Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chu Yang had a smile in his eyes. He looked at Luo Ke Di and Ji Mo with admiration.

"I'm coming!" Dong Wu Shang locked his vision on the silhouette of the man opposite to him as that man rushed over. Dong Wu Shang's silhouette moved as he dismounted from the horse. He then stood on the ground, and gripped the hilt of his saber. And, he strode forwards step by step in a dignified manner.

"Make him blossom!" Luo Ke Di stamped his foot, and bellowed. His saliva scattered in all directions. "Mighty Fourth Brother, make him yellow, white, red, green, and black altogether."

Ji Mo made a big shout, "Right! Make him know that a Saber Emperor can't only use a saber, but he can also use a spear!"

Everyone around him laughed so hard that they almost fell down. Huyan Aobo also burst into laughter with puffing sound. Then, she pinched on Ji Mo's waist using her fingers. and then she ruthlessly rotated it.

Ji Mo screamed. It was an infinitely painful reminder for him.

Tan Tan was still thinking about the stuff on his mind. He was still digesting the on and off memories that he had received in these past days. He saw everyone laughing. He raised his head being at a loss. Then, he asked Xie Dan Feng next to him, "What's going on?"

Xie Dan Feng's lips twitched. She gave him a strange expression. She said angrily, "Nothing that concerns you."

Tan Tan said, 'oh' and then continued, "Everyone is laughing. They seem happy…" he suddenly recalled something while saying this. He hastily assumed a 'shocked' expression, and then again asked, "Why are all of you laughing?"

"Get lost!" He was staggered by Xie Dan Feng's slap.

Chu Yang suppressed his laughter with great difficulty, and looked towards the two men approaching each other.

The opposite party was in a rage, and had lost his senses. However, he had great strength.

He came in flying like a gust of wind and lightning. His speed was so fast that it made his body change into a vague cyan shadow. The friction between his body and the air issued a sonic boom as he moved forward.

Dong Wu Shang was moving forward in a dignified manner step by step to face the enemy. It felt as if his feet were five-hundred kilograms heavy. It seemed as if the entire earth and all the mountains and rivers were also going forward at the same time.

The man opposite to them rapidly reached to the extreme. But, Dong Wu Shang reached to the extreme slowly.

One of them was quick and the other one was slow. The stark contrast could clearly be seen.

"Sixth Grade Emperor Level Expert!" Sword Spirit evaluated in Chu Yang's mind.

Chu Yang nodded, and became relaxed in his heart.

The level of cultivation of a sixth-grade Emperor Level Expert must be much higher than that of Dong Wu Shang. In fact, it would be more than double his strength. But, the man on the opposite was an ordinary Emperor Level Expert. On the other hand, Dong Wu Shang was a tyrannical Saber Emperor who could rule over the world.

Moreover, Dong Wu Shang had the 285 kilograms heavy Black Saber to help him. It had cut down the disparity between the two sides even more.

Therefore, this fight would be a daunting experience, but not dangerous.

The next moment…

That man issued a long and loud cry. He then pounced over like a black cloud in midair. His cyan robe rose up fluttering. And, he looked like a gigantic falcon that had been ruthlessly coming down to grab and prey on Dong Wu Shang.

Dong Wu Shang suddenly raised his head. His head-full of long hair was fluttering towards the back of his head in a ruffled way. He ferociously pointed the Black Saber forward.

The Black Saber shot substantial black saber-beams with a 'swoosh' sound. Dong Wu Shang didn't get out of the way, not even a little bit. He completely adopted a decisive posture as to not turn around. He directly welcomed the incoming attack of the enemy which the enemy had been charging for a long time.

Sword light flashed!

A shiny sword and Black Saber resolutely collided!

Both of them didn't hold back!

A loud bang was heard. And, the dirt all around Dong Wu Shang suddenly rose up. It ferociously erupted and scattered in all directions in circular patterns.

Dong Wu Shang's black hair fluttered in the midst of a blossoming blast. His eyes flashed like electricity. And, his lips were tightly pursed up. His legs deeply dug into the road's surface. But, his body only swayed for an instant. He didn't retrocede one step.

That man in the air loudly shouted. His body turned backwards. Then, he took seven or eight consecutive somersaults like a whirlwind. After that, he landed on the ground. He then lifted his head, and looked at Dong Wu Shang with a frightened expression. It was obvious that he hadn't expected that the strength of this young Saber Emperor had reached to such a tyrannical extent.

Everyone could finally see everything clearly. This man was an elderly with hoary hair. He seemed to be fifty to sixty years old looking at his face. His grizzled beard and his lower jaw were slightly shaking at this moment.

Dong Wu Shang bellowed. His majestic body ferociously erected. He pulled himself out from the soil, and the soil flew upwards. The Black Saber immediately changed into a black lightning amidst this. It showered down a-hundred-and-eight saber blows like a violent storm.

That man repeatedly shouted out loud. He continuously resisted the attacks with his sword. The two of them engaged in a close combat. Only a white light could be seen twining with a black energy. Then, they gradually separated from each other, and formed a black and a white hurricane.

Chu Yang and Gu Du Xing were standing at the front line. They had fixed their eyes on this fight in front of them.

They still didn't know who that person was. But, they were certain that this man on the opposite side was hostile towards them.

The opposite team slowly pressed over. They all were quietly watching the fight from a distance of over two-hundred feet away. Not even one of them made any sound.

Chu Yang and Gu Du Xing look at each other. They both were very prudent.

Generally, even the experts under the King Level would always stand three-hundred feet away so as to avoid injuries in fights of such strong people. Especially, the saber energy of a Saber Emperor was even more deadly.

But, these people were so close… They didn't have any look of worry on their faces.

In fact, some people showed their enthusiasm… They seemed somewhat eager to join in.

It could be seen from this that these people weren't an ordinary bunch.

Suddenly, a sound like popping sound of fried beans came from the collision between weapons. It then became more and more deafening.

Chu Yang knitted his brows. [This is an extremely unusual phenomenon. The intense sounds that come when experts of such level fight together are rarely like that of forging ironware as it is right now. But, it is clearly different than usual with these two people.]

[It is evident from this that the fighting style of both the parties is similar. And, the enemy is definitely wielding a Heavenly Armament. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to attack so recklessly. His weapon would've already been broken if he had dared to. It wouldn't have been issuing these deafening collision sounds.]

A look of anxiety faintly emerged on Chu Yang's face. [This man is only a sixth-grade Emperor Level Expert, but such valiant style and a heavenly armament are making him not at all inferior to an eighth-grade Emperor Level Expert.]

[Dong Wu Shang is certainly bearing enormous pressure!]

The sound of horse's hoofs rose up from behind Chu Yang. Then, a horse came from behind the crowd. Ao Xie Yun came to Chu Yang's side; he was wearing a mask.

"Um?" Chu Yang turned his head, and looked at him in a doubtful way.

"This is my clansman." There was agony in Ao Xie Yun's voice.

"This is your clansman… or a man of one of your uncles?" Chu Yang discretely asked.

"My clansman!" Ao Xie Yun said with certainty.

Chu Yang exposed a meaningful smile out of the corner of his mouth. Then, he wrinkled his brows, "Is your father - the Clan Lord of Ao Clan - losing control of the clan?"

"Absolutely not." Ao Xie Yun said, "Father has always been in-charge of all the matters of the clan. It's just that the authority of the Clan Lord has increased more and more along with the growth of the influence of the clan over these last few years. And then, his cousins began to get restless. And, they've secretly started to play dirty games… But, the clan has been rather stable on the otherall."

"This kind of 'stability' indeed makes me pleasantly surprised." Chu Yang sarcastically smiled.

Ao Xie Yun smiled bitterly and astringently. "The complexity of a family is beyond the imagination of outsiders. The complexity of a clan whose status has been consolidated is something that no one else can understand.

"Ao Clan was established a thousand years ago. My grandfather had four brothers. They used be called the 'five tigers'. He also had three sworn brothers. All of them were outstanding talents of their generation. The eight brothers worked for a common purpose, and that was to win power and to establish themselves in the Middle Three Heavens. They once shared trials and tribulations of life and death together. In fact, every one of them would dash on bravely with no thoughts of personal safety for each other. They wouldn't even think about their own safety."

Ao Xie Yun narrated the history of Ao Clan at this moment. It was quite unexpected for Chu Yang. But, he still continued to seriously listen.

Ao Xie Yun was also an outstanding man of this generation. He wouldn't just start spouting nonsense without any reason… especially at circumstances like these. Chu Yang pondered over Ao Xie Yun's intention while listening to him.

"But, it kept on growing bigger and bigger after the foundation of our clan was established. First, the three sworn brothers from outside clans began to revolt. It was because they weren't willing to be mere ministers of the king. And, they were neither willing to be the high priests. Everyone knew that the offspring of the priests would only have to be ministers anyway even though being a priest was very good. In fact, one could be degraded as domestic servants if they were unworthy and unlike their parents. Therefore, they all were unwilling. But, there could only be one Clan Lord of the Ao Clan.

"The power must centralize for a clan to establish. Otherwise, it would be just like scattered sand. But, this kind of centralization would mean to formally separate the relationships of seniors and juniors and masters and slaves.

"Therefore, the three brothers from outside clans finally started revolting against Ao Clan. The brothers also began to destroy each other. Finally, all of the sword brothers were eliminated. The strength of the Ao Clan was also harmed a lot by this. One of the Five Tigers of the Ao Clan also perished in that battle.

"The Ao Clan smoothly developed for a few years when the three people were exterminated. But then, two of the brothers felt wronged. It was because their next generation wasn't born as direct descendants of the clan. Only the lineage of the Clan Lord was considered as the direct descendants of the clan. Therefore, they turned from brothers to slaves and servants as the time passed… after perhaps three generations. Therefore… this difference was very big. So, it brought chaos one more time in the Ao Clan.

"The remaining two brothers also eventually split up!

"Therefore, only we remained in the Ao Clan. My deceased ancestor won all the wars. But, he also lost all of his brothers. He became a loner. He was deeply hurt. He carved several words on a stone tablet in that moment of total victory with the sword stained in blood — the Sword is cold and its edge is colder. It was about to utter something, but forgot what to say. I try to look at the cold blade and the blood that stains it. These drops of blood are all I have of my brothers.

"My deceased ancestor had carved this poem on the stone tablet, and put the tablet straight in the great hall of the clan. This was for instructing the later generations… so as to warn them. But, who would've imagined that these instructions that were supposed to enlighten the future generations would instead become a curse-like thing for them.

"Finally, this kind of struggle again started among the thirteen brothers of the second generation of the deceased ancestor of the Ao Clan. No one admitted defeat… This struggle passed down from generation to generation. Ao Clan expanded for a millennium. However, Ao Clan has had internal strives for power for a millennium in reality!"

Ao Xie Yun bitterly pursed up his lips. He then heaved a deep sigh.

"In fact, it isn't just the case with Ao Clan. Other clans are also like this." Ao Xie Yun said. "A clan has to continuously endure such kind of massacre of flesh and gore if they want to be formidable.

"This is the law!"

Chu Yang slowly nodded. He seemed to be thinking about something. He said, "It is indeed… cruel!"

….