Chapter 347: The Vanishing Black Stone
A delicate hand reached out and gently stroked the pheasant’s head. The pheasant was somewhat displeased but dared not show any sign of dissatisfaction. It stretched its neck stiffly, allowing the hand to touch it, looking as obedient as a quail.
That hand belonged to Xu Yourong. The pheasant knew well what kind of bloodline flowed within this young girl’s veins. It deeply disliked her, but had to admit she was its natural predator.
Chen Changsheng’s hand also reached out, as if he too wanted to pet it. The pheasant was equally aware of how powerful this youth was. Most importantly, he was the master of this yellow paper umbrella. If it wanted to survive amidst these terrifying energy storms, it could not afford to offend him. Even if he wanted to pet it twice, or even make it perform a feather-shedding dance, it would have to endure. But… for some reason, the pheasant shot its sharp beak out like lightning and pecked fiercely at the back of Chen Changsheng’s hand.
A clear sound rang out, like jade striking gold.
The pheasant was stunned, unable to understand why it had done something so insane. Chen Changsheng was also startled, then remembered that although the wounds on his body had mostly healed and the smell of his spilled blood had faded significantly, it was still an irresistible temptation for this creature.
“Though a fallen roc is inferior to a pheasant, it is still a roc and has its pride,” Xu Yourong said to him. This was not the original version of the proverb—the original saying was that a fallen phoenix is inferior to a barnyard chicken—but she would certainly not say it that way.
As she said, this motley-feathered bird that looked like a pheasant was actually the Golden-Winged Roc that had once covered the entire sky. But now, it no longer possessed its former might. The moment it entered the yellow paper umbrella, Chen Changsheng had recognized it as the Golden-Winged Roc—by its aura, by the wild divine fire deep in its eyes. No matter how well it disguised itself, only this Roc could have crossed the energy storms and hurricanes, knowing that only the yellow paper umbrella could shelter it.
The original body of this Golden-Winged Roc had long perished with Zhou Dufu’s death or departure. It was only a few days ago, when Nanke returned to the Zhou Garden with the Soulwood, that its spirit, which had been slumbering in the shadow of the grasslands, awakened and was reborn. Now, the Golden-Winged Roc was still a fledgling, lacking the full power and realm of its prime. That was why it could only transform into a shadow in the sky until Nanke merged her spirit and the energy of the Soulwood with the Roc, restoring most of its divine might.
Chen Changsheng did not try to pet the young Roc again. The fledgling gradually calmed down, no longer as tense or wary as before. The wildness in the two flames of divine fire in its eyes faded, replaced by a very complex emotion.
Chen Changsheng understood what it wanted to convey and was stunned. The message the young Roc wanted to transmit was all in its eyes—a plea, a request, a supplication; sorrow, grief, gloom, despair. The countless demonic beasts in the Zhou Garden were its companions and subordinates. These beasts had lived on this grassland for centuries, isolated from the world, never contending with humans. This grassland was their home, and now their home was about to be destroyed.
Chen Changsheng said in his heart, You don’t need to ask me; I will do my best to preserve this world. The young Roc seemed to hear his thoughts and grew even calmer, appearing very docile. But interestingly, it still refused to get close to him. Instead, it preferred to move a few steps closer to Xu Yourong, whom it should have feared and loathed even more, and obediently nestled against her.
Chen Changsheng’s peripheral vision remained fixed on the wind and sand around the mausoleum. While conversing with Xu Yourong and communicating mentally with the Roc, he had been silently calculating in his mind. According to Xu Yourong’s earlier words, the connections between the ten Heavenly Book Monuments around the mausoleum were part of a formation’s changes. Now, with the emergence of the Sword Pool, the balance of this formation had been broken and could never be restored—unless they could find the vanished blank that the Sword Pool had replaced.
Yes, in this formation, the Sword Pool was merely a substitute. What had the Sword Pool replaced? Xu Yourong said that Zhou Dufu had taken twelve Heavenly Book Monuments from the Heavenly Book Mausoleum. Here, there were only ten stone pillars. Where were the other two Heavenly Book Monuments?
At first, Chen Changsheng felt he had forgotten something—a blank in his final memories from observing the monuments and comprehending the Dao at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum. Later, he vaguely recalled some things, and an uncontrollable conjecture arose in his heart.
To prove that conjecture, he had been watching the surroundings of the mausoleum, searching for evidence to confirm it. He needed sufficient confirmation before acting on that conjecture, because it would be an extremely risky move. A person only has one life, so there is only one final chance.
The wind and sand filled the sky. The ground around the mausoleum sometimes piled up into hill-sized dunes, and sometimes even the hard bluestone ground was torn up. The place he had been watching was exactly the spot Xu Yourong had calculated—the place once covered by white grass, now buried under gravel and demonic beast corpses. Finally, it revealed its true appearance from hundreds of years ago.
There lay a broken stone base, looking like a pedestal, a monument pedestal.
There should be a Heavenly Book Monument here—Chen Changsheng confirmed this fact. His divine sense stirred slightly, and he took out an object, holding it in his hand. Then he looked at the young Roc. The fledgling instinctively felt uneasy and wanted to look away, avoiding his gaze, but found that its neck was frozen stiff from tension.
One person and one Roc stared at each other, the atmosphere somewhat strange. The young Roc thought bitterly, Why me? Chen Changsheng said in his heart, Because you are the extraordinary Golden-Winged Roc. Only you can withstand the ravages of the energy storms, at least for a while. The young Roc thought resentfully, Why don’t you go? Chen Changsheng tightened his grip on the umbrella handle and said in his heart, Even if I gamble correctly, the Zhou Garden will still be destroyed. I have more important things to do. The young Roc’s consciousness fell silent, accepting his words.
Chen Changsheng opened his palm. In it lay a black stone.
This black stone was about half a finger long, slender in shape, and completely pitch-black. The surface of the stone seemed to be covered with a faint mist, like a night sky without stars but with starlight, intoxicating to behold, tempting one to sink into it. It was clearly no ordinary object. This was the black stone he had found behind Wang Zhice’s portrait in the Lingyan Pavilion.
Seeing this black stone, a flicker of fear passed through the young Roc’s eyes. Only after a moment did it calm down a little, open its beak, and pick up the black stone.
Chen Changsheng shifted the yellow paper umbrella slightly to the side, leaving an exit for the young Roc.
As he did these things, he kept his body blocking Xu Yourong’s line of sight—not because he didn’t want her to discover his secret, but because he didn’t want her to stop what he was about to do.
The wind rose. The young Roc turned into a black shadow, flew out of the yellow paper umbrella, crossed the raging winds and terrifying spatial cracks around the mausoleum, and followed the guidance of Chen Changsheng’s earlier gaze. Amidst the swirling sandstorm, it flew above that inconspicuous broken monument pedestal, opened its beak, and after a moment… the black stone landed precisely on the pedestal.
It was as if a starry sky had come to the Zhou Garden, which had never known stars.
Very dark, yet very tranquil.
A powerful and serene aura emanated from that monument pedestal.
The next moment, a black Heavenly Book Monument appeared on the broken pedestal.
…
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