250 Going Upstream… Part One

The Mount Li's Myriad Sword Array once again moved into action. In the lightof sun, the innumerable sword glows gleamed like liquid gold. With a bright cry, the white crane departed from Holy Maiden Peak. In the Imperial Palace, on the Dew Platform, the Divine Empress's figure wasnowhere to be seen. In the Li Palace, a bell suddenly rang out without any warning. Although itdid not seem urgent, it nevertheless rang out without end, like it would nevercome to a stop. In that grass hut outside Hanqiu City, Zhu Luo suddenly opened his eyes. Hiseyes only contained vigilance and surprise, without a trace of intoxication. In the carriage, Mei Lisha also opened his eyes. Within his turbid eyes, anindescribable expression flashed. Neither of them knew what was happening in the distant north outside of XuelaoCity, nor did they know about the shaking of Mount Li or the ringing of the LiPalace's bell at that moment. However, in that previous moment, they had sensedan extremely shocking matter… the Garden of Zhou had just closed. The forest was thrown into chaos. The elder of the Longevity Sect, the priestsof the Orthodoxy, and all the teachers from the various sects and academieshurried towards the impenetrable fog. The lightning still flashed through the fog like snakes, but the rainbow thathad opened a path through the fog this morning had at some point disappeared.The path was once more occupied by the fog. The rainbow was still there, but its position was constantly changed, so itwas impossible for it properly open the path. All it could do was cause the fogto roll about. Zhu Luo and Mei Lisha stood in front, their expressions solemn as they viewedthe scene before them. With the strength of their eyes, they could faintly seethat winding path. They confirmed that the path had not completely disappeared,but it had been disturbed by some force so that it was temporarily impossibleto use. "The miniature world naturally possesses its own rules for moving within it.Unless one possesses them, it is impossible to change them." Mei Lisha slowly continued, "Unless Zhou Dufu himself came back to life, noone can cause the Garden of Zhou to close prematurely. Presumably after a fewdays, the door to the garden will open once again." Despite these words, the atmosphere in the forest did not grow any morerelaxed. Just who could affect the opening of the Garden of Zhou? What did that personplan to do? Zhu Luo and Mei Lisha did not need to think. They knew that it was definitelythe work of the Demons. They could even directly think of the name of the perpetrator… Black Robe. The more Mei Lisha thought about it, the more concerned he became. When would the door to the Garden of Zhou open once more? Within those days, what sort of things will be happening in the Garden? What would those people find? What would happen between them? Was there anyone that could control the situation? Zhu Luo suddenly spoke. "She went in." After a moment of silence, Mei Lisha responded, "We'll have to see what hedoes." The people inside the Garden of Zhou had not realized what was happeningoutside. With Zhexiu holding the umbrella, Chen Changsheng and Zhexiu walked throughthe light rain. Taking leave of the quiet garden with the small bridge, they had arrived neara lush and verdant mountain. Standing on a cliff and gazing at the forest below him that was wet with rain,then looking off towards that distant plain bathed in the sunlight, ChenChangsheng's mind felt free. The Garden of Zhou was not a garden. It was a true miniature world. Zhou Dufu was truly worthy of his reputation as the strongest cultivator ofthe continent in the past one thousand years. This miniature world that he hadleft behind was many times larger than the Pope's Green Leaf world. Following the mountain path, they entered the forest. Exiting the forest, thepair arrived near a river. Off in the distance, they could see that the plainwas still shimmering in the sunlight, yet they had drawn no closer to it. Chen Changsheng examined the flowing water bottle and he realized it had takenan hour for them to walk there. Comparing that to the time he kept in his head,he confirmed that time had not flown any faster or slower. "I heard that on those plains, one month inside is equivalent to one dayoutside the garden." Zhexiu continued, "Only it's been more than a hundredyears, yet no one that has ever entered the Garden of Zhou has been able topenetrate the depths of those plains. Nobody knows if Zhou Dufu's legacy lieswithin. The only thing that is known is that the plain conceals many dangers,as well as extraordinarily fierce monsters. Chen Changsheng had studied the records related to this matter in the DaoistCanon, so when he heard the word ’monster’, he subconsciously glanced at Zhexiu. As a child, the wolf youth had grown up in the snowy plains. He should be anexpert in hunting monsters. The sort of monsters that can live and reproduce in that plain aren'tsomething that an Ethereal Opening cultivator can oppose." Zhexiu expressionlessly said, "So don't think about it too much." Seeing that distant plain, there was no way that Chen Changsheng could notthink about it. He subconsciously rubbed the hilt of his dagger. Perhaps because the sound of the river was quite loud, or because it was onlyin his sea of consciousness, Zhexiu did not hear the two feeble squeaks thatcame from the dagger. "Where are we going?" The Garden of Zhou had five regions. It seemed to be calmness from a distance,but actually extremely treacherous plain. Other than the grassland, the otherfour regions had been, for the most, already completely explored by humancultivators and demons several hundred years ago. The remnants of many of thecontinent's heaven-shaking experts had been recovered and their legacies hadbeen restored. Many magical artifacts also saw the light of day once again.After the passage of several hundred years, no one knew what was left in theGarden of Zhou, but all the schools and sects agreed, for the currentgeneration to obtain any sort of legacy or magical artifact, they would have towork all the harder and risk all the more than the previous generations ofcultivators. Chen Changsheng thought it over and said, "Is there any place that you want togo and see?" When he had been viewing monoliths in the Mausoleum of Books, he had alreadythought of what he wanted to see when he entered the Garden of Zhou. He would see some sights, and search for some artifacts. After that night, hehad amended his travel plans somewhat, but he had absolutely left that plainfor last. Zhexiu replied, "I want to go to the Sword Pool." Then he added, "If the Sword Pool is real that is." Chen Changsheng replied, "The Sword Pool is only something spoken of in tales,but no one has ever seen it… if over the past several hundred years, ourseniors couldn't find it, I don't think that we'll be able to." "There are no swords." Zhexiu's seriously said as he looked at Chen Changsheng. Chen Changsheng pondered the matter for awhile. It was true that over allthese centuries, the Garden of Zhou had opened so many times and so manycultivators had entered to explore and they found many magical artifacts,treasures and precious legacies, and yet no one had found any swords. Whetherit was the mountain range where wind angrily howled through the pines or thelakeside where the bluish waves were like mirrors, not a single sword had beenfound. Where did the sword of all those experts who had fallen at Zhou Dufu's hand go? The tales of the Sword Pool had a very reasonable basis. "Even if we're very lucky and do actually find the Sword Pool, all thoseswords are most definitely broken and devoid of spirit. It would be better togo searching in those caves in the mountains. We might even find a convenientmagical artifact." "I don't have a sword." Zhexiu seriously told him, "If it's possible, I want to find a sword that Ican use. And anyway, I don't like magical artifacts." Only then did Chen Changsheng realize that Zhexiu had only ever used his handsto fight. After thinking about it for a while, he said, "I remember reading inthe notes of our predecessors that if you follow this river upstream, around adozen li up on the right-hand side is a mountain stream. Someone had once founda scabbard at the bottom of this stream. If the Sword Pool truly exists in theGarden of Zhou, then it should be in that vicinity." For some reason, the rain stopped. Chen Changsheng put away the umbrella, then he and Zhexiu began to make theirway upstream. They did not walk far before they suddenly began to hear the clashing ofswords up ahead. As they rounded the beach, they saw a girl leaning against a tree, her leftshoulder completely stained with blood. It was the senior from Holy Maiden Peakthat had journeyed together with Chen Changsheng from the capital. That girl called Ye Xiaolian stood guard by her side, her sword bared and herface filled with fury.