I Am Supreme

As the Ultimate Heaven Sect’s founding ancestor reflected upon the matter and sighed at the unpredictability of life, his peculiar encounter etched within him, he had specifically set similar challenges when he recruited disciples to test their temperament. However, the approach was incredibly risky as it was near impossible to overcome unless one was highly gifted and fine in predisposition with exceptional determination. Otherwise, it was all too easy to break down and go crazy or turn dull-witted. Across the many generations of the Ultimate Heaven Sect’s legacy, many brilliant disciples whom their teachers had high hopes for had all succumbed at this stage, dying young in the middle of their cultivation journey.

Having the experience accumulated from past generations, the elders of the Ultimate Heaven Sect had finally perfected the drill. The intention of the Ultimate Heaven was more to warn themselves that there was a limit to heaven – what more, human.

Dong Qitian, who was the executor of the approach, had to supervise and prevent external disturbances while constantly observing to see that his trainees did not overexert or actually destroy their meridians. He had to pinpoint the maximum point of their limit during the process and intervene to rescue them.

Not only was this a toll on the physical aspect of a person, but it was also a test of experience and perception. If his timing was slightly earlier and the trainee had yet to reach his limit, it posed a deficiency to the cultivation process; if his timing had slacked and his trainee went past his limit, the trainee’s meridians could be severely damaged and the poor soul might even die. The optimal outcome could only be achieved when the timing was accurately grasped. How could this be an easy job?

Although everyone who was drilled during this duration was exhausted, they could take some rest when they passed out from the training. Dong Qitian was the most exhausted as he dared not even blink. In the past, after the Art of Ultimate Heaven was perfected, a master had, at most, looked after two or three disciples; Dong Qitian had to care for nine people at a time…

Dong Qitian felt like he had lost his sanity.

He knew that his trainees still had a lot to say but he thought that he would actually die if he did not get some sleep. Of course, a big part of his fatigue came from the heart. He had been high-strung, especially when it came to Yun Yang. His attention was wholly concentrated on the former, afraid to even let his guard down in the slightest. Now that the drill had come to a break, the fatigue was overwhelming, despite his ecstasy.

“Tomorrow’s the official start?” Nine of them looked at each other, flabbergasted, when they heard Dong Qitian’s words.

It had not even begun when they were already trained to this state? They were all half dead. If this could be described as easy, what was difficult going to be?

Was the legendary Ultimate Heaven Sect actually so demanding, that there was no lack of members as of its reputation, or were they frogs at the bottom of the well, ignorant of the broader sky?

“Boss, this is Tie Qingcang, this is Ping Xiaoyi, and this is Guo Nuanyang.”

Lan Ruojun introduced the trio, changing the topic and soothing the current oppressive atmosphere. Dong Qitian’s words before he left had caused considerable damage.

Looking over, Yun Yang saw a man in black clothes and dark skin with a solid build like steel. He was probably Tie Qingcang. Another man was pale and thin like he could be blown away at any time – this was most likely to be Ping Xiaoyi. These two men were like their names, easily recognizable.

However, there was one more man who stood there and was naturally forgotten. Was he Guo Nuanyang? Yun Yang thought that the name and the man were rather contradictory but he recalled that Guo Nuanyang’s nickname was Day-Long Assassin and was pacified immediately.

Since he was a renowned assassin, he naturally needed such a tactic to blur into the background, the best disguise an assassin could possess.

Young Master of Dark Fog, Shi Bujia, Day-Long Assassin, Guo Nuanyang, Tri-Autumn Swordsman, Shi Wuchen, Vicious Physician, Ping Xiaoyi, Traceless White Blade, Ren Qingkuang, Yellow Gowned Sword of Frost, Lan Ruojun, Gold-Hand Scholar Tie Qingcang, and Serene Soul of Nine Springs, Kong Luoyue!

The Demiurge-Flawed Ten was only lacking Violet Robed Golden Needles, Wu Menghuan, and the Star-Souled Saber Knight, Luo Dajiang, as all eight others had gathered at the Residence of Nine Supremes.

The more Yun Yang looked at them, the more he wished to tease them.

Starting from Shi Wuchen, the name Tri-Autumn Swordsman Shi Wuchen sounded so free-spirited and unrestrained, but since when did the lonesomeness of tri-autumn ever present itself on the fellow? The most he had was dust and dirt (Wuchen also means spotless or dustless) How could he ever live up to his name and nickname?

It was said that, perhaps, one could be misnamed but nicknames could never go wrong. Yet this did not seem like the case for Shi Wuchen as both his name and nickname seemed to have been given wrongly.

‘As for Yellow Gowned Sword of Frost Lan Ruojun, where’s your yellow gown? Where did it go? What does it mean when you’re always in green?’

Young Master of Dark Fog Shi Bujia who was clad in black was, instead, the one whose image lived closer to his nickname but Gold-Hand Scholar Tie Qingcang…’You’re so muscular like you’re a blacksmith, one who’s utterly burnt too – please tell me where did you get your ‘scholar’ reputation from? And Gold-Hand… where’s your gold hand?’

The remaining Traceless White Blade, Serene Soul of Nine Springs, and Vicious Physician… Other than the Vicious Physician who looked a little like the part, the other two seemed quite undeserving of their nicknames. Yun Yang wondered how they got them. Could they have burned gifts in an exchange of lower-class spiritual stones?

“I have a question. How did this reputation of yours come by?” Yun Yang asked complying to his curiosity.

“We dare not call them reputation… These nicknames are from the discussion when we first roamed the martial world, sensational names we made for ourselves… They’re made up entirely by us, they aren’t our reputation from fame…”

Ren Qingkuang was even more direct as he said, “Such a thing like nicknames… they exist once you hire a few people to spread words about it in the martial world. At most, we’ll add ‘I’m Tri-Autumn Swordsman, Shi Wuchen’ when we dwell in the martial world. After a few rounds of shameless promotion like this, it’ll naturally gain momentum…”

Shi Wuchen raged, “Why don’t you give the example using your name?”

Ren Qingkuang rolled his eyes, answering, “How can I use my nickname as an example when it’s such a shameful matter? Of course, I must illustrate with the one who’s the most undeserving of his nickname!”

The group broke into a chorus of guffaws.

“This is really new knowledge to me…” Yun Yang commented slowly.

He was being honest. He had always thought that nicknames were only used when they were given by other martial practitioners and cultivators. Who knew that these fellows’ nicknames were given by themselves?!

Those were not monikers, those were prearranged names!

“Boss, you’ve ascended to the Bound of Universe not too long ago and you must be an awe-inspiring cultivator in your original realm. You won’t know how hard it is to earn a reputation on your own without a background or belonging to any Celestial Luck Banner sect…”

Ren Qingkuang sighed, “It’s honestly difficult to make a name for yourself in the martial world if you don’t think of ways to do it. If you don’t create a moniker of your liking in time and allow things to take a course of their own, it’s a possible lifetime disgrace once malicious disciples from other sects put a title on your head…”

“There’s such a thing?” Yun Yang was baffled.