Nightfall

The rain stopped.

The snow falling from the sky was also burned down and fell down no more.

The street was deathly still, with only sounds of cries could be heard.

Looking like a child who had been wronged, Chen Pipi sat on the ground and cried aloud.

He was indeed a child, from his Senior Brother, Senior Sister and his father’s perspective.

The reason why he was grievously crying was very complicated. On the other hand, his father, his Senior Brother and Senior Sister knew clearly that, under such circumstances, what else could he do other than crying?

The Abbey Dean put his hands clasped behind his back and walked by him. Neither did he cast him a glance, nor did he wear any expressions on his face.

Eldest Brother sighed with emotion, “It is also good for you to cry out. It is better to cry than to be depressed.”

While with her brows creased slightly, Yu Lian kept her eyes on the other end of the street and said, “Since we have not died yet and the Academy has not yet perished, what is the point of crying?”

The Abbey Dean was walking slowly towards them. With the power from Haotian imbued into his body, he was becoming stronger and stronger. However, what Yu Lian had said also made a strong point. Eldest Brother and she had not died yet after all.

As long as they were alive, this war on the Snow Street will not come to an end. Then the Academy would still exist.

The Academy must trap the Abbey Dean in this long street. Only by doing so could the array center of the God-stunning Array and this Chang’an City be saved. It was a pity that Eldest Brother was not really good at fighting and instead he was good at other things.

The Pure Light scattered across the Snow Street fell down upon his simple and amiable face, along with his old cotton jacket which was filled with blood stains. He looked exactly like a butcher who had just killed the pig of the year in the countryside.

As a matter of fact, he had always been a teacher at the back of the mountain of the Academy.

Whether it was lyre playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting or array art and tonality, those Younger Brothers and Junior Sisters who held supreme positions in their respective fields were all his disciples. Consequently, he possessed capabilities in those aspects which were far beyond common people’s reach.

Staring at the Abbey Dean who was walking over slowly, he naturally thought of all those things which he had got into contact frequently over these years, just like a school teacher who was always accustomed to using the chalk in his hands as a weapon when faced with difficulties.

The wind howled from the north of the city at the moment, when Eldest Brother triggered his mind and ended up causing the snow remaining on the street to fly up. He touched the ruins of the residence and the eaves that had collapsed on both sides of the street. His mind touched everything that it came across.

The tiles trembled and rang lowly, sounding like a stone bell. Broken banners of the restaurant danced in the chilly wind and gave out sounds of fizzing, which were similar to those made by a zither with broken strings. While piercing through the gaps of crumbling walls, the wind sobbed like a vertical bamboo flute.

When all these broken, sentimental and melancholic voices were combined together, a song which sounded like whimpering and confiding emerged. It came right to the front of the Abbey Dean in unceasing hidden bitterness, accompanied with its own non-melodious tones.

The Abbey Dean stopped to look across the street and pointed his fingers. He wore a slightly imposing look on his face.

Stretching his hands towards the alleys located on the roadside, Eldest Brother turned numerous allies in the southern city into chess roads crisscrossed on the chessboard. He was then the master of chess sitting beside the chessboard who cut that finger signal into countless pieces.

Flicking and rolling up his sleeves, the Abbey Dean rolled these crisscrossed chess roads into commotion and pointed once more.

Eldest Brother lost hold of the wooden rod and threw it onto the wet street in front of him.

Being ignorant of Talisman Taoism, he consequently did not inherit the God-stunning Array. However, he could take advantage of the aura of Heaven and Earth flowing in this array.

At the moment when the wooden rod fell down, the city wall which had thousands of years’ legacy did not make its appearance again. Only then a light smashing sound could be heard.

A slight sound was also sent out from the cloud layers hanging above Vermilion Bird Avenue.

Then came the loud blare; innumerable loud blares.

Innumerable lighting bolts wormed out from the cloud layer and then hacked down toward the long street, toward the body of the Abbey Dean.

These lightings were very intense and of extremely gigantic power. It was likely that even the Abbey Dean might get hurt should he step into the spacial interlayers in the aura of Heaven and Earth with the Limitless State.

The Abbey Dean’s figure became vague all of a sudden. A lighting struck down right at where he had originally stood. Smoke and dust pervaded all over, with burning smells looming in the air. However, the lighting failed to strike down the Abbey Dean.

Numerous lightning bolts struck down one after another. The figure of the Abbey Dean showed up once again and then disappeared. As light and distant as the cloud and the fog, he constantly swept and drifted amid the lightning flashes and thunder roaring. It was impossible for him to be captured.

Yu Lian disappeared from where she had been.

The chirping of cicadas, the raging chirping belonging to hundreds of and thousands of cicadas rang out once more on the long street.

With the storm and snow rising again, the raging chirping and loud cicada roars looming around were as fierce as the tiger in the mountain which was fighting for life.

The accumulated snow in tens of alleys was all floating up and flooded into the Vermilion Bird Avenue.

The street turned into a world of wind and snow, with the inner scene difficult to be seen through.

Only the sound of the finger signal slicing through the voidness, the sound of lighting hacking down, and the mournful chirping of cicadas could be heard.

The storm and snow were as the smoke and the dust. While the long street was a battlefield.

However powerful the lightning and the chirping of cicadas were, they were still not able to suppress down the finger signal flowing freely among the fingers.

A finger signal was as distant and remote as the abyss.

A finger signal was as vast as the grand sea.

The finger signals flowing freely could both defend and retrieve everything in the world.

The lightning’s falling down was more and more slowly. The chirping of cicadas became more and more mournful.

To the Abbey Dean, this long street filled with horrifying natural power was just like a courtyard where he could walk freely.

He strolled out.

The storm and snow gradually calmed down.

The last piece of snow drifted by the side of the Abbey Dean.

Three fingers were cut off from the Abbey Dean’s left hand.

Blood was dripping down upon the street.

He cast a glance at the broken finger.

The blood gradually ceased to flow. The broken finger was smooth and as crystal as jade.

He took out a handkerchief and wiped up the bloody water stained on his palm. Then he put the handkerchief back in his arms and looked across the street.

It was unknown when Yu Lian had shown up on the street again.

Her face was pale. Though there were not any evident wounds, she must have suffered from extremely severe internal injuries.

With blood all over his body, Eldest Brother was extremely exhausted and shaking as if he was going to fall down.

The game was all set.

Zhishou Abbey was the holy land of Haotian Taoism.

The name of this Taoist temple went the whole way back to a paragraph of true words originated from West-Hill Scripture.

Understanding its masculinity and defending its feminity, it was called Natural Stream.

Chen Pipi’s Natural Stream Magical Finger derived its name from that also.

It could be consequently imagined that what a supreme position this set of fingering held in Haotian Taoism.

There were also a few other words in that paragraph of true words in the West-Hill Scripture.

Understanding its cons and defending its pros, and that is called Natural Maneuver.

Understanding its prosperity and defending its disgrace, and that was called Open-Mindedness.

This was Haotian’s world.

Being capable of understanding everything in the world can lead to being capable of defending everything in the world.

Either it is for power or for true intention.

That was exactly the true meaning of understanding and defending.

The fingering signal of the Abbey Dean referred not only to the Natural Stream Magical Finger but also to Natural Maneuver and Open-Mindedness.

Having crossed the threshold many years ago, he was the one who had truly and comprehensively mastered all the arts and who was proficient in all of Taoism, Buddhism, and Spiritualism. Being much more powerful than Lotus when it came to the aspect of strength, he was indeed worthy to be called as the most supreme powerhouse of Haotian Taoism over thousands of years.

Unfortunately, he lived in the same age as the Headmaster and Ke Haoran who were both talents that appeared once in a blue moon. That was the reason why he had been forced to keep a low profile and silent for many years.

Now that the Headmaster no longer existed in the world and Ke Haoran had already perished since a long time ago, he was then the highest and the steepest mountain in the world, the most powerful person. He was invincible in the world.

So his finger was the Finger of the World.

The storm and snow rose again. While this time, the storm and snow came from the natural world and could not get people killed.

Keeping her eyes on the Abbey Dean standing on the other side of storm and snow, Yu Lian thought of that scene which she had previously seen, with slightly complicated emotions revealed on her face.

Taking advantage of the sound of houses-breaking, the chessboard of street alleys and the power of the grand city, Eldest Brother had successfully trapped the Abbey Dean temporarily. Then she produced the furious chirping of the cicada rolling. It looked as if their opponent would be killed, but to their surprise, the whole situation changed all of a sudden.

The Abbey Dean’s eyes fell on the wound of the broken finger which looked like jade instantly.

She knew exactly what was going on.

This was the means of the Devil’s Doctrine. It was not an Immortal State yet, but a pretty close one.

If it had not been the case, the last piece of snow of hers could definitely cut the body of the Abbey Dean into halves. Instead, it only shaved off three of his fingers.

She looked at this ordinary Taoist and thought of that ordinary name. The expression on her face became gradually solemn— being a leader of Haotian Taoism, the Abby Dean actually practiced the methods of Devil’s Doctrine to a much more powerful state than she who was a Grandmaster of Devil’s Doctrine. What kind of person was he actually?

“This is Haotian’s world and I follow Haotian’s rules. Consequently, Haotian’s rule will be all at my service. Unless you two possess the ability to challenge Haotian now, it will never be possible for you to defeat me.”

Looking at the two people across the storm and snow, the Abbey Dean spoke calmly, “It has been beyond my imagination that you two actually can cause me so much trouble. I even feel a little bit of admiration towards you.”

“Li Manman. If you had not been so foolish as to have consumed too much of your energy over these seven days. If you hadn’t been so foolish as to have been unwilling to learn how to fight over the previous tens of years, perhaps you could try to drag me back all the time.”

“Lin Wu. If you had not fought with Xiong Chumo a few days ago. Perhaps you could really grab some opportunities to kill me today on this snow street. Though the possibility is not that great.”

The Abbey Dean stared at Yu Lian and said, “You should have been the most powerful Grandmaster of the Devil’s Doctrine since that traitor from a thousand years ago. You actually succeed at opening up your own world via practicing the Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation and diffusing into the Divine Demon Realm. However, it is a pity that you are opposing me. The same situation also goes for me, who should have been the most supreme powerhouse in Haotian Taoism over thousands of years and who ran into your teacher instead.”

Eldest Brother said, “It was only when you entered Chang’an that I started to realize that you also have always been waiting for the time to elapse away. That’s because there is no way to get the God-stunning Array fixed and now is the time when the God-stunning Array’s power is at the weakest. It is indeed true that I should not have wasted these seven days away. However, over these seven days, I actually have gained something.”

The Abbey Dean asked, “What is it?”

Eldest Brother said, “I’m able to catch up with you now.”

The Abbey Dean said, “It was me who has been chasing you over these previous days. Now you want to catch up with me, what is the point?”

Eldest Brother said, “As long as I can catch up with you, then there exists an opportunity that we can leave together.”

The Abbey Dean replied, “I know what you are implying. It is a pity that now that you have been so severely wounded and it is extremely difficult for you to catch up with me. Most importantly, you don’t have the power.”

Staring at this pair of Senior Brother and Sister from the Academy, he said, “Upon retrospection, the admiration I have been holding towards your Headmaster is becoming more and more profound. He actually is able to cultivate out such talents like you. If you two were the same person, I would indeed not be able to contend with you. Fortunately, in no way are you two able to be transformed into one person after all.”

Yu Lian replied, “I want to have a try whether I can exchange your one life with two lives.”

The Abbey Dean said, “Though you have turned into a woman via practicing the Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation and you moreover have been studying for years under the guidance of the Headmaster, you are a Grandmaster of the Devil’s Doctrine after all. It is ridiculous of you to speak with such excitement.”

Yu Lian answered, “It has nothing to do with speaking with excitement. It is only related to happiness. The Headmaster has always taught me that the purpose of our own living is to seek out happiness and calmness. I would definitely be very happy if I can get you killed.”

The Abbey Dean said with calmness, “It makes sense. So I won’t grant you the opportunity.”

Even if he was the most invincible man in the whole world, he was still not willing to fight to the death with these two powerhouses from the Academy, under the situation when the game was all set. Because there still existed numerous possibilities before life and death.

The purpose of his entering Chang’an City is to destroy the array, not to kill people.

As long as he could destroy the God-stunning Array, this grand show would come to an end.

Amid the storm and snow, the chirping of cicadas suddenly surged and then gradually died down.

The figure of Abbey Dean vanished into the storm and snow.

With the God-stunning Array impaired and the two people from Academy severely wounded, there were no more people who could stop him.