I Cheated While Cultivating

He went to meet Siming.

It was once again the familiar overlapping lights and shining stars, accompanied by the sound of prayers seemingly chanted by countless beings. Having traversed all this, Zhou Heng once again arrived at the Purple Tenuity Palace.

Besides meeting Siming, he also wanted to find The Supreme and the Principle of Heaven to inquire about the situation with the inner seats of the Five Emperors.

After all, it had been quite some time; why had there been no information about the third task?

No sooner had Zhou Heng come to the world where the Purple Tenuity Palace was located than he saw Siming, dressed in a gold Dharma robe and wearing a mask. It seemed he had been waiting there for him.

“Paying respects to the great Ziwei,” said Siming, showing the same respect to Zhou Heng as other members of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer did in this world.

Well, to be precise, it was respect maintained for the identity of the Ziwei Master.

After that, he took Zhou Heng aloft on clouds, arriving among mountains surrounded by the Star River, finding a secluded and uninhabited peak to land on.

After dispersing the clouds and light, Siming removed his mask, revealing an ordinary-looking but majestic face, seemingly in his thirties or forties.

Clearly, this was his way of equally introducing his identity, acknowledging that he was aware of Zhou Heng’s true identity, just like “Siming” before him.

“Hm? This facial features…” Zhou Heng stared at the man, slightly taken aback, and couldn’t help wrinkling his brow. He felt as if he had seen him somewhere before, yet he seemed unfamiliar.

“Great Ziwei, allow me to introduce myself again,” Siming began with a smile, apparently noticing Zhou Heng’s confusion, “I am Wang Xueyuan from the Wang Family of Xuanzhou, an offshoot of the main house. The Wang Xiuye you know is my son.”

“What??” Zhou Heng was suddenly astounded. Siming, this top Great Grandmaster of the present age, was actually from an offshoot of the main house of the Wang Family of Xuanzhou, and he was Wang Xiuye’s father?!

This identity was indeed unexpected to him.

Firstly, the current Family Head of the Wang family was of Fourth Rank Absolute pinnacle. If the offshoot of the main house was also an Absolute Fourth Rank, how could he be so unknown?

Secondly, he had heard before that although Wang Xiuye was a disciple of the Wang Family of Xuanzhou, he came from an ordinary background, and his father, though having a certain status within the family, was not highly regarded due to being from an offshoot.

“Great Ziwei, there’s no need to be surprised,” Wang Xueyuan said with a smile. “Outside, my identity is merely that of an ordinary Innate Sixth Rank, even Xiuye doesn’t know my true cultivation realm.”

“Master Wang, you are deeply skilled in concealing your brilliance and nurturing your profundity,” Zhou Heng exclaimed with genuine admiration.

It was truly rare for a Great Grandmaster of Fourth Rank pinnacle, and the leader of the Seven Stars of the Azure Dragon among the Zhou Tian Boundary Officers, to disguise himself as an Innate Sixth Rank and remain undetected.

“It is also a necessity born of no other choice,” Wang Xueyuan replied with a wry smile. “Let’s not speak of this. Great Ziwei, I’ve come to you this time because there is something I need to inform you about.”

“What is it?” Zhou Heng asked with curiosity.

“Half a month ago, a demonic catastrophe erupted in the West Wasteland’s forbidden lands, and an unprecedented great demon broke out of West Wasteland. All the Celestial Men of Da Qi have gone to Liangzhou, and many of the Absolute Fourth Rank as well,” Wang Xueyuan briefly explained the situation. “Although the demonic catastrophe is about to be quelled, many Celestial Men and Absolute Fourth Rank have been seriously injured. Among them, the Dharma Bodies of the inner seats of the Five Emperors were severely damaged, nearly resulting in death, and they are now recovering from their injuries. Therefore, your third task will be assigned by me. Do you have any requests?”

All the Celestial Men of this age have gone to Liangzhou?!

Zhou Heng was suddenly shocked upon hearing this. This was the first time he had heard such news, which was why Yu Long, the Loose Immortal, had seemed so fearless. It turned out that the Celestial Men had indeed been unable to attend to his chaos at that time.

Moreover, he sensed an unusual scent within it.

Just one magical calamity, a single peerless great demon.

It actually required the deployment of all the Celestials of the current age, and many at the absolute Fourth Rank responded as well, yet even after half a month, they still hadn’t completely quelled the disaster.

This undoubtedly indicated that Da Qi’s power to deal with the “magical calamity” was severely insufficient.

From this one could speculate—

Perhaps they would hold up this time, perhaps even settle things down, but what about later? Would there not be stronger magical calamities, stronger great demons?

What then?

To rely on the Tao Lords and the Saints?

Zhou Heng had not forgotten the words previously spoken by The Supreme and the principle of heaven, after the battle of Tiantang three thousand years ago, it had become extremely difficult for the Tao Lords and the Saints to take action.

Celestials were usually regarded as the strongest combat forces.

If great demons appeared that even Celestials could not defeat… and there were more of them.

For Liangzhou, for the many prefectures of Da Qi’s western regions, and even for everyone in Da Qi, it would likely signal a catastrophe!

This world, or say Da Qi, did not seem to be as safe and peaceful as it appeared on the surface.

Was it because Pingzhou was located in the central region, far from the West Wasteland and borderless with Northern Zhou and Southern Jin, with few wars and conflicts, that it had the “illusion” of safety and peace?

For a moment, many thoughts flashed through Zhou Heng’s mind, and he suddenly felt that he still knew too little about this world.

“Ziwei Master, master?” Wang Xueyuan saw Zhou Heng lost in thought for a long time and couldn’t help but ask again.

“…Hmm, I just thought of a few things,” Zhou Heng came back to his senses and reviewed the words of Wang Xueyuan just now, pondering, “Are there any missions related to demon entities coming up?”

Although it was more dangerous to know more about demon entities before reaching the Sixth Rank of Martial Path, Zhou Heng still wanted to gain some early understanding of information about them.

What if he encountered them one day?

“Not really,” Wang Xueyuan shook his head and said, “The guards in Liangzhou are extremely strict. As long as any demon entities encroach, they will eradicate them at all costs.”

In fact, he had left something unsaid. Even the weakest demon entities were not something a martial artist below the Lower Third Rank could handle; they were terrifying creatures distinctly different from ghosts and evil creatures.

“In that case, I’ll opt for missions that allow me to face off against relatively powerful ghosts and evil creatures, preferably the latter,” Zhou Heng had no choice but to make such a request.

The stronger the opponent, the higher the rewards he could acquire.

He emphasized evil creatures because his counter to shadowy spirits had already reached a +3 effectiveness level, his Pure Yang Danjing had finally broken through to the fifth layer, his Innate Skill had reached perfection, naturally causing his Innate Pure Yang Inner Qi to surge in power.

Besides that, he also had the Overturning Heaven Three Palms, which were extremely firm and yang in nature, along with the Divine Sword Thunder Control, the Five Thunder Orthodox Gold Book, Purple Thunder Blade Skill, and other thunderous Taoist Formulas and Martial Arts skills that had received proficiency boost through special packages.

With this series of enhancements and special Taoist Formulas and Martial Arts skills, even the ghosts at the very pinnacle of Seventh Rank, merely an inch away from the Sixth Rank, would probably be killed by him in a single encounter.

With such a target for the task, I could probably only get a “piece of cake” reward at best—no fun at all.

——Previously, on his way to the entrance of the Purple Tenuity Palace, Zhou Heng had used several assignable Sect Fifth Rank proficiency slots he had, learning some Taoist Formulas he hadn’t mastered yet, and then used a big proficiency gift bag to increase the familiarity of these newly learned Taoist Formulas.

“Mhm, I got it,” Wang Xueyuan nodded upon hearing this and said, “After you’ve picked out the task, I’ll send the details to your mask.”

“Much appreciated,” Zhou Heng said with a smile.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but complain inwardly that the Zhou Tian Star Chart could only transmit information in one direction, which was really inconvenient.

If it were possible for two-way contacts, or even real-time communication between masks, then he wouldn’t need to come to Purple Tenuity Palace at all. He could’ve discussed everything with Wang Xueyuan remotely.

Indeed, changing technology is what changes life.

…

After leaving the Purple Tenuity Palace, Zhou Heng found the nearest prefectural city, the Red Leaf Mansion.

He found an inn and settled down for the time being.

Before receiving the task from the lodging star, he didn’t really have any other places he wanted to go.

Although he was keen on challenging the top ten experts on the human ranking, it was a bit troublesome since he couldn’t find their whereabouts in the short term.

So, after finding an inn to settle down,

Zhou Heng decided to take advantage of the last bit of “luck” and hurriedly open the remaining three Silver Fortune Bags.

“Open the Silver Fortune Bag!”

“Congratulations! You’re extremely lucky! You received a basic attribute: Constitution +2.”

“Congratulations! You’re extremely lucky! You received an additional attribute: Exorcism +2.”

“Congratulations! You’re extremely lucky! You received a special skill card: Peerless Beauty Card (Female).”

…

“Peerless Beauty Card (Female): After use, you can transform into a real female peerless beauty. The transformation lasts up to nine days and can be undone at any time, after which the time is reset to zero.”

What the hell??

What is this, what kind of joke is this?

Can’t escape it after all?

Zhou Heng was dumbfounded when he saw this reward, feeling as if a billion grass-mud horses were galloping through his heart.

He felt utterly disheveled.

A mighty Seventh Rank Warrior, a martial artist who had undergone a transformation, was about to roll off the bed in the inn.

“Bottom of the box! Bottom of the box!”

Zhou Heng made the correct decision any man would make without hesitation.

Then he just went to sleep.

Though his current cultivation realm meant he no longer needed sleep to recover his spirit, he still liked the feeling of sleeping. When possible, it was always better to get more sleep.

The next morning, Zhou Heng left the inn to have breakfast outside.

This Red Leaf Mansion city was famous in Pingzhou for its delicious cuisine. The breakfast was said to be unique and full of flavor, especially the wonton noodles, an unparalleled treat.

Since he was here, Zhou Heng naturally didn’t want to miss out.

He found a popular store and ordered a bowl of wonton noodles. While waiting, he overheard three men at a nearby table discussing the latest martial arts gossip.

As he listened in, he even caught news about the Cloud Ascension Heavenly Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect.

“Hey, have you heard, it’s said that both the Cloud Ascension Heavenly Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect have issued killing orders.”

“Heard about it, yes. The conditions are too generous. Just killing this person will get you gold by the thousands, and a treasure. And that’s just the reward from the Plague Emperor Sect alone!”

“Damn! A treasure! That’s at least equivalent to a Secret Sixth Rank Innate treasure, priceless!”

“That’s nothing. The reward from the Cloud Ascension Heavenly Palace is even higher: thirty thousand taels of gold, a beautiful and talented female disciple, and a peerless skill that can take one straight to the Fourth Rank realm.”

“Damn, they’re even rewarding a beautiful female disciple?! I’m tempted!”

“You’re all about the beautiful female disciple. Didn’t you hear about the Fourth Rank peerless skill? It’s a skill that allows one to cultivate into a Yang God’s Dharma Body, to reach the pinnacle and get close to the Great Dao!”

“Heard, heard. I wonder if that beautiful female disciple is really good-looking, hehe…”

The men were having a heated discussion and soon got to the key point.

Why would two such notorious sects issue such blatant killing orders?

Zhou Heng was enjoying the gossip on the side, relishing it like watching a drama.

However, as the discussion went on, he felt more and more that something was off, that the situation seemed too familiar.

So he cautiously moved closer and asked in a low voice: “Excuse me, who is the person that the Cloud Ascension Heavenly Palace and the Plague Emperor Sect have ordered to be killed?”

“You don’t know? It was all over the place early this morning!”

One of the men, eager to help seeing that Zhou Heng knew nothing, kindly explained: “That person is the recent sensation among young masters, the Pure Yang Palace’s sixth-generation successor, Zhou Heng with his Purple Lightning Thunder Blade!”

“…” Zhou Heng fell silent, looked down at the bowl of wonton noodles that had just arrived, and suddenly felt it wasn’t appetizing anymore.