Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Chu Yang clearly felt that the material of the stone started to become smoother; besides, it acquired flexibility. The cross-section that was cut open was also as smooth as mud that had been rotten for hundreds of years.

Besides, the sound of wind that passed through such a rock actually became louder and louder, and the sound of thunder became heavier and heavier, as though it really hit solidly upon one’s heart!

Such powers made even the Sword Spirit fearful inside.

Because such a situation had never been experienced by the past Nine Tribulations Sword Masters! But the Sword Spirit was already used to it: Which incident was precedented since he started following this Sir Sword Master?

From the first fragment of Nine Tribulations Sword till now, every step this Sir Sword Master took brought him totally new experiences and feelings!

Chu Yang was hard at work.

The amplitude of the stone column’s swaying was already very big. It fell violently toward one side and then drew back slowly. And then, it started falling toward the other side…

It was as though it wanted to drop the person on top of it at all costs.

But no matter how hard it swayed, Chu Yang stayed on there as if he put down roots. In his hand, sword light flashed and kept moving.

Five hundred feet further, the material of the rock became ever finer, until it was as if it became a single material, and not even the tiniest bit of sand grains or other traces of mixing.

The wind blew faster and the thunder roared heavily.

Chu Yang turned a deaf ear to all that, and let his black robe flutter in the wind. He only bowed down and busied himself working.

Eventually, the Nine Tribulations Sword made a cheerful sword ring, and a chilly light shone from the whole sword. Immediately, it turned to an eagerness and a calmness that suddenly rose in Chu Yang’s heart.

He kicked out the large rock beneath his feet and saw a little bit of light suddenly appear!

It was very short and very fine, one size smaller than the body of the sword. Yet it gleamed brightly and a calm and humble aura came right toward him.

When the other fragments of the Nine Tribulations Sword were discovered, they were all very excited, as though it would jump up and dance in celebration. Yet this sword mouthpiece actually lay there motionless after seeing its old brother who it had been separated from for ten thousand years.

Lights flashed from its body, expressing its excitement, yet its own body didn’t move at all. It was very reserved.

Seeing this humble sword mouthpiece, Chu Yang suddenly thought somehow of Dong Wushang’s calm and majestic temperament. He also thought of Mo Tianji’s temperament and strategic planning, and Ao Xieyun’s quiet wildness…

The mouthpiece of Nine Tribulations Sword.

It finally appeared.

******

The sword mouthpiece was the part of the sword that’s wrapped by the sword hilt. It couldn’t be exposed outside and couldn’t be used for attack, yet it was a fundamental part of the sword. Without the sword mouthpiece, a sword would break soon.

Should the sword mouthpiece be completely integrated with the sword hilt and sword body, it would be too hard, but not pliable enough!

So, the sword mouthpiece was well-deserving of the name of the fundamental part of the sword.

******

Chu Yang repressed the excitement in his heart, bent down and picked up the sword mouthpiece with one hand. Vaguely, he sensed a greeting.

Hello, Lord Sword Master.

Yet when Chu Yang listened carefully, he realized that it was only his illusion.

The Nine Tribulations Sword in his palm disintegrated automatically, and the other parts flew around the sword mouthpiece in circles. The sword mouthpiece hovered silently in the air. Light flashed from it.

The sword intent got tangled with the sword mouthpiece first.

Immediately, the sword edge, sword blade, sword point and sword collar rushed over abruptly all at once.

The sword mouthpiece flashed and floated up quietly. It made its command in the air.

The sword collar rushed over and attached itself to it. With a clang, the two became one. And then, the sword edge, sword blade and sword point all went into their original positions.

The shape of a Nine Tribulations Sword was already formed.

The faint facade of Nine Tribulations Sword in Chu Yang’s Dantian had already half substantiated.

The five pieces of Nine Tribulations Sword hovered in front of Chu Yang. He reached out slowly and got hold of the part with the sword mouthpiece. Immediately, he felt a deep connection, almost like a kinship. Suddenly, he felt that this Nine Tribulations Sword seemed to become a part of his body, and could never be separated out again.

Both sides were adapting.

Chu Yang attempted mobilizing energy using the Nine Heavens Divine Technique and injecting it into the Nine Tribulations Sword. He clearly felt that the sword mouthpiece trembled a little. Immediately, the sword made an extremely joyful sound.

In Chu Yang’s mind, four sentences suddenly emerged.

Conceal the edge and shed the light, for the night has not yet ended;

Plan your strategy over long days and months;

Rather stay hidden for a whole life;

To exchange for the wild killing in the sky!

Immediately, a human figure somehow appeared in Chu Yang’s mind. He held a longsword and waved it slowly. It was the fifth fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword, the four sword techniques that belonged to the sword mouthpiece!

Chu Yang focused on memorizing it. At this moment, there was nothing else in his mind.

The Sword Spirit also focused his attention and looked at Chu Yang, paying attention to his mental state.

Slowly and gradually, Chu Yang understood the usage and effects of these four techniques. He couldn’t help but gasp in admiration internally.

It was not for no reason that the mouthpiece had always been reputed as the fundamental part of a sword.

In Chu Yang’s understanding, the sword mouthpiece was like a big hand hidden in the dark. It never appeared, yet controlled the top killing powers of the world, making the sharpest sword!

As compared to the sword which killed, this hand should be the most terrifying!

The first technique “conceal the edge and shed the light, for the night has not yet ended” meant naturally to hide in the dark and wait for the opportunity to move. This was a technique of concealment, yet its every detail was full of opportunity for killing. One could attack with full force at any time, from any place and in any direction! There was absolutely no dead ends!

The second technique “plan your strategy over long days and months” was similar to the first, but it entailed a greater degree of control of the battle. This technique clearly expanded the range of guarding ten times! This technique covered not only his own enemy, but also the possible enemies of the comrades around him and of his brothers.

The third technique “rather stay hidden for a whole life” was like the darkness before the dawn. When one made all the preparations for the attack, this technique hid the various auras, including all killing aura, vital energy and divine consciousness of the Sword Master himself were all concealed completely!

It was like the creepy, terrible silence before a thunderstorm!

The fourth technique was “to exchange for the killing frenzy in the sky”.

It was the sudden outburst after the preparation of the previous three techniques. It was violent as thunder and sudden as a flood in the mountains. It was as though the sunny sky and the earth both completely collapsed at this moment.

All the fight was totally, completely released at this moment!

Killing frenzy!

This technique was completely unexpected, but its power was as great as the other three combined! It even surpassed them. These were definitely the most sinister and spiteful out of the Nine Tribulations Sword Techniques!

Such sinister and diabolical scheming made even Chu Yang the Sword Master ooze cold sweat after understanding these four sword techniques.

As Chu Yang memorized these four sword techniques, the Nine Tribulations Sword suddenly disappeared from his hand.

“Eh, I haven’t finished using…” Chu Yang was astonished. This sword mouthpiece was a bit too… disobedient?

“This is the habit of the sword mouthpiece, to look at the place of residence first. Its brothers have brought it to look around the new home…” The Sword Spirit rolled his eyes, feeling speechless at the unnecessary fuss he made.

Indeed, in a short while, sword light flashed and the Nine Tribulations Sword appeared automatically in Chu Yang’s hand. Chu Yang could sense a joyful mood coming from the sword.

As though the sword mouthpiece was saying: it’s not too bad, barely satisfactory… Well, expressing sincere respect and mild apology to Lord Sword Master… Didn’t expect it to be so good.

Damn!

Chu Yang cursed internally. If you aren’t satisfied with my Dantian, there is probably no new home in the whole world that can satisfy you…

Since the sword mouthpiece was already taken out, Chu Yang naturally didn’t let go of the rest.

He reached out and felt the place where the sword mouthpiece was. It was smooth to the point of greasy, as though the material was soft, yet in reality, it was extremely hard.

Chu Yang felt that even Star Iron probably wouldn’t be too much harder than the rock here, yet somehow it felt soft and greasy… Furthermore, there was actually a surging, like a thunderstorm, in this softness and greasiness.

Chu Yang’s hand lifted and his sword fell. Huge rocks dropped into the deep valley at his kicks. Having already obtained the sword mouthpiece, Chu Yang had no more concerns. He had a mouthful of Xue Leihan’s wine and two mouthfuls of Spiritual Spring Water, and started working with high spirits.

This time, he didn’t hold back. With every wave of the sword, huge rocks across several dozen feet were cut off and thrown down.

Going all the way down, it was actually rocks like this all the way, after more than five thousand feet, there was actually no change at all. Even with Chu Yang’s cultivation and perseverance, he couldn’t help but feel fatigued.

“Can’t it all be stones like this?” Chu Yang looked up and realized that he could no longer see the sun. Only the heavy snow was falling. He couldn’t help but speak to himself sullenly.

Neither the top nor the bottom could be seen.

How long would he have to keep slashing?

“Absolutely not. There will definitely be something good,” said the Sword Spirit.

“Alright, then I’ll take it! Even if I have to keep slashing until ten thousand feet lower and all the way to the bottom, and not find anything, I will accept it!” Chu Yang gritted his teeth and said severely.

Four more hours had passed.

Chu Yang was almost going to slap himself. He never realized he could bring bad luck by saying inauspicious words. For four hours, a whole twenty thousand feet was removed by him, yet there actually still wasn’t anything!

He saw that half of the stone column was already gone.

The amplitude of the swaying was actually not so great anymore.

“Holy **, what on earth is this? It’s actually this well hidden?” Chu Yang started cursing. “And luckily it’s the Nine Tribulations Sword. Should it be something else, even Dong Wushang’s dark saber would have long broken… What strange thing is this!”

The Sword Spirit said leisurely, “Besides, even a Supreme Martial Artist won’t be able to lift it up.”

Chu Yang’s spirit lifted suddenly. That was right. With this hardness and weight, even though a Supreme Martial Artist’s ability was enough to move a mountain and fill up a sea, it might not be sufficient to lift up this stone column as a whole…

With lifted spirits, he began slashing more violently; this time, he removed five hundred feet at every slash!

After three hundred slashes, Chu Yang discovered to his despair that his inauspicious words really came true! Because he could already see the ground underneath…

“I’ve really slashed off almost one hundred thousand feet…” Chu Yang felt a little dizzy.

And right at this moment, a strange occurrence happened!