Chapter 81: Thrashing the Xuanwu Kingdom’s Guardians; The Sorrow of Ordinary Cultivators
Chapter 81 – Thrashing the Xuanwu Kingdom’s Guardians; The Sorrow of Ordinary Cultivators
Witnessing Su Tian’s choice, Ye Hensheng let out a soft sigh before stepping toward the Night Moon Country’s Heavenly Talent Assembly cohort.
Ever since arriving at the Kunlun Holy Land, Ye Hensheng had harbored deep concerns for his delegation’s safety.
It was not a lack of excellence among his peers, but rather the overwhelming might of the younger generation from rival territories.
Just as Chen Changsheng had declared, this Heavenly Talent Assembly was a ruthless struggle for the Great Dao; mortal status meant nothing here.
To participate recklessly without sufficient strength was to invite the calamity of death.
Previously, Ye Hensheng had allowed comradery to stay his tongue.
Now that the truth lay bare, he had no choice but to harden his heart.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Su Tian and Ye Hensheng struck simultaneously. Initially, the other Heavenly Talents held their power in check.
Yet, as the pair’s onslaught grew increasingly tyrannical, true killing intent ignited within the crowd.
The ensuing clash proved why Ye Hensheng and Su Tian were the undisputed peak Heavenly Talents of their respective nations.
Fighting two against ten, they suffered no disadvantage, instead forcing their opponents into a steady retreat.
Glancing toward the distant melee, Chen Changsheng hoisted the awakened Little Black to eye level.
“Little Black, I have remained secluded from the world for a long time.”
“Yet the moment I emerge, I find myself tormenting the descendants and grand-disciples of old acquaintances. Is this not a bit untoward?”
“Whimper~”
Little Black let out a feeble whine, as if lamenting the disruption of its sweet dreams.
Seeing this, Chen Changsheng rolled his eyes.
“As a hound, you should overflow with vigor. How are you lazier than a tortoise?”
Ignoring his master’s nagging, Little Black yawned widely and slowly slid its eyes shut once more.
“Sigh~”
Letting out a helpless sigh, Chen Changsheng stood, cradling the pup.
“Forget it, sleep if you must.”
“Consulting a dog on such philosophical matters is truly asking too much.”
“Still, shedding tears at the hands of one’s own people remains far better than bleeding out beneath the blades of outsiders.”
With those words, Chen Changsheng’s figure vanished like mist.
With internal strife tearing through the Eastern Wasteland’s Heavenly Talents, their Guardians naturally moved to intervene.
But how could Chen Changsheng permit anyone to obstruct his designs?
……
“Perhaps you should linger here a moment longer.”
“If you cross over now, I fear you will suffer severe injuries.”
Chen Changsheng barred the path of three imposing figures at the battlefield’s edge.
Confronted by this supposed Heavenly Talent from the Night Moon Country, the three Guardians of the Xuanwu Kingdom furrowed their brows.
“Who exactly are you, sir?”
“Why do you sow discord among the Eastern Wasteland’s youth?”
“Furthermore, this old man has never heard of a ‘Chen Changsheng’ hailing from the Night Moon Country.”
The strongest among them, an elder at the mid Soul Formation stage, demanded answers.
Chen Changsheng displayed absolutely no interest in replying, his head lowered as he silently stroked the hound in his arms.
As the distant skirmish intensified into a brutal melee, the three Guardians lost their remaining patience.
“Since you refuse to speak, this old man will capture you and present you to His Majesty for judgment!”
The mid Soul Formation elder instantly manifested a gourd-shaped Dharma Treasure and unleashed a vicious assault upon Chen Changsheng.
The archaic gourd swelled rapidly against the wind, disgorging a storm of wind blades sharp enough to rend gold and sever jade.
Yet this torrential tempest failed to shift Chen Changsheng even half an inch.
Glancing sidelong at the trio, Chen Changsheng spoke with icy detachment.
“For Zuo Xinghe to dispatch you three… he truly never intended to participate in this Heavenly Talent Assembly in good faith.”
As he spoke, his right hand casually grasped the void, and a suffocating Formation instantaneously imprisoned them all.
With his current mastery over Formations, conjuring such an array in a single breath was as natural as a heartbeat.
“Bang!”
The moment the Formation severed all external prying eyes, Chen Changsheng manifested a massive, savage bone in a backhand grip and ruthlessly smashed it against the elder’s Dharma Treasure.
A single, tyrannical strike shattered the precious gourd into worthless dust.
Horrified by this display of absolute violence, the three Soul Formation mighty figures staggered back.
Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined a mere junior possessing such monstrous physical might.
Gripping the Taotie Root Bone in his right hand and cradling Little Black in his left, Chen Changsheng advanced with the measured steps of an executioner.
“Let us be reasonable. In the current era, Soul Formation cultivators are little more than dead weight.”
“Forget facing the Guardians of rival factions; you would likely perish at the hands of the Heavenly Talents themselves.”
“You still cling to an archaic cultivation path. Crushed beneath the suppression of the Heavenly Dao, how could you ever hope to match those favored youths?”
Even as he casually dissected their inadequacies, Chen Changsheng wielded the Taotie Root Bone to deliver a brutal, methodical beating.
Among these three Soul Formation experts, two walked the path of external bodily refinement, while the third pursued internal Qi.
Under normal circumstances, their combined might would be a formidable force.
But fate had pitted them against Chen Changsheng, a monstrosity who had mastered both the internal and the external Daos.
In a clash of Dharma Treasures, he wielded the Taotie Root Bone, while his Formation attainments stood unrivaled beneath the heavens.
In a contest of physical tyranny, he possessed the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art and was an Expert in over ninety percent of the Xuanwu Kingdom’s flesh-tempering manuals.
Beyond even that, he harbored an impenetrable defensive providence, an autonomous resilience bestowed upon his flesh by his hidden destiny.
In every conceivable metric, Chen Changsheng completely and ruthlessly crushed them.
Had the Heavenly Dao not suppressed them, the trio might have retained the right to exchange a handful of blows.
But anchored by the world’s crushing laws, they existed only to be beaten into the dirt.
Within twenty breaths, three mighty Soul Formation experts lay groveling in the dust.
Staring up at the youthful Chen Changsheng, their eyes burned with profound humiliation and unwillingness.
To watch centuries of bitter cultivation dismantled so effortlessly by a junior—what ancient master could stomach such a reality?
“Cease your glaring. This is simply the profound sorrow of ordinary practitioners in the cultivation world.”
“To reach the Soul Formation realm proves your innate talent was not lacking in your youth.”
“But the Great Dao is a boundless abyss. The moment your steps falter, the rising tides of the next generation will drown you.”
The three: “……”
Chen Changsheng’s icy logic deepened the resentment pooling in their gazes.
Naturally, they knew the Heavenly Dao suppressed their ancient methods, but forging a new path of cultivation was no trivial matter!
Having stagnated at the Soul Formation realm, their remaining lifespan was severely depleted.
If they dared to shatter their foundations and rebuild from scratch, only to fail in reclaiming their current realm, they would wither into ash within mere years.
Aside from crippling themselves to start anew, the archaic powerhouses of yesteryear possessed only one other option.
To completely dismantle and rebuild the foundational laws of their original cultivation, birthing an entirely new system of power.
Yet, such a feat was infinitely more treacherous.
The ancient ways were forged through the blood and tribulations of countless epochs; how could mortals so casually rewrite the laws of heaven?
Sensing the violent tremors beyond the Formation slowly subsiding, Chen Changsheng casually tossed an object into the dirt.
“Wash your hands of the Heavenly Talent Assembly.”
“Your sole duty now is to remain here and nurse those battered children.”
“I have subtly altered the foundational runes of the Xuanwu Kingdom’s teleportation array. It will remain dormant for a month.”
“After a month, you may crawl back to your kingdom.”
With his decree delivered, Chen Changsheng shattered the Formation and vanished from their sight.
Trembling, the mid Soul Formation elder stared at the object tossed into his lap, his eyes wide with sheer disbelief.
It was a sovereign token—the exclusive command medallion belonging to the Xuanwu Kingdom’s State Preceptor.
Yet, this very token had vanished from the mortal realm eight hundred years ago!
……