Transcending the Nine Heavens

"Zhuge Clan!" Chu Yang's body shook a little. He had already guessed… and even determined with the help of some information… that Diwu Qing Rou was from the Zhuge Clan — one of the nine super clans of the Upper Three Heavens. However, he was still somewhat shaken when he heard Diwu Qing Rou admit it with his own mouth.

"You may not be familiar with the surname 'Diwu'." Diwu Qing Rou said with a melancholic smile, "But, my Diwu Clan used to be magnificent once. In fact, even Zhuge Clan can't come close to its glory."

"Diwu Clan?" Chu Yang tightly knitted his brows, and racked his brains. But, he couldn't find any information regarding it. So, he eventually said, "Please enlighten me."

"Zhuge Clan has ten-thousand years of glory to its name. And, it's a bigshot in the entire Nine Heavens. But, no one remembers that my Diwu Clan had remained glorious in the 20,000 years that had come to pass before the Zhuge Clan's rise to power! The Diwu Clan has a history and heritage of 30,000 years!"

Diwu Qing Rou put on a bitter smile, but his voice was still gentle…

"My Diwu Clan was appointed as a ruling super-clan by Nine Tribulations Sword's Sixth Master. Moreover, my clan was the most wise and resourceful clan. It was ranked 5th among the nine super clans. The Diwu clan had managed to maintain its glory even after its first 10,000. The kind of glory and dominance left behind by the ancestors of the Diwu Clan was colorful and vibrant, and it had covered the entire world. Moreover, my clan's temperament was generous and forthright. My clan even forged a close friendship with the Seventh Master of Nine Tribulations Sword. The other eight super-clans declined over the time the Nine Tribulations Sword's Seventh Master was in effect. But, my Diwu Clan grew prosperous, and continued to do so for another 10,000 years!"

"I see." Chu Yang sighed, "So, this involves an ancient and divine relic like the Nine Tribulations Sword... and its impact on these clans for tens-of-thousands of years... it's seriously hard to imagine."

Diwu Qing Rou smiled slightly as his eyes flashed a little. Then, he continued the story, "The Eighth Master of the Nine Tribulations Sword gave birth to the Nine Tribulations Sword once again, and he began to change the world. The existing power structure was then overturned. The Diwu Clan eventually lost its power, and declined. And, the Zhuge Clan emerged in its place…"

"So, that's what happened." Chu Yang heaved a deep sigh, "That's very unfortunate."

"Moreover, only 2 or 3 youngsters from my Diwu Clan had managed to survive. The others had perished in that catastrophe. Their likes included several Saint-level ancestors, and several dozen Monarch-level powerhouses! Thousands of years of heritage was destroyed in a moment! The surviving members were forced to live under subjugation, and were received by the Zhuge Clan as slaves..."

"Slaves..." Chu Yang inhaled a mouthful of cold air.

"However, my Diwu Clan managed to progress along with the millenniums of evolution… thanks to the fortune that it had always been a clan of wise people. It couldn't rise back to its previous glory. But, it managed to attain great merits, and eventually got rid of its 'slave' status. Then, the Diwu Clan became the retainer of the Zhuge Clan. Moreover, its status gradually consolidated with time. The next thousand years came to pass, and the clan's younger generation managed to grow proficient-enough to receive the same education as the juniors of the main clan. So, they began to study subjects like 'civil arts' and 'military strategies'."

Diwu Qing Rou's eyes emitted a trace of radiance.

Chu Yang remained silent.

That was because he was thinking about what Diwu Qing Rou had just spoken. It had completely blown his mind away — 'Several Saint-level ancestors and dozens of Monarch-level powerhouses had perished in that catastrophe!'

[Saint level! Monarch level! If Diwu Qing Rou speaks the truth… then the ruling clans of the Upper Three Heavens will have lots of elusive powerhouses in their ranks! The Diwu Clan had seen the destruction of several Saint-level experts and dozens of Monarch-level experts during its decline...]

[And, this is just one clan! But, I will have to deal with all the super-clans of the Upper Three Heavens in the future!]

[This is the destiny of the Master of Nine Tribulations Sword!]

"***!" Chu Yang's heart began to race wildly.

"I was surnamed Diwu at the time of my birth. My dear father gave me the name 'Qing Tian'; Diwu Qing Tian — the clear sky!" Diwu Qing Rou smiled mildly. It seemed as if he was talking about someone else, "The Zhuge Clan's juniors are divided into two streams — civil arts and military arts. The civil and military arts need to be cultivated simultaneously, but there are some stringent rules.

"One can't stain their own hands with blood in their entire life if they take up the civil cultivation. One would need to rely on one's intellect to pacify the nation. One would need to use their wisdom and strategies to manipulate cause-and-effect." Diwu Qing Rou chuckled gently, "The Zhuge Clan has produced many powerhouses from their civil cultivation stream in the last ten thousand years. However, these powerhouses can only use their wisdom to solve the problems. They can't use their martial power. So, the civil cultivators of the Zhuge Clan were basically compelled to do their utmost and develop strong mental capability... They obviously grew more and more clever overtime."

"Understood." Chu Yang had genuinely understood. [I have to say that the Zhuge Clan's ancestors were very far-sighted! This decision was unbelievably brilliant. That's because… it would ensure that the Zhuge Clan will see a steady rise in the IQ of its children… generation after generation.]

[Civil and military arts complement each other. Those who only possess extremely strong martial power and don't have any wisdom… will only be used as a 'spear' in someone else's hand on the long and enduring way to success...]

[An illiterate person can become a powerful warrior, but he will never become a wise-man!]

[This is the fundamental difference between a wise-man and a warrior!]

"A warrior follows the way of the hegemon. But, 'civil' is a gentle art." Diwu Qing Rou continued, "Every generation's civil cultivators stand out from the rest of the disciples in the clan. And, their status is also deemed highly by the clan. The clan designated me as a 'civil cultivator', and they changed my name to Diwu 'Qing Rou' — a gentle Diwu.

"The name 'Qing Rou' was given to me in order to remind me of my identity as a 'civil cultivator'." Diwu Qing Rou solemnly smiled.

"I see." Chu Yang nodded. He finally understood the reason why a great persona like Diwu Qing Rou had such a gentle name.

"Thirty years ago… on the 10,000th anniversary of the Zhuge Clan… the five wise sages of the Zhuge Clan launched a secret technique. These five peak-level sages exhausted their painstaking efforts and burnt the remaining of their lifespan, and calculated that the emergence of the Ninth Master of Nine Tribulations Sword was close. However, the Zhuge Clan's destiny didn't seem optimistic. Therefore, they wanted to go against the heaven's will, and desired to change the fate…" Diwu Qing Rou said.

"Go against the heaven's will to change the fate!" Chu Yang was genuinely shocked by this. [So, there are others in this world… who have the same idea as me.]

"Perhaps I should say that we're actually trying to take advantage of 'fate energy' to change the destiny set by the heaven!" Diwu Qing Rou paused to think for a moment. And then, he slowly continued to explain further, "And, that is why we need the 'fate energy' of the Lower Three Heavens to complement one another... do you understand what I've said so far?"

Chu Yang nodded, "You're basically trying to somehow extract the fate energy of a nation, and direct it towards your Zhuge Clan with the use of some method. And, that will help it to last for another 10,000 years without a hitch, correct?"

"Correct!" Diwu Qing Rou looked at Chu Yang with amazement.

"And, this is your reason to come to Great Zhao, isn't it?" Chu Yang asked.

"Yes."

Diwu Qing Rou said, "Simply put… this is using one person's power to overturn the entire world! However, a person can't suppress this kind of massive fate energy even if the said-person has achieved the imperial energy. So, the said-person will have to use their own life and spiritual power to pay the price for changing the destiny. The wise-men of the entire clan would set-up a 'fate energy channel', and would then extract the power of stars from the sky!

"The duty of this 'person' had fallen onto me. That's because… the said-person's vitality will drop sharply and might even exhaust in its entirety once this procedure starts. The juniors of the main clan are very mindful of their lives, and don't wish to take such a risk. But I - Diwu Qing Rou - am an ambitious man. So, I took pride in the task of dominating the entire world! So what if I may die after I unify the world under my command…? People live for so many years, and they still don't accomplish a single thing. What's the point of having peerless talent if you waste-away your life doing nothing?

"Moreover, I had also seen the Star Destiny Technique in operation at that time. The others present there weren't even able to comprehend these strange techniques classified as the 'stargazing techniques'. But, I was able to grasp most of it to a great extent... though… my knowledge is limited to the 'Imperial Star Technique' that relates to the 'power struggles in a dynasty'. However, that was exceptionally advantageous for my mission."

Diwu Qing Rou spoke this, and then heaved a sad sigh. [So what if I learnt the Imperial Star Technique? What good did it do anyway? The appearance of the sky changed suddenly at the most critical time...]

"Therefore, I came to the Lower Three Heavens with my master once I had turned twenty. Then, my master arranged an array formation to absorb the fate energy. He spat up blood after that, and died... but, he gained an insight right before he died, and he adopted an orphan. This orphan became my junior brother-disciples. My master's last words were — my junior brother-disciple will help me accomplish this mission. And then… my master passed away. He left behind me and my junior brother-disciple to rely upon one-another for survival."

"I adored my junior brother-disciple, and taught him wholeheartedly while I was looking for an opportunity. Finally, the appearance of the stars brightened after five years, and I found out that Great Zhao was destined to become the ruler of this world! So, I went to Great Zhao, and I worked my way up slowly… and gradually... but, my junior brother-disciple remained hidden in the shadows. And, he left me and went to Iron Cloud once I had gained a strong foothold in Great Zhao."

Diwu Qing Rou's eyes revealed a trace of pain and sorrow, "But then… he was killed… by you!"

"Killed by me?" Chu Yang was stunned, "Who are you talking about?"

"Tang Xin Sheng!" Diwu Qing Rou viciously glared at Chu Yang as he spoke the name word-by-word, "He was my junior brother-disciple!"

"Eh..." Chu Yang was dumbstruck. A slight chill suddenly rose in his heart!

That was because he recalled Diwu Qing Rou's words — my master had adopted an orphan when he was on the verge of death. And, that orphan became my junior brother-disciple. My master's last words were that… my junior brother-disciple will help me in accomplishing this mission!

[This ability of foresight genuinely goes against the heaven's will!]

Chu Yang clearly remembered the scenery from his previous life. Diwu Qing Rou had dominated the Great Zhao, and had conquered the entire world. Even Iron Cloud Nation - which had been the hardest nut to crack - had been thoroughly crushed by Diwu Qing Rou and Tang Xin Sheng!

It could be said that Tang Xin Sheng had genuinely helped Diwu Qing Rou in accomplishing the most difficult part of this mission. And, Diwu Qing Rou's master had foreseen this when he was on the verge of death!

This had certainly increased the respect Chu Yang had for the wise-men of the Zhuge Clan in his heart. And, he was somewhat worried too since this was an incredible and mystical ability.

Diwu Qing Rou seemed to have sensed Chu Yang's thoughts. So, he solemnly spoke, "You don't need to worry. You must sacrifice your own life in order to use this ability!" His eyes revealed a somewhat cynical expression, "There are a lot of people in the world. But, those who are suddenly asked to sacrifice their lives for a cause and are perfectly happy to do so... I haven't seen any such people…"

"Aren't you also willing to do just that…?" Chu Yang asked in a sensitive manner.

"I have the ambitious and the determination to keep moving towards the great goal." Diwu Qing Rou answered calmly. He waited for a second, and then solemnly said, "And, I also have a family. Moreover, I'm just a… retainer!"

Chu Yang let out a dragged out 'oh' sound.

"Now, you know my history… as well as my identity." Diwu Qing Rou said, "Therefore, I have already kept my end of the deal, and I have spoken frankly and openly with you tonight."

"Yes," Chu Yang acknowledged.

"Moreover, I guess that you don't plan to play for a long time with me in this war!" Diwu Qing Rou spoke with a profound look that had suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"That may not be necessary." Chu Yang's heart was stirred a little. Yet, he smiled and said, "I will play slowly if you want to play slowly. And, I will fight quickly if you want fight quickly. I'm fine with both."

Diwu Qing Rou chuckled, and leisurely said, "Now, I am going to place an opportunity in front of you — the opportunity to end this war in a very short time!"