Chapter 208 – Thank You and You’re Welcome (1/2)

Chapter 208 – Thank You and You’re Welcome

It was as if time had stopped at that moment.

Scattered starlight was afloat like fragmented snowflakes suspended in the night sky before the Mausoleum of Books.

Xun Mei and Han Qing silently stared at each other.

A snowflake fell from the edge of the pavilion’s roof and landed on Han Qing’s armor. It quickly melted and turned into vapor shortly thereafter.

Time began to flow once again.

Gou Hanshi’s expression changed slightly, and he did not hesitate to release Chen Changsheng’s hand. He grabbed the handle of the Iron Ruler Sword on Qi Jian’s waist and pulled it out as quick as lightning.

Chen Changsheng’s reaction was also extremely fast. With a clatter, he pulled out the Wenshui sword on Tang Thirty-Six’s waist at his side.

The two swords pierced through the small snowflakes in front of them.

With a huge bang, the front of the Divine Path rumbled.

Afterwards, there were countless shattering sounds, and numerous pieces of ice shattered. The whistling sound of wind and snow soon followed.

After some time, the battlefield returned to silence. The fragments of starlight were not real snow, so naturally, no mantle of snow was in front of the pavilion.

Xun Mei had left several dozen footprints upon the Divine Path. The more forefront of the footprints had actually accumulated snow.

That footprint had originally been wet with the clear water from the canals. But now it had been frozen into bits of snow.

Those footprints, starting from the forefront, gradually turned into the color of snow.

As each step turned into snow, the footprints gradually grew more indistinct.

It was as if the person that had been walking on the Divine Path had started to retreat.

Those footprints continuously turned to snow, disappeared, and retreated, until it finally reached that line.

Xun Mei’s will had been pushed back into his body.

His leaning body, suddenly straightened, as if it had been struck.

Xun Mei left the ground and was tossed backwards into the air with a bang. His black hair danced in the air, and his strands of white hair were as eye-catching as ever in the starlight.

However, what was even more colorful was the blood that spurted from his mouth.

He landed heavily upon those twisting canals with a great splash.

Cheng Changsheng immediately ran over after seeing this, completely disregarding how dangerous the Qi’s aftereffects still were. For some reason, he felt very close to Xun Mei.

Both the night sky above the rocky plateau and the ground below it were covered with cracks. It was extremely frightening. After moving only twenty yards, Chen Changsheng’s shirt received countless fine cuts. At the same time, many white marks appeared on his skin. If he had not undergone perfect Purification, he would have certainly been drenched with blood. Perhaps, he would not have even been able to run to Xun Mei’s side.

The night wind gradually lessened, and the snowflakes turned back to starlight. The Mausoleum of Books returned to its tranquil state. Only then did Gou Hanshi finally put down the Iron Ruler Sword in his hands.

Previously in that final moment, countless shattering sounds had arisen from the field of battle. These were the cutting Qi flows that had arisen from the clashing of Qi’s from the two powerhouses, resulting in a sound that swept in all directions. If Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng had not reacted so quickly and used the swords to resist, those youths would have received many injuries. It was a good thing that despite how frightening the battle was, the Qi that had come at them was only the leftovers. In addition, the Iron Ruler Sword was the Relic Sword of the Mount Li Sword Sect’s Discipline Hall, and even held a place on the Tier of Legendary Weapons, so it suffered no harm. Only the back of Gou Hanshi’s hand had received many fine cuts, which were currently bleeding.

He passed the Iron Ruler Sword to Qi Jian, and then he also began running toward the scene.

Chen Changsheng had already carried Xun Mei out of the canal and was taking his pulse.

Xun Mei lay on the ground. The blood that stained his clothes had been washed off by the waters of the canal, and he seemed to have no wounds.

Just like Chen Changsheng, Gou Hanshi also felt very close to Xun Mei for some reason. When Xun Mei had been intruding upon the Divine Path, they had both been silently cheering him on. Naturally, Guo Hanshi didn’t want there to be anything wrong with Xun Mei. He asked, “How is he?”

Chen Changsheng withdrew his fingers from Xun Mei’s pulse, and then after a moment of silence, he shook his head.

A battle between two cultivators at the peak of Star Condensation, one that could be said to approach the level of Saints, would be more terrifying than any other battle that had occurred before in front of the Divine Path. Although Xun Mei’s body had no wounds externally, the meridians within his body had actually all been broken. His Ethereal Palace had also been shattered. Although his sea of consciousness had remained unharmed, he had no chance of living.

This was completely different from the situation with Chen Changsheng’s body.

Gou Hanshi was at a loss for words.

Tang Thirty-Six and the others had also run over at this point.

In the pavilion, Han Qing once again bowed his head, and the elderly face sunk back into the shadows of his armor. Besides the floating dust, it was as if he had never moved.

No one paid attention to the fact that a faint sigh escaped from the gloom.

“I’m sorry to trouble you, but please send me out of the mausoleum.”

Xun Mei looked at the youths and feebly spoke, “I’ve been in here for thirty-seven years. I’m rather tired of it, and I certainly don’t want to die in here.”

Although he was very weak, his expression was very peaceful. To those who cultivated the Dao, sought the Dao, and achieved the Dao, how could there be any unwillingness?

After thinking it over, Gou Hanshi asked, “Does senior…. have anything that he would like to hand over?”

“I still have the strength to say my last words, so there’s no need to worry about it.”

With some difficulty Xun Mei laughed, then he looked at them all and seriously said, “I would like to thank all of you children.”

This was the second time he had solemnly expressed his thanks.

Zhexiu expressionlessly replied, “We didn’t do anything.”

Xun Mei replied, “In the end, your words about dying with a clear mind at least made me understand why I have to die. How could I not thank you?”