Transcending the Nine Heavens

This nap of Chu Yang's lasted a good eight hours!

At this point, two days had already gone by since he first entered the Purple Crystal cave.

Ning Tianya, who was on standby at the passageway in the south leading to the Middle and Lower Three Heavens, sighed excessively.

What's going on?

Why isn't it opening yet?

Is he trying to make me die of anxiety?

This old man has already waited here for more than a day… I even went somewhere to have a drink in between.

Why is this kid taking so long just to get a sword fragment?

A troubled Supremacy Ning paced about in front of the entrance to the passageway. Sighing, he turned around and took a seat…

This is so troubling…

…

Inside the cave, Chu Yang finally woke up, feeling totally refreshed. That feeling of expanding and deflating immediately came to him and he couldn't help but become dumbfounded. "The absorption hasn't ended yet?"

The Sword Spirit replied speechlessly, "The Purple Crystal Cores are about to be fully absorbed… There are just less than ten feet left…"

Chu Yang was rather anxious. "Why is it taking so long?"

The Sword Spirit replied feebly, "This is already a very fast speed… Compared to those few people who came before you, you're already absorbing at a rate that's tenfold of theirs…"

Rolling his eyes, Chu Yang activated his inner vision.

Inside his Dantian were ten strands of bright and dazzling Primordial Real Silk, while the eleventh strand was in the midst of forming…

"That's a lot." Chu Yang was rather pleased with himself. When he thought of how he didn't have even a single strand originally and yet he now had 11 strands when not even half a year had passed, this simply…

Felt too awesome!

"Sword Spirit, it looks like it's still going to take a lot of time. What shall we do in the meantime?" asked Chu Yang.

The Sword Spirit gave him a forced grin. "You may be able to not take this to heart, but I can't… I'm not in the mood to do anything at all."

Chu Yang replied in disdain, "You're such a downer."

Since the Sword Spirit wasn't playing along, Chu Yang decided that he might as well go into the Nine Tribulations Space and walk about aimlessly. He even took the time to have a soak in the Spirit-Refining Spring. Then, he retrieved a jar of wine and a few small dishes from the Nine Tribulations Space. Crafting a small cup, he poured some wine into it and actually held the cup up toward the Sword Spirit in a toast. "One should drink to his heart's content when there is wine; who's to say what is right and what is wrong the coming day? I thrust my sword into this material world within my sight; my conscience is clear as I look back upon my life! Sword Spirit, it hasn't been easy for us to get along with each other either. Let me offer you a toast!"

Cling!

He emptied the contents in the cup into his belly.

As the Sword Spirit watched the Lord Sword Master eating and drinking enthusiastically in high spirits, he couldn't help but be assaulted by wave after wave of powerlessness.

What could he say when facing such a Lord Sword Master who could refrain from taking things to heart, see things for what they were, and take things easily as they come?

In the blink of an eye, Chu Yang finished the jar of wine. He brought out another jar and unsealed it.

His body was undergoing a ferocious tempest right now. Thus, he had no means of using his cultivation at all. In other words, he was currently drinking with the alcohol tolerance of a regular person. The moment he downed the jar of wine, he was already somewhat tipsy.

But Chu Yang didn't stop.

He drank another few cups of wine before he said, "Sword Spirit, I'm thinking about the message that Xue Leihan got Ning Tianya to pass to me."

The Sword Spirit replied, "Oh? What about it?"

Chu Yang said, "Xue Leihan said that my romantic relationships are actually all meant to be. I was too extreme and rigid in my past life, so Wu Qianqian gave me gentleness. I was too straightforward and inflexible in my past life, so Tie Butian bestowed upon me wisdom. I was too heartless in my past life, so Mo Qingwu supplemented me with sentiment."

Chu Yang was rather tipsy at this point as he went on. "When I first heard this, it seemed to make some sense. But now that I think about it again… Xue Leihan is just spewing nonsense! These words are just his way of consoling me and an excuse to resolve my complex."

The Sword Spirit's brows drew together. "Then what do you think of it?"

Chu Yang replied, "At the bottom of it all, it's just my own issues. In other words, my feelings toward Qingwu are something that neither the heavens nor earth can change. I am very certain of this."

"Therefore, Mo Qingwu is someone whom I must have!"

"Let's talk about Senior Sister Disciple Wu next. Senior Sister Disciple Wu has always had feelings for me; I've always known that and have been running away from it. But I'm a man… Sword Spirit, what kind of feeling is it to spend a long time together with a gorgeous beauty whom you know very well is deeply in love with you?"

"Then, I misunderstood her later on. I thought that she had really become the empress of Iron Cloud. The misunderstanding was subsequently cleared up, but she was already at death's door because she tried to save me. If I abandon her or choose not to save her despite being able to, or save her life and then tell her thereafter that I don't accept her love… Do you think I'm still human if I do something like that?"

The Sword Spirit was flabbergasted. "This…"

"Next, Tie Butian, I was in a coma at that time. You went into hibernation after exhausting your strength while I was suffering from the lust dragon's poison. Tie Butian disregarded her own esteemed status and sacrificed her chastity as a woman to save my life. In addition, without my knowledge, she gave birth to my son."

"After realizing the truth, if I abandon both mother and son and refuse to acknowledge them, what kind of person would I be?"

"But all of these go against the resolve that I initially held in my heart."

"Therefore, whatever I do, it's all wrong!" Chu Yang downed another cup of wine. "If I give them up, I'm heartless and going against my conscience. If I accept them, I also won't have a clear conscience. No matter what I do, they are the actions of a beast and unfair to all of them."

"And so, I have finally thought it through. To think Xue Leihan worried about me so much that he even especially went to consult someone to resolve my complex. This is actually a very simple matter!"

The Sword Spirit asked, "What? Simple?"

Chu Yang burst into a drunken giggling fit. "Since giving them up is suffering and accepting them is also suffering, then I might as well just accept them. What's the big deal… To put it simply, I'm asking for it and just giving myself trouble! I'm sure if any other man were in my shoes, there wouldn't be so much trouble."

He suddenly bellowed, "There wouldn't be so many problems at all!"

Chu Yang was drunk.

The Sword Spirit's brows were tightly furrowed.

These words of his… So has he actually let go? Or sunk even deeper? …This is really hard to say.

If he were a womanizer, there wouldn't be so many issues.

Yet this man had to be someone who was so serious toward his relationships and even had the memories of his past life making trouble for him…

The Sword Spirit heaved a sigh.

This was truly something that nobody could help him with.

Chu Yang went back and forth between a state of sobriety and drunkenness. It was unknown how much time he passed while being out of it.

The Sword Spirit had long been shocked into a state of dumbfoundedness.

The Purple Crystal Cores had already been fully absorbed. At present, the Purple Crystal Jade Essence was also nearing its end.

However, the absorption rate of the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique instead became faster and faster with no sign of slowing!

The current quantity alone had already exceeded the total of the past eight Nine Tribulations Sword Masters put together!

And the speed was still increasing!

Besides, the amount of time he had used was just one-tenth of what the fastest one among the past eight Nine Tribulations Sword Masters had taken!

The Sword Spirit could only exclaim in astonishment at such an outcome. This extent of abnormality was seriously no ordinary level of abnormality…

Trickling sounds could be heard; all the Purple Crystal Jade Essence had turned into dust.

It finally reached this innermost portion that was filled solely with Souls of Purple Crystals.

Spiritual energy suddenly converged into a superbly ferocious storm, surging fiercely toward Chu Yang from all directions. It had already reached a point where the Sword Spirit couldn't even remain standing next to Chu Yang with the Sword Spirit's current abilities. Left with no other choice, he could only hurry back into the Nine Tribulations Space, shocked into a state of speechlessness as he watched the spiritual energy tempest outside.

The Sword Spirit had already become numb to such a development!

He had known since a long time ago that Chu Yang was the ninth Nine Tribulations Sword Master and was surely going to be different from the previous few generations. But even so, he had never ever dreamed that the difference would be to such an extent!

…

Another five days later.

Ning Tianya, who was at the passageway entrance, was already close to spewing expletives!

He had already waited for half a month here!

And there was still no news at all!

What exactly was going on? Surely that fellow didn't encounter any problems? How could that be? Did he really need 17 to 18 days just to retrieve a sword fragment?

…

Within the cave.

Chu Yang slowly came to.

He promptly received a shock when he saw his surroundings.

It had already turned dark. There was barely any of that brilliant purple spiritual energy aura that was originally present left anymore. Only less than 30 feet worth of Souls of Purple Crystal were still shining and giving off spiritual energy…

The circulation speed of the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique in his meridians had obviously sped up by three to four times compared to before!

Chu Yang hurriedly activated his inner vision. When he took a look, he couldn't help but be incredibly astounded. "Sword Spirit, why are there so many…"

Inside his Dantian were densely-packed Primordial Real Silk strands. A rough count showed that there should be 100 to 200 strands! Each and every strand glowed bright purple, dazzling and brilliant.

When he thought of how he had only two strands just half a month ago… This was practically reaching Heaven in one step!

Chu Yang's eyes shone brightly. "Sword Spirit, there are already… 170… 195… 198 strands! The 199th strand is in the midst of forming right now! …"

He was grinning so wide that he couldn't close his mouth at all. "Previously, when I had only two strands, I was already a second-grade Sword Supremacy. Now that I have 200 strands… My cultivation should be at least at Ning Tianya's level now, right?"

The Sword Spirit pursed his lips incredulously. "Fat chance! The Primordial Real Silk strands you have now have no relation to your cultivation whatsoever! Like I mentioned before, the amount that you absorb now indicates your final accomplishments… It's like an evaluation, just that it's also the same as building a Great Tao foundation for you. That's all there is to it! Thinking of using the Primordial Real Silk in the Nine Heavens is no different from daydreaming!"

A stunned Chu Yang replied," That means my cultivation hasn't improved at all?"

The Sword Spirit sighed in resignation. "You're already improving…"

Before he even finished, that last bit of Souls of Purple Crystal flickered and turned into one last wisp of spiritual energy, which was then devoured by the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique. It was then converted into the 200th strand of Primordial Real Silk about to take shape in Chu Yang's Dantian…

And then, the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique actually attempted to absorb further… before it finally gave up and stopped.

The Sword Spirit's eyeballs fell right out of their sockets. It actually hadn't had enough yet!

What did this indicate? This indicated that these many Purple Crystals were insufficient and were not able to hit Chu Yang's limit yet. Nor could it truly evaluate the highest accomplishments that Chu Yang would be able to achieve in the future!

The Sword Spirit was at a loss.

A memory came back to him clearly — Back then, when Xue Leihan was setting up this Great Tao evaluation, he had said, "If the Nine Tribulations Sword Master is able to absorb half the Souls of Purple Crystal while still here in the Nine Heavens and use it to build his foundation, then this person's future achievements will definitely be above mine!"

Back then, when Xue Leihan had said this, he even smiled and added, "But… there may not be even one such person in a million years. Someone who's able to reach my level would already be of great use… If he can truly surpass me, then eradicating the Extraterrestrial Demons would really be possible…"

When he thought of what Xue Leihan had said back then, the Sword Spirit broke down even further!