Chapter 174 – Seeing a Lake and Mountain Upon Closing One"s Eyes
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The snowy plain was very thick, its depth unknowable. Each snowflake or fragment of snow was a piece of star radiance containing a large amount of energy. A single part of the snowy plain had a radius of several hundred zhang and contained an innumerable number of snowflakes, an incalculable amount of energy. The moment it was ignited by spiritual sense, it would begin to release an enormous amount of light and heat. Back in the underground cavern, in front of the Black Dragon, Chen Changsheng had jumped past Purification and gone straight to Meditation. As a result, he had almost died to this light and heat. If not for that bath of dragon blood, he would already be dead. Earlier, in his battle against Zhuang Huanyu, he had ignited one part of the snowy plain. Although his body was now many times tougher after being bathed in dragon blood, the light and heat was still difficult to bear. If not for that sudden bout of rain, perhaps he would still be dead.
The burst of light and heat released by one part of the snowy plain was this terrifying and impossible for him to endure, but now he was simultaneously igniting ten parts of the snowy plain. It was simply impossible for him to endure this explosion, and doing so was just gambling his life.
He had to defeat Gou Hanshi to take first rank of the first banner. Only this way could he enter the Lingyan Pavilion and discover the secret to defying the heavens and changing fate. Just as he had said before, he had to gamble his life in order to protect his life.
In a few seconds, his body became boiling hot, his internal temperature soaring to absurd levels. The rain falling on his body rapidly evaporated, the torrential rain unable to leave the slightest moisture on his body. On the contrary, he began to sweat in the form of a paste that almost instantly evaporated upon leaving his body.
His entire person was wrapped in a white cloud of steam. With both rain and sweat, it had a very strange scent. In addition, through the steam, his face appeared somewhat deformed and thus bizarre.
In just a few moments, his clothes had been soaked and dried ten-some times. No matter how durable the fabric of the clothes, it was impossible for it to weather this sort of repet.i.tion. When the raindrops falling over the Hall of Washing Away Dust suddenly grew larger and the downpour intensified, his clothes instantly burst apart into ten-some strips of cloth hanging from the upper half of his body. He looked rather comical, but to the spectators on the second floor, this was an incredibly ghastly sight.
Indeed, the rain over the Hall of Washing Away Dust was extremely intense as if it knew that he was teetering on the edge of life and death. The rain fell like its life depended on it. The rain gushed down like someone had jabbed a hole in the bottom of a lake in the heavens. Moreover, this rain was incredibly cold, like the last bout of rain in autumn before snow began to fall.
Even so, the cold torrent of rain falling on his body was incapable of preventing his body temperature from rising. Gout after gout of steam poured from his body and an expression of pain appeared on his face.
The cicadas outside the Hall of Washing Away Dust chirped ever more resoundingly, ever more shrilly.
Within and without the hall were two different worlds, two different seasons.
Chen Changsheng"s skin ached so terribly that it seemed to be tearing apart. His skin became extremely sensitive, and every drop of rain inflicted on him the pain of being flayed alive1. His body seemed to truly be burning as, although there were no flames, the air around his body was slightly distorting, making him look very strange.
This terrifying amount of blazing star radiance and this unbearable pain did not make Chen Changsheng close his eyes. He stared at Gou Hanshi"s eyes. His right hand tied to his dagger was incredibly pale. His feet began to slowly but firmly move, attempting once more to find a chance of victory.
He did not know when he might fall unconscious from the pain or when he might just burn to death. He had to endure this pain and take advantage of the unprecedented power provided to him by this true essence to defeat his opponent.
Gou Hanshi watched him come in a cloud of white steam, his expression incomparably stern. With a light shake of his right arm, his longsword flew through the air, gently and yet determinedly slashing down at Chen Changsheng.
The figure in the torrential rain suddenly quickened. Chen Changsheng used his terrifying speed and the Yeshi Step to avoid this just, gentle, yet powerful sword intent, while the dagger in his hand borrowed the power of the rain as it swung down at Gou Hanshi.
In an extremely brief span of time, the two exchanged sixteen sword techniques.
Gou Hanshi"s Mount Li Sword Style was naturally exquisite and powerful, but Chen Changsheng"s responses were also exceedingly brilliant. Occasionally he would use the Mountain Toppling Staff as a sword style, but he also mixed in the sword styles of countless other sects and schools. Coupled with his incredible familiarity with the Mount Li Sword Style, he managed time after time to barely block Gou Hanshi"s attacks.
The battle was tense, the spectators on the second floor silently watching on as countless waves raged within their hearts. They especially praised Chen Changsheng. As they watched this exchange, they each began to think that Zhuang Huanyu"s loss was truly no fluke.
In this match, Chen Changsheng displayed his terrifying fighting will, but he also displayed his outstanding ability to learn. It must be known that at the very beginning he had had no confidence in his swordplay when fighting against Zhuang Huanyu, but now as he was fighting against Gou Hanshi, widely acclaimed as being extremely skilled in the sword, for a period of time, his swordplay actually became sharper and sharper as he converted the knowledge in the books of cultivation into fighting power.
Unfortunately, the Orthodox Academy had a threshold, the Li Palace had a threshold, and the Hall of Washing Away Dust also had a threshold. One could find thresholds all over the world that kept out countless people, and right in front of Gou Hanshi was also a threshold. No matter how outstanding Chen Changsheng was, how resolved his will, he could not cross over this threshold. In the end, he had been officially cultivating for not even a year, and if one calculated from the time he had succeeded at Purification, it was just a few months.
With a clang, the torrential downpour in the Hall of Washing Away Dust suddenly stopped.
The rain had stopped because Chen Changsheng"s temperature had returned to normal.
Fortunately, he was not dead, but the reason for this fortune was a misfortune: the true essence in his body had been completely used up in this battle.
A deathly stillness pervaded the Hall of Washing Away Dust.
Gou Hanshi calmly stood in his original position, his right sleeve slightly drooping, his face a little pale.
Chen Changsheng stood across from him, his clothes in complete tatters, blood constantly flowing down his bare upper body.
This battle had finally reached its final moment. He had lost all chance of victory, but surprisingly, even to himself, he did not feel too dispirited, much less furious, or unwilling, or anguished. He was actually very calm.
He had already done all he could.
For the sake of living, he had gambled his life.
If even this could not bring him success, one could say that this was the plan of the Heavenly Dao, of fate. He had rejected and attempted to challenge it, but he failed, nothing more.
After those ten parts of snowy plain, he had burned the snowy plain two times more, the last time setting the entire snowy plain aflame. He had truly cast away his own life in this effort, but he had not succeeded.
He had the right to be calm, even proud.
He lowered his head to glance at his right hand, at the dagger tied to it by cloth.
From the start to the end of this match, he had not truly touched Gou Hanshi"s sword even once. One reason was that Gou Hanshi was somewhat fearful of allowing him to, and the other was that the gap in strength was truly too large.
He should have been calm, so why was he still somewhat reluctant?
Chen Changsheng silently thought as he looked at the sword in his hand.
Then he raised his head, raised his sword, and walked towards Gou Hanshi.
He knew that this was the last time he would raise his sword.
It truly was.
Gou Hanshi shook his arm and Chen Changsheng flew backwards towards the stone wall.
As he floated through the air, he felt somewhat tired, but also relieved. He did not need to think anymore, didn"t need to be unwilling. He felt the deep blue sky to be somewhat dazzling.
He closed his eyes.
The sky did not go dark.
He saw the scorched earth that was once the snowy plain, the snow all burned away.
He saw the thin brooklets of water still left on the plains.
He saw an even farther place.
There, a lake hung in the sky.
Today, for the first time, he could see that within this lake was a mountain.
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1. The actual term for "flayed alive" here is "剥皮揎草", which translates to "peeling skin and stuffing with gra.s.s". This refers to a particularly cruel form of capital punishment in the Ming Dynasty in which the victim was completely skinned, the skin made into a bag, stuffed with gra.s.s, and then hung up as a warning to the populace.↩