Death… and me

Chu Yang created his fourth move under extremely bizarre conditions due to the stimulation of boundless hatred. This move was the most powerful. It contained a magnificent charm since it was the final move – [don’t restrain the blade when beheading the entire world!]

This move represented Chu Yang’s mental state, [My goal won’t be achieved… even if I kill the entire world. So, I won’t put my sword into the sheath.]

[I won’t give up!]

[I won’t restrain the blade!]

Therefore, it had become the most serious and perfect move of Chu Yang’s. Moreover, Chu Yang had an endless desire to display the magnificent charm of this move. It could be said that it was destined to become a classic in the future.

This move was one step ahead of the second move of the Nine Tribulations Sword – [What harm is there in slaughtering the entire world?!]

This move symbolized that Chu Yang’s mental state had made a breakthrough. Chu Yang’s road to martial arts had been separated from the category of the Nine Tribulations Sword since then. So, he had a unique comprehension of his own.

[A tool will be a tool. A divine tool is a tool; nothing more.]

[But… I'm a human.]

Chu Yang had sobered-up from that state of mind. Then, he had felt that the three fragments of the Nine Tribulations Sword had integrated into one under the pressure of his power. Moreover, they had merged with his body.

This was the so-called ‘Nine Tribulations Sword’s thorough submission to its Master’.

The Sword Spirit heaved a deep sigh inside Chu Yang’s consciousness, [Chu Yang has jumped-out of the vicious reincarnation cycle of the Nine Tribulations Sword. I don’t know what kind of a disturbance he will cause… in the Nine Heavens.]

[The mere thought that he could make such a bizarre breakthrough in such a time and place…]

Chu Yang let out a loud cry. The Nine Tribulations Sword’s cold light burst into the sky. He seemed to have stepped onto the void as he rushed ninety feet forward. There seemed to be a forest of weapons – like swords and spears – under his feet. A rain of arrows seemed to be coming from the front. However, Chu Yang turned a blind eye to everything. He continued to push forward with the support of his bizarre psychological state.

He stepped on people’s heads as he tiptoed his way forward. The heads got ruptured in a weird manner. Chu Yang continued to move forward. He stepped on the bloodied bodies of the soldiers as he left behind a trail of corpses.

The commander’s flag was hoisted on the steep slope. The flag-carrier crazily waved the flag to relay the signal – Die… but don’t let him escape.

The front soldiers turned around. They rushed after Chu Yang in a crazy manner as they saw the corpses of their comrades getting stepped-on.

They didn’t follow any rules or methodologies. However, they put their lives at stake in order to attack him.

Ordinary soldiers like them could only deal with an expert like Chu Yang by sacrificing their own lives. Lives of hundreds or even thousands of men would be sacrificed in exchange for his life…

There was an open field in front of Chu Yang. The area of this field was several feet in expanse. The soldiers were lined-up on the other side of this area. Their weapons were unsheathed, and their arrows were nocked. They seemed to be prepared…

Wang Teng Long stood upright on the steep slope. He had a cold expression on his face. His eyes closely watched Chu Yang as he rushed through the battle formation. Wang Teng Long constantly made hand gestures. The flag-carrier changed the signal-flags as soon as he saw these gestures. Therefore, the formation of the troops on the rear was constantly changing in order to block Chu Yang.

Wang Teng Long had put on a poker face as his sharp eyes tracked King of Hell Chu’s movement. He had seen such spectacles many times. In fact, many famous generals had the ability to single-handedly attack an entire army.

Wang Teng Long was doing his best. [This line of defense is more than secure. The changes in the battle formation are more than rational. If King of Hell Chu dies here… it will be his fate.]

[If he manages to break out of this siege… that will be his fate as well. It won’t be because my command isn’t strong enough.]

[I’ll do my job… that’s all.]

Chu Yang didn’t stop. He continued to push forward.

It turned dark before his eyes as several people’s shadows rushed from every side. They ferociously bellowed as they forged ahead to face Chu Yang’s sword edge. Clash!

Suddenly, countless other soldiers pounced-over.

This was their so-called ‘crowd tactics’.

The soldiers did a flying tackle as they pounced on their enemy; they were doomed to die. However, their deaths wouldn’t be in vain as they would create an enormous barrier to obstruct their enemy. The impact of the weight of more than one thousand kilograms of human bodies wouldn’t be easy to deal with. They were willing to throw away their lives since their commander had ordered them to block the enemy’s escape.

An ordinary King Level Expert would’ve found it difficult to deal with such an attack.

However, Chu Yang was different.

Chu Yang’s Nine Tribulations Sword had a function of devouring the power of life. These soldiers couldn’t pose a threat to him. In fact, they had delivered endless power to him by pouncing at him.

They posed some obstruction, but it wasn’t serious.

Dozens of people fell from the sky upon Chu Yang with a ‘whistling’ sound. They pressed his body beneath their weight. It seemed to be a formation of a meat-mountain. The soldiers who stood nearby bellowed with grief as they raised their weapons and rushed towards the meat-mountain to chop it down.

This was the only way to deal with such an expert – first entangle the enemy in a mountain of meat; then get your people to chop down the entire mountain and turn it into mincemeat along with the enemy.

It would be impossible to kill him if he were to get-out of the meat-mountain and roam freely on the battlefield… no matter how many soldiers lost their lives.

These soldiers had seen many situations such this; they weren’t dealing with a powerhouse for the first time. Their hearts were filled with sorrow and indignation. However, they had to bear it since there was no other way.

This approach had proved to be effective in the past.

However, today… it might not.

Hundreds of broadswords slashed in unison to chop-down the meat-mountain. Suddenly, a burst of sword-light flashed. The meat-mountain disintegrated and vanished like ice under the sun. Then, a radiant sword-light rushed-out with a loud and thunderous sound. No one seemed to understand the situation. Then, it became clear that the enclosure made-up of broadswords had been broken from the middle; the weapons had been shattered into pieces.

Chu Yang’s entire body had been covered in blood. He issued a ‘whistling’ sound as he dashed-out like a flash of lightning.

Chu Yang hadn’t lost his sense of direction despite the brutality of the battle. He continued to move north.

The flesh, blood, and limbs of the soldiers were sent flying as the sword-light dispersed outwards.

Chu Yang had used the first sword move – One ray of cold light pierces ten thousand fathoms!

He had discovered that this move was most-suited to deal with a group-attack. Therefore, he hadn’t used the other sword moves ever since he had the sudden flash of enlightenment. Instead, he had only been using the first move.

He had become so skilled in the usage of this move that he didn’t require to stop his advance as he used it.

It was hard to tell how many times he had used this move. Suddenly, he had felt his body turn light; he had come out of the tight encirclement. He had finally arrived in the large open area.

Chu Yang didn’t hesitate for even a moment. He rushed forward in a zigzag trajectory.

A bugle horn resounded as soon as he came out of the tight encirclement. Suddenly, the entire sky turned pitch-black.

Chu Yang raised his head and looked straight ahead. He saw several soldiers on horses; they were at stand-still. Then, those soldiers raised their hands and threw countless spears in his direction; six waves of spears were thrown at him in quick succession.

Meanwhile, the archers had started to shoot arrows. More than a dozen cross-bolts were shot at the same time. It seemed as if it was a large-scale aerial-attack on a city.

The soldiers behind Chu Yang had stopped in their tracks, and had shot their spears in his direction.

The sky had been blotted-out by the sheer number of weapons.

Tens-of-thousands of these arrows along with thousands of spears carried the might to besiege an entire city. However, they had been aimed at one person.

"Be careful!" the Sword Spirit warned him.

Chu Yang bellowed loudly. His body tilted towards the right as he fled at the maximum speed. He stuck close to the ground and moved swiftly; it seemed as if he was flying out of there. The Nine Tribulations Sword transformed into a barrier of sword-light in front of him in order to shoot down the incoming arrows.

A deafening noise was heard as eight massive cross-bolts hit the spot where he stood a moment ago. These cross-bolts were capable of besieging an entire city. So, one could easily estimate the insane amount of force that had been imbued into those bolts. Chu Yang tumbled and rolled-out as he lost his balance.

‘Whoosh’ Chu Yang realized that he was in a crisis. He hastily leant his body to one side. Suddenly, he felt a fiery sensation in his left shoulder. It was followed by a burst of ice-cold feeling. Chu Yang realized that a long arrow had pierced his shoulder. Moreover, he could see a rain of arrows in front of him.

Chu Yang rolled like a ball as his body changed into a group of light and shadow. Then, two ‘whooshing’ sounds were heard. His thighs had been pierced by arrows. His muscles began to tremble.

Chu Yang snorted. He had sensed the approach of these arrows. He had tried to dodge them, but they had got his legs. Fortunately, the arrows had pierced through his muscles; his bones hadn’t been hurt.

However, he felt an unbearable pain since he had received three arrow wounds.

Three people rode on fine horses inside the army formation stationed behind Chu Yang. Each of them held a big bow in their hands. Their bowstrings still buzzed. The three of them had a baffled look on their faces. They had never thought that they would fail to kill King of Hell Chu despite being the best archers in the nation’s army.

This reaction was too terrifying.

The previous attacks had been planned to create an opening to kill the enemy with three arrows. These arrows contained the entire essence, energy and spirit of these three archers. Moreover, it should have been a surefire from such a close distance. (1)

The archers had been confident that the situation was under their control. They would’ve never imagined that the chance would slip away from their hands in this manner.

These elite archers had shot their best arrows. So, they couldn’t shoot the arrows of the same intrinsic quality within such a short span of time. After all, the arrows had been imbued with their essence, energy and spirit. How could they shoot a number of them in quick succession?

Chu Yang assumed a ‘spiraling’ form to withdraw as his feet ceaselessly trod on the ground. He left behind a trail of sand and dust as he rushed-out of there.

Chu Yang dodged his way across the battlefield with a ‘whistling’ sound. The battlefield was soon pierced with arrows which had come from every direction.

Chu Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He waved the Nine Tribulations Sword behind his back, and cut-off all the exposed arrows which had pierced his body. He allowed the arrowheads to stay in his body for the time being. Then, his body turned into a ball of light with a loud ‘whistling’ sound. Suddenly, he shot high-up into the sky with a long flaming tail trailing behind him; he seemed like a shooting star that was flashing across the sky.

"What harm is there in slaughtering the entire world?!" It was hard to say whether or not Chu Yang's voice was filled with anger. He swiftly crossed the remaining open space of two hundred feet in a flash. Then, he crashed into the battle formation of the army with a loud ‘whistling’ sound — like an unstoppable firecracker.

He burst into the formation with a large explosion. Nearly two dozen soldiers were sent flying so high into the sky that they didn’t land on the ground for a long time. Their limbs and body parts tossed around like bouncing balls.

Multiple waves of blood surged-out. Chu Yang and his sword appeared like a boat that was galloping on a river of blood.

"It’s over." Wang Teng Long looked at Chu Yang’s shadow as it rushed and killed its way through the formation of his men. He listened to the miserable screams of his subordinates. He sadly closed his eyes and thought, [I couldn’t stop him.]

Notes:

Jing Qi Shen (精氣神) are three Chinese terms commonly used in Daoism and related studies to refer to the processes that govern spiritual and physical health. Jing (精) means an essence, qi (氣) means ‘breath energy’ and shen (神) a divine or human spirit. They are often referred to as the “Three Treasures” or “Three Jewels”.

Jing: said to be the material basis for the physical body, is passed by the parents to their child at conception. It governs the growth and development processes in the body and is gradually burned up as the body ages. The loss of jing is hastened by stress, overwork, illness, poor nutrition, and substance abuse.

Qi: is the invisible life force and vitality energy of the body. Qi is cosmic energy that circulates in channels, called meridians, through the body. When these channels are blocked, illness results.

Shen: equated with “spirit,” “psyche” or “mind,” is a manifestation of the higher nature of human beings. It is augmented and developed through the interaction of jing and qi energies. Shen presides over the emotions as an all-encompassing awareness or virtues, expressed as wisdom, love, compassion, kindness, generosity, acceptance, forgiveness and tolerance. A strong shen exists on the foundation of a sound jing and a strong qi; the three must be developed together. Well-cultivated shen brings peace of mind.