Chapter 969 – Before the Lonely Mountain (2/2)
No one knew that from start to finish, the Heavenly Selection ceremony had been under Madam Mu's control.
The only surprise, or perhaps regret, was that Xuanyuan Po was not dead.
In her view, Chusu was far stronger than Xuanyuan Po, and coupled with the bizarre and insidious nature of the Yellow Springs Flow technique, Xuanyuan Po should have had zero chance of survival.
Just what had happened last night? Why had the lower city remained silent? Had the little monster not dared to strike?
Madam Mu stood at the railing, her hands held behind her as she calmly gazed at White Emperor City.
She drew back her gaze from that district along the Red River and looked towards the plaza in front of the Imperial City.
From this height, the crowd on the plaza looked like a pack of ants.
Was this the feeling of looking down on the world?
She remained expressionless, though the slight curve in her lip seemed to contain a great deal of derision and exhaustion.
The pack of ants suddenly moved, as if parted into two by some invisible power.
Were they dividing into camps?
……
……
The spectating demi-humans had very naturally split into two camps.
Xuanyuan Po had far more people at his back than his opponent, a mass behind him so thick and vast that it packed the area around Heavensguard Pavilion.
His opponent was naturally the young man in the bamboo hat.
The young man stood across from him, before a few people with nothing better to do and some officials with rather complicated expressions.
Compared to Xuanyuan Po's momentum, he seemed rather lonely, even pitiful, but for some reason, he gave off nothing of the sort.
Perhaps it was because his demeanor was too calm, too routine.
He stood on the white stones, his hands hanging at his sides.
He said nothing, and did not adopt any postures, like folding his arms, holding his hands behind him, or staring off into the distant mountains.
But everyone who saw him would get the feeling that to this young man, everything in this world was just part of a routine.
Whether it was life and death, the Heavenly Selection, or this battle.
Xuanyuan Po also noticed this change.
The young man gave off a different feeling from the one he had given off for the past two days.
In the last two days, this young man was like a flower in the mist, its true appearance shrouded, easy to ignore.
Today, the fog had dispersed.
There had been no flower in the mist, only a lonely mountain.
Impossible to climb, difficult to approach.
……
……
Countless gazes fell on those two figures in front of the Imperial City.
The vast majority of the populace naturally supported Xuanyuan Po. Without mentioning his background, the thunderous momentum he had created with only his iron fist two days ago had attracted many ardent worshippers.
As for the young man in the bamboo hat, although he seemed enigmatic, his methods unfathomable, how could the unknowing populace possibly support him?
Xuanyuan Po thought differently from the populace.
They had just looked at each other.
But he knew that he was no match.
When a lonely mountain appeared in the world, what sort of scenery would not look ordinary?
The young man's cultivation level was far higher than his.
Let alone him, even if Xiaode had not withdrawn or Chen Changsheng had come, they still might not be guaranteed victory.
And then he recalled Bie Yanghong's words from last night. If his opponent really was from that snowy city in the north, what should he do?
”No matter what you want to do today, I will stop you.”
He paused, then added, ”Even if I have to die.”