Transcending the Nine Heavens

The gap had a vertical width of fifty to sixty feet. It was more than a hundred feet deep. It had nearly reached half the thickness of the mountain peak.

It appeared as if a giant had opened its big mouth. It looked ominous...

"This should be enough for this side..." Minister Chu sprawled on his back and lay on the ground. He didn’t seem to care about his image. He continued to complain, "My God, I’m so exhausted. I’m dying of exhaustion... F**k me... it’s still far from being over..."

He had spoken the exact same words several times in the past as well. He had said it for the first time when he had obtained the Nine Tribulations Sword Point. The second time was when he had obtained the Mysterious Ice Jade Paste. In fact, he had complained even after he had secured a huge amount of the Mysterious Ice Jade Paste. But, it was an obligatory work labor this time; nothing more.

He heaved a deep sigh. Then, he took out a huge water bottle, and moistened his dry throat. He gulped down several mouthfuls of water in one go.

"Boy, share the water with everyone..." the shadow said.

"Well... actually this water is quite precious. So, there isn’t enough..." Chu Yang recalled that the bottle in his hand contained the Vitality Spring Water.

"Fart! We don’t need a potful of water, you know?" The male shadow snatched the bottle from him. However, he didn’t drink it. Instead, he handed it over to the female shadow.

The female shadow raised her mouth to drink the water. She started to feel different as soon as the water went down her throat. She was startled, and stopped drinking. She carefully savored the water in her mouth and exclaimed in a shocked voice, "Vitality Spring Water?!"

The other shadow was also startled as he heard these words. It seemed as if he had forgotten that he was feeling tired. He jumped over, and rushed to the side of the female shadow to have a look.

[Vitality Spring Water? Isn’t it the wonderful water that can stimulate a person’s vitality and life force?]

Both of them were left dumbstruck as they tasted it. They couldn’t help but burst into tears. The tears came streaming down their cheeks. Their hands were slightly trembling. One could see a hint of misery and bitterness in their eyes.

It’s indeed the Vitality Spring Water.

The two of them had gone to the Medicine God Clan several times in the hope of obtaining this priceless treasure. They had even sold their family property, and had spent the entirety of their savings for it. However, they had been conned into buying a fake product. Yet, they hadn’t stopped. They had accumulated some precious items, and had gone to the Medicine King Valley to exchange those items for Vitality Spring Water. But, they had only managed to obtain a few drops of it even after going through all that... They only needed a little amount of it to expand their life force and vitality. Their bodies were aging, and the only cure was to make a breakthrough.

They only needed one breakthrough to reach the Emperor Level. It seemed the same as crossing a fine line, but it could bring tremendous changes.

However, they weren’t been able to achieve it; no matter how much they tried.

The two of them had been despaired for a long time. Then, they had accepted a request, and had come to the Lower Three Heavens to protect Tie Bu Tian. This had happened over a decade ago. They could’ve never imagined that the elusive Vitality Spring Water they had desperately craved all those years would appear before them ten years later in such a manner.

And that too... in such a huge quantity...

In fact, they were holding it in their own hands.

This was a mysterious item. Everyone in the Nine Heavens Continent yearned for it... even in their dreams. And, a big bottle of it was now in their hands.

[So, it was this. No wonder he said that ’this water is quite precious, so there isn’t enough’. You call it precious; is that all? It’s priceless.]

The two shadows had only tasted a little bit of the Vitality Spring Water. The small sip they took a moment ago was enough for them. In fact, it was more than enough.

The worth of that small sip couldn’t be converted into money. The only word that could describe its worth was — ‘priceless’.

There was still so much of it remaining.

Suddenly, their shocked eyes fell upon Chu Yang. It seemed as if they were looking at a monster.

[Even the Medicine King Valley and Medicine God Clan didn’t have so much Vitality Spring Water in their yearly reserves; it definitely wasn’t enough to fill such a big bottle, alright? In fact, their combined yearly reserves wouldn’t even fill half of this bottle.]

[And this boy... this King of Hell Chu... is carrying so much of it with him.]

[Moreover, this guy is treating the precious Vitality Spring Water as some ordinary boiled water... and, he’s using it to quench his thirst...]

The two shadows went crazy as they recalled that he had made gurgling sounds while he had taken big gulps of the Vitality Spring Water a moment ago.

"Do you know what this is?" the male shadow asked. He was clutching the bottle of Vitality Spring Water as if it was the most precious thing in the world. His eyes had turned red.

"I know. The person who gave it to me told me about it," Chu Yang spoke in a casual manner... as if it wasn’t important.

"You... and you’re still wasting it like this?" The shadow went berserk with rage. He couldn’t understand, [Who uses the Vitality Spring Water to quench their thirst? Good Heavens, who are you? The prodigal son of some rich family?]

"Weren’t you thirsty?" Chu Yang snorted and said, "If you want to drink it... then drink. If you don’t want to drink... then I’ll gladly take it back."

"Whoa! Slow down!" The shadow looked at him from head-to-toe. Then, he took out his and his wife’s water bottles. He first raised his mouth to take a gulp of water. After that, he poured a few mouthfuls of Vitality Spring Water into his water bottle and plugged the lid.

Chu Yang thought, [These two don’t seem to be greedy. I can tell by just looking at them that they are very straightforward and honest people. No wonder Tie Bu Tian trusts them so much. They truly deserve every bit of it.]

But then, he changed his views as he saw the shadow going next to Tie Bu Tian and saying something to him. Tie Bu Tian seemed to be a bit shocked. Then, he firmly shook his head. The shadow said something again, and Tie Bu Tian shook his head again. Suddenly, the shadow took Tie Bu Tian’s small water bottle, and filled it with Vitality Spring Water. After that, the shadow returned the bottle to Tie Bu Tian.

The shadow came back with a red face. Then, he smiled in embarrassment and returned the bottle to Chu Yang, "Here... take it. I’m giving it back."

"Eh... is it finished?" Chu Yang shook the water bottle and noticed that more than half of the water was still left in the bottle. A profound smile appeared on his face.

"Ahem... we took advantage of your kindness." The shadow smiled and spoke in an embarrassed tone, "Actually... the thing is..."

"There’s no need to explain." Chu Yang smiled and said, "I was already willing to share. I wouldn’t have taken it out in the first place if I didn’t wish to give it to you guys... correct?" He blinked, "I’ll be happy as long as it’s useful to you."

The shadow continued to stare at him for a long time. He then said, "You... are a very nice guy... very nice guy!"

The other shadow also nodded.

[Is he really ‘just’ a nice guy? If someone else had so much Vitality Spring Water... then would that person be willing to give it to others for free? Even a drop! But, this King of Hell Chu wasn’t the least bit stingy for our sake.]

Tie Bu Tian’s eyes turned towards Chu Yang and the shadow. His small ears were slightly erected. He appeared indifferent and aloof, but his entire attention was focused on the ongoing conversation between Chu Yang and the shadow. The corners of his mouth revealed a gentle smile as he heard the shadow’s words. It seemed that she became happy when someone praised Chu Yang.

The shadow said, "You can rest assured. We’ll protect His Majesty well. We’ll not let her suffer the slightest injury."

Chu Yang was caught off-guard. He said, "This... what is this?" [I just gave you something for no particular reason; that’s all. But, what is this... this... what relation does this have with His Majesty? You take care of him and protect him because that’s your responsibility. Why are you giving assurances to me?]

Tie Bu Tian coughed gently.

The shadow was startled. He sighed and lowered his head.

"I think we’ve taken enough rest, right? Let’s continue..." Chu Yang said as he stood-up and stretched his body.

"Right!"

The three people circled around the mountain peak, and went to the rear side. The shadows began to carry the stones. They needed to carry the stones to the front in order to throw them down. The workload would certainly increase owing to that. However, the destruction and killings caused by these falling stones was truly impressive.

The Great Zhao army had hidden far away from the place of impact in the valley. However, there had been no sound or movement for a long time. So, their commander-in-chief had realized that there was no point in keeping the army divided into two sections. Then, some people had stepped forward and volunteered to clean-up the mess. They were rather sad during the cleaning process. The front and the rear units finally merged into one once the cleaning process was complete. However, they didn’t dare to look at the bloody traces on the cliffs... or they wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from trembling...

The soldiers were always prepared to lay down their lives on the battlefield. However, dying from an unknown cause was frightening and aggrieving.

However, everyone was relieved as the commander-in-chief had said that it wouldn’t happen again. They sighed once again, and gathered together.

After a long while...

"What’s that sound?" someone asked in a suspicious manner as he heard something...

"I also hear something..." another person frowned and replied...

"Thunder?"

"***! It’s coming again... run everyone..."

The ‘rumbling’ sound grew louder and louder. The mountains began to tremble and the ground began to shake once again. Even the people began to turn deaf again...

The complexion of Jin Nankai and the other generals became deathly pale as they heard the terrible sound.

[It’s happening again!]

[Holy ancestors! How can this be?]

The violent sound was certainly a prelude to the upcoming disaster. It seemed as if no other sound existed between the Heaven and the Earth. Countless square-shaped stones came roaring down from the height of eight kilometers, and crashed onto the ground like thunder...

They smashed into the crowd of men with an irresistible force. They rampaged about indiscriminately – crushing everything in their path and leaving behind a trail of blood through the Great Zhao army. The big stones cut a bloody path out of the field...

"Dear God... what a tragic and amazing scene this is!"

Wu Kuang Yun said excitedly. He was in the Heaven Splitting Mountain Pass. His ears were plugged with strips of cotton cloth, but he was swinging his buttocks on the rhythm of the tremors; [Wow... hahaha... I feel so good!]

[You tried to invade us. Now face the wrath of the Heavens, you mother*kers! The heavens won’t spare any of you.]

[Haha...]

[This is so awesome...]

The wails and cries aroused by the chaos were submerged by the deafening sound...

The chaos lasted for an hour. It eventually stopped; but only after it had caused more than ten-thousand casualties.

This chaos had caused even more casualties than the previous one.

That was because the distance covered by these stones was longer than the previous ones. Last time, the stones had come across lots of obstacles on their way down. Moreover, the texture of the ground had been rough enough to pose resistance. However, the stones had come across fewer obstacles this time; even the ground’s texture had smoothened and acted as an elastic cushion to preserve the speed of the stones. Thanks to that, the stones had continued to move non-stop, and had covered longer distances...

Great Zhao’s army had encountered two terrifying accidents in succession. Everyone was in a complete mess. They were all looking around in panic. Their complexions looked pale. There was horror in their eyes. It seemed as if they would collapse at any moment. Even Jin Nankai and the other generals couldn’t sit still.