Death… and me

"Your Excellency, I'm still not sure what you mean by that!" Of the six people, one of the men sitting on the rightmost voiced out while the other five nodded in agreement.

"Such an official should be promoted regularly! This King of Hell Chu captured this idea to begin his investigation. It's not just him; all of us know this very well. Hence, we arranged for our men on the inside to be hardworking, loyal, and dedicated. Moreover, they're not allowed to be greedy. These attributes allowed them to have the momentum to climb up to the higher ranks to allow us to reap the most benefits!"

The person who had just explained this was not Diwu Qing Rou, but instead a person who sat next to him, "The most crucial task of an inside man is for him to gain the trust of the enemy and slowly rise in positions. As time goes by, they would then have a stronger influence! If we are able to think of this, then surely King of Hell Chu can think of this as well!"

"Because of this factor, we have just suffered a critical loss of manpower in Iron Cloud!" He exclaimed gravely.

The person who just spoke had a slender figure. If he were to lay down on the ground and let someone sit on him, the latter would most probably feel that he was sitting on a bamboo.

"If our people did not have those behaviors, how could they have attained high positions in Iron Cloud?" A rough and primitive looking man said hastily, "Isn't this too contradictory…"

"Not necessarily!" A middle-aged scholarly official who had a goatee smiled, "He could launch an investigation, but he might not be able to uncover anything ultimately. This is because he might not dare to lay a finger on some people!"

"You can't assume that he won't dare to lay a finger on them!" Diwu Qing Rou, a man who had been famed as being noble his entire life, came out of silence. At that moment, a look of unease appeared on his face. He thought for a moment and continued, "With one sweep, this King of Hell Chu has made nine of our inside men at Bu Tian Pavilion lose their lives! Besides, he has already taken the lives of six officials in Iron Cloud. His targets were precise and unmerciful, leaving not one stone unturned. This person… is truly our greatest threat from Iron Cloud."

"On top of that, while exterminating spies from Bu Tian Pavilion, this King of Hell Chu also stated… that he didn't need any evidence; all he needed was to suspect someone to kill him!!!" Diwu Qing Rou's face displayed a look of admiration.

"This man is truly firm and cruel. His methods are also extremely illegitimate!" Diwu Qing Rou said assertively, "This person could potentially be no less dangerous than Tie Bu Tian!"

He turned around. With his back facing everyone, he said in a low voice, "Immediately after receiving this news, I have already had people prepare an Invisible Falcon to send a message to Number One. They are to withdraw instantly if anything out of place is discovered!"

"What?!"

Everyone was astonished. Were things really that serious? While they were still analyzing the situation, Diwu Qing Rou had already reacted by undertaking such extreme measures.

"Additionally, Golden Horse Riders Department has already mobilized a leader and a group of martial experts to head towards Iron Cloud! If Number One is safe, they will slaughter Chu Yang and return. If they encounter a dangerous situation, they will still kill Chu Yang but return with Number One! Give orders for Black Horse Riders and Iron Horse Riders in Iron Cloud to fully cooperate with one another!!!"

"The name of this plan is Slaughter the Sun!" [1] Diwu Qing Rou had issued a series of resolute orders. A bloodthirsty look flashed from within his eyes.

Tie Bu Tian! Did you think that a King of Hell Chu could help you grow wings and fly? Watch as I chop him down!!!

"Minister! It has been ten years in the making and has cost us a lot of resources… Are we supposed to just give it all up?" The middle-aged official with the goatee questioned.

"Then let's just hope that I'm overreacting!" Diwu Qing Rou's face became grumpy, "But now is not the time for you people to doubt me! Carry out my orders at once! In addition, have the Five Northern Corps move forward by a hundred miles!!!"

"A hundred miles?" Everyone was dumbfounded. Did the prime minister intend to start a war? A hundred miles would put them in Iron Cloud's territory! Even though there were no towns or villages there, how could Iron Cloud's military just ignore that?

"Do as I say!!!" Diwu Qing Rou's back appeared to hunch a little. His eyes seemed to feel heavy. He closed his eyes slowly as he thought to himself, "Hopefully it's not too late!"

All of a sudden, he opened his eyes and said hastily, "No matter what, no one is allowed to lay a finger on Tie Bu Tian!"

Everyone quickly walked out of the room in a file. Diwu Qing Rou turned around. His eyes were lit up with a gaze that appeared to be searching for something. With an expectant look, he muttered to himself, "If you are indeed a true rival, let's see how you'll deal with this move of mine."

Subsequently, Diwu Qing Rou shook his head lightly and smiled wickedly as he looked at the blue sky in the distance through his window. In this direction… was Iron Cloud!

Diwu Qing Rou stood dazedly for a moment before he cried out, "Get me every single piece of information on Beyond the Heavens Sect for this recent period!"

…

From the prime minister's mansion, Diwu Qing Rou tossed his arm up and a white bird flew towards the sky. The bird disappeared in the white clouds after flapping its wings for a few rounds and determining its orientation.

Invisible Falcon! It was a peculiar animal of the Nine Heavens! It had the ability to change its color and hide in the sky. It was the most advanced and intelligent creature that was used for courier. It was three times faster than an eagle. Furthermore, it could fly for a day and a night continuously without any food or drink.

With its speed, the Invisible Falcon could reach Iron Cloud Citadel from Great Zhao's capital within half a day.

An hour later, three black riders rushed out of the northern gate of Great Zhao's capital at top speed. As the three riders whipped their horses, the sound of thundering hooves could be heard all around. In the blink of an eye, only a trail of dust was left behind at the capital's gate.

Thousand Mile horses! There were only a few of these horses in the entire continent, yet they did not hesitate to waste the horses' energy on such a short trip.

They were headed for Iron Cloud Citadel!

…

At the same moment, Chu Yang, the Dark Night Challenger, had just completed another fight and was just leaving Meteor Martial Arts School. He conveniently found a place to sit down and modified his appearance. After he had removed all signs of the Dark Night Challenger, he stepped out, feeling a slight hint of regret.

If the 'Meteor Force' of Meteor Martial Arts School's owner had been a little stronger, Chu Yang could have begun combining Gentle Force of Water with Nine Tribulations Transcending the Nine Heavens Technique upon being attacked.

Chu Yang had just hit a plateau. He could feel that he was this close to a breakthrough but it was kept out of his reach by an extremely thin line.

This line was as thin as a piece of paper, yet it could still keep him from breaking through. Such a feeling was truly infuriating!

A suitable opponent was required for his path to understanding. His opponent could neither be too high nor too low in level.

Otherwise, he would not find success!

There was another type of understanding that could be achieved under the persecution of a killing aura. However, no such aura could be found when two people were simply sparring.

A killing aura originated from the heart. If there was no killing intention from within the heart, there would simply be no killing aura.

This was something that could not be resolved. Fortunately, Chu Yang had managed to find a suitable opponent even though his martial power was not that high. If he was at a higher level and had reached a plateau like this, seeking a suitable opponent would have been more difficult than plucking a star from the sky!!!

Being at the peak meant being lonely! It was not until now that Chu Yang finally understood this! Finding a suitable opponent would be immensely difficult!

There would be no breakthrough without pressure. Yet, if there were pressure, you would have to ensure that your life could be sustained under that pressure… It was no wonder that so many top masters had to work hard to find an opponent.

If it were as simple as just a life and death fight, it would have been much simpler. However, to be enlightened while fighting an enemy was as unlikely as dreaming while wide awake!

Once one stood on the pinnacle of martial arts, there was bound to be no enemy, let alone an opponent.

Chu Yang slowed down his pace as he was deep in thoughts. It was still early, perhaps he should head towards Emerald Flow Lake. He contemplated before turning, heading towards the southern gate of Emerald Flow Lake.

As he thought about Emerald Flow Lake, Chu Yang's mind drifted towards thinking about Gu Du Xing.

It had been more than twenty days. Shouldn't he be back by now?

How would he react when he comes back and finds out that I've broken through from fifth grade Martial Warrior to ninth grade Martial Warrior in just slightly over twenty days?

[1] Slaughter the Sun: Tu Yang, a play on Chu Yang's name. Tu means slaughter while Yang means sun.