Transcending the Nine Heavens

"But... you can come in..." Suddenly, Sword Spirit changed his tone of speech.

Chu Yang was overjoyed. But then, the Sword Spirit said, "You can come in... as soon as you’ve obtained the eighth fragment of Nine Tribulations Sword."

Chu Yang couldn’t speak; a sudden burst of anger had choked his voice. [I will be choked to death if this vile Sword Spirit continues to speak.]

The patrol team had finally gone past them.

Chu Yang came out of the pile of firewood in a flash. He had made sure that no sound was issued. He then put on a black attire. He obviously didn’t have any time to put on an underwear.

Chu Yang had entered this pile of firewood in a moment of desperation. It was a good place to hide. Ironically, this place was less noticeable because it was such an obvious place to hide. Everyone’s attention had been focused on the dark corners instead...

The black clothes that Chu Yang now wore were similar to the uniform of the small search squad. He imitated their haughty demeanor and started to look around. Then, he went behind the squad and asked, "How are things here? Did you guys find anything?"

"Found my as*!" the leader of the squad replied in a depressed tone. He was a huge man. He further added, "We’re searching madly; we want to grab him as fast as possible..."

"We too." Chu Yang sighed and said, "My squad leader made me go down into a place full of latrine..."

"Ha ha ha..." those six people burst into laughter. They seemed to find Chu Yang funny.

Suddenly, someone landed on the ground with a ‘whooshing’ sound. "Did you find any clues?"

It was Jing Meng Hun.

The squad leader replied, "Not yet, King Level Expert."

Jing Meng Hun said in an angry tone, "Useless people! Look for him again!" Then, his body soared into the sky and moved forward.

Chu Yang noticed that Jing Meng Hun had gone in the direction of the short-cut that lead to the West Gate. "You guys continue with the search. I will return to my squad." Those six people waved their hands. "Sure. Go back."

Chu Yang smiled. He went in the direction that was opposite to where Jing Meng Hun had gone.

Suddenly, the squad leader turned around. He scratched his head as he said, “What was a youngster like him doing here alone?"

The other five people looked at each other in dismay. One of them finally said, "This guy has bad luck. He had to jump into a latrine pit... He must’ve gone to change his clothes. He must be going back to join his squad..."

Everyone burst out laughing. The squad leader’s suspicion disappeared. He said, "Come on, we must be careful... We are looking for King of Hell Chu. It’s a great task to catch him... Make sure you don’t end up dying at his hands... or you will turn into dead heroes."

Everyone nodded and walked away.

The squad leader’s reaction was justified. He would’ve certainly become more vigilant if he had pursued his original chain of thoughts. Everyone had been divided into squads for this search. But Chu Yang had appeared alone. So, what was a lone guy supposed to be doing there?

However, what his subordinate spoke in reply had offered a perfect explanation behind Chu Yang’s emergence... It was too perfect... There was no way to deny it.

Chu Yang hadn’t gone far when he heard the explanation of that subordinate. He couldn’t help but laugh in his heart.

Chu Yang encountered several search squads as he moved towards east. So, he turned north. He thought, [There’s no need to take a detour. I might as well go straight to the North Gate.]

Iron Cloud was located to the north of Continent Center.

He again encountered several search squads on his way. However, he didn’t try to evade them. In fact, he greeted them gracefully and inquired about the ongoing situation. He continued to use the excuse of ‘falling into the latrine pit and going back to change clothes’ to dodge any suspicion.

The North Gate was in sight soon.

Chu Yang sucked in a lump of cold air when he saw it from afar.

Several black-attired men were gathered near the gate. The gate was shut tightly. The number of soldiers stationed to guard this city gate was five times more than any other place. The swords of these soldiers issued a cold light; they were drawn from of their sheaths.

[How should I cross this tightly secured gate?]

[I can use my excuse to dodge past the squads inside the city. But, I can’t use it to go out of the city. I am afraid I will be sent back as soon as I try to get close to the gate.]

[Also... my body will start to issue the fragrance of orchid in less than quarter of an hour. What should I do? ]

"I can help you this once," Sword Spirit said in a muffled voice. He had discovered that Chu Yang was in a precarious situation.

"How will you help me?" Chu Yang asked quickly.

"I can use my spiritual power to help you change your appearance. You can completely change your appearance into someone else’s and get out of the city." Sword Spirit said reluctantly.

Sword Spirit was reluctant because only 10% of his spiritual power had been recovered. His spiritual power would drop down by half in case he were to help Chu Yang. However, Chu Yang would most likely die if he didn’t help him. He wouldn’t dissipate if Chu Yang were to die... but the Nine Tribulations Sword would once again split into fragments. Moreover, he would once again get buried underground for 10,000 years along with the Sword Point...

Sword Spirit wasn’t willing to accept such an outcome.

"Alright!" Chu Yang made a prompt decision, “You change my appearance into that of Jing Meng Hun."

"Jing Meng Hun?" Sword Spirit was surprised. [I didn’t expect this guy to be this bold and reckless.]

"Yes! Hurry up." Chu Yang’s gaze turned towards the gate. He stared at the black-attired men. They were more than a hundred in number. Suddenly, a killing motive emerged in his eyes. The Sword Spirit had come up with a strategy inside his consciousness.

"Excellent!"

Sword Spirit got to work. He knew that the current situation demanded immediate action.

Suddenly, Chu Yang felt an intense pain in his face. He felt as if his facial features were deviating from their original positions, and were getting rearranged. A weaker person would’ve squealed if he had experienced such deep pain.

However, Chu Yang didn’t dare to make a single sound since this was a crucial moment of life and death.

The sound of beating horse-hooves resounded as a squadron of men came riding over to his side.

"Well, I’ve forcefully changed your appearance. I ended-up using half of my spiritual power. If I do this again... then I will fall into deep sleep. I will then lie dormant henceforth... Now, pay attention. Your changed appearance will last for only three hours..." Sword Spirit reminded him.

Chu Yang grabbed a cloak from the Nine Tribulations Space and draped it over his body as he heard Sword Spirit’s explanation. Then, he brazenly jumped forward. He stopped in the middle of the road and blocked the path of the incoming squad. He put on the ‘air’ as if this was an urgent matter and bellowed, "Stop!"

The squad leader was startled when he saw Jing Meng Hun. [It’s First King Level Expert Jing of the Golden Horse Riders Department. What’s he doing here? ] He hastily rode over to Chu Yang’s side and jumped-down from his horse, "King Level Expert?"

Chu Yang sensed the passing of time. He was getting anxious and wasn’t interested in wasting any time. He readily shouted, "Step aside. I am going to use your horse!

"Yes, as you wish." The officer followed the command and hurriedly moved to the side. He knew that First King Level Expert of Golden Horse Riders Department usually killed someone whenever he flew into a rage. So, he couldn’t possible dare to defy his order.

Chu Yang leapt onto the horse and shook its reins. He then shouted, "You all, come with me!"

He kicked the horse’s belly. Suddenly, the fine horse dashed towards the city gate like an arrow shot from a bow.

Hundreds of cavalrymen clamored and followed after King Level Expert Jing.

The sky had already turned bright by then.

Chu Yang covered a distance of 300 meters in a brief time. He then shouted, "Open the city gate!" After that, he brandished his hand. A jade token flew out in the air. It was the status command token that Jing Meng Hun had given him before.

This jade token was the status symbol of Jing Meng Hun.

Time was running out. Chu Yang had no choice but to use the status command token of Jing Meng Hun. However, this act was quite dishonorable. Even Jing Meng Hun wouldn’t have resorted to this method...

It could be said that Chu Yang’s hourglass was on the verge of getting empty. He would’ve gone and spoken to the guards. But then, the fragrance of orchid would have emanated out of his body before the city gates were opened.

Therefore, Chu Yang had to ‘risk it all’ in this one shot.

An expert of Golden Horse Riders Department stood at the edge of the city gate. He heard a loud shout, and then saw a blue light flying towards him. He caught it to take a look. He turned pale with fright when he saw it.

[This is the command token of King Level Expert Jing!]

Then, he saw King Level Expert Jing on a horse leading a large cavalry unit towards the city gate. It was obvious that he wanted to cross the city gate without any delay. The expert immediately raised his hand and shouted, "King Level Expert wants to go out of the city. Quickly open the gate."

The guards of the city gate hastily followed the order. The city gate slowly began to open with a creaking sound. Soon, the gate was entirely open.

Chu Yang’s horse arrived near the gate and stopped. He imitated Jing Meng Hun’s voice and shouted, "I want all of you to hop on the backs of these horses and follow me out of the city. We’re going to catch King of Hell Chu! Hurry up! Quick! Quick!"

Then, Chu Yang moved out of the city gate.

[King Level Expert Jing is going out of the city. How can he possibly not bring an entourage with him? He is going out of the city to catch King of Hell Chu. So, he would certainly need his men. He can’t go out alone, can he?]

Therefore, Chu Yang had issued this order.

This move obviously couldn’t hide the truth for long. However, at least he would be able to drag on this façade for the longest possible time. Moreover, the news about this incident would spread slower if there would be no experts left at the gate.

Each second was as precious as gold for Chu Yang.

A Command Horse Rider of Golden Horse Riders Department present among those experts clamored. He waved his hand and ordered in a stern voice, "Everyone, get on the horses and scramble. We’re going out with the King Level Expert."

The strict discipline of the Golden Horse Riders Department could be seen in its entirety as the experts jumped in the air without a moment’s delay. They kicked away the cavalrymen from the top of the galloping horses and mounted themselves on the horses’ backs. Their legs clamped on either sides of the horses. The horses were still in motion when all this had happened. But their speed didn’t diminish. The experts who were supposed to guard the North Gate had got on the horsebacks and had rushed outside the city gate amidst their shouts and the neighing of the horses.

More than 200 cavalry soldiers had jumped down from their horses, and had rolled out the way. The ones who had been kicked-down were still rolling on the ground in pain. Then, a hundred horse riders surged-up violently from behind and rushed out of the North Gate.

The sound of hoof-beats suddenly rose and eventually faded away. Everyone regained their senses as the crowd of horse riders vanished into the distance. It seemed as if everyone had woken up from a dream...

"Golden Horse Riders Department is so tyrannical, ah..." a guard couldn’t help but utter these words as he saw the condition of these cavalrymen; almost everyone was groaning in pain.

The cavalrymen who were alive after being forcefully dismounted from their horses were covered in bruises. Several of them had their bones broken. More than twenty of them had fainted because of pain...

Such tyranny was bound to invoke dread in one’s heart.

Then, a faint fragrance of orchid began to emanate from the direction in which that group of horse riders had gone-off to...