366 Su Li's Gaze Part One

At present, the northern stretches of the Tianliang County were somewhat cold.Although the sorghum had not grown that high, it was still enough to conceal aperson. Presumably, this person was a true assassin that was highly skilled inconcealing his traces. Su Li paid no attention to that assassin concealed in the fields. That sort ofguy who could not even bear to see the light of day, no matter how dangerous,in his eyes was still not as dangerous as the dazzling Xue He.  Xue He continued to walk towards the pair, his armor clanking as he stepped.His blade intents whistled through the air and his footsteps were firm andsteady. As he got closer and closer, he warily asked Chen Changsheng, "And justwho are you? Chen Changsheng had not intentionally withdrawn his Qi, so Xue He could seethat he had already entered the upper level of Ethereal Opening. To be able to enter the upper level of Ethereal Opening at such a young age,this was by necessity no ordinary person. Xue He had never encountered thissort of person before. He impassively uttered, "If I did not know that QiushanJun, because of the matters of the Garden of Zhou, was heavily injured and faraway in Mount Li, and if you did not have such a commonplace appearance, Ireally would have suspected that you were Qiushan Jun." Chen Changsheng had finally confirmed that the demons, or the enigmatic BlackRobe, for some sort of reason, had not transmitted the news to the south thathe was traveling with Su Li. He could not but begin to ponder, if Xue He knewhis identity, would he halt his steps? Just at this moment, Su Li's voice rangout. "If your elder brother Xue Xingchuan was here, you absolutely wouldn'tmistake him for Qiushan Jun. This guy is only at the upper level of EtherealOpening, while my family's Qiushan Jun has already succeeded in entering StarCondensation! Are you saying that you can't even see through this level ofdifference?" It was only a person like Su Li who would use the word ‘only’ in hiscomments to describe a youth already in the upper level of Ethereal Opening,and it was probably only Qiushan Jun amongst this current generation of youngcultivators that could steadily suppress Chen Changsheng by a full head. This was a fact, but for some reason, Chen Changsheng felt somewhat depressed.Perhaps it was because when Su Li mentioned Qiushan Jun, his voice was veryaffectionate. In a moment, he had completely forgotten to tell Xue He hisidentity. And it was just at this moment that Xue He had reached a position that wasbarely less than ten zhang from them. His hand had already completely graspedthe hilt of his blade, becoming one with it. Those six blade intents were stillfused into one, forming their own world. Xue He had already finished preparing his blades. His Qi was at its peak. Onlya Star Condensation expert could summon such a perfect Star Domain. He used the blade, so his Star Domain was a Blade Domain. Chen Changsheng could be even more of a genius, but he was still too young inthe end. There was a limit to the time he could cultivate, and therewas the inherent problem with his meridians, limiting the amount of trueessence he could use. It was simply impossible for him to pierce through thisperfect Blade Domain. There were many times when the difference in cultivation could not be made upwith by things like courage, willpower, determination, or skill. He stared at Xue He's armor that shined like the sun in the morninglight, and slowly took his dagger out of the sheath. In this very brief period of time, he had performed many calculations in hissea of consciousness. The countless examples of battles he had seen in theDaoist Canon and the library of the Orthodox Academy transformed intoimages that flitted past his eyes, yet he still could not find a way. The continent's twenty-eighth Divine General, Xue He. This was unquestionablythe strongest opponent he had ever encountered after he began his cultivation.Solely in terms of cultivation, he was on the same level as the Demon Generalcouple in the Garden of Zhou. However, for the sake of entering the Garden ofZhou, the Demon General couple had used some sort of secret method toforcefully suppress their cultivation. Because of the Garden of Zhou'srestrictions, when they battled with him, they had not displayed the truestrength of the Star Condensation realm. The Golden-winged Great Peng which was roused by the burning of Nanke's divinesoul had been cut down in the sky by his ten thousand swords turned dragon, butthe vast majority of the power in the blow had come from the several hundredyears of amassed longing accumulated by the ten thousand broken swords in theSword Pool. The sort of will and strength had nothing to do with him, andmoreover, the opportunity was no longer there. Right now, the ten thousandbroken swords in the sheath of his dagger could no longer exhibit such might. How could he defeat this powerful opponent? Chen Changsheng gripped his dagger and stared at the approaching Xue He, hismind growing increasingly tense. Xue He knew that he was his opponent, yet his focus was not on him. His visionrested behind, from the beginning to the end, looking at Su Li. Not to mention being heavily injured, even if he was on the verge of death,clinging onto his last breath, as long as Su Li was still alive, he was stillthe continent's most formidable expert! Su Li was also looking at him. But in reality, Su Li was not looking at him, but at his Blade Domain. Suddenly, Su Li's gaze rested on a space in front of him. Simultaneously, heextended his hand to grab the handle of the Yellow Paper Umbrella. In the Yellow Paper Umbrella was the Heaven Shrouding Sword. The umbrellahandle was the hilt of the sword. Back in the snowy plains, when Su Li gripped the hilt of his sword, swordintent had encroached like fire, directly beheading a Demon General severaldozen li away. At the moment, Xue He was right in front of him, so he could even moreperceive the intense danger. Without the slightest warning, a purely instinctual vigilance caused Xue He toexplode with an incomparably powerful Qi. Just like with the previous morning light, the armor on his body instantlybegan to shine. With a clatter, the metal sword left its sheath and then, nextto Chen Changsheng's shoulder, it slashed down at the hand with which SuLi held the umbrella. A violent gale kicked up amongst the verdant sorghum. Having been at his side this entire journey south, Chen Changsheng bestunderstood Su Li's condition. Let alone moving his sword and slaying enemies,he could not even walk on his own. He did not understand why Su Li would grip the handle of the umbrella and usehis sword intent to compel Xue He to burst forth with his blade. This was a question that Su Li posed to him. Chen Changsheng only needed a moment of thought to find the answer. Because SuLi had taught him so much and he had learned very seriously, he could rememberevery word that was said. A few days ago, Su Li had once told him that the most important moment inbattle was the instant when defense shifted to offense. If one could trulycatch their opponent off guard, even the strongest foe might lose. Xue He hadtaken out his blade seemingly because of Su Li's actions. Because of hisvigilance and unease, he was compelled to act this way, but in truth, he hadalso been taking advantage of the situation. It was because this was theonly way could he truly catch Su Li off guard. To kill an expert at Su Li'slevel, before Xue He had attacked, he had by necessity calculated all thedetails. As expected, that most important moment in battle was precisely when defenseshifted to offense, but could it bring benefits merely because it was done? No,Chen Changsheng had clearly remembered that after saying these words, Su Li hadalso given another explanation: the strongest opponent, in the moment whenshifting from defense to offense, will always put his entire mind into it. As aresult, it was also the moment where mistakes occurred easiest. In other words, the enemy whose power was nigh perfect would always, in themoment of shifting from defense to offense, become somewhat less perfect. Chen Changsheng's eyes began to shine. This was because Xue He's blade glowed like snow, and also because of thegradually flourishing morning light. His dagger had already pierced forward. Three Forms of Wenshui, Hanging Sunset. The dagger hummed, carrying with it all the morning light in the sorghumfield, shuddering at high speeds as it pierced towards Xue He's abdomen. As a Star Condensation expert, Xue He had used his seven blades to form animpregnable domain. Even if it was that moment where defense shifted tooffense, where there might be a point that was relatively more fragile, howcould he let Chen Changsheng see through it? Chen Changsheng was indeed unable to see through it, but there was someone whocould. Su Li only needed a glance to see where the weak point of Xue He's BladeDomain was. He extended his hand to grasp the handle of the Yellow Paper Umbrella,inciting Xue He to attack, but his gaze had always been fixed on that place inthe air in front of Xue He. Chen Changsheng's dagger, following Su Li's gaze, thrust out. There was a light pop, like a leather bag full of wine that had beenpunctured, or like a swollen sugar figurine that had been popped by somenaughty child with a bamboo stick. In that dazzling morning light which enveloped Xue He, there suddenly appeareda path. The sharp flash had already reached his abdomen.