Chapter 787: The Peacock Flies Southeast
(Apology: I only discovered yesterday afternoon that I missed the day before yesterday's update. To be precise, the scheduled update I set for the day before yesterday became yesterday's scheduled update. I truly don't know how this happened. You see, since it was rare to have a chapter saved as backup, I confirmed the release time for a long time... But in any case, there was no update the day before yesterday, nor did I say anything. Some readers must have waited a long time. For this, I am truly sorry. As recompense, I will donate a pig to the Xintian Student Aid charity... because I am a pig. Also, I think this public welfare project is quite good; everyone can take a look when they have time.)
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Chen Changsheng was calling out the constellations, the directions—more precisely, it was the positional guidance of the Yashiki Step.
The Yashiki Step was the innate ultimate technique of the Yashiki clan of the Demon race. The Demon royal family could learn it, but in decades, only Nanke had achieved perfect mastery. Chen Changsheng, relying on his understanding of the Daoist Canon, indescribably tedious calculations, and his perception of the star charts on the Heavenly Book Monuments, had managed to learn this footwork.
After shouting out these directions, Chen Changsheng's right sleeve trembled. A swarm of swords shot through the air, intercepting the Demon Horn that had crept close under the cover of night. Stepping onto star positions, his form suddenly became illusory, lifting off the ground. He took several steps in the night sky, heading toward the extremely distant heights.
Countless swords followed, gradually returning to their sheaths along the way.
This scene looked extremely beautiful, but it was of little significance. When his true essence later ran out, he would fall from the sky, facing great danger—not to mention that the dense darkness brought by the Demon Horn was closely trailing behind him.
Chen Changsheng did this because he knew Nanke would surely understand his intention.
Sure enough, when he appeared in the night sky, filled with biting wind and nearly as high as the snowy ridge, Nanke was already there.
Behind her in the night sky, two trails of green light dust lingered, very beautiful.
But this alone was still not enough to escape, because the darkness brought by the Demon Horn was gradually covering the entire snowy ridge.
Moreover, far to the north, the Black Robe's fingers on the iron plate began to tap, as if beating a drum.
The howling cold wind whipped Chen Changsheng's face. He sensed something and tightened his grip on his sword.
Nanke's eyelashes trembled slightly. Her gaze remained indifferent as she looked at the deepening darkness, sensing the fluctuations of the aura within, and understood something.
Although Chen Changsheng was severely injured, and even combined with Nanke they might not be able to defeat the young Demon Lord, logically speaking, escape should no longer be difficult.
Yet who could have imagined that within this darkness were hundreds of Yuan Qi Locks?
The same method the Demon race had used to besiege and kill Su Li back then was now being used by the Black Robe against the two of them tonight.
These should have nothing to do with the Demon Horn; rather, the young Demon Lord had spread them using other means, and then the distant Black Robe was responsible for the encirclement.
How could they break these Yuan Qi Locks? Was the Human race's Pope really going to be buried with the Demon Lord?
"Can you really cure it?"
Nanke's voice was especially grim in the cold night wind.
Chen Changsheng saw a hint of determination in her eyes. He understood what she wanted to do but couldn't bring himself to answer.
If given enough time, he was confident he could cure Nanke's illness, especially if he could get Xu Yourong's help.
But the situation was too dangerous now. As everyone knew, the Black Robe's greatest strength was spiritual attacks. If Nanke completed her second soul awakening now, she would very likely be severely wounded by her teacher from a thousand miles away, with disastrous results.
Chen Changsheng had no confidence.
Without hearing his answer, Nanke's aura continued to rise.
Perhaps she asked this question just to comfort herself.
The indifference in her eyes completely transformed into a kind of self-destructive fervor.
Then, she began to burn.
In the night sky, a bright peacock appeared, spreading green light in all directions.
Its wings spanned a hundred zhang. As they flapped, clouds scattered and stars blurred. The snowy peaks below collapsed endlessly!
The hundreds of Yuan Qi Locks hidden in the darkness were forced to reveal themselves with the appearance of the peacock's true form.
In the part of the night sky closest to the Human domain, the number of Yuan Qi Locks was relatively smallest, somewhat sparse.
The peacock flew in that direction, smashing countless Yuan Qi Locks along the way. Its green feathers broke, and its aura surged wildly!
That direction was southeast.
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Watching the light points on the iron plate flicker on and off, the Black Robe let out another faint sigh.
Clearly, this sigh was for his only female disciple.
Suddenly, a spot in the southeast corner of the iron plate blazed extremely bright, its light even illuminating the face within the Black Robe.
It was a face that could be called perfect, but long deprived of sunlight, it was somewhat pale, with a faint greenish tint, exuding an aura of death.
The Black Robe looked up toward the southern night sky, noticed something, and the corners of his mouth turned slightly downward—turning downward often meant displeasure or low spirits, but on his face, it carried a different meaning, like deep mockery.
A crisp clang rang out from the iron plate.
The Yuan Qi Locks in the distant night sky silently scattered, killing who knew how many startled birds.
At the very front of the green light, it was clear to see that the peacock had vanished.
Two figures like black dots fell toward the distant ground, their fate unknown.
Almost simultaneously, darkness covered the starlight. The young Demon Lord, through some unknown means, appeared on the snowy plain a thousand miles away. He didn't speak to the Black Robe, nor did he look at where Nanke and Chen Changsheng had fallen. Instead, he gazed at the former snowy ridge, looking very interested, even excited.
The Black Robe also quietly stared at that snowy ridge.
The snowy wind lifted a corner of the black cloth, revealing half of his face. His expression seemed complex.
He looked as if he were gazing at his homeland.
Or perhaps, because there was an old acquaintance there.
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When the young Demon Lord thrust the stone pestle into his father's abdomen, when that mysterious pillar of light pierced through the stars and landed on the snowy ridge, many places across the continent sensed it. The Li Palace and the Sweet Dew Terrace, the Holy Maiden Peak and the White Emperor City, even the distant Great Western Continent and the Dragon Island in the Southern Sea—all knew something major had happened. And when the Celestial Lord Star in the northern starfield suddenly dimmed, all the observatories observed this anomaly.
According to the calculated results, the Great Zhou army stationed along the Cold Mountain line received orders to investigate. But Gaoyang Town, which should have responded fastest, was thrown into chaos by a series of drastic changes, and no one thought to cross the snowy ridge to find out what had happened.
Bie Yanghong appeared at the snowy ridge.
Two years had passed. Severely wounded in the Heavenly Book Mausoleum incident, on the verge of death, he was still alive, his injuries fully healed, and his realm and strength had advanced further. Among the current Eight Winds and Rains, he was subtly taking the lead.
Even so, after galloping thousands of miles in one night, the little red flower tied to his pinky finger couldn't help but look somewhat wilted.
Back when the Demon Lord entered Cold Mountain to kill Chen Changsheng, the Heavenly Mechanism Elder had warned the world, and Bie Yanghong had traveled from Jiangnan to Cold Mountain in no time. Long-distance travel was something even the White Emperor City's Jin Yulu couldn't match. Yet tonight, he was not the first to arrive.
The first to arrive was a scholar.
Bie Yanghong had studied for many years at the famous Wanshou Pavilion in Xiling. Learning enriched his spirit, but he dared not call himself a scholar in front of this man.
The Demon Lord often appeared in the world dressed as a scholar, but even he wouldn't dare call himself a scholar in front of this man.
This man had read far too many books.
He read in his hometown, in Luoyang City, in the capital, in the Li Palace, in the imperial palace, at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, on the snowy plains, in dreams of bugles, by lamplight with a drink. Before Gou Hanshi, Chen Changsheng, and Yu Ren, he alone had read all three thousand Daoist Canons.
Later, he began to teach. He taught for decades at the Star-Gathering Academy, producing countless famous generals, until the Demon Lord's hair turned white.
He was the most famous scholar of the millennium: Wang Zhice.