I Cheated While Cultivating

In the Ancient Era ten thousand years ago, humans were still in a state of ignorance.

Monstrous demons dominated the world, unbeatable and incomparably more powerful than humans who had no ability to resist and could only serve as food for the Demon Clan.

Until one day, seven thousand years ago, seven rays of starlight descended from the heavens above, crashing into a tall mountain, instantly splitting the peaks into seven cracks.

Seven resplendent streaks of starlight flew out from the crevices of the mountain, each entering the body of seven individuals, granting them immense strength comparable to contemporary demon emperors, and the ability to summon Divine Weapons of starlight, which they used to sweep away the demons and raise the Human Race from the ashes.

These seven individuals were the original Seven Demon Slayers Lords.

In the millennia that followed, the Lords passed their abilities through their bloodline, establishing families, and handing down the power to slay demons generation after generation.

However, aside from the core lineage of the main family of the Seven Lords Clan, there were quite a few side branches that went out to establish their own families, propagating far and wide, thus giving rise to the creation of many ordinary demon slayers.

For these thousands of years, the battle between demons and demon slayers has been continuous.

Initially, because the first-generation Lords were still around, the Demon Clan had no room to resist. However, by the time the first-generation Lords died of old age, even though the power of the second-generation Lords had diminished, they were still strong enough to suppress the Demon Clan…

However, the demon-slaying power inherent in the bloodline of the Lords grew weaker with each succeeding generation. By the time it reached the third, fourth, fifth generations… there inevitably came a time when they were weaker than the demons.

Today, even the most powerful amongst the Lords are only equivalent to some of the stronger Demon Kings.

Were it not for the ancestral treasures left by their ancestors, the Human Race might have returned to the plight of ten thousand years ago, once again becoming the food and playthings of the Demon Clan.

…

This is the content described in the Seven Lords Clan’s family records, which essentially praises the accomplishments of the Seven Lords Clan. Zhou Heng reviewed a few other books, which contained much the same.

At most, some emphasized the attacking prowess of the Seven Lords Clan, while others focused on creating a sense of crisis for the Human Race, suggesting that if the strength of the Seven Lords Clan weakened further, the Human Race would inevitably face a great catastrophe.

However, within these materials, Zhou Heng still found plenty of useful information.

Firstly, the power of the Lords actually originated from the seven rays of starlight that descended seven thousand years ago, but it wasn’t passed down directly. Instead, it came through the mountain where they fell, now known as Seven Lords Mountain, which acted as a conduit for the inheritance.

In other words, the true core of the starlight’s power hadn’t been fully passed on to the Lords. Instead, much of it likely remained inside Seven Lords Mountain.

Logically speaking, with the weakening of their bloodline powers, the Seven Lords Clan would certainly be looking for ways to halt this decline or to reverse the situation and strengthen their power.

Seven Lords Mountain was undoubtedly the best and most important target, where it was most likely to achieve this goal.

This was mentioned in several of the books.

Only they were vague in their language, and it seemed none had been successful.

Beyond that, Zhou Heng noticed that because the Seven Lords Clan inherited different starlight powers, they actually had codenames, said to be information obtained from the starlight.

Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, Yao Guang.

Without a doubt!

These were the Big Dipper Seven Stars!

Having learned this information, Zhou Heng could roughly figure out what was going on.

The purpose of Cheng Jianjian’s coming to this world was to complete a mission and obtain the status of a Star Officer of the Big Dipper.

This was very likely related to the Seven Stars power contained within Seven Lords Mountain. She might even know how to obtain this power of the Seven Stars.

And the Seven Stars power would surely be coveted by the Seven Lords Clan.

Cheng Jianjian aimed to obtain the Seven Stars power, and so did the Seven Lords Clan. It was very possible that she had been ambushed by the Seven Lords Clan for this reason.

As for the Demon King’s intentions and why he made a move against Cheng Jianjian, Zhou Heng still had not figured it out.

“I still need to find Jiang Jian first. She has already been in this world for over two years, and after a battle of life and death, she is now lying low in the shadows, certainly knowing far more about this world than I do.”

Zhou Heng thought to himself, then he closed the book in his hands and put it back into the box along with the map, “I’ve finished reading everything. City Lord Wang, please take them back.”

“Ah?” Wang He was slightly stunned at these words and exclaimed in astonishment, “Just like that? Weren’t you going to take them with you to look over them carefully?”

“I remember everything after reading it once, so there’s no need to take it with me,” Zhou Heng said with a smile.

“To have such an eidetic memory, sir, I am impressed!” Wang He praised.

“I shall take my leave.” Zhou Heng stood up, bid farewell to Wang He, and prepared to continue on his way to Seven Lords Mountain.

…

“Ah! It’s so fast! Too fast! Ouch! Ah! It’s so hot!!

“You, you actually… you’re using such a steed with the potential of a Demon King as a mount!

“Zhou Heng, you will become the public enemy of the Demon Clan!”

The White Snake kept writhing on Zhou Heng’s shoulder, continuously screaming, while the crimson flames reflected on it, and its white scales looked close to being scorched red.

And so, it kept shouting and cursing.

But Zhou Heng was completely ignoring it.

At this time, Zhou Heng was riding the jujube-red horse towards Seven Lords Mountain at a gallop, having equipped the Red Lotus Harness, which set the jujube-red horse ablaze with raging flames, making the White Snake feel extremely hot and bothered.

However, Zhou Heng had no intention of slowing down. Right now, his thought was to head to Seven Lords Mountain to assess the situation, considering that the journey of a few thousand miles wasn’t too far with the jujube-red horse.

Conveniently, encountering a few monsters’ groups along the way could also help to enhance his reputation.

Since Zhou Heng had already obtained the map and various pieces of information, he didn’t stop for anything on the subsequent journey, galloping all the way.

Even when he encountered members of the Demon Clan, he simply charged straight through them on the jujube-red horse.

After consuming the Linju Pill, the jujube-red horse had transformed and its own strength was already equivalent to an Eighth Rank Martial Artist, and with the addition of the Red Lotus Harness, its prowess wasn’t far off from the peak of an ordinary Eighth Rank.

The majority of the Demon Clan could not withstand the charge of the jujube-red horse, much less the searing heat of the Red Lotus Fire. If that wasn’t enough, Zhou Heng always had his Palm Thunder at the ready.

This straightforward and aggressive way of slaying demons truly broadened the horizons of many common folk and demon slayers in various places, leaving them shockingly impressed.

After crossing several mountain ridges, traversing great prairies, and annihilating all demon groups along the way, Zhou Heng’s reputation quietly spread among the eyewitnesses he passed by.

Following a journey of three days and nights, Zhou Heng rode the jujube-red horse over mountains and through valleys, finally arriving at his destination; he could see from afar a mountain peak that looked like it bore seven blooming petals.

Seven Lords Mountain.

Even from this distant view, he could clearly feel the strong and miraculous power of the stars contained within the Seven Lords Mountain.

Moreover, it was closely related to the Big Dipper Seven Stars diagram.

This meant that his earlier guess was very likely correct: the key to obtaining the position of Star Officer of the Big Dipper should be within Seven Lords Mountain.

Besides, Zhou Heng had another feeling.

If the Star Officer of the Big Dipper were to be restored to its place, his control over the Big Dipper Seven Stars diagram would strengthen further, unlocking even more potent functions.

Thus, Zhou Heng gave a slap to the reins, urging the jujube-red horse forward.

As he approached the foot of Seven Lords Mountain, Zhou Heng saw a slender figure standing in the middle of the road ahead, wearing white feathered clothing, with hair as white as snow— a handsome man.

At the same time, the White Snake coiled on his shoulder suddenly stood erect, its eyes shone, and it began laughing, “Hahaha! Zhou Heng, you shouldn’t have, of all things, brought me along with you. You’ve made yourself a target, you’re seeking death!

“Great Demon King! Save me!!”