Chapter 115: Killing Zhou (First Season, Part 2)
Last autumn, on the first day of the academies’ martial exhibition, Chen Changsheng stood before the National Teaching Academy’s gate and shattered Zhou Ziheng’s star domain with a single sword strike. Riding the momentum of his unfinished sword intent, he brought Tang Thirty-Six and Xuan Yuan Po along, drove a long carriage straight into the Northern Military Command’s alley, and arrived at this courtyard where the crabapple flowers had fallen. Without preamble, he demanded that Zhou Tong release the captive.
At that time, Zhou Tong had stared at them expressionlessly, and they had seen that sea of blood.
Neither he nor Tang Thirty-Six could withstand that spiritual pressure and agony; they nearly collapsed. Even long after leaving that courtyard, they still could not forget the palpitations and terror brought by that sea of blood. And back then, Zhou Tong had only released a fraction of his oppressive aura—nothing like the direct assault he was launching now.
One had to understand that when Zhou Tong fully unleashed his Red Robe secret art, even if his opponent were a Star Gathering upper-level powerhouse, only someone perpetually insane like Hua Jia Xiao Zhang would remain unaffected. Even a figure like Liang Wangsun would choose to temporarily fortify his mind.
Chen Changsheng was merely at the peak of Penetrating Obscurity. No matter how stable and powerful his divine sense had become, no matter how much he had improved over the past year, how could he possibly withstand this sea of blood?
As it seemed, he would either have his consciousness shattered by Zhou Tong’s spiritual attack or, if he managed to stay lucent by luck, he would have to withdraw his sword and flee as far as possible.
For cultivators, Zhou Tong’s sea of blood was a sea of suffering. If one could not escape it, the only fate was to sink and drown.
But even if he chose to withdraw his sword and leave, could he truly escape this courtyard?
What happened next caught everyone off guard.
Chen Changsheng’s face was pale, but he did not choose to flee, nor did he fall.
His form shifted from ethereal to solid, his speed slowing countless times, yet he still gripped his sword and thrust forward.
He seemed to be wading through a waist-deep, viscous sea of blood. Though it was arduous, though it was slow, he did not stop.
Watching the light that was gradually tearing through the sea of blood—a clear, bright sword light from the Stainless Sword—Zhou Tong’s pupils contracted!
Why had Chen Changsheng’s divine sense grown so powerful!
Over two years ago, the National Teaching Academy had only one person: Chen Changsheng.
In the library tower, he had fixed his destiny star, and his divine sense had soared up to the nine heavens, reaching the depths of the star sea.
At that time, the Holy Empress and Mo Yu had exchanged words on the Sweet Dew Terrace.
His divine sense was strong, but not extraordinary. What truly set him apart was the tranquility of his demeanor.
Only tranquility could lead to distance.
It could reach far.
Now, his divine sense was not only tranquil but also more resilient.
Over the past year, using the myriad sword intents within the Hidden Edge Sheath, he had tempered his divine sense countless times.
Countless times, his divine sense had crossed that ocean of sword intent, reaching the black stele on the far shore without losing its way.
How could Zhou Tong’s crimson sea of blood cause his divine sense to sink into it?
On his wrist, he wore a string of stone beads—not many in number, each one a Heavenly Book Stele. Those beads now faintly shimmered with light, protecting his Dao heart.
Beyond these reasons, the most crucial factor lay within himself.
His mental state was now at the absolute peak of his seventeen years of life.
He knew he was about to die, and he walked toward death.
He walked toward death to live. Once he calmed down, he had nothing to fear.
Few people could have such an experience, and of course, no one would willingly seek it.
It could even be said that he had seen through life and death, at least during these days.
Thus, he could resist Zhou Tong’s spiritual secret art attack, could stubbornly advance through the viscous, terrifying sea of blood, until finally, the sword light illuminated the room, the sword momentum carved a path through the sea of blood, and he arrived before Zhou Tong!
Zhou Tong’s deep eyes were lit by the sword light, and a trace of regret could faintly be seen within.
He knew Chen Changsheng’s sword Dao cultivation was extraordinarily exquisite, so he did not want to engage in a prolonged sword fight with him. He wanted to use his strongest means to end everything in the shortest time. Thus, he had allowed Chen Changsheng to elevate his sword intent, directly attacking with his spiritual secret art from a distance. But he had not expected Chen Changsheng’s divine sense to have grown so powerful, forcefully blocking the Red Robe and breaking through this sea of blood, bringing that peerlessly sharp sword before him.
A hint of wariness appeared in Zhou Tong’s eyes.
Even a Star Gathering upper-level powerhouse could not ignore the sword in Chen Changsheng’s hand.
From the Snow Plains to Xunyang City, from the capital to Cold Mountain, from Xue He to Liang Hongzhuang, from Lin Pingyuan to Zhou Ziheng—too many Star Gathering realm experts had fallen to Chen Changsheng’s sword.
But there was still no fear in Zhou Tong’s eyes, because he was no ordinary Star Gathering cultivator—he was a Star Gathering peak powerhouse!
His realm and cultivation far surpassed Chen Changsheng’s. Even if his response had gone awry, allowing Chen Changsheng’s sword to reach him, he still had nothing to worry about.
Because what lay before him was his world.
Countless stars lit up from within his blood-red official robe—not silver, but also blood-colored.
The sea of blood that had shrouded the area around Zhou Prison suddenly receded like an ebbing tide, then condensed into a blood orb.
That blood orb was so real, as if it had been formed from fresh, congealed blood.
The crabapple tree in the courtyard returned to green, but it seemed to have caught a strange illness, shedding countless leaves.
In the cracks of the stone steps, countless withered insect corpses appeared.
Zhou Tong’s body was immersed within this blood orb, the scene utterly bizarre.
This blood orb was his star domain.
This was his world.
Zhou Tong’s face was very pale, flickering in and out of sight within the blood, sometimes sinking, sometimes floating.
The blood began to boil, releasing a nauseating, bloody stench. Anyone who smelled it would be highly susceptible to losing their soul, falling into a maddened state until they died from soul loss.
Cheng Jun retreated behind the house to avoid its influence, watching this scene with eyes full of terror.
Chen Changsheng had bathed in dragon blood, and his Stainless physique was inherently special, so he remained unaffected, continuing to thrust his sword toward the blood orb.
Zhou Tong’s pale face grew even more distinct in the blood mist. He stared at the sword light and Chen Changsheng with an utterly indifferent gaze.
The star domain of a Star Gathering peak cultivator could be said to be infinitely close to perfection, with almost no weak points, let alone flaws.
How could Chen Changsheng’s sword break through this sea of blood?
The Stainless Sword was clearly thrusting toward Zhou Tong’s throat, yet no one noticed that a sword light had appeared in a certain space diagonally above!
With a sharp hiss! That sword light pierced through the sea of blood, stabbing straight toward his left eye!
A fierce howl burst from Zhou Tong’s cold, thin lips as his sleeves danced wildly!
His large red official robe trembled violently, like a surging sea of blood. The celestial cranes and demonic beasts embroidered on its surface seemed to come alive. From the depths of the blood sea, countless faceless, formless vengeful spirits surged forth, shrieking with bitter, venomous cries as they lunged at the sword shadow.
That bright sword light effortlessly tore those vengeful spirits into fragments, continuing forward to pierce Zhou Tong’s left shoulder!
With a soft sound, a spray of blood shot out!
The perfect star domain of a Star Gathering peak powerhouse had actually been broken!
Watching this utterly impossible scene, Cheng Jun’s face turned pale, his body trembling slightly, unable to speak.
Yes, this should have been impossible, but when the one wielding the sword was Chen Changsheng, such an occurrence seemed to become understandable.
It could be said without exaggeration that from the distant past to the present, across countless years, no one had crossed realms from Penetrating Obscurity to break Star Gathering as many times as he had.
Because at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, he had understood the relationship between the myriad stars and a cultivator’s star domain. On the northern wilderness, Su Li had taught him sword techniques and given him the discerning eyes to see through star domains.
The Wisdom Sword was a sword technique or combat method that consumed immense divine sense and drained mental power—a means Su Li had taught him specifically for breaking star domains.
The key to this technique lay in perceiving the relationship between the starry sky and living beings, thereby calculating the flaws in a cultivator’s star domain.
Chen Changsheng’s experience of observing the steles at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum was unique, so while his deduction and calculation abilities were not as strong as Xu Yourong’s or Su Li’s, his understanding of the Wisdom Sword was no weaker.
From the Plum Garden Inn onward, he had been constantly deducing and calculating, all to find or guess the weak points of Zhou Tong’s blood sea domain.
His sword had long been drawn—how could it miss?
Blood sprayed, sword intent surged, and the temperature in the courtyard rose sharply. Chen Changsheng knew the vast gap in true cultivation between himself and Zhou Tong. Seizing the moment, he dared not delay, using his divine sense to ignite the star radiance and star dust within him, converting them into an unimaginable amount of true essence, channeling it forward through the Stainless Sword!
The Stainless Sword grew even brighter, radiating holy white light and heat, as if it would destroy Zhou Tong’s life force in the next instant. Yet in that next instant, this scene did not come to pass... The straight sword had clearly pierced the sea of blood and entered Zhou Tong’s body, but now it seemed to stab into nothingness—there was nothing before the sword’s edge!
Zhou Tong’s true body was not within the sea of blood!
His large red official robe fluttered gently in the night wind. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had drifted to the middle of the room, exuding a bloody, terrifying pressure!
A blood orb appeared in the palm of his right hand—was that his blood sea star domain?
A star domain was the strongest defensive measure of a Star Gathering cultivator, essentially their world. Who could leave their own world and then hold that world in their hand?
Chen Changsheng had seen similar records in the Daoist scriptures before, but he had never encountered it in real combat. This was the first time he had witnessed such a scene.
Zhou Tong had left his own world, turning the blood sea star domain into a blood orb in his palm.
This meant that Chen Changsheng, after an immensely complex and arduous process of deduction and calculation, had used the Wisdom Sword to break the opponent’s star domain, yet could no longer harm the opponent’s true body. Instead, his sword had entered that sea of blood, effectively held in Zhou Tong’s grasp, unable to thrust forward any further.
From the sensation transmitted back through the sword’s edge, Chen Changsheng quickly confirmed this chilling fact.
Zhou Tong looked down at him from above and said expressionlessly, “Is this that sword?”
From the moment he had resolved to kill Chen Changsheng—even before last summer—he had begun collecting all information about him. That carriage had always been parked in Hundred Flowers Alley. He knew what Chen Changsheng had done on the wilderness and in Xunyang City. He knew Su Li had taught him three sword techniques, and even knew that the key to one of them lay in calculation.
Since he knew, as the continent’s most famous schemer and a master of plotting, how could he fail to anticipate how Chen Changsheng would strike?
The blood sea domain he had spread was real, and its breaking by Chen Changsheng was also real. His response was risky, even though he had prepared a backup plan.
All of this was for a single purpose.
He wanted to cripple Chen Changsheng’s sword.