Transcending the Nine Heavens

“I have met Chen Feng once.” Zi Xieqing mused. “Hence, you cannot kill Wu Jue Cheng. However… if he shows up before I leave, I will leave him half-disabled!”

Chu Yang shook his head and gave a bitter smile. “Since Chen Feng and Liu Yun had met you before, Wu Jue Cheng is definitely aware of your existence.” His eyes twinkled. “There isn’t a mountain which is the tallest, if you flatten all the tall mountains, there will be none left for me to climb…”

He laughed. “How will I reach the peak if there are no mountains to climb?”

Zi Xieqing smiled warmly and said, “Chu Yang, among all the people I have met, you have the highest morale!”

Chu Yang laughed out loud.

In the following three days, the people from the Medicine Valley kept a close eye on the Orchard Palace but Chu Yang seemed to be totally unaffected.

He just pretended to not know anything.

After Chu Le’er recovered and felt the ease of her body, she excitedly engaged Chu Yang and Zi Xieqing in conversations.

This night, when the three of them were having a conversation, Chu Le’er suddenly gave a melancholic sigh.

Puzzled, Zi Xieqing asked, “Why are you sighing, little girl?”

Chu Le’er said in an apprehensive tone, “Sister Zi, how great would it be if you can stay here forever and not leave.”

“Not leave? To stay forever?” Zi Xieqing tilted her head to one side. “Why?”

Chu Le’er grabbed her arm and said coyly, “Sister Zi, you can stay and marry my big brother … it would be great if you can become my sister-in-law.”

She turned to look at Chu Yang and said, “Isn’t that right, big brother?”

Zi Xieqing blushed and chided her. “Nonsense.”

Chu Yang touched his nose and smiled bitterly.

He thought to himself in his heart: Your sister Zi is indeed pretty, however, her methods are too brutal and I am yet a match for her, if I really do marry her… my life would be perpetually torturous …

Of course, this was something that he would never dare to say, Chu Yang joked, “I am most willing to do so, if I were to marry such a beauty, I would be in absolute bliss.”

Zi Xieqing shuddered and said, “Let’s stop this! I am going to sleep.”

She stood up, ignored both of them and left.

Behind her, Chu Le’er watched as she left and winked at Chu Yang. “Big Brother, did you see? Sister Zi seems to actually like you.”

“Nonsense.” Chu Yang did not know whether to laugh or cry.

“But just now, she blushed.” Chu Le’er asserted.

Chu Yang said emphatically, “You are wrong, Le’er, when you say such things, a lady will definitely turn shy. However… there is something that you are wrong about. After Sister Zi came to nine heavens continent and traveled around for a period of time, she entered the Black Blood Forest.”

“All these years, she was alone inside, perhaps we had helped to ease her loneliness, but there is definitely no romantic feelings.”

“Besides, after spending some time together, Sister Zi may have come to admire my tenacity, however, this admiration is not a result of romantic feelings, you must be clear about this.”

“Also, one more thing… Le’er, women tend to adore powerful men, only men who are stronger than themselves can attract their attention. Normally, only people from families of similar social status can marry each other. This is the same for martial warriors. Sister Zi and I have very different cultivation levels, between us… haha…”

“So,” Chu Yang gave a face of displeasure and said, “Le’er, please do not talk about such things in the future. I would not be able to help you if Sister Zi gets angry.”

Chu Le’er nodded with a look of grievance on her face.

Even though Chu Yang spoke in a hushed tone, how would he be able to conceal himself from Zi Xieqing’s sensitive vision and hearing?

How could Zi Xieqing not hear the words he said to Chu Le’er?

In the other room, as Zi Xieqing heard these words, her heart skipped a beat…

It eased my loneliness, but this is not romantic affection.

Admiration, but definitely not romantic affection.

An appropriate match…

Perhaps, it really is like this?

The three of them nested in the Orchard Palace for three days.

From the fourth day onwards, Chu Yang started to get busy.

Every day, he left early and returned late, he spent most of his time on people like Nangong Shifeng and Lan Changge, he kept trying to gather more information and seemed to be planning something.

Every night, he did nothing but contemplated; once he had the time, he would squat down low and use a tree branch to draw something on the ground.

His thoughts during all this time contained a huge amount of information, many of which were highly complex. Even Zi Xieqing was shocked by this. She finally understood the vast difference between a sage and a martial warrior.

After two busy days, he stopped.

Then, he began to get busy again.

However, this time, it was a passive form of work.

Ye Shifeng of the Ye Family of the Nine Clans came to visit. “Brother Chu, you seem to be very idle today?”

Chu Yang laughed. “I am alright, there is not much to do these days. I am enjoying some leisure time.” However, he cursed in his heart: Utter rubbish! I look very idle today? I am constantly being monitored by your spy, how would you not know what I am busy with every day? Why would you show up today if I was busy?”

“This is great.” Ye Shifeng laughed and said comprehensively, “Come, let’s get going, I have always wanted to have a drink with you, Brother Chu. Today is a great time.”

“This…” Chu Yang said with a conflicted look on his face as his eyes flickered.

“Why? Unless Brother Chu does not want to honor me?” Ye Shifeng looked unhappy. “Just the two of us, what is wrong with this? Let’s just go. Since we hit it off so well, we should be friends, Brother Chu, I finally understood this phrase, in this world, true friends are precious and hard to come by.”

He sighed. “I have many acquaintances in this world, but how many of them actually understand me? Brother Chu…”

Chu Yang laughed and finally made a decision, he said, “Brother Ye, the truth is… it is inconvenient for me to leave the house now. How about… we have a drink in this Orchard Palace? I have some good wine here.”

“This would be great, I am just worried about disturbing the peace here.”

“This is no worry at all.” Chu Yang politely ushered him into the house.

Chu Yang personally cooked a meal, he made a few dishes and brought out some wine; both of them were not afraid of the cold so they sat together in the courtyard, under the planter boxes, and drank.

“I can’t believe that you are so great at cooking, Brother Chu.” Ye Shifeng picked up a piece of meat that is too salty for his tastebuds and swallowed it whole. “The food is so good that I cannot stop praising you.” However, he thought to himself in his heart, I am doomed this time, I should not have accepted his invitation… damn it, is this really food? Even medicine tastes better than this.”

Chu Yang laughed heartily, and eagerly offered Ye Shifeng more food, he said delightfully, “As a matter of fact, Brother Ye, I previously took some lessons from a famous chef from the southeastern region for a few days, haha… it is barely edible.”

Ye Shifeng felt his stomach sink, and said genuinely, “After tasting the food prepared by Brother Chu, one will never be able to forget your cooking skills.”

“Indeed.” Chu Yang was also eating, however, he ate in a very cultured manner, every time he picked up some food, he would use his hand to shield his face before eating the food.

While shielding his face, he was actually throwing the food into the Nine Tribulations Space, after which he would pick up some food from the delicious array of food in the Nine Tribulations Space and put it into his mouth, chewing the food with great relish.

Ye Shifeng felt that every single dish was either too salty or too bitter, else, it tasted totally bland. However, Chu Yang seemed to be very delighted; since both of them were eating, Ye Shifeng felt too embarrassed to not eat anything…

Chu Yang was gulping down his food and was eagerly urging Ye Shifeng to eat more.

On the surface, Ye Shifeng appeared to be enjoying himself, he continued praising while gulping down the food; however, his organs were churning as if they were in protest and he felt like his stomach was on fire.

Ye Shifeng could only desperately drink the wine.

“Brother Chu, you seem to be on very good terms with Lan Changge of the Lan Clan recently.” While talking about irrelevant matters, Ye Shifeng suddenly switched the topic.

Chu Yang was startled by this, with a bang, his chopsticks fell to the ground. His face turned pale.

“Haha… Brother Chu…” Ye Shifeng looked at him with sleepy eyes. “Did you drink too much?”

“I must be drunk, I must be drunk.” Chu Yang laughed strangely.

“Brother Chu!” Ye Shifeng leaned in closer and spoke solemnly, “Between the Lan Clan and the Ye Clan, which do you think is stronger, Brother Chu?”

Chu Yang said without hesitation, “The Ye Clan has dominated the Nine Heavens for ten thousand years, of course, the Ye Clan is stronger.”

Ye Shifeng nodded his head and laughed, he took out something that was white in color and placed it onto the table, he pushed it towards Chu Yang and said, “Brother Chu, you are not dumb, I am sure you know why I am here today so I shall not beat about the bush anymore.”

He paused for a moment and continued. “Brother Chu, if you would really like to be lifelong friends with me, please keep this item, I only need a word from you!”

A strong, fresh medicinal smell diffused out.

Spirit Jade Ginseng!

One of the Nine Great Herbal Medicines of the Nine Heavens.

Of course, this Spirit Jade Ginseng was in the shape of a normal Ginseng, it had not yet reached the level of the Nine Great Herbal Medicines but it was already a top-grade Heavenly Treasure!

A chunk like this cost half a silver tael.

It was extremely valuable!

Chu Yang looked at the Spirit Jade Ginseng greedily as his Adam’s apple moved up and down.

Ye Shifeng continued, “Brother Chu, I only need a word from you and this chunk of Spirit Jade Ginseng is yours.” He smiled and said, “This is a twenty thousand-year-old Spirit Jade Ginseng. As a pharmacist, Brother Chu should know its value. I am showing my full sincerity to you here, Brother Chu. If you reject it, I have nothing to say. I can only take back this Spirit Jade Ginseng, leave and pretend we have never met.”

Chu Yang looked at the Spirit Jade Ginseng with a conflicted expression, his heart seemed to be in mayhem, and he did not speak for a long time.

Ye Shifeng sighed and stood up. “Since this is the case, I shall take my leave.” As he said this, he reached out for the Spirit Jade Ginseng.

“Hold on!” Chu Yang pinned down his arm and finally made a decision. He said, “Brother Ye, since you treat me in such a distinguished manner, I should appreciate your kindness.”

He swallowed and clenched his teeth, he muttered, “I know exactly what you are keen to find out, Brother Ye… and I can only tell you one thing!”

Ye Shifeng’s eyes lit up. “Please speak, Brother Chu!”

“On the ninth day of the twelfth month… you have to be careful … also, you should keep a careful eye on the Lan Clan!” Chu Yang said hurriedly.