Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Daoist Ji and Yu Ren walked through open fields.

They did not walk on the official road, did not take a boat to travel on the Luo River. They walked where human tracks appeared the least, deep within the weeds. Their Daoist robes were covered in bits of grass, a mantis crushed to death beneath a walking stick.

Because it was hard for him to walk, Yu Ren was very slow. Daoist Ji had to consider the speed of his disciple and naturally could not walk too fast. However, they had clearly been in the snowy plains to the north of Mount Han just a few days ago, so how had they appeared here, in the plains from which that imposing city could be seen?

That city had no walls, but on this day in which the blue sky seemed to be washed clean, it was still visible from several dozen li away. This was because of the city’s high platform, the tall mountain on its outskirts, and its countless other buildings that stretched to the clouds.

Though returning to this place after many years, Daoist Ji showed no emotion on his face, only his usual calm and indifference, or perhaps numbness. Yu Ren had no impressions of the capital, nor did he have any sort of emotion towards it, yet his face still revealed curiosity and yearning. Yet in the next moment, those emotions transformed into graveness and unease.

He gazed at a certain position in the sky, gazing at it for a very long time.

The slightly smothering wind of the plains brushed the black hair hanging over his forehead.

He only had one eye that could see, and staring into the distance for so long made it prone to ache. He rubbed his eye, unable to suppress his suspicions, wondering whether his eye had been seeing things a moment ago.

"You did not see wrong. That was your junior brother’s Fated Star."

At some point, Daoist Ji had also begun gazing at the sky. His perpetually calm and emotionless face finally revealed an extremely faint smile. Although this smile was faint, it was rich with emotion.

So many years had already passed, so many that even he had almost forgotten which direction the wind had been blowing when Emperor Taizong had that conversation with him in the Palace of Great Brilliance before returning to the sea of stars.

Hearing Daoist Ji’s words, Yu Ren became even more uneasy.

"There is no need to worry, this is a good thing."

After saying this, Daoist Ji continued forward.

Yu Ren gazed at his back, opening his mouth to say something, but no sound would come out. He made signs with his hands, but he could not make him see. He could only shake his head and continue forward.

The wind blew across the grass, opening a path.

Master and disciple walked along this path through the plains, one happy, one concerned.

At the end of this path, the capital loomed.

......

......

On the peak of Mount Han, on the shores of the Heaven Lake, many people had already guessed at what Chen Changsheng was doing, at what he was experiencing. Countless conversations expressing shock rose up, like the buzzing of so many bees, then, in a flash, they all vanished, transforming into absolute silence.

The crowd gazed at the cross-legged Chen Changsheng with faces brimming with shock.

He...was condensing his star!

Back then, in the matches of the Grand Examination, Chen Changsheng had broken into Ethereal Opening mid-match. Could it be that today, he planned to break into Star Condensation? Would this genius of the Orthodoxy who had already created far too many miracles once more shock the entire continent? Then would he succeed or not?

To choose this sort of moment to break through was astounding enough, but the truly important question was still whether he could do it or not.

If he could, it was a miracle. If he could not, it was a joke.

And to barely do it was also not enough.

What was Star Condensation? People who did not understand cultivation but had read a few related books might believe that Star Condensation was a higher level of Purification. One could borrow the limitless radiance granted by the sea of stars in the instant one broke into Star Condensation to raise the strength of one’s body to an unimaginable degree...this sort of view was not completely without basis. Human Star Condensation experts, even without condensing their Star Domains, could rely on the strength and power of their bodies to fight directly with demon experts, thus the reasoning.

But the true importance of Star Condensation rested in the four words ’condensing the Star Domain’.

Borrowing the fierce radiance of the stars, cultivators could directly open many of the meridian cycles within their bodies, doing their utmost to open as many of the three-hundred-plus Qi openings in their body as possible. From this, they would be able to obtain an unending and growing amount of true essence that would never be exhausted under normal circumstances. The star radiance would be expressed outwards, forming a world. Only at this point could one truly be ranked amongst the true experts!

The problem was, how should the radiance of the stars be distributed? How should one select the order and number of Qi openings that would be lit up? These were extremely complex questions. Even an extremely talented and experienced disciple of a large and famous sect would require the assistance of his teachers in a long period of preparation before attempting to condense his star. The smallest lack of attention was highly likely to result in failure, and even a high chance that the star radiance would flow backwards and inflict heavy injuries on the cultivator, resulting in a heavy dip in cultivation level. It might even be serious enough to end any hope of breaking into Star Condensation for the rest of the cultivator’s life.

Of the several thresholds of cultivation, although the threshold of Star Condensation was not as dangerous as Ethereal Opening, one could not regard it casually. This was especially the case for the one seeking to break through, who had to possess sufficient experience and comprehension.

No matter how talented Chen Changsheng was, he had still not even reached the age of seventeen. In addition, he did not possess the blood of the true Dragon like Qiushan Jun, floating in and perceiving the sea of the Dao from childhood. He had not even cultivated for two years, so how could he have had enough time to experience and comprehend?

Even if he did succeed in forcefully breaking through, luckily avoiding any backflow of radiance, if the order in which he opened the Qi opening was not correct or he lit up too many, there was a high possibility that when he condensed his Star Domain, it would be defective. Let alone perfect, there was even some chance that it could be extremely mediocre.

To normal cultivators, just being able to condense a Star Domain was an extraordinary feat. The Star Domains of many of the world’s present Star Condensation cultivators were hard to describe as perfect, but he was Chen Changsheng, the future Pope, so what the people demanded of him was naturally different—just like Su Li had once jeered in the wilderness, could that sort of Star Domain be called a Star Domain?

While awaiting the result, everyone in the crowd had different feelings, so the expressions on their faces were also different.

Gou Hanshi’s expression was very calm, Guan Feibai’s very solemn, Liang Banhu’s slightly lonely. These expressions were because they deeply understood Chen Changsheng. Since he had chosen this moment to break through, he must necessarily have made ample preparation and had more than enough confidence.

Zhexiu’s expression was very indifferent, but his pupils were slightly constricted. Tang Thirty-Six’s face was rather pale, his two hands tightly clenched. They had an even deeper understanding of Chen Changsheng and were also confident that Chen Changsheng could succeed in breaking through. However, in the end, they were still somewhat nervous, afraid that some accident would occur.

No one knew that the most nervous person was actually Xu Yourong. She sat behind the curtains, her face utterly emotionless, her body slightly leaning forward, as if she was ready to stand at any moment.

That star had lit up in the daytime and its radiance had descended, pouring into Chen Changsheng’s body. As a result, the firm stone platform had sunk half an inch, the scenic lake and mountains plunged into silence.

Chen Changsheng’s eyes were still shut, but he had already awakened and returned to reality. He performed meditative introspection to inspect the situation in his body. He confirmed that his Ethereal Palace was still wide open, all his true essence beginning to blaze, that star radiance that had been poured into his body almost on the verge of breaking out of his control. He knew what he should choose.

Of course, he wanted to condense a perfect Star Domain, and he was confident that he could do it.

Star Condensation required a long period of comprehension, perception, and preparation? Although he had cultivated for less than two years, he had already paid many years for its sake. His method of cultivation had always been different from the rest.

Before he succeeded in Purification, he was already performing Meditative Introspection. When he was drawing in starlight for Purification, he had actually always been at Ethereal Opening. He had always been using methods beyond his actual level to cultivate.

Last year in the Mausoleum of Books, he that was still in the Ethereal Opening Realm was already beginning to condense his star.

In the wilderness, Su Li had passed the Intellectual Sword to him. When he was sitting by the lake, gazing at the starry sky while pondering how to break the Star Domains of Star Condensation experts, he was simultaneously pondering how to cast the sea of stars into his own body, what order he should light up his Qi openings, what sort of Star Domain he should condense.

His starry sky had long been in that place.

He was only waiting for the moment to light it up.

......