Death… and me

The Fire Thunder Tiger furiously let out a long roar. It had been stabbed, and this had left a bloody hole on its body. And, blood was dripping down from the large wound.

It had roared in rage, and it seemed as if it was discontented with itself because it had been injured by someone who was far inferior to itself. Its eyes scanned everywhere, but it didn't find anything. So, it hatefully soared up with a red flash, and disappeared without a trace.

Nobody noticed that the strange mark on Tan Tan's forehead had shone when that ninth grade spirit beast had appeared. However, it had dimmed after the ninth grade spirit beast had vanished.

Several silhouettes rapidly flew out from the place that the Emperor Level Expert had leapt out. They came with the quickest speed possible, and hastily collected the blood that had been spilled from the Fire Thunder Tiger's wound. They didn't leave even a single drop of blood, and collected two bottles full of the blood. It was obvious that everyone had harboured a sense of constrained ecstasy within their hearts.

Chu Yang suddenly had a realization.

[I see. These aristocratic clans are collecting the blood essence of a ninth grade sprit beast. It is somewhat sorrowful that these clans only have this method to collect the blood essence of a ninth grade spirit beast.]

[An expert sacrificed himself so that he could make a big wound on the body of the ninth grade spirit beast. However, the others wouldn't have to do anything. They would only have to wait for the spirit beast to go away, and they would then come out and collect the blood essence of the beast… They can obtain the blood by sacrificing only one life in this way…]

[But… how f*ked up is this?]

A lean silhouette silently flew out. He took off his clothes and spread them on the snowy ground. Then, he collected the scattered bones and flesh of that Emperor Level Expert's corpse piece by piece, and put them in his clothes. He had a trace of repressed sorrow on his face as he went about this action in a silent manner.

[Ao Xie Yun!]

[So, these are the Ao Clan's people!]

Chu Yang remembered that he had seen the Ao Clan's people ambushing like that earlier. This meant that the Ao Clan had been planning on this the entire time. Chu Yang had an inexplicable feeling when he saw Ao Xie Yun silently packing the bones of the dead Emperor Level Expert.

[The Evil Young Master still has a bit of conscience left, I see… It's very hard to show such genuine concern in an artificial manner.]

Ao Clan's people had collected the spilled blood essence of the ninth grade spirit beast.

Then, they knelt on the ground under Ao Xie Yun's leadership. They silently knocked their heads nine times in front of the corpse's remains. Then, they stood up.

"Return to the clan. And, beware of the Black Devil's people!" Ao Xie Yun ordered in a heavy voice.

The numerous experts of the Ao Clan complied and quietly left.

Ao Xie Clan was the only one left in the end. He was hiding the tearstains on his face with a cold and firm complexion. He walked a few steps at first, and then turned around once. But, he then finally walked away, and soon faded into the distance.

Suddenly, he returned. He then knelt down and kowtowed. He banged his head three times with 'thump' sounds in the direction of that dead Emperor Level Expert! And, he stayed knelt down in that place without uttering a voice.

The experts of the Ao Clan calmly waited for their young clan lord; they didn't say a word.

Ao Xie Yun eventually stood up and let out a loud scream. Then, he left without turning his head again. The troop slowly faded and vanished in this world of mist and snow.

"This is an Aristocratic clan! This is the true legacy of a Great Aristocratic Clan!" Meng Chao Ran sighed and said.

Chu Yang remained silent for a long time. Then, he finally spoke-up, "Yes, this is an aristocratic clan! This is a true aristocratic clan!"

An aristocratic clan needs various people to work together in order to develop. Only then could it slowly build the so-called 'legacy'. Legacy doesn't necessarily depend on the number of experts in a clan. But, it depends upon an idea — a common belief.

Having the legacy can make the ancestors of the family have a sense of identity in their hearts. It makes them have a sense of belonging, and a feeling of glory. And, having this kind of a feeling should be a pure delight… regardless of what kind of things they must do for the clan's sake!

Just like the sacrifice that this Emperor Level Expert of Ao Clan had made today…

Such a clan truly deserves to be called an aristocratic clan!

"I understand it now. A clan can be called an aristocratic clan if someone from their clan commits suicide," Tan Tan didn't understand the gist of the story. But, he still drew out a conclusion in a very serious manner.

Chu Yang and Meng Chao Ran remained aghast.

…

The master and the disciples finally arrived in front of the icy peak. And, they were left to gasp in admiration when they looked upwards.

High!

Steep!

These words would automatically come to one's mind when they'd look at this icy peak.

"This mountain peak looks like a sword." Tan Tan shook his head and stretched out his tongue as he said, "But, who can use such a big sword?"

Chu Yang felt moved in his heart. He turned his head to look at him.

Sword Spirit became somewhat shocked in Chu Yang's thought.

"There must've been a fight here. Otherwise, that Fire Thunder Tiger mustn't have run away like that. But, how come everything is so peaceful here?" Meng Chao Ran was concerned about this matter. However, he and his disciples had no other choice but to be cautious now.

Meng Master would become nervous at the mere blow of wind and movement of grass.

He wouldn't consider the cultivation level of his disciples. He only believed that he must protect them at any cost as long as they were at his side. In fact, it was almost as if they were his own children!

[It's my responsibility to protect them!]

"The Fire Thunder Tiger has run away. So, those people wouldn't have stayed here any longer," Chu Yang said, "Master… there are only a few people in the Middle Three Heavens who can make a Fire Thunder Tiger flee. Moreover, I know only Young Master Yu and Jun Xi Zhu are capable of pulling this off this. But, they've already gone into closed-door practice. Therefore, any person who is capable of compelling a Fire Thunder Tiger to come out must've been an expert from the Upper Three Heavens. But, they've violated the rules of the Nine Heavens by appearing here.

"Therefore, they won't wait here. Instead, they would've run back before it's too late. After all, staying here would mean big trouble if they got discovered by the Law Enforcers of the Nine Heavens."

Chu Yang tactfully explained.

"Well… it's good that they didn't wait here to ambush." Meng Chao Ran nodded, "Are you sure that you want to go in by yourself?"

"Yes." Chu Yang pursed up his lips.

"Alright. Tan Tan and I will wait over there for you," Meng Chao Ran pointed towards a nearby cave and said.

"Alright."

Tan Tan became somewhat restless as he watched Chu Yang turning around and going. So, he stuck out his head, looked around, and said, "Master, why can't I go with him?"

"What would you do… by going with him?" Meng Chao Ran looked-on as Chu Yang's figure gradually faded. He then said, "Tan Tan, this is something you must remember — A person will inevitably have some secrets that they don't want others to know! And, you don't need to inquire anything if this person doesn't mean to harm you. After all, the other person can also feel hurt because of your needless inquisition. And, you will suffer more loss if that happens.

"The curiosity of a human is vast and limitless. Therefore, one must control one's curiosity… just like one must control one's greed!" Meng Chao Ran deeply said, "In fact, this is more important for us to remember while we are present in this world. An ordinary person can face difficulties because of their curiosity. But, a person of Jianghu can end up losing their life because of their curiosity!"

"Yes, Master." Tan Tan's head drooped down.

Meng Chao Ran nodded and exposed a faint smile on his face.

Chu Yang obviously wouldn't harm Tan Tan. But, Meng Chao Ran wanted to teach precautionary measures to his disciple so that he wouldn't hurt others.

[I can't protect them forever. They will have to walk on their paths by themselves.]

…

The more Chu Yang approached the mountain peak… the more excited the Sword Spirit became in Chu Yang's mind.

"In here! In here!" Sword Spirit excitedly repeated the same thing. His whole body was shivering.

"From where do I go in?" Chu Yang was also somewhat excited.

"Move forward… Go around the corner, go downwards…" Sword Spirit kept directing him…

"Forcefully go in from here!" Sword Spirit impatiently shouted when he had come to the halfway of a small hill.

"Go in from here. Then, dig to the base of this mountain using the Nine Tribulations Sword!" Sword Spirit was excited.

"Alright."

Chu Yang drew out his long sword. The Nine Tribulations Sword fragments were urged by his thought, and quickly got attached to the sword. Then, the sword inserted downwards!

….

"How long will it take?" Some time had passed, and Chu Yang had already gone deeper into the ice. However, he had been feeling more and more chill gathering around his body. So, he couldn't help but ask.

He had no other choice but to ask because the Nine Tribulations Sword was somewhat slacking. The Nine Tribulations Sword felt that this excavation had no use for itself. So, it was somewhat discontented. Its efficiency had also reduced greatly. So, Chu Yang had to promise to feed it innumerable martial treasures. That's the only way he could get the Nine Tribulations Sword to work…

Sword Spirit felt somewhat embarrassed during this whole process. So, he sealed his lips, and didn't utter a word. [Ah! Sir Sword Master is going in debt because of me…]

"Go even further down… to several thousand feet." Sword Spirit felt excited and said, "I can feel that the wisp of remnant soul is also excited and expecting us…"

"Several thousand feet more downwards?" Chu Yang's heartbeats fastened up. "I've already dug to nearly ten-thousand feet, but I still haven't reached the end…? Don't tell me that I have to dig till I bore through the earth?"

"How can you bore through the earth by digging for only several thousand feet?" the Sword Spirit earnestly replied.

Chu Yang rolled his eyes and continued to toil hard.

He again went three-thousand feet downwards. He dug up this solid and thick icy ground. However, soil had started to appear beneath the ice by now.

"There is soil in this Northern Wilderness as well…" Chu Yang was surprised.

"This region is located on earth… So, why would it not have soil?" Sword Spirit said somewhat disdainfully.

However, the Nine Tribulations Sword was also very excited while digging in this place. Its appearance was way different from when it was slacking off earlier. In fact, it was happily and excitedly digging with 'swoosh' sounds.

"What happened?" Chu Yang was somewhat puzzled.

The Sword Point, Sword Edge, and Sword Spine of the Nine Tribulations Sword danced and trembled in excitement.

Sword Spirit eventually raised his eyebrows, and let out a sigh and said, "I think that there's a good item down there. What else could make this gang of greedy bastards so excited…? Also, do you think that the Sword Soul would fall in some ordinary place? It's like you have no insight…"

Chu Yang was stunned.

[The reaction of Sword Spirit and Nine Tribulations Sword is amazing. Could it be that we've come across some awesome martial treasure?]

Chu Yang's heart became fiery at this realization.

[The item that can make Sword Soul reside in this place, and can make the Nine Tribulations Sword so excited… is it one of the Nine Great Legendary Herbs?]

He kept digging as this thought crossed his mind.

They continued to dig for another three-thousand feet. Then, the Nine Tribulations Sword suddenly started to dig down in a crazed manner. It wasn't known for how long it dug down…

They uncovered the layer of stone. They then saw that there was a big dry space underneath it.

A sword light was dancing around unhindered in this area like a mysteriously Divine Dragon.

Chu Yang entered into this space.

The sword light that was swimming around in this space suddenly stopped. It then issued a ray of seven-colored light. It slowly solidified and rippled several times. Then, it changed into an illusory shadow clad in a white robe which had sword pattern on it. Its physical features also emerged from the shadow.

Chu Yang noticed that this appearance was almost the same as that of the Sword Spirit in his mind.

This shadow carefully examined Chu Yang with its sharp sword-like eyes. Then, it asked, "This… is the current Master of Nine Tribulations Sword?!"

There was clear element of disdain in its voice…

…