I Cheated While Cultivating

Zhou Heng snorted coldly and immediately struck with a Palm Thunder.

The intertwining thunder and Pure Yang golden light descended right on top of the ghostly creature claiming to be Wan Shankong’s head, shattering its helmet and revealing a skin-covered, skeletal head resembling a skull.

However, as the helmet broke apart, the Palm Thunder also disappeared without causing any real damage to the ghostly creature.

“You’re quite bold, little one!” Wan Shankong’s mouth curled into a smile as he extended a tongue that resembled withered vines, which shot out like an arrow straight toward Zhou Heng’s head, aiming to pierce through his skull and drain his blood and marrow.

Clang!

A bell-like resounding clamor emerged from Zhou Heng’s palm as he struck out, golden light bursting forth like a colossal golden bell being struck, reverberating in all directions.

Ring Gold Palm!

The powerful force of the shockwave, combined with the special power of Innate Pure Yang energy, immediately shattered the withered vine-like tongue, and dark purple viscous blood scattered all over the ground.

Yet instead of being angered, Wan Shankong grinned at this turn of events, his gaze full of mockery as he watched Zhou Heng.

With a light movement of his idle left hand, and a flick of his fingers, the viscous blood on the ground seemed to gain its own consciousness, soaring up and turning into hundreds, even thousands of dart-like projectiles flying towards Zhou Heng.

“Be careful!” Chen Yingyu couldn’t help but cry out in alarm.

She drew her longsword and was about to rush in front of Zhou Heng to intercept the blood “darts.”

However, before she could even start her sword move, a sword light suddenly sprang into existence, horizontally positioned in front of Zhou Heng.

It was an ancient-looking longsword with delicate patterns.

No one was holding it.

It simply hovered in mid-air.

Cross Mysterious Door Sword!

“Rise!”

Zhou Heng let out a low shout, his left hand forming a sword finger held upright before his chest, with Innate Pure Yang Inner Qi rapidly circulating. Through his powerful Spirit, he directly infused the Cross Mysterious Door Sword with a layer of golden dawn light.

Clang!

As the sword sang out, clear as the cry of a crane piercing the skies, resonating in all directions, bright golden sword light suddenly burst forth. As it danced in the air, it executed a series of masterful sword moves, completely obliterating the incoming blood “darts.”

Hundred Step Flying Sword!

Sword Breaker Move!

Although Zhou Heng’s Hundred Step Flying Sword was not yet perfected, with a strong foundation of Spirit enhancement and the nurturing of his Divine Soul by Innate Skill, his Divine Soul Power was incredibly strong, allowing him to control the sword closely.

At that moment, as he wielded the Cross Mysterious Door Sword in mid-air flight, he hadn’t moved himself, but countered the hundreds of blood “darts” unleashed by Wan Shankong.

Chen Yingyu found this situation utterly unbelievable.

Is he really Eighth Rank?

Could there exist such an astoundingly strong Eighth Rank in the world?

And what about that Sword Control Technique he just used? Isn’t remote weapon control a talent only Sixth Rank experts possess?

What’s going on?

Chen Yingyu was completely baffled, her face under the mask filled with shock. The abilities Zhou Heng now displayed had utterly surpassed her imagination.

It was too incredible.

Even Wan Shankong, the old ghost himself, looked at Zhou Heng with a trace of doubtful surprise.

However, he appeared to be mentally unstable, and after just a moment of doubt, his eyes flared with a sudden increase in gloomy blue light, as he once again became frenzied.

“You little thing, you even know Sword Control Technique!” Wan Shankong’s tongue regenerated in his mouth, and with a leer, he said, “This is getting interesting! Ha!”

With a roar from Wan Shankong, the dark purple light around him suddenly surged, enveloping his entire body and forming a massive pillar of light that slammed brutally against the Grasp Gold Hammer pressing down on him.

Boom!

The deafening explosion shook the entire cavern violently, threatening to completely collapse at any moment. The dark purple column of light clashed with the golden fist, and for a time, it was a stalemate.

“Little thing, how can an Eighth Rank Martial Artist on the Martial Path possess Inner Qi of such high essence?” Wan Shankong was filled with doubt and surprise; Zhou Heng’s Inner Qi quality and strength were the strongest he had ever seen among Eighth Rank Martial Artists.

Clang!

Right as Wan Shankong was riddled with doubts, another sword cry was heard. The Cross Mysterious Door Sword landed in Zhou Heng’s hand, and with a mighty thrust forward amidst a flash of golden light, it slashed towards Wan Shankong’s head.

“It’s nothing but a common blade!”

Wan Shankong sneered, raising his palm protected by the ancient armor, the dark purple light shining brightly as his fingers, like sharp swords, directly grasped the attacking Cross Mysterious Door Sword.

Yet his grasp did not stop the Cross Mysterious Door Sword’s momentum; the sword edge instantly pierced through the dark purple light and his palm.

Then with a golden gleam of the sword light, it looped around his neck, severing his head.

The Cross Mysterious Door Sword was a superior blade in its own right.

It had three special effects: toughness, piercing, and demon slaying.

Additionally, with Zhou Heng’s added sharpness +2 enchantment, piercing through Wan Shankong’s palm was hardly an uncertainty.

After this successful move, Zhou Heng immediately accelerated the circulation of the Innate Pure Yang Inner Qi within his body and further enhanced the Grasp Gold Hammer, causing it to swell a bit more.

Boom!

A loud blast shook the earth, as a golden fist smashed viciously into Wan Shankong’s headless corpse. The supremely firm and yang energy instantly crushed the body filled with ghostly energy.

At the same time, the aftermath of the battle also whisked away the remaining five Seventh Rank ghosts, annihilating them completely.

“Phew!” Zhou Heng finally let out a long breath, but his expression remained tense.

“Is it finally over? Your Highness, you, you are truly too powerful!” Chen Yingyu, whose spirit had been on edge, relaxed a bit and looked at Zhou Heng with admiration and longing eyes, now even more intense.

“It’s not over yet.” Zhou Heng shook his head, raised his hand to retrieve the Cross Mysterious Door Sword and held it in his hand as he approached the huge pit created by the Grasp Gold Hammer.

“Not, not over yet??” Chen Yingyu’s eyes widened, and the tension in her spirit immediately ramped back up.

Boom!!

Suddenly, another huge blast emanated from the pit.

Wan Shankong, whom Zhou Heng had just crushed, surged out again, now with half of his head mangled, his lower body covered in blood and flesh that was rapidly regenerating.

“You little thing, not bad, but that’s not enough to kill me!”

Wan Shankong glared with his almost dangling eyeballs and sneered, “You humans once relied on ghosts in your conquests, yet now you seek to eradicate them; how laughable.”

As he spoke, his body had already mostly regenerated, and he floated in the air, looking down on Zhou Heng. This was something beyond what a Lower Third Rank could accomplish.

“What are you trying to say?” Zhou Heng furrowed his brows and asked.

“The truth about the Battle of Tian Yang, that deliberately concealed era—don’t you want to know what really happened?” Wan Shankong said with a sly smile: “Maybe the justice you uphold is nothing but a lie?”

“Stop your nonsense!” Chen Yingyu shouted sharply, “Why should we believe the words of a ghost like you?!”

“Go on.” Zhou Heng, however, nodded and said to Wan Shankong, “I am indeed interested in that.”

“Hahaha, then let me tell you all about it, so you may know everything with utter clarity!” Wan Shankong’s grin thickened, and he laughed loudly: “To satisfy your curiosity!”

Before his words faded, a mass of purplish-black mist burst out from Wan Shankong’s shattered body and quickly condensed into a beam of black light, which shot towards Zhou Heng at high speed.

“Hahaha! Curiosity is also a flaw in the spirit! Don’t worry, I will fulfill this wish of yours— you will soon understand the affairs of the Battle of Tian Yang very clearly!”

Wan Shankong laughed wildly, knowing he had caught a weak spot in Zhou Heng’s spirit and could now initiate a preliminary possession.

This process once started, could not be stopped!

Unless Zhou Heng could kill him in this brief moment.

In Wan Shankong’s view, that was impossible.

The Taoist formulas of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer took a long time to prepare and simply wouldn’t be fast enough. The previous Thunder technique didn’t have enough power to kill him either.

All set!

Rumble!!

However, at that moment, deafening thunder roared, as if a world of thunder had descended, instantly filling the cavern with purple lightning.

Almost simultaneously, the purple lightning was dyed with gold. This was the combination of the Power of Innate Pure Yang and Palm Thunder.

The golden glow enveloping Zhou Heng’s whole body also sparked with purple thunder, making him appear like the Thunder God incarnate.

South of Ansong County City, a purplish-gold light soared, and the thunderous sounds reached the ears of the residents. Many people knelt and prayed, thinking a great power had descended to slay demons and purge evil from Ansong County.

“You think I don’t know what you’re plotting?

“Just to draw out your ghostly spirit!

“Winter Thunderbolt!”

Zhou Heng shouted fiercely, using the Cross Mysterious Door Sword as a blade to execute the fourth strike of the Purple Thunder Seven Strikes, slashing down through the air.

The massive purplish-gold thunder light layered upon itself, one after another, like a cascade of thunderous realms, thunderously crashing down!

The Power of Innate Pure Yang, the effectiveness of a sharp weapon against evil, the special attack against ghostly spirits, and the Palm Thunder’s special effect against ghosts all became the death warrant for Wan Shankong.

On the spot, the ghost entity, which was rushing towards Zhou Heng in an attempt to possess him, was blasted into scattering purplish-black light fragments and could not regenerate, quickly dissipating into nothing.

“Congratulations! You have defeated the formidable enemy ‘Wan Shankong’s Distorted Remnant Soul,’ Fortune Bag [Silver] +3.”

…

“Congratulations! You have killed the hopelessly weak enemy Wu Ying, Fortune Bag [Copper] +1.”

…

“Congratulations! You have killed the hopelessly weak enemy Cui Yuanzhong, Fortune Bag [Copper] +1.”

…

The Seventh Rank ghosts all rewarded a Copper Fortune Bag each, while the final defeat of Wan Shankong even rewarded three Silver Fortune Bags!

It could be said to be a screen full of Fortune Bags.

However, what concerned Zhou Heng more was the description in the reward notifications.

Wan Shankong’s Distorted Remnant Soul?

Could it be similar to the split soul of Xuan Yang from back then?

Of course, this did not affect his original plan—

“You used ‘Memory Fall Card’ on ‘Wan Shankong’s Distorted Remnant Soul,\'” “Wan Shankong’s Distorted Remnant Soul’s Memory Crystal +1.”