Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

The kangs of this restaurant were very clean, and no dust could be seen on the edges of the kangs which easily accumulated dust. However, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong did not sit down. Hearing the argument coming from behind, it was difficult for them to not feel embarrassed. Only after the owner came over was this awkward atmosphere alleviated.

Perhaps it was because of the Yellow Paper Umbrella, or perhaps it was because the corner they were in was somewhat dim, but the owner did not recognize them. His face filled with smiles, he asked, "What do my two guests wish to eat? This store’s main dish is all sorts of ribs; is there a particular one that you enjoy eating?"

Chen Changsheng looked to Xu Yourong sitting across from, wanting to hear if she had any ideas. Xu Yourong lowered her head and said nothing.

"What about...my two guests first order a bowl of pork bone soup to warm the body and then slowly consider what else to order?"

The owner increasingly felt that something was strange with this young couple, but after running a restaurant in the capital for so many years, he had encountered his fair share of strange situations and would naturally not trouble himself too much over it.

Hearing a certain word in the owner’s words, Chen Changsheng once again felt his face heat up. Waving his hand, he said, "Let’s not. What about some beef ribs?"

The latter part of this was naturally inquiring after Xu Yourong’s opinion. Xu Yourong didn’t have much of an opinion. She was just recalling her conversations with him in the Garden of Zhou, but she couldn’t remember him having any sort of taboo against pork. Why did he have such a big reaction then? She couldn’t help but be curious.

The owner was a very straightforward and efficient man. After adding on a few appetizers for them, he retreated to the kitchen to prepare the food, leaving just the two of them at the kang in the corner. Xu Yourong blinked her eyes and cut off the sounds of argument coming from the front. Looking at him, she asked the question on her mind.

"It’s not any taboo...it’s just..."

Chen Changsheng hesitated for a while, then said very earnestly, "Tang Thirty-Six said I was a pig. I felt that I really was a pig, so I don’t want to eat pork at this moment."

Xu Yourong understood what he meant and couldn’t hold back a smile. Suddenly, she recalled something and creased her brow as she asked, "You told Tang Tang?"

"No, he was cursing me for some other reason when he called me a pig," Chen Changsheng explained.

After this brief dialogue, the area around the kang once more fell silent. The customers sitting at the table were still engaged in a fierce argument, but none of their voices came in. Not even the sound of the snowstorm outside the restaurant could be heard around the kang. Only the crackling of the firewood in the kang could be heard, but in reality, this was not a sound a normal person could hear.

"That person spoke incorrectly."

Xu Yourong glanced at the other kang, then turned back to him and very seriously explained, "I didn’t go easy on you at the Bridge of Helplessness. I was very serious."

She absolutely had to make this point clear because this was a fact, because this reflected the respect she had for Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng replied, "Although I calculated and planned for a tie, my cultivation, talent and comprehension are all inferior to yours. If I didn’t use my full strength, I wouldn’t be able to make it a tie."

"What I wanted was to fight you in a fair and upright manner."

Xu Yourong calmly continued, "Whether in the Garden of Zhou or in the future, I would probably not have another such chance, so after entering the capital...I didn’t come to find you."

Only at this point did Chen Changsheng completely understand why she had kept this concealed from him.

One of them was the next Pope, the other was the newly appointed Holy Maiden, and they respectively represented the two great powers of the Orthodoxy and the Imperial Court. No matter how one looked at it, they were natural enemies, but if he were to know of her real identity, it would naturally be impossible for him to fight such a fierce battle today on the Bridge of Helplessness. This would always be the case, now, and far into the future.

He could not regard her as an enemy, and he believed that she would feel the same.

"But you still didn’t use your most powerful technique."

Chen Changsheng looked at her and continued, "If I remember correctly, in the Garden of Zhou, your blood awakened once more."

Xu Yourong affirmed, "Yes."

Chen Changsheng said, "If you really did use the blood of the Heavenly Phoenix, I would not be a match for you."

Xu Yourong answered, "You really thought that I would defeat you like that?"

Chen Changsheng hesitated, then replied, "In truth...I just wanted to see you unfurl your Phoenix wings. I imagine it should be very beautiful."

There were many things that didn’t need to be taught, that didn’t need pointers from Tang Thirty-Six. Even the most inarticulate person would occasionally be able to speak very beautiful words.

When in front of the target that he wished to express his goodwill and love towards.

Xu Yourong thought to herself, you saw it before, it was just that you were sleeping then.

Because of these rarely encountered beautiful words from Chen Changsheng, she felt rather out of sorts, rather shy. Changing the subject, she noted, "You also only used one sword."

She knew more than anyone else in the world that all the swords of the Sword Pool lay within Chen Changsheng’s sheath. That was truly his most powerful technique.

"Even if the ten thousand swords attacked at once, it’s not a given that it could contend with your Sword of Great Light."

Chen Changsheng looked into her eyes and sighed in admiration, "You truly are extraordinary."

Xu Yourong looked back into his eyes and helplessly sighed, "Did you really not sense it?"

"Sense what?"

"The blade intent concealed within the Sword of Great Light."

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng was incredibly shocked, thinking, the Sword of Great Light is the world’s most ingenious sword technique. What sort of blade intent could possibly harness it?

"I used the Halving Blade Style to change blade intent into sword intent. Only through this was I able to barely use the Sword of Great Light."

Xu Yourong continued, "I also have to thank you for clashing sword intents with me, or else it would simply be impossible for me to, in just these past few days, grasp this sword technique."

Upon hearing "Halving Blade Style", Chen Changsheng was further shocked, thinking, isn’t the Halving Blade Style still temporarily unusable? Upon hearing the latter half of her words, he understood that although he had never used the Halving Blade Style, it was so tyrannical and wild that it was still able to forcefully conceal itself amongst his sword intent. On the Bridge of Helplessness, Xu Yourong was able to take the blade techniques she had grasped, meld them with the blade intent he was emitting, ultimately comprehend a little blade intent, and thus display the Sword of Great Light.

In the view of many, today’s battle on the Bridge of Helplessness was representative of many things, but no one imagined that to Xu Yourong, besides being a battle in which she could fight to her heart’s content, the battle on the Bridge of Helplessness had also assisted her in comprehending the profound accomplishments of the Halving Blade Style, thus giving her an excellent chance of grasping the Sword of Great Light.

When Chen Changsheng thought of this, he couldn’t help but be filled with admiration for her, but also feel it a little improper. He thought, why such a rush, even acting in such a dangerous fashion? If in the battle on the Bridge of Helplessness, she had failed to grasp the essentials of the Halving Blade and was incapable of grasping the Sword of Great Light, and then adding on the possibility of him having a slip of the hand, the results might have been too terrifying to imagine.

Words were not needed. Xu Yourong only needed to see the concern in his eyes to understand what he was thinking. She calmly explained, "I am the world’s youngest Holy Maiden and also the weakest. Teacher has left and the Empress is still a person of Zhou, so I have to establish my power as quickly as possible."

This was a very plain statement, even somewhat crude, but it was very sincere.

The vast majority of the Holy Maidens of the south had all stepped into the Divine Domain, and her teacher was a Saint that could easily dispatch the Storms of the Eight Directions. Even the weakest of the Holy Maidens were experts half a step into the Divine. She was the only one to become Holy Maiden at the age of sixteen, not even breaking into Star Condensation yet.

As the youngest and weakest Holy Maiden in history, Holy Maiden Peak and South Stream would remain silent. And what sort of pressure would she have to endure, what sort of trials would she have to confront?

As Chen Changsheng gazed at her somewhat thin and weak shoulders, he suddenly recalled those conversations they had in the Garden of Zhou. Back then, she had said that she carried a very heavy responsibility and found it very arduous, wishing to avoid it. He had believed that she was a genius maiden of the Elf clan and carried the heavy responsibility of the rejuvenation of the elves, so he had attempted to ease her anxieties. But now he knew that she was the reincarnation of the Heavenly Phoenix, the hope of Holy Maiden Peak and the Divine Empress, carrying the responsibility of assisting the entire human world in resisting the demons. Now how could he ease her anxieties?

"In the future, you can let me handle some things."

"I can do it."

"I’m the Principal of the Orthodox Academy."

"In the future, I will become the Pope of the Orthodoxy."

In his mind, he thought these words and tried changing up the sequence. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that this was in Tang Thirty-Six’s way of speaking, and just as he was hesitating...

"Traditional beef ribs, guests, please enjoy."

Carrying a steaming pot of beef ribs, the owner interrupted this important conversation concerning the future of the human world.

Different from other restaurants, this restaurant’s pot-simmered ribs were stewed in the kitchen first before being served. Although this caused some rustic flavor to be lost, it was certainly much cleaner. No wonder all the kangs were clean without even a speck of dust.

Soon after, an assortment of appetizers was served and the two began to eat.

Maybe it was because the appetizers were too tasty or the ribs were too fragrant and very troublesome to eat, but Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong did not speak for a very long time.

In the quiet corner, one could only hear the crackle of firewood within the kang and the occasional sound of a chopstick knocking against a bowl.

After some time had passed, Chen Changsheng raised his head and looked over. It was only at this point that he realized that today, she did not wear that white set of ceremonial clothes, nor did she wear a white dress. Instead, she wore a rather thick cotton jacket. He then remembered back in Xunyang City, he found the white ceremonial clothes of the Holy Maiden to be rather familiar. Then, he also remembered that in that temple by the White Grass Path, she had once said that when she was growing up, there were quite a few rules during mealtimes and she was not allowed to speak. Was the current peace an environment that she was used to?

Then I should eat according to what she’s used to. At least I won’t make her feel uncomfortable.

Chen Changsheng thought this way, but he did not take up his chopsticks, instead continuing to stare at her.

Because she truly was very pretty.

The steam rising up from the pot was very similar to the misty rain and foggy snow on the Bridge of Helplessness. In the steam, her face was incredibly beautiful, like a painting.

However, the current her was not at all like the Phoenix fairy of rumors.

Her petite figure almost seemed engulfed by her cotton jacket. The splendor she displayed towards all had completely vanished, leaving behind a normal little girl.

Her head was lowered as she gently blew on the steam and carefully nibbled on the ribs. It was a very cute appearance, just like a baby beast.

The most straightforward pot-simmered ribs were actually consumed by her in such a delicate manner, as if she was lightly sampling the exquisite pastries of the south. However, though she ate with such grace, her speed was not slow. It didn’t take long for the table in front of her to be piled high with extremely clean bones.

Her face was a little red. Perhaps it was because of the heat, or perhaps she was shy, or perhaps it was because she could feel that gaze of his which he refused to move.