Transcending the Nine Heavens

The weather was originally fine when Chu Yang was about to exit the Flat Mountain Ridge. But suddenly, the sky became overcast!

Dark clouds came swiftly and tirelessly from all directions and gathered above the Chu clan.

The dark clouds became thicker and thicker. Then they whirled slowly and pressed down nearer and nearer towards the Earth.

A whirlpool appeared amidst the clouds. Then, it swirled faster and faster! Following a thunderous sound, a thick, zigzag ray of lightning wedged into the Chu clan!

With a loud bang, the ground shook violently.

Then, lightning started to strike down one after the other crazily.

Chu Yang stood above the horses' back and looked towards the direction of the Chu clan. He said miserably, "What has happened?"

The sword spirit smiled staidly, replying, "Chu Xiaoxin has already become a Supreme Martial Artist!"

…

The Chu clan.

In the courtyard full of wild grasses, in the low thatched house.

Chu Xiaoxin, clasping his hands, stood quietly in front of the portrait and gazed at it attentively.

Lightning struck down!

Chu Xiaoxin looked at the woman in the portrait who was smiling sweetly and gently. His face was full of bitter and pain. He closed his eyes and said gently, "Sorry… I can't go looking for you when that time comes…"

The whole sky, which was shrouded in dark clouds, became illuminated when the lightning struck down.

The roof of the thatched hut suddenly disappeared!

That bolt of lightning struck right on Chu Xiaoxin's head!

Chu Xiaoxin still stood with his eyes closed. A drop of tear fell.

Nothing happened to him after being struck. But he looked more and more in pain. That was the agony and struggle in his heart.

Lightning flashed down bolt by bolt on his head. But he still had his hands clasped behind his back and remained motionless, as he endured the baptism of the prowess of heaven and earth.

He opened his eyes to look at the portrait in front of him. Amidst the lightning that was still dancing wildly in the air, the portrait moved slightly. The clothes of the woman in it seemingly fluttered in the wind. Her bright, affectionate eyes and gleaming white teeth seemed to be talking back at him.

Chu Xiaoxin's throat moaned painfully, and he asked, "How are you?"

The eyes of the portrait still looked soft and gentle.

"Aren't you good?" Chu Xiaoxin asked with pain in his heart.

The portrait seemed to float up gently, appearing to be denying Chu Xiaoxin's words.

Lightning, accompanied by roaring sounds of thunder, blasted over his head.

Suddenly, as a strong gust of wind swept past, it started raining.

But not a drop of rain fell within the three feet between Chu Xiaoxin and the portrait.

"Do you blame me?" Chu Xiaoxin continued to ask.

The portrait seemed to sink into deep thoughts. Another gust of wind came and the portrait seemed to fly up into the air with her fluttering clothes. Her eyes seemed to have become more gentle and affectionate.

Chu Xiaoxin let out a long sigh. "I've been missing you all these years."

Suddenly, he raised his head and howled. His hair stood upright as he extended his arms to confront the lightning and thunder that filled up the whole sky. Then, he shouted heartbreakingly, "I-really-miss-you!!!"

The bitterness, helplessness, yearning, love and desperation in his voice even caused the sky to shake!

Dozens of bolts of lightning slammed onto his head like beads!

The whole earth shook violently…

......

At the border of the Flat Mountain Ridge.

Chu Yang stood on a high hill and looked into the distance.

Chu Yang stood upright upon hearing the heartbreaking roar. He said silently in his heart, "Elder… I'm so sorry for you…"

The sword spirit also immersed himself in the atmosphere and spoke, "Have you sensed anything?"

Chu Yang asked, "What?"

The sword spirit sighed and said, "Did you hear the pain that one has to endure in following the martial path of sentiment?"

Chu Yang looked into the direction of the thunderstorm and said heavily, "One experiences pain because he was too blessed in the past! As long as there's an unforgettable period of happiness in his life, then, even if he's in pain now, he's also blessed."

The sword spirit was silent.

The thunderstorm stopped, and the dark clouds dissipated quickly in the sky. In the blink of an eye, the sun was shining again.

Chu Yang mounted a horse and shouted, "Go!"

The horses neighed and galloped off, raising a cloud of dust behind them.

Within the carriage, Chu Le'er's delicate body lay between her soft blanket. Her eyes were red. Her pair of white, tender hands clenched tightly on the armrest next to her, and her finger joints had even turned a little white from the grasp.

This time around, she had followed her big brother to embark on an uncharted journey! There were sorrow, perplexity and a bit of excitement in her heart.

But, what would be waiting for her along the journey?

In the Law Enforcement Hall of the Flat Mountain Ridge, Sha Xinliang and Qin Baoshan stood on a high point and looked into the distance.

"Little brother has already set off," Sha Xinliang said hoarsely.

"People like little brother shouldn't be bound in this Flat Mountain Ridge in the first place," Qin Baoshan clasped his hands behind his back and said, "His kingdom should be the Nine Heavens!"

Sha Xinliang laughed.

"There'll finally be a day when we can meet our little brother again in this martial world!"

Sha Xinliang sighed and said, "Yes. Law-enforcement master has already improved our cultivation. He won't let us always stay here."

The duo looked at each other and smiled. They were both thinking in their hearts: How would the scene look like when law-enforcement master, little brother and we meet again?

......

Dust stirred up along the mountain road which the carriage galloped past.

Chu Yang sat straightly, quietly and motionlessly on his horse. He looked just like a sharp sword that was erected against the back of the horse.

He was in black. His black hair fluttered behind his head. His face looked cold and still, while his eyes stayed focused and vigilant to the surroundings. The carriage had already been moving forth at a high speed for six hours.

Chu Yang didn't mutter a sound, as if he could maintain this posture and speed to travel for millions of miles!

It was already noon.

In front was a stretch of darkness.

Chu Yang sheltered his eyes with his hands and looked into the stretch of darkness seriously.

It seemed that the pine trees on that side of the mountain had darker colors, and were denser than that of this side.

"This should be the Black Pine Mountain. After 300 miles across the mountain, it would be the Black Pine Forest," Chu Yang thought as he gazed at this mountain in front of him seriously.

"The Black Pine Forest is the battlefield of the Xiao clan and Huang clan!" Chu Yang frowned and thought, "With my current strength, it'll be impossible for me to cross this battlefield together with Le'er. But I must go there."

"We have other paths. But if we don't take this path, we'll have to travel three days longer. Besides, I also want to have a look at how the battle between the Xiao clan, Huang clan and Ye clan is going on now."

Chu Yang shook his head and smiled derisively at himself.

The carriage went forth slowly, then stopped under a stretch of tree shades. Chu Yang got down the horses, held Chu Le'er down onto the ground and said, "Be good and wait here. I'll start to cook food now, and I'll make sure you'll salivate over the food."

Chu Le'er looked a bit exhausted. She said, "I'm very hungry." She patted her own belly, and said as she blinked her eyes, "Big brother, how're your culinary skills?"

"I'm the top chef in the Nine Heavens," Chu Yang said and skillfully used a few rocks to set up a rack, and placed the iron pot above it. He extended his hands, and all the spiritual energy in the air began to congregate to slowly form mist, then finally, a drop of water, which entered the pot.

Chu Yang had secretly learned this method from Chu Xiaoxin, when he used this method to make tea last time.

Naturally, Chu Yang was much slower than Chu Xiaoxin in doing this.

But, Chu Le'er's current physical condition required this kind of water to recover. Only then could she drink Vitality Spring Water.

The flames began to burn from beneath the pot. As soon as the water had boiled, Chu Yang vanished with a flash and very quickly, he was back with two fat hares in his hands. After cleaning up the hares and removing their skins, he set up a rack. Then, he pierced the two hares with a stick and placed the stick on the rack, smearing various ingredients on them skillfully, and started to roast them on the rack.

The hares on the rack turned yellow and tender, and a seductive aroma started to disperse into the air. The fats of the hares sizzled above the fire. Then, they dripped down and made snapping sounds in the fire. But this made the hares smell more fragrant.

Chu Le'er couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. Her eyes gazed greedily on the hares, and she stuck out her little tongue to lick her lips.

"It smells so nice," Chu Le'er said.

Then, Chu Yang realized that when Chu Le'er was speaking, another person had said the same thing.

Chu Yang raised his head in shock. He saw that a hundred feet away, a man in black was standing quietly with his nose creased and sniffing soundly in the direction of the hares.

This person wasn't far away from here, but Chu Yang didn't realize. Although he was busy with roasting and had diverted some attention away, yet with his spiritual force, he actually didn't realize when this person had come. How strong the capability that this person had was imaginable.

Chu Yang stood up and smiled gently. "This brother, I presume that you haven't eaten yet. Do you want to have a meal with us?"

That person looked at Chu Yang and laughed funnily and resoundingly. He said, "Sure, but I don't know what's the cost of this meal."

Chu Yang smiled softly, saying, "Brother, you must have seen that although I'm not considered very rich, I'm also not short of money."

"Little brother, you're quite frank." The man in black laughed and came over.

That person was about 30 or 40 years old. He was tall and a little thin, while his face was a bit pale, seemingly to be caused by inexposure to sunlight for a long time. His two eyes were moist, and one couldn't see from his looks that he had no cultivation at all. He had randomly carried a worn-out sheath in his hands, and at the edge of his black clothes, there were already some parts which were frayed. Obviously, it was worn for a long time already. But it was still very clean.

This person had a very ordinary look, so ordinary that he might not be recognized after being thrown into the crowd.

After Chu Yang allowed the sword spirit to observe this person carefully, he was certain: This person didn't change any of his looks. He looked just like that.

"Little brother, what's your surname?" This person greeted Chu Yang in a way as if they were very familiar with each other. Then he plugged a piece of wood into the fire, and smiled at Chu Le'er, "This little girl looks really pretty."

Chu Le'er's face reddened and she hid behind Chu Yang.

"My surname is Chu," Chu Yang said, "May I know what's yours?"

That person laughed, saying, "My surname is Wei. You can call me Big Brother Wei." He smoothed out his brows and looked at the hares on the rack. Putting on a salivating look, he said, "They smell really good."

Chu Yang thought: Surnamed Wei? Expert? Who's this?

......