"Listen, everyone! This time, we are going to confront the Three Stars Divine Clan for the entire Middle Three Heavens’ safety’s sake!" Gu Du Xing didn’t beat around the bush and came straight to the point: "We might die, or probably disappear from the face of the Earth! We might even get killed by a spirit beast! However, regarding all that, I only have one thing to say!"
About 2000 soldiers were standing with their gazes fixed on him.
There was a pin-drop silence; no one said a single word.
Gu Du Xing was standing under the bone-chilling flags of the Gu Clan. He drew out his sword and clamored: "All I want to say is… we will always have the support of our homeland! Our parents! Our loved ones! Our family! Our children!"
"Thus, we must set off now!" As his voice faded out, he jumped up and landed upon a horse. Then, he immediately turned around and cupped his fists in a respectful salute: "Foster father, please look after yourself!"
Gu Yun Lan gently waved his hands as he replied in a deep voice: "I only have a small request: come back alive!"
"I certainly will!"
Under the fluttering flags of the Gu Clan, Gu Du Xing led the way, riding forward! He was immediately followed by the majestic cavalry troops, who rode forward like a tornado. The entire scene was overshadowed by the sound of ‘clanging’ metals as the iron hooves trampled over the ice and snow, breaking them into pieces!
Gu Yun Lan stood motionless for a long time as he watched the Gu Clan’ majestic troops slowly disappear into the horizon.
"Clan Lord..." A person’s figure suddenly flashed and appeared next to him. This person was none other than the same elder who had gone to call Gu Du Xing from the cave: "Is the Clan Lord still suspicious of Young master Du Xing?"
"I am not!"Gu Yun Lan replied profoundly: "Since the moment he returned to us, I am no longer suspicious of him!"
"Oh..." That elder obviously was surprised by this response.
"We are all members of the Gu Clan, we are all surnamed Gu!" Gu Yun Lan said in a heavy tone: "I, as the biological father of Gu Yan Yang and Gu Yan Yue, certainly did not want them to die, but it seems like the majority of our clan members were looking forward to their early deaths… isn’t that right?"
The elder lowered his head; he certainly wouldn’t dare to say a word in that regard.
"Those two... indeed weren’t cut out to lead the clan!" Gu Yun Lan heaved a deep sigh before saying: "However, Gu Du Xing clearly suits the profile!"
"Indeed." This time, the elder didn’t deny.
"Therefore... we must forget this matter for the sake our clan’s prosperity, and future." Gu Yun Lan tightly shut his eyes as two drops of muddy old tears quietly slipped down from the corners of his eyes. He further said in a grieving tone: "I just hope that our Gu Clan… continues to prosper forever and ever."
He lowered his head after saying that.
As the current Clan Lord of the Gu Clan, he had already learned to abandon things which needed to be forsaken for the clan’s sake; what was sacrificed, had already been sacrificed! However, no one could truly understand the kind of pain and grief he must have had to swallow, the kind of sacrifices he had opted to make in order to uphold his position as the Clan Lord.
Nobody knew…
Perhaps there were some people who were grateful to him for doing so much for the clan, but nobody ever spoke out loud to let him know.
Not even a single person.
"Judging from Young master Du Xing’s speed of progress, I am certain that he would be able to become a Sword Emperor before reaching the age of 30! Moreover, we all are aware of the relationship he shares with our Young Miss Miao Ling, so when the time is right, they should definitely get married… In that case, Young master Du Xing will no longer be just your adopted son, but also become your son-in-law… I think it goes without saying that a son-in-law is no less than a half-son..."
The elder stood by his side and said: "Clan Lord, please don’t worry about anything ... though only your daughter’s son, but the Gu Clan’s future heir will be your own grandson… but his very existence would ensure that our future generations inherit the Gu Clan’s bloodline throughout the ages... Clan Lord, isn’t that good for us all? It is an established fact that there’s no such thing as perfection in this world..."
"Yes… that would be great." Gu Yun Lan seemed lost in his own thoughts as he murmured with a smile on his face: "There’s no such thing as perfection in this world… there no such thing as perfection… there has never been… and will never be..."
Gu Yun Lan turned around and walked into the manor: "I am going to see Miao Ling… that poor girl has suffered a lot..."
His figure slowly disappeared.
The elder also sighed and followed after him while secretly rejoicing in his heart: [the Gu Clan’s ‘crisis phase’ is finally over… ]
... ...
Meng Chao Ran and Tan Tan had arrived in the Middle Three heavens long ago; at this time, there were crossing a wilderness, heading towards the Cang Lan Battlefront.
Meng Chao Ran had also brought along Tan Tan in order to seek shelter in the Middle Three Heavens, so they could get away from the quarrels of the Lower Three Heavens for the sake of reducing Chu Yang’s troubles in the Lower Three Heavens.
However, they had been constantly coming across unexpected scenarios ever since they had arrived in the Middle Three heavens.
First, Meng Chao Ran discovered certain changes in his own body. Also, the concentration of spiritual energy was about three times more in the Middle Three Heavens in comparison! Meng Chao Ran had suddenly realized that his own cultivation was progressing by leaps and bounds under the stimulation of such highly concentrated spiritual energy, especially when coupled with the body tempering method given by Chu Yang.
He could barely complete the set of movements taught to him by Chu Yang in the Lower Three Heavens. However, in the Middle Three Heavens, he was finally able to complete the entire set of movements, and had truly managed to discharge the impurities from his body.
Things completely went out of hand after that! He started cherishing this opportunity, and made good use of it. He practiced those set of movements three times on the first day, and continued to do so daily from then on. On the arrival of the third day, the impurities had been completely discharged from his body...
The rich concentration of spiritual energy in the Middle Three heavens was complemented by the fact that they also had Divine Chi Gathering Fish with them, which led to a multi-fold increase in the accumulation of dense spiritual energy around them!
Meng Chao Ran had realized that his own cultivation had skyrocketed as a result of this; he had actually been able to break through one grade, every three days!
In the two months that followed, he continued to have regular breakthroughs, all the way to the Peak of Ninth Grade Revered Martial Artist! At the moment, he was only one step away from becoming a King level expert.
At this time, it seemed as if his body had slowly adapted to the Middle Three Heavens’ rich spiritual energy concentration, slowing down his cultivation speed in the process. However, the progress of his body’s martial energy was still several times faster in comparison to what it used to be in the Lower Three heavens...
As for Tan Tan, his progress had been even more exponential. Owing to the presence of the Divine Chi Gathering Fish by his side, this guy had literally gone crazy, and had practiced martial arts non-stop, like a madman; to the extent that he had even stopped eating...
The first time ever, he had managed to complete that set of movements, but it seemed as if he had broken his back in the process. However, the result of that incident left him a state of utter joy...
He had been making a breakthrough every 3-4 days over the past two months, and had managed to step up from the sixth grade Martial Artist to a Martial Master. They were a series of steady breakthroughs which made it seem as if he was leaping from one cloud to another. In fact, Tan Tan’s cultivation was still progressing by leaps and bounds even though Meng Chao Ran’s progress speed had returned to normal.
As of today, Tan Tan had already reached the first grade of Martial Great Master!
Even Meng Chao Ran felt he was in a dream upon witnessing such an insane progress speed. He examined Tan Tan’s body thoroughly and came to realize that a strange change had occurred in his body.
This left him scratching his head like a foolish monk: [This strange change in Tan Tan’s body… was this hidden within his body all along, or has this happened after he arrived in the Middle Three Heavens?]
[If this is an inborn trait of his, then why didn’t I discover it earlier? If the change occurred after he arrived here, then…] Meng Chao Ran felt that this was getting too strange and perplexing, after all, he had never heard of something like this happening to someone upon moving from the Lower Three Heavens to the Middle Three Heavens.
[It has surprisingly transformed his aptitude for the better...]
After Tan Tan had broken through to the level of Martial Great Master, Meng Chao Ran finally thought that this could not go on like this, because what Tan Tan really needed right now wasn’t a rapid progress in cultivation, but real-life battle experience!
Therefore, he immediately made the decision of taking Tan Tan to the Cang Lan Battlefront in order to help him gain real battle experience for the sake of attaining some practical application of his skills. However, he was unaware of the enormous changes which were taking place in the Cang Lan Battlefront at the time he had decided to embark towards it.
At present, they had reached the Ice Mirror Mountain.
This “so-called” Ice Mirror Mountain was actually a huge precipice, which seemed as if it had been cut with a knife from bottom to top. Just under this precipice was a stretch of Great Plains. This mountain would get entirely covered with ice during the winter season, forming a giant mirror. Whenever someone passed through this area, they would be able see their reflection in the mirror and would feel as if they were going inside a mirror; this was one of the most wondrous sites of the Middle Three Heavens.
The Cang Lan Battlefront was located on the other side of the Ice Mirror Mountain. In fact, it could be said that this mountain was a part of the Cang Lan Battlefront.
Meng Chao Ran almost collapsed after witnessing this scenery.
Even Tan Tan was baffled, his face turned pale as soon as he laid eyes on such a huge mirror. He immediately looked at the mountain wall and shouted: "Master, master, this entire mountain is a mirror..."
Meng Chao Ran smiled indifferently in response...
However, just then, something unexpected happened; Tan Tan face was reveling in a shade of astonishment, looking at his own reflection in the mirror, his eyes and mouth opened wide.
Meng Chao Ran felt that something was off. He turned around to look in the mirror, only to see Tan Tan’s reflection, who was still in utter shock. However… what was most shocking wasn’t the bewildered look on Tan Tan’s face, but his face itself. Surprisingly, the mirror made him look very handsome owing to the shocked expression on his face.
His eyebrows were on the same level in the reflection, while his nose looked neither too pointy, nor too flat. His ears also seemed to have sharpened enough to complement his face, making him look like a jade-faced, red-lipped cute boy.
Meng Chao Ran was really startled and he quickly turned his head to look at Tan Tan, only to discover that it really was the true! In other words, whenever Tan Tan was in utter shock or showed signs of bewilderment on his face, the resulting facial expression made him look very handsome.
Tan Tan obviously became very excited upon seeing this, and due to that, the astonished look on his face faded off and his ‘shocked’ facial expression went back to normal.
"Master, did you see just that... I looked particularly handsome, didn’t I?" Tan Tan asked jubilantly as he looked at Meng Chao Ran.
"Well, you certainly appeared much better than before… quite pleasing to the eyes, I must say." Meng Chao Ran was also very happy since this boy was his own apprentice. [His appearance had always been quite… twisted…]
However, Meng Chao Ran soon turned gloomy…
…Since Tan Tan walked a few steps towards the mirror and turned his head a few times from side to side before grinning at the mirror. Then, he walked a few steps away from the mirror, turned around and grinned once again.
After performing several experiments, he finally discovered: [I look my best only when I am in shock…]
And thus began Meng Chao Ran’s torture...
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan appeared to be in ‘shock’ as he said: "Look, there’s grass over there!"
Meng Chao Ran mildly laughed in response.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan continued in an astonished manner: "The grass is green!"
Meng Chao Ran could only smile this time.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan further said in amazement: "The sky is so high!"
Meng Chao Ran gave a hollow laugh this time around.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan was even more ‘shocked’ this time: "There’s so much soil on the ground..."
Meng Chao Ran’s smiling face had turned stiff.
"Whoa! Master!" The ‘shocked’ Tan Tan eagerly said: "Look at me, look at me!"
Meng Chao Ran’s mouth twitched.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan maintained the ‘shocked’ expression on his face as he asked: "Don’t I look very handsome right now?"
Meng Chao Ran’s body swayed a bit.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan moved close to him and asked again: "I look more handsome now, don’t I?"
Meng Chao Ran’s cheeks streamed with tears, and he felt like collapsing on the spot...
Was Meng Chao Ran a stoic man? Frankly speaking, when solely comparing on the basis of one’s psychological composure, even Diwu Qing Rou wouldn’t stand a chance against Meng Chao Ran!
Meng Chao Ran wouldn’t blink an eye if he were standing in the path of a massive landslide, or facing the turbulence of raging seas… he would remain calm and composed even in such life and death situations; he could even stay calm while submerged in a sea comprised of a million corpses!
This ability of his’ was simply unprecedented and unheard of! However... Meng Chao Ran had finally been defeated by his own disciple… a boy he had raised on his own! This was the legend of how Tan Tan had shattered his “stoic” master to pieces...
"Listen, everyone! This time, we are going to confront the Three Stars Divine Clan for the entire Middle Three Heavens’ safety’s sake!" Gu Du Xing didn’t beat around the bush and came straight to the point: "We might die, or probably disappear from the face of the Earth! We might even get killed by a spirit beast! However, regarding all that, I only have one thing to say!"
About 2000 soldiers were standing with their gazes fixed on him.
There was a pin-drop silence; no one said a single word.
Gu Du Xing was standing under the bone-chilling flags of the Gu Clan. He drew out his sword and clamored: "All I want to say is… we will always have the support of our homeland! Our parents! Our loved ones! Our family! Our children!"
"Thus, we must set off now!" As his voice faded out, he jumped up and landed upon a horse. Then, he immediately turned around and cupped his fists in a respectful salute: "Foster father, please look after yourself!"
Gu Yun Lan gently waved his hands as he replied in a deep voice: "I only have a small request: come back alive!"
"I certainly will!"
Under the fluttering flags of the Gu Clan, Gu Du Xing led the way, riding forward! He was immediately followed by the majestic cavalry troops, who rode forward like a tornado. The entire scene was overshadowed by the sound of ‘clanging’ metals as the iron hooves trampled over the ice and snow, breaking them into pieces!
Gu Yun Lan stood motionless for a long time as he watched the Gu Clan’ majestic troops slowly disappear into the horizon.
"Clan Lord..." A person’s figure suddenly flashed and appeared next to him. This person was none other than the same elder who had gone to call Gu Du Xing from the cave: "Is the Clan Lord still suspicious of Young master Du Xing?"
"I am not!"Gu Yun Lan replied profoundly: "Since the moment he returned to us, I am no longer suspicious of him!"
"Oh..." That elder obviously was surprised by this response.
"We are all members of the Gu Clan, we are all surnamed Gu!" Gu Yun Lan said in a heavy tone: "I, as the biological father of Gu Yan Yang and Gu Yan Yue, certainly did not want them to die, but it seems like the majority of our clan members were looking forward to their early deaths… isn’t that right?"
The elder lowered his head; he certainly wouldn’t dare to say a word in that regard.
"Those two... indeed weren’t cut out to lead the clan!" Gu Yun Lan heaved a deep sigh before saying: "However, Gu Du Xing clearly suits the profile!"
"Indeed." This time, the elder didn’t deny.
"Therefore... we must forget this matter for the sake our clan’s prosperity, and future." Gu Yun Lan tightly shut his eyes as two drops of muddy old tears quietly slipped down from the corners of his eyes. He further said in a grieving tone: "I just hope that our Gu Clan… continues to prosper forever and ever."
He lowered his head after saying that.
As the current Clan Lord of the Gu Clan, he had already learned to abandon things which needed to be forsaken for the clan’s sake; what was sacrificed, had already been sacrificed! However, no one could truly understand the kind of pain and grief he must have had to swallow, the kind of sacrifices he had opted to make in order to uphold his position as the Clan Lord.
Nobody knew…
Perhaps there were some people who were grateful to him for doing so much for the clan, but nobody ever spoke out loud to let him know.
Not even a single person.
"Judging from Young master Du Xing’s speed of progress, I am certain that he would be able to become a Sword Emperor before reaching the age of 30! Moreover, we all are aware of the relationship he shares with our Young Miss Miao Ling, so when the time is right, they should definitely get married… In that case, Young master Du Xing will no longer be just your adopted son, but also become your son-in-law… I think it goes without saying that a son-in-law is no less than a half-son..."
The elder stood by his side and said: "Clan Lord, please don’t worry about anything ... though only your daughter’s son, but the Gu Clan’s future heir will be your own grandson… but his very existence would ensure that our future generations inherit the Gu Clan’s bloodline throughout the ages... Clan Lord, isn’t that good for us all? It is an established fact that there’s no such thing as perfection in this world..."
"Yes… that would be great." Gu Yun Lan seemed lost in his own thoughts as he murmured with a smile on his face: "There’s no such thing as perfection in this world… there no such thing as perfection… there has never been… and will never be..."
Gu Yun Lan turned around and walked into the manor: "I am going to see Miao Ling… that poor girl has suffered a lot..."
His figure slowly disappeared.
The elder also sighed and followed after him while secretly rejoicing in his heart: [the Gu Clan’s ‘crisis phase’ is finally over… ]
... ...
Meng Chao Ran and Tan Tan had arrived in the Middle Three heavens long ago; at this time, there were crossing a wilderness, heading towards the Cang Lan Battlefront.
Meng Chao Ran had also brought along Tan Tan in order to seek shelter in the Middle Three Heavens, so they could get away from the quarrels of the Lower Three Heavens for the sake of reducing Chu Yang’s troubles in the Lower Three Heavens.
However, they had been constantly coming across unexpected scenarios ever since they had arrived in the Middle Three heavens.
First, Meng Chao Ran discovered certain changes in his own body. Also, the concentration of spiritual energy was about three times more in the Middle Three Heavens in comparison! Meng Chao Ran had suddenly realized that his own cultivation was progressing by leaps and bounds under the stimulation of such highly concentrated spiritual energy, especially when coupled with the body tempering method given by Chu Yang.
He could barely complete the set of movements taught to him by Chu Yang in the Lower Three Heavens. However, in the Middle Three Heavens, he was finally able to complete the entire set of movements, and had truly managed to discharge the impurities from his body.
Things completely went out of hand after that! He started cherishing this opportunity, and made good use of it. He practiced those set of movements three times on the first day, and continued to do so daily from then on. On the arrival of the third day, the impurities had been completely discharged from his body...
The rich concentration of spiritual energy in the Middle Three heavens was complemented by the fact that they also had Divine Chi Gathering Fish with them, which led to a multi-fold increase in the accumulation of dense spiritual energy around them!
Meng Chao Ran had realized that his own cultivation had skyrocketed as a result of this; he had actually been able to break through one grade, every three days!
In the two months that followed, he continued to have regular breakthroughs, all the way to the Peak of Ninth Grade Revered Martial Artist! At the moment, he was only one step away from becoming a King level expert.
At this time, it seemed as if his body had slowly adapted to the Middle Three Heavens’ rich spiritual energy concentration, slowing down his cultivation speed in the process. However, the progress of his body’s martial energy was still several times faster in comparison to what it used to be in the Lower Three heavens...
As for Tan Tan, his progress had been even more exponential. Owing to the presence of the Divine Chi Gathering Fish by his side, this guy had literally gone crazy, and had practiced martial arts non-stop, like a madman; to the extent that he had even stopped eating...
The first time ever, he had managed to complete that set of movements, but it seemed as if he had broken his back in the process. However, the result of that incident left him a state of utter joy...
He had been making a breakthrough every 3-4 days over the past two months, and had managed to step up from the sixth grade Martial Artist to a Martial Master. They were a series of steady breakthroughs which made it seem as if he was leaping from one cloud to another. In fact, Tan Tan’s cultivation was still progressing by leaps and bounds even though Meng Chao Ran’s progress speed had returned to normal.
As of today, Tan Tan had already reached the first grade of Martial Great Master!
Even Meng Chao Ran felt he was in a dream upon witnessing such an insane progress speed. He examined Tan Tan’s body thoroughly and came to realize that a strange change had occurred in his body.
This left him scratching his head like a foolish monk: [This strange change in Tan Tan’s body… was this hidden within his body all along, or has this happened after he arrived in the Middle Three Heavens?]
[If this is an inborn trait of his, then why didn’t I discover it earlier? If the change occurred after he arrived here, then…] Meng Chao Ran felt that this was getting too strange and perplexing, after all, he had never heard of something like this happening to someone upon moving from the Lower Three Heavens to the Middle Three Heavens.
[It has surprisingly transformed his aptitude for the better...]
After Tan Tan had broken through to the level of Martial Great Master, Meng Chao Ran finally thought that this could not go on like this, because what Tan Tan really needed right now wasn’t a rapid progress in cultivation, but real-life battle experience!
Therefore, he immediately made the decision of taking Tan Tan to the Cang Lan Battlefront in order to help him gain real battle experience for the sake of attaining some practical application of his skills. However, he was unaware of the enormous changes which were taking place in the Cang Lan Battlefront at the time he had decided to embark towards it.
At present, they had reached the Ice Mirror Mountain.
This “so-called” Ice Mirror Mountain was actually a huge precipice, which seemed as if it had been cut with a knife from bottom to top. Just under this precipice was a stretch of Great Plains. This mountain would get entirely covered with ice during the winter season, forming a giant mirror. Whenever someone passed through this area, they would be able see their reflection in the mirror and would feel as if they were going inside a mirror; this was one of the most wondrous sites of the Middle Three Heavens.
The Cang Lan Battlefront was located on the other side of the Ice Mirror Mountain. In fact, it could be said that this mountain was a part of the Cang Lan Battlefront.
Meng Chao Ran almost collapsed after witnessing this scenery.
Even Tan Tan was baffled, his face turned pale as soon as he laid eyes on such a huge mirror. He immediately looked at the mountain wall and shouted: "Master, master, this entire mountain is a mirror..."
Meng Chao Ran smiled indifferently in response...
However, just then, something unexpected happened; Tan Tan face was reveling in a shade of astonishment, looking at his own reflection in the mirror, his eyes and mouth opened wide.
Meng Chao Ran felt that something was off. He turned around to look in the mirror, only to see Tan Tan’s reflection, who was still in utter shock. However… what was most shocking wasn’t the bewildered look on Tan Tan’s face, but his face itself. Surprisingly, the mirror made him look very handsome owing to the shocked expression on his face.
His eyebrows were on the same level in the reflection, while his nose looked neither too pointy, nor too flat. His ears also seemed to have sharpened enough to complement his face, making him look like a jade-faced, red-lipped cute boy.
Meng Chao Ran was really startled and he quickly turned his head to look at Tan Tan, only to discover that it really was the true! In other words, whenever Tan Tan was in utter shock or showed signs of bewilderment on his face, the resulting facial expression made him look very handsome.
Tan Tan obviously became very excited upon seeing this, and due to that, the astonished look on his face faded off and his ‘shocked’ facial expression went back to normal.
"Master, did you see just that... I looked particularly handsome, didn’t I?" Tan Tan asked jubilantly as he looked at Meng Chao Ran.
"Well, you certainly appeared much better than before… quite pleasing to the eyes, I must say." Meng Chao Ran was also very happy since this boy was his own apprentice. [His appearance had always been quite… twisted…]
However, Meng Chao Ran soon turned gloomy…
…Since Tan Tan walked a few steps towards the mirror and turned his head a few times from side to side before grinning at the mirror. Then, he walked a few steps away from the mirror, turned around and grinned once again.
After performing several experiments, he finally discovered: [I look my best only when I am in shock…]
And thus began Meng Chao Ran’s torture...
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan appeared to be in ‘shock’ as he said: "Look, there’s grass over there!"
Meng Chao Ran mildly laughed in response.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan continued in an astonished manner: "The grass is green!"
Meng Chao Ran could only smile this time.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan further said in amazement: "The sky is so high!"
Meng Chao Ran gave a hollow laugh this time around.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan was even more ‘shocked’ this time: "There’s so much soil on the ground..."
Meng Chao Ran’s smiling face had turned stiff.
"Whoa! Master!" The ‘shocked’ Tan Tan eagerly said: "Look at me, look at me!"
Meng Chao Ran’s mouth twitched.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan maintained the ‘shocked’ expression on his face as he asked: "Don’t I look very handsome right now?"
Meng Chao Ran’s body swayed a bit.
"Whoa! Master!" Tan Tan moved close to him and asked again: "I look more handsome now, don’t I?"
Meng Chao Ran’s cheeks streamed with tears, and he felt like collapsing on the spot...
Was Meng Chao Ran a stoic man? Frankly speaking, when solely comparing on the basis of one’s psychological composure, even Diwu Qing Rou wouldn’t stand a chance against Meng Chao Ran!
Meng Chao Ran wouldn’t blink an eye if he were standing in the path of a massive landslide, or facing the turbulence of raging seas… he would remain calm and composed even in such life and death situations; he could even stay calm while submerged in a sea comprised of a million corpses!
This ability of his’ was simply unprecedented and unheard of! However... Meng Chao Ran had finally been defeated by his own disciple… a boy he had raised on his own! This was the legend of how Tan Tan had shattered his “stoic” master to pieces...
