Death… and me

1353 Ye Zui!

Under the cover of the night, Chu Yang sped ahead.

His destination — The territory of the Ye Clan!

The area where Purple Crystals were found in great density and the place where fortune was the greatest; the time where Yin and Yang would come as one and the moment where heaven and earth would shine at the same time!

The purpose of Chu Yang’s journey this time was the sixth fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword!

He already couldn’t wait to obtain the sixth fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword so that his brothers could come up!

At some unknown moment, the leather boots on his feet had already been discarded somewhere. He sprinted barefooted just like that across the vast lands.

Stars twinkled in the night sky as he ran in the open field. All of a sudden, Chu Yang felt as if he had entered an intriguing state, rising into the air suddenly and flying…

As though he himself was in mid-air and soaring freely under the starlight while he could clearly see the other him still sprinting madly in the open field in front. The night breeze blew the hair of his ‘other self’ into a mess and made ‘his’ clothes flap and flutter behind him…

As he ran, the internal energy within him started to slowly circulate. He felt wave after wave of pure earth energy gushing into him from his soles while wave after wave of pure spiritual energy poured into him from the top of his head…

One came from the top while the other from the bottom, forming a perfect cycle. After going one round through his body, they flowed into the Dantian.

Within his Dantian, that second strand of Primordial Real Silk also seemed to be trembling… and slowly thickening.

As earth energy flowed into his body without pause, the cultivation within his body was also being refined…

He felt the pores all over his body expand, wisp after wisp of internal energy mixed with impurities slowly being released from his pores. The void created was then replaced by pure energy of the universe…

Myriad amounts of impurities in his body were released through his pores, disappearing into the wind…

Only sebum stuck to the surface of his skin, instantly dried by the wind…

‘Watching’ himself run and ‘watching’ his own body undergo changes was a very fascinating phenomenon…

Just like that, Chu Yang ran for an entire night, as if he didn’t know what fatigue was!

When the horizon in the east turned faintly bright, his consciousness, under the guidance of a wave of fatigue, finally reentered his body. Only then did Chu Yang come to a stop in a forest and leap onto the branches of a tree to take a short rest.

Ten percent of the cultivation in his body had turned into pure energy of the universe.

This ten percent settled in the middle of his Dantian, surrounding the Nine Tribulations Sword. The rest of the ‘spiritual energy of the universe’, however, stayed on the outside and flooded his entire body.

“By the time all of these spiritual energy of the universe is converted into pure strength formed by the energy of the universe, I would likely be able to reach fourth or fifth-grade Supreme Martial Artist?”

Chu Yang thought to himself as he checked the changes within his body.

After breaking through to Supreme Martial Artist, Chu Yang had felt strong resistance in every step he advanced. For example, if only one step was needed in order to advance from ninth-grade Martial Saint to Supreme Martial Artist level, then breaking through from first to second-grade Supreme Martial Artist needed at least ten steps.

And each of these ten steps was met with more resistance than the one before!

It was easy to imagine just how much resistance there would be when advancing from second to third-grade!

“No matter how much resistance there may be, I am on the way there!” Chu Yang thought to himself while regulating his breathing.

He wasn’t able to see what he looked like at the moment; if he could, he would definitely receive a huge shock.

His hair was a terrible matted mess that stuck to his scalp. Black sebum covered his face and neck, such that one couldn’t tell how he looked like at all. His black robes were also torn and tattled…

…

Outside the forest, shouts and cries rang out and sword light flashed.

Chu Yang woke up with a start and looked toward the outside.

He saw someone sprinting as swift as the wind toward him. Behind him, a ray of gleaming sword light, as though a meteor shooting across the sky, came chasing after him.

It was obviously much faster than the person in front.

Just a glance at this ray of sword light caused a violent jolt to run through Chu Yang’s heart!

A Sword Supremacy!

And one who was of a high grade — At least third-grade!

Why was there suddenly a Sword Supremacy here? Who was he?

This wave of sharp and piercing sword aura made Chu Yang almost think that it was Gu Duxing who had come!

The person in front let out a loud bellow, bursts of starlight suddenly erupting from within his body. His speed suddenly increased and he charged into the forest just like a hurricane!

The starlight dissipated suddenly and loud snapping sounds resounded as countless branches and tree trunks were broken. That person had already come near the tree where Chu Yang was hiding. That wave of momentum continued hurtling forward, but he himself vanished soundlessly instead, as though a pin dropping into the ocean.

Even with Chu Yang’s eyesight, he was only able to tell that he had vanished the moment he leaned toward one of the tree trunks.

What technique was that? Could it be that this was a technique unique to the Three Star Divine Clan?

Even though he had only caught a quick glimpse, Chu Yang had already recognized that this person was the Three Star Divine Clan elder whom he had given an incomplete version of the Nine Tribulations Pill to when he was in the prison of the Zhuge Clan!

He didn’t expect him to have actually escaped at some point in time, most likely due to the power of his Nine Tribulations Pill. However, the Zhuge Clan was certainly very forbearing, considering that such a piece of news hadn’t actually been leaked…

Just as he was lost in thought, that burst of sword light came following after closely too and rampaged through the dense forest!

A ray of light, as though a moving dragon, continued the pursuit ahead. Explosions rang out along the way as all the trees were crushed.

In just a mere moment, the sword light suddenly spun around and returned to the outer perimeters of the forest. Then, it came in once more before coming to a sudden stop!

It stopped at a spot not far from the tree that Chu Yang was hiding in, right where that Divine Clan elder had vanished.

The sword light then dissipated, revealing a black-robed man’s tall figure.

Chu Yang felt a sudden wave of admiration in his heart.

The Divine Clan elder had come in and readily set up the deceptive array and went into hiding. But the moment this man got here, he actually instantly discovered the other party’s scheme and retreated immediately. When he reentered the area, he had obviously used approximately the same amount of power as that Divine Clan elder and automatically came to a stop at the place where he had vanished.

Which was to say that he had determined that the Divine Clan elder who had disappeared was within these perimeters!

Both his judgment and observation skills were extremely astonishing!

This man stood tall and straight. Dressed in black robes, his features were handsome yet naturally accompanied by a sense of piercing coldness. Just standing there alone and it was as if he was a sharp blade that had been drawn from its sheath, imposing and domineering.

In his hand was a sword which gleamed coldly in the light. Right now, cold light gleamed faintly while blood dripped slowly from the tip of the sword…

He stood there just like that. Then, his eyes shot toward that tree trunk which the Divine Clan elder had leaned against!

A numb sensation came over Chu Yang’s scalp as he watched.

The degree of meticulous care in this man’s thoughts and the extent of his agility were practically unimaginable.

The next moment…

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

Five to six people rushed in like a violent gust of wind. “Ye Zui! You…”

The eyes of the black-robed man were fierce and forceful. As he bent over and spun, sword light suddenly flared in mid-air. Even Chu Yang was blinded by the intense light and rendered almost unable to see anything in this instant.

As a few cries resounded in the air, those five to six people who came in later had already been turned into minced meat all over the place. They flew through the air and fell to the ground, blood and flesh landing on the bushes in the forest with loud splatters.

When Chu Yang looked over, he was in time only to see a starlight symbol on the forehead of one of them. The next moment, this person had already become minced meat.

The black-robed man’s speed and ruthlessness were practically the most extreme which Chu Yang had ever witnessed in his entire life!

The murderous intent within the sword slash made Chu Yang’s blood turn somewhat cold. Cold sweat involuntarily formed in his palm.

Within his Dantian, the Nine Tribulations Sword suddenly became restless.

The sword slash had actually stirred up the Nine Tribulations Sword? Shocked, Chu Yang hurriedly placated the sword.

“There’s a peculiar smell to this sword slash,” remarked the Sword Spirit suddenly. In his subconsciousness, the Sword Spirit had already been awake for quite some time, just that he was still rather weak.

“A peculiar smell?” asked a frowning Chu Yang.

Just a moment earlier, that sword slash that seemed as though it was going to wipe out every living thing in this world also gave him a strange feeling, just that it was a kind of feeling that couldn’t be put into words.

As if a sinister feeling yet not, and as if a terrifying feeling yet not. No matter what, it just gave people a kind of unsettling feeling.

The Sword Spirit’s voice was rather solemn. “Perhaps I saw wrongly and I do hope that’s the case… but within this sword slash, I actually detected the smell of a ‘demon’!”

“The smell of a ‘demon’?” Chu Yang’s brows furrowed. “The Extraterrestrial Demons?”

The Sword Spirit didn’t make another sound.

When he thought of that shout earlier, Chu Yang started to ponder. “Ye Zui? So this person is the mysterious Eldest Young Master and number one successor to the Ye Clan, the top clan in the martial world right now — Ye Zui!”

There were several myths in the martial world about Ye Zui. It was said that the original name of this particular Eldest Young Master of the Ye Clan was ‘Ye Shitian’, but due to some unknown reason later on, after he got terribly drunk one day, he suddenly changed his own name to Ye Zui[1]!

In addition, those who dared to use his original name ‘Ye Shitian’ were all executed under the sin of extreme disrespect!

Ye Zui slowly restrained the murderous intent which permeated his entire being. He stated dispassionately, “Third Elder, there’s no way you can escape, so you might as well show yourself! I, Ye Zui, guarantee that you’ll be fine!”

There was only silence in the surroundings.

Ye Zui was neither fazed nor frazzled. He continued calmly. “I, Ye Zui, have been in the martial world for 35 years. There has never been anyone who survived under my pursuit! And neither have I ever lost sight of any enemy whom I was pursuing… You cannot hide from me, nor will you be able to escape. Rather than running for your life, why not go back with me obediently instead? That way, you can still be treated with some civility… Must you force yourself into a state where you can neither seek life nor death?”

Chu Yang’s heart twitched for a moment there.

So this bastard has already been around in the martial world for 35 years… Which means that he’s at least fifty to sixty years old this year?

But his looks were still those of a young man…

He was already fifty to sixty years old, yet he was still being addressed as Eldest Young Master… Chu Yang suddenly felt the part within his trousers cramp up somewhat — Most regular people would already have been a grandfather by now?

Here, he was still a… young master!

“Are you not coming out?” Ye Zui’s voice gradually became tainted with murderous intent. He took a couple of steps slowly and gradually raised his head. “Do you think that I won’t be able to find you just because you’ve hidden yourself in the trees this time?”

The next moment, Ye Zui’s eyes, as though two cold and piercing arrows, met those of Chu Yang’s, who was startled and incredulous!

Chu Yang felt like fainting.

I… Why am I so unlucky?

He was actually being mistaken for someone else when all he did was find a random tree to take a break on?

The two of them, one on top of the tree and one below, stared at each other.

Ye Zui smiled at him. “Third Elder, your disguise this time round is really quite something!”

Chu Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He cursed furiously in his heart, “You’re the Third Elder! Your entire family is the Third Elder!”

I, I… I’m so freaking unlucky…

[1] ‘Zui’ is the character for ‘drunk’