I Cheated While Cultivating

“Qingxia God’s Lifespan Tooth [Damaged]: One of the two lifespan teeth of the Qingxia God, interwoven with the rhythm of the ‘Qingmu Dao Seed,¹ closely related to the state of the Qingxia God, and contains the mystery to help the Qingxia God break the seal.”

Upon learning the true information of this so-called Wordless Stele, Zhou Heng became even more perplexed.

Why were the Honghua Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect competing for this lifespan tooth of the Qingxia God? Could it be to release the Qingxia God, allowing this legendary powerful creature to regain its freedom?

This doesn’t make sense!

Zhou Heng’s understanding of the Qingxia God was limited to the folk legends told by an old ferryman on the Qingxia River, which depicted the Qingxia God as a man-eating giant azure snake that ravaged the countryside long ago, later to be suppressed by an old immortal.

This seemed to have nothing to do with both the Plague Emperor Sect and Honghua Palace.

Why would they do such a thing??

And what exactly is the “Qingmu Dao Seed”??

Zhou Heng suddenly felt very ignorant, with most of his understanding of the Martial Path and Martial Artists still based on hearsay. As for higher-level information, he could practically say he knew nothing.

Out of ignorance, he could not fathom the motives behind Honghua Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect’s actions.

This made him even more eager to join the Pure Yang Palace.

Not to mention, in that sect, which carries an ancient and top Martial Dao legacy, knowledge about higher-level Martial Arts and Martial Artists should be easily accessible.

Unlike now, when he was utterly in the dark about everything.

Boom!

While Zhou Heng’s mind was racing with thoughts, aloud explosion suddenly erupted. The main hall of the Wang Family was demolished by a tremendous force; bricks, tiles, and wood splintered everywhere, instantly injuring many people.

At the same time, a smoke filled with diseased air spread and permeated, entering the bodies of many who had just narrowly escaped harm. They immediately started to cough violently, vomiting blood after just a few coughs, then fell to the ground. With only a little struggle, they died.

This was the poisonous smoke of the Plague Emperor Sect. Ordinary people could hardly last a few breaths against it, and even Ninth Rank Warriors would not last much longer. Even a Seventh Rank would have difficulty escaping.

In general, Martial Artists below the Sixth Rank, if they breathed in this poisonous smoke, would inevitably fall seriously ill; the only difference was how soon. And most of them would die on the spot.

The moment Zhou Heng sensed something was wrong, he held his breath, circulating his Inner Qi to close his pores, moving quickly to evade the poisonous smoke.

Even though he had a Constitution +1 attribute bonus and his resistance to the poison should be far stronger than that of an average Eighth Rank Warrior, the Plague Emperor Sect was still one of the four major evil paths in Da Qi, and he dared not test the poison on himself; it was wiser to avoid it.

However, while dodging the poisonous smoke, Zhou Heng did not forget his main purpose for coming here.

He put on his sharp weapon gloves.

His left hand shaped into a sword finger, and his right fingers came together like a blade, utilizing the technique of fighting with both hands independently. His left executed the Lonely Nine Swords technique, while his right performed the Purple Thunder Seven Strikes, each hand slaying a Martial Artist from the Plague Emperor Sect.

At this moment, Zhou Heng, attacking with full strength, faced disciples from the Plague Emperor Sect who were good at poisoning through stealth but poor at direct combat, had no ability to resist. Even those with Seventh Rank cultivation fell to Zhou Heng’s hands like slaughtering chickens.

“Mission accomplished, time to go!”

Zhou Heng had no intention of meddling in the Wang Family’s troubles, nor did he care what the Honghua Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect wanted with the Qingxia God’s lifespan tooth.

It was time to make an escape!

But before he could take two steps, he was again blocked by disciples from the Plague Emperor Sect and the Honghua Palace.

Zhou Heng’s eyes turned cold, and he lashed out with both hands, sword and knife in tandem, shouting fiercely, “Evil fiends! Die!”

At this time, the Wang Family mansion had become completely chaotic. The sudden attack caught everyone in the Wang Family off guard; all were at a loss.

In an instant, more than half were killed.

Moreover, in the entire Wang Family, only the old patriarch and the current Family Head, Wang Yuande, were Sixth Rank. Caught unprepared and affected by the poisonous smoke, their strength drastically decreased, leaving them hardly able to resist the joint assault of Xin Shou and Han Yuxiao.

They could only barely hold on.

Wang Xinyue stood on the side, watching everything in shock. The environment filled with smoke, splattered blood, and scattered limbs completely shattered the calm life she had known for the past sixteen years.

A protective glow, three inches in front of her, shielded her. This was a defensive aura set up by the Wang Family patriarch, sparing some energy to protect her from the poisonous smoke.

“Why? Why is this happening?”

At that moment, Lu Xiuming and Si Ying had already rushed to the Wordless Stele, both exerting their efforts, trying to move it.

Yet, the moment the two of them started to act, shockwaves from countless Qi blades spread over, instantly slicing them into seven or eight pieces, with chunks of flesh falling everywhere amidst spurts of blood.

These Qi blades were merely the aftermath of attacks from Wang Family’s patriarch and Wang Yuande, while they resisted the assault from Xin Shou and Han Yuxiao.

Two Seventh Rank experts had no capability whatsoever to resist the aftershocks of an attack from a Sixth Rank warrior; they were utterly outmatched.

This gap was truly immense.

It wasn’t just the difference between Seventh and Sixth Ranks, but also the gap between the Lower Third Rank and the Middle Third Rank.

However, with many people from the Honghua Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect having arrived, even after Lu Xiuming and Si Ying perished, others rushed towards the Wordless Stele, attempting to take it.

Finally, after three waves of deaths, the people from the Honghua Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect got hold of the Wordless Stele.

Seeing that the Wordless Stele was secured, Xin Shou and Han Yuxiao made a split-second decision to exploit a flaw and prepare to escape. However, at that moment, Wang Lang appeared, walking on air.

“Audacious evildoers! Daring to commit such heinous murder within the Prefectural city! Perish!”

This Sixth Rank expert from the Five Elements Sect stood aloft, spreading his arms wide, his True Qi surging as he conjured a pair of massive azure palm shadows over ten zhang wide within an instant.

As if swatting mosquitoes!

Boom!

Two giant azure palms struck out of the void, hitting Xin Shou and Han Yuxiao, instantly bringing them crashing down from the sky.

Moreover, without diminishing their momentum after striking Xin Shou and Han Yuxiao to the ground, the palms continued and landed on the Wang Family estate, crushing to death the heretical disciples who were about to move the “Wordless Stele”.

Then, the shadow of the giant palms reached out from the void, attempting to snatch up the “Wordless Stele”.

He was here to rob the “Wordless Stele” as well.

“You bandits!” the old master of the Wang Family raged.

His body surged with True Qi, and his elderly frame burst forth with a terrifying aura like never before.

He was ready to sacrifice his life.

As a senior Sixth Rank martial expert who had lived more than two hundred years, he knew not a few powerful secret techniques and had even comprehended a marvelous method from the many martial arts enlightenments.

If he could continue, he was confident lie could fully understand the secrets of the “Wordless Stele”, which was also the reason he had previously said there might not be another martial arts tournament.

“Azure Dragon Stomps the Heavens!”

The old master of the Wang Family roared, and in an instant, his body transformed from the appearance of a seventy or eighty-year-old to that of a twenty-year-old youth. His True Qi, carrying most of his vitality, burst out of his body, reaching up to the heavens and surprisingly transformed into an Azure Dragon!

This Azure Dragon, a hundred yards long, with snarling teeth and flailing claws, stirred the primordial qi of heaven and earth, interweaving the power of laws, causing Wang Lang, Xin Shou, and Han Yuxiao to feel an immense pressure.

Zhou Heng, who had just slain two heretical disciples, felt his eyelids twitching and looked up at the sky in shock, exclaiming, “What is this, an Azure Dragon!?”

It was as if the world of martial arts had suddenly become one of immortal heroes, with a strong sense of shock.

“Dharma Phase!?”

“How is it possible, this old man displayed the power of a Fifth Rank?”

“Damn it!”

Wang Lang, Xin Shou, and Han Yuxiao all cried out in alarm, for the Azure Dragon had locked onto them, carrying with it an extremely intense killing intent.

“Die!” The old master of the Wang Family roared. He was burning his life away, the decades of his remaining lifespan vanishing in an instant, and in a few more breaths, he would be dead.

“Roar!!”

The Azure Dragon roared, dispersing the clouds, stirring up layers of primordial qi, creating a terrifying storm, sweeping towards its target, while it too charged forward.

This immensely terrifying force, even just the aftermath, was extremely powerful, instantly leveling the entire Wang Family’s estate to the ground, leaving nothing within miles.

Zhou Heng was sent flying, and He Mengqiu, who had been waiting outside the Wang Family’s estate, immediately reached out to grab Yun Xiu with one hand and reached forward to catch the flying Zhou Heng with the other, planning to escape into the skies.

Thunderous boom!

But at that moment, an earth-shattering loud noise came. A massive pitch- black palm pierced through the clouds, split the sky, smashed through layers of storm, suppressed the stirred primordial qi, and let out a thunderous roar, grabbing hold of the Azure Dragon in its grasp.

Then, with a slight squeeze.

Bang!

The Azure Dragon instantly burst apart, turned into nothingness, and vanished from sight.

The Dharma Phase’s power, comparable to that of a Fifth Rank, was crushed like a small insect by that pitch-black hand that had appeared out of nowhere.

The old master of the Wang Family froze in place, his expression one of shock and disbelief as he stared at the sky. Soon, his face turned to terror, his eyes filled with fear, and his voice trembling, he said, “This, this is, Fourth, Fourth, Fourth Rank!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the life left his body, and he stood there, dead.

Wang Xinyue was still standing behind, staring blankly, the tears on her pretty cheeks already dry, and a thick hatred began to emerge in her once-bright eyes. “Worthless thing, making me personally take action!”

An indifferent voice came from the sky. Soon after, a pitch-black beam of light shone down from above the clouds, and a man dressed in a black robe, exuding an imposing demeanor, stepped through the darkness and slowly descended from the heavens.

He Mengqiu, about to flee into the skies with Zhou Heng and Yun Xiu, saw this man and became pale with fright, exclaiming in shock, “Sha Mishe, Black Heaven Plague Emperor, ranked twentieth on the Earth List!”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Heng’s eyebrows shot up.

An Earth List expert!

This meant that this man was a peerless expert of the Fourth Rank!

At the pinnacle of the world!

“Let’s go!” He Mengqiu, upon seeing this man, didn’t think twice and prepared to flee with all his might.

However, at this moment.

Li Tonghe, half-dead, suddenly crawled out from the ruins of the Wang Family estate, his gaze turning towards Zhou Heng in the distant sky.

He suddenly gave a strange, eerie smile, and a fountain of blood burst from his body, as he shouted, “With my blood as a sacrifice, I summon the Immortal’s divine presence, and I respectfully welcome the arrival of the Great Saintly Merciful Immortal!”

Thunderous boom!

The heavens opened, a beam of clear light crossed countless miles in an instant, arriving above Yuanhe Prefecture City. The space around Li Tonghe began to twist, and the scenery turned into overlapping blocks of colors.

Then, the clear light descended, instantly crushing Li Tonghe into nothingness. At the same time, where Li Tonghe vanished, the clear light coalesced into the figure of a kindly old man.

The old man flickered slightly and appeared out of nowhere in front of Zhou Heng, He Mengqiu, and Yun Xiu as if he had teleported.

“Where are you going?” asked the old man with a smiling face. “Three little bugs.”