pjbooks Chapter 154 Post-War
Chapter 154 Post-War
Inside the medical tent, Jiang Chen sat on the edge of a folding bed, letting two medics wipe the cracks on his arm with alcohol swabs.
The stinging sensation of alcohol seeping into his wounds was nothing to him anymore. Having cultivated immortality for a thousand years, he had suffered injuries a thousand times worse than this—broken bones, cracked tendons, shattered cores, and even had his physical body cleaved in a heavenly tribulation. These cracks on his skin now were merely superficial wounds.
But his face was very pale, almost transparent.
After the power of the six Immortal Emperor Dao Fruits fused within his body, his golden core swelled from the size of a fist to the size of an infant's head, and changed from a pale gold to a strange hue of six interwoven colors. The patterns flowing on its surface were many times more complex than before, each pattern being a fragment of law etched into the golden core, an imprint left within him by the Dao Fruits of the six Immortal Emperors: Taichu, Fentian, Bingxuan, Xuwu, Shengsheng, and Hunchao.
These marks were too powerful. So powerful that his golden core was already struggling to withstand them.
"Dean Jiang," a medic said, his voice trembling with nervousness as he carefully wrapped a bandage around his right arm, "your wound has been treated. But you look unwell; would you like a full medical check-up?"
"No need." Jiang Chen pulled his right arm back from the medic's grasp, stood up, and stretched his shoulder. The skin under the bandage was still bleeding, but much slower than before; it should stop completely in about fifteen minutes.
He lifted the tent flap and stepped into the night.
The campfires were already lit in the camp. Soldiers from the joint forces from various countries sat around the fires; some were drinking, some were singing, and some were weeping in front of their phone screens. News of the collapse of the Temple of the Apostles had spread throughout the world, and at this moment, from Jiangzhou to New York, from London to Sydney, countless people were embracing and weeping in the streets.
Jiang Chen walked past the bonfires, past the cheering and weeping crowds, and reached a quiet corner at the edge of the camp. There was a protruding rock there, its surface covered with a thin layer of moss, which shimmered with a faint silvery-green luster under the moonlight.
He sat down, summoned the Primordial Sword from his palm, and placed it horizontally on his knees.
The six stars on the blade were still slowly rotating, but at a speed several times slower than in the Apostle Hall. Golden Zhou Tian Xing Dou fire, dark red Fen Ji fire, icy blue Bing Xuan power, pure black Void power, emerald green life power, and pure white Chaos power—six kinds of light intertwined on the sword to form a slowly flowing, starry sky-like picture.
Jiang Chen stared at the six stars and remained silent for a long time.
Then he spoke, his voice very soft, as if he were talking to the sword, or perhaps to himself.
"Ancestor Taichu, I have already set up your Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array at Qingyun Academy. It covers 30,000 acres with a man-made spiritual energy concentration of 15%. The first batch of students has already broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, Wang Kai has broken through to the Golden Core stage, and Bing Li and Xuan Ming's Golden Cores have also been stabilized with the help of the Immortal Emperor Sheng Sheng. I have fulfilled your last wish."
Of the six stars, the pale golden one lit up briefly, as if in response.
"Ancestor Burning Heaven. I used your Burning Silence Fire to burn through the fragments of the Demon Ancestor's primordial spirit, to burn through Baal's War Furnace, and to burn through the first layer of defense in Karn's Godhood Domain. I have passed on your swordsmanship to the students of the Body Cultivation Class. The tempering method of fire refining flesh is a daily course for them. I have fulfilled your last wish."
The dark red star lit up briefly.
"Ancestor Bingxuan. I used your Ice Profound Power to freeze the attack of Kahn's Watch Sword, to seal the remaining fragments of chaos in the Void Origin, and to heal the old wounds of Bingli and Xuanming that had been dormant for 30,000 years. I have brought your two disciples back to Qingyun Academy. They are now among the strongest students in the academy. I have fulfilled your last wish."
The ice-blue star lit up briefly.
"Ancestor Void. With your power of nothingness, I negated Kahn's Godhood Domain, the Void Origin borrowed by the Apostle Hall, and the energy channel between Kahn's true form and his human body. Your Dao Fruit was the last one I awakened in the Apostle Hall, but it was also the most crucial. Without you, I could not have broken Kahn's Godhood Domain. I have fulfilled your last wish."
The pure black star lit up briefly.
"Ancestor of Life. I used your life-giving power to repair the five layers of defense of the Primordial Sword, to heal Wang Kai's severed finger, to repair Bing Li's golden core, to heal Zhao Tieshan's skin scorched by the Burning Soul Flame, and to repair the void rift left after Zhang Ziming's earthen wall collapsed. Your Dao Fruit has chosen a new master. Wang Kai will become your worthy successor. I have fulfilled your last wish."
The emerald green star twinkled briefly.
"Ancestor of Chaos." Jiang Chen's voice softened, as soft as wind blowing across a dried-up riverbed. "I used your Chaos Power to awaken the last Immortal Emperor's Dao Fruit sleeping within the Primordial Sword, to repel Kahn's true form, and to tear apart the last barrier between the Void Origin and the Apostle Realm. Your Dao Fruit has already merged with my Dao Heart. From this day forward, I am not only the seventh-generation disciple of the Qingyun Sect, but also the successor of the Chaos Immortal Emperor."
The pure white star lit up briefly.
Then, six stars lit up simultaneously, their six colors intertwining on the sword to form a six-colored pillar of light that stretched across the heavens and earth. The pillar of light shot into the sky, piercing the clouds and illuminating the night sky over the Alps as if it were daytime.
The cheers in the camp came to an abrupt halt at that moment.
Everyone saw the six-colored pillar of light. It rose from the rock at the edge of the camp, pierced through the clouds, through the void, and through the last barrier between the Apostle Realm and the human world.
The beam of light lasted for about three breaths before slowly dissipating.
Six-colored specks of light drifted down from the sky, like a silent, six-colored snowfall.
Jiang Chen sheathed the Primordial Sword in his palm, stood up, and looked at the six-colored lights drifting in the night sky, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Footsteps sounded behind him. This time it wasn't Wang Kai, it was Chen Beiyuan.
The old man walked to his side and stood on the moss-covered rock. His white hair was ruffled by the night wind, but his black eyes, smoothed and rounded by time, remained as steady as ever. He glanced at Jiang Chen, his gaze lingering for a moment on the bandage wrapped around his right arm before looking away.
"The Dao Fruits of the six Immortal Emperors are all within the Primordial Sword?"
"They're all here." Jiang Chen put his right hand back into his pocket. "Tai Chu, Fen Tian, Bing Xuan, Xu Wu, Sheng Sheng, and Hun Dun. Thirty thousand years ago, they used Dao Fruits to seal the Demon Ancestor. Thirty thousand years later, their Dao Fruits are in my hands, and I repelled Kahn."
Chen Beiyuan nodded. He turned around, looked at the soldiers still cheering in the camp, and at the young faces embracing and weeping by the campfire, and remained silent for a moment.
"Jiang Chen, what are your plans next?"
Jiang Chen did not answer immediately. He raised his head and looked at the stars in the night sky, at the starlight that had finally revealed its true form after being obscured by the laws of the Apostles for three hundred years.
"Back to the academy," he said. "To teach. Wang Kai needs to learn how to control the Dao Fruit of the Immortal Emperor of Life, Bing Li and Xuan Ming need to stabilize their Golden Cores, and Shen Qingxue needs to complete the final stage of Thunder Forging Tendons. All 1,100 students need to continue their cultivation."
He turned around and looked into Chen Beiyuan's black eyes, which had been smoothed and rounded by the passage of time.
"Kahn said that next time we meet, he won't use a human body. Next time we meet, he'll fight me in his true form." The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, a very faint curve, almost imperceptible, but Chen Beiyuan noticed it. "Next time we meet, I won't give him the chance to back down."
Chen Beiyuan looked at him, at the boy whose right arm was wrapped in bandages, whose uniform was covered in cracks and bloodstains, but whose eyes were brighter than ever.
"Alright," the old man said. "The General Administration will fully cooperate. The expansion project of Qingyun Academy will begin tomorrow. The second enrollment will be expanded from one thousand to five thousand students. The global spiritual root testing will be arranged by the General Administration. You just need to focus on teaching; leave the rest to us."
Jiang Chen nodded, turned around, and walked towards the camp.
He took a few steps, then stopped without looking back.
"Old Chen."
"Um?"
"Thanks."
Chen Beiyuan was taken aback for a moment. Then he laughed, a soft laugh carrying a sense of relief that had been suppressed for who knows how long.
"What are you thanking me for?" he said. "You saved humanity. Humanity didn't save you."
Jiang Chen did not answer. He continued walking forward, his steps steady, each step landing on the permafrost of the Alps, producing a dull, drum-like sound.
He walked past the cheering soldiers, past the weeping cadets, past the people sleeping embracing each other by the campfire. He walked to the largest tent at the edge of the camp, lifted the curtain, and went inside.
Inside the tent, Wang Kai sat cross-legged on a cot, eyes closed, hands resting on his knees, palms facing up. A soft, emerald light emanated from his palms, illuminating the entire tent as if it were daytime. His severed right finger had grown back mostly, the new nails thin and delicate, tinged with a faint pink in the emerald light.
Shen Qingxue sat on the cot opposite him, the bandage on her right arm already removed, revealing the newly formed, fair skin beneath. On her right fist, icy blue spiritual energy was re-condensing, more solid and stable than before.
Bingli and Xuanming sat on a cot in the corner. Bingli had her eyes closed, her long silver hair cascading over her shoulders, and an icy blue light slowly swirling around her. Xuanming had his eyes open, and the icy blue light deep within his black pupils was flickering slightly.
Zhao Tieshan stood at the tent entrance, the bandage on his right fist had been replaced, the new bandage dazzlingly white. His left leg prosthesis had been replaced with a new one, the alloy joint gleaming coldly under the light.
Zhang Ziming sat on the ground, still clutching the grass sprout he had brought back from the Apostle's Hall. The sprout's leaves had grown from light green to dark green, and its stem had thickened considerably, swaying gently in the tent's light.
One thousand one hundred students were crammed into a tent that could only hold a hundred people. No one spoke, no one made a fuss, and everyone was doing the same thing—cultivating.
Jiang Chen stood in the center of the tent, looking at these young people who were covered in wounds, exhausted of their spiritual energy, but still persisted in their cultivation.
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"Attention, everyone," he said, his voice not loud, but clearly penetrating the eardrums of everyone in the tent.
One thousand one hundred students stood up at the same moment.
"At ease," Jiang Chen said. "Today marks the end of the First Apostle Hall battle. It is also the day when the first batch of students from Qingyun Academy transform from 'students' into 'warriors'."
His gaze swept over the 1,100 young, tired, but incredibly determined faces.
"From today onwards, you are no longer trainees who need my protection. You are comrades-in-arms who can fight alongside me."
He raised his right hand, and the Primordial Sword emerged from his palm, its six-colored light flowing across the blade, illuminating the entire tent as if it were daytime.
"Qingyun Academy, Second Semester, now begins."
The shouts of 1,100 trainees echoed through the night sky of the Alps, carrying far and wide.
As far as Jiangzhou.
As far as Qingyun Academy.
As far as the starry sky illuminated by six-colored beams of light, where human civilization has rediscovered hope.