Chapter 90: Let Me Fight for You (Part 1)
Chen Changsheng collapsed.
His eyes were tightly shut, his consciousness gone. He fell with such finality, like a tree on a mountaintop felled by the wind, like a mountain shaken to rubble by an earthquake, like the earth itself turning over.
At the same moment, Guan Bai had already reached him, his sword arriving as well. Seeing Chen Changsheng fall, his face showed shock and bewilderment, but he could no longer stop the sword in his hand. Because this sword now represented the will of the Heavenly Dao—even though he held it, it was no longer under his control.
What had happened? Why had Chen Changsheng suddenly collapsed?
These questions had only just begun to form in the minds of everyone present. No one had time to prevent the ensuing tragedy. Because no one could have imagined that the moment after he broke through to Gather Stars and stunned the entire assembly, he would enter such a bizarre state.
Gou Hanshi believed that even if Chen Changsheng wasn't Guan Bai's match, he should still be able to receive this sword strike. Because he understood Chen Changsheng—without sufficient certainty, he wouldn't have taken that step.
Zhe Xiu and Tang Thirty-Six were even more confident in Chen Changsheng. They believed without reason that he could defeat Guan Bai's Heavenly Dao Sword even when everyone else thought he would lose.
Mao Qiuyu understood best the power of the Heavenly Dao Sword and its quality of never returning once sent. He was certain Chen Changsheng would lose, but how could he have imagined that Chen Changsheng couldn't even lift his sword, couldn't even move?
Since no one had even thought of it, who could possibly react in such a short time?
Only the Heavenly Fortune Elder could have changed everything. He had known beforehand that Chen Changsheng had a hidden ailment. Though he wasn't sure when it would flare up, he knew it was related to cultivation level. From the moment Chen Changsheng began breaking through to Gather Stars, he had been frowning and watching the proceedings closely. Moreover, as a powerhouse in the Divine Domain, he had enough ability to deploy sufficiently powerful means in the gaps of time. Yet... his wrinkled, ancient hand rested on the armrest of his chair, veins faintly visible, trembling slightly—but it remained there, showing no intention of intervening.
Was Chen Changsheng, who had just broken through to Gather Stars and should have been riding high, receiving the cheers of the crowd, going to die so inexplicably beneath the Heavenly Dao Sword?
The shock and panic in people's hearts finally turned into real sounds as they cried out. A chorus of gasps had just begun to rise when they were suddenly suppressed by a howling wind.
A pair of pure white wings compressed the air at an unimaginable speed, stirring up a violent gale.
The heavy gauze curtains on the platform shattered into countless fragments. A streak of light shot out from behind the curtains. The speed of that figure was so astonishing that only a handful of people present could vaguely make out two white lines, but none could clearly see the pair of pure white wings compressing the air at unimaginable speed, stirring up a violent gale between heaven and earth, carrying that figure as it roared forward!
That streak of light arrived in front of Chen Changsheng.
The Heavenly Dao Sword fell.
A blaze of light bloomed like fireworks. Within that light were countless lofty sword intents and countless exquisite sword techniques, but only one extremely forceful and sacred will.
The Great Light Sword!
A thunderous boom!
The water in the Heavenly Lake shook free of its surface, cascading like an inverted waterfall. The stone platform trembled violently as if in an earthquake. Gravel danced wildly, filling the scene, and the sun grew incomparably dim.
The dust and smoke gradually settled, revealing the scene.
A very fine tear appeared on Guan Bai's left lapel, but no blood flowed. Sword in hand, he looked bewildered, staring blankly ahead, unsure of what had happened.
Where his gaze fell, a large pit had appeared in the stone platform.
This pit was much deeper than the depression caused by Chen Changsheng's Gather Stars breakthrough earlier. It was filled with gravel.
Xu Yourong stood at the bottom of the pit, the Zhai Sword in her hand, her face pale.
Pfft! She spat out a mouthful of blood.
The blood hit the ground and immediately burst into flames.
Golden-red flames easily melted the gravel on the ground.
That was the true blood of the Heavenly Phoenix. Even with her Divine Phoenix bloodline and extraordinary talent, without preparation, intercepting Guan Bai's Heavenly Dao Sword had still left her severely injured.
But in the end, she had arrived in front of Chen Changsheng when no one else could react in time, taken that sword strike, and forcibly shaken the so-called will of the Heavenly Dao.
She had not let Guan Bai's sword land on Chen Changsheng—not even a trace of its sword intent.
The Nanxi Zhai Sword, so important and precious to Holy Maiden Peak, was casually thrown to the ground by her, because she needed her hands free.
She held the unconscious Chen Changsheng in her arms.
Her snow-white wings slowly descended, gently wrapping around him and her.
Just like back then on the grassy island in the Zhou Garden lake.
Seeing this scene, the lakeside fell silent, and the people were utterly shocked.
No one had expected that the first to react, the one willing to risk her life and suffer severe injury to protect Chen Changsheng, would be her.
In everyone's minds, she was the least likely person to appear.
Countless gazes fell on Xu Yourong, but she paid them no attention.
Just as she paid no attention to the Zhai Sword lying among the gravel.
She only looked at Chen Changsheng in her arms, her face pale, filled with unease and panic.
At this moment, she was beautiful, sorrowful, helpless, and fragile.
No one had ever seen her like this—not the people of Li Mountain Sword Sect, not the Heavenly Fortune Elder, and presumably not the Holy Maiden or the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress.
What on earth was going on?
...
...
Zhe Xiu charged forward. Dozens of sword intents rose and fell, blocking his way.
The small building was right ahead, but he couldn't take a single step closer, because the female disciples of Nanxi Zhai had set up a sword formation in front of it.
Among the cultivators attending the Stone Cooking Assembly, few had brought many companions from their sects. The most were probably from the National Church and Holy Maiden Peak—a matter of status.
Over a hundred Nanxi Zhai disciples who had accompanied Xu Yourong to Han Mountain were now guarding the building outside. Nanxi Zhai's sword formation was famous; even when Zhou Dufu had stormed Holy Maiden Peak back in the day, it had taken him some effort. No matter how fierce Zhe Xiu was, he couldn't break through on his own.
Zhe Xiu's face was expressionless, but inwardly he was extremely worried about Chen Changsheng's condition. Forced back by the Nanxi Zhai sword formation, with a bloody gash on his shoulder, instead of backing down, it only stirred up his ferocity. A hint of red appeared deep in his pupils, and sharp claws extended from his fingertips—he was about to transform, ready to fight with everything he had, even at the cost of his life.
But before he could act, someone stopped him. Tang Thirty-Six shook his head at him.
At the front of the Nanxi Zhai sword formation, a female disciple looked at the crowd outside the building and said solemnly, "The Holy Maiden has decreed: anyone who dares set foot inside this building will be killed without mercy!"
Indeed, not only were Tang Thirty-Six and Zhe Xiu blocked outside, but even major figures of the National Church like Mao Qiuyu and Linghai Zhiwang couldn't enter the building.
Now, inside the building, besides the unconscious Chen Changsheng, there were only Xu Yourong and the Heavenly Fortune Elder.