Chapter 151 – The Sky

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Chen Changsheng's speed was truly very fast, his fist truly traveling in a very straight line.

Logically speaking, his fist was sure to miss. It was impossible for it to strike Huo Guang, who had used the graceful Cloud Leaping technique to float into the air.

His fist had truly missed, striking nothing but air and releasing a drone like an ancient bell being tuned.

Even the weightless air seemed to be broken by this punch.

Yet his punch did not stop, but continued forward.

A path seemed to appear in the shattered air, invisible to the naked eyes yet still giving off a real feeling.

The important characters in the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words, watching through the mirror of light, also sensed the existence of this path.

This path was created by Chen Changsheng's fist, but it was an arc, not a straight line, its end slightly curving upward.

This invisible line was very smooth and beautiful, imbued with the heavenly beauty of nature.

Just how had the path made by the straight punch been able to curve in the air?

There was only one explanation: that it was his fist intent which had changed its direction at the last possible moment.

Just what sort of fist technique in the world could accomplish this?

Huo Guang floated into the air.

Chen Changsheng's fist followed this invisible arc into the sky.

"The Burning Heaven Sword!"

Xue Xingchuan's cry of shock echoed through the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words.

There truly was no fist technique that could adjust a fist intent's trajectory at the final moment.

The great personages in the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words were all very experienced, so they were incredibly certain that no such technique existed.

But there was a sword technique that could do this, that could change the trajectory of the sword intent at the very last moment of the technique.

Earlier, the powerful figures within the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words had silently counted that there were probably three styles in the world that could accomplish it, and one of them was this sword technique.

The Mount Li Sword Style's Burning Heaven Sword!

The chairs sc.r.a.ped along the floor of the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words.

The great personages all stood up, indescribable shock on their faces as they watched the youth on the mirror of light explode into the air with a clenched fist.

Just how had a student of the Orthodox Academy learned one of the secret sword techniques of the Mount Li Sword Style?

It was rumored that the Burning Heaven Sword of the Mount Li Sword Style was a secret technique developed by the legendary Junior Martial Uncle of Mount Li. He had never shown it to anyone else, and it was only after he had traveled the world for several centuries and returned to Mount Li that the heartfelt pleading of the sect master finally persuaded him to record this technique in the manual for the Mount Li Sword Style.

This sword technique was very famous, but very few people learned it. It was far too difficult, as it required one's spiritual sense to be incredibly condensed.

In the current generation of the Mount Li Sword Sect's disciples, it was said that only Qiushan Jun and Gou Hans.h.i.+ had been able to learn it.

Now, this sword technique appeared in Chen Changsheng's hands.

He did not use a sword, but a fist.

The Burning Heaven Sword had naturally become the Exploding Sky Fist.

Between the blue sky and his fist was Huo Guang.

Before his fist could explode upon the blue sky, it had to fall on Huo Guang.

There was a dull boom.

It was the sound of a fist slamming against a body.

Chen Changsheng's fist exploded against Huo Guang's chest.

Concisely, precisely, and forcefully.

There was a second boom.

This was the sound of a body colliding against the air.

Huo Guang's body instantly took flight from the ground, soaring into the sky and becoming a small dot.

Outside the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust, the examinees were gathered in front of the stone steps, waiting for the match to conclude.

At this moment, they heard two consecutive booms.

Due to the sound-obstructing array of the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust, they had not heard any sound before this, and this was not like the battle between Tang Thirty-Six and Liang Banhu, where their sword intents had been able to cast themselves onto the blue sky. As the partic.i.p.ants of this match were Huo Guang and Chen Changsheng, the examinees couldn't help but look down on this match a little.

This lasted until those two thunderous booms seemed to explode next to their ears.

The examinees were all stupefied. As they heard the whoos.h.i.+ng sound that followed the booms, their gazes moved upward to that figure in the air.

The place was deathly still. Many examinees gaped, but n.o.body spoke.

They stared as the figure flew high up into the air and then fell back down.

After a moment, the ground slightly trembled.

The examinees lowered their gazes to their feet and then raised them back up to look at the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust. They were too stunned to speak, feeling that their hearts were trembling with the ground.

That trembling was probably that person falling back to the ground, right?

The majority of examinees were not able to tell just who had been sent flying into the air, but for some reason, many people subconsciously felt that it could not be Chen Changsheng.

Within the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust.

Chen Changsheng's right foot was in front, his left foot behind, his pose like that of a bow.

His right arm was slightly bent and raised to the sky like a torch.

Huo Guang had been sent flying.

He drew back his fist and right foot, straightened his body, and watched the sky.

His gaze traveled up and then down, following the trajectory of that figure back into the hall.

With a dull thud, dust flew and the ground trembled.

As the dust receded, Huo Guang collapsed to the ground, incessantly vomiting blood, with an unknown number of his bones broken.

From the moment he had left the ground, the examiners on the second floor had hurried down and made preparations to apply emergency treatment.

Two female priests of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green constantly shed clear light, staunching his blood and ensuring that his life would not be in danger. Only then was he carried out of the Li Palace.

As he lay on the sand-covered ground and looked up at the blue sky, Huo Guang's expression was one of pain, his eyes filled with unwillingness and anger, but mostly confusion.

He did not understand why he had lost in this match.

After all, before entering the capital, he had already known who his opponent would be.

If Chen Changsheng had not even been able to pa.s.s the martial test, he naturally would not have taken part in the matches. If he had not even been able to pa.s.s the first round, he naturally would not have been able to encounter Huo Guang. What Huo Guang knew was that as long as Chen Changsheng was able to enter the second round, then he would be matched up against Huo Guang, and Huo Guang would become an impa.s.sable mountain, the course of history would be corrected, and the confluence of the north and south would be put back on the right track…

And yet, now he was lying on the ground, heavily injured, powerless to move, unable to do something as simple as turn his head.

He wanted to say something to Chen Changsheng, but he wasn't even able to see Chen Changsheng or speak. He could only look at the blue sky.

The sky of the Education Palace was much lower than the sky of the real world. Just a moment ago, he even felt like he could touch that sky.

Just like how he thought before entering the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust that he could easily defeat Chen Changsheng.

But in truth, the sky was impossible to touch.

And he had been unable to defeat Chen Changsheng.

Why?

Chen Changsheng could imagine how much turmoil Huo Guang and the powerful figures behind him were going through and what their impressions might be, but he did not think about these things. The impressions of others had nothing to do with him. Whether poison for others might be honey for him was no concern of his. He had never wasted time on such meaningless affairs.

He did not look at the supine Huo Guang. He bowed to the supervising Li Palace priest, and then walked out of the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust.

The Li Palace priest was from the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education. As he watched the youth, he nodded his head in praise.

From the moment he entered the Hall of Was.h.i.+ng Away Dust to his departure, Chen Changsheng had not said a single word.

Before the start of the match, Huo Guang had said that he would not use words to disgrace Chen Changsheng, as it was meaningless and uninteresting. He would simply defeat Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng had used reality to tell his opponent that speaking itself was meaningless and uninteresting; that he had come to fight, not chat; and that they weren't even friends, or even acquaintances.

Similarly, before the start of the match, Huo Guang had looked down on him and said that if Chen Changsheng did not pull out his sword, he would never have the chance.

Chen Changsheng had used reality to prove that the person who had truly needed to pull out their sword had been Huo Guang himself.

Within the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words, silence reigned once more.

The crowd needed a very long time before finally suppressing the shock in their hearts.

Mo Yu looked at the now-vacant sand, the corners of her lips slightly perked upwards. She apparently wanted to smile, but she managed to keep her cold appearance in the end.

Xue Xingchuan turned to Archbishop Mei Lisha, many questions on his mind about the level of Chen Changsheng's performance.

It was only now that the crowd realized that at some point, the archbishop had closed his eyes and seemingly fallen back into sleep.

But the wrinkles on his face had been greatly smoothed.

His rather striking liver spots had grown much fainter.

A faint smile hung about his face.