Death… and me

The four white-clothed old men kept their eyes closed and remained motionless as Diwu Qing Rou walked out.

However, Diwu Qing Rou still smiled and bowed in salutation. He said, "It was fortunate that I was able to complete my mission."

The four didn't speak.

Diwu Qing Rou walked away, and disappeared from the doorway.

The four people simultaneously opened their eyes as if by prior agreement after he had walked away. They then shot a quick glance at each other. Then, the white-clothed man in the middle softly said, "This man is capable. It's a pity that he isn't surnamed Zhuge."

Then, the four people again closed their eyes at the same time.

The sleeves of Diwu Qing Rou's robe fluttered as he walked away. The sky was already slightly bright.

Diwu Qing Rou was strolling on the road… He looked up at the sky. Remnants of stars were still faintly visible. He looked in the direction from where the sun was rising and smiled. Then, he lowered his head, and spoke a sentence, "It was fortunate that I was able to complete my mission."

Then, he sped up his pace, and returned to his own courtyard. He then sat inside the study room. After that, he finally let out a long sigh.

He heavily breathed a few times. Then, he felt his mood to have completely calmed down. After that, he slowly walked to the front of a wall… A map was hung there. He knitted his brows as he looked at it. He concentrated his attention, and stared at the map for a long while.

He then lightly pointed on the Zhuge Clan's position in the map. Then, he drew the shape of a knife in the empty void, and slightly smiled.

The Zhuge Clan's shape on the map was like that of a little bottle-gourd.

And, Diwu Qing Rou's imaginary marking was cutting into the neck of that bottle-gourd. Let's presume that this bottle-gourd was a man. Then, the knife must have exactly been hung up on his neck.

It was a deadly threat!

Diwu Qing Rou wrinkled his brows, and pondered… He silently made computations in his heart.

[I had first made a strategy. Then, I had sent all the troops of the Zhuge Clan in the wake of the Three Stars Divine Clan's emergence… I had sent them to deal with the Divine Clan. Then, I had secretly contacted their high level experts. My original intention was just to take advantage of their authority. However, I hadn't thought that their conditions would turn out to be like that…]

[I had set a trap, and had dispatched some high level experts of the Zhuge Clan. Then, I had captured this Third Elder of the Three Stars Divine Clan who had seemed most willing to fall into this trap. Then, I had laid down the obvious picture.]

[The thing that was usually the most unpleasant to my eyes was that Zhuge Chang Feng. So, I had thrown him in the mouth of death… I had conveniently accomplished this agreement.]

[On the one hand, I would be able to be much of help for the Divine Clan. On the other hand, I would be able to set up an incomparably strong opponent for the Zhuge Clan.]

Diwu Qing Rou couldn't help but smile as he thought this. [I'll just wait for the right opportunity to come now. How would the Zhuge Clan not perish then?]

[There would be no wise clan left in the Upper Three Heavens once Zhuge Clan perishes. Then… which clan would take the great responsibility in its place except for my Diwu Clan?]

[This can also be considered as the revenge for these several years of hatred of Diwu Clan… Diwu Clan will abruptly rise whilst taking the advantage of the situation…]

Diwu Qing Rou finally sighed after he had thought all this.

He then recalled the hardships that this Third Elder of the Divine Clan was going through these days. He deeply took a breath. He greatly admired him, but he dreaded the consequences at the same time.

[Who would agree to take the shame of being a prisoner despite being a majestic eighth-grade Saint Level Expert?]

[He might not have been able to escape after being besieged by two Supreme Level Experts. But, he would've quietly committed suicide if he wasn't willing to be captured. How could he possibly let them capture him?]

[Moreover, he still has to go through extremely tragic torture after being captured. And, he has to give an impression to others that he can't hold on until he finally becomes ready to make the confession… after being left paralyzed by the torture!]

[It can be said that this Third Elder has sacrificed everything he had… including his dignity.]

[He's doing all of this just to send something that is suitable for the awakening…]

[He's so loyal and devoted… and so sacrificing…]

[…and all that just for an uncertain hope!]

[What mentality is this? What if I were to become the enemy of such an enemy one day…]

Diwu Qing Rou sighed.

He couldn't help but become somewhat curious. [After all, who is that awakened being? And, Zhuge Clan has offended this awakened being so badly… that there are definitely going to be consequences…]

Diwu Qing Rou gently smiled as he thought this.

Then, he thought in his heart, [Nine Heavens are chaotic enough. The crisis made by the Master of the Nine Tribulations Sword is rapidly expanding. And, this awakened being of the Divine Clan is truly a trouble lying ahead now.]

But, it was unfortunate that Diwu Qing Rou didn't know that the one that Zhuge Clan had offended this time wasn't just the so-called awakened being… It was the Devil King who had awakened at that time!

He hadn't thought that the Zhuge Clan hadn't only offended the Devil King, but also the Three Stars Divine Clan. Moreover, they had seriously offended the Master of Nine Tribulations Sword!

Diwu Qing Rou would've been drinking a toast of wine if he had known this even though he had a very superior forbearance.

Diwu Qing Rou's expression became deep as he looked at the sky gradually lighting up… A feeling of loneliness sprang up unbidden in his heart. And, he couldn't help but softly sigh, "It's indeed lonely here."

Then, he started to miss King of Hell Chu the next moment.

Not even a superhuman could beat the wisdom of Diwu Qing Rou's entire life.

There had been a major power among the nations in the Lower Three Heavens. The Iron Cloud would've been victorious after they had put all of their efforts and strength… even if he hadn't finally done the favor on the enemy and hadn't favored increasing Diwu Clan's fate. But, the victory would've been tragic since both sides would've equally suffered!

Moreover, Diwu Qing Rou was more than 60% sure that he could've won.

The reason why he had given up was just an unrestrained gamble.

That gambling had been based on a vague, illusionary, and baseless guess on his part… There was no way to confirm if his guess was true, [Can Chu Yang… be that mysterious…]

However, it was certain that Chu Yang was roughly matched with Diwu Qing Rou in the respect of wisdom. Moreover, he had been able to make Diwu Qing Rou repeatedly suffer a loss until now. And, he had done all that by himself.

Such was King of Hell Chu!

Diwu Qing Rou cherished the memory of that evenly matched rival.

Diwu Qing Rou's status wasn't that high in the Zhuge Clan at present. However, his wisdom, tricks, and schemes were invincible. Everything was going very smoothly.

Things here were going so smoothly that Diwu Qing Rou didn't feel the least bit of joy and pleasure on his plan being successful.

It could be said that tricking a talented person who had brains and a status was a joy. However, tricking a fool… would only bring depression.

Diwu Qing Rou muttered as he looked outside the window, "King of Hell Chu, you're coming to the Upper Three Heavens, right? We'll play together if you come!

"We'll play till the end… until the entire Nine Heavens… capsize!"

The sun rose, and Diwu Qing Rou's silhouette filled the study room. It reflected on a wall, and curved.

….

Chu Yang had stood up here in the Middle Three Heavens when Diwu Qing Rou had been talking about him. He was still swaying, but it wasn't a big problem for him anymore since his physical strength was gradually recovering.

The golden aperture was still glittering around Tan Tan. It hadn't faded in the slightest.

Chu Yang tried to extend a branch to the inside of the aperture. But, the branch became rotten and then immediately turned into smoke because of the effect of that intense poison. Then, those vapors dissipated.

Chu Yang gradually became puzzled, [Zhuge Clan has actively plotted to deal with Tan Tan. So, why have they put out this weird and violent poison?]

[This is completely unreasonable.]

[This acute poison has continued the whole night. And, it seems that it will still persist. It may go on for several days. Nothing can be said. How was the Zhuge Clan planning to take Tan Tan with them in case they had succeeded?]

[Would they have waited for so long?]

[This is totally incomprehensible.]

[Also, Tan Tan has ordinary strength. Then, why had so many experts come to deal with him?]

[What Zhuge Clan has done this time is very strange!]

Chu Yang thought for a long while, but he still couldn't figure it out.

Tan Tan was here. So, it was obviously impossible for Chu Yang to leave. However, this place was very disgusting. Therefore, Chu Yang tried his best to convince the people of the several great clans to move to some place that was more than five kilometers away from here and pitch their camps there.

Only his brothers stayed.

The unexpected thing was that Huyan Aobo who had seen that Ji Mo had stayed behind also stayed back with him. This made the other brothers very envious. Ji Mo felt what it meant to be a happy couple. He became immensely proud and satisfied. Therefore, he would constantly make a display of affection in front of his brothers in a cute and helpless manner.

I implore you to forgive my modern analogy here — Ji Mo looked like Pan Chang Jiang who carried a female basketball player after losing fifty kilograms of weight. She was still a foreign black person…

Moreover, both Ji Mo and Huyan Aobo looked graceful in their conduct.

Luo Ke Di was envious of them at first. But, he rolled his eyes and lay down on the ground on the spot after he saw this. He then covered his eyes with his hands. He wasn't ready to put his hands off at any cost. He was repeatedly saying, [My eyes hurt… My eyes hurt…]

Finally, this made the couple — Ji Mo and Huyan Aobo — fiercely beat this guy together…

Chu Yang hurriedly received the medicines brought by everyone during this time period. He constantly collected raw and scarce medicinal ingredients… He refined an incomplete version of Nine Tribulations Pill. Then, he made Xie Dan Feng take it.

Otherwise, this stupid girl might've been unable to last until Tan Tan would wake up.

All the brothers were obviously the most worried about Chu Yang. So, Chu Yang had no other choice but to comfort them with a smile. He didn't have any injury… He only needed a rest, and then he would easily return to normal.

There were some matters that he needed to say to do. But, there were some things that could only be done and not said.

The brothers might have lost their minds if he had let them know that he had endangered his own life to save theirs.

Chu Yang had to bear that all alone no matter what the outcome would be. And, that's it.

It would obviously be good if he were to survive. But, why should he raise a demon in the hearts of his own brothers if he were not to?

The aura around Tan Tan's body slowly started to fade after three days.

Then, his long hair which was spread around began to flutter once again.

No one… not even Chu Yang, Diwu Qing Rou, and those Zhuge Clan's people knew that the effect of these so-called 'five killer devices' would usually last for three days.

However, no one could get close to Tan Tan in those three days.

Not even a Supreme Expert!

Moreover, the Devil King would be successfully assimilated after three days. Then, the Devil King would become clear-headed for a short time when the aperture was gone. After that, he would be able to burst out his real strength.

How could the people of the Three Stars Divine Clan rack their brains and think of such a method to put into practice if they didn't have this assurance?

One must know that the entire Divine Clan would've felt an indelible shame if those people of Zhuge Clan had bumped into even a finger of their King; let alone had the King been captured by those people…

Therefore, the Zhuge Clan's people had to die no matter who was sent if they were to carry out this plan.

This was a plan that would've definitely brought them death. What Zhuge Chang Feng had realized just before dying wasn't wrong in any way…

It was a pity that the Zhuge Clan's people were dead now when the Nine Tribulations Sword Master was standing in front of the Devil King!

This pressure had gotten virtually shifted on Chu Yang.

However, Minister Chu still knew nothing about this matter.

Finally, the aperture completely disappeared.

Then, Tan Tan calmly sat. Suddenly, his long hair rose up. He then suddenly opened his eyes, and emitted sunlight-like glaze from them. However, his vision was pitch-black.

He saw Chu Yang as soon as he opened his eyes.

He then aroused the corners of his mouth, and exposed a strange and sinister smile. Then, he coldly said out of nowhere, "A good sword!"

…..