Transcending the Nine Heavens

What exactly was it that could make both the Sword Master and the Sword Spirit this agitated? And able to achieve such an effect when this was only a hunch that felt like it was destined to be?

Chu Yang’s mouth felt dry and his voice hoarse. He asked, “Could it be that Grandfather has discovered a premium-grade Heavenly Treasure?”

Yang Bao glared at him and replied furiously, “If it were just a Heavenly Treasure, wouldn’t everything have been solved if I just kept it for myself secretly? Would it go to the extent of my entire family coming over to take refuge in your place in such a pathetic and sorry state?”

The old master finally admitted — The reason for him coming to the Chu Clan was to take refuge…

Chu Yang let out an ‘uhh’ before he asked, “Then what did you discover that made you this cautious?”

This time, Yang Bao didn’t reply. Instead, he sighed rather dejectedly.

Lifting his head, he stared at the ceiling as he replied, “Back then, when we discovered that there was a small number of Purple Crystals at that place… the Yang Clan decided to settle down there. That’s where the Aspen Valley[1] got its name from.”

“For several hundred years, our harvest has always been intermittent. Sometimes, we couldn’t even excavate a single Purple Crystal for three to five months, while sometimes, there were consecutive harvests. However, to the large clans, this bit of harvest is honestly very insignificant. Therefore, even though the Xiao Clan is aware, they are filled with ridicule toward the Yang Clan’s mining and regard it as something that is not even worth their attention.”

Chu Yang thought to himself, “With the Xiao Clan’s wealth, they naturally won’t regard such a tiny little Purple Crystal mine as something worth their attention. In the Nine Super Clans, just a single day’s harvest from any of their own Purple Crystal mines is probably comparable to ten years’ worth of mining in the Yang Clan’s Purple Crystal mine…”

Not even sparing it a glance was the normal reaction. Should the Xiao Clan actually start a fight over such a tiny Purple Crystal mine… then that would be very moronic and would also make them seem as if they didn’t even possess an ounce of magnanimity. This would be extremely disadvantageous to the Xiao Clan’s rule in the southeast.

However, relying on this tiny little Purple Crystal mine, the Yang Clan had gradually developed… Even though it was impossible for the Yang Clan to amount to greatness, it was sufficient for them to become a force of formidable renown in a region.

The importance of Purple Crystals… Chu Yang thought of the Purple Crystal reserves that were practically mountain-high and ocean-deep in his Nine Tribulations Space. A kind of ‘I am a multi-millionaire’ feeling couldn’t help but well up within him.

“Until one day where we didn’t harvest any Purple Crystals at all for three months straight, this old man thought of giving up on this Purple Crystal mine and be done with it. It was honestly like something of dubious worth — Tasteless, yet a shame to give up on! Yet at this particular point, we dug out a large and strange piece of Purple Crystal ore. It was actually impossible to extract from this piece of Purple Crystal ore… And so, I wanted to auction it off at that time and then stop mining the Purple Crystal mine, and just let the Yang Clan live its days out safely and stably and be done with it… Yet after I sold it, I kept thinking about it and couldn’t bear to part with it…”

“The buyer actually couldn’t open up that rock either and so, it was put up for auction once more. For some reason, in a moment of rashness, I actually re-purchased it…”

Old Master Yang’s face was rather red. At the side, Old Mistress Yang spat contemptuously and scolded him. “Idiot! Getting only 200 Purple Crystals when you sold it, yet actually spending 300 Purple Crystals to buy it back… How can there be such an idiot in this world!”

Chu Yang was also flabbergasted.

Such a weirdo was definitely a rare breed in this world!

Selling it himself yet unable to bear parting with it, and then buying it back when someone else decided to sell it…

Not only did this transaction not earn anything, he instead lost 100 Purple Crystals!

Indeed, not just anyone was capable of such a thing.

Chu Yang was suddenly rather filled with awe and astonishment toward the formidability of this grandfather of his.

“After that, a brother of mine happened to be around at that time, so we joined efforts. Thanks to his strength, we finally managed to open up that thing. Then, we discovered in it that thing hanging on your neck…” Old Master Yang raised his eyebrows. “Purple Crystal Jade Essence!”

Chu Yang finally linked the sequence of events together — The brother whom the Old Master was talking about was definitely Young Master Yu!

Indeed, what Old Master Yang narrated next was exactly the same as what Young Master Yu had said.

“After that… I thought, ‘Since there is a piece of Purple Crystal Jade Essence here, then this Purple Crystal mine still has very much a bright future, right? What if we actually find a huge Purple Crystal mine if we continue excavating?’ And so, I gave up my original decision and decided to continue mining…” Old Master Yang’s face was a little red, clearly rather despising his own fickle-mindedness.

Chu Yang also sighed.

“How great would it have been if I had just stopped at that point…” The Old Master heaved a long sigh.

“What happened next was that the quantity of Purple Crystals we mined indeed increased. It could actually keep up with the clan’s cultivation needs and still have excess… And so, we continued mining with much excitement and enthusiasm. The Xiao Clan also only treated this as a joke… In any case, they didn’t think much of it.”

“And so, it continued until last year… That day… That day…”

Old Master Yang was a little hesitant. He was deep in thought for a long while before he gritted his teeth and went on. “The deeper we dug, the wetter it got. Then, slowly, the eye of a spring appeared.”

“A spring?” This was greatly outside of Chu Yang’s expectations. He had wondered what would happen, yet it actually turned out to be a spring?

“A spring appearing in the mine saved us the trouble of replenishing our supplies. And so, since everyone was thirsty, the six people present drank their fill.”

A look of terror appeared on Yang Bao’s face. “Then, all six of them went mad! One said that he saw ghosts while the other said that everyone in the world is a wicked demon. Another even said that there was a worm in his stomach and then tore open his own gut…”

Chu Yang took in a sharp intake of cold air.

What kind of spring water could have such power?

“Then, we conducted a thorough investigation and even did experiments, and found out that the problem lay in that spring.” Yang Bao, who was still filled with trepidation, said, “At that time, if it weren’t for your grandmother stopping me, I would have gone up to drink some too…”

Old Mistress Yang at the side rolled her eyes and berated him again. “Idiot!”

“Anyone who drinks this water would become mentally confused… In fact, people whose cultivation level is low would also become mentally confused…” Yang Bao stammered a little as he said, “And my own cultivation level isn’t high either…”

Chu Yang almost burst into laughter…

Yang Bao hummed and hawed for half a day before he finally continued. “Then, I sealed that place and continued mining in another direction instead…”

Chu Yang was greatly surprised again. He had thought that this spring would lead to some kind of story. Unexpectedly, they changed direction right after instead?

“After mining for another half a month, this time around, we didn’t discover any spring but excavated a pair of claws instead!” Yang Bao heaved a heavy sigh. “It is precisely these two claws that brought annihilation to the Yang Clan! Just a bit more and the entire family would have died in the hands of the Xiao Clan…”

“A pair of claws?” Chu Yang’s eyes widened big and round. “What kind of claws can have such great power?”

“Sigh!” An endlessly troubled Old Master Yang said, “It’s all your uncle’s fault!”

“My uncle?” Chu Yang became even more perplexed. What was going on?

“Going at it from here and there… What kind of story is that!” At last, Old Mistress Yang couldn’t stand it anymore. Her palm flew toward Old Master Yang. “Hurry up with the story!”

Old Master Yang was incomparably aggrieved. “Aren’t I saying it now… Don’t interrupt me…”

Chu Yang rolled his eyes.

“Those two claws were entangled together. One of them was so big that it would require two people to encircle it, while the other was much smaller. However, it’s still larger than the claws of all known bird species at this point. The big one is very mighty and imposing! We didn’t even dare to touch that claw; it was as if there was a primitive beast right opposite us… that can rip people apart any moment.”

“The small one was covered in a multi-colored pattern all over and glowing…”

“Both were extremely lifelike… I examined them for a very long time but didn’t discover anything.”

“At that time, after discovering it, I got someone to draw a painting of them and secretly got people to ask around!”

“Then, to my astonishment, I discovered that these two claws were actually a dragon claw and a phoenix claw!”

Yang Bao exhaled and inhaled heavily. “This old man was astounded at that time!”

Chu Yang was dumbfounded, almost unable to speak.

I’m also astounded!

“The Dragon race and the Phoenix race have always minded their own business and left each other alone. Why was the claw of a huge dragon and the claw of a phoenix actually holding on to each other so tightly in a pit?” Yang Bao said with some belated fear as he swallowed.

Chu Yang was also musing over this.

What kind of reason could make a dragon and a phoenix clench their claws so tightly that they wouldn’t let go even in death? And even got buried in here together?

“And so, I checked all the ancient texts and records. At last, I found some random book that said, ‘Even though the Dragon race and the Phoenix race do not encroach upon each other, once every interval, the leaders of each race would meet somewhere to discuss something important…”

“And the place where the two leaders choose, as stated in the ancient legends, is the land where the dragon and phoenix bring prosperity!”

Yang Bao let out a resigned laugh. “Back then, when the Yang Clan had chosen Aspen Valley as the place to settle down, a feng shui master had once said that it was an auspicious place of great fortune and riches, with the portent of Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Prosperity!”

“At that time, I only thought of it as a feng shui way of saying something and couldn’t be bothered about it. Who knew that it was actually… real…”

Chu Yang was speechless. He was already stupefied!

The land of Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Prosperity!

Loud booms echoed in his mind as these few words filled his mind. They were like lightning crashing down from fair skies, constantly booming deafeningly in his head!

The seventh fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword!

The place of Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Prosperity was where the seventh fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword was!

Chu Yang had been so troubled over this matter that his brain was almost to the point of failing. Who knew that he would actually receive such an astounding piece of news just by coming home this time!

This was truly… finding something by chance after traveling far and wide in search of it!

He was dizzy for a moment before he asked in puzzlement, “Such news should have been kept strictly confidential. How did it get leaked out? And even drove all of you to the point of the entire clan moving to take refuge?”

Old Master Yang stomped his foot. “Right? At that time, only three of us, the two Chief Stewards and I, knew about this. I warned them repeatedly, time and again… not to leak it out! And it indeed didn’t get leaked out…”

“It’s all the fault of this wretched mouth of mine!” Old Master Yang reached up and gave himself a tight slap. “My mouth is just too wretched. One day, after drinking, I actually told your uncle… My god, if not for the fact that you only have this one uncle, I have even the mind to kill him to silence him…”

Chu Yang was flabbergasted, cold sweat dripping all over him as he shivered…

“Your uncle is simply a huge loose-tongued fellow…” Old Master Yang wanted to cry. “After I told him, I warned him repeatedly not to leak it out. In the end, this bastard went out to drink with those scoundrel friends of his and then, he got terribly drunk. And every time he got drunk, he would tell them, ‘Come, come, lend me your ear, I’ll tell you a huge secret. You’d better not tell outsiders…’”

[1] The Chinese term for ‘aspen’, a type of poplar plant, contains the character for ‘Yang’, Yang Bao’s surname