Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chu Yang, Chu Le’er, Wan Renjie and his two brothers set off together, with Bao Buhuan lying in the carriage. The two horses dragged the carriage and moved forth slowly.

The others walked by the carriage. Everyone looked more relaxed now, as they talked and laughed along the way, appearing as intimate as a family.

Chu Yang also secretly used some Vitality Spring Water while treating Wan Renjie’s injuries. Instantly, Wan Renjie felt more at ease, and he praised Chu Yang profusely.

Chu Le’er was small and weak. She felt tired after walking for a bit, so Chu Yang carried her on his back.

Wan Renjie was envious and strongly urged to carry Chu Le’er, so Chu Yang happily agreed.

Wan Renjie was overjoyed along the way as he carried Chu Le’er on his shoulders.

Chu Le’er was happy too. She laughed like silver bells along the way. She had a purplish hairpin inserted on her head, a charming purplish pig on her left hand, while a cute purple crystal dog on her right hand…

Chu Le’er played with them in her hands delightedly.

Wan Renjie had a great sense of achievement. Along the way, he told Chu Le’er many stories. As he had a wide range of experiences, he spoke about all the interesting anecdotes of his life in a humorous manner. As such, Chu Le’er found great interest in listening to Wan Renjie’s stories.

Since nobody was in a hurry, they walked leisurely. Chu Yang wasn’t in a hurry either: If he hurriedly walked, where should he go to find Wei Wuyan?

So, the sky had turned dark after walking for only a few miles.

They set a camp near the foot of a hill and next to a small stream.

Cheng Duying personally went hunting for wild animals, while the others stood outside the camp and chatted with one another. There was laughter from time to time. Listening to the excitement outside, Bao Buhuan, who was in the carriage, actually walked out slowly to join them.

This made Wan Renjie more grateful towards Chu Yang. By Bao Buhuan’s injuries, it would be already good if he could get down and walk by himself after a dozen days. But now, after being treated by Chu Yang, Bao Buhuan had recovered so quickly.

As they chatted along, Cheng Duying swept out from the forest with his hands fully loaded: he had three hares in one hand and five or six pheasants in another.

Everyone laughed and started to be busy.

“Three old brothers, where are you going?” Chu Yang asked smilingly as he dealt with the fire. Under Wan Renjie’s insistence, Chu Yang had stopped calling the three of them ‘uncles’, and started to call them ‘old brothers’.

“This time, we originally intend to go to the Black Pine Forest’s battle zone to get some petty gains…” Wan Renjie sighed and said, “It’s really amusing that there’s a war between the Ye clan and the Xiao clan. No matter which clan perished, it would be a great thing… So I wanted to fan the flames… I didn’t expect to meet Wei Wuyan this bastard here!”

Chu Yang said, “Old brothers, you have such a big hatred towards the nine great clans? People from the nine great clans… aren’t good guys… The three of you… maybe a little too weak.”

Wan Renjie smiled bitterly, and said, “The nine great clans are rich and powerful, and they have a lot of experts. We’ve been practicing martial arts very hard for all our lives, but we’ve only reached ninth stage Saint levels… We’re simply not worth mentioning as compared to the nine great clans. But, there are always some things in humans’ lives, that although they know it’s impossible, they still have to strive for it.”

Chu Yang really didn’t understand. “Please explain.”

Wan Renjie sighed. On the other side, Cheng Duying, who was roasting the pheasants, and Bao Buhuan, who was lying on the ground, both let out deep sighs. Their faces looked pale.

“The three of us are beggars,” Wan Renjie laughed, saying, “Our teachers didn’t give up on us, and accepted the three of us as apprentices and taught us to the best of their abilities. The gratitude that we owe to our teachers is as deep as the ocean… How can we not repay our teachers?”

“Although our three teachers have some shortcomings — they were a bit overly stiff, candid, arrogant and headstrong, but as apprentices, we don’t mention them. But our three teachers were blood-payers for all their lives. They relied on their capabilities to make a living, and didn’t do anything wrong to anyone.”

“There was a year when our three teachers were drunk in Zhongdu, and they said a few words. But they didn’t expect that they angered Ye Di, and he used only five moves to defeat our three teachers. They were even forced to vow to never step into Zhongdu for the rest of their lives!”

“Although they suffered from such humiliation, they didn’t say anything, as they were afraid that we would create troubles and lose our lives.”

“That year, the three of us were practicing martial arts, when our three teachers again returned with serious wounds. It turned out that they provoked Feng Yurou when they were out to complete their blood-payers’ tasks… Then, when our three teachers were on their way back, they were continuously besieged by the experts from the nine great clans. They were already half-dead when they had returned to the South-East region… After they returned home, they instructed us to shift out immediately. Three days later, they passed away.”

“From the beginning till the end, they didn’t say who injured them. Only my teacher said the last words to me when he saw his two brothers die in front of him. He was a bit unconscious when he spoke…”

Wan Renjie said heavily.

“What words?” Chu Yang asked.

“My teacher suddenly yelled before he died: If I had an afterlife, I would definitely destroy the nine great clans and the law-enforcement officers! ” Wan Renjie raised his head, gritted his teeth and said this sentence hoarsely. He seemed to have returned back to the moment when his teacher died.

Cheng Duying and Bao Buhuan all shuddered when Wan Renjie said this sentence. They looked complex and even started to shed tears.

Wan Renjie had actually spoken that sentence with exactly the same tone, voice and demeanor as his teacher!

The forest became silent.

“From then on, the three of us lived incognito and practiced martial arts diligently. It was only after a few years did we dare to sneak out to investigate into this matter, and it was then we gradually knew about the inside story!” Wan Renjie gritted his teeth and said ferociously, his two cheekbones protruding outwards, “If we don’t revenge, it will be inhumane of us! So, from the moment we learned the truth, we swore to the heaven that we would be sworn enemies with the nine great clans and the law-enforcement officers, regardless of anything!”

Chu Yang finally understood.

The reason behind these three people constantly stirring up troubles in the nine great clans. Especially the number one thief Wan Renjie, his reputation had blemished because of this…

Wan Renjie said it ambiguously. Chu Yang knew that there must be other inside information, but he didn’t want to ask.

“This time around, we originally wanted to assassinate one or two important figures, so as to further stir up the contradiction between the two clans… But Wei Wuyan this bastard intervened and spoiled our plan.”

Wan Renjie laughed and looked a bit bleak. He said, “With our current states now, even if we meet people from the nine great clans, we can only escape. How can we still assassinate any one of them? We can only give up this plan, only that… it’s such a pity for this good opportunity!”

Chu Yang pondered for a while and said, “Old Brother Wan, how long do you think this battle will last?”

Wan Renjie said, “It can’t be finished within a month! But now, the clans are only confronting each other, and there’s only occasional assassinations or attacks carried out in the dark. Big, on-the-surface battles shouldn’t be stirred up in the meanwhile.”

He sighed, saying, “But even if this battle goes on for another two months, our injuries can only be healed after a minimum one month. As for third brother, he would need at least two and a half months… And this is the result even after we’ve met little brother. Under ordinary circumstances, even if he’s not disabled, he would need at least half a year to recover… while our assassination plan relied mainly on third brother. So, we won’t catch up with this battle no matter what.”

“Erm…” Chu Yang said as he pondered, “I have a way to make the injuries of the three of you recover in the shortest possible time… But the process will be very painful and dangerous…”

“What idea?” Wan Renjie and Cheng Duying became spirited at the same time. Beaming their eyes, they grabbed on Chu Yang’s shoulders. Even Bao Buhuan, who was lying restlessly on the ground, also looked up to Chu Yang eagerly.

“It’s by taking a kind of medicine… After this medicine is taken, it can allow one to improve 500-years-worth of cultivation… We can use this method to rely completely on your cultivation to clear your meridians and use heaven-earth primordial qi to treat injuries. Once the injuries are treated, it can also allow you to improve your cultivation to reach the Supreme level…”

Chu Yang pondered and said with some uncertainty, “But… this medicine is extremely dangerous. Those who take it have only 50% of succeeding…”

Wan Renjie, Cheng Duying and Bao Buhuan instantly blurted out, “Purple Cloud Pills? The ones that law-enforcement officers have? You have Purple Cloud Pills?” The three of them were at the upper stages of their Saint level cultivations. How wouldn’t they know about this second most magical medicine following the Nine Tribulation Pills? So, they immediately guessed it out from Chu Yang’s description.

Chu Yang said smilingly, “It should be this kind of thing. Back then, my teacher saved a senior law-enforcement officer and received a Purple Cloud Pill. Then, my teacher smashed up this pill to study it in detail, and he unexpectedly came up with a recipe for making it. But, because the medicinal ingredients are precious, he only made six. After so many years, we have exhausted two pills.”

Greeting the three beaming pairs of eyes in front of him, he said smilingly, “When I came out this time around, my teacher gave all the four pills to me…”

Wan Renjie and his two brothers started to breath more rapidly. The three of them looked at Chu Yang, their Adam’s apple trembling violently, “This… this… this…”

They looked full of hesitation.

Chu Yang couldn’t help but praise in his heart: If they were ordinary men, I’m afraid they would come to desperately try to snatch from me.

But the three didn’t do such a thing. This shows that they still have their own bottom lines.

Of course, Chu Yang would also give them the pills should they come to snatch from Chu Yang; only that Chu Yang would tamper a bit with it…

Chu Yang laughed, and said, “Since we’ve met one another by fate, and we’ve become close friends from the start, no matter how magical the medicines are, they are after all non-living things. How can they be compared with the emotions of people?”

Wan Renjie and Cheng Duying were so moved that they didn’t know how to thank Chu Yang. They almost had the urge to cry!

Not only their injury could be treated, but the three of them could also advance their cultivation in a single leap, from ninth stage Saint level to the Supreme level!

Their chances of succeeding in their future actions were also greatly improved, while their chances of failure or death, greatly reduced!

This was equivalent to Chu Yang giving each of them a new life!

How should they repay such a great debt of gratitude they owed to Chu Yang?