Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Zi Xieqing gnashed her teeth as she said fiercely, “Yes, but the condition is that you have to be stronger than me! But Little Chu Yang, I think this wish of yours would probably become your lifelong dream, so where’s the harm in agreeing to it?”

Chu Yang let out a sneaky laugh. “Deal!”

Zi Xieqing gritted her teeth. “But… if you don’t become stronger than me, every time I see you, I’ll beat you up!”

Chu Yang held his hands out nonchalantly. “Go ahead, it’s not like I haven’t been beaten up by you several times by now…”

Zi Xieqing harrumphed. “Chu Yang, what you’ve said tonight smacks of outrage of modesty! I don’t want to hear such things from you again in the future!”

Chu Yang said lightly, “Don’t worry, I won’t say it ever again! I’ll only bring it up again after I’ve become stronger than you!”

Zi Xieqing snorted lightly.

“A promise is a promise!”

“No going back on your word!”

With a loud clap, the two of them struck each other’s palms with their own, exchanging a pact.

There was challenge in Chu Yang’s eyes while Zi Xieqing’s were filled with haughtiness and scorn.

But both of them knew that that wasn’t the other party’s true feelings.

“I still have stuff for you.” Chu Yang brought out the Heaven Nourishing Jade from the Nine Tribulations Space. He said, “This is the Heaven Nourishing Jade. Up till now, I still don’t know how to use it nor its real function, so… take it with you. When you’re free, help me to think of the right way to use it.”

The arrogant front that Zi Xieqing had put on almost crumbled. She gritted her teeth before she accepted it, smiling as she said, “Fine, I’ll help you with that!”

“Mmhm, and this is a big bucket of Spiritual Spring Water. Take it with you and see if you can find an opportunity in the future to evolve it into Life Force Spring Water,” said Chu Yang as he brought out a huge bucket.

It was the Purple Crystal tub that Chu Le’er had used when they were treating her condition the other day. Chu Yang and the Sword Spirit had turned it into a sealed dimension. The inside was filled to the brim with Spiritual Spring Water, no less than a few hundred liters.

“Fine, I’ll help you one more time.” Zi Xieqing kept her smile, a hot feeling already in her eyes.

She hurriedly circulated her internal energy, trying to maintain tranquility in her emotions.

Nevertheless, the rhythm of her breathing was disrupted for a brief moment.

“Other than that, I really don’t have anything else… Oh, right!” Chu Yang brought out a Mysterious Ice Jade Core, a Mysterious Yang Jade Core and a Heavenly Poison Jade Core and passed them all to Zi Xieqing. “You’re always going around the world; when you have nothing to do, you can also analyze these for me and see what exactly these are made out of.”

Zi Xieqing laughed a little but there was already a lump in her throat. She turned away, not saying another word this time as she placed the three pieces of jade into her spatial storage dimension. Then, she said softly, “I can’t help you anymore, you’re going to tire me out.”

Chu Yang laughed aloud. “Well, actually, other than these, there’s really nothing much else that I’ll need your help for anymore.” Then, he suddenly smacked his thigh and exclaimed, “Oh, right! There really is just one more thing that I need you to analyze for me.”

“Hmm?”

Chu Yang reached into his bosom and seemingly took out a piece of Purple Crystal. His hand was closed into a fist and a purple glow emitted from within. With a perplexed expression, he said, “Look at this, it’s so strange. What exactly is it?”

Zi Xieqing reached over to receive it. “What is it? A Purple Crystal?”

Suddenly, a jolt went through her body.

Chu Yang’s hand was closed around a crystallized mass of Primordial Violet Vapor. He pressed it into Zi Xieqing’s palm.

The moment the Primordial Violet Vapor came into contact with Zi Xieqing’s palm, the life force power of origin that Zi Xieqing had cultivated within her since a long time ago suddenly recovered and devoured the mass of violet vapor with lightning speed!

It streamed into her meridians and circulated throughout her body, converting into the purest form of life force origin energy and disappeared without a trace…

Zi Xieqing’s eyes widened dramatically. “Primordial Violet Vapor?!”

Chu Yang scratched his head, perplexed and bewildered. “Primordial Violet Vapor? What’s that?”

Zi Xieqing was mad and anxious all at once. “You, you, you… This is the origin energy of the universe! You, you… Such a big crystallized mass of it and you just gave me the entire thing?! You’re the one who needs it the most!”

Chu Yang blinked at her enigmatically and chuckled sneakily, “I still have a lot! It’s the Sword Spirit who said that you’ll only need this much, that’s why I gave you only that much. If not, I could have given you much more.”

Zi Xieqing heaved a sigh. “Do you know the value of this mass of Primordial Violet Vapor that you’ve given me?”

Without waiting for Chu Yang’s response, she went on, “With just this mass alone, once I go back up and digest it using the spiritual energy of the universe, my cultivation that has been stuck at a bottleneck will improve! Also… it has also fully recovered my Tao state energy!”

She paused for a moment before she elaborated further. “What I’m referring to is… my Tao state energy before I had come to the Nine Heavens continent, not just the amount that I need right now in order to break open the dimensional wall! Does that make sense?”

Chu Yang took in a sharp intake of air. “This stuff is so powerful?”

Zi Xieqing sighed. “This is the origin energy of the universe! Is it even something that can be described with a word like ‘powerful’?”

Chu Yang’s forehead was covered in perspiration.

“Your current level of cultivation is not sufficient to absorb the Primordial Violet Vapor yet. You must keep this in mind — just breathing it in shouldn’t pose any problems; you can use it to cleanse your spirit and purge impurities from your body. However, if you want to use it for cultivation, you must be at least a sixth-grade Supreme Martial Artist, and only after you have broken through the barrier between immortal and mortal can you use it! If not, your dantian will burst!”

Chu Yang was drenched in cold sweat. “I was just about to use it to cultivate…”

“Foolish!” Zi Xieqing stared at Chu Yang, a complex look on her face.

Now she really owed him big! Primordial Violet Vapor was something that even people in the Nine Heavens Imperial Court would fight tooth and nail for, and this fellow actually gave her a crystallized piece as big as a fist!

Good thing the Sword Spirit was there to remind him; if he had given her just a little bit more, even she wouldn’t have been able to withstand it!

In addition, as opposed to other people, now that she had this mass of Primordial Violet Vapor, she could…

Zi Xieqing couldn’t tell exactly what kind of emotion she had in her heart. She knew that Chu Yang was just thinking of different ways to gift her all these things and ensure her safety…

Seeing Chu Yang’s happy smile, Zi Xieqing glared at him. “Just you wait, the next time we meet, I’ll settle all these with you!”

Chu Yang shrank back a little. “Isn’t it just asking you to help me with a few things… It’s just a few favors, look at how calculative you are.”

Zi Xieqing heaved another sigh. “With this, it’s going to be even harder for you to catch up to me and become stronger than me…”

They didn’t know when it happened but at some point, their gazes were already locked on each other. For a long time, neither of them spoke.

Chu Yang only felt that there was an endless change of expressions in Zi Xieqing’s eyes. One moment lost, the next moment tender, then deep and unreadable, and yet when he looked again, there was a faint hint of shyness and sweet affection within.

Chu Yang watched her for a while. Suddenly, as though he was sleep-talking, he murmured, “Big Sister Zi… Can I… can I hug you?”

Zi Xieqing did not reply. She only looked at him, her eyes somewhat flickering and her long eyelashes trembling.

Chu Yang’s lips felt a little dry; he subconsciously licked them. Then, he bolstered his courage and tentatively reached out for Zi Xieqing’s hand, taking it into his own.

Chu Yang actually did not use any strength but at this moment, it was as if Zi Xieqing had been pulled toward him, her body slowly leaning into Chu Yang’s…

Chu Yang wrapped his arms around her, hesitating a little when he reached her back. Then, his arms lightly encircled her and gently embraced her frail body.

A soft sigh escaped Zi Xieqing’s lips. Her face, beautiful and delicate, rested on Chu Yang’s shoulder and she leaned on him, closing her eyes…

Her fragrance filled his senses! In that instant, Chu Yang was somewhat lost in revelry…

But only a moment had passed before Zi Xieqing forcefully pushed Chu Yang away and got out of his hold. Somewhat panicked, she said, “I almost forgot something really important…”

Then, she gave him a hasty smile. “It’s late, you should rest… I-I’ll go and take a look at Le’er.”

She turned and left in a hurry, almost as if she were escaping from him.

Chu Yang couldn’t help but rub his fingertips lightly. It almost seemed as if there was a lingering warmth and suppleness on his fingertips…

Zi Xieqing had only just reached the doorway when Bu Liuqing and Yue Lingxue landed in the courtyard with a loud whoosh, full of rage.

“Not only did we not manage to catch up to that person! Those people even had to piss us off so much!” Bu Liuqing said, repressed to the max.

Yue Lingxue’s face was pale and ghastly. He only gave them a simple greeting before he entered his chamber to look for Feng Yurou.

“What happened?” Sensitive as Chu Yang, he could sense that something was not right.

He had already reached an agreement with Zi Xieqing beforehand. Once he had won the position of champion and attained the Heaven Nourishing Jade, he would be in grave danger. As such, Zi Xieqing would pretend to be a robber and remove the cause of this danger from him.

Even if Bu Liuqing and Yue Lingxue went after the robber, they wouldn’t be able to catch up to anyone at all, so why did they return in this state?

“The Dharma Supreme and Wu Juecheng challenged us to a battle!” Bu Liuqing’s countenance was sinister as he continued, “After the nine Supreme Martial Artists have nourished the Heavens, we shall battle on Mount Xingyun!”

Chu Yang was resolute in his rejection. “We will not go!”

“We have to go!” Bu Liuqing’s expression was so ghastly that it was frightening. “Wu Juecheng ambushed Old Ning and now Old Ning’s missing. I have to get to the bottom of this and find out what happened to him! If I don’t go, once Wu Juecheng leaves, it would be impossible to get hold of him again.”

Chu Yang took a deep breath, his expression becoming solemn. “Wu Juecheng ambushed Ning Tianya? But with Ning Tianya’s abilities, even if he isn’t Wu Juecheng’s match, surely he wouldn’t lose his life?”

“Wu Juecheng had joined hands with the Dharma Supreme to ambush Ning Tianya.” Bu Liuqing took a deep breath. “By right, even if these two had joined hands, Old Ning is as sly as a fox, so he should be able to escape… but the Dharma Supreme had put it so seriously…”

His left hand clenched into a fist and brutally smashed into his right palm. “He said that once I go, he’ll tell me Old Ning’s last words!”

“Ning Tianya’s last words?!” Chu Yang and Zi Xieqing exchanged a look.

The sword intent came to their minds immediately!

If Wu Juecheng suddenly released the sword intent during battle, especially during a pincer attack, Ning Tianya’s chances of survival were indeed not very high…

“No matter what, I definitely have to show up for this battle!” Bu Liuqing gritted his teeth, a somewhat savage look in his eyes. “Even if Old Ning is still alive, I must stand up for him and vent this frustration for him! And if Old Ning isn’t… then all the more I must avenge him!”

After fighting each other for ten thousand years, Bu Liuqing and Ning Tianya had already forged a friendship that was as solid as gold long ago. If not, considering the status and pride of these two, how could they have really taken in the same person as their disciple?

Now that something had happened to Ning Tianya, Bu Liuqing was no doubt the most anxious!

Chu Yang’s brows drew tightly together, realizing the seriousness of this matter!