Published: March 7, 2025
CHAPTER 311: Tie Butian’s Decision
Lotus Flower Lake lay in a state of tranquility. A small boat drifted gently on the lake's surface, yet there was no one aboard.
At this moment, Chu Yang was beneath the water.
His eyes wide open, he stood at the bottom, his feet planted in the slippery mud, a sword in his hand slowly unfurling!
Practicing swordplay underwater!
Since there was nothing urgent at the moment, and the Nine Calamity Sword was temporarily out of reach, he decided to fully experience the gentle force of water here. For both nations, the world was in turmoil, but for Chu Yang, this was an extremely rare moment of peace.
Hu Yan Ao Bo had long since departed. He had gone through what she left behind, piece by piece.
There was a lot: Fifth Diwu Qingrou’s intelligence network, numerous lists of officials and generals from Iron Cloud’s base.
Yet more importantly were the strategic deployments and military distribution plans from Fifth Diwu Qingrou, each annotated in Hu Yan Ao Bo's own handwriting; the content was precise.
Chu Yang couldn't help but marvel and, at the first opportunity, transmitted this crucial intelligence that could influence the war situation of both nations to Tie Butian.
Then he settled down.
With a whoosh, the sword stabbed out, twirled, and slashed sideways. Chu Yang stared, not at the sword, but at the turbulence of the water as the sword pierced through; he felt the gentle resistance coming from the sword's body.
This was a completely different sense of stagnation.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say it was a restraint, as the water wasn’t deliberately holding him back; rather, it was the sword moving in the water. The water did not move, but the sword did. Although the water wouldn’t act with intent, it would naturally respond.
Suddenly, Chu Yang was taken aback, as if he had realized something.
He couldn’t help but fall into a daze underwater.
After a long time, feeling a breath of vital energy nearly depleted, he pushed off from the muddy grip, shooting straight up towards the surface. Only when he reached the water's surface did he slow down, surfacing gently.
Fresh air rushed into his lungs!
Chu Yang instantly felt his mind clear up.
After being stifled underwater for so long, breaking the surface gave him a feeling akin to being reborn! It was a wonderfully unique sensation.
Chu Yang suddenly felt: if the underwater world was one realm, then above the water was another!
It was like the lower heavens and middle heavens. The world below the water was the lower heavens, and breaking through the surface was entering the middle heavens?
Chu Yang waded through the water and reached the shore. He sat down, drenched, and fell into deep contemplation.
But… what did this all mean? From what angle should he approach martial arts?
Suddenly, Chu Yang felt his mind fill with flashes of inspiration, not just one, but several! Multiple ideas swirled in his mind, yet each one was vague and elusive, slipping through his grasp!
He had a sense that if he could just seize any one of them, he would break through his current state of mind! This was a rare opportunity!
Chu Yang made an effort to empty his thoughts, quietly sitting by the shore. He concealed himself among the already wilted dense grass, but at that moment, he felt a rising thought: the grass above had withered, yet the grass below was thriving in vibrant green… and it had already grown to a palm's height...
Between this decay and prosperity, did it suggest something?
Or… was it something else? Perhaps… life itself?
These bursts of inspiration surrounded him like flies, filling his heart with thoughts.
Chu Yang sat cross-legged in the grass, completely still, without breath, and after a long while, his body temperature gradually faded… All signs of life seemed to be extinguishing, disappearing…
Returning to silence!
Only the dense green grass beneath him thrived wildly in the warmth of spring…
At this quiet lakeside, slowly… insects, ants, and moths began to appear…