Chapter 158 (2/2)

The tall man sighed and said, ”Why not we just return to your initial choice?”

Since there was no heart, there was naturally no fear. Prince Long Qing took over the position of the woman in red dress, as he showered himself within the pure holy light. Grasping on to the great will of Haotian, he travelled around the world to get rid of the surrounding darkness.

It was until one day while he was walking in the midst of a golden sandy desert, the man who stood silently behind that woman in red dress for years had finally appeared. The wooden sword carried behind his back was slightly trembling from the blowing of the scorching strong wind in the desert.

Prince Long Qing watched the man, kept silent for a moment before he said, ”From the time I've made my first choice, my destiny is closely tied together with Haotian. Even if you are the strongest person in this world, you can never defeat Haotian.”

A gust of wind instantly blew across the desert and pierced the wooden sword into Prince Long Qing's chest.

Prince Long Qing lowered his head and saw the invisible hole in his chest.

The wooden sword that seemed to be able to pierce through anything in this world had coincidentally pa.s.s through the hole in his chest. Hence, it did not cause any damage to him.

Just then, a golden flower grew and blossomed from the invisble hole in Prince Long Qing's chest, which instantly dissolved that wooden sword.

He raised his head and said to the man's silhouette, which was gradually dissolving in the wind, ”Look, this is our true logic.”

After which, he turned and left.

Enemies whom he feared most in his whole life were dead one by one. Prince Long Qing strolled proudly on the golden desert. Though he had no heart, he remained proud. He knew that from now on, he himself would be the strongest and the undefeatable man in the eyes of Haotian. All darkness shall be gone in view of his brightness.

No, all the darkness shall be destroyed.

It was not sure how many years have pa.s.sed as the darkness in the world were all destroyed by him. There were no longer any enemies or guilt left, and only the purest light remained to s.h.i.+ne across the endless field.

At this moment, the golden flower at his chest had grew even larger to the extent that it almost covered his face. Even though he was in Tianqi state, the weight of the flower seemed to be a burden to him but unfortunately, he could no longer plucked it off his chest.

All of a sudden, a faraway voice was echoed deep within his heart.

He did not know whom this voice belongs to, but he knew the words from his voice were real.

”Absolute brightness, is equivalent to absolute darkness.”

Prince Long Qing remained quiet for a very long time before he compressed the large golden flower at his chest with his hand. In a split second, the large flower shrunk rapidly and became a s.h.i.+ny golden sword.

He screamed in pain as he struggled to pull out the golden sword from his chest. His face filled with despair.

Indistinctly, he saw a few lost-looking faces floating in the sky.

It was the man with the wooden sword.

It was the woman in red dress.

It was the woman he loved who had fallen under the flower tree.

The three lost-looking faces stared at him, as though waiting for him to make a choice.

All around him was brightness. All around him was darkness.

Stepping forward would bring him into the light where he could continue his slaughtering acts, yet that was where the light belonged to...

Prince Long Qing was s.h.i.+vering as he stood in the middle of the desert. His painful expression contorted as his whole body was drenched with his perspiration.

He lowered his head and stared at the green bamboo leaf in his left hand, resembling a source of life.

All of a sudden, many people had disappeared from the wilderness.

Ning Que took a glance at the familiar face of old steward who stood infront of him, and squatted down to look at his childhood playmate. After watching them for a long time, he suddenly lifted his head and shouted to the tall man with displeasure, ”I still do not understand why I need to make a choice.”

The tall man, who was back-facing him, replied, ”Just as I mentioned, it's just for casual discussion. Why are you so serious about it?”

Ning Que stood up as the thin frost on his body fell apart. He said, ”I am not choosing.”

The tall man then answered, ”Sometimes, some things are worth for us to sacrifice. Sacrificing is a choice too.”

Ning Que shook his head and said, ”I did nothing wrong. Why should I sacrifice?”

The tall man was shocked as he questioned, ”You have no one or nothing you wish to sacrifice at all?”

Ning Que frowned as he thought for a very long time. He hesitated before he replied, ”Seems not.”

The tall man replied, ”But a long time ago, you did make your choices.”

Ning Que looked at the old steward and his childhood playmate, before he said, ”That's because I sacrifice others.”

”Sacrificing others is also a choice.”

Ning Que admitted, ”Yes.”

The tall man hung the remaining pork hind leg at the butcher's back and said, ”Make your choice again.”

The night was still the night.

The temperature was continuing dropping little by little.

Ning Que felt lost as he looked at the fast approaching darkness, as he immediately turned and looked behind the clouds where the light gathered. He could feel a formidable force coming from within as an unpreceding fear pressurized his body, causing the frost on his clothings and body to rapidly solidify into armour.

He was unsure which direction should he choose.

He stood all by himself in between the sky and the earth, which made him felt extraordinary tiny.

The old steward and his childhood playmate were standing infront of him, as their visions were seperated by an invisible piece of ice.

He grabbed tightly onto the green bamboo leaf in his hand.

On the ground infront of the Academy, everyone was silently waiting for the final outcome. At this point in time, no longer would anyone use the mocking tone to tease the Academy student named Ning Que, since he had already prove his own capability through action.

Like a suddenly downpour of rain, the sound of horse hoof broke the silence in the Academy. Yan Se, along with Sangsang, alighted without any expression on his face. People who recognised his ident.i.ty appeared shocked as they hurriedly stood up to welcome his arrival. He was the strongest Minister of Offerings at Southern gate of Haotian and even at West-Hill Divine Palace, he would have his own private seat. His status was way above Mo Li, who was the Vice President of Revelation Inst.i.tute, hence no one dare to show any disrespect to him.

The Instructor of academy and students soon knew about the ident.i.ty of this wretched old man, as they appeared shocked while watching and whispering about him. They did not understand why this big wig had suddenly come to the Academy at such late and critical hours in determining who was eligible for the Second floor.

No one knew the motive of Yan Se, including Lee Peiyan, the Prince, and Lee Yu, the Princess. Of course, Yan Se was not that foolish to explain his reasons for coming to the people. After showing respect one by one to the people who deserved his respect, he walked to a seat and closed his eyes. His dry skinny palm would, at times, brushed across the back of his chair, revealing a little nervousness within him.

Though the crowd was curious about the reason for the arrival of this famous Divine Talisman Master, but since he did not speak a word, no one dared to ask him as well. After a moment of silence, someone started to discuss about the commotion at the peak of the mountain again.

Most people were surprised over the powerful potential which Ning Que had hidden from them, yet they were determined that person who would gained victory at last and entered the Second floor of the Academy would definitely be Prince Long Qing.

As a Divine Talisman Master, Yan Se was obviously in a very high state. No matter how soft the volume of the discussion were, he could listen to every word vividly.

That fellow, Ning Que, is serious about entering Second floor and is almost succeed? Then won't his long and hard effort in searching for his successor be gone down to drain?

He could not help but feel terrible at the thought of it.

Just then, Priest Moli said calmly, ”West-Hill always trust that our prince will not lose to anyone.”

”I know this chap, Ning Que, well. If you talk about dirty tricks, he's indeed good at it. But to enter Second floor...” Yan Se slammed the table loudly and shouted, ”That's totally impossible!”

Upon hearing these words, the crowd was taken aback. They had always thought that Tang Southern Gate of Haotian was always not in good terms with West-Hill Divine Palace, to the extent that they were like enemies to one another. Yet tonight, at such important event, Yan Se was in agreement with West-Hill Divine Palace? One must know that this man was the Senior Brother of Tang Master of Nation. Could there be some important hidden meaning behind his action?

Yan Se had not thought that his true words would cause such a commotion among the people, as he immediately held his temper, stroke his beard, and was no longer willing to voice out any of his opinions. Lee Peiyan watched the old Taoist beside him as he frowned his brows and thought about it. Could it be that his emperor brother heard from the palace that for today's Second floor examination, Ning Que was a variable and so he decided to send Yan Se over to express his interest?

Just then, another horse carriage sped in. The person who had alighted from the carriage caused another round of commotion.

Lee Yu looked at the benevolent-looking eunuch supervisor, frowned and asked, ”Old Lin, why are you here?”

The eunuch supervisor from the Tang palace smiled humbly and commented, ”Your Highness, I am here under the order of his Majesty to come and have a look.”

Lee Yu gestured him to step forward. She then whispered, ”What is going on exactly?”

Eunuch Lin lowered his head and whispered, ”His Majesty wishes to meet someone, so I am sent over to wait for that person.”

”Who is the person Father wishes to meet?” Lee Yu asked, feeling astonished.

Eunuch Lin grinned and replied, ”A student from the Academy.”

After which, Eunuch Lin noticed Yan Se was sitting at the side. His expression suddenly turned cold as he said, ”Master Yan, may I ask why are you here?”

Yan Se glared at him fiercely and said, ”Do I need to report to you my whereabouts?”

Eunuch Lin smiled sacrastically and said, ”I am only an eunuch, how would I dare to ask about the whereabouts of a Divine Talisman Master? It is just that your Majesty would like me to send you some words. Your Majesty said that Master of Nation had cheated him a few hundred taels of silver about ten years ago outside the Scent Workshop. Now that knowing your Majesty is seeking for the talent, Master of Nation chose to hide the talent instead of reporting. Your Majesty hopes to hear a good explanation from the Southern Gate.”

Yan Se looked stunned upon hearing those words as he sunk himself into deep thoughts. He felt shocked as he wondered if his Majesty had knew about Ning Que's ability as well and wished to s.n.a.t.c.h his disciple away from him? What should he do then? The fact that he needed to s.n.a.t.c.h Ning Que away from the Academy was already a challenge for him, yet now he got to s.n.a.t.c.h him away from the emperor? Junior Brother did mentioned that he could settle this matter his way, but did that even include his Majesty?

The crowd could not help but watched the two big wigs who had just arrived. Yan Se the Divine Talisman Master was needless to say, but Eunuch Lin was his Majesty's most trusted eunuch supervisor. Now that he had came under the order of his Majesty, what would that mean again?

Though Sangsang had followed Yan Se into the Academy, no one noticed her presence and it was not known when she had left the ground. She quietly walked into the alley between the buildings of the Academy, and headed toward the back.

She then pa.s.sed by the wet ground, the dark and unlit old Academy buildings, the thick forest, and the deserted meadow. As she walked her way to the destination, she was admiring the sceneries in the Academy while trying to match up with the details Ning Que had described to her. She felt peace and warm within.

Finally, she had arrived at Woods of Glaves. With the support of a smooth tree branch in her hand, she lifted her head as she squinted her eyes to look at the treetop hanging high above her. She then looked around for a clean area before she sat down with the big black umbrella in her arms as she faced towards the peak of the mountain.

The clouds and the mist remained very thick in the mountain, preventing one from seeing the top of the mountain. Yet Sangsang, with the big black umbrella in her arms and body leaning onto the tree trunk, sat and watched quietly. For she knew that her young master was currently right there at the mountain peak and was going through a critical examination in his life.

All of a sudden, a gust of strong wind swept across the Woods of Glaves, causing the leaves and gra.s.s to rustle as they hit against the tree bark, creating a continuous whipping sound. The impact was so huge to the extent that it created damages on the tree bark. Sangsang was terrified by the scene as she hurriedly hid her behind the tree and spreaded open the big black umbrella to cover her tiny body.

Outside the dirty and old-looking umbrella, the strong wind continued to howl violently within the Woods of Glaves. Stones and branches knocked against the umbrella like flying arrows, producing loud thudding sound. This thudding sound, like the drums used in wars, could somewhat caused one to feel excited, yet solemn and tragic.

In the midst of the violent wind, about ten to twenty trees were uprooted in the Woods of Glaves, causing the dirt to fly towards the dark sky.

As though there were ten to twenty swords piercing towards the dark sky.

Spattering dark red blood into the sky.

On PaG.o.da Wan Yan in the city of Chang'an.

Master of Nation, Li Qingshan, looked at Huang Yang monk as he laughed and said, ”It's really unexpected that a monk came to visit today...”

Huang Yang monk smiled gently and said, ”It's simply because a love monk was enlightened by Tao, hence there is no need for you to be joyful about it. Instead, your mood seems very good today. Keen to share the reason?”

Li Qingshan stood up. He gently swung his long sleeves, sighed with emotions and said, ”After tonight, our Southern Gate of Haotian will have another young genius. After a decade, our Southern Gate of Haotian will have another Divine Talisman Master. Why should I not be happy about it?”

Huang Yang monk clasped his hands together as he sincerely praised, ”This is indeed something to be happy about.”

Suddenly, Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows as he quickly walked to the side of the paG.o.da and stared toward the southern direction in the quiet night. His right sleeve began to tremble as he started calculating rapidly with his fingers.

Huang Yang monk walked to his side, looking confused as he gazed in the same direction as Li Qingshan. He then said, ”Why is there such a big commotion for the opening of the Second floor this time?”

Li Qingshan's body froze and the expression on his face darkened as he said, ”It's impossible to s.n.a.t.c.h over now...The Headmaster of Academy, his level was indeed so much more higher.”

The violent gale within the Woods of Glaves in the Academy was only limited to the very small area and miraculously, it did not affect the surrounding environment at all. Other than Second Brother, who was at the mountain peak, and Yan Se, the Divine Talisman Master, who was currently at the foreground, the people who could sense these changes would only be the Grand Cultivators who had achieved above Knowing Destiny State, such as Master of Nation, Li Qingshan, and Huang Yang monk.

The commoners at Chang'an city were totally unaware of it. Furthermore, it was late in the night and most of them were already in deep sleep. Bloodstains were gradually surfacing on the grey wall of Lin 47th Street. Sewage in the newly-repaired drains by the Spring Breeze Pavilion suddenly appeared with red blood reflection. The lakeside small house, the blacksmith's courtyard at Eastern City, the old and chipped stone lion display outside General's Residence, the woodshed within the Grand Secretary's Residence --- bloodstains had gradually surfaced in these places that were once stained with blood, and rapidly dissolved within a few seconds.

Under the extreme pressure from the surrounding light, Prince Long Qing clenched his fist and broke the green bamboo leaf in his hand. As he looked around with his expressionless face, he realized that he was still at the mountain peak behind the Academy, standing below the large boulder and had yet to step upon the rocky trail.

The night breeze blew and brushed against his clothes, rapidly drying the perspiration on his body. He remained silent for a very long time before he retreated a few steps to the gra.s.s patch. He then lifted his head and stared at the large boulder hanging at the edge of the cliff, only to realize that there was no sign of other humans.

In the icy cold wilderness, Ning Que could somewhat sense a difference.

”All of you should know that making such choices are not tough for me at all.”

He exclaimed loudly to the tall man, to the steward and his childhood playmate who were standing infront of him, as well as to the brightness and darkness above him.

As he spoke, the thin frost on his lips cracked, broke and fell into pieces.

He blinked his eyes, causing the thin transparent ice that blocked his vision to break off inch by inch.

He lifted his right arm as more thin ice broke into piece and fell from his clothes.

He then threw the green bamboo leaf away as he grabbed his long knife tightly and swung it downwards.

After so many years, he had once again choose to kill the old steward and his childhood playmate infront of him.

”My umbrella is black.”

”Her face is black.”

”Since young, what I've done is always on the black side.”

”But that doesn't mean that I am wrong.”

”Since I did no wrong, there's no need for me to admit my mistake, nor there's a need for me to atone for my crime.”

Ning Que noticed that light behind the clouds had grew brighter and brighter as he felt the bigger pressure was exerting on him. He continued, ”Even if you think I am wrong, I wouldn't care. What has your thinking got to do with me?”

He spitted mercilessly on the ground before placing the long knife back onto his shoulder, as he walked away into the darkness without much hesitation.

The tall man gazed at his backview in silence.

Walking into the darkness was equivalent to walking into the starry night.

Ning Que stood by the large boulder and the highest point of the mountain behind the Academy. He was peacefully admiring the beautiful scenery infront of him, where s.h.i.+ny stars filled the dark sky and the clouds were slowly floating beneath his feet. The surrounding was bright as though it was daytime.

Though currently it was still late at night.

He took a glance at Prince Long Qing, who were standing far below the boulder. He did not say a word. Instead, he turned around as he continued to admire the stars, the cliff and the clouds around him, enjoying every moment when the mountain breeze blew in the spring night.

Only arriving at the top, would one be able to enjoy such beautiful and attractive view.

”The world is flat.”

He lifted his head and glanced faraway. He could faintly see ranges of mountains -- though he was not sure if they are Min Mountain or other mountains -- below the starry sky on the other end of the world.

After 17 years of wandering around and drifting from one place to another, seeing many lives and deaths, he had finally reached this moment. How could his mind and heart not flooded with millions of thoughts and emotions at this moment?

At this split second, Ning Que thought of many things that happened in the past. He recalled the days when he had to walk along the mountain trails over and over again. Though he was welled up with lots of emotions at this point, yet the words that eventually came out of his mouth was so simple, honest and pure.

Staring at the marvellous scenery right infront of him, Ning Que was lost for words as he started laughing out loudly.

His laughter caused his body to shake, his tears to flow and his mucus to drip, to the extent that the sound of his laughter was almost trembling.

Then, he wiped away his tears and mucus, as he said in a serious tone, ”This is f*cking beautiful.”

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