Chapter 617: The Young Phoenix's Cry is Clear and Pure
Chen Changsheng didn't know how much time had passed—it could have been a long time, or it could have been very short. When he came to his senses, he fled far into the distance as if escaping.
The Little Black Dragon watched his figure disappear into the night, a murderous intent flickering in her eyes, especially in her vertical pupils, where the emotion turned exceptionally cold. The prohibitions Wang Zhice had left on the stone wall prevented her from returning to her true level of strength, but if she wished, she could still easily catch Chen Changsheng and eat him in one bite. Otherwise, how could she have become the so-called "taboo" that no one in the palace dared to mention?
But she didn't do that. The anger in her vertical pupils gradually faded, leaving only loneliness, grievance, and stubbornness.
She knew very well that the reason Chen Changsheng was fleeing wasn't really because he was afraid of being eaten by her, but to escape something else.
Without the Little Black Dragon's help, Chen Changsheng couldn't return to the surface through that pond. The path he chose was the same route he had taken when he first mistakenly entered the underground. When he pushed open that heavy stone door and returned to the Cold Palace, which he hadn't seen for a long time, he looked toward the distant Weiyang Palace and couldn't help but feel some emotion.
Back then, when Mo Yu used the Two Hearts Connected divine ability and borrowed the palace's formations to trap him from Weiyang Palace into this place, she probably never imagined that he would truly have the courage to enter the underground and face the legendary "taboo," thus finding a thread of hope. Similarly, he never imagined that the "taboo" was a dragon girl who appeared fierce and cold on the surface but was actually naive and innocent, and that he would have so many connections and stories with this little girl.
Standing among the autumn trees by the Black Dragon Pond, looking at this famous Tong Palace formation, he fell into thought. He had thoroughly read the Daoist canon and had considerable research on formations. Although he couldn't match Xu Yourong and Gou Hanshi's level, among the world's cultivators, he could still be considered outstanding. That was why, when he was trapped here, he could discover that the life gate of this formation lay deep in the cold pond.
To break the prohibitions Wang Zhice had set, he had prepared for a long time. With Xu Yourong's help, he believed it would take at most ten years for those two iron chains to gradually corrode and fail, allowing the Little Black Dragon to regain her freedom. If she also cultivated the copy of the Time Scroll he had left underground, the time could even be shortened further.
But by then, he would probably no longer be around.
A thousand years pass, white clouds drift idly, things change and people are no longer the same, the trees stand tall and lush—that's how it is.
Yet there were still some people and things he couldn't let go of.
Nanxi Zhai had a divine artifact with the same name as the famous formation in this Cold Palace—both were called Tong Palace.
Tong Palace was in her hands.
She should be in the palace right now, not far from him.
Chen Changsheng skirted the pond, walked out the back door of Tong Palace along a stone path, and came to a forest, looking toward the distant cluster of palaces.
He didn't want to die alone, but he didn't want to leave this world with her watching.
He planned to go to the Zhou Garden later—there would be no one there, no one could enter.
Before that, he still had some things to do.
A rustling sound came from the forest ahead, and a few leaves, yellowing but still green, fell.
The Black Goat walked out of the forest, tilted its head slightly at Chen Changsheng, as if puzzled why he was here today instead of by the pond.
Chen Changsheng bowed deeply to the Black Goat, performing a very serious grand salute, and said, "Thank you for taking care of me these past two years."
The Black Goat turned its head, looking toward a certain place in the distant palace cluster.
Chen Changsheng understood its meaning, shook his head, and said, "I'm not going there."
The Black Goat turned around and looked at him quietly, its dark eyes like the deepest night.
"I've lived my whole life seriously, or rather, rigidly, because I hoped it would let me live a few more years. Now that I'm sure I can't live a few more years, when I think about it carefully, my biggest regret is that I never lived recklessly. I cultivate by following my heart, but have I ever truly followed my heart?"
Since confirming his death date, Chen Changsheng had never revealed his true feelings to anyone, but now he confessed his heart to this Black Goat.
"So before I die, I've decided to do something I really want to do. If I succeed, I think I should be very happy."
...
...
Kill east, kill west, kill everything—turns out it's just one word: kill.
Kill all those who oppose you, and naturally there will be no one left to oppose you. Slaughter and overturn the heavens and earth that dare to defy your will, and even the heavens and earth will submit to your will. But after heaven, earth, and people all submit, what then? What about beyond heaven and earth? What about the human heart?
After listening to Her Holiness the Empress's words, Xu Yourong was silent for a long time.
This was Her Holiness's declaration of dominance, and also Her Holiness's teaching to her—her sole successor.
She needed to think, and at the same time, she was silently performing deductions and calculations.
Back then, when she told Chen Changsheng she was going to the palace to plead with Her Holiness, Chen Changsheng had said it was meaningless.
Now, looking at Her Holiness the Empress's cold attitude, it seemed that was indeed the case.
Actually, this was a result anyone could have foreseen.
But she still came to the palace.
To do her part and let fate decide? Just hoping to beg for a dozen days of peaceful, secluded time for Chen Changsheng?
No, she was a member of the Daoist sect, but she had her own edge; she didn't cultivate inaction.
From leaving Han Mountain until last night, she had been continuously deducing and calculating, her slender fingers never leaving the Fate Star Disk.
She tried to see the Heavenly Dao, wanted to part the fog of fate and see the true path ahead, but the results of countless deductions were all the same.
To free Chen Changsheng from the trap of fate, the only nearly illusory thread of fate had its other end connected to Her Holiness.
By common sense, the Heavenly punishment Chen Changsheng suffered was the effect of Her Holiness's vow when she sacrificed to the starry sky. The one who most wanted him dead was also Her Holiness. So to untie that thread of fate, it should naturally fall upon Her Holiness.
But she knew that what fate vaguely revealed was not that.
Seeing a mountain as a mountain, not a mountain, still a mountain... the mountain is ultimately a mountain, but the meaning is different.
That's why she left the National Teaching Academy and came to the palace.
She firmly believed this trip would bring about some change. However, a long time had passed from day to night, yet the change had never occurred.
The porcelain cup still spun between her fingers, from day to night as if it had never stopped, like a waterwheel on a stream, like time itself.
"The art of deduction ultimately exhausts all changes, but the Heavenly Dao cannot be spoken or counted—how can it be calculated?"
Her Holiness suddenly set the porcelain cup on the table and glanced at her. That glance seemed to see through everything.
Xu Yourong was silent for a moment, then replied, "Though I cannot truly touch it, I can at least get closer."
Her Holiness said, "You can't even calculate the human heart yet, so how can you talk about approaching the Heavenly Dao?"
Xu Yourong's face turned somewhat pale, because she vaguely sensed that the change she had been waiting for had already occurred, but... that change was not what she wanted.
"You set up a sword formation at the National Teaching Academy, then asked the Li Palace to send help, and then you came to the palace to see me, thinking this would isolate him from the world, isolate me from his world, and then wait for the Heavenly Dao to operate naturally, trying to find a thread of change. But in all your calculations, you missed one thing."
Her Holiness looked at her calmly and said, "You forgot that he himself was also calculating."
Xu Yourong knew she was wrong.
What if Chen Changsheng left the National Teaching Academy on his own? She wasn't there, and no one could stop his departure.
Her Holiness summoning her to the palace was precisely to create such an opportunity for Chen Changsheng.
In other words, while she was trying to choose a possible way out for Chen Changsheng, Her Holiness had already known what choice Chen Changsheng would make.
"Your Holiness, you understand him so well—is it because you are mother and son?" Xu Yourong looked at her, her voice turning somewhat cold.
Her Holiness said, "Even at this moment, you haven't forgotten to constantly bring this up, trying to stir my heart for an instant. This child is quite persistent."
Xu Yourong's beautiful face showed a stubborn expression as she said, "But isn't what I said the truth?"
"Of course it's not the truth." Her Holiness's voice was as steady as gold and jade. "I understand him only because I have understood him."
She stood up, walked to the window again, and looked into the distance beyond the palace.
The evening clouds of dusk had turned into a sky full of stars, and her voice was even more indifferent than during the day, even somewhat cold.
"In the eyes of ordinary people, so-called sages know all things, but they don't know that after crossing that threshold, one is still in the mortal world. The reason sages don't make mistakes is that they cannot make mistakes. Once they err, the mortal world will envelop them, and it will be hard to escape."
These words, accompanied by her cold voice, fell into Xu Yourong's ears and heart.
"I have never feared things like the Heavenly Dao and fate. If it treats you and me as oxen and horses, then I treat it as oxen and horses, put a halter on it, hang a heavy plow on it, use it to open up new territories, use it to bring favorable weather. But now that I think about it, my intention to use the Heavenly Dao and fate means I acknowledge its usefulness, acknowledge that it has power beyond my own. And that was the biggest mistake I made back then. Once such a judgment was made, dust settled between my soul and spirit, never to be washed away."
Her Holiness turned around and looked at Xu Yourong as she spoke.
Perhaps because she was discussing the Heavenly Dao, her expression was very solemn, and her perfect features took on a sacred quality.
Xu Yourong knew this was also a teaching, and probably the true meaning that no one other than herself had ever heard.
From childhood to now, such scenes had occurred many times, and she was long accustomed to them, but not this time.
Because Her Holiness was speaking of the most profound, highest, and most subtle Heavenly Dao, discussing content that was extremely disrespectful to the Heavenly Dao.
And she vaguely understood why Her Holiness was telling her these things.
"Someday in the future, you will become as powerful as I am. I hope you can be even more powerful, so I will not allow you to make the same mistakes I did."
Her Holiness looked into her eyes and said, "If the Heavenly Dao stands before you, you should slay it. If the threads of love stand before you, you should cut them even more."
Xu Yourong heard the last sentence, confirming her conjecture, and her body grew cold.
"You are my successor."
Her Holiness walked before her, looking down at her, and said calmly, "Anyone or anything that will harm your Great Path, I will slay."
Xu Yourong's face grew even paler, and a hint of gloom appeared in her usually bright eyes.
"I like Qiu Shan very much, but you don't accept him—this I like very much."
"You like Chen Changsheng. Although he has many likable qualities, I still don't like it."
"Your life should not be wasted on such meaningless matters."
"So the more you care about Chen Changsheng, the more I want to kill him."
Xu Yourong was silent for a long time.
Her face grew whiter and whiter, until finally it was like snow, with no other color visible.
But her eyes gradually regained their brightness, like a forest after mist that welcomes the morning light again.
Then, it was as if a winter plum had grown in the snowfield, adding a touch of red. Gradually, the plum blossoms bloomed, and her face grew redder and redder.
With a loud hum, a fierce wind howled through the hall, and two pure white wings over ten zhang long spread out behind her!
She flew into the air, emitting extremely intense light, along with a sacred and powerful aura.
She burned the True Phoenix Blood within her body, raising her realm to its peak state, even surpassing the upper limit of what she could bear.
She was the Holy Maiden of the National Church, representing holiness and light, carrying the sacred power bestowed by countless stars.
She was only at the peak of the Tongyou realm now, of course not truly entering the sacred domain, but in this state, she already had some characteristics and flavor of the sacred domain. She could fight against the top experts on the Carefree List, and even strong ones at the level of the Eight Winds and Rains would need some time and methods to completely suppress her.
She didn't think she could threaten Her Holiness the Empress; she only wanted to buy some time to break this trap woven by either the Heavenly Dao or the human heart.
Even if she could only shine a little light, if it could illuminate the Great Zhou Palace, or perhaps illuminate the capital, the Li Palace might see it.
But in an instant, the wind in the hall stopped.
The scattered holy light disappeared without a trace.
The pair of pure white wings behind her drooped weakly.
A hand gripped her throat.
It was Her Holiness the Empress's hand.
That hand looked very delicate, but at this moment, it seemed incredibly terrifying.
Her Holiness's figure was not particularly tall, but with her arm extended, she held Xu Yourong up in the air.
A pair of black wings over a hundred zhang long spread out behind her, breaking through both sides of the spacious hall, slowly undulating in the night.
This scene was exceptionally eerie, yet it possessed a breathtaking beauty.