Chapter 565: A Raised Brow Shakes Heaven and Earth
A sharp, panicked cry rang out: "Protect the Lord!"
The Lord was the venerable one. On the mountain path at that moment, the venerable one was, of course, Chen Changsheng. Those cultivators, ignoring the snowflakes falling from the sky, dashed towards Chen Changsheng's front. Even Zhong Hui, his face grim, drew his sword and rushed forward. In an instant, the mountain path was filled with the sound of wind being rent... followed by the sound of cloth and flesh being torn!
The thin snow was like the sharpest divine weapon, cutting through everything it encountered!
Blood sprayed across the mountain path, congealing into crimson ice beads that rolled everywhere.
The cultivators had blocked themselves in front of Chen Changsheng, bearing injuries light and heavy. No one had died, but their courage was nearly exhausted.
Who exactly was this middle-aged scholar? Which sage was he?
He was no sage.
He was the antithesis of all sages.
Liu Qing, his face pale, thought these words, then suddenly grunted. He drew his sword and thrust it forward with lightning speed!
Sword light, like a flash of lightning, blossomed by the stream.
Xiao De had finally been waiting for this moment. He also moved, even faster than Liu Qing.
Countless blood vessels bulged on his face. Brownish fur burst through his skin. His aura became even wilder as he lunged straight at the middle-aged scholar!
The middle-aged scholar finally withdrew his gaze from Chen Changsheng, looked at them, and then slightly raised an eyebrow.
He raised an eyebrow, and heaven and earth shook violently.
The sword light by the stream instantly vanished. Accompanied by an extremely piercing snap, the sword in Liu Qing's hand broke into two pieces.
His body crashed onto the grass. A bloody gash appeared on his wrist, spurting blood continuously, a truly miserable sight.
Xiao De fared even worse. He hadn't even managed to charge out of the stream before he was slammed down into the water by that power of heaven and earth.
With a loud splash, he landed on one knee. Stream water splashed everywhere, and blood splashed just as much!
His berserk transformation combined with the Blood Dissolution Secret Art had made his body harder than steel. Yet with this single kneel, his kneecap shattered into powder!
But he was only on one knee, not fully prostrate in the stream. This powerful demon clan warrior gritted his teeth, roared savagely, and struggled with all his might to continue forward!
Liu Qing was the same. Spitting blood, he held his broken sword and thrust forward again. Somehow, his left hand had already grasped the other broken half of the blade!
The middle-aged scholar was too powerful. Even if they set aside their past grievances and fought together, they couldn't possibly defeat him.
But they couldn't stop here, couldn't just lie down or kneel.
Because neither the human race nor the demon race would ever surrender before the demon race!
Watching the two men, filled with the resolve to die, dragging their broken bodies towards him, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of the middle-aged scholar's lips.
When he smiled, the landscape around him became radiant. Yet it remained desolate and cold, because there were still no humans or demons within that landscape.
Before him, all humans and demons were destined to die.
The deeper the middle-aged scholar's smile became, the deeper the wounds on Liu Qing and Xiao De grew, until their stark white bones were visible!
With two sharp cracks, Liu Qing and Xiao De finally failed to get close to the middle-aged scholar. They collapsed before the persimmon grove, blood splattering everywhere.
Liu Qing kept his mouth shut, his face pale, silent. As an assassin, if he was going to die, he should die in silence.
Xiao De, however, howled in fury, like a wounded beast, filled with pain and unwillingness.
Seeing this scene, the dozen or so demon clan subordinates by the stream finally overcame their deepest fears. They grabbed their weapons and charged at the middle-aged scholar.
Especially the demon clan expert closest to the grove. With the determination of death, he directly activated the Blood Dissolution Secret Art. His form suddenly became immensely tall, vaguely revealing the true form of the Elephant Clan. He let out a deep, furious roar, churning up the gravel and icy water of the stream, and hurled it all at the middle-aged scholar.
The middle-aged scholar seemed to grow somewhat annoyed. He casually flicked his sleeve.
The heavy body of that Elephant Clan expert flew up into the sky.
During its flight into the sky, the Elephant Clan expert's mountain-like body continuously disintegrated, shooting out countless bloody jets. It eventually turned into dozens of chunks of flesh that crashed down into the lower reaches of the stream.
The fate of the other demon clan experts was even more tragic. Arms, hands, and legs were severed. Some were even cut in half at the waist, yet they didn't die immediately.
The stream bank was covered in blood, entrails, and the despairing, mournful howls of agony!
Xiao De's eyes were filled with rage. He stared at the middle-aged scholar and roared hoarsely, "I will kill you!"
Earlier on the mountain path, when he said he would kill Chen Changsheng, it was just a bargaining tactic. But because he truly had that ability, his words had carried a chilling weight.
Now, when he said he would kill the middle-aged scholar, it sounded more like the helpless wail of a child, evoking pity.
The middle-aged scholar didn't even acknowledge his roar.
Whether it was a top-five expert on the Unfettered List or the world's third-ranked assassin, it was all meaningless to him, not worth a single moment of his time or attention.
His gaze fell back upon the mountain path, upon Chen Changsheng.
The landscape on his face gradually faded, revealing a face that might or might not have been his original one.
That face was handsome, yet carried a trace of vicissitude. It was like a newly formed green plum, or like the ancient Buddha of the legendary Garuda Monastery.
He stood amidst the blood and gore, amidst the endless cries of pain, looking at Chen Changsheng. His expression was calm and indifferent, yet he was also smiling.
...
...
Snowflakes fell thick and fast. The mountain path was bitterly cold.
Everyone felt it.
Everything had happened too fast. From the turn on the mountain path, seeing the middle-aged scholar before the grove across the stream, to him turning to look, the death of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion steward, Liu Qing and Xiao De gravely wounded and near death, and the dozen demon clan experts either dead or wishing they were dead—it had all taken only a few breaths of time.
Neither Chen Changsheng, nor Zhe Xiu, nor Tang Thirty-Six had had time to do anything. Of course, even if they had done something, it would have been meaningless.
The middle-aged scholar was too terrifying.
Since leaving Xining and arriving in the capital, Chen Changsheng had seen some truly peerless experts. But whether it was Zhu Luo of the Eight Squalls, the Star Gazer, or Bie Yanghong, they were all far inferior to this middle-aged scholar. Even the Southern Saintess he had seen in Xunyang City seemed to be a level weaker than this middle-aged scholar.
Could His Holiness the Pope be stronger than this middle-aged scholar?
Chen Changsheng had only seen the vast starry sea in the Pope's eyes, never seen the Pope personally take action, so he couldn't draw a conclusion.
If he had to find someone in his past cultivation career who matched this middle-aged scholar in realm, it could only be Su Li.
And that would have to be Su Li at his peak, in his best state.
Back then on the Demon Domain snowfield, when Su Li drew the Sky-Covering Sword from the Yellow Paper Umbrella and cut a path of hundreds of miles southward, the feeling it gave him was somewhat similar to this.
Who exactly was this middle-aged scholar?
Chen Changsheng suddenly remembered the nightscape he had glimpsed from afar when he left the Zhou Garden and delivered the Yellow Paper Umbrella to Su Li.
That nightscape, born from Snow Old City, had shrouded half the sky.
And now, Cold Mountain was also being enveloped by that very same nightscape.
His face instantly turned deathly pale.