Chapter 178 – Leaning on a Wall, Breaking the Past
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
How would Chen Changsheng break the Secret Sword of the Golden Crow? Why did he appear so confident? Was it just because the sword manual of the Mount Li Sword Style currently resided in the Orthodox Academy, allowing him to understand the Mount Li Sword Style like the back of his hand? No, the Secret Sword of the Golden Crow was a legacy from that legendary Junior Martial Uncle. Given that person's complicated relationship with the Mount Li Sword Sect and the entire Longevity Sect, this sword style had never been recorded in the Mount Li Sword Style sword manual, so Chen Changsheng could never have seen it before. In his fury, Gou Hanshi had also thought of this point, so he was very confused. The spectating personages on the second floor were equally confused, their expressions indescribable.
Chen Changsheng truly could not break the mighty Secret Sword of the Golden Crow, a fact that he was well aware of. But this did not mean that he needed to concede, as he had many other ways of responding besides breaking the attack.
His wrist flipped over like a falling leaf and his dagger cut through the rain, drawing a thin, watery line in the air as it hacked at Gou Hanshi from the right.
He had never thought about breaking Gou Hanshi's attack, nor about how to block it, hinder, or dodge it. He ignored this attack, minding his own business and silently swinging his sword.
The blazing sun sat high in the sky, transforming the rain falling into the Hall of Washing Away Dust into a dense network of golden threads. Several of these golden threads fell on Chen Changsheng's face, but they were unable to make him squint. He stared at Gou Hanshi's face and continued forward, suddenly getting even faster, flashing like a bolt of lightning to reach Gou Hanshi.
He used the Wind and Rain Sword of Mount Zhong, but not the mightiest move, Overturning the Heavens and Earth. Instead, he used the most absolute move, the move that allowed no retreat, the seventh move: the Liberal Sword.
'Liberal' was the opposite of 'stingy', but it could also be used in more grandiose situations, like liberally going towards death. At certain times, this word symbolized a sort of attitude that regarded life and death as nothing.
Chen Changsheng and his sword carrying this sort of attitude completely ignored the sun at the tip of Gou Hanshi's sword, ignored the most mysterious and powerful sword style of the Mount Li Sword Sect, and struck.
If Gou Hanshi did not change his technique, he would unquestionably cleave Chen Changsheng in two with his Secret Sword of the Golden Crow. At the same time, Chen Changsheng's sword would cut upon Gou Hanshi's stomach. The seventh move of the Wind and Rain Sword of Mount Zhong had a liberal attitude, but its strength was inferior to the Secret Sword of the Golden Crow. If Gou Hanshi took this attack, he might die, or he might be heavily injured. The problem was that nobody knew which result would occur.
The important personages on the second floor recognized Chen Changsheng's intent and cried out in alarm. Gou Hanshi sensed it even more clearly, and countless thoughts instantly erupted in his mind. Chen Changsheng wanted to die together with him, relying on the luck that came from gambling one's life. He naturally would not accept this situation, because he was the stronger one, the one who was more inclined to win.
The sword of Mount Li turned horizontally, the energy of the Golden Crow Sword instantly shifting to defense.
The two swords were still unable to meet. The rustling pines rose up, densely packing the surroundings.
Chen Changsheng's Liberal Sword was simply incapable of approaching Gou Hanshi to harm him.
With a buzz, energy was sent splashing in all directions as Chen Changsheng went flying backwards in retreat. After hurtling through the air, he landed on the ground, his shoes producing countless splashes.
The hall was utterly silent. The people on the second floor looked at Chen Changsheng with incredibly mixed emotions. The powerful and terrifying Secret Sword of the Golden Crow had actually been broken by Chen Changsheng through such a simple method!
Of course, this was actually a very complex method. If Chen Changsheng had not confidently used the harshest move of the Wind and Rain Sword of Mount Zhong, the technique that accepted no retreat, placing an enormous pressure on Gou Hanshi and revealing no weakness, how could he possibly have forced Gou Hanshi to give up on such an advantageous situation?
Chen Changsheng once more lunged forward, his dagger whistling through the air as it stabbed at Gou Hanshi.
His face was devoid of emotion, almost like the sense of vitality from earlier was an illusion. He had become silent and wooden once more, yet still just as determined.
What sort of attack was this? The spectators incessantly guessed.
Gou Hanshi raised his sword into the air, and the terrifying true essence it carried scattered the slowly falling rain. Sword intent rose up and attacked Chen Changsheng from every direction.
Chen Changsheng remained unmoved. Just like before, he did not even look, did not pay it the slightest regard. All his mind was on his sword as he stabbed forward with terrifying focus.
The shrill howl of a sword rose up in the Hall of Washing Away Dust.
His swordplay was not as exquisite as Gou Hanshi's swordplay—his sword was simpler, and his way of thinking was simpler. He seemed to strike first, but he had actually moved second. Yet in the end, the two swords arrived at the same time, howling as they intersected.
The two swords still did not have a chance to meet.
It was still a case of mutual death, mutual destruction.
Gou Hanshi let out a clear whistle that brimmed with anger and an extremely faint helplessness.
A mass of flowers seemed to bloom from the sword in his hands!
"Blossoming Flower Brocade!" said an astonished voice from the second floor.
At the final moment, Gou Hanshi had changed his technique, but he had followed the flow, transforming the splashes of rainwater into blossoming flowers. As they bloomed, they instantly scored several wounds on Chen Changsheng's shoulder.
This shift in techniques was incredibly ingenious, perfectly exhibiting the resources and standards of the Mount Li Sword Sect. In the end, however, it was still an impromptu shift in techniques, so it had been somewhat lacking in boldness.
Although the Blossoming Flower Brocade had wounded Chen Changsheng, it had failed to defeat him. At the same time, Chen Changsheng's sword had slashed out a wound on Gou Hanshi's left arm.
After Chen Changsheng entered Ethereal Opening, his last two clashes with Gou Hanshi had ultimately ended in about the same way. He used fierce sword techniques that would lead to mutual destruction. It was like he wasn't even thinking about winning.
The two stood on opposite ends of the Hall of Washing Away Dust, calm, defiant, and quiet. The countless curtains of rain falling between them obscured many things and also blurred their faces.
Gou Hanshi had a frigid expression, because he was already sure of what Chen Changsheng intended to do.
Chen Changsheng gripped his dagger and nodded at him, expressing his apology.
Yes, he was inferior to Gou Hanshi. No matter how bitterly he cultivated, how great was his talent, how many Daoist scriptures he read, he was still inferior to Gou Hanshi. This was because Gou Hanshi also bitterly cultivated, was also very talented, was also well-versed in the Daoist Canon. Gou Hanshi was also older than him and had cultivated for longer.
Even if he strenuously persisted, relying on the constant battles of the Grand Examination to constantly improve until he successfully entered Ethereal Opening in shocking circumstances, he still was no match for Gou Hanshi.
He had attempted Purification, but failed. He continued to try, risking his life by performing Meditative Introspection, and then continued Meditative Introspection until he finally and inexplicably entered Ethereal Opening, yet he was still unable to surpass his powerful opponent in terms of cultivation. This sort of feeling might make others feel bitter, but not Chen Changsheng.
He was not disappointed, did not despair. On the contrary, he was now absolutely confident that he could win this match, because he now had the right to bring Gou Hanshi down with him together into death.
Before his improvements, before Ethereal Opening, the gap between him and Gou Hanshi was even greater, and he couldn't even think about bringing his opponent down with him. He now had at least obtained this right.
This was enough.
Because no one had as much experience as him in facing death.
To put it another way, no one was more frightened of death than him, and also less frightened of death.
Gou Hanshi could not comprehend why Chen Changsheng was so formidable in this aspect, but he could sense this aspect of Chen Changsheng. If he wanted to defeat Chen Changsheng, he also needed to reveal his most powerful aspect.
"Try this attack of mine."
He said to Chen Changsheng, then calmly walked forward, his steps steady and slow, his eyes getting brighter and brighter as if he was returning to his childhood years in his village's school.
Gou Hanshi's attack was very simple, slashing from above to below.
It even felt a little impoverished.
But this attack was extremely complicated, the above stretching up into the blue sky, the below reaching down to the Yellow Springs1, and between the heavens and the earth was this sword. This sword was the real and fragmentary mortal world.
Yet this attack truly was very impoverished.
Anyone who saw this attack, anyone who sensed the sword intent of this attack, would feel an ache in their heart.
Every person would see their own arduous past.
Gou Hanshi saw even more, because this was a sword technique he had created himself.
He saw the penniless home of his childhood, his mother making a living from washing the clothes of relatives, himself without any money to pay for the village school and kneeling in front of the doorstep of that teacher with the triangular beard for an entire night.
After entering the school, he could study, but he had no money for a heater. The cold wind outside the window chilled him to the bone. These were the cold and bitter conditions in which he studied. He also had nothing much to eat. Every day, he made a pot of cold porridge. After freezing it, he would use a knife to cut the block in two and eat one block for a meal. This was cold food. He had studied by a cold window for ten years; how many years would he eat cold food2?
As he swung down his sword, Gou Hanshi truly thought of a great deal.
Poverty was truly the most terrifying thing in the world. How had he been able to persist until he entered the Mount Li Sword Sect? Why had he persisted until now? Was it not for precisely this match?
Yes, this sword technique was the same move he had used to cut cold porridge all those years ago.
When Gou Hanshi raised his sword, Chen Changsheng's expression changed.
Before he even saw the attack, he could sense the natural principles, no, the unavoidable affairs of the human world carried in this sword.
Gou Hanshi had already used two extremely exquisite and powerful sword techniques, and he had resolved them by attacking with the intent to kill them both, but against this technique, he suddenly felt that it would be very difficult to break through.
This sword could not be overcome. In order to cause mutual destruction, their swords first had to meet.
Chen Changsheng did not want the dagger in his hand to meet with Gou Hanshi's Mount Li sword, because once they met, things would change. In this sort of test on the art of the sword, he was unable to surpass Gou Hanshi in accuracy.
At the very beginning, it was Gou Hanshi that had not wanted their swords to meet, but now the situation had reversed.
What could he do?
The spectators on the second floor were still in shock at the exquisiteness of Gou Hanshi's solitary and bitter technique, but they were soon after awed by the technique Chen Changsheng chose to use, and gasps of surprise rose one after other!
Chen Changsheng took a step to the side, his foot breaking through a puddle and his elbow carrying a stream of water as he stabbed forward. The tip of his dagger was suffused with a faint golden glow as it pierced towards Gou Hanshi.
A faint scent of blood emerged in the Hall of Washing Away Dust.
This scent originated from his and Gou Hanshi's wounds, and also from the blood bled by the other examinees who had fought here, but most of it came from his sword technique.
"This is the True Sword of the Orthodoxy…" One of the Sacred Hall archbishops became stern as he muttered to himself.
Xu Shiji could no longer keep his silence, and harshly questioned, "Wasn't this technique banned?"
The Principal of the Star Seizer Academy answered, "It should still be available in the Orthodox Academy's library."
Chen Changsheng was currently using the True Sword of the Orthodoxy, but it also had another name: the Sword of Slaughter. It was the secret sword technique used by some previous Principal of the Orthodox Academy. It was said that many years ago, when that principal fell into the path of slaughter and was forcefully suppressed by the Pope, this sword technique had heavily wounded the Pope.
If one said that Gou Hanshi's sword technique emphasized poverty and determination…
Then the technique Chen Changsheng used emphasized slaughter and madness.
If these two swords were to clash, which would gain the upper hand?
The drizzle in the Hall of Washing Away Dust suddenly dispersed, yet the remaining grains of sand on the drenched ground stirred into the air.
The winds stirred by the two swords energetically blew about the hall, the black eaves of the hall constantly clattering as the winds howled against them.
Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng had already parted, more more bloody and injured than before.
No one could clearly tell what had occurred, but those two swords had probably still not met.
Mo Yu moved her gaze down to the footprints in front of Gou Hanshi. Upon confirming that he had been the first to retreat, she couldn't help but be somewhat shocked. Her thin brows perked upward and complex emotions appeared in her eyes, yet her lips perked into an extremely faint smile.
The hall was incredibly still, the crowd stunned.
Given that neither Qiushan Jun nor Xu Yourong was participating in this year's Grand Examination, many people had believed that the Grand Examination would lose some of its luster. Yet who could have imagined that the final match of the Grand Examination would be such a fierce battle?
Up until now, Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi had clashed almost fifty times, yet their swords had not once truly met. Moreover, they had each suffered countless wounds, and there were quite a few moments where they were only an instant away from death. Such resolute moves and such attainments in the path of the sword were truly worthy of praise.
Just how had these two cultivated? How had they been able to grasp these secret sword techniques that had almost been lost? And Gou Hanshi had even created such a perfect sword technique!
Of course, they could rely on their advantage in strength and cultivation to disregard the sword techniques of Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng and directly crush them with strength, but what if they were brought down to the same level? After all, Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng were both under twenty, yet they knew so many sword styles, knew which technique should be used at what time, allowing them to make almost perfect choices. This sort of ability and strength made some people drop their jaws in wonder.
And Chen Changsheng had even grasped those incredibly desperate sword techniques that brought destruction on both sides and was able to bring them out one after the other. Even more frightening was that everyone could clearly see through his choices and sword intent that this youth wanted nothing more than to take first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination, and not even death would make him shrink from this goal!
"Someone will die if this continues," Prince Chen Liu said to the others.
Everyone knew that he spoke the truth, and became rather concerned. It was naturally in their power to put a stop to this insane battle, but the first rank of the first banner had still not been decided, so how could Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng agree? If they had to judge victory and defeat, Chen Changsheng had been seeking victory on the edge of death all this time, so how could they judge him the loser?……
A truly powerful technique.
Chen Changsheng thought of Gou Hanshi's impoverished sword that traveled from the heavens down to the earth and silently wondered, if Gou Hanshi had not drawn back his technique at the final moment, perhaps I really would have lost.
"Why did you retreat in the end?" he sincerely asked Gou Hanshi.
Gou Hanshi thought this question over, then replied, "I used this sword technique to cut cold porridge."
Chen Changsheng fell silent, then asked, "And?"
"The cold porridge had been cooked by my mother."
"And then?"
Gou Hanshi answered, "She is still alive, so I must survive."
Chen Changsheng fell quiet for a very long time, then said, "I'm sorry."
"And you? Just why are you doing this?" Gou Hanshi looked at him seriously. "Is the first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination truly this important to you? Is it even more important than your life?"
Chen Changsheng asked back, "What about you? Is it important to you?"
Gou Hanshi answered, "This sort of glory is important to every cultivator, and my Mount Li Sword Sect has already taken first rank of the first banner two years in a row. As Second Brother, I can't let it break with me."
"So it was like that."
Chen Changsheng contemplated this for some time, then responded, "I'm sorry, the first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination is more important to me, so I cannot withdraw. I have no path of retreat, but you do, so this is essentially unfair to you."
Gou Hanshi replied, "I don't quite understand your meaning, but for some reason, I can faintly sense it."
Chen Changsheng raised the dagger in his hand at pointed it at the ground. "In the last match, Zhuang Huanyu said to me that the barefoot do not fear those who wear shoes. It appears to me now that what he said was right."
The sand gently drifted, the chirping of cicadas outside grew even more irritating, and the clouds in the sky floated about in unease. Upon seeing his posture and sensing his sword intent, Gou Hanshi faintly guessed at what he was up to, and his expression subtly shifted.
Chen Changsheng very seriously said to him, "I truly have no path of retreat, nor do I have anything to lose, so even if I'm wearing shoes, I'm still just a barefoot boy."
Gou Hanshi replied, "To people like us, shoes have always been very luxurious things."
"So I have to apologize to you," Chen Changsheng answered.
Outside the Hall of Washing Away Dust, Tang Thirty-Six had given him a very clear strategy. First stir his emotions, then reason with logic, and only after should he attempt to surpass in strength. Only after first attacking the heart should he compete in swords. Chen Changsheng had not done this, and only now did he begin to truly engage in serious communication with Gou Hanshi. This was a way of expressing his respect, and the reason he had begun to speak now was because he could sense that the outcome of this match would be decided by this technique.
Gou Hanshi asked, "For the next move, I'm prepared to use the Esteemed Teacher's Sword, and you?"
Chen Changsheng replied, "The final move of the Mount Li Sword Style."
Gou Hanshi knew that his guess had not been wrong.
After a very long silence, he looked up at the blue sky outside the hall. He felt a little hungry, craving a little porridge.
After another period of silence, he shook his head, sheathed his sword, turned, and left the Hall of Washing Away Dust.
Only Chen Changsheng remained within. He gazed at the deserted grounds, at the greyish white wall across from him, and slightly tilted his head as if somewhat at a loss.
It was extremely quiet. Not a sound could be heard.
He looked for a very long time, then came to his senses. He felt rather tired and wanted to rest for a while.
He took a few steps back and leaned against the wall, slowly putting his dagger back in its sheath. He sat down and wiped his forehead, but he couldn't tell whether it was blood or sweat on his sleeve.
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1. The Yellow Springs refers to the Chinese underworld.↩
2. The Hanshi '寒食' of Gou Hanshi means 'cold food'.↩