Published: March 8, 2025
Rocky Luo and Ji Mo undoubtedly made breakthroughs as well. Moreover, for both of them, it was definitely a leap-forward breakthrough!
They broke through to the throne of the ninth rank!
This achievement was enough to look down upon the world, but with Dong Wushang and Gu Duxing setting a precedent, it instantly became ‘just’ a breakthrough to the throne of the ninth rank!
At their age, such a cultivation level would be an extraordinary talent, even in the upper three heavens! Yet now, both of them felt nothing but frustration.
Rui Butong hung his head as if he had lost his parents. Among the brothers, he had the least breakthrough, now sitting at the throne of the eighth rank…
This left Rui Butong nearly driven mad with frustration!
A few days ago, he was at the throne of the seventh rank while they were at the throne of the fifth rank; he had been quite arrogant about it. But unexpectedly, this good fortune lasted less than a month, and he had once again become the lowest.
What was Rui Butong to do with such feelings?
Tan Tan stumbled out, cross-legged beside Chu Yang, unconsciously chewing on roots, his gaze somewhat dazed and scattered. It seemed he didn’t care at all about the fierce battle unfolding before him.
“Are you okay? What happened that day?” Chu Yang asked.
Tan Tan stared blankly at the void, seemingly not hearing Chu Yang’s words.
After a long time…
“Senior Brother…” Tan Tan lowered his head and said in a low voice.
“What’s wrong? Tan Tan?” Chu Yang was somewhat surprised, his heart suddenly tightening. He had never seen Tan Tan so listless even in the toughest of times.
Moreover, Tan Tan rarely called him Senior Brother; he usually addressed him by name. But once he used those two words, it indicated that the situation was serious, and Tan Tan was serious!
A loud clash echoed in the field as the Ink Blade and the Black Dragon Sword clashed fiercely, their sword lights shooting into the sky like a dragon, while the blade light sprawled across the clear sky like a galaxy!
The two touched and then separated, returning to each other as the blade and sword lights gradually coalesced into a white light and a black mist, entangled together.
Clearly, this was the first battle between the sword emperor and the blade emperor after their breakthroughs. Both fought with gusto, and they had gradually grasped the mysteries of the imperial level realm! They were currently further verifying and solidifying their skills.
However, under the brilliance of the sword and blade, Tan Tan's expression grew grimmer.
“What’s going on?” Chu Yang’s expression slowly turned serious.
“Senior Brother, have you always thought I... was somewhat abnormal?” Tan Tan chuckled self-deprecatingly, his voice low enough to cause Chu Yang some heartache.
“Maybe there are some things that are not quite normal... But no matter how you are, you are still my good junior brother, my good brother!” Chu Yang pondered for a moment and said slowly, “Besides, we live in this world; why should we care about others’ opinions? As long as we live freely and happily, isn’t that better than anything else?”
Tan Tan was so serious that Chu Yang became serious too. Although Tan Tan acted strangely, he was not a fool. His behavior had always been somewhat abnormal, and Tan Tan himself knew this. If Chu Yang insisted on saying he was completely normal, it would be more of a harm than a help to Tan Tan at this moment.
“Actually, I know myself; I’m not normal… but I don’t know why.”
Tan Tan sighed and said, “Ever since Master adopted us, I’ve felt a bit abnormal… because when Master adopted me, I was still in swaddling clothes, taken from a stone cave; later, Master said I was abandoned by someone, but I know that such a sheer cliff cave would not be discovered unless Master went in to rest while foraging for herbs. Generally, even if people abandon a child, they wouldn’t place them there or just throw them into a cliff, so I wasn’t abandoned…”