Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chu Yang took a deep breath. “The third is the path of martial arts. You shall devote your life to practicing martial arts. You shall have a prolonged and vibrant life. But it will also be a lonely one; it’s dangerous and you have to endure the great risk of dying. You might just have your life end some time…”

Chu Le’er was silent for a while and said, “Big brother, is there a fourth kind?”

“The fourth kind…” Chu Yang took a breath. “Yes!”

“The fourth path is the path of great Tao!” Chu Yang swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said with some difficulty, “The path of great Tao is a path that supersedes the path of martial arts and the path of nature! The path of great Tao… is endless.”

“To walk on the path of great Tao, not only you require diligence and sweat, but also hold on to a firm belief. This is the most difficult path, and the loneliest one. When you go through halfway, you may realize that the people around you have fallen down; and they’ve all disappeared; but you can’t look back and can only go forward, even if there’s nothing in front…”

Chu Yang said in a low voice.

“There’s really… nothing in front?” Chu Le’er asked softly and naively as she bit her little finger.

“There may be something, but… everything in front will sooner or later become the scenery behind you…”

Chu Yang said in a low voice. He looked blankly and quietly at the burning bonfire.

Chu Le’er walked two steps away. Standing next to the fire and looking at the dark sky and woods, she said softly, “Big brother, you also know that I had been enduring the pain since I was born… I grew up in pain. For the kind of agony that others may not experience even if they’re given ten lives, I had experienced several times in a month.”

She smiled bitterly, and continued, “Most women in the world will choose the first path: Find a husband, create a home, and bear and raise their own children. Then, lead this kind of life for their whole lives.”

“But… I’ve suffered so much pain in my life. I’m not destined to follow the ordinary path.”

Chu Yang said, “Then the first path is out.”

“Out.”

“As for the second path — the path of power… I don’t want to be involved in internal strife within the family. Anyway, everyone shares the same blood. It’s terrible to even think about it,” Chu Le’er said quietly.

Chu Yang sighed, saying, “Then, the second path is also out.”

“Out.”

“As for the third path — the path of martial arts,” Chu Le’er said smilingly, “Big brother, since there’s a path that supersedes the path of martial arts, why should I choose this path of martial arts that’s of a lower grade?”

Chu Yang said helplessly, “The third path is also out.”

“Out.” Chu Le’er smiled playfully.

“Then, there’s only the fourth path left to be chosen,” Chu Yang said.

“So there’s no need for me to choose it.” Chu Le’er started laughing. “The fourth path is filled with hardship. It’s also the most lonely path, but… there’ll anyway be some people walking on it. The scenery in front will ultimately become those behind me. But the scenery is after all the scenery. The unknown scenery is what’s actually the most attractive to me because I’ll never know what I’ll encounter at the next instant.”

“Who knows if I’ll meet a companion who travels the same path as me? Everyone who embarks on this path of great Tao is outstanding. All the geniuses and legendary characters of the past and present are all on this path.”

Chu Le’er said softly, “If I pick up my pace and walk a few steps more, it’s possible for me to surpass a legend.”

“It’s an achievement for every time I surpass something.”

Chu Le’er’s two eyes lit up. “Big brother, I like this kind of achievement!”

Her face seemed to be beaming under the firelight.

Chu Yang heaved out a long breath, as though all the emotions and worries in his heart were released in this one breath.

“Alright!”

Chu Yang shouted.

Then he stood up. “Le’er, since you’ve identified your own path, I only want to say: Don’t regret in the future!”

Chu Le’er said firmly, “I’ll never regret!”

She raised her small chin, showing her decisiveness. “Because this is my own path! Even if I regret, no one has to regret for me!”

Chu Yang looked at her quietly for a while and said, “I still have three more paths for you here.”

“Three more paths?” Chu Le’er turned around in shock.

“There are three sub-paths in the path of great Tao,” Chu Yang said.

“Big brother, please say,” Chu Le’er said, “I’ll choose it carefully.”

Chu Yang paced slowly and said, “The first one is to practice martial techniques the hard way. As long as you persevere, you can continue to advance your cultivation! This is a path that most people choose today.”

“The second one?” Chu Le’er frowned.

“The second one is to take a shortcut. I know a kind of technique that makes use of pure Yin in women’s body. Then, by taking heavenly treasures, you can advance your cultivation to a certain level in the shortest possible time, then return to the original path to advance step by step. This path also belongs to the path of great Tao!” Chu Yang said.

Chu Le’er frowned again. “Big brother, from what you’re saying, the second path is only different from the first at the start, but after a period of time, it will converge with the first path.”

“Yes.” Chu Yang fixed his eyes on her. “This is the fastest and most secure method for cultivation among women.”

“How about the third?” Chu Le’er asked softly.

“I wish that you can choose from the first two,” Chu Yang still said although he hesitated for a while.

“But… big brother, I’m not an ordinary woman.” Chu Le’er smiled gently, but with some sort of stubborn insistence in her smile.

“You’re flattering yourself,” Chu Yang scolded as he smiled. But he started to hesitate.

“Big brother…” Chu Le’er urged.

“The third path is an evil one,” although Chu Yang was a little reluctant, he still spoke frankly, “After enduring all kinds of torture, and with congenital poison in you, your body is already different from ordinary people. Once you’re cured, you’ll own a Congenital Poison Spirit Body.”

“Congenital Poison Spirit Body?” Chu Le’er blinked her eyes. “That means I can practice poison faster!”

“Yes!” Chu Yang said, “I have a book on practicing poisons. But, practicing poisons will blemish a woman’s reputation. So, I don’t want you to practice poison.”

Chu Yang sighed deeply, and said, “If you choose one of the first two paths, I can completely alter your physique to become a Mysterious Yin body when I treat you. Your rate of advancement in cultivation won’t be slower as compared to a Congenital Poison Spirit Body.”

Chu Le’er thought for a while and said, “Since my Congenital Poison Spirit Body is given to me by nature, how can I allow it to be altered so easily? Besides… I finally see some hope after enduring so many years of pain. If I change my physique, won’t all the bitterness that I’ve suffered since I was born be wasted? Won’t I be wasting all my previous efforts?”

Chu Yang extended his hands and gripped Chu Le’er’s two hands. He gazed at her deeply and said, “Le’er, you’re my younger sister; I wish that you can stay happy your whole life. Even if you take the path of great Tao, I wish that there’s someone who can accompany you, treasure you and protect you. I’m after all your big brother, and I can’t be in the company of you for your whole life. And… once you practiced the poison technique, there’ll be an indelible impact on your reputation… Say for yourself, which man in the world is willing to marry a woman full of poison? You couldn’t help but think about this. I mean that… Since you choose the path of great Tao, why not enjoy your life and make the best of both worlds? Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Chu Le’er hugged him and said softly, “Big brother, I understand… But, if there’s really one person in the future… and that person only accepts orthodoxy and not poison techniques, will you be rest assured should I entrust my life to such a narrow-minded person, even if I don’t practice poisons?”

Chu Yang was moved. “Good! Le’er, wait till you recover, I’ll pass you the poison techniques!”

Chu Le’er was overjoyed. She hugged his neck, and her flower-like lips slammed onto his face. “Big brother, you’re a good person!”

She thought: Big brother, since I possess a poisonous spirit, why shouldn’t I practice poison techniques? Besides, my starting point is so late. If I cultivate using the hard way, till when can I be of help to you? By practicing poisons, even if my cultivation is low, poisons can still be powerful in some cases…

I guess that if I practice poisons, big brother won’t be so tired of taking care of me…

Chu Yang also beamed with happiness in his heart as he sensed Chu Le’er’s soft lips on him.

He thought: I had thought too much after all. I’m a Nine Tribulations Sword Master and needs strong forces next to me. If Le’er practices poisons, she would definitely be a great assistant to me; but I’m still worried about reputation issues — that the masses will accuse me of exploiting my younger sister and her poison body to achieve my great goals…

I have thought too much.

As long as I have a clear conscience, what’s the matter about whether Le’er practices poisons? What do others say have to do with me?

The path of great Tao is endless. The so-called poison technique is only a unique sub-path within it.

Chu Yang instantly felt calm as he thought about it this way.

Once he reasoned this out, he felt his spiritual realm a little unstable, and he faintly felt that his bottleneck was extricating. He suddenly understood: Having a clear mind is also a way of practicing sword.

When one practices sword, he shouldn’t be impacted by external factors.

Then, the sword will naturally unhindered by anything!

Chu Yang chuckled.

He extended his hands. All the seven elixirs on the ground entered the Nine Tribulations Space.

Standing just next to the bonfire, sword energy suddenly surrounded his body!

Wei Wuyan, who was a distance away, sensed something and immediately rushed over. He was instantly taken aback.

He saw sword energy flying in all directions over Chu Yang’s body. A wisp of faint, dense energy scattered outwards in all directions, but it seemed that there’s also an invisible hand controlling it, and so couldn’t pose any harm to the objects surrounding Chu Yang.

Finally, all the sword energy suddenly rose upwards and congregated above Chu Yang’s head to form the shape of a thin, long sword. A clear humming sound of the sword was produced from this invisible sword energy.

The sword energy suddenly disappeared into Chu Yang’s body.

Wei Wuyan could clearly feel that Chu Yang’s cultivation had increased by a stage at this instant! Because his entire vigor was now completely different as compared to before.

It was more sharp and unscrupulous!

Chu Yang’s sword was originally within his sheath. But now, it was already out of the sheath by half an inch, revealing its shiny edges!

…