Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chu Yang was annoyed by his question. “Am I that kind of person?”

The more Mo Tianji thought about it, the more he found it dangerous. He said, “Your moral character makes me very concerned!”

Mo Tianji’s narrow-mindedness caused Chu Yang to fly into a rage. He found Mo Tianji’s doubt of his moral character even more intolerable. “She’s going to be my wife sooner or later anyway, what’s the matter even if I did do something to her? Is it any of your business?”

It was Mo Tianji’s turn to be annoyed. “You beast! You’re a beast from head to toe after all! This military advisor finds it an embarrassment to be associated with you!”

“Hard to say who’s the real beast between the two of us!” Chu Yang mocked him in return. “I’ve only talked about it but I’ve never done anything, whereas you’ve already had two consorts since a few years ago and they are not even sixteen-years-old now!”

“What do you know!”

Blushing, Mo Tianji cursed at him unceremoniously.

Then, he followed with a sigh. “You don’t understand… There’s a long story behind this.”

“Long story?” Chu Yang was taken aback.

“Those two girls are biological sisters. It was my mistake… Back then, I was still very young and I fell for Mo Tianyun’s tricks. In a fit of fury, I retaliated immediately but ended up killing the wrong person — Their parents…”

Mo Tianji heaved a sigh. “I only realized my mistake afterward but the dead can’t come back to life. At that time, in order to prevent further trouble, my subordinates wanted to kill them and stamp out all possible causes of future trouble. I… With no other choice, I could only use the excuse of being lecherous and wanting to take them as consorts to protect them and dissolve this conflict.”

“I was only sixteen at that time. If it had happened now instead, I would of course be able to come up with better solutions.”

Mo Tianji took a breath. “I, Mo Tianji, am no kind soul. Wiping out others’ clans and taking lives is usual practice to me. However, I am not wrong in doing so, so I do not feel any guilt. But in the case of my mistakes, driving people into a corner and killing them will not alleviate my guilt.”

“I’ve treated those two girls as my younger sisters ever since I took them in. On the one hand, I’m trying my best to make up for my mistake. On the other hand, every time I see them, I use them as a reminder to myself — Do not ever make any more mistakes!”

“Therefore, most of my decisions are made after much deep consideration. Those two sisters are equivalent to a warning bell I place by my side!”

“Every time my emotions go out of control, I’ll ask for tea, which they’ll serve to me. The moment I see them, I’ll be reminded not to be rash, to think carefully and to avoid making mistakes again. Be it for the sake of myself or others, I cannot afford to make any mistakes!”

Mo Tianji sighed. “In this chaotic martial world, we really cannot afford to make any mistakes. The first reason is that a mistake can doom us for eternity. The second reason is that… If you still have a conscience, the moment you kill someone accidentally, it will lead to inner demons and you’ll never be able to reach the pinnacle of martial arts in your entire life!”

“They’ve been with me for quite a few years; I’ve never touched them all these years. Should they fall in love with others in the future, I will marry them off as though they are my younger sisters, and offer up abundant dowry and send them off in glory.”

Chu Yang sighed and patted his shoulder. “It’s been tough on you… But sigh, regarding this matter, it’s also hard to say that it’s been tough on you; after all, you were the one who made a mistake in the first place.”

Mo Tianji took a big mouthful of wine. “Indeed!”

“But it doesn’t seem like you can hope for them to fall in love with others.” Chu Yang gave him a wry smile. “It’s obvious from the way that those two look at you that they have already fallen deeply in love with you.”

“To be honest, I really won’t be able to bear to part with them should they fall in love with someone else.” Mo Tianji smiled bitterly. “However, them being fully aware of their background and everything else and yet falling in love with me… That’s the most agonizing part right now. I’m suffering but to be honest, the two of them are suffering even more than me.”

Chu Yang sighed again. This matter was truly Mo Tianji’s biggest headache. When it came to such matters, so what even if he was the Master of Calculation and Manipulation? So what even if he could probe into heavenly secrets? What could he do?

Two young girls falling in love with the enemy who killed their father, yet they were hopelessly in love with him. They could neither kill him nor marry someone else. Mo Tianji took in his enemy’s daughters, yet he could neither marry them nor bear to throw them out.

These relationships were truly a tangled mess. They couldn’t be thrown aside, nor could they be given up; there was nothing they could do about it.

“A few years ago, I still had my guard up against them, fearing that they would kill me to avenge their parents… But now, I’ve completely let down my guard against them. Those two girls also do not possess any murderous intent toward me. Yet the suffering increases day by day!”

Mo Tianji smiled lightly. “The only thing I can do is let this agony act as a reminder to myself to never… kill the wrong person ever again!”

“As for the three of us… We can only… let it drag on like this.” Mo Tianji sighed deeply. “Drag on and see what happens.”

Chu Yang sighed, taking some pleasure in Mo Tianji’s misfortune. “I had originally thought that my relationships were in enough of a mess, but it looks like yours is a tad worse than mine.”

For some reason — perhaps some kind of twisted interest — Chu Yang in this lifetime especially loved seeing Mo Tianji’s pathetic and resigned expression.

He took extreme pleasure in his misfortune!

No one else other than Mo Tianji received such treatment from him.

Taking the current issue for example, Mo Tianji was just being troubled; in Chu Yang’s eyes, it was nothing much. Although it was difficult to deal with, since he had already declared them as his consorts, it wasn’t like he could marry them off to other people anyway?

Besides… Since all three had feelings for each other, what was the big deal even if he really took them in as consorts? Wasn’t it a kind of compensation and mental comfort as well?

But since Mo Tianji was troubled over it, Chu Yang naturally wouldn’t mention it because he understood Mo Tianji’s temper extremely well. If someone talked to him about it intending to help him get over it, he could list ten thousand reasons to make that person just as troubled as himself!

Chu Yang had no intention of becoming troubled over this at all.

“My pain only gives you pleasure.” Mo Tianji looked at Chu Yang in disdain. “I’ve seen through you long ago!”

Chu Yang laughed. “I’m no better than you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Mo Tianji suddenly became wary. “You have relationship issues too? Where did that come from? Do you mean to say that you’ve been seducing others behind my younger sister’s back?”

Chu Yang was dumbfounded. He didn’t expect the fire to spread to him so quickly. His embarrassment turning into anger, he snapped, “What? You can have multiple wives but I can’t?”

Mo Tianji’s eyes narrowed. “You’re serious?”

Chu Yang’s shoulders slumped. “Yes… Sigh, it’s a goddamn long story. I really regret promising you back then.”

Half of Mo Tianji’s fury was doused by his words. Surprised, he asked, “Tell me about it?”

“What happened was…” Chu Yang said, “This is a secret, so you’re the only one I’m telling… I had originally thought that I had left nothing behind in the Lower Three Heavens. I didn’t expect that the one time when I was poisoned by the lust dragon… Yeah, I thought it… was dead; I didn’t expect her to be keeping it from me all this time… The Emperor of Iron Cloud, she… she’s a woman… Cough cough…”

With great difficulty, Chu Yang told him the whole story. He had also kept all these thoughts in him for too long and needed to pour his heart out to someone. Mo Tianji happened to be the best dumpster for it.

“… And that’s what happened… My son is already one year old now…” Chu Yang held out his hands. “What can I do? Big Brother-in-law Mo Tianji, can you understand? Hmm?”

Mo Tianji didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He became troubled as well. “This… doesn’t seem like I can really blame you for it.”

“Why don’t you think of a solution for me?” Chu Yang tilted his head.

Mo Tianji started to cough. What could he do when Chu Yang already had a son? Suggest that he abandoned his younger sister? Wouldn’t that make him a scoundrel?

“Let’s talk about business!” Mo Tianji declared in an upright manner, “Your relationships are your private matters. You can do whatever you want; it’s none of my business. In any case, it’s fine as long as my younger sister is not treated unfairly.”

Chu Yang was truly impressed by this fellow’s shamelessness hidden behind his sanctimonious attitude.

Actually saying “it’s fine as long as my younger sister is not treated unfairly” when it’s none of your business… Wasn’t that a load of bull!

It was obvious that Mo Tianji didn’t wish to discuss relationship issues anymore. “Tell me about the enemy! You still haven’t organized your thoughts after so long?”

“My relationships are in a mess…” Chu Yang sighed despondently.

Mo Tianji pretended not to hear him. “The Nine Super Clans have so many Supreme Martial Artists. Where exactly is each clan’s location? Their distribution? The relationships between them? Any grudges? Which clans have familial links with each other? Any of them associating with each other in the dark? And… their attitude? Etc…”

He threw out 40 to 50 questions in one shot.

Chu Yang’s head exploded at once. Raising his hands in defeat, he said, “Stop, stop! How about this, I’ll tell you everything I know. After that, if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me. If I don’t know the answer either… then we can only keep it for later.”

“Alright!” Mo Tianji walked over to the desk. He held up a brush, prepared to take notes for reference.

“The Nine Super Clans are like this…” Chu Yang quickly organized all the information in his head and told him bit by bit. He understood that Mo Tianji wanted a first-hand account of general information. “I’ll start from the overall outlook…”

As Chu Yang explained, Mo Tianji’s brush flew furiously, his brows knitted. In no time, he had sketched a rough map of the Nine Super Clans’ distribution in the Upper Three Heavens.

Chu Yang took a look and said, “Yes, that’s basically it. But… the distance between each of them is considerably far apart! Any of the shortest distances between two clans is equivalent to the distance between the north and south of the Middle Three Heavens…”

Mo Tianji gasped. Without saying anything, he noted that down.

“After that is the relationship between the clans…” Chu Yang continued to narrate. He had heard about all these from Young Master Lan Ruo. It was truly tough on Lan Ruo; in order to look good in front of the Nine Tribulations Sword Master, he had to commit all these information to memory.

And now, it was of course to Mo Tianji’s benefit.

Mo Tianji wrote everything down. When they paused for a moment for Chu Yang to take a sip of water to soothe his throat, Mo Tianji was already in a state of astonishment. “According to all this, every clan is basically relatives with all the other clans. And we’re just talking about the last 200 years…”

“In that case, doesn’t that make them a strong united front?” Mo Tianji was close to grabbing his hair.

“Of course not.” Chu Yang rolled his eyes. “In the Upper Three Heavens, there aren’t many Purple Crystal mines. Besides, they are widely distributed. Other than that, there are also mines for Black Crystals, Blue Crystals, White Crystals etc. These are the main sources of profit in the Upper Three Heavens.”