Chapter 1593: Su Zhengchen’s Instruction!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Elder Su!”
Wang Chong respectfully bowed to Su Zhengchen.
Su Zhengchen had never let Wang Chong call him ‘Master’, but deep within his heart, Wang Chong respected Su Zhengchen just as much as one.
“You’ve come.”
Su Zhengchen raised his head, smiled, and then pointed at the bamboo chair across from him.
“Sit.”
Wang Chong had never once entered the Su Residence to pay Su Zhengchen a visit, but Su Zhengchen seemed unsurprised by his visit. He had even prepared drink and food.
“Yes!”
Wang Chong bowed again and then sat down.
Wang Chong scanned the small table. He saw peanuts, salted beef, and green vegetables. The dishes were the same as the last time he had met Su Zhengchen.
His eyes turning to Su Zhengchen, he noted that Su Zhengchen had as hale and hearty an expression as ever, but for some reason, he seemed much older.
Yet when Wang Chong looked carefully, he couldn’t see any difference.
Wang Chong quickly regained his focus and guiltily said, “Elder Su, my apologies. Several days ago, in front of the Imperial Palace, I used the Art of God and Demon Obliteration…”
Although the Art of God and Demon Obliteration was extremely powerful, it had always been a major taboo of the Great Tang. In the past, numerous imperial descendants had wanted to learn this art, but Su Zhengchen had refused all of them.
This even included sovereigns. It was only after using this art that Wang Chong remembered this.
There was no doubt that this would bring many troubles to Elder Su. This was why he had come of his own volition to visit Su Zhengchen.
Before Wang Chong could finish, Su Zhengchen cut him off. “I already know of this.”
His expression was calm as if he had already predicted what Wang Chong would say. And he apparently did not plan to reproach Wang Chong.
“I also had a matter that I needed to see you for!”
Wang Chong subconsciously raised his head. This was something that he had never expected to hear.
“Senior, please enlighten me!” Wang Chong respectfully said.
“From the sword art you used, I can see that you have probably already learned everything from the sword intent I left within the white chess piece, but even though you have reached a very high level, there are still some things that you have not grasped. The Art of God and Demon Obliteration is not used in the way you use it,” Su Zhengchen lightly said, shooting a glance at Wang Chong.
Wang Chong was startled by these words, but then he felt a surge of warmth.
Even he had believed that he had acted too rashly in front of the Imperial Palace, but Elder Su seemed to not care that Wang Chong was causing him trouble. On the contrary, he cared more about the flaws in Wang Chong’s technique and whether or not he was displaying the full might of the Art of God and Demon Obliteration.
Su Zhengchen apparently hadn’t noticed the shift in Wang Chong’s emotional state. He extended his middle and index fingers, and a chopstick on the table immediately flew into his hand.
Su Zhengchen used the chopstick in place of a sword and began to perform for Wang Chong.
After just a few moments, Wang Chong paled.
The chopstick in Su Zhengchen’s hand had no power and was being waved about like any ordinary person would wave around a chopstick, but Wang Chong sensed that this chopstick was sharper and more frightening than any sword art.
Moreover, with his formidable Psychic Energy, Wang Chong was far more sensitive than any other martial artists of his level. He could sense that the chopstick had transformed into something else, and countless thin threads of Sword Qi were spreading out from it.
In Wang Chong’s eyes, Su Zhengchen’s chopstick was no longer just waving around in the air. It was shaking the fabric of space itself.
But there was clearly not a single bit of Stellar Energy being used.
“How could this be?!”
Wang Chong’s mind was shaken, and his eyes flew open. To use a single chopstick to shake the fabric of space while not using a single bit of Stellar Energy was completely beyond Wang Chong’s understanding of the art of the sword.
This was no longer in the domain of the Art of God and Demon Obliteration. Elder Su’s abilities had transcended the abilities of any martial art.
Buzz!
“Did you see it?”
Elder Su withdrew his fingers, but the chopstick remained suspended in the air.
Whoooah!
As Elder Su spoke, time seemed to stop. All objects in the garden froze, even the wind.
A moment later, boom! Space trembled, and the leaves of the banyan tree above Elder Su suddenly shook and drifted down. Before they had even struck the ground, they had already been sliced and diced into tiny, hair-thin threads.
As one of these thin threads drifted past Wang Chong’s eyes, he could clearly make out the smooth and glossy cut that could only be achieved through Sword Qi.
“!!!”
The shock in Wang Chong’s eyes was plainly visible in the flickering light of the oil lamp.
If Elder Su had unleashed domineering Sword Qi or had used even a tiny bit of Stellar Energy, Wang Chong would not have been surprised to see space torn apart. But Elder Su had merely waved around a chopstick without showing even a sliver of Stellar Energy, and thus, Wang Chong was incredulous.
After his northwest adventure, Wang Chong felt that he had reached new levels in insight, experience, cultivation level, and strength. Not even the likes of Song Yuanyi and the Black Yin Ancestor were any match for him. But Su Zhengchen’s simple gesture, sublimating the complex into the simple, was something that Wang Chong was sure that he could not do.
But how was this possible?
Wang Chong began to carefully examine Su Zhengchen. As he was now five times stronger than a peak Great General, he should have been able to see Elder Su’s true cultivation, but he suddenly realized that Su Zhengchen still seemed like he ever had: an ordinary old man who did not know martial arts.
But even an idiot knew that the legendary War God of the Great Tang was no ordinary old man.
Buzz!
Wang Chong suddenly realized something.
He hadn’t realized at the start, but now that he was looking more carefully, he realized that Su Zhengchen, the table in front of him, the banyan tree behind him, the falling leaves, the back garden of the Su Residence, and the surrounding fabric of space were all one being.
In Wang Chong’s senses, Su Zhengchen was a falling leaf, a table, a piece of stone, a wisp of air. To put it another way, he was one with the entire world.
“Master said to let nature take its course…”
Little Jianjian’s words from before resounded in his mind, and Wang Chong seemed to understand.
“Did you sense it? As they say, Earth governs Man, the Heavens govern the Earth, the Dao governs the Heavens, and Nature governs the Dao. If you can become in tune with nature, no thief or scoundrel will be able to hide from you,” Su Zhengchen indifferently said. Suddenly, three branches above him snapped and then shot off into the night like lightning bolts.
“Ah!”
Cries of alarm came from somewhere one hundred feet away. Three figures emerged from a corner of the garden and jumped over the wall like frightened rabbits.
“The Three Elders of the Northern Sea!”
Wang Chong’s eyes flashed. He had immediately recognized the auras of these three.
This trio served King Qi, and there was no question that the thing he had worried the most about had taken place. The sword art he had used in front of the Imperial Palace had drawn King Qi’s attention, and he had sent the Three Elders of the Northern Sea to the Su Residence to determine the truth.
“Elder Su, I will go and capture them!”
Wang Chong moved to pursue. The imperial household respected and feared Elder Su. If the Three Elders of the Northern Sea passed on what they had seen to the imperial household, it would cause no small amount of trouble.
“There’s no need!”
Su Zhengchen shook his head, caring little about the fleeing Three Elders of the Northern Sea.
“For some matters, it’s best to just pry them open, and this old man is already so old. What do I have to fear?” Su Zhengchen indifferently said.
“Elder Su…”
Taken aback, Wang Chong slowly sat back down.
“There is not much time left, so listen carefully. I will only teach you the Art of God and Demon Obliteration once, and this will be my last lesson to you,” Su Zhengchen sternly said.
Wang Chong hastily focused himself. Elder Su had never taken a disciple, and though Little Jianjian was called one, he was not actually Elder Su’s inheriting disciple. Elder Su had not taught him much martial arts.
Wang Chong was well aware of how rare this opportunity was.
“Remember, the Art of God and Demon Obliteration is not better the more grandiose it is. Your eyes are still focused on the art itself, but whether it’s the Art of God and Demon Obliteration or the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, your true strength originates from your body itself.”
Su Zhengchen raised a finger, and a moment later, a thin strand of Sword Qi emerged.
At first glance, Wang Chong didn’t notice anything strange, but as he followed the course of the Sword Qi, he saw that thin strand extending all the way from the finger straight into the night sky.
“This!!!”
This single strand of Sword Qi set off great waves in Wang Chong’s mind.
For an ordinary martial artist, Sword Qi that could extend to one hundred feet was incredibly formidable, and for experts of Wang Chong’s level, the most they could achieve if they focused their energy was one thousand meters, with most getting to seven or eight hundred meters. But Elder Su’s Sword Qi seemed to extend into infinity.
And as this Sword Qi extended, it didn’t seem to consume any energy. This was simply inconceivable!
This was like an ordinary man throwing a rock thirty thousand meters.