Transcending the Nine Heavens

"Big brother won’t die!" Mo Tian Ji said angrily. "He will be back soon!"

His eyes were completely-red as he said, "Big brother has just left for a short while. Do you have so little faith in him?"

His voice was solemn and grievous!

"If we take one step back, so what if big brother dies! He would have died for you!" Mo Tian Ji scolded as he almost jumped in anger. "What are you lot? Are you repaying him like this?"

Their hearts all turned cold as they lifted their heads.

"How many things have big brother left to do? How many things has he asked you to complete? How will crying help?" Mo Tian Ji said angrily. "Gu Du Xing! Unsheathe your sword! Kill whoever dares to cry!"

Everyone’s breathing froze at that moment. An intense light shone from their eyes!

"We’re still around!"

"Big brother still has goals in mind!"

Mo Tian Ji gritted his teeth and stared at everyone deathly as he said, "That night, big brother has pointed out each of our flaws! Why?"

"It’s not for you to cry over it!" Mo Tian Ji bellowed. "A bunch of c*nts! When have you understood behind the meaning and hard work behind big brother’s efforts? Even just once!"

Ji Mo, Luo Ke Di, and the rest were still.

Did this mean that big brother has sensed that something was wrong? Had he made arrangements for his death?

Gu Du Xing took in a deep breath and roared into the sky.

His roar reached the highest heavens and shattered the clouds in the sky! His voice was filled with grief and sadness!

Clang!

Gu Du Xing unsheathed his Black Dragon Sword, which roared. Lightning shot out from his eyes and tears flowed freely down his face!

"I, Gu Du Xing, has been a poor orphan since birth. I was adopted by my adoptive father and bullied in the Gu Clan by my adopted brothers! Sister Little Miao was crippled because of me and condemned to the Dragon-Imprisoning Cave! Snow and ice were everywhere and my future was dim!"

Then, his voice turned heavy, determined, and powerful, "Despondent, I traversed the Lower Three Heavens where I finally met big brother! My dark future shone with light once more! Big brother was the one who rescued me from my predicament and saved me!"

"He made me into a Sword Sovereign!"

"He helped me save Sister Little Miao!"

"He allowed me to dominate the Lower Three Heavens with my saber!"

"Big brother has helped me get rid of all my regrets and achieve my dreams! He never takes any credit for it!" Gu Du Xing roared in the sky. "While he’s younger than me, I willingly recognize him as my big brother!"

"Today, I shall help big brother achieve his goal!"

He held his sword and his face turned solitary and severe. His gaze fell quietly upon his Black Dragon Sword and said, "Everyone each has their objective in life. I can’t force you to stay. If anyone wants to leave, I, Gu Du Xing, shall send you off respectfully!"

"Whoever dares to leave is a b*stard!" Ji Mo screamed. His face was filled with tears.

"Even if I want to die, I will wait until I complete big brother’s objective first before I die!" Luo Ke Di lay on the ground and punched the snow-covered ground. He did not use his vital energy and his fist was covered with blood.

They were all flummoxed. Why did they not think of it that night?

Chu Yang had never made such requests from his brothers before!

That night, he behaved uncharacteristically. He nit-picked at their flaws and weaknesses and criticized each and every one of them thoroughly. This was not normal. Why did they not think about it?

"We shan’t leave!" Ao Xie Yun and Xie Dan Qiong each took in a deep breath. They fought against their tears as they said, "Before we finish big brother’s objective, none shall leave!"

"What does big brother want?" Mo Tian Ji frowned as he looked at everyone.

"Break into the Upper Three Heavens!" Ji Mo said viciously.

"Dominate the Nine Heavens!" Luo Ke Di said seriously.

"Heavenly Armament Pavilion!" Gu Du Xing said as his eyes shone with light. He gripped the handle of his sword tightly.

"Wrong!" Mo Tian Ji said heavily. "None of this is important! Big brother’s biggest desire is to see all of you reach your peaks!"

"Big brother wants to protect everyone!"

"Big brother once said that if one day, he becomes a legend, he will want us to be in his tale. If one day, we become the legend of this world, he hopes that he will have a part in it too!"

Gu Du Xing inhaled and said each word slowly and steadily.

He remembered that when he was in the Lower Three Heavens, his heart was in extreme agony when Chu Yang said these words. He felt like dying.

"One day... there will be me, Dong Wu Shang, Ji Mo, Luo Ke Di, Rui Bu Tong..."

"By then..."

Dong Wu Shang said, "If big brother can give me a saber which can fuse with my spiritually, I will die for you."

"There’s no need to be so serious. Don’t talk about dying for me!" Chu Yang said seriously. "I lack brothers, not underlings. I lack people who can ascend to the peak with me, who can command the wind and clouds with me, who can look down upon the world with me! I hope that in my life, I can make a few good brothers who will never abandon each other, who will look after each other, and who will live and die for each other!"

Chu Yang said seriously and wistfully, "I hope that we can forgo everything else in this world. Even nine deaths will not make us regret. This is how a man should be like!"

"I hope that when I’m at my peak, my brothers will be with me so I won’t be lonely. More than that, when my brothers are at their peaks, I hope to be there too so you won’t feel lonely!"

"I hope that at my darkest and most helpless moments, my brothers will be around for me!"

Chu Yang said all these very emotionally. His deepest desires could be seen from his life. Emotional attachment was what he had lacked the most in his previous life! In this life, he wanted it more than anything else!

"I hope that all of you will make a name for yourself. You will all become legends! More than that, I also hope that after a thousand years, we can become legends. By then, I hope that in my tale, you will be there. In your tales, I will be there! We will truly live up to the meaning of the word ’brother’!"

When he said that, Gu Du Xing and Rui Bu Tong, who were by the side, were stunned. Their eyes shone with light!

After eons, if I became a legend, I hope that you would be in my legend!

After eons, if you become a legend, I hope that I would be in your legend!

We would always live up the meaning of the word ’brother’!

We would always live up the meaning of the word ’brother’!

Chu Yang then took in a deep breath as he looked at the darkening sky. Then, he exhaled.

"Brothers are forged by fighting! By experiencing hardships together, by fighting together, by embarking on the same path together, and by advancing together! Only then can one’s brotherhood be as tough as steel and as resilient as a diamond!"

Gu Du Xing was not the only one who thought of that day. Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di too recalled that day.

It was a starry night.

That night, Chu Yang’s eyes shone with light. His brothers’ eyes all shone with light and dazzled.

That night, their brotherhood was slowly in the midst of formation!

We would always live up the meaning of the word ’brother’!

Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di lowered their heads and mumbled those words. Suddenly, they felt as if an electric current had just passed through their bodies. Their souls trembled.

That was right. Chu Yang had used his life to prove that these were not mere words.

His brothers would sacrifice for him! As long as he had agreed, there would be no problem or danger!

However, he refused!

He chose to protect his brothers and sacrifice himself.

In this whole process, due to the restrictions in the water, they could not speak to him. However, they all remembered the look of rage, panic, and worry in Chu Yang’s eyes!

"I would not let you die!"

"I would rather die than let you die!"

"This is because I am the big brother. I have duties and responsibilities. I will bear the weight of heaven on my back for my brothers! With me around, no one shall hurt... my brothers!"

He did not say all these. They did not hear them too!

However, as they thought about it, they realized that this sentence came from the deepest crevices of their hearts.

He had expected that they would be separated and hence, he went alone. He foresaw this and hence, he offered himself as the sacrificial lamb after he had pointed out everyone’s mistakes out.

He did this for everyone!

He should have passed on... peacefully.

"I hope that without me, you will be able to dominate the Nine Heavens!"

This was what he had said.

Ao Xie Yun and Xie Dan Qiong both choked. Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di’s faces streamed with tears. Gu Du Xing looked into the sky and his face was frozen. Mo Tian Ji slowly closed his eyes as his tears finally fell.

It was as if he had heard the first thing Chu Yang said to him, "Only my Purple Jade Flute can stir the waters of the Nine Heavens!"

"Chu Yang, you have yet to marry my sister!" Mo Tian Ji said with his eyes closed. He gritted his teeth as tears flowed down his cheeks and he said painfully, "How can you die! How can you die! You normally honor your words! Do you want to eat your words to get fat! I won’t respect you like this! I won’t respect you!"

The chilly wind blew and snow fluttered all about the Heavenly Sword Peak. A fog descended over the Lake of Death.

The affairs of the world seemed faint.

...

After a long while.

"Have all of you cried enough?" Mo Tian Ji said coldly. "From now on, no one is allowed to cry! I will split the workload! We must complete all of Chu Yang’s dreams! If we can’t, find a place to kill ourselves! The Heavenly Armament Pavilion does not need someone like you!"

Chu Yang’s dreams!

Big brother’s dreams!

Gu Du Xing, Ji Mo, Luo Ke Yi, Ao Xie Yun, and Xie Dan Qiong’s expression hardened as they lifted their heads and an intense light shone from their eyes.

"For the first matter of business, the Heavenly Armament Pavilion shall declare that our big brother, Chu Yang, is... missing!" Mo Tian Ji’s throat tightened as he said the last word. He repeated the word ’disappeared’ with conviction.

"Dong Wu Shang and Rui Bu Tong are in the Upper Three Heavens already."

"Hence, Gu Du Xing shall now lead the Heavenly Armament Pavilion!" Mo Tian Ji said seriously. "All brothers, including me, must listen to his orders. Anyone who dares to disagree with him shall be condemned as a traitor and executed mercilessly by all of us!"

"Yes!" Gu Du Xing’s sharp gaze fell onto his Black Dragon Saber. Slowly, he replied seriously. "Under me, Gu Du Xing, the Heavenly Armament Pavilion... shall be permanently established in the Nine Heavens!"

"The Heavenly Armament Pavilion shall unite the Middle Three Heavens and subjugate it! Anyone who does not respect our authority will be wiped out!" Mo Tian Ji’s eyes were steely. His voice was as cold as iron and as sharp as a knife.

"Yes!" Everyone’s blood boiled.

"Ji Mo, other than your role in the Heavenly Armament Pavilion, you have to cultivate!" Mo Tian Ji looked coldly at Ji Mo. "Before big brother left, he has laid a path out for you! No one can help you!"

"Luo Ke Di, Xie Dan Qiong, do as Ji Mo does!" Mo Tian Ji said hardly.

"Yes!" The three of them replied. "If we can’t meet big brother’s demands and expectations, what rights do we have to live in this world?"

"Good!" Mo Tian Ji said. "Ao Xie Yun, your situation is special!"

He thought for a while and said, "Chu Yang once said that you have to walk half of your path by yourself! However, for the other half, you have to wake up your dormant bloodline!"

Mo Tian Ji sighed and said, "You have to take out the Ao Clan’s dragon bloodline and the treasure to increase your strength! We don’t have much time left. Please hurry up!"

"Yes!" Ao Xie Yun replied.

"Furthermore, Chu Yang also worries about his brother, Tan Tan. This is our goal in the future," said Mo Tian Ji, "Nine days ago, during that incident, Tan Tan and Xie Dan Feng disappeared! We must find them. If you have news about them, inform the other brothers! No matter what, we can’t allow Chu Yang’s brother to be injured!"

"Yes!" Everyone said in unison.

"I, Mo Tian Ji, shall always be the strategist of the Heavenly Armament Pavilion! I hope everyone will collaborate with me for my plans!"

"Yes!"

After Mo Tian Ji assigned the tasks, he looked at the water of the Lake of Death and said slowly, "Strength! This is the most important thing! With enough strength, we will grow wings! I will fulfill big brother’s goal of raising the Heavenly Armament Pavilion into the Upper Three Heavens!"

"By that time, I would have fulfilled big brother’s dream of standing at the top of the world and looking down over the Nine Heavens! I will find the highest spot in the world and carve his name!"

"Yes! After I fulfill his dreams of dominating the Nine Heavens, I will carve his name at the highest spot in the Nine Heavens!"

All of the brothers started to exclaim. Ji Mo and Luo Ke Di felt that their blood boiling.

If I became a legend, my legend would have you in it!

If you became a legend, your legend would have me in it!

"Big brother, we will fulfill your dreams for you!"