However, Chu Yang’s Nine Tribulations Divine Technique, in a pace that was neither rapid nor slow and like an extremely precise and regulated machine, would only activate with great momentum and absorb when his body reached the breaking point.

And so, Chu Yang sank into a cycle — The previous moment, his body was as empty as a void. The next moment, his body would be filled up so full to its limit that he was a step away from exploding. His meridians would even press against his skin and even his muscles were bloating up…

Then, the next moment, it would go back to its empty state…

At this moment, the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique had completely turned into a black hole!

It was, in a pace that was neither rapid nor slow yet greedily, devouring the spiritual energy in the Purple Crystal cave.

Toward the end, Chu Yang decided that he might as well just relax.

Fine, since there’s no threat to my life and I’m not even needed here… then I’ll just take a break. You can do whatever you want.

Chu Yang activated his inner vision to check on the Primordial Real Silk changes taking place in his Dantian.

After roughly two hours, Chu Yang finally discovered that the color of the Primordial Real Silk had stopped at an extremely bright and dazzling level and was no longer changing.

As the next wave of spiritual energy that gushed in slowly accumulated, bit by bit, another hair-thin strand of Primordial Real Silk appeared…

Chu Yang then watched with great interest as this newly-appeared strand of Primordial Real Silk, at a creeping speed, slowly unfurl, slowly lengthen, and slowly thicken and expand…

Then, it crawled to a stop at a normal thickness and started to change in color, gradually shifting from a dull greyish purple into a brighter shade…

Chu Yang finally understood something. “Sword Spirit, I’ve figured it out.”

The Sword Spirit was stunned. “What did you figure out?”

“I’ve figured out why the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique is so slow in this world and why it has utterly no effect whatsoever.” Chu Yang went on very sternly. “It’s because this world’s spiritual energy is nowhere near enough to support the regular operation of the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique.”

Rubbing his nose, the Sword Spirit remarked in an incredibly perplexed manner, “I recall… that I’ve told you this reason before…”

Chu Yang was taken aback. “Did you?”

The Sword Spirit was also taken aback. “Didn’t I?”

Chu Yang asked again, “Did you say that?”

Under Chu Yang’s limpid and puzzled gaze, the Sword Spirit finally felt his own train of thought go into a mess, and then he crumbled in defeat. “Alright, let’s take it that I didn’t.”

Chu Yang glared at him. “You didn’t say it at all! What do you mean to take it that you didn’t?”

The Sword Spirit felt like throwing up blood.

Then, Chu Yang went on. “You only introduced the Primordial Real Silk the previous time…” Suddenly, he recalled that actually, even though previously the Sword Spirit didn’t explain it as thoroughly as how he now understood it to be, he could indeed be considered as having said it, just that it was said in a way that was more vague.

And so, he could only adopt a forceful attitude and insist, “You didn’t say it! You just didn’t!”

The Sword Spirit shut up, refusing to speak anymore.

This fellow was impossible to reason with. Moreover, he was even his master, so what was the point of arguing with him!

After a long while, Chu Yang seemed to hear movement from the outside. There was a crash, followed by the sound of something streaming down; as if a trail of soil trickling onto or sand scattering onto the ground.

“What’s that sound?” Chu Yang was rather puzzled.

The Sword Spirit rolled his eyes. “All the energy in the Purple Crystal cave outside has been thoroughly absorbed, so it has disintegrated and is falling off the rocks…”

Chu Yang said in trepidation, “You mean… that the entire cave of Purple Crystals outside has already… been fully absorbed? Hasn’t it only been four hours since the absorption began?”

The Sword Spirit replied speechlessly, “You’re not the one absorbing it; rather, it’s the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique that’s actively absorbing it… This speed is faster than even Ning Tianya, Bu Liuqing, Moon Breeze and Wu Juecheng put together absorbing spiritual energy…”

“The amount that has been absorbed, if put in terms of regular Purple Crystals, how many pieces would that make up?” asked Chu Yang with great interest.

“Not much.” The Sword Spirit did a quick calculation and replied, “Over ninety million pieces, I guess…”

Chu Yang inhaled sharply at once, utterly flabbergasted. “That’s too terrifying!”

Lowering his head, he stared at his lower abdomen as he muttered, “With that much spiritual energy entering my Dantian… Surely there are a few hundred kilograms worth if I were to convert that into a volumetric weight? How is it that I don’t feel anything at all… If a residue is left behind after the Nine Tribulations Divine Technique is done digesting… Will I need to take a huge dump?”

The Sword Spirit stared at him, his expression one where he couldn’t bear to watch him any longer. Then, the corners of his mouth twitched as he slowly raised his head to face the heavens.

During their conversation, the crashing and streaming sounds outside gradually became continuous and unstopping.

However, the spiritual energy of the universe continued to pour toward him, the amount only increasing and not reducing one bit. In addition, this increase in quantity and speed was beyond terrifying!

“The energy of the Purple Crystal Cores is starting to be absorbed now!” The Sword Spirit remarked with the attitude of one used to seeing this.

Chu Yang suddenly thought of something. “That’s right, you’ve experienced this a lot of times before. Tell me more? Is it different for every Nine Tribulations Sword Master?”

The Sword Spirit replied, “Of course. Every person’s body constitution is different; their encounters are also different. Therefore, their final achievements will also be different. The amount of Purple Crystals they absorb here is, needless to say, different too!”

“To put it simply, the Purple Crystals here are used to test the foundation of your Great Tao and see just how much potential you have.”

Chu Yang remarked, “Oh?”

The Sword Spirit went on. “The first Nine Tribulations Sword Master, Lei Jian, after obtaining the sixth fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword, only absorbed 80 percent of the Purple Crystals. He stopped before he got to absorb the Purple Crystal Cores. Therefore, in the end, his cultivation stopped at just third-grade Supreme Martial Artist.”

Chu Yang let out a breath, thinking to himself, “I’m stronger than him!”

“The second Nine Tribulations Sword Master, Feng Bao, absorbed all of the Purple Crystals. The moment he reached the Purple Crystal Cores, he couldn’t continue. Therefore, his final cultivation level stopped at fourth-grade Supreme Martial Artist!”

Chu Yang remained quiet.

I’m stronger than him too!

“The third Nine Tribulations Sword Master, Meng Cang, was about the same as Feng Bao. The fourth Nine Tribulations Sword Master, Duan Tian, after absorbing the Purple Crystals, also absorbed half of the Purple Crystal Cores. His cultivation level reached eighth-grade Supreme Martial Artist!”

“The fifth Nine Tribulations Sword Master, Yun Dong, together with Duan Tian and Qin Fang, the sixth Nine Tribulations Sword Master, was a rare genius. He actually managed to absorb all the Purple Crystal Cores before he had to stop. His cultivation reached the point of breaking through the void; he was only half a step short of breaking through it. He was slightly stronger than the point Bu Liuqing was at right before he broke through the void.”

“This person is impressive!” Chu Yang gasped.

“The seventh Nine Tribulations Sword Master, Lin Zun, regressed and was only able to reach eighth-grade Supreme Martial Artist. The eighth Nine Tribulations Sword Master, Jun Lie, reached ninth-grade peak-level Supreme Martial Artist; he fell short of Qin Fang by only a little.”

Chu Yang was rather thoughtful. He asked, “Which is to say that the previous eight Nine Tribulations Sword Masters had all obtained the sixth fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword under different circumstances and subsequently, their achievements differed from person to person? Surely they didn’t all obtain it in this Pagoda Mountain?”

“No! They didn’t obtain it in the Pagoda Mountain,” replied a very certain Sword Spirit.

Chu Yang murmured, “That means that the most powerful of them had only managed to finish absorbing the Purple Crystal Cores…”

Chu Yang thought of how he was beginning to absorb the Purple Crystal Cores right now and couldn’t help but become rather unsettled.

I wonder how far I can go?

The Sword Spirit burst into laughter. “You’re stronger than them for sure. You’ll definitely be able to reach the stage of absorbing Purple Crystal Jade Essence. However, the amount of Purple Crystal Jade Essence you can absorb would depend on yourself.”

Chu Yang chuckled sneakily. “Then that’s great. I’m satisfied as long as I’m not weaker than them!”

The Sword Spirit rolled his eyes again, thinking to himself, “How can you possibly be weaker than them? Just based on your current status alone… you’re already way stronger than the weaker ones among them…”

As the two of them waited, the Purple Crystal Cores also started to slowly disintegrate, starting from the outermost perimeter. They trickled down to the ground in trails…

However, he still needed more time to finish absorbing all hundred feet worth of Purple Crystal Cores.

This entire time, Chu Yang had been standing around stark naked. Although there were no outsiders here, he still felt rather uncomfortable. He retrieved another black robe from the Nine Tribulations Space and, after sitting cross-legged on the ground, draped the black robe over his lower body. “I’m going to take a quick nap. When it’s done absorbing, you can wake me up…”

The Sword Spirit was stunned by this.

You’re taking a nap? At a critical moment like this, which of the previous few Nine Tribulations Sword Masters didn’t watch and wait with rapt attention? Now that it’s your turn, you actually want to take a nap… What the hell, I’ve definitely met a damn grand specimen this time… Can you even fall asleep, seriously?

Besides, the previous few generations of Nine Tribulations Sword Masters even wished that they could stand on their toes just so the soles of their feet could also absorb spiritual energy. You, Chu Yang, are certainly unique. Actually having the luxury of feeling embarrassed at such a time and covering your lower body with a piece of clothing… Do you know just how many channels of absorbing spiritual energy you’ll block with this?

The Sword Spirit was completely speechless…

True to expectation, before Chu Yang had even finished speaking, with a loud whoosh, the black robe that he had just draped over himself was ripped into shreds by the raging spiritual energy, forming tiny butterflies that fell onto the ground.

Chu Yang was taken aback by this. “My god, are they actually disallowing me to wear clothes? Cough, never mind, it’s not like I haven’t slept with my ass bared before… Besides, you’re not a woman anyway. If you were a woman, I would put you away…”

As he spoke, he leaned back against the cave wall of the Souls of Purple Crystal and shut his eyes.

The Sword Spirit gloated somewhat as he watched the surface of Chu Yang’s skin, which was constantly expanding and deflating. “If you can sleep even like this… I’ll really take my hat off you!”

After a long while, the spiritual energy currents continued to come wave after wave. The Purple Crystal Cores outside had already begun to come off in large quantities…

Under the Sword Spirit’s dumbstruck reaction, Minister Chu didn’t open his eyes even once after closing them. Then… his breathing became even and long… and then, he started to snore lightly…

He had actually really fallen asleep…

In that instant, the Sword Spirit’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Watching Chu Yang’s skin continue to expand and deflate, his expression was that of one on the brink of breakdown.

My great master… You really did fall asleep… You’re simply too unique…

If the Sword Spirit had actual hair and beard, he would probably be pulling his hair as he went berserk right now…

He had never seen anything like this before…

Aren’t you too optimistic about this?

Since that was the case, if he didn’t sleep… then wouldn’t he just be looking for torture?