Death… and me

"Useless man! The sight of you fills my eyes with filth," Chu Yang cursed-out in a disgusted manner as he kicked the fat guard in his buttocks. The pot-bellied guard was sent flying like a rubber ball with a loud ‘whooshing’ sound. He screamed in a horrified voice as his rotating body flew across the wall in a weird posture. He crashed down on the ground with a loud thunderous noise; he seemed to have broken several bones.

Meanwhile, numerous shadows of people rushed-over from every direction. The experts of Golden Horse Riders Department had arrived at the fastest possible speed; it seemed as if their buttocks had been set on fire. They looked at the Revered Martial Artist as he raised his hand and gestured. Then, he winked at them to relay a signal. They stood in attention as they understood it. They didn’t even dare to pant; they stood motionless… with confusion in their hearts.

‘Whoosh’ everyone was in attendance.

"Is everyone in attendance?" Chu Yang turned around abruptly. Then, he gazed at each of them one-by-one. He glanced past everyone in a quick manner. However, the ruthless intention to kill that brimmed in his eyes sent chills down everyone’s spines.

"King Level Expert, everyone has arrived," the Revered Martial Artist straightened his back and replied.

"Good!" Chu Yang took two steps forward. "Now, here’s your assignment."

Everyone assumed the ‘attention’ position. Then, they fixed their burning gazes at Chu Yang.

"Be ready to make any sacrifices this time. Don’t even hesitate to sacrifice your own lives. King of Hell Chu must be found and killed at any cost," Chu Yang said as he slowly paced back and forth. His bright eyes looked like the eyes of a hawk as they swept over everyone’s face, "Now, all of you move towards the center and come closer to me."

Everyone was perplexed. However, they moved forward a few steps and encircled him.

Chu Yang secretly incited his martial power. His blood began to boil which gave rise to the fragrance of orchid. Everyone's noses twitched as they smelled the simple yet exquisite fragrance.

Chu Yang swept his eyes over them and asked heavily, "Did you smell something?"

Everyone nodded in unison.

"King of Hell Chu has been struck by a palm attack called ‘Destroying Soul and Breaking Heart’ Palm. Due to the impact of this unique palm attack… his body will continue to exude this peculiar orchid fragrance as long as he doesn’t die. Understood?" Chu Yang said in a dignified manner.

"Understood," everyone stuck-out their chests.

"Very well!" A strange smile appeared on the face of ‘Jing Meng Hun’. He continued in a dark tone, "Now, you people will accompany me to the Main North Gate to apprehend King of Hell Chu." He stopped for a second then continued in an eerie tone, "You people ought to understand the unprecedented significance of this mission. If there’s even a small mistake on your part… humph… then there shall be no hope for mercy or forgiveness."

"Yes!" Dozens of experts replied as their faces brimmed with eagerness.

"Now, let’s set off!" Chu Yang waved his hand and commanded, "Get your horses!"

‘Shua’ Everyone mounted their horses and prepared to leave. Suddenly, a faint sound of fluttering wings came from the sky. An invisible falcon’s figure appeared in the sky and landed on the head of the Revered Martial Artist.

"What’s that? Bring it over here," Chu Yang’s sharp eyes swept over it as he shouted.

He knew that the letter contained latest information on him.

"Yes!" The Revered Martial Artist didn’t doubt him even a little. He held the invisible falcon and removed the letter. Then, he held it in his hands in a respectful manner and presented it to Chu Yang.

He would never have imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that this awe-inspiring ‘King level Expert Jing’ was in fact the primary target of Golden Horse Riders Department – King of Hell Chu!

Chu Yang rolled open the letter and took a look at it. Then, he said in an expressionless manner, "The latest news is that King of Hell Chu has entered the Qilang Mountain. We must leave for the place… as the first military action team. Understood?"

"Understood!" Everyone got excited.

[We’re being sent as the first military action team to arrest King of Hell Chu? The opportunity to perform such a great service has fallen onto our shoulders?]

"Good!" Chu Yang strode over and mounted his horse. Then, he whipped it and pointed his finger towards the mountainous landscape in the distance. It seemed as if the imaginary ‘King of Hell Chu’ was already there; waiting for them to catch him. He shouted in a confident manner, "Gentlemen! It’s time to perform our duty and accomplish our goal. Let’s go!"

He clamped his legs on either side of the horse as it dashed forward like an arrow.

"We shall accomplish our goal. Rush forward!" several dozen experts clamored in unison and spurred their horses to dash forward. They followed the ‘King Level Expert Jing’ in an excited manner and rushed out.

Fifty or sixty horses formed a tyrannical whirlwind as they rushed-out of the mountain pass and towards the Main North Gate.

Chu Yang’s horse leapt-out of the suspension bridge with a thunderous sound. He looked at the lush green mountain-forest in the distance. His eyes seemed eager as he waved his hand and said, "The one who comes last in the race shall be killed without pardon."

"Awooo…" everyone issued a loud cry and rushed forward to save their lives…

*** ***

Jing Meng Hun arrived like a whirlwind with a large brigade of people after an hour of Chu Yang’s departure. He roared as he learnt about this incident and nearly knocked down a horse to death.

[The enemy is using the same strategy over-and-over again to make his escape. He is pretending to be me!] This thought drove Jing Meng Hun crazy…

He roared for a while. Then, he issued a series of orders. After that, he led his men to chase after the enemy. Several invisible falcons flew-out after their departure. The falcons flapped their wings to notify every the checkpoint ahead to join forces in order to surround and capture King of Hell Chu.

Jing Meng Hun gritted his teeth as he pledged in his heart, [Your tricks won’t work again. King of Hell Chu… you’ve made a blunder by entering this mountain-forest. I take a vow that if I don’t kill you this time… I shan’t consider myself a man!]

… …

Chu Yang was alone now. He walked in the forest with his entire body dyed green.

He had lost more than 20kgs of poisonous flood dragon meat a while ago. But in exchange, corpses of 56 experts of Golden Horse Riders Department lay quietly in the forest. It had been an effortless victory…

More than 160 experts of Golden Horse Riders Department had died at Chu Yang’s hands from the time he had come out of the Continent Center Citadel. It would’ve been difficult from him to deal with even a dozen of them if he had confronted them head-on. However, he hadn’t even need to move a finger in order to get rid of them. He had merely used the identity of Jing Meng Hun to trick them into consuming poison.

Chu Yang was very happy about this.

However, the getup provided by the Sword Spirit had reached its time-limit of three hours. Therefore, Chu Yang’s facial features had been restored to their true appearance. He advanced through the dense green trees in a stealth manner; like a leopard.

The Sword Point of the Nine Tribulations Sword poked its tip out of his right hand’s middle finger. Chu Yang was changing directions as per its instructions.

The Sword Point was helping him look for elixirs.

His discussion with Sword Spirit from a moment ago had been greatly motivating.

"There are a lot of spirit medicines of the heaven and earth in the mountain-forest.

"The mountain-forest is very dangerous… but there won’t be any need to conceal your identity since you can easily hide there. These mountains, rivers, flowers, plants and trees will become your cover. It’s said that one’s eyes can be obscured by a single leaf. Yet, this is the great mountain forest. And you’re just one person.

"There are a lot of elixirs of Heaven and Earth rank in this world. But, they usually grow in the most inaccessible places – majority of them grow in mountain-forests and the remaining occupy the underwater regions. Most of them grow for thousands of years and then silently dissipate into the heaven and earth… Then, the dissipated spirit energy gathers together and takes rebirth in the form of another treasure of Heaven and Earth rank…

"Your wounds can’t be cured by the medicinal efficacies of Nine Tribulations Sword. But, that doesn’t mean that they can’t be cured by the heaven and earth either. There is no wound or sickness that can’t be cured by the heaven and earth… The heaven and earth are eternal.

"Everything depends upon your luck. Moreover… you shouldn’t be lacking good-luck since you’re the Master of Nine Tribulations Sword."

Chu Yang chuckled in his heart, [How would have I obtained Nine Tribulations Sword if I lacked good luck?]

Chu Yang’s right hand’s finger was placed on the ground as his side leant against a pine tree. The Nine Tribulations Sword’s Sword point was in contact with an emerald-green plant-stem. This plant-stem was withering at a speed which was visible to the naked eye.

"This mountain-forest is filled with treasures." Chu Yang sighed and thought, [It hasn’t even been a quarter-of-an-hour since I entered the forest… and I already have three 100-year-old weeds and a red spirit mushroom.]

The Sword Point didn’t gobble any medicinal efficacy for itself. It transported them to the Nine Tribulations Space and handed it over to the Sword Spirit. Then, the Sword Spirit transformed the medicinal efficacies into pure energy and delivered them into Chu Yang’s meridians…

The Sword Point flickered and pointed in the other direction. Chu Yang’s heart was set in motion as his body floated in that direction. He was advancing at a flying speed…

He stopped after a long time to take a look around. He smiled joyfully as he saw a vast stretch of lush grass-thicket growing up to his waist. A palm-sized green grass plant was hidden in the grass thicket. Three small green fruits grew from the branches of the green grass plant.

[‘Grass Cushion Fruit’ is an extremely rare elixir. It’s extremely difficult to find even though it has three years of ripeness. Many prescriptions require this herb. However, its unavailability gets it replaced by other herbs with similar functions.]

[This grass cushion fruit is green in color. So, it’s camouflaged well-within this lush green thicket of grass spreading in an area of about thirty meters. It’s difficult to spot it even when it’s close at hand. Even I wouldn’t have been able to spot it if not for the Nine Tribulations Sword. I would be long gone from here without noticing it…]

[Who will be patient enough to search through a pile of weeds?]

The three fruits disappeared as the Sword Point snuggled close to them. The green grass plant also withered and disappeared without a trace…

Chu Yang rushed forward. He felt a vibrant power in his meridians. He felt full of vitality for the first time as his five internal organs – still wrapped in Sword Spirit’s power – began to heal.

Chu Yang couldn’t help but feel strange in his heart. [This grass cushion fruit is rare… but it’s not a ‘heaven and earth treasure’. So, how did it begin to heal my internal organs as soon as it entered them?]

"Healing injuries or treating illnesses are by no means the tasks of only the ‘heaven and earth treasures’ or precious elixirs. Even an ordinary herb can be used to treat an illness as long as its functions are symptomatic and suit the condition of the illness. In that case… an ordinary herb can be more useful than some ‘heaven and earth treasures’." Sword Spirit voice’s resounded, "You can’t be unaware of this fact."

"So that’s how it is." Chu Yang tried to fathom Sword Spirit’s words. But he felt that the aftertaste of this fact was seemingly endless. He found this fact wonderful even when he was using his mind-frame of a martial artist.