Death… and me

Although Gu Du Xing was truly a heaven-sent talent and had excellent attributes, it was projected that he would be at least be sixty years old before he could become a Sword Emperor!

Further, the girl who would be spending her youth suffering in Dragon Prison Cave was a year older than him. At the end of the day, the best years of both their lives would go to waste and time could not be reversed.

"I have to achieve the realm of Sword Emperor if I wish to get Sister Xiao Miao out of that cave. But that is no easy feat! Also, Sister Xiao Miao is already twenty-one this year!" Gu Du Xing exclaimed in desperation, "I would need at least three to four decades to achieve that level! How can Sister Xiao Miao bare waiting for those three to four decades… How could she bare waiting for so long…!"

Chu Yang pondered for a moment and looked up, "There just might be a solution to this problem!"

"Do you have a solution?"

Gu Du Xing stood up hastily and banged against the table with immense force, causing the cups of wine to spill. His eyes widened in anticipation.

"Uh-huh!" Chu Yang nodded calmly and said, "Elder Brother Gu, you can't see it because you are involved in this situation. The foundation of your cultivation is in sword arts, right?"

"You are incredibly insightful, Elder Brother Chu." Gu Du Xing's face displayed a surprised look. It was indeed true that he had focused only on cultivating his sword arts and had not paid attention to anything else in his life. This allowed him to remain concentrated and advance at such a quick pace!

However, no one had ever said something like that to him. Despite having many commendable attributes, Chu Yang was still very young.How could he have such formidable insights? Even if he was a martial artist of a higher ranking than mine, how could he tell that the foundation of my cultivation is sword arts without actually sparring with me?

How could he tell?

"Since your foundation is in sword arts, there is only one phrase that you need to know, 'the sword moves with a side stroke'" Chu Yang smiled, "While this unexpected move may cause you to sustain injuries, it would definitely kill once you make your move"

"Yes, but… this requires cultivation. How can I achieve this?" Gu Du Xing frowned as he thought.

"Elder Brother Gu, how many people have you killed?" Chu Yang raised his brows.

"Kill people?" Gu Du Xing's face turned in color. Subsequently, he took a deep breath and yellowed, "Seven! Seven bastards!"

"That's not enough! You have to kill sufficient people to build a mountain of dried bones and become powerful. Moreover, this path of cultivation is against the natural order! You have to spend your entire life enduring endless wind, rain, and blood to achieve the realm of Sword Emperor!"

Chu Yang raised his brows as a light came from within his eyes, "Gu Du Xing, I can definitely help you achieve the realm of Sword Emperor in ten years if you trust me enough to place your entire cultivation process in my hands!"

"Ten years?" Gu Du Xing's eyes widened and reflected dazzling rays of light.

While ten years was not exactly a short period of time, it was still considerably quicker than thirty to forty years. Furthermore, it would not be too late to free Sister Xiao Miao ten years from now, when he would be only thirty years old.

But… was this possible?

Chu Yang kept mum. Instead, he smiled at Gu Du Xing, indicating that he had already given him an answer.

"I am willing to do it!" Gu Du Xing exclaimed passionately, "I would be most willing to entrust you with my entire life without any hesitation if that would allow me to free Sister Xiao Miao in the shortest span of time!"

"Good! Then we have a deal!" Chu Yang held out his hand and continued, "All you have to do is to listen to me and I will help you two lovebirds reunite in approximately ten years!" Let's have a cheerful cooperation throughout this period!"

"What should I do now?" asked Gu Du Xing.

"Keep your identity to yourself if you are afraid of revealing it to anyone. First and foremost, you may put on a disguise for yourself." Chu Yang spoke casually, "Next, what you have to do is to oversee Heavenly Armament Pavilion in my place and take care of these precious blades. As for now, you need a good rest. Over the next ten years, there will be rivers of blood by your sword! Your enemies will scatter across the whole continent! To be able to execute the unexpected winning move that I had mentioned earlier, you must struggle at the border of life and death, breaking through dangerous settings!"

"This is a difficult road that you cannot walk away from! However, I believe that you will be prepared before setting sail on this path! Everything you do from henceforth will be for the girl you love, Gu Miao Ling!"

Immediately upon hearing those three words 'Gu Miao Ling!', Gu Du Xing clenched his fists and bellowed like an injured animal, for every mention of this name was like a stab at his heart.

No way back? For Sister Xiao Miao, there is no need for a way back!

Chu Yang went to the counter, quickly grabbing a paper and brush. He pondered for a moment before writing something on the paper.

Seeing this, Gu Du Xing moved over to Chu Yang's side and looked at what he was writing. In an instant, Gu Du Xing's eyes widened. His eyeballs had bulged just like two eggs!

"Revered Berserker Sword Technique?"

With great difficulty, Gu Du Xing read out the four words on the paper. Immediately, he looked up. His face displayed a hint of disbelief as he stared at Chu Yang, "This… could this be possible?"

The quickest cultivation technique for sword arts was the Revered Berserker Sword Technique. Upon embarking on this technique, one would have to keep his body and mind absolutely focused, without any pause prior to the scheduled time. This was known to be the most extreme method of cultivation. The body would either be completely torn apart or the sword artist would continually increase in level.

There were only two outcomes by cultivating with the Revered Berserker Sword Technique. They were either success or death!

Legend has it that this sword technique was crafted a few hundred years ago by Sword King Feng Xin (Closed Heart). While he was called Closed Heart, he should, in fact, have been called Crazy Heart instead. Everyone agreed that the person who created such a sword technique must have been a madman!

Chu Yang had gotten this sword technique in his previous life. Back then, someone had uncovered the burial place of Sword King Feng Xin in the Middle Three Heavens, from which they found this sword technique. However, upon studying the technique for an extended period of time, he realized that although this sword technique could increase one's cultivation at a rapid pace, one would become a madman if he were to reach the last stage of cultivation.

It was precisely because of this method of cultivating sword arts that led to Sword King Feng Xin's insanity and demise! No one was successful in their attempts to modify this useless sword technique to make it a treasure. That led to Revered Berserker Sword Technique being cast away. Even if the sword technique were that powerful, it would be practically useless if the cultivator became insane!

Nevertheless, this sword technique was handed down from Middle Three Heavens.

One day, Chu Yang inspected the sword technique carefully. Instantly, he discovered that Revered Berserker Sword Technique was similar to the verse within the third fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword. However, Revered Berserker Sword Technique was very much inferior.

Nonetheless, the Revered Berserker Sword Technique could be properly adopted for cultivation if a few key positions in the verse of the Revered Berserker Sword Technique were amended. Furthermore, the speed of advancement would be rapid if one were to cultivate with this new verse.

Unfortunately, Revered Berserker Sword Technique's power was more than a grade weaker than the Nine Tribulations Sword Technique. Hence, Chu Yang never thought of cultivating with this technique.

Nevertheless, it had left a deep impression on him.

Finally, there was a use for it. This sword technique was perfect for someone who loved swords to the core like Gu Du Xing!

"Take it." Chu Yang said with conviction as he wrote the last word. He held up the paper that was still wet with ink and gave it several blows before handing it to Gu Du Xing. This was the improved Revered Berserker Sword Technique. From there, one would only need determination!

Gu Du Xing received the sword technique with trembling hands. With this delicate paper, he had a newfound hope of getting Gu Miao Ling out of prison earlier.

How could anyone not be excited?