Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chu Yang felt like he was getting pulled forward by that enormous suction force; in fact, he was almost unable to keep his feet steady. It seemed as if the chopped body parts of those monster snakes had run into a hurricane, and had rapidly rushed into that huge monster snake's mouth — vanishing instantly.

Chu Yang then felt that chunk of black steel he had been holding in his hands getting hauled away from him. The black steel suddenly became light, and immediately floated forward under the influence of that immense suction force. Momentarily, a loud 'splash' sound emanated as that chuck of steel entered the mouth of that huge monster snake!

Alarmed, Chu Yang immediately summoned the Nine Tribulations Sword's edge, as well as the Sword's tip. They appeared above the long sword that he held in his hand, and suddenly hacked down!

With a loud 'puff' sound, the Nine Tribulations Sword cut that monster snake's head in no time. Suddenly, the monster snake nearly fainted — seemingly from the immense pain — as his blood gushed out. It then suddenly raised its head upward, and began to roar. Chu Yang suddenly felt his mind getting dizzy, as if he was fluttering up. He discovered that he had already left that deep water zone by time he opened his eyes again. He was in the deep-blue-water zone now. He looked up, and saw the sky; faintly visible beyond the lake's surface!

[I have arrived at the water surface so quickly! ]

A fear lingered in Chu Yang's heart because he could tell that this monster snake was simply too strong! He then submerged himself into his own consciousness, and realized that the Nine Tribulations Sword was still present in his Dantian. However, he had lost his long sword in the water...

He came up to the water's surface with a 'pop' sound, and took a deep breath; he would've choked himself to death underwater if it wasn't for the Nine Tribulations Space.

[But what's going on? This place clearly didn't have a monster snake when I came here in my past life. Then why did it appear this time?]

[Furthermore... it seems to have appeared to obstruct me from obtaining the third fragment of Nine Tribulations Sword… it doesn't really hold much hostility towards me otherwise... ]

[What does this mean?]

[Is it possible that simply hearing the third fragment's summoning call isn't enough of a prerequisite for obtaining it? ]

Chu Yang smiled wryly — if that huge snake's elimination was essential, even a Sword King might not be able to get their hands on the third fragment!

The Nine Tribulations Sword's tip was moving restlessly within his Dantian.

"Wait until the time is ripe if you wish to obtain the third fragment of Nine Tribulations Sword, and you may be able to succeed without facing any dangers. In fact, at that time, there would be no chance of this Poisonous Flood Dragon's appearance. However, you're bound to attract this Poisonous Flood Dragon's attention if you rashly attempt to seize it any earlier… if you really desire to obtain the fragment at this time, then it is necessary to kill that beast!"

The 'schadenfreude' Sword Spirit stated leisurely within Chu Yang's consciousness.

"… " Chu Yang got furious, and burst into the Nine Tribulations Sword Space. He then retorted, "You bastard! Why didn't you say that earlier? What should I do now? A huge snake like that is surely a seventh-grade spirit beast... I am only at Revered level right now... how will I kill it?"

"That is your problem," the Sword Spirit replied indifferently, "who told you to be so impatient?"

"… " Chu Yang faced upwards, and nearly spouted a mouthful of blood in anger.

"However, you have an important relation with the emergence of this spirit beast!" the Sword Spirit saw him getting anxious, and leisurely said, "In fact, it appeared because of you!"

"It's related to me?" Chu Yang was bewildered. He scratched his head because he really couldn't fathom why such a high-leveled mythical monster would bear any relationship with him.

"You're telling me that I made it appear? That is absurd!" Chu Yang spat a mouthful of spittle; he could just scoff in response.

"Indeed. You're the reason." the Sword Spirit slowly said, "You've embarked on an entirely different path — from the third fragment onwards — compared to the previous owners of the Nine Tribulations Sword. That Poisonous Flood Dragon emerged because… your road is already different."

It paused for a second, and then continued, "Therefore, in order to obtain the fragment… you either defeat it; or kill it."

"Why is it different?" Chu Yang asked in a baffled tone, "I am still me, while Nine Tribulations Sword is still the same as well... where's the difference?"

"Remember that sudden moment of 'enlightenment' from a few days ago… you had detached from the Nine Tribulations Sword at that time, and entered a different realm!" the Sword spirit didn't know whether to sigh helplessly or be pleased while saying, "Thereon… you were destined to follow this new path, and become 'unique' in the future! Also, it will be more dangerous..."

"Realm..." Chu Yang suddenly recalled having that long epiphany a few days ago...

"That's also fine… I guess?" Minister Chu opened his mouth like a boss.

"It should be…" the Sword Spirit stated, taking pity on him, "your strength... also needs to improve."

"You've been doing your best in keeping my strength suppressed!" King of Hell Chu raged violently. [This bastard tells me to enhance my strength, but still suppresses it so that I am unable to progress... ]

[Doesn't this mean that he is playing me? ]

"Or… you can just look for that personage from a while ago, and challenge him to a fight. Have a few bouts with him… if you can. That should be a good harvest..." The Sword Spirit finished this sentence and disappeared.

"That personage from a while ago?" Chu Yang scratched his head for a bit as he thought, but then immediately screamed, "Young Master Yu?"

"F*k… you bastard! Are you asking me to commit suicide?!" Chu Yang suddenly jumped up; he felt like crying, but had no tears to shed. [I have witnessed Young Master Yu's powers, but couldn't even make sense of what I was looking at. You want me to have a match with him... and that too, not one bout… but a few? ]

[That guy can stretch out his hand, and turn me into a heap of ash… how am I supposed to challenge him? ]

Chu Yang sighed helplessly, and climbed ashore. He sighed for a while, then dropped his head and walked away.

As a matter of fact, Young Master Yu was actually shocked when Chu Yang appeared in front of him, "You came looking for me so soon!"

Young Master Yu was flustered when he heard the purpose of Chu Yang's visit. "You want to have a breakthrough? So you've come to challenge me? Are you really going to challenge me? Haha... you really want to challenge me?"

"How can I challenge you?" Chu Yang felt as if his heart would pop-out with rage; Young Master Yu's attitude was making him very uncomfortable.

"Haha… " Young Master Yu laughed heartily as he swayed to and fro, "I have never met… a challenger such as yourself!"

"Don't laugh!" Chu Yang replied angrily.

"Haha… Brother Chu, I am not looking down on you... but the fact remains that you still don't have the strength to challenge me!" Young Master Yu so hard that his eyeballs nearly rolled upwards, "I am not afraid of you. I shall state the ugly truth... even your master, Meng Chao Ran, isn't worthy of challenging me!"

"Draw your sword!" Chu Yang roared. Though he felt his blood run cold, his body was trembling with rage. Meanwhile, his body's sweat pores seemed to be on the verge of exploding due to the fury burning inside his heart!

Judging from Young Master Yu's words, he clearly looked down on Meng Chao Ran. Chu Yang was enraged — the contempt and disdain shrouded over his tone had left Chu Yang's blood boiling!

"I don't need to draw my sword to deal with you. You won't stand a chance even if I am empty-handed, and use only one-tenth of my total strength!" Young Master Yu looked at Chu Yang disdainfully from the corner of his eye. He further poured oil-to-the-fire by adding this sentence, "Of course, the same goes for Meng Chao Ran too!"

Chu Yang suddenly felt the blood throughout his body burning up! He completely lost his mind, and forgot himself owing to Young Master Yu's powerful provocation! He had even forgotten the purpose of his visit!

His eyes had already turned red!

He almost reacted instantly, and dashed forward. Without any demur, he fiercely unleashed his sword move —'A single point of cold light illuminates ten thousand fathoms '!

"This sword-play is splendid!" Young Master Yu's gaze concentrated into a stare as he dodged to one side. He was carrying one of his hands behind his back, while he casually brandished the other, releasing a tyrannical force.

Clash…

The sound of consecutive clashes resounded. In fact, the blaring was similar to that of wind blowing against lotus leaves… or raindrops beating against banana leaves.

Young Master Yu made no attempt to dodge the next attack. In fact, he didn't even bother to avoid that mesh comprised of hundreds-of-sword-strikes coming his way. Not just that, he didn't even blink as dashed into that 'sword net'; with just a snap of his fingers, Chu Yang's sword was sent flying!

"The sword-play is pretty good… it's such a pity that the swordsman is not capable enough." Young Master Yu comment calmly.

However, his heart already overwhelmed with shock.

[This sword-play is far from being just "pretty good". In fact, this is the best form of sword-play I have seen my entire life — unconditionally and undisputedly! Moreover, it surpassed the second ranker by thousands of times! ]

[What kind of sword-play is this?]

[If both of us were at the same level, then that attack would've already killed me ten times by now!]

Young Master Yu hadn't suspected the presence of the Nine Tribulations Sword on Chu Yang's body because… first — he thought that the Nine Tribulations Sword Lord couldn't be this weak; secondly, and most importantly — the Nine Tribulations Sword hadn't appeared for ten thousand years!

No one was alive from the time it had previously appeared! Furthermore, if Young Master Yu was able to recognize it even though it hadn't appeared in the last ten thousand years… then one could really say: To hell with it!

Just then, Chu Yang leaped in the air with a loud whistling sound, while his long sword flashed brightly in the sky. He then unleashed his long sword even before he had started to descend. His body, which was beginning to drop, suddenly rose again. A rich murderous intention congealed in the air almost simultaneously!

A sword light suddenly descended from the sky, and 'arrogantly' pounded the ground like a meteor! This sword move was so ruthless that it destroyed everything in the surrounding area!

[The second move! What harm is there in slaughtering the entire world?]

The sword's power was majestic. Once unleashed, it would never fall back! This move was so fierce that it simply transcended the comprehension of common people! Just one move of this sword was capable of killing millions of ordinary people… with certainty!

Young Master Yu was regretting a decision for the first time in his life — he genuinely repented using only one-tenth of his total strength!

[This sword is highly enriched, as if thousands of swords have been joined together to make this fine sword. The true might of this sword is ten times higher than what Chu Yang is displaying!]

[I am bound to get injured by this sword sooner or later if I don't increase my martial energy!]

However, Young Master Yu still didn't remove the limiter from his power level! He had said that he would use one-tenth of his strength… so he would use only that much!

One could easily see the air of extreme arrogance surrounding him!

He brazenly forged ahead to face the incoming attack! He straightened his back as he moved forward to face this perilous attack! He then waved his hands into a clap for the first time!

Bang!

Chu Yang let out a loud 'crying' sound as he spat out blood. Moreover, his body did a somersault in midair before falling down on the ground. His long sword disintegrated into several tiny pieces… all the way from its hilt! Then, it turned into a streamer of light in the sky, and vanished without a trace.

However, the sword's tip had actually penetrated Young Master Yu's left palm, and had gone half-way into his shoulder after passing through his right hand.

The tip might have actually pierced Young Master Yu's heart if he hadn't used both his hands to block the tip while simultaneously lifting it upward to avoid getting stabbed in his heart.

"Such a ruthless sword!" Young Master Yu crooked his mouth as a baffled look appeared in his eyes. The sword's tip was shattered as he jolted his shoulder muscles. The wound in his palm also vanished mystically with no traces of blood to be seen anymore. He then shouted, flustered and exasperated, "I will kick your ass! I was just provoking you out of good intentions, and you… you… you acted so ruthlessly! I must say… I feel deeply hurt!"