Chapter 118: Drawing the Sword (Part 2)
Chen Changsheng decided that he could not wait until Wang Po was defeated before making his move. Standing on the rainy street, turning into two walls in succession, looked quite tragic but was actually meaningless. The reason he had thought this way earlier was because he had no confidence at that time, merely thinking to do his best and leave the rest to fate. No matter how astonishing his talent, he had only been cultivating for a little over a year. Not to mention the still-broken meridians in his body, just considering this short amount of time, wanting to fight against the Eight Directions Winds was truly absurd and laughable.
He had originally thought that even if he drew his sword later, it would only be to fulfill his intentions. But now he had changed his mind. Because every cultivator who fell added a measure of confidence to him. Cultivators at the Penetrating Obscurity realm could no longer threaten him. Just now, there was even a powerful cultivator who should have recently entered the early Star Gathering realm, whom he had cut down with a single sword in the rain.
If not for the fact that the level of battle at the other end of the rainy street was too high, too dazzling, perhaps more people would have noticed that Chen Changsheng had accomplished this incredible feat. The improvements gained at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, the harvests in the Zhou Garden, the sword lessons learned while following Su Li southward, and Wang Po’s image in the torrential rain—all were perfectly manifested in this one sword strike.
Watching Wang Po struggling to hold on in the wind and rain, watching the blood that continuously flowed from him only to be quickly diluted by the heavy rain, Chen Changsheng’s growing confidence and gradually recovering true essence stirred an intense desire in his heart. He wanted to try and see if he could stab Zhu Luo with one sword, even if the other was the legendary Eight Directions Winds. He still wanted to thrust that sword. To be honest, he had no idea how to draw the sword or where the sword should strike, but he believed that since he had decided to draw his sword, after doing so, he would naturally understand how the sword should move.
Chen Changsheng walked past the several cultivators lying in the rainwater, left Su Li’s horse, and moved toward Wang Po. During this process, he began to calm his mind and clarify his intent, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
The opponent was Zhu Luo. At the Saint Realm, he could easily crush his Burning Sword. Before the moonlight, how could a firefly shine? The moonlight-like sword intent on the rainy street was ethereal and unpredictable, impossible to calculate, so the Wisdom Sword naturally could not be used. Then what sword should he use? What sword was his most powerful?
Chen Changsheng knew what his most powerful sword was.
At the Zhou Mausoleum, he had once thrust that sword toward the shadow that covered half the sky.
He didn’t know if he could still unleash that sword now, but he wanted to try.
His spiritual sense fell upon the Dragon’s Roar Sword. At this moment, the Dragon’s Roar Sword had its sheath as its hilt, merged into one. The instant his spiritual sense landed, it awakened the souls within the sword.
He awakened ten thousand remnant swords, preparing to borrow their sword intent once more.
The Black Dragon also woke up.
He took a deep breath. His true essence burned wildly, his body becoming scorching hot. The rain that continuously fell instantly turned to steam upon touching his clothes, shrouding his upper body. His broken meridians emitted unbearable sounds, intense pain transmitted from all parts of his body into his sea of consciousness. The violent and raging true essence finally managed to break through several blockages, channeling to his wrist. He had already made preparations to draw his sword. The countless sword intents within the sword and the Black Dragon’s wisp of detached soul also silently prepared themselves.
But at that moment, Chen Changsheng suddenly felt that the rainy street around him had grown dimmer. Was it because of the mist swirling before his eyes?
It wasn’t because of the mist. It was because someone had blocked the light dispersing through the rainy street.
Chen Changsheng suddenly felt very cold.
His body had long been soaked by the cold rain. By all logic, it should have gone numb, but at this moment, he could clearly feel a wisp of cold wind brushing past his neck.
Coldness arose from the depths of his heart. His body grew stiff, unable to move.
Only then did he remember that he had forgotten something.
That was the most important thing.
More precisely, he had forgotten a person.
A person who could not be forgotten.
He had carried Su Li across tens of thousands of li of snowy plains, returning from the demon realm to the human world, and an assassin had been following them all along.
That assassin was very famous, so Su Li somewhat looked down on him. Of course, only Su Li had the right to look down on that assassin. After all, that assassin ranked third on the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s assassin list. No one had ever dared to look down on him, and most of those who did were probably already dead.
Chen Changsheng knew he absolutely had no right to look down on that assassin. Moreover, along the way, Su Li often gazed silently at the distant mountains. From those scenes, he knew that even Su Li, deep down, had some wariness toward that assassin.
Su Li and he had always been vigilant, whether during the brutal battles with Xue He or Liang Hongzhuang, even when pushed to the brink, even when it seemed they might die at any moment, they never forgot the existence of that assassin and prepared countermeasures. Until just now, Chen Changsheng finally forgot about this matter.
—At the very moment when he was most confident, felt most powerful, and had the strongest will to fight.
He walked toward Zhu Luo but left Su Li behind.
He didn’t know that the assassin was right between him and Su Li, lying on the ground, drenched by the heavy rain, having been one of the cultivators who pretended to be knocked down by him earlier. And now that assassin was standing up.
After dozens of consecutive days and nights of concealment and waiting, the assassin had finally found the most perfect opportunity.
The assassin wore no mask. His face was ordinary, with common features. Rainwater fell on his face, leaving no trace. His appearance was also hard to leave an impression on anyone’s mind.
This was a very unremarkable person, like a stone by the roadside, a tile in the ruins.
Chen Changsheng sensed the movement behind him. His body was stiff as stone. He wanted to turn around, but he knew it was too late.
Indeed, it was too late. The assassin would not give him any more chances, would not give Su Li any more chances.
The assassin drifted through the rain to the front of the horse.
His movement technique looked ordinary, but it was fast.
Then he drew his sword.
His sword was ordinary, and his sword technique looked ordinary, but it was fast.
In short, everything happened very quickly.
But this assassin’s realm was far from ordinary. The tip of that ordinary sword silently shimmered with countless star fragments.
An aura of immense power yet profound stillness emerged with the sword.
Star Gathering Upper Realm.
A Star Gathering Upper Realm assassin?
This exceeded many people’s understanding.
Having cultivated to the Star Gathering Upper Realm, why would he still make a living by killing?
Why did this assassin want to kill Su Li?
How terrifying must this assassin be?
The heavy rain fell without cease.
Chen Changsheng held his sword with both hands, standing on the rainy street.
Behind him, the assassin, like a ghost, thrust his sword toward Su Li.
Everything happened too fast.
It seemed that nothing could be changed anymore.
The sound of rain raged.
Suddenly, a faint sound arose.
It was the sound of a sword meeting blood.
(Recently, my health has been poor and I’ve had an especially heavy workload, so updates have been few. Please bear with me. I’ll try to write more after the 22nd. But I’ve been writing very carefully lately, and I hope you enjoy it.)