Death… and me

The middle-aged man smiled helplessly as he hugged his daughter. An average person like him couldn’t possibly achieve such a feat.

Many young girls rushed over to the bow of their boats and bent over the edge, waiting to see this exceptional scene of a big fish towing a boat, and Lotus Lake became jubilant all of a sudden!

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Minister Chu continued to circle his way around the boats. Even that big fish was such a show-off; it jumped out of the water several times, revealing its exquisite golden-white and dazzling figure to the crowd before diving back into the water, while continuing to tow the boat forward the entire time…

"Once more! Once more!"

"Please jump again!"

"Wow, la la la…"

Suddenly, waves of cheers spread through the crowd of spectators, with each wave being louder than the previous one… in a series of unstoppable exhortations!

Especially, the loud screams of several naive young girls, resounding throughout the lake non-stop…

The people on the Flute Master’s family vessels were also observing this flashy and eye-caching display from the sidelines as a burning sensation overwhelmed their nose. They were wishing for that pretentious brat to be torn to shreds: The Flute Master’s breathtaking performance from a while ago had really become meaningless after such a flashy commotion caused by this brat, and as a result, the impact of the Flute Master’s mellifluous music simply vanished into thin air!

Was it possible for the Flute Master to make yet another flashy appearance in front of the crowd?

And if he were to do that, then would he not end up becoming a laughing stock?

The limelight, in its entirety, had been thoroughly monopolized by Chu Yang! There were no two ways about it!

In an ordinarily decorated pleasure boat, there was a middle-aged man sitting calmly inside the cabin. With a smile on his face, he suddenly asked in a soft voice: "Who is that person? He clearly wants to give trouble to the Flute Master… Although he isn’t one of us, he has still managed to lift the pressure off our young lady’s shoulders. I must say that he has certainly eliminated the influence of Flute Master’s first impression… ha ha, this really isn’t a bad thing for us, not bad at all."

"Could it be that he is someone from the Transverse Flute Master’s faction?" another person asked.

"I don’t think so; the Transverse Flute Master would not appear so early." The previous individual replied firmly.

"That is also true. Is the young lady arriving soon?"

"She should be here by day after tomorrow." The previous individual said with a sigh: "It’s just that this year’s event at Lotus Lake is really somewhat untimely…"

"Yes indeed! Presently, Great Zhao is in a complete turmoil… if some mishap were to occur here, then there’s a possibility that Diwu Qing Rou might mobilize his forces to this place." The other individual said in an anxious tone.

"We must take one step at a time."

"Have you seen the clan members arriving?"

"Not yet."

On another boat, a young master was looking at Chu Yang’s stunt with smiling eyes, and suddenly, he sighed in a gentle manner.

"Why are you sighing, Minister Yu?"

"I am sighing because the difficult problem, which was giving me a headache earlier, has been already solved by someone quite perfectly.”

"Difficult problem? Solved?"

"Correct… Ah Lu’s Zither skills have already reached the acme level, simply unmatched under the blue dome of heaven! However… she is not particularly fond of using vulgar claptrap to please the crowds… Therefore, she is bound to be in a disadvantageous position with respect to the other two masters in the beginning, but… the unexpected emergence of that guy… has re-established the equilibrium between the three masters!

"Are you talking about that flashy and pretentious guy?" The person asked in a somewhat skeptical tone: "Just look at him… he is so pretentious and full of himself that he seems to have already forgotten himself…"

"That’s where you’re wrong." Minister Yu stared profusely at the playfully delightful figure of Chu Yang and said: "You say so because you don’t know who he really is! He is not that kind of a superficial person, but he still did it just for the sake of helping us. This is such an enormous favor!

"This is tantamount to gifting our Ah Lu the very title of ‘Number one in the entire world’."

Then he emphatically said, "Move the boat forward and intercept him. I want to talk to him."

Chu Yang was almost prepared to end the show when a boat suddenly arrived in front of his smaller one. At that very instant, the fishing rod recoiled, causing the fishing line to snap. The big fish immediately escaped from his clutches and vanished without a trace.

The curtains on that boat suddenly rolled up. Chu Yang clearly noticed that this curtain hadn’t been touched by anyone; it had rolled up on its own.

[An expert!]

Chu Yang’s pupils suddenly contracted as he felt a sense of alarm rising in his heart.

Once the curtains were fully drawn, Chu Yang’s gaze fell upon a young master, clad in a black robe, sitting quietly in the cabin, looking intently at him.

As their eyes met, Chu Yang suddenly had an extremely wonderful feeling, as if those two eyes had seemingly existed since time immemorial, and had been staring at him for millions of years!

If Chu Yang’s eyes were like two droplets of water, then the opposite party’s eyes were like the endless sea. That person’s gaze had completely overshadowed his.

Chu Yang was shaken in his heart and wanted to back off, but failed to do so! It seemed like his mind was being controlled by that man, as if he had simply been frozen to the spot!

Chu Yang was greatly startled in his heart!

[How can there be such a frightening personage in the Lower Three Heavens?]

At this time, the Sword Spirit snorted inside the Nine Tribulations Space and an enormous amount of spiritual energy suddenly rushed into Chu Yang’s eyes.

Boom!

Surely, this loud explosion had occurred during the forced separation of Chu Yang’s gaze from that man’s!

This sound was so loud and clear that even that attendant behind the black-robed young master had been able to hear it distinctly!

There was an issuance of sound as a result of the mere separation of gazes – this was an incredible event!

Chu Yang’s heart was thumping loudly. In a mere instant, his clothes were completely soaked in cold sweat. [For this person, killing me would be as simple as crushing an ant… if he wanted to!]

No doubt, this person was enigmatic and simply unfathomable!

“Hmm?” The black-robed young master was also slightly startled. And a puzzled look flashed in his eyes as he suddenly said in an indifferent tone: "You may leave first, return on your own."

The attendant immediately complied with his command.

They were presently at the center of Lotus Lake, yet the attendant jumped out of the cabin without the slightest hesitation and plopped into the water. Then he immediately used his hands and feet to swim all the way to the shore.

Now, there remained only those two individuals sitting opposite to each other.

"Who are you?" Chu Yang calmed himself down and asked slowly.

"Please come in and have a seat." There appeared an amiable smile on the face of that black-robed young master as he insipidly said: "It seems you have forgotten, but we have met each other before, my friend."

"Oh?" Chu Yang looked at him skeptically, then immediately floated over to that boat’s cabin.

While facing such a peerless expert, he knew that his resistance would be entirely in vain. In fact, even running away from there would be absolutely impossible. Therefore, he might as well just go in confidently and find out what this expert had to say.

In the cabin of that boat, there was a table made of white crystal. And there was a white crystal seat opposite the black-robed person as well. Chu Yang sat down unceremoniously, with no trace of politeness in his conduct.

White crystal! In all of the Nine Heavens Continent, it was considered a treasured material, second only to Purple Jade when it came to its energy containing attribute. However, this black-robed person had crafted tables and chairs out of such a precious material!

It was quite obvious that this black-robed man was extravagant, as well as filthy rich!

Within his Dantian, the sword’s tip gave out a sharp cry, full of desire, as if it was craving for something.

Chu Yang smiled bitterly. [This white crystal is certainly a valuable item, but your big brother cannot afford to provoke this person…]

"Would you like to drink wine or tea?" The black-robed young master smiled and asked genially.

"This guest shall follow your lead." Chu Yang smiled back in a similar genial manner: "Of course, I would prefer to try whichever’s better!"

"Ha ha, you are really blunt, aren’t you?" The black-robed young master grasped the teapot with one hand. Then he gently moved his other hand to beckon a small water jar, and its lid slowly opened on its own. Following which, an arrow of water soared up as if it was conscious, and slowly poured itself into the teapot. The black-robed man smiled at Chu Yang and said: "This is Ice Crystal Water from the Middle Three Heavens.

Chu Yang looked at it with great interest and replied in a praising tone: "It’s pretty good."

However, he was quite shocked in his heart. [It’s far from being just pretty good, okay? In this world, only an Ice Crystal can extract spirit energy from ice and contain the extracted energy within itself in frozen form. When the Ice Crystal melts, the spirit energy contained within completely dissolves in water, forming Ice Crystal Water!]

Although the quality of spirit energy accumulated in an ice crystal was inferior in comparison to that accumulated in a Purple Jade or a White Crystal, it was the only one which could be consumed! Chu Yang had never thought that the person before him would be so exuberant that he would use such precious water for preparing tea!

The black-robed man laughed as he took out a small jade bucket, made out of Purple Jade, from his bosom and said: "Take a look at these tea leaves, I have grown them myself and they are still nameless. However, I believe that only my tea deserves to bear the title of ‘nameless’ in the entire world."

After saying that, he removed the lid of that Purple Jade bucket and poured out a few previous leaves directly into the teapot.

And then, as soon as he placed the teapot on his palm, he used some kind of martial skill, and within a moment a white fog suddenly rose from the teapot, making bubbling sounds endlessly.

Even the lake water had actually begun to boil at his command!

"Usually, boiling the tea leaves ruins the brewed tea’s taste, but boiling is necessary to bring out the true flavor and fragrance of my tea." The black-robed man explained.

Immediately after that, he flicked his finger and a stream of water suddenly shot out of the teapot and landed steadily in the cup in front of Chu Yang, filling it all the way to the brim, without spilling a single drop in the process.

A simple and elegant fragrance spread out in the vicinity, immediately refreshing their heart and soul.

"This tea’s fragrance isn’t strong, but it can spread to great distances from its source, though that is also quite troublesome." The black-robed man smiled and stroked his sleeves, and Chu Yang suddenly felt the entire space stagnating around him.

Even the rising steam suddenly froze in midair.

[Domain Control!]

Chu Yang almost exclaimed out loud.

Domain Control was a type of wondrous technique, which could only be comprehended by the experts of Martial Emperor Level. The wondrous beauty of this technique was inherent in the fact that some of the Ninth Grade Emperor level experts failed to acquire their own domain, whereas some experts of First Grade Emperor Level might be having it!

It completely depended on an individual’s comprehension ability, as well as their destiny!

It didn’t actually determine the level of one’s skill or competence, but that didn’t alter the fact that only the experts of Emperor Level or above could possess it.

An Emperor level expert might not have his own domain. However, an expert who had a domain of his own could only be an Emperor level expert!

"May I ask who you are, sire?" Chu Yang asked slowly. [This person says that he knows me, but I don’t have a single clue about his true identity. Don’t tell me that this person is actually a divine being?]

"He he…" The black-robed man gave a soft chuckle.

Suddenly, Chu Yang felt this man looking somewhat familiar. Also, this familiarity wasn’t related to that man’s appearance, it was rather induced by a feeling of déjà vu.

Furthermore, this person's bearing, temperament and even his attitude was full of indifference. As if his heart was not entangled in worldly things!

In fact, it could be said that his bearing was 80% similar to that of Meng Chao Ran’s!

"Neither do I have a surname, nor a given name." The young man smiled gently. His carefree and easygoing attitude was really quite contagious in a way: "However, everyone calls me ‘Young Master Yu’, and so can you."

"Young Master Yu!" Chu Yang was suddenly startled in his heart and almost lost control of his psyche.

[I see, so it’s actually him!]

[This mysterious personage has finally appeared.]