Death… and me

Young Master Yu felt very relieved as he walked away. He was convinced that Diwu Qing Rou was likely to turn a blind eye even if Jun Qing Yang committed an offense. Diwu Qing Rou was likely to put up with it owing to Young Master Yu’s introduction of Jun Qing Yang; …as long as he didn’t expose his true identity.

All the matters could only be accomplished by Chu Yang! Even Young Master Yu did not know what kind of idea was cooking in his belly.

However, Young Master Yu was very confident in his heart. It could be said that he and Chu Yang had been pretty good to each other from the beginning. They had done each other a favor, and had already settled the favors by this date. They did not owe each other anything now.

[Chu Yang would possibly come to Middle Three Heavens or Upper Three Heavens sooner or later… if he could stay alive and defeat Diwu Qing Rou. Whether he would be an enemy or a friend by that time… totally depends on the changing circumstances.]

[If he turns out to be an enemy… it would be interesting to have such an opponent. If he turns out to be a friend… he ought to be a good one.]

[But he would certainly be killed by Diwu Qing Rou if he can’t defeat him. As far as a deceased person is concerned… I certainly do not worry about anything!]

Young Master Yu walked in a relaxed and confident manner.

Diwu Qing Rou returned and kept insisting for Jun Qing Yang to stay at his palace. But Jun Qing Yang kept declining persistently. Diwu Qing Rou arranged for Jing Meng Hun and other people to attend to him for the lack of other options. Furthermore, many fishermen were ordered to help look for the Nine Joints Lotus Root…

The crowd at the Lotus Lake gradually dispersed. The Transverse Flute Master’s people narrowly escaped death by quickly running.

However, many people were left behind amidst the shadows.

Almost all the experts of the Golden Horse Riders Department were gathered here. Diwu Qing Rou had given strict orders, “Focus on this Lotus Lake! Be sure to keep a close watch after the crowd has dispersed!”

Therefore, Jing Meng Hun and Yin Wu Tian were taking care of this situation.

Hence, Minister Chu met his two ‘dear friends’ once again… after having emptied their headquarters only a day ago. However, Jing Meng Hun and Yin Wu Tian did not know that they had already met Jun Qing Yang.

Jing Meng Hun and Yin Wu Tian were in low spirits that day. They greeted Chu Yang. However, they saw that he was not in a good mood either. All three people were lost in their own thoughts.

Jing Meng Hun was thinking, [How to find Young Master Ye? How to make up for the loss? The wives and children of Du Shi Qing are also missing. I couldn’t dare to say all this to Diwu Qing Rou. How should I deal with this mess?]

Yin Wu Tian had one repetitive thought in his heart, [Is it really Chen Yun He who caused my brother’s disability?]

[Did he really do it? If he really did… what should I do?]

[And how should I find evidence?]

And Chu Yang was thinking, [Motherf**king Diwu Qing Rou’s people have sealed off this Lotus Lake. I must combat that flood dragon if I go down to find the third fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword. The water surface will inevitably be afflicted by sounds of turbulence. What to do now?]

[How will I escape even if I find it?]

[I would most likely be exposed when all my goals are completed. I would have to go away to Iron Cloud when that moment comes. Iron Cloud is thousands of miles away. How far away will I have to go to be safe?]

[Diwu Qing Rou must be planning to dispatch the troops soon. How would I move forward when this war finally begins?]

Chu Yang’s mind was in tremendous confusion. He tried to find a secluded place. He rested the back of his head on his hands and lay down in a thick patch of grass. He kept on rolling about in the grass with a green grass straw in his mouth. There was a thoughtful expression in his eyes while he was gazing at the starry sky.

He stayed like that for a long time.

He had felt his bottleneck loosening up a bit just this afternoon. The summoning calls of Nine Tribulations Sword’s fragment coming from the center of the lake had also become clearer and clearer…

The credit for all this went to one man, and one woman.

Young Master Yu and Jun Lu Lu.

Jun Lu Lu had played that song very proudly before she left. This had made Chu Yang feel a realm. He felt as if his body was lingering at an extremely high altitude; he was all alone at the top.

That is another type of realm where the master is all alone.

Other people had imagined a king’s splendid coronation and ascension to the throne while hearing the zither music. However, Chu Yang heard the music and imagined a king who had already swept past the nation. He had looked all around, but felt loneliness inside his heart since he was unrivalled.

He had no choice but to helplessly stuff all his weapons into the storehouse and release the horses into the mountains.

He had pacified a nation and became its regent — all to be a part of war.

Jun Lu Lu might not be able to reach the apex of martial arts in this life, but her tuning had already reached its pinnacle. As a master, she ascended to the top really fast. She had displayed that kind of marvelous ability in a split second; it was truly moving.

Chu Yang had allowed her to fly, which was her cherished desire.

Young Master Yu had untied her heart’s knot.

Therefore, she had become a phoenix overnight and attained enlightenment; the cocoon had transformed into a butterfly.

This was a breakthrough! This was an ultimate breakthrough!

Chu Yang had vaguely grasped the frame of mind which was usually associated with this kind of breakthrough at that time.

Furthermore, he felt something about the words said by Young Master Yu towards the end.

“I am the revered monarch of the entire world. I have covered a long and difficult road full of trials and tribulations! Who would dare to defy me?”

There was a heroic aggressiveness in these words that fascinated Chu Yang. Yes… this aggression had moved Chu Yang’s heart. He felt as if he could achieve anything.

An ordinary individual studying martial arts was unlikely to have a good temperament; especially a Jiang Hu person.

It went without saying that things would have been much harder for an expert in comparison to an ordinary person. The investment must’ve been very high on their part to have such achievements. A martial artist’s whole life’s sweat would be sufficient to bathe many people at the same time — if it were to be accumulated.

[I am stronger since I invested so much. You are weaker since you have not paid the price. Then why on earth should I tolerate you? Just because of the reason that you haven’t tried hard enough? What is the argument here?]

Moreover, one must have acute determination in order to study a ‘core law’ which was considered as the basis of martial arts in the Nine Heavens Continent.

In other words, a martial artist could not back down in the face of any difficulty; no matter what.

These words were just meant to inspire the frame of mind. However, there was an overwhelming majority of people whose daily lives were similar to this. Therefore, the so-called capable individuals of Jiang Hu strived for supremacy and contended fiercely amongst themselves; this was not without reason.

However, there was one quality which could never be lacking in a martial artist; especially a high level martial artist — aggressiveness. The ultimate self-confidence!

And Young Master Yu had stressed on this very point.

[I will destroy the spirit of any world hero who appears in front of me with just my fist.] This made Chu Yang quiver incessantly with reverence! This was the air of an unrivaled powerhouse!

Suddenly, Chu Yang’s heart trembled as his mental state shook. He unconsciously felt his energy welling up like a tidal wave throughout his body; a wave that simply could not be contained.

The Sword Spirit released a tremendous burst of medicinal efficacies within the space of his consciousness. It surged up turbulently while rushing forth to escape.

Chu Yang’s body stretched out slowly as he lay on the ground. His posture did not change. However, others would certainly be envious of his comfort if they saw him right now.

It seemed as if his body didn’t have any weight, and was floating. It emitted a strong spirit energy that resided in living beings. The grass below his body straightened up to support his body. His whole body seemed to float above the tender grass. Surprisingly, the grass did not get pressed-down under his weight.

The efficacies inside his meridians entered his dantian like a massive whale. The Nine Tribulations Sword absorbed the efficacies in his dantian and released pure power. Then it issued a peculiar spiraling power which rushed forward like the mighty Yangtze River to impact upon the bottleneck.

Boom!

Boom!

Chu Yang’s body shook slightly due continuous impacts. However, he could not feel it at that moment. His entire mind was focused on his spiritual consciousness. He was completely oblivious to what was happening to his body on the outside.

The spirit energy gathered in an invisible form in the sky above the Lotus Lake. Then it dashed downwards violently. It took the shape of a small tornado and entered his body hurriedly through his mouth and nose.

The dim-lit night was still quiet and lonely.

… …

Yin Wu Tian and Jing Meng Hun sighed. A worried frown appeared on their faces. They wanted to find Young Master Ye. [Finding Young Master Ye is as difficult as ascending to the heaven.]

[Besides, what can we possibly do even if we find him out? He was capable of rivaling Young Master Yu’s divine power. But what will we possibly achieve even if the two of us were to use all our abilities…?]

They might be able to kill Young Master Ye if he was somehow unable to escape the surroundings… if all the masters of the Golden Horse Riders Department teamed up without caring about their lives and death… if they risked their lives to join forces… and if they used overwhelming superiority of numbers.

However, even if they killed him after doing all this… they couldn’t afford to pay such a huge price. In addition, Golden Horse Riders Department’s had no matching strength to cope up with this super expert.

After all, Golden Horse Riders Department was merely a way to provide assistance to the king’s influence. They could cope with a general army and destroy them. But they were not strong enough… to handle a super-expert like that!

Both of them sat silently on the city wall; taken over by worries. Suddenly, Jing Meng Hun raised his eyebrow and said, “What was that sound? How can there be such a strong energy field?”

Yin Wu Tian’s ears twitched slightly as he said in a dismissing tone, “It’s just King Level Master Jun practicing martial arts. It’s nothing more. Moreover, he is close to a breakthrough.”

Jing Meng Hun leant his ear to one side. He stopped for a moment to observe the density of the spirit energy in the tornado that had just appeared in the sky. He continued to perceive for a long time. Then he broke into laughter and said, “Is the so-called King level expert of the Middle Three Heavens such a mediocre?”

“He is just ordinary and nothing more,” Yin Wu Tian snorted disdainfully.

They had believed that King Level Master Jun had such fame and power since he was a high-ranking King level expert. However, they realized that he was nothing more than a low level King level expert. So they felt quite indifferent about it.

However, they did not know that the real cultivation level of Chu Yang was just Fourth Grade Revered Sword Artist. Contrary to their belief that he was a low level King level expert, he was actually several grades below it!

They would probably not have been disdainful, and would have been rather shocked if they knew that Chu Yang had the cultivation of a preliminary Revered Sword Artist; that he had exercised a special martial technique to draw out king level fluctuations.

The space seemed to tremble with a slight fluctuation as invisible ripples spread out.

“He broke through,” Yin Wu Tian’s ears fluttered again. He said this in a way which indicated that he was overcome with boredom.

“I didn’t know that this guy who was trapped in this bottleneck for many years… would surprisingly make a breakthrough at this time, and happen to demonstrate it to us,” Jing Meng Hun said as the corners of his lips curled up. “But he didn’t think that his demonstration would reveal his real shitty level, did he?”

“Ha ha… ” Yin Wu Tian gave a hollow laugh as a reaction to Jing Meng Hun’s joke since it didn’t seem much like one.

“It seems like you are worried about something since the past few days?” Jing Meng Hun frowned and looked at his sworn younger brother. It was clear from his demeanor that something was wrong.

“It’s nothing,” Yin Wu Tian said while pondering for a long time. Suddenly, he said in a low voice, “Big Brother, say… what will be the consequences… if I kill Cheng Yu He?”

“What?” Jing Meng Hun was shocked. He looked around hurriedly and scolded him in a low voice, “What nonsense are you saying? Have you gone mad?”