"The continent’s dispute had reached the point where, if it wasn’t curbed in time, then it could lead to a thorough destruction. Thus, the nine great powerhouses relinquished all hostility and friendship towards each other, and gathered together to have a discussion and eventually reached a solution for the situation at hand. And that solution was: the continent would be divided into nine big chunks, including both barren and fertile regions... in this context, the barren and fertile regions are referring to the regions with… low and high content of ‘World Vitality’ respectively! [1]
"They mutually agreed upon assigning one region to each of the nine races. Afterwards, they could only reside within their respective regions. If any of the races were to ever try and cross the border, then they would inevitably face a joint attack of the others.
"As for which race would reside in which slice of the continent, this decision was left in the hands of the nine great powerhouses; the nine great powerhouses carried out a ranking battle, with the race corresponding to the top ranking powerhouse getting to reside in the best region! And the same process continued until the end.
"At that time, the nine races consisted of the Sun race, Moon race and the Star race, amongst others; these three races however, are widely known as the Three Stars Divine Clan. They can neither be classified as humans, nor can they be classified as beasts; they belong to a fairly peculiar race. They have one thing in common, which is every time stars congeal in the sky, they can transform into humans, but their strength naturally remains enormous as ever!
"Furthermore, there was also the Beast race, which used to be the largest back then. Moreover, when their cultivation reached a certain level, they could also transform into humans with no visible difference when compared to real humans. The other races were namely Bird race, Dragon race, Fairy race, Human race, Devil race and Spirit race. Each ethnic group had unique traits which couldn’t be imitated by the others.
"Those were precisely the nine great races!" Young Master Yu’s eyes revealed an unusual look, as if reminiscing about the distant past. Chu Yang certainly noticed this, but couldn’t understand the meaning veiled behind the look in his eyes... in short, it was quite strange and baffling.
"Such being the case, since there used to be nine great races in this world; why have the other races disappeared?" Chu Yang asked: "And what became of the ranking battle between the nine great races?"
"Hehe, the nine great powerhouses continued to battle for half a year before the rankings were ultimately decided upon; this was also the continent’s first ranking battle!" Young Master Yu shook his head and said with a smile: "The end result was... Human race was placed first and thereby occupied the best region, followed by Spirit race, Devil race, Fairy race, Dragon race, Bird race, Star race, Sun race and Moon race.
"And thus, the continent was finally divided. In those times, the continent was linked by flowing rivers. Using those very rivers as markers, the continent was divided amongst the races, with each having a section of the ocean... and a phase of mutual non-aggression persisted for many years thereafter...
"However, how could the low-ranked ethnic groups not harbor any wild ambitions? Who wouldn’t want to occupy the best region... many years after the disappearance of the nine great powerhouses, the most formidable race, Humans, finally declined, and a dispute rose again on the continent. The Three Stars Divine Clan was the first race to leave its own residence, and was all set to seize the best region.
"When the Three Stars Divine Clan moved into action, the other races also responded accordingly; this ultimately threw the entire continent into turmoil once again. But this time, the nine great powerhouses weren’t there to stop them... instead, there appeared a man with a sword!
"The Nine Tribulations Sword!" Young Master Yu said in a heavy tone.
Chu Yang was dumbstruck.
[How… did I get involved with this Nine Tribulations Sword?]
"The Nine Tribulations Sword?" Chu Yang crooked his mouth, looking askant with his eyes squinting, before he asked: "What relation does this have with the Nine Tribulations Sword?"
"…this matter was finally resolved by the master of the Nine Tribulations Sword!" Young Master appeared to be smiling before he gasped helplessly with admiration: "That person... was an ultimate scoundrel! He used an utterly preposterous method to settle this matter!"
Chu Yang appeared confused and disoriented as he asked: "How many years have passed since that happened?"
"This... is really hard to count and tell." Young Master Yu shook his head.
"At that time, the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He first found several strong experts of the Three Stars Divine Clan and without any demur, a fight of crackle and rattle began. The strong experts of the other great races were no exceptions either, and suffered attacks from the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ as well. The most serious casualty was that of a Supreme expert of Human race. He wasn’t ready to overlook the losses incurred on the part of his race, and retaliated. However, he was chased down by the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ and was slapped all over the Nine Heavens; it is said that each of those slaps shook the entire world. In fact, a slap on the face was said to have destroyed an entire mountain!
Young Master Yu’s eyes were full of fascination.
"A slap on the face destroyed an entire mountain?" Chu Yang stared, and it seemed as if his eyeballs would pop out any time now. [How can a slap on the face be anyhow related to the destruction of a mountain?]
"Whenever a slap landed on the face of that supreme expert, he was instantly sent crashing into a mountain. And then, the mountain was gone." Young Master Yu raised his eyebrows: "As simple as that!"
Chu Yang almost fainted from the shock. [Is there really such a way to slap someone? Anyway, returning to the main topic: that Supreme expert’s body was really quite tough...]
"Then the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ forcefully summoned all the strong experts; it is said that the situation back then was quite shocking and the people gathered there weren’t ready to agree with each other. Afterwards, the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ said: ‘such being the case, you might as well just live in your own respective spaces and that should end this farce once and for all’. Thereupon, the old man folded the entire continent..."
"The entire continent… was folded?" Chu Yang turned completely lifeless: "Folded?"
[That’s f*king insane, the Nine Heavens Continent is not a piece of paper you know, how can it be folded just like that?]
"Yes, it was folded; and everyone realized that the continent had become smaller in size. Moreover, it had transformed into a nine layered pagoda. The ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ was very much satisfied with this result and said: from now on, this continent shall be called the ‘Nine Heavens Continent’!"
Chu Yang smacked his lips repeatedly, [so that’s how the name of Nine Heavens Continent came into being...]
"In accordance with the requests of the Nine Tribulations Sword’s master, the races moved into their own respective spaces. None dared to speak out their unwillingness..." Young Master Yu said.
Chu Yang shook his head again and again, [while facing such a person… who would possibly say no? Who would dare to show their unwillingness?]
"However, the Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’s solution to the issue wasn’t perfect! Moreover, it caused a catastrophe." Young Master Yu sighed and said: "Initially, his solution seemed alright, but the nine separated spaces he had hastily created, were very unstable. And after the matter was initially resolved, they suddenly collapsed..."
"Collapsed..." Chu Yang’s forehead was riddled with beads of sweat, which slowly rolled down.
[The spaces collapsed...]
"At that time, the uppermost layer used to be occupied by the Human race, followed by the Three Stars Divine Clan and the other great races... they all came crashing down, one after another." Young Master Yu smiled wryly, and it seemed as if he was finding it difficult to speak about this: "The uppermost layer completely collapsed upon the layer below and that layer collapsed onto the layers below, one after another... thereupon annihilating some of the races that once used to contend for hegemony over this continent; namely Dragon race, Fairy race, Devil race, Spirit race … these races ceased to exist."
"They were crushed to death?" Chu Yang was left alarmed and leaping.
"You tell me?" Young Master Yu blankly glanced at him: "When an entire continent comes crashing down… who can survive that? Even a Supreme expert… would find it difficult to live through such a calamity!"
Chu Yang felt his hands and feet turning ice-cold.
"The ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ felt like he had lost face..." Chu Yang felt his brain being short-circuited by this sentence of the Young Master Yu’s: [That prick destroyed five great races… and felt as if he had lost face?]
Listening to this sentence was really equivalent to the feeling of getting one’s b*lls crushed.
"Therefore, he performed a bit of renovation. He merged the bottom two layers into one layer, then the middle two layer into one… as for the above five layers, they were all merged together! In this way, the nine heavens were transformed into three heavens. Afterwards, in order to commemorate the five great races, which were annihilated in the catastrophe... the continent was called the Nine Heavens!
"I see, so that’s how it is." Chu Yang finally understood the origins of the Nine Heavens Continent. However, just thinking about what he got to learn today, sent chills down his spine: [to think that someone was able to easily fold the continent? In addition… when the results were not up to his satisfaction, instead of unfolding the continent, he folded it once again?]
[Thinking of this ... just thinking of this makes me feel dizzy!]
"However, there still remained a hidden danger of the reoccurrence of such a calamity due to the presence of heavenly defects from the previous calamity." Young Master Yu said: "Thus, the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ left his sword behind in this continent. In order to seal those defects, he divided his sword into nine fragments, and sealed the defects with the help of some secret method. Henceforth, the continent stabilized, and there has never been a reoccurrence of collapse ever since..."
"Afterward, the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword Lord’ disappeared without a trace... since then, no one saw him again!" Young Master Yu said in a deep tone: "That extraordinary personage left behind a passage before departing: The Nine Tribulations Sword would resurface once in every ten thousand years, lock the destiny of this continent, initiating the cycle of karma, thereby providing strong support to the Nine Heavens Continent..."
Chu Yang stared with his eye opened wide while sluggishly nodding his head.
[So that’s how it is!]
[This is the true origins of the Nine Tribulations Sword!]
"Since then, that strange sword came to be known as ‘Nine Tribulations Sword’! Everyone tried to guess why that extraordinary expert called this sword the ‘Nine Tribulations Sword’? Could it be that... this continent would have to go through nine great tribulations? But even after thinking it over and over, no one could figure out, and the topic was dropped at last.
"Ten thousand years later, someone really obtained the Nine Tribulations Sword. However this time around, the layout of the Nine Heavens Continent was completely changed again... after a tragic war, the last surviving of Bird race… were thoroughly wiped out..."
"After a certain period of time, a great conflict arose between the Human race and the Three Stars Divine Clan... but this time, the Nine Tribulations Sword fell into the hands of a human expert... and when his strength reached the peak level, the Three Stars Divine Clan was completely sealed by him!"
"Sealed…"
"Yes, sealed! This seal however, can be removed, but only when the Nine Tribulations Sword would resurface..."
"Cough Cough Cough..." After hearing that, Chu Yang felt as if he would collapse any time now. Now, there was only one doubt in his heart: [Did all of this really happen? Has this inconceivable event really taken place?]
[Could it be that reason why the Nine Tribulations Sword unceasingly absorbs the essence of all sorts of stuff… is to garner enough strength to support the continent? If that is really so...then isn’t this too... too ... too baffling?]
[Whenever the Nine Tribulations Sword emerges, it gives rise to a turbulent time and utter chaos, which shakes the entire world. Don’t tell me that this happens in response to some kind of reaction owing to the emergence of those heavenly defects which cause the continent’s support to lose its strength?]
"Another ten thousand years passed, and the Nine Tribulations Sword appeared again; it continued to emerge once in every ten thousand years, causing big catastrophes, and changing the layout of the Nine Heavens Continent every time... from the very beginning… ninety thousand years have already passed..."
Young Master Yu lifted his teacup and took a sip before saying: "At present, the Nine Tribulations Sword has already taken its re-birth… not including the time it appeared with its original owner, this emergence would be the ninth time!"
[The Ninth time! ]
"Based on the records... the commotion caused by the appearance of the Nine Tribulations Sword this time, is entirely different from the previous times; it seems as if this time, things would be a lot more serious than before! Moreover... a legend has been in circulation ever since the first appearance of the Nine Tribulations Sword: Nine Tribulations, Nine Revelations, the earth will crack open and the sky will flip over... in other words, the whole of Nine Heavens Continent would be destroyed ... no one knows when such nonsensical legend began to spread…"
Chu Yang finally moved his eyeballs, rapidly, and said: "All this sounds like a dream..."
TL’s notes:
1) World Vitality, means vital energy of the world. In context, it basically refers to the energy or Qi in a particular region.