Transcending the Nine Heavens

Heavenly Armament Pavilion: Only Open to Those with Money

A huge plaque could be seen from the bustling streets. On it, wrote three grand characters - Heavenly Armament Pavilion - which shone with gold brilliance.

The gold writings on both sides were engraved onto silver billboards, and the display caused passers-by to feel an aura of majesty.

The billboards wrote ’Cutting through steel as if it were mud is not a dream, but it would truly be an eye-opener for you!’

And below, ’This great lord has all sorts of divine weapons. Come hastily should you desire them!’

Banner: ’There is no need to wait!’

There was a sign on the door, ’Heavenly Armament Pavilion is only for the rich. A million silver taels is not enough, and a million gold taels does not equate to richness. The moment you enter, heavenly treasures will be yours.’

Clearly, he was not only a nouveau riche but an uneducated man too. The house appeared trashy and the words on the billboards were slanted and contained so much evil intent. It seemed as if wine was forced down a rat’s mouth while its tail was dipped in ink and it wrote the words as it dragged its tail around in its drunk state.

Big Boss Chu was sitting inside, waiting to extort gullible customers that came by the door. This was similar to the story of how Grand Duke Jiang went fishing, and fish would take the bait even though they knew what was about to come.

While it was exhausting for Chu Yang to prepare over several days and nights, he was excited at the thought of his prospective earnings.

Chu Yang was delighted at the thought of gaining wealth so easily. It was no wonder that countless people turned to thieving. All he needed to do was to reach out his hand, and his customers would gladly hand him their gold and silver. It all seemed too easy.

He saw it as stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, since the rich had tons of money, while he was extremely poor at the time.

The moment came and the Heavenly Armament Pavilion was open. Everyone who saw it were shocked. He was simply too arrogant and atrocious! There had never been anyone who had tried to run a business in the same way as Chu Yang.

It did not even seem to be someone trying to run a business properly, but rather trying his best to offend people. Furthermore, this was tormenting oneself to displease others.

Soon, Heavenly Armament Pavilion became the talk of the town and was the biggest joke since Iron Cloud was found.

"Hey, quickly go and check out the shop that was opened by a lunatic over here!"

Suddenly, Heavenly Armament Pavilion was crowded with observers. Perhaps looking at the fool run his business was not such a bad idea, considering how everyone had nothing to do anyway.

However, everyone was puzzled at the same time. He could have picked any other place to open his shop, but why did he choose to get ridiculed in Iron Cloud Citadel’s most bustling imperial street? He mustn’t have lost his brains, right? But if he were truly a fool, where did he get his money to open the shop?

Big Boss Chu sat inside the shop with his legs crossed. There was not a single divine weapon on the table in front of him. There was only a cup of tea, from which steam and tea fragrances spiralled into the air. His head appeared to be spiralling with the tea fragrances, nodding from left to right. It gave the room a vibe of relaxation and sleepiness.

A long sword, great sabre, short sword and a short sabre were hung on the left wall, near the inner door. It appeared that these four weapons were the only equipment with which he used to open up the shop, and was ready to sell these "divine weapons". Outside the shop, the crowd was full of chaos, passing remarks, laughing, while some were disgruntled. Chu Yang turned a deaf ear to all the noise since these were not the people that he wanted to do business with.

Furthermore, Chu Yang’s memory from his previous life led him to believe that Iron Cloud cared only about the two words ’Heavenly Armament’, and it would most definitely trigger a response from Iron Cloud’s leaders.

In the distance, a few large men with dark hair and unbuttoned collars were yelling, "Move out of the way! Move out of the way! A good dog does not block the road, you! Oh you won’t give way, will you?" Their walking stance resembled those of crabs. The crowd would avoid them wherever they want.

"What ’Heavenly Armament Pavilion’? Oh god such arrogance." said a big man with a huge mole on his face. A long thick tuft of black hair grew on this mole as well.

He tilted his head, reading the plaque stating ’Heavenly Armament Pavilion’. With his head facing up, he yelled furiously, "Has this person been driven to insanity from being poor? A million silver taels is not enough, so I can’t enter? I don’t have a lot of silver, but I will still enter!"

"Big Brother... Big Brother..." said the smaller man by his side. "Thi- thi- this is all silver! Pure silver!" He pointed towards the plaque while jumping and shrieking as if he was having a seizure.

"Silver?" The big man squeezed the plaque with doubt. Immediately, his tone changed, "Oh my god, this is really silver!"

All of a sudden, his eyes were showing a different intent, one of greed and evil.

"Who is the boss inside? Come out! Come out!" shouted the man, whose voice was hoarse and his Adam’s apple moved up and down while swallowing a load of saliva. "F*** me, I don’t even need to ask for anything, all I need to do is to take this plaque away."

"Do you want to purchase something?" Chu Yang said, as he walked out his shop and folded his arms, dramatically. He had to entertain all customers, for he was all alone, acting as both the manager and the worker.

From the moment he stepped out the door, Big Boss Chu was steaming with anger.

"I opened this shop in hopes of attracting big fishes, but all I’ve attracted so far is a group of local gangsters? This is too f***ing unlucky for me, isn’t it?"

"You opened this shop?" asked the big man, arrogantly.

"What?" replied Chu Yang. He was obviously in a bad mood and his tone appeared rude.

"What? My god, you really have a temper, don’t you? It appears that you do not know who is standing in front of you?" the dark haired big man reached out with one hand, attempting to grab Chu Yang by his collar and give him a beating.

"Get lost!" Chu Yang yelled, with an angry stare. Immediately, his two arms came up from his body, and out came a layer of visible black smoke. It contained an overwhelming aura of evil intent and a freezing chill, which gushed toward the group of gangsters.

The dark haired big man was a nobody on the streets and even had a lack of martial arts skill. All he could do was to rely on his strong arms to bully people. How could he stand firm against this attack on his soul that seemed to be at the level of a respectable martial artist?

The big man suddenly felt a chill down his spine, before being hit head-on by an evil aura that shook his soul. His two eyes began to roll back, and soon, he felt like he had sunk into an endless nightmare. It seemed as if numerous evil spirits that came from all directions, heaven and hell, were rushing over him.

"Ahhhhh..." he uttered a scream that was unlike any human voice and staggered back. He grasped his head with his two hands and began rolling all over the floor. He screamed crazily, "Mercy, please! I didn’t do it, mercy, mercy, ahhhh..."

He tried to jump up and turn to escape but to no avail. In just a single step, he fell back onto the ground. Blood started to ooze, and he was paralyzed on the ground. He tried desperately to crawl away, for he could not even stand up anymore.

As he struggled to crawl away, the area on his pants near his crotch slowly became wet...

His ear-splitting cry for mercy echoed through the sky.

The big man’s two gang brothers had no clue what had just happened, except that their leader had become like that in the blink of an eye. He had radically turned from being normal to being such a horrifying sight. They, too, had felt a sudden chill in the air and cried out as well. They then scattered in all directions.

Chu Yang faked a confused expression, onlooking the trio that was fleeing. He scratched his head, and it seemed to onlookers that he hadn’t an idea of what had just happened. After a short period of deep thought, he claimed in realization, "Oh yes, divine weapons have a wicked aura surrounding them. It appears that they sense those with evil intentions and that offended the divine weapons. Using their souls and spirits, the divine weapons disciplined the trio of gangsters..."

Upon listening to his explanation, the crowd finally understood what had happened. Fear overcame their faces and they took several steps back. Each of them felt a chill go up their spines.

Chu Yang laughed and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am not sure who else would like to come visit. Please, you’re all welcome, do not be afraid."

In a swish, the crowd quickly dispersed.

Chu Yang walked back into the shop with a cunning laughter.

Heavenly Armament Pavilion was really wicked since the divine weapons actually had spirits. Anyone who was ill-willed would be cursed if they went there. This turned into a rumour and became the fastest spreading rumour. This was because many had witnessed the whole incident. Those who shared the story did it in a quiet and cautious voice, while those who listened were quiet and breathed anxiously.

"Who would not believe this? Did you not see that those guys from East Main Street were scared to insanity? What, you don’t know who the guys were? They’re the gangsters that were demanding protection fees!"

From then on, the rumour spread even more aggressively. Many versions were developed, giving the newly opened Heavenly Armament Pavilion which was propped out of nowhere, another veil of mystery.