Chapter 494: I See You Again by the Pond
Chen Changsheng felt a shock to his heart because he realized he had absolutely no understanding of the formation embedded in the iron chains and the stone walls.
He had thoroughly read the Daoist Canon, and since arriving in the capital, he had come into contact with many senior experts, broadening his knowledge. In the Zhou Garden, he had talked late into the night with the First Meeting Girl, and in the wilderness, he had conversed with Su Li; those two geniuses had taught him a great deal. Yet, he still couldn't see through this formation, not even a single clue. He could only sense the unimaginably vast aura and terrifying killing intent hidden within it.
As he chipped away the ice layer and stared intently at the connection between the iron chain and the stone wall, the two deceased divine generals carved on the immense stone wall seemed to be looking back at him.
No one knew how much time had passed when Chen Changsheng raised his head and looked up at the stone wall.
Gazing at those two legendary divine generals, he was filled with awe.
The experts of that era were truly too powerful.
The first era of blooming wildflowers in a thousand years now seemed so incredible in retrospect. He was very certain that whether it was Wang Zhice, who had set up this formation, or the two divine generals who had left only a wisp of divine consciousness on the stone wall yet could grasp the iron chains and bind the Azure Dragon, all of them had definitely stepped into the Sacred Domain. So, among the twenty-four meritorious officials of the Lingyan Pavilion, how many had reached the Saint Realm?
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, had the human world been this strong?
No wonder they could crush the Demon race and drive them back to Snow Old City. And now? Since Wang Po had emerged from Tianliang County decades ago, many believed that humanity had ushered in another era of blooming wildflowers. He was part of it, so when would he and his contemporaries of this generation catch up to those people of the past?
"Take a rest. With your current cultivation level, there's no way you can pull that iron chain out of the wall."
The Black Dragon's voice echoed in the silent underground space, speaking in human language, so it sounded like a young girl's voice, full of mockery, yet it also carried a hint of satisfaction. Yes, she was relatively satisfied with Chen Changsheng's performance today. Compared to those simple two words of thanks earlier, his attitude while studying the formation on the stone wall and the iron chain was focused—that was true dedication.
A cold wind brushed by. The Black Dragon's body, vast as mountains and rivers, moved at high speed through the empty underground space. Somehow, in a very short time, its head arrived in the air before Chen Changsheng, looking down at him with authority and a deliberately feigned coldness.
Chen Changsheng looked at the intricate, meaningless patterns on the iron chain, shook his head, and looked up at the Black Dragon, saying, "You might need to give me more time."
The Black Dragon said, "I told you just now, time isn't important to me; what matters is the result."
Chen Changsheng thought, when did you say that? Then he realized that the Black Dragon was referring to that dragon roar. The problem was, he hadn't been able to understand everything in that roar.
He looked up at the Black Dragon and asked, "What exactly did you say to me just now? What do you want me to do?"
The Black Dragon said, "When you understand that sentence, you'll naturally have the answer."
Chen Changsheng didn't understand why these powerful beings in the Sacred Domain always spoke so obscurely. The Pope was like this, Zhu Luo was like this, and now he thought, only Su Li seemed more like a normal person, though he was clearly not quite normal either.
He could tell that the Black Dragon had made up its mind. No matter how much he asked, it wouldn't say, just like before, when it had always refused to tell him what happened that night of the first light. Until today, for some reason, it suddenly seemed willing to talk, and so it did. As for that dragon roar, perhaps when it wanted to speak in the future, it would naturally do so... but he was still a bit curious.
At this moment, Chen Changsheng realized how important it was to master a language.
...
...
This was a palace that outsiders and court archives considered abandoned. But only the eunuchs and maids close to the Holy Maiden Empress knew that she occasionally came to this palace to sit and stroll. No one understood why, especially since a certain day last summer, when she had started visiting more often, yet fewer and fewer people were allowed to stay in this palace.
Today, only she was in this palace.
The Holy Maiden Empress stood by the water outside the hall, gazing at the small pond before her, lingering for a long time.
From dawn to dusk, and then into the night—she ruled this vast country, the nominal master of the entire human world, handling countless state affairs daily, her time incredibly precious. Yet she had spent an entire day looking at this small pond.
At first, it was because after speaking with that old man, her mind felt slightly unsettled. For her, this was an extremely rare occurrence, so she wanted to find some peace by the water, away from people.
Then it was because she recalled the events that had happened by this small pond several times before, and the young man she had encountered.
Later, it was because she discovered that the young man had really come.
At that moment, she looked up at the stars that had just appeared in the night sky, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, a mocking thought about fate being quite interesting crossing her mind.
She had once changed her own fate. She was the person in the world least afraid of facing fate head-on, so she didn't leave but waited for fate to arrive.
Under the night sky, the dark green pond water suddenly began to stir, especially the center, where the surface churned and surged as if boiling.
She stood there quietly, the night wind brushing her face.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, she had already been a renowned beauty across the land, so much so that even Zhou Yuren couldn't outshine her.
When she became empress, many saw her as the most beautiful woman in the world.
When she began reviewing memorials and handling state affairs on behalf of the late emperor, and was enfeoffed as the Holy Maiden Empress, no one dared to use the word "beauty" to describe her anymore.
Power always surpasses beauty.
But that didn't change the fact that she was indeed very beautiful.
Her face showed no trace of age; what people called calmness, steadiness, and maturity were merely matters of temperament. Her features were flawless, extraordinarily beautiful. Perhaps because she had ruled this world for too long, there was a faint divine majesty and a trace of chilling intent between her brows.
Now, the night wind gently brushed her face, washing away all that beauty and majesty, making her appear remarkably ordinary. That trace of chilling intent remained but had retreated deeper into the center of her brows.
The water in the pond kept splashing, and the night wind didn't cease, swirling around her. The sacred robe that represented her identity and status turned into an ordinary cloth skirt.
As the night wind lightly blew, she became an ordinary woman, with only the black wooden hairpin still tucked into her hair.
Waves surged, and Chen Changsheng emerged from the water.
He swam to the edge of the pond, climbed out, and walked into the bushes, preparing to take out a spare set of clean clothes to change out of his wet ones. Suddenly, he felt something was off.
He turned and looked across the pond, and there he saw her.