Chapter 676: Hidden Wind

Chapter 676: Wind Shadow

The infant sword spirit could not communicate, and within the blade, Dragon Sparrow wept with a heartache: "Fool, you yourself said those arrows are used one and lost forever, yet you still shoot them so recklessly! Before, you wasted one saving Wan Dongliu and didn’t even retrieve it, and now you’re wasting more—wasteful! A wasteful wretch!"

Zhao Changhe, who had been feeling mightily impressive, nearly fell off his horse.

Who are you, and why are you managing my household for me?

But thinking back, being scolded by that little female sparrow did sting a bit—there were only twenty or thirty arrows made of dragon soul wood, and they truly couldn’t afford to waste them. He could only hope that after winning the battle, the two arrows that had fallen near the city wall would be easy enough to find.

But winning was the prerequisite... Right now, he was being chased, and he couldn’t join the battle over there. Victory or defeat would have to rely on Cui Yuanyong and Wan Dongliu not letting him down.

They shouldn’t let him down, should they? In this martial world, there were few worthy of friendship, and among the younger generation, only a handful could be considered talents—and here, two of them were present. Add to that Yangyang, who had Qinghe with her, Xue Canghai with the Blood God Formation Plate, and the planted agents in Langya long ago...

But no matter how anxious he was, he couldn’t stop and turn back now. He had just fought beyond his level, and no amount of medicine could restore him to full strength. Moreover, the energy of the Star River and Dragon Sparrow had been heavily depleted and needed time to recover; otherwise, he wouldn’t have a second chance at a big move. More critically, he didn’t know his enemy, while his own methods had been observed for a long time. Rushing into battle would offer no chance of victory.

Zhao Changhe kept his composure, trying to glean some insight into the opponent’s abilities through this chase, while also giving Dragon Sparrow and the Star River time to recover.

The opponent was formidable, constantly closing the distance, moving slightly faster than Wu Zhui, though not by much—catching up would still be difficult. But such speed was already extraordinary; this was flight, requiring what kind of power to fly as fast as a dragon horse?

And the opponent seemed calm and composed, his posture even elegant. If he was riding the wind... was he controlling the wind itself?

The opponent spoke leisurely: "You flee from me, but it only delays the inevitable. You will be caught eventually... Yet you cannot participate in the battle at Langya. Without a pillar like you, they might suffer a crushing defeat. Is it worth it? Better to use your ‘the brave wins when meeting on a narrow path’ and go all out."

He wasn’t angered by being called a petty schemer; instead, his tone was unhurried, suggesting he too was a patient man.

Zhao Changhe replied casually, "None of your damn business."

The man was clearly taken aback, not expecting such crudeness. After a moment, he said, "In a way, I actually hope you gain the upper hand in the power struggle. It does concern me."

Zhao Changhe was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

"Because power is just a weakness that ties you down. If you were always roaming the world as you are now, those who want the Celestial Book from you would have a harder time finding you... But with more concerns, stuck in the mire, it’s a blessing for those of us who want the Celestial Book."

Zhao Changhe fell silent.

Those words struck a chord... Once, he had been carefree, wandering the world, and those who wanted to assassinate him couldn’t even find him—if they didn’t believe it, they could ask Eagle Frost in the underworld.

But once he couldn’t let go of the rivers and mountains before him, troubles came one after another... somewhat like Xia Longyuan’s dilemma: if one is truly a peerless warrior, why bother becoming an emperor?

Perhaps that was why Chi Wan and the others had let him leave the capital alone, considering this very point.

Seeing that Zhao Changhe still refused to fight despite all his talk, the man was somewhat exasperated by this habit of showing off and then running: "The King of Asura’s horse... is quite interesting."

Zhao Changhe glanced back: "What, you don’t have a horse?"

The man didn’t realize Zhao Changhe was insulting him and laughed: "Forgive me, I’ve slept too long and have nothing to my name."

Zhao Changhe chuckled: "So you want everything you see?"

"Not really. As you said, I only want the Celestial Book." The man began to speak of history leisurely: "In our time, riding various strange beasts was common, but turning an ordinary horse into something greater through sheer effort is extremely rare. It must have cost you dearly, right? It seems the King of Asura used dragon qi? Abandoning the realm for a horse."

Zhao Changhe said, "You should understand that better."

"Indeed... Mundane affairs of the realm are but smoke and clouds; only power is eternal." The man said unhurriedly, "But having such attachment to a horse is rare."

Zhao Changhe replied, "Isn’t it useful now? Tired from the chase?"

"..." The man didn’t answer. Tired? Not necessarily, but he knew Zhao Changhe was buying time to recover—the longer the chase, the better for him. When he had secretly come to snatch the spoils, he hadn’t known Zhao Changhe had a flying horse... The decision not to abandon Wu Zhui back then was now bearing fruit.

Zhao Changhe turned to look at the man’s slightly frustrated expression and suddenly asked, "What is your name?"

The man replied calmly, "Wind Shadow. You’ve probably never heard of me."

Indeed, he hadn’t—none of the records he’d seen mentioned this name... But he could infer that the man’s abilities were likely related to wind.

Zhao Changhe made small talk: "Logically, in your time, there was no Celestial Book. How did you know about it?"

"Not quite. Everyone knew the Celestial Book was held by the Heavenly Dao, untouchable by anyone. After the sky collapsed, the Celestial Book scattered. In the final moments, some tried to claim parts of it, but none succeeded... Someone like you, from a commoner to triple secret treasures in two years—unheard of in history. If someone had obtained it back then, who knows what would have happened."

As Wind Shadow spoke, his eyes burned with intense desire, clearly attributing all of Zhao Changhe’s extraordinary achievements to the Celestial Book.

Zhao Changhe ignored him, thinking that back then, not everyone had failed—at least the Night Emperor had obtained the general outline page and left it with Shuanghua... That was strange—why would He leave the Celestial Book with Shuanghua instead of using it himself?

Wind Shadow then addressed this very question: "Speaking of which, too much power isn’t necessarily a good thing. When the era collapsed, aside from the earth and sky shattering, there seemed to be extra ‘attention’ on powerful beings. The Four Symbols of antiquity were once glorious, yet none survived—even the Night Emperor’s fate is unknown... The Sea Emperor, if not for cooperating with Hai Pinglan and using faith power, would probably still be a lingering soul, hiding in the depths of the sea, barely alive. Meanwhile, we minor figures they once looked down on weren’t as severely injured..."

A thought struck Zhao Changhe. Perhaps there really had been a targeted purge back then... So far, aside from the Sea Emperor, who had recovered through faith power, others like the Sword Emperor, clearly at the second level of the Imperial Realm or higher, had vanished. The so-called "gods and demons" he had encountered one after another—like Blood Crow, Doro, and Huang Yang—were all at the first level of the Imperial Realm. Strictly speaking, they didn’t deserve the title of gods or demons.

This suggested that the stronger one was, the faster they died, or the more severe their injuries, with only the varying intensity of the "purge" they faced explaining this outcome.

Thus, the Night Emperor might have foreseen this and believed Shuanghua had a better chance of survival or would awaken sooner. So he gave her the Celestial Book, hoping she could rise quickly upon waking. But Shuanghua lost the will to live, leaving only the Ice Soul’s lament.

These thoughts flashed through Zhao Changhe’s mind, and he grew curious: "Why are you telling me all this? To warn me not to cultivate too fast, lest I invite disaster?"

"Exactly." Wind Shadow smiled. "Not only does the tall tree catch the wind, but you alone possess multiple pages of the Celestial Book, which goes against the Way of Heaven. The Way of Heaven diminishes the surplus to supplement the deficit—that is the principle. If the Heavenly Dao still existed, you would surely be a target for elimination... It would be better to share the bounty evenly, perhaps more stable."

There was some truth to it, but Zhao Changhe didn’t buy it.

You yourself said only power is eternal—who are you trying to fool?

This attempt to shake his resolve through words proved that Wind Shadow wasn’t entirely confident... It showed that his earlier battle with Huang Yang had intimidated others; no one wanted to fight such an opponent to the death, not knowing if another ambush lurked in the shadows.

Strike once to avoid a hundred blows—that was the truth. If he could beat this guy back too, anyone who came looking for trouble in the future would think twice, buying him at least a year of peace.

Just as he thought this, his rear vision caught the man raising his hand.

After this long chase, the opponent had entered effective attack range!

With a "whoosh," Zhao Changhe ducked before he even heard the sound, a wind blade grazing past his head. The battle had officially begun!