Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chu Yang rolled down from the top of the perimeter-wall like a loaf of flat bread, and landed on the ground with a ‘thud’. He then bellowed viciously as he lay spread-eagled on the ground, “The blame is on you... your provocation was ‘too’ successful! Nobody can insult my master to my face, and not pay the price! The same goes for you too!”

He continued after spitting out a mouthful of bloody spittle, “Even if your intentions were good, the fact remains that you insulted my master!”

Young Master Wu remained dumbfounded for quite some time, before he eventually spoke, “... even though you look ordinary... you’re actually quite exceptional!” (1)

Chu Yang grunted, “Young Master Yu, I’ll pester you for a lifetime if you don’t apologize for the words you’ve spoken today.”

Young Master Yu merely shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I have done many despicable, cheap and contemptible things in my life. The only thing that I haven’t... is apologized!”

“Good! Well you just wait!” Chu Yang spoke sitting cross-legged, and began using a healing technique. The Sword Spirit started transporting the medicinal efficacies into his meridians; the ones it had stored inside the Nine Tribulations Space.

Even the mild attacked from Young Master Yu had caused Chu Yang’s five internal organs to displace. The injury could be considered extremely serious...

But for the Sword Spirit, it was a fine thing indeed! The Nine Tribulations Sword had absorbed many drugs, and they had hence been residing inside his body. Though they were capable of having a big impact on his practice, he was unable to disperse them.

The Sword Spirit had been suppressing the drugs. Though, it had long been looking for such an opportunity to let out them out...

These medicines had been collected by the imperial palaces of the two super kingdoms — Iron cloud and Great Zhao — over decades... it wasn’t hard to understand that their overall potency was tremendous.

Chu Yang had always been cautious. Therefore, he had hardly-ever sustained such serious injuries. It was easy to see why the Sword Spirit would urge Chu Yang to challenge a highly skilled expert like Young Master Yu — someone who held no hostility towards him!

Young Master Yu also sat down. Using just 10% of his strength against an unusual man like Chu Yang had proven very strenuous on his body.

The two were separated by more than a hundred feet; each racing against time to heal first.

An hour later, a dumbfounded Young Master Yu stared at Chu Yang. According to his estimate, Chu Yang should’ve taken at least half-a-day to recover half of his physical condition. However, Chu Yang suddenly stood up; bustling with energy as it seemed.

He stretched out his hand, and a mysterious sword appeared; it was exuding a cold light.

He leaped into the air with a roar, and somersaulted. His maneuver formed a perfectly round beam of light in midair. At this instance, he bellowed again, “You won’t apologize?”

“If you have the guts, then first beat 10% of my strength! If not, then spare me your empty talk!” Young Master Wu spun on his toe, and leaped from the ground without waiting for Chu Yang to summon the full power of his sword.

The beam became even more resplendent up-in-the-sky; it appeared like a rainbow.

The figures of the two experts suddenly clashed — it looked as if the sun and the moon had collided.

Following a loud ‘bang’, both of them fell backwards.

“Fighting here is inconvenient; if you dare, why not fight me outside the city?” Young Master Wu was utterly discomfited as he felt the tip of a sword touching his butt. He immediately turned around, and darted back to evade. By then however, his butt had already been poked seventy to eighty times by Chu Yang’s sword!

[If it weren’t for my cultivation, this ass of mine would’ve turned into a fishnet. And... my centrally-located point... would’ve been ruined!]

Young master Yu got furious, and readily accepted this ‘poking’ challenge.

"Are you afraid of being incapable?" Chu Yang snorted; this move had given him a big and unexpected upper-hand. He was obviously very delighted in his heart.

The two whizzed out of the city like shooting stars; one after the other.

While they were still in the middle of their flight, someone suddenly shouted, “Who is that? Stop for inspection!”

This person was clad in black clothes. He appeared very skinny owing to his slim figure. It was actually Yin Wu Tian — one of the four King level masters from the Golden Horse Riders Department!

He had received a report of a fight breaking between two high-level Revered Martial Artists! Yin Wu Tian felt inspired upon seeing someone else also doing what he loved. [I think I have arrived in time. I will simply arrest them to make up for the losses incurred by Golden Horse Riders Department of late...]

Therefore, he took two people with him, and rushed over. His heart was full of joy and expectations; no wonder he wasn’t being careful. After all... even if those two Revered Martial Artists were outstanding, could they ever pose a threat to a King level master?

Wouldn’t that be complete nonsense?

Therefore, the King Level Master Yin gleefully arrived at the fight’s location.

"Inspection?" Young Master Yu was surprised for a moment. Just when he was about to leave... Yin Wu Tian suddenly arrived in front of him, and blocked his way.

Yin Wu Tian could not help but smile with satisfaction on seeing this guy. [Look at this young fellow’s age... He has such an atypical appearance! Moreover, he seems to have been stabbed many times. No wonder his clothes have been shredded into looking like a net. He must be a rookie...]

[I — Fourth Master Yin — am an expert at handling rookies.]

“Of course, for inspection! Don’t tell me this entire fuss is for nothing?” Yin Wu Tian stated proudly, “Your crooked eyebrows and your cross-eyes are telling me that you’re not a good person! Hurry and surrender this very instant! This fourth master of yours will consider sparing you, and may even help you in finding a way out of this predicament.”

“Fourth master?” Young Master Yu said, bursting with rage.

[Chu Yang can be rowdy; his case is different since owe him. Moreover, I went easy on him out of kindness since I had promised to help in him growing stronger... so I certainly won’t haggle about that.]

[But I didn’t expect that helping someone would be so troublesome. Moreover, I never thought that using only one-tenth of my strength would be so vexing. And then suddenly, some Fourth Master pops-up and tries to threaten me!]

“Correct! I am the Fourth Master!” Yin Wu Tian replied; pompously sticking out his chest, “Why have you still not surrendered, huh?”

“I will surrender to your grandmother, you f*ker!” Young Master Yu cursed loudly, and landed a ‘cracking’ slap on his face rather squarely.

The furious Yin Wu Tian tried to get up, only to see another slap appearing before his eyes. He hastily tried to block, but failed to do so. He ended up receiving a solid slap on the right side of his face.

And this one was extremely heavy!

He blacked out and fell face down on the ground. He was puzzled about what happened just now, and thought, [how the f*k is this guy attacking so fast? A King level expert getting slapped on the face by a Revered Martial Artist?! This simply unheard of! At this rate, I will end up dying...]

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly felt something heavy upon his body. He realized that the guy had actually stepped on his belly; he then felt that man stomp.

Yin Wu Tian got angry, and tried to grasp his opponent’s ankle. However, his opponent lifted his foot and stomped on his hand instead.

Just as he tried to kick his opponent, he was thrown back with an explosion; the impact made a big hole in the ground.

Immediately after, he was grabbed by his collar and lifted up from the ground. Yet another slap landed on his face as a voice asked viciously, “You’re my Fourth Master?”

Yin Wu Tian retorted, “I am Fourth Master... ”

“Bam!”

He couldn’t even finish his sentence when he was slapped once again, and was asked the same question in the same flat (2) tone, “You are my Fourth Master?”

“I am your...” Yin Wu Tian was so furious that he felt his head would explode! His negligence had landed him in the hands of a young guy; resulting in such extreme humiliation.

“Bam!” With yet another loud sound of a slap hitting his face, that voice solemnly asked again, “You’re my Fourth Master?”

This slap was so weighty that a loud explosion occurred in his brain. This suddenly caused him to realize: [Am I really so unlucky that I unknowingly ended up messing with the wrong guy?]

He didn’t speak his thoughts out loud. His seemingly-impatient opponent kept slapping with one hand and then the other; over and over again. After dozens of slaps had already greeted his face — accompanied by a series of ‘crackle and rattle’ sounds... he heard the same question again, “You are my Fourth Master?”

Yin Wu Tian had been rendered completely immobile; so much so that he had only one hand free for blocking the incoming slaps. He again got slapped on the face, and his flesh-and-blood was sent flying.

Yin Wu Tian felt like he was being crushed by a mountain with his opponent’s foot pressing hard on his chest. He couldn’t move his lower body at all. He could only use one hand to defend his face from getting slapped on both sides.

This adversary was also strange; it seemed as if he knew no other move but to slap his face incessantly... before asking the same question: “You are my Fourth Master?”

...Yin Wu Tian felt anguished and angered.

It was shameful! Humiliating!

What made it worse was the fact that two of his subordinates were standing nearby; watching him getting subjected into such a compromised position. He had been thoroughly beaten, and was currently lying immobile on the ground. ...this entire scene had happened in front of their eyes...

A dignified King level expert humiliated in such a manner?! This was unbelievable!

Yin Wu Tian angrily struggled to break free! He spat-out blood as he launched a psychological attack on the enemy; but started feeling dizzy instead.

Yin Wu Tian gave a look of hatred as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He felt anger and rage flourishing in his heart... before suddenly falling unconscious!

However... the very next moment, Young Master Yu slapped Yin Wu Tian once again. A bundle of vital energy came out of his hand and entered Yin Wu Tian’s body. The surging vital energy then pinched his chin, forcing his mouth open, and actually shoved a pill into it... This revitalized his body in an instant, and he abruptly woke up... feeling comfortable and completely well.

[Did someone save me just now?]

Yin Wu Tian opened his eyes, and was surprised to see that youth still coldly staring at him. The corners of that youngster curled into a strange smile as soon as he saw Yin Wu Tian wake up. He then grabbed Yin Wu Tian by his skull, and gave a slap across his face before asking, “You’re my Fourth Master?”

Yin Wu Tian felt as if he was hovering between life and death! [This guy actually healed and woke me up... and that too because my death would’ve interfered with his interrogation... how can such a person exist in this world?]

“Who in the world are you?” Yin Wu Tian asked as he finally realized his stupidity. He had clearly realized that he wasn’t capable enough to deal with this adversary.

As an answer to his question, he received yet another tight slap on the face... along with the same grim counter question, “You’re my Fourth Master?”

He obviously hadn’t understood that he was being beaten in order to make him retract his statement! In fact, he didn’t even know that his statement had offended the opposite party...

Yin Wu Tian clenched his teeth without saying anything, and just glared fiercely at his opponent with eyes like fuming volcanoes.

“Smack! Smack! Smack!” Young Master Yu seemed to have changed his tactics. This time... he gave three slaps in a row before asking, “You’re my Fourth Master?”

“You’re killing me dammit!” Yin Wu Tian shouted wildly with grief and indignation. However, a violent slap stormed his face again. Yes! He had actually received a response in the form of a slap... again. There seemed no scope for any other form of punishment... just a slap as usual.

Yin Wu Tian’s condition gradually started to worsen. Though the intensity of the slaps had become lighter, the impact had slowly begun to penetrate into his meridians. Moreover, the meridians around his ears had started to rupture and disintegrate...

“What do you want from me?” Yin Wu Tian struggled to ask since he could no longer feel his mouth. In fact, his whole head seemed to have gone numb.

Young Master Yu appeared somewhat intrigued while staring intently at him. Then a callous look flashed in his eyes as he said, “I know you are Yin Wu Tian of the Golden Horse Riders Department. I am also aware that you are a capable subordinate of Diwu Qing Rou. But I only have one question for you...”

"What?" Yin Wu Tian struggled to ask.

“Smack!” the ringing in his ear was accompanied by a momentary mental-stasis. Then Young Master Yu flung his arms around gently, and asked, “You’re my Fourth Master?”

Yin Wu Tian finally collapsed!

This opponent was a monster who just couldn’t be moved by force or persuasion! Moreover, his nefarious disposition had already reached the pinnacle of creation! He wasn’t long-winded at all. Instead he preferred using slaps to make his point clear.

Not to mention that he was so monotonously persistent... that he could force a person into having a mental breakdown.

The literal translation would be something like this: even if you don’t belong to the dragon race... you actually have inverted dragon scales.

Young Master Yu repeats the same sentence in ‘level and oblique tone’ which is a technical term for classical Chinese rhythmic poetry.