The politics of the Upper Three Heavens were complicated. While the Chu clan had taken control over part of the land, there were still open fights for power.
The current strength of the Chu clan was basically in the hands of the clan master. The members of the upper echelon of the Clan were also its predecessors. When they were free from household issues, they engaged in closed-door practices.
The Bao clan and the Liao clan were two large families also living near Flat Mountain Ridge. While their skills were not as developed as the Chu clan"s, they weren"t that different. The two families had an exceptional amount of power. Small conflicts between them arose daily.
The Flat Mountain Ridge, as well as the entire Southeast region, belonged to the Xiao clan. One of the nine dominant families, they had plenty of talents, extraordinarily gifted people and factions. The environment was cruel and rewarded only the fittest with survival.
"A leaf in the East, a bamboo flute in the Southeast. In the West lie low, gray clouds that surge for tens of thousands of miles!" So went the ditty about the Ye, Xiao and Chen clans 1 .
"The Northwest stone shatters the sky, in the Southwest, the Ling family takes pride, while the aroma of Southern orchids fills the air!" so were the s.h.i.+, Ling and Lan clans described 2 .
"Knives and swords sharpen the Northern sky, in the South arrogant Zhuge clan lie, while at the center the night reigns!" This is what was told of the Li, Zhuge and Ye clans 3 .
Together, they formed the nine dominant clans of the Upper Three Heavens!
Each of them had control of a region.
Over the past thousand years, families had been constantly showing up in order to compete for power and land. They strived for independence so that they would not be subjected to the control of the nine dominant clans. There were even clans who wanted to take over one of the nine dominant clans for their status.
Without any exception, all these families had been wiped out. But this showed that the nine families" control of the Upper Three Heavens was not as great as before.
As the Upper Three Heavens thrived for tens of thousands of years, it was natural that not everyone there possessed cultivation. There were ordinary people. Thus, the basic necessities could still be obtained with money. However, this was not the case whenever clans were involved in transactions.
Martial artists had to move with their spiritual energies, as well as use crystals as a form of currency. Only then could they buy or negotiate items they wished to have.
Crystals were not only a form of currency but also a source of spiritual energy. They could be used for training! 5 types of crystals were available: Purple, black, red, blue and white crystals.
A purple crystal was worth ten black ones; a black crystal, ten red ones, and so on. An official purple crystal was equivalent to ten thousand white crystals!
Upon realizing this, King of h.e.l.l Chu began to feel poor. He had never he felt so poor before!
After he swallowed Master Wei"s white crystal mine, he had saved around seven or eight thousand crystals in his Nine Tribulations s.p.a.ce. Originally, he had considered these a great fortune. He did not expect that he wouldn"t even be able to exchange them for a piece of purple crystal.
As for his pile of gold and silver…
Chu Yang sighed. He thought about donating them to his family in the next few days. Let his family give it to those that did ordinary transactions. He really didn"t need them…
Despite having lazed away half a lifetime, everyone in the Lower Three Heavens had looked at him either with horror or admiration. He could also breeze by the Middle Three Heavens. He had never expected that once he arrived at the Upper Three Heavens, he would become a small shrimp, more specifically, a small, pauper shrimp!
In his previous life, when he arrived at the Upper Three Heavens, he was only a Revered Martial Artist. He had taken huge risks to finally find an unknown channel that allowed him to travel up there. Having done so, he rushed straight away to the Wind and Thunder Platform.
Along the way, he braved wind and rain and hid from corner to corner like a mouse. When he finally arrived, he was immediately killed by a group of fighters led by Mo Tianji.
He could be said to know nothing about the Upper Three Heavens at all.
For the Chu Yang of the present, even though he had the experience of two lives, the Upper Three Heavens was still a completely foreign world for him!
Especially the part that was reigned by the nine dominant clans. The territories of almost every clan had their own set of rules and taboos. The chances of conflict in the Upper Three Heavens were exponentially increased! Beyond the nine dominant clans, various antagonistic forces gathered at the outskirts of the Upper Three Heavens.
Now, Chu Yang would never dare to stir trouble with any of these forces.
From its mannerisms to its culture, everything here was completely different from the Lower and Middle Three Heavens!
Chu Yang was unexpectedly a bit stunned when he heard that.
He thought about a sentence that both Young Master Wei and Diwu Qing Rou had said: In fact, this really means nothing.
When he thought of it now, it made a lot of sense!
This was the reason why Diwu Qing Rou was willing to admit defeat so easily, in Diwu Qing Rou"s heart, this really meant nothing!
This certainly meant nothing.
Compared to the dazzling Upper Three Heavens, the Middle and Lower Three Heavens were simply pieces of cake!
In the Upper Three Heavens, the so-called superiors of the Middle and Lower Three Heavens were not worth s.h.i.+t!
Chu Yang started thinking. As a pauper, he had come to a prosperous place where billionaires could be found in every corner. What made him the most speechless was that what he considered a billionaire belonged to the lower echelons here…
He was like a beggar who had suddenly arrived at a state banquet!
Dazzled by the world around him, he could not overcome the sense of helplessness that had overwhelmed him.
What should I do? At night, Chu Yang lay in his bed unable to sleep.
Finally, he clenched his teeth and thought: I"m Chu Yang. What can I be afraid of? Wasn"t I treated like disposable trash in Beyond The Heavens? What should I be afraid of? Didn"t I still become extremely influential in Iron Cloud!? When I just arrived in the Middle Three Heavens, wasn"t I on my own? Didn"t I still overthrow the entire Middle Three Heavens? The only thing different with the Upper Three Heavens was that it was a little larger.
Only a little bit larger!
After mustering some courage, Chu Yang began to decide what to do next.
It was simply impossible to find the fifth fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword within such a short period of time. He could only start by establis.h.i.+ng a strong base in his clan and build on from there, one step at a time.
Before he could go out to search for the fifth fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword, he had to reach the necessary skill and cultivation.
He could not let anyone discover his ident.i.ty!
He had to abandon everything from his past! He needed to start from scratch!
I, a poor wretch, must start from the lowest echelon of the world and then move upwards through society! Any arrogance would be fatal!
As Chu Yang came to a firm conclusion, his heart also calmed down.
His ident.i.ty as the King of h.e.l.l should never be mentioned again! He was just an abandoned child that his parents had finally found again. As for his background… he would have to wrack his brain and fabricate it.
The name "King of h.e.l.l Chu" was once renowned in the Lower Three Heavens. Few people in the Middle Three Heavens had ever paid attention to it. In the vast Upper Three Heavens, no one would ever treat King of h.e.l.l Chu seriously.
There were plenty of opportunities to hide his ident.i.ty.
After a while, his appearance would not lead anyone to a.s.sociate him with the master of the Nine Tribulations Sword.
Such a thought made Chu Yang suddenly realise that Doctor Qiu"s diagnosis that his "cultivation had gone to waste" was unexpectedly the perfect excuse.
Yes, I was crippled!
I had to start martial arts from scratch!
Which f**king masters of the Nine Tribulations Sword have ever been crippled?! Whoever says this would need to be kidding!
With this pretext, whatever he did would not catch anyone"s attention. The secret recovery of his strength would not only protect himself but it also allowed him to play pranks on other people. Hahaha…
Of course, consulting his doctor and taking his medicines was unavoidable, though it was bothersome for his clan. Chu Feilong, the master of the clan, had been eyeing Chu Yang"s family of three with hostility. Why couldn"t that motherf**ker run some errands for him?!
Of course, Mother would be worried too. But it would be alright if he spent more time with her and comforted her. He couldn"t wait until his cultivation had recovered and grown. This would be how he repaid her. He wanted his mother to be proud of having a son like him!
Chu Yang realized that he needed to settle his inner problems first before fending off external threats.
The first thing to do would be to help the Chu clan become a monolith. Otherwise, seeing that he was a huge cause of concern to the other nine dominant clans, they would try to lure him to his death.
The rise of a clan depends on its skill and wealth!
Skill is strength. Wealth… is the f**king crystals!
Chu Yang gnashed his teeth. He wanted to become the first billionaire in the Nine Heavens… even if it meant he had to swindle or steal! F**k it!
"You really are a devil," a seemingly exhausted voice interjected.
Chu Yang was startled. He transferred his divine senses to his mind, and said, "Are you awake?"
The sword spirit was speaking to him.
"Your divine spirit has been fixed. Why shouldn"t I wake up?" The sword spirit smiled wryly, "You have been to the Upper Three Heavens?"
"Yes," Chu Yang nodded.
"Your current starting position is weak. So your plan is completely feasible," The sword spirit pondered for a while and said, "I generally agree with your approach. Making a fortune silently is very kingly!"
He paused and reminded Chu Yang, "I"m awake now, and within three days at most, I will be able to recover. In another half a month, you will have a cultivation that is a fourth of the Nine Tribulations Sword"s. Since your divine spirit is secured, your possession of me will not pose any damage to it. When you"re in absolute danger or in need of carrying out an extermination, feel free to summon me!"
He smiled ferociously, "After 10000 years, I can"t wait to see what the Upper Three Heavens" superiors look like."
Chu Yang smiled deeply, "Don"t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to reveal your power!"
The sword spirit gave a sinister knowing smile.
Pugnacity infused the Nine Tribulations s.p.a.ce. It was as if a devil which had been quieted for 90000 years was finally revealing its ferocious fangs.
Chu Feiling and Yang Ruolan also couldn"t sleep the whole night Chu Yang made his decisions.
"What is your opinion about this?" Yang Ruolan frowned.
"I won"t do anything." Chu Feiling sighed, a bit stuporous. Since his son went missing, he was deprived of the right to sleep with his wife. This right was finally restored through the graciousness of the Old Master. Chu Feiling felt that all the sufferings he had finally come to fruition. A slight feeling of whimsy washed over him as he laid down.
"Do nothing?" Yang Ruolan peaked her brows, "So you want to leave your grandson in the Lower Three Heavens?"
"Then what do you want to do?" Chu Feiling said innocently, "For one, your younger sister repeatedly begged you to not tell him. Shouldn"t we consider this? If she finds out, she won"t let you meet your grandson. That"s even worse."
"On the other hand, Yang Yang has lost all his cultivation and his meridians are also blocked. While he forces himself to smile every day to make us happy, as martial artists, we know what he truly feels. If we mention this to him now, won"t we not only make him sad and worried but also be helpless to do anything? Isn"t this torture for him?"
"Alas…"Yang Ruolan sighed, bothered and utterly perplexed.
Not hearing anything from his wife, Chu Feiling moved on to a more pressing matter. Inching closer to her, he said gently, "Let"s… have s.e.x?"
Anxious and worried about her son, Yang Ruolan was in no mood for s.e.x. She rebuked, "Get away!" And kicked her foot out.
Chu Feiling flew out of the bed and crashed to the ground with a loud bang. He was too shocked for tears. "Ye", "Xiao" and "Chen" mean "leaf", "bamboo flute" and "low" respectively in Chinese "s.h.i.+" and "Lan" mean "stone" and "orchid" respectively in Chinese. "Li" and "Ye" mean "sharp" and "night" respectively in Chinese.