Chapter 108 – A Blossom a World (2/2)
“Stares that stare you to death.”
“Uhh… wouldn’t that only be possible from the Saint Realm?”
“You’re impossible to converse with.”
“Just try.”
“In times past, the younger brother of Zhou Du Fu, named Zhou Yu Ren, was famed as to being the most handsome man on the continent, on his first visit to the Capital, he received the welcoming of tens of thousands of women; their stares were as hot as a flame, akin to a wish to swallow him whole. Zhou Yu Ren, who was originally already weak of constitution, couldn’t withstand this shock and verged on the point of death, and hence, came the phrase: stare-death.”
“Well, my yao body is stronger than that of humans, so I can’t see a problem.”
“There really is no point in conversing with you.”
“Thirty-Six, thinking on it now, you’re not that good looking, so aren’t you just thinking too much?”
Honest people speak honest words; the most effective, the most potent words.
Orthodox Academy had two of these people in the form of Chen Chang Sheng and Xuan Yuan Po.
Tang Thirty-Six felt hurt.
A thousand steps may be arduous, yet it was no match for the pacing of Chen Chang Sheng alongside playful banter. After a short while, the group arrived before the Hall of Clear Virtue.
With Jin Yu Lu leading, they verified their identity before continuing to enter the Hall of Clear Virtue.
The Hall of Clear Virtue, matching its name, had a calm breeze within its walls, furnishings were sparse and the floors were spotless; an extremely wide and modest-looking space. What confused Chen Chang Sheng however, was that he couldn’t see any signs of people residing in this area; where was Luo Luo’s living quarters?
Jin Yu Lu didn’t say anything, but took the three youths and followed the clergyman that lead the way onwards towards a deeper section of the building. The Hall of Clear Virtue’s flooring was paved with green-coloured slabs of around 2 chi (Chinese foot) in length, upon stepping on each, they would mysteriously radiate a faint brilliance. Xuan Yuan Po lowered his gaze towards his steps, looking at the phenomenon with much amusement and curiosity.
Chen Chang Sheng also focused his attention on this special property of the green-coloured slabs, looking farther away, other green slabs did not exhibit the same radiance as those currently under their feet and were also differing in hue. Thinking upon the vast area covered by the hall, these green slabs must have numbered in the tens of thousands, could they have been arranged to form some sort of pattern?
Alas, just like how it isn’t possible to make out the image of a mountain while being situated on the mountain; by standing amidst the green slabs, he couldn’t make out its pattern and could only let go of this thought.
If one were to observe from the top of the hall however, they would be able to clearly see that the slabs of differing hue collectively formed the image of a lone, green tree leaf, and Chen Chang Sheng’s group were currently walking along a path delineated as one of the veins of this leaf.
The leading clergyman was a person of few words, who only occasionally spoke to Jin Yu Lu briefly while ignoring the three youths.
With each step they took, green slabs would continue radiating in turn, illuminating this particular path on the leaf, akin to some sort of energy permeating through.
Finally, the tree leaf path became fully illuminated and the group had arrived, under the leading of the clergyman, to the farthest region of the hall.
What awaited ahead was pitch blackness.
The darkness only endured for a short while, giving Chen Chang Sheng the impression of it being only a blink of an eye. From the closing of the eye, to the next moment of opening, akin to the passing of an entire night, experienced by everyone present; a moment of darkness, then light, and thus entrance to a new world, this experience wasn’t shared by everyone present.
Upon this scene, his mouth lightly widened in shock, unable to say anything in reaction.
Xuan Yuan Po, who was standing beside him had an even more exaggerated expression.
A sky dyed in porcelain blue, with countless clouds floating by, each perfectly shaped, akin to the propitious clouds described in The Books. Amongst the clouds were hundreds of saintly cranes soaring across, with their calls filling the air, a scene that calmed the very soul.
Before them stood a towering palace.
Situated farther away, there were also other palaces, all constructed of the same design.
This was a perfect world, no matter the propitious clouds, the saintly cranes, the palaces, the jade pools or even the clean and refreshing air, all painted a picture of perfection. An ethereal kind of perfection that felt far-removed from reality, yet here they were, experiencing the reality for themselves.
“Don’t embarrass our school, just continue forwards.”
Tang Thirty-Six quietly said to the other two from the side before moving forwards like as if he didn’t know them.
By the time Chen Chang Sheng regained his senses, he could already see that Jin Yu Lu and the leading clergyman had reached the towering palace. Quickly patting Xuan Yuan Po in order to rouse him, they hurriedly followed onwards.
Upon reaching the location of Tang Thirty-Six, they asked: “This is?”
Tang Thirty-Six answered: “This is a miniature world, you should have heard of it before.”
Chen Chang Sheng was silent, being well versed in The Books, he knew of the miniature world, but after experiencing today and having come to the miniature world in person, he better appreciated the shallowness of knowledge from books.
According to legend, upon the descent of the Heavenly Tomes, a divine fire also followed; causing fractures in the very space itself, leaving behind countless shards of space, these shards of space were scattered across the entire continent. While some of these shards were very unstable, and dissipated soon after appearing, some were conversely stable and could remain for a long period of time.
Through the long passage of time, after countless years had passed, the number of shards gradually diminished, leaving behind only the most stable of these shards. Leading to the origin of the phrase: “Time, is the only standard with which to judge the world.”
Stable shards were discovered by humanity, and through the fearsome use of great abilities by cultivators to activate them, using extremely high levelled and wondrous tools as the entrance, they managed to open a pathway between the shards and reality. These shards of space usually contained an exceedingly large space within, offering many uses, this was the miniature world.
The Wen Shui Tang family had a miniature world of their own, though it wasn’t very large, it was enough to place the Tang clan a level above the other so-called wealthy families. The reason for Tang Thirty-Six’s calm demeanour was due to having frequented his family’s miniature world as a child, being taken by his grandfather to play in the space.
“So this is… a blossom a world…”
Chen Chang Sheng looked at the scene of perfection, alongside towering edifices before him and felt a moment of emotion, then, for some unknown reason, looked at the small sword strapped around his waist.