pjbooks Chapter 136
Chapter 136
The eve of the decisive battle.
As dusk settled over Jiangzhou City, countless lights began to twinkle in the early winter twilight, like stars fallen to earth. The golden light shield of Qingyun Academy swirled slowly in the night, bathing the entire city in a warm, pale gold hue. Outside the shield, the black ice flowers that had persisted for three months had vanished. The sky was as clean as if it had been washed, and a crescent moon hung on the eastern horizon. Moonlight spilled onto the potholed street outside the academy's main gate, casting dappled light and shadow on the pits eroded by the ice flowers.
Jiang Chen stood in the dispatch room on the second floor of the factory, without turning on the lights. Moonlight streamed in through the dilapidated windows, falling on his dark blue Jiangzhou Academy uniform, making the scorch mark on the cuff, burned by the lingering heat of the Burning Soul Fire, particularly clear. His right hand was in his pocket, his left hand held a cup of now-cold coffee, and his gaze was fixed on the moonlit academy outside the window.
The door behind him was gently pushed open. The footsteps were very light, but Jiang Chen didn't turn around because he knew who it was.
"Brother Chen." Wang Kai's voice came from behind, much more composed than three months ago, but still carrying that deep-seated, barely suppressed tension. "We're going to the First Apostle's Hall tomorrow. I can't sleep."
Jiang Chen turned around and looked at Wang Kai standing in the doorway. He was wearing the dark blue training uniform of Qingyun Academy, and the pale gold sword on his sleeve gleamed faintly in the moonlight. His hair was much longer than it had been three months ago, with wisps of hair falling down his forehead, almost obscuring his eyebrows. His eyes were bright, not like those of someone about to fall asleep, but like those of a warrior sharpening his sword in the final moments before dawn.
"Still can't sleep at the Golden Core stage?" Jiang Chen took a sip of cold coffee, his tone as calm as if he were just saying the weather was nice today.
Wang Kai walked to the window and stood side by side with Jiang Chen, looking out at the academy bathed in moonlight. People were still practicing swordsmanship on the playground, the silvery-white blades flashing like fireflies in the moonlight. From the direction of the physical training area in the distance came muffled impacts; Zhao Tieshan was kicking iron stakes with his prosthetic leg, the crisp metallic clang carrying far in the night wind.
"Brother Chen, if we enter the Apostle Hall tomorrow, how many floors can I survive to?"
"The hundredth floor." Jiang Chen put down his coffee cup, looking at the silvery-white sword light outside the window. "Come in with me."
Wang Kai tapped his fingers lightly on the windowsill. It was a sign of unease; Jiang Chen had known him for so long and had never seen him like this before.
"What are you afraid of?" Jiang Chen asked.
Wang Kai was silent for a moment. Then he spoke, his voice even softer than before, as if he were talking to himself: "I'm not afraid of the Apostles. I'm afraid of my Chaos Spiritual Root. Brother Chen, you said that the Demon Ancestor also had a Chaos Spiritual Root 30,000 years ago. My spiritual root is of the same origin as his. Tomorrow, when I enter the Apostle Hall and face an enemy of Kahn's caliber, will my Chaos Power go out of control? Will it suddenly awaken something it shouldn't during the battle? Will I become a second Demon Ancestor?"
Jiang Chen did not answer immediately. He looked at the silvery-white sword light outside the window, and at the young man wielding the sword within that light, and remained silent for a long time.
Then he turned around, looked at Wang Kai, and pulled his right hand out of his pocket, fingers spread, palm facing up. The Primordial Sword emerged from his palm, six stars on the hilt slowly rotating, illuminating the entire dispatch room as if it were daytime.
"Wang Kai, do you know why I chose you as my first disciple out of so many applicants?"
Wang Kai was stunned for a moment. He opened his mouth, wanting to say "because I am your brother", wanting to say "because after the Awakening Day, only I am still by your side", but when he looked into Jiang Chen's eyes, which were as deep as a thousand-year-old pool, he suddenly felt that those answers were not enough.
"Because of your Dao heart." Jiang Chen answered the question for him. "On Awakening Day, the whole world was laughing at me. You, a C-level life skill Awakener, couldn't even protect yourself, yet when everyone was turning their backs on me, you sent a message saying, 'Dude, say something! Don't do anything rash.' Later, at the Emperor Hotel, Lin Feng and Liu Ruyan humiliated me in front of so many people. You were trembling with anger, but you still stood by my side, without taking a single step back."
He sheathed the Primordial Sword in his palm and put his right hand back into his pocket.
"Your Chaos Spiritual Root is the legacy of the Demon Ancestor, but you are not. Wang Kai, you have always been the brother who sent me messages to comfort me when everyone else was laughing at me, the brother who stood by my side in the Emperor Hotel, trembling with anger, and the brother who punched me relentlessly in the abandoned factory until his fists bled. Your Dao Heart is more precious than any spiritual root."
Wang Kai's eyes reddened. But he didn't let the tears fall; he simply nodded forcefully, turned, and walked towards the door. He stopped at the door without looking back.
"Brother Chen, tomorrow I will stand behind you. No matter what happens, I will not back down."
His footsteps faded at the end of the corridor.
Jiang Chen stood there, staring at the moonlit ground in front of the doorway, and remained silent for a moment. Then he picked up the now-cold cup of coffee and poured the last sip into his mouth.
Moonlight streamed in through the window, falling on the six-colored flame pattern on his right palm. The golden flames of the Heavenly Stars, the dark red flames of the Burning Soul, and the icy blue power of the Ice Profound shimmered slowly in the moonlight, as if warming up for tomorrow's decisive battle.
Early morning in Jiangzhou.
When the first rays of dawn pierced the rooftops and fell upon the long street outside the main gate of Qingyun Academy, the entire street was already packed with people.
These weren't students lining up to register; they were there to say goodbye. For the past three months, these people had learned how to survive the Ice Flower Storm, how to fight on the Awakened Front, and how to face death amidst the ever-growing number of names etched on the monument. Today, they were here for the same reason—to see their Dean off, to keep a promise made three months ago.
When Jiang Chen walked out of the academy's main gate, the entire street instantly fell silent.
He wasn't wearing his school uniform today. He had changed into the dark blue teacher's uniform of Qingyun Academy, with the pale gold sword embroidered on the cuffs. On his right wrist was the light blue hair ribbon—Jiang Xueqin had taken it out of her drawer last night, washed it clean, folded it neatly, and placed it beside his pillow, with a note next to it that read: "Tie it up, so it doesn't block your eyes."
He tied it up.
Wang Kai followed half a step behind him, his dark blue student uniform neatly worn, the Qingyun Academy emblem pinned to his chest. In his right hand he held a sword, a Qingyun Sect standard longsword that Jiang Chen had retrieved from his storage space the previous night. The blade was engraved with the characters "Qingyun," and it was one of the first swords mass-produced by the Primordial Immortal Emperor for his disciples. The sword was light, the blade thin, gleaming with a cold, silvery light in the morning sun.
Shen Qingxue stood beside Wang Kai, her long, silvery-white hair tied into a neat ponytail, her icy blue eyes gleaming coldly in the morning light. A short, icy-blue sword hung at her waist—formed from her ice-elemental spiritual power, its blade swirling with fine, icy-blue runes, each one seemingly breathing.
Bingli and Xuanming stood behind Shen Qingxue. Today, they were wearing Qingyun Academy uniforms, the dark blue fabric making their faces, weathered by time thirty thousand years ago, appear even more austere. Bingli's long, silver-white hair was tied into a low ponytail with a black elastic band, hanging down her shoulders; Xuanming's black hair was loose, the ends almost reaching her waist, swaying gently in the morning breeze.
Zhao Tieshan stood at the very front of the physical training class. His left leg prosthesis was new today, the alloy joint gleaming coldly in the morning light. His right fist was wrapped in dark blue bandages, beneath which lay a layer of charred scars from the lingering heat of the Burning Soul Fire. His back was ramrod straight, like an iron pillar that had stood firm for three months after being burned.
Zhang Ziming stood at the very front of the cultivation class. His glasses reflected the morning light, obscuring his eyes, but his hand holding the sword was steady.
One thousand one hundred students stood in neat square formations on the playground inside the academy's main gate. No one spoke, no one whispered, only the morning breeze rustling the flags and the distant sounds of traffic as Jiangzhou City awoke.
Jiang Chen stood at the very front of the formation, looking at the faces that had followed him for three months. Three months ago, they were ordinary people who knew nothing about cultivation. Three months later, some of them had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, some had completed the second stage of body cultivation, some had held the city's defenses during the Ice Flower Storm, and some had survived to the thirtieth floor in the Apostle Hall's combat simulation.
"Today, we're going to the First Apostle's Temple."
His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the entire playground, through the golden light shield of the spirit-gathering array, and through the thin layer of morning mist above Jiangzhou City.
Three months ago, Kahn stood outside the academy's main gate and said to me, "Three months, I'll be waiting for you." Today, I'm going to keep that promise. But I'm not going alone. Everyone is behind me.
He raised his right hand, and the Primordial Sword emerged from his palm. Six stars on the hilt lit up simultaneously, dyeing the entire sky a sea of light interwoven with gold, red, and blue. The powers of the six Immortal Emperor Dao Fruits had slumbered within the Primordial Sword for thirty thousand years. Today, they would accompany Jiang Chen as he stepped into the hundredth level of the First Apostle Hall.
The sound of swords clashing echoed through the sky.