Death… and me

In essence, the appearance of the Dark Night Challenger had created a wave of excitement amongst the different ranks of martial artists in Iron Cloud Citadel. In the beginning, some of them were fighting with half a heart. However, this led to Dark Night Challenger ignoring them from then on. Eventually, they were considered as the 'weak' ones. Wherever these people went, they would be pointed at with the words, "Look, it's him… He used to brag about how he was strong as an ox… After just one fight with Dark Night Challenger, he has been ignored…"

There were some who even joked, "Why didn't the dragon go to the shrimp's house?"

"Because the shrimp was not worthy… Hahaha…"

"Ahhh, so that must be it… I understand, I understand… Big brother is so smart. Your explanation is truly perfect. Meanwhile, I always thought that he was really as strong as an ox!"

"Not really, not really… Hahaha…"

Ultimately, he lost his face completely.

Having seen so many examples of such people being ridiculed, how could the rest of the martial artists just stand idly and not put in their all to fight? Each passing day led to an increase in fame…

Chu Yang jumped around a few times. By the time he was back on the main street, he had turned into a youth with a pale face and messy hair. There was a mole on his left cheek and a huge scar on his right… He looked hideous.

With this appearance, Chu Yang walked openly towards his target of the day. Suddenly, someone on the street behaved as though he had just discovered a new continent and exclaimed, "Wow! Look, it's the Dark Night Challenger…"

"Where… Where?"

"There… There."

"Hurry, hurry. Let's follow him and see where he's headed."

"It seems that he's headed towards Meteor Martial Arts School again. Could it be that Meteor Martial Arts School persevered during yesterday's fight?"

"Uh, it seems like it."

"Hahaha. Let's place some bets. I'll place ten taels of silver on Meteor Martial Arts School not being able to persevere today… Come on, come on, does anyone have the guts to bet…? Hahaha…"

"I will bet on the Dark Night Challenger. Twelve taels."

"I will bet…"

In a short span of time, a group of gamblers had gathered together. Seven or eight mouths joyfully shouted out their bets as they followed behind the Dark Night Challenger. The crowd was following him as he headed in the direction of Meteor Martial Arts School…

As his eyes were looking up at the sky, Chu Yang quickly paced forward… Deep down inside, he felt that it was hilarious. He had not expected that his method of improving his martial skill was able to bring such entertainment for Iron Cloud Citadel…

Ever since he had been enlightened with Gentle Force of Water, Chu Yang began thinking of ways to incorporate Gentle Force of Water with his Sword and Palm Technique.

His sword techniques comprised of Gentle Wind Sword and Floating Cloud Sword, but they were gentle types of sword techniques and not gentle forces…

Instead, Chu Yang was trying to figure out how to create a gentle force from a rigid sword.

Gentle, but not weak. Soft, but lethal. Even after traversing all the continents, he had not seen anyone apply this particular move just yet.

Being firm or flexible was dependent on one's mind… These two states cannot be interchanged within seconds. Simply put, one could not be fortified like a mountain at one moment, and suddenly flexible like the wind at the next. Rather, inner energy had to be transformed before each strike of the sword.

This was essentially what it meant for firmness and flexibility to be dependent on one's mind!

Chu Yang was absolutely certain that if he could achieve this, he would then be able to establish a new form of martial arts to all of Nine Heavens. Moreover, it would not just be powerful as a tool to kill enemies, but useful in defending lives as well.

It was unimaginably difficult to incorporate such a method into world-dominating techniques like Nine Tribulations Transcending the Nine Heavens Technique.

All he could do was to fight, fight, and never stop fighting! Only by fighting could he receive little bits of martial arts enlightenment to achieve his ultimate goal. He would probably wreck his head to no avail if he were to simply sit and meditate…

Hence, Chu Yang had transformed himself into the Dark Night Challenger to spar with those famed martial artists. Besides, by challenging his targets in this way, he could get to fight two to three people each day. Within this group, there must be some people who had cultivated their own techniques using a solid method and others who chose a gentle method.

At the end of each fight, Chu Yang would think hard about every detail. From these details, he would try to seek clues that would allow him to incorporate Gentle Force into his battles.

Throughout this period of time, Nine Tribulations Sword spirit remained quiet and did not utter a word for even just once.

Evidently, this was proof that it had intentions of letting Chu Yang search far and wide to discover it on his own!

The first time that Chu Yang had learned something new after returning from a fight, the sword spirit had told him, "If you comprehend it by yourself, it is yours. If I were to tell you instead, then it belongs to Nine Tribulations Sword."

Fundamentally, these two things were drastically different!

Standing in front of Meteor Martial Arts School, Chu Yang rolled his sleeves. He let out a spirited cry and charged right through the gates… Another fight had just begun.

Following closely behind him, a rowdy crowd yelled and shouted as they rushed in the gates together…

…

Meanwhile, Tie Bu Tian's eyebrows were pinched together as he was in deep thought. Ever since he started being in control of Iron Cloud, he had never faced a decision as difficult as this.

Tang Xin Sheng!

As he read through the twelve reasons that Chu Yang had listed on the piece of paper, Tie Bu Tian sighed continuously… In principle, there was no need for any further investigation for this issue. The twelve reasons that had been gathered were enough to prove one thing, which was that Tang Xin Sheng was indeed a spy!

Especially given that Prince Tie Bu Tian had such great wisdom and temperament, he was certain of the conclusion just by looking at these twelve reasons. There was not even a shadow of a doubt.

Tie Bu Tian was just shocked… Yes, he was shocked! A spy who had been in Iron Cloud Nation for the past ten years, calling wind and summoning the rain whilst still remaining standing like a sturdy tower… Moreover, he seemed to be a saint of Iron Cloud Nation!

This person… Is this person a spy? Of all the officials in Iron Cloud Nation, there was no one who was less likely to be a spy than this person. He was an upright official who loved the people like they were his own children. He was honest and impartial. Everyone had nothing but praises for him. The people supported him fervently…

Tie Bu Tian let out a bitter smile. A Spy… like this!

One a spy like this began to rebel, his influence could cause great devastation!

He could easily manipulate the public, essentially changing their opinion and using their anger for his cause… These tactics could put the entire Iron Cloud Nation in chaos!

With regards to how to deal with this spy… It was clear that public arrest and putting him on trial was not an option. No one would ever believe that such an upright official could be working as a spy for another nation. Ultimately, civil unrest would ensure if this issue was not dealt with properly.

Tie Bu Tian kept silent for a while. He then asked, "What did the minister say?"

Wu Qian Qian answered resolutely as she stood opposite him, "Minister Chu told me to check with Your Highness before deciding on a plan."

Tie Bu Tian's majestic aura was at its peak. Wu Qian Qian felt like she was a low lifeform as she stood in front of him. Such a royal aura was putting so much pressure on her that she had difficulty breathing…

This aspect was what made Wu Qian Qian truly admire Chu Yang. This junior martial brother originated from the same sect as her and even practiced the same techniques as her. Even though his martial power was weaker than hers, he was never nervous at all when standing in front of Tie Bu Tian. Perhaps… He was probably even more relaxed than Tie Bu Tian!

What was even more puzzling was that… Sometimes, Tie Bu Tian seemed to be more nervous than she was moments ago when the two of them were together!

This was truly unbelievable!

"Me? No!" Tie Bu Tian let out a smile, "Checking with me first is the right thing to do. However, he most certainly would not take any action according to my thoughts." It appeared that Tie Bu Tian had become more at ease after hearing Wu Qian Qian relay Chu Yang's words.

"This King of Hell Chu… He just vanished, didn't he?" Tie Bu Tian tilted his head and winked as he asked. This showed that he was in a decent mood and he could afford to joke with her.

King of Hell Chu… The instant Tie Bu Tian thought of these words, he had already wanted to burst out laughing. It was inconceivable how Chu Yang had managed to establish such a scary reputation for himself within such a short span of time. He was truly brilliant!

"Yes. His whereabouts at this present moment remain unknown." Wu Qian Qian answered nervously. She was worried for Chu Yang.

"That's good. That's good." Tie Bu Tian's response nearly caused Wu Qian Qian to fall to the ground. A person was not putting in his utmost effort into doing his duties and went missing ever so often, yet the prince evaluated it as a good sign.

What kind of logic was this?

"Tell him to just do it according to his own judgment." Tie Bu Tian smiled, "I will work with him. There will be no problem."