Transcending the Nine Heavens

The big stones had come from the top of the peak, and had smashed onto the ground. The impact had sent the crushed stone fragments and dust flying in all directions. Even a day’s sunshine and winds wouldn’t have been able to drop-off such big boulders ... It was hard to tell how many more boulders were going to fall... It was possible that a small mountain peak had caved in, and its fragments were falling down from above...

[My dear god! Is this the end of the world?]

The smoke and dust soared-up in the Heaven Splitting Mountain Pass. The place became pitch-dark; it was difficult to see anything. In fact, one couldn’t even see one’s own fingers.

One block of a big stone had come down as a trailblazer. It had advanced unhindered. It continued to rush down for a thousand feet, and crushed everything in its path before it came to a halt.

Then the second stone fell, then the third, and the fourth...

The falling stones were producing a loud rumbling sound. They were falling in a continuous manner – like dumplings... The blood-curdling screams of the crushed soldiers were overshadowed by the earth-shattering noise of the stones pounding against the ground...

A tragic scene of devastation had spread across the entire slanting valley.

The people present near the two ends of the valley weren’t in trouble as the stones would pound in the center of the valley, and then roll down the slope. They’d smash everything before they’d come to a halt...

The slanting valley was divided into three sections.

The rear and front sections were safe. However, the middle section was covered with flesh and blood.

This bloody middle section was around thirty-five-hundred feet wide. No survivor could be seen within the area.

Wu Kuang Yun was in the Heaven Splitting Mountain Pass. He had only seen the sudden burst of dust and smoke. He had only heard the endless rumbling sounds. Then, the entire slanting valley had been filled with dust. His ears had been shaken by the shocks and vibrations; so much so, that he suffered from a temporary loss of hearing. His entire body trembled due to the intense vibrations. He opened his eyes wide like an ox, but he still couldn’t see anything.

He knew that Great Zhao’s army stationed in the slanting valley was in trouble. However, he didn’t know what was going on. He was far away from the spot where this was happening. So, he didn’t know that the big stones were hailing down from the summit. He just thought, [What’s going on? What just happened?]

[Oh Good Lord! I don’t know which God noticed my hardships... and bestowed such a treat upon my eyes and ears...]

[The tremors have toppled over several weapons on the ground. The lighter weapons were launched into the sky... Then, they fell down. The ones in the warehouse are still clattering... and have bundled into one mass...]

[Fortunately, the Heaven Splitting Mountain Pass is very strong. Even the shocks of this caliber can’t shake the reinforced foundation of pig iron casting. This mega-structure will survive.]

[But, the inner side of the wall has collapsed. Fortunately, the exterior wall is reinforced... Otherwise, it would’ve collapsed too.]

Wu Kuang Yun continued to pray in his heart. He was delighted, and was taking pleasure in another’s misfortune, [Kill those sons of bit*hes! Kill them all...]

More than a thousand big stones smashed down on the ground. The same number of rolling wooden logs wouldn’t have caused this much damage in usual siege warfare. After all, the might of the logs thrown down the wall couldn’t match the might of the big stones that had come rolling down from the altitude of eight kilometers.

The comparison between their destructive powers would be like comparing an elephant with an ant...

The surrounding mountains stopped shaking once the thousands of stones had smashed down. Everyone’s ears were still ringing. In fact, they could no longer hear any sound.

Thousands of people had turned deaf.

Those who were still alive could only see each other’s mouths open and close. They could only see each other’s mouths move, but couldn’t hear what was being said.

The three tiger generals came out of their tents with an ashen look on their faces. There was a look of horror in their eyes. Their mouths were wide open, and their eyes looked blank. They were baffled; they couldn’t understand how such an unfathomable thing had happened.

They shook their heads with all their strength, and patted their ears. They washed their faces with cold water, and then chugged it down in abundance in order to irrigate their stomachs. But, they were barely able to hear anything. Wherever they looked — they saw their soldiers bleed from their ears. The huge shock and vibrations had injured their eardrums. Several of them had become deaf...

"What’s going on? What the hell happened just now?" the Golden Tiger General Jin Nankai shouted. There was a grim look on his face. However, the surrounding men seemed to be in a daze. They saw his mouth open and close, but didn’t hear anything.

"Relax. Don’t be impatient." The Silver Tiger General Long Ao patted his shoulder. Even his complexion was pale.

They soon heard the heart-wrenching screams that were coming from the slanting valley... These screams and wails seemed to be coming from a distance of several kilometers.

"It ought to be a surprise attack by the enemy." The Jade Tiger General Yu Cheng Long shook his head. He felt extremely uncomfortable in his ears. He could still hear the ‘rumbling’ sound. He felt as if ten-thousand cicadas were crying in his ears. However, he could hear the other sounds as well...

"Let’s go there... and have a look." The three generals had a bad feeling as they glanced at each other. They summoned their bodyguards. Then, they mounted their horses in a determined manner, and dashed towards the source of the tragic cries...

They rode for about ten kilometers, and finally came across the tragic scene. It appeared like a living hell. The three generals were war veterans; they were the so-called desperados... they were known as the ‘butchers of the battlefield’. There was no tragic scene unknown to them.

However, their complexions changed drastically as they saw this dreadful scene. Their visions turned dark, and their bodies became sloppy. They almost fell down from their horses.

They looked ahead and saw big stones lying in the slanting valley. These stones were dyed red in blood. They lay motionless on the ground.

Their entire path had been covered with flesh and blood. The human body parts and broken limbs were spread on the ground. They looked as far as their eyes could see, but they didn’t spot a single intact corpse for several kilometers.

Even the mountain walls on both sides had been stained with flesh and blood. The blood was dripping from the mountain walls... even from a height of hundred feet... The stains of blood and spattered brain fluid could be seen everywhere...

The three generals spotted some wounded soldiers nearby. These soldiers were covered in blood. They were among the few lucky one who had only lost their arms. Even their metal armors had failed to protect them from such huge boulders. They had only gotten injured since they had been ‘gently’ grazed by the ‘edge’ of the rolling stones...

"These... these... are how many people?" Jin Nankai asked in a trembling voice. He stared in anger and bewilderment at the inhuman and brutal scene.

No one answered. Everyone was stupefied after watching this spectacle. They felt as if the blood in their hearts had dried-up.

"Go... take a look," Long Ao ordered in a deep and low voice.

Some people resisted their urge to vomit and brought themselves to go forward. However, their horses wouldn’t listen to their commands. The horses seemed frightened as their big widened eyes gazed at the scary scene. They continued to shake their heads, and their bodies shrank back a little; as if hinting that they didn’t wish to go any further.

Then, a bodyguard of Jin Nankai’s rode forward on his horse, and dashed out. The sound of hooves gradually diminished as the rider rode further into the valley. The three generals frowned as they listened to the sound of the hooves. They felt as if it was coming from an empty valley. It sounded as if the rider was riding through an uninhabited and silent road. Their complexions turned unsightly as they realized this.

They waited until the sound of the hooves had nearly become inaudible. Then, they heard it again coming from afar. The sound was initially feeble. It gradually became louder; as if the horse was coming back.

"There’s no one to be seen for three or four kilometers ahead on this road," Yu Cheng Long spoke in a sullen manner. He had deduced this by hearing the sound of the hooves. He didn’t even wait for the rider to return.

The countenance of the other two generals changed; they became distressed.

A high density of soldiers had been concentrated at this place. How many troops were gathered on this three to four kilometers long, and two-hundred to three-hundred feet wide road?

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to estimate at least ten-thousand soldiers.

In other words, at least ten-thousand people had died in this accident.

However, it was still inexplicable. No one knew the reason why this had happened. They just knew that these stones had rolled along the steep slope down the cliff.

They looked-up at the steep cliff that seemed to be protruding above their heads. But, they couldn’t see anything clearly. They couldn’t even see the top of the cliff as it was covered in clouds and mist.

"Look at these stones," Long Ao asked for everyone’s attention.

"What about it?" The others turned around. Someone was already cleaning the stones. Then, a stone was carried over to them. It was covered with lots of dents that had been caused by the collisions on its way down. Its volume had also decreased considerably due to this factor.

Three large stones were carried over to a spot. The three generals gathered around the spot to examine the stones carefully.

"What the hell is this? This stone looks as if it has been cut down with a sword. Each block looks as if it has been chopped down in equal proportions..." Jin Nankai spoke in a shocked manner.

"That’s impossible, alright?" The other two generals were equally shocked as they observed the stones. They also had to acknowledge this fact, "Does this mean that the enemy had prepared this ambush on the summit in advance? Is this the ‘stone version’ of the ‘rolling wooden logs strike’?"

"This is absolutely impossible!" Jin Nankai had once been to Iron Cloud; he ruled out this possibility with confidence, "It’s difficult for the birds to reach the top of these mountains; let alone humans. Even the apes would fall to their deaths if they were to try and climb-up these mountains. Only a king level expert or above can climb-up these mountains."

"But, if it’s really a person of that caliber... then why would he be interested in making things difficult for us?" Long Ao said; as if to dismiss the possibility.

"Or... maybe this is the case... when Gods fights... the mortals suffer a calamity... or perhaps... a section of the cliff collapsed and resulted in a destructive avalanche. That is also possible. After all, these mountains have existed for tens of thousands of years..." Jin Nankai contracted his pupils to gaze at the illusory clouds and fog. He heaved a long sigh and said, "Arrange these stones on one side. It’s unlikely that something would fall again."

He sighed again, and then turned around and walked back.

[Indeed... it’s simply impossible that there are soldiers up there. If there was a fight between experts going on at the summit... then it should’ve come to an end by now. So, it’s unlikely that this will happen again. And, if it was a landslide... then too there’s no reason for it to happen again in quick succession...]

[What if it’s a supreme expert? That’s even more unlikely... since a supreme expert would definitely not throw stones to play around.] Great General Jin was confident that his deduction was correct. The huge pile of stones had divided their army into two halves. So, how would they go to war? How would they make a strike?

The three generals seemed to be in low spirits. They didn’t say a single word on their way back. However, they were constantly praying in their hearts, [Please don’t happen again...]

Meanwhile, Chu Yang and the two shadows were squatting on the ground at the summit, and breathing heavily. A continuous high-intensity labor could even tire King Level Experts to the extent of becoming numb.

About an hour had passed. Chu Yang and the two shadows had managed to dig-out a big gap at the base of the mountain peak.