt much more at ease. According to the Daoist Canon's records, in previous years some cultivators would enter Zhou Garden a few days later. Xu Yourong would probably do the same. But why would she deliberately delay? Was it to avoid the crowd's fervent admiring gazes, or to avoid seeing him?
Furthermore, how would Zhou Garden open?
The key to Zhou Garden that Qiushan Jun obtained should have been handed over to Li Mountain. But among the senior experts who came to Zhou Garden today, there was only an elder from the Eternal Life Sect, no one from Li Mountain.
Chen Changsheng stood at the very front of the crowd, watching the lightning bolts and the turbulent flows formed by spatial tears within the mist, watching that quiet garden sometimes near, sometimes far, pondering these matters in his mind.
Just then, a rainbow descended.
This rainbow, originating from somewhere unknown, fell from the high sky, pierced through the thick mist, and landed before everyone's eyes.
The lightning bolts and spatial turbulence within the thick mist, the moment they touched this rainbow, dissolved and dispersed, vanishing completely.
The mist also became much thinner. The scenery behind the mist grew clearer.
A small bridge over flowing water, winding corridors before flowering trees—faintly, a pink wall appeared.
Within that pink wall, right before the hundreds of cultivators, a circular archway emerged.
On the plaque above the archway were written two characters: Penetrating Darkness.
Behind the archway was a stone path paved with bluestone, covered with shallow moss, curving and extending forward into the depths of the mist. There, flying eaves connected, and more scenery awaited.
Standing among the trees, one couldn't take in all the scenery at a single glance.
Behind the scenery wall.
Where the winding path led to seclusion, who once gazed upon Zhou Garden?
The mist gradually dispersed, the scenery grew solid, water vapor condensed, and with a pattering sound, rain began to fall.
Spring wind brushed the rain, wetting Chen Changsheng's face.
He stood still in place for a while, then walked toward the archway named Penetrating Darkness.
The hundreds of cultivators followed him into Zhou Garden.
……
……
Spring rain, likewise, fell outside the forest.
Pattering, like threads, like silk.
Several women dressed in white robes walked through the light rain, coming from the direction of Hanqiu City.
Before the forest, the national religion priests confirmed their identities as members of the Azure Radiance Thirteen Departments.
A plague had broken out in some southern region. They had received the Pope's decree, leading imperial medical officers to treat the sick there, so they arrived a bit late.
Watching the women walking into the forest, Zhu Luo revealed a hint of understanding.
One of the women wore the distinctive white ceremonial robe of the Azure Radiance Thirteen Departments. Her features were fairly delicate, her bearing ordinary.
Feeling Zhu Luo's gaze, the woman calmly bowed in greeting, then continued forward.
Zhu Luo smiled but said nothing.
……
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(Next chapter before 2:30.)