I Cheated While Cultivating

Zhou Heng firmly grasped the seven inches of the White Snake, his eyes looking to the white-haired man not far ahead, and chuckled, “Heaven’s road you do not take, hell’s gate comes unbidden to your fate?”

“Human, you are very bold.” The Demon Emperor’s expression was still ice-cold, his chin lifted slightly as he indifferently said, “You claim to be that woman surnamed Cheng’s martial uncle, which means, you have a sect?”

“Of course.” Zhou Heng smiled, and at the same time, his eyes narrowed slightly, “So it was just an illusion. Here I thought you had the guts to come before me in person.”

“What, an illusion??” The White Snake’s spirits deflated immediately upon hearing this, its body sagging, as it had thought the Demon Emperor himself had come to its rescue.

It was just an illusion after all.

“To see through my Illusion Technique, you indeed have some ability,” praised the Demon Emperor, before adding, “Human, speak of your sect’s situation and precise location, and perhaps I could spare your life.”

In the Demon Emperor’s eyes, whether it was Cheng Jianjian or Zhou Heng, these two humans had methods of growing stronger without relying on bloodlines, and moreover, they were extremely powerful. For the Demon Clan, this was a major concern.

The war between the Human Race and the Demon Clan had dragged on for thousands of years, although in the recent few millennia, as the demon slayers’ bloodline of the Human Race had gradually thinned, the Demon Clan started gaining the upper hand. But as the Demon King, he was always apprehensive.

After all, the birth of a powerful demon was extremely difficult and required too much time, often hundreds of years, in which time many generations of human powerhouses could emerge.

The Demon Clan was only able to maintain an advantage in the battles because the number of human demon slayers was limited due to bloodline restrictions.

But if the methods of empowerment that Cheng Jianjian and Zhou Heng possessed became widespread, the emergence of human powerhouses would be unrestricted, and that would spell doom for the Demon Clan.

Therefore, the Demon Emperor was determined to completely eradicate them!

In his view, just dealing with that Empress and the current Zhou Heng was far from enough; he had to force out the hidden secret organization behind these two and utterly destroy it, rooting out the problem completely!

“What?” Zhou Heng almost thought he had heard wrong, looking at the Demon Emperor with a somewhat incredulous smile, “What did you just say? You want to ask about my sect, do you actually intend to take action against my sect?”

He had roughly guessed the Demon King’s thoughts and, although he could understand them, considering the actual circumstances, he found it quite amusing.

A “little demon” at best halfway to Secret Six Rank actually daring to contemplate the destruction of the Pure Yang Palace, with a Divine First Rank living in it—if this were in Da Qi, it would be laughable.

“Human, you talk too much.”

The Demon Emperor still maintained his lofty demeanor, his gaze towards Zhou Heng filled with a trace of disdain, and with a cold snort said, “That woman surnamed Cheng died at my hands, even more so will you. I advise you not to enter Seven Lords Mountain, otherwise you will have no burial ground upon your death.”

“Who said she died at your hands?” The smile on Zhou Heng’s face suddenly thickened, he spoke aloud, “Big Dipper, since you’ve arrived, come out. There is no need to keep the Demon Emperor and the Seven Lords waiting.”

Just now, as soon as the Demon Emperor’s illusion appeared, he had sensed a familiar presence, the one he had been searching for since he arrived in this world.

Cheng Jianjian!

No sooner had Zhou Heng’s voice fallen…

From the nearby woods, a graceful figure stepped out.

She wore a moon-white dress, fresh and elegant, with a mask, no longer depicting the visage of prosperity, but rather painted with the Big Dipper constellation.

“I didn’t expect you to really come.” Cheng Jianjian moved lightly, arriving by Zhou Heng’s side, and with a smile said, “Greetings to the Star Lord.”

“A senior of the Five Emperors told me you had lost contact with the Stellar Atlas, and I was worried, so I came down to find you,” Zhou Heng spoke truthfully, then seeing Cheng Jianjian’s mask, smiled again, “However, it seems, even on your own, you would’ve resolved this quickly.”

“No, on my own, I still had no absolute certainty.” Cheng Jianjian gently shook her head, smiled faintly, “Now that you’re here, I am truly assured of success.”

“Empress, Empress?! Empress?!” the White Snake recognized Cheng Jianjian’s voice and screamed in utter terror, “Demon King Your Majesty! Save me! Save me!”

“You actually didn’t die!” The face of the Demon Emperor’s phantom darkened immensely, saying, “Back then you were clearly burnt to ashes, not even a corpse remained.”

“That’s because you don’t know what ‘Escaping Light Talisman’ is, a frog in the well, looking at the sky from the bottom of a well,” Cheng Jianjian sneered. In fact, she had never died before; it was merely at the moment of crisis that she had used the Escaping Light Talisman to turn into a rainbow and flee.

Such a method of turning into a rainbow and fleeing was completely beyond the comprehension of the people and demons of this world; the Demon Emperor and the members of the Seven Lords had never even considered it.

“Big Dipper, there’s no need to waste words with it, let us ascend the mountain,” Zhou Heng said. “Right now, the Demon Emperor and the Seven Lords should all be on the mountain, preparing to harness the power of the stars within Seven Lords Mountain.”

Originally, Zhou Heng was not sure about the situation on Seven Lords Mountain, but after the Demon Emperor’s phantom appeared here, he had almost guessed the current situation on Seven Lords Mountain.

The Demon Emperor was definitely on the mountain, and he was doing something very important that could not be disturbed, which is why he left behind a phantom to delay them.

Moreover, with his cultivation realm not yet reaching Secret Sixth Rank, he could not create such a lifelike phantom from too great a distance, which was also evidence that the Demon Emperor was nearby.

Since the Demon Emperor was present, the Seven Lords were most likely there as well.

After all, it was the Demon Emperor and the Seven Lords who had jointly attacked Cheng Jianjian originally, and only then had they managed to occupy the power of the stars inside Seven Lords Mountain; it made no sense to let the Demon Emperor monopolize it.

“It’s a good time to catch them all in one net.” Cheng Jianjian nodded, following behind Zhou Heng, heading up the mountain; neither of them intended to pay any attention to the Demon Emperor’s phantom.

This kind of phantom was merely an image containing a sliver of will and possessed no power at all, it could not even move over long distances and would soon dissipate on its own.

There was no need to waste time on such a thing.

“You, you actually dare to actively seek out the Demon Emperor; it’s simply courting death!” the White Snake found some unknown source of spirit and raised its head again to mock, “I see that you are seeking your own doom!”

At this moment, Zhou Heng and Cheng Jianjian had already started on the path to the top of Seven Lords Mountain. When he heard the White Snake speak, Zhou Heng laughed and said, “Do you know why I’ve been bringing you along this whole way?”

“Ah?” The White Snake was momentarily stunned.

It had thought that since it was doomed anyway, it might as well mock them, which is why it had spoken; it hadn’t expected Zhou Heng to respond with such a question.

This was indeed something that puzzled it.

Logically, after Zhou Heng learned the way to Seven Lords Mountain and the specific information about the Seven Lords Clan, the snake should have outlived its usefulness and could have been killed off.

Yet Zhou Heng did not do so.

“Of course it’s because of what you said before; the power that you sensed, the Demon Emperor could sense it too,” Zhou Heng grinned, forming hand seals with his hands, his eyes beaming brightly, and directly cast the Undying Seal Method, attacking the White Snake with an Illusion Technique.

Spiritual Illusion Techniques, while not completely unfamiliar to the people and demons of this world, were mostly rudimentary and not systematic.

Therefore, the protections laid by the Demon Emperor in this White Snake, even if they could prevent it from being affected by many demon-slaying techniques, were very likely unable to prevent powerful illusion techniques.

With Zhou Heng’s divine soul power strong enough to compare with the peak of Secret Sixth Rank, casting the Undying Seal Method produced an illusion technique so exquisite and powerful that in an instant, the White Snake’s mind was ensnared.

At the same time, a loud bang suddenly came from a high peak on Seven Lords Mountain, as if something had been broken, followed by streaks of starlight bursting forth and shooting straight into the sky.

“Over there!” Zhou Heng instantly crushed the White Snake to death and then, using his Qinggong, covered a dozen yards in a single step as if shrinking the earth into inches, he rushed toward the direction of the sound.

Cheng Jianjian followed closely behind.

Just now, Zhou Heng had been using the White Snake to pinpoint the Demon Emperor’s location.

After all, though Seven Lords Mountain was just one mountain, this mountain stretched for nearly a hundred miles.

Even when considering only the most central Seven Peaks of Seven Lords Mountain, there are various canyons, caves, and dense forests… It’s extremely difficult to find any “person.”

Especially when the other party is trying their best to hide; in addition to that, being ready to handle sneak attacks at any moment makes locating the Demon King and the Seven Lords incredibly challenging.

But with this White Snake acting as a “fuse” to set off the big target that is the Demon King on the spot, we immediately had a clear “target.”

Although Zhou Heng’s Illusion Technique cast on the White Snake wouldn’t cause the Demon King to lose control and go mad on the spot, his spirit was definitely affected to a certain extent. He might not be injured, but causing some commotion was certain.

And indeed, that was the case.

The commotion was even louder than Zhou Heng had anticipated.

Therefore, Zhou Heng and Cheng Jianjian immediately rushed toward the place from where the sound had emanated. Both were highly skilled in Qinggong, moving with incredible speed. Before the white-haired figure could leave, they had already arrived there.

Blocking the way of this white-haired individual.

This person was clad in a snow-white feathered robe, with a tall build and handsome features, and even his long hair was snow-white. There was a regal and imposing air about his brows, his aura commanding and stern.

This matched exactly with the illusion Zhou Heng had seen before; there was no doubt that this was the Demon King.

However, this sovereign of the Demon Clan currently had a somewhat pale complexion, lacking any color, obviously still recovering from the shock of the recent Illusion Technique.

“Humans, you actually dare to chase after me!” The Demon King had clearly fallen into a state of rage, releasing all his demon power. Thick dark energy rose up, reaching the sky and stirring the winds and clouds.

The vital energy of heaven and earth gathered, mingling with this rising dark energy, and in the blink of an eye, a pitch-black giant blade over thirty feet long materialized, imbued with an intense murderous and malevolent force.

“Die! Humans!”

The Demon King bellowed furiously, spreading his arms and then suddenly bringing them together, pointing towards Zhou Heng’s location, “No matter how powerful you humans are, you can never be a match for demons!”

Craaack!!

This blade cleaved through the air, almost as if it intended to split the heavens and the earth apart, causing the wind to howl through the mountains and shrill cries to fill the air continuously; countless branches and trees were torn and scattered, but before they could hit the ground, they were ground into powder by the overwhelming blade energy.

Boom boom boom!

The mountains and rocks around started to shake as boulders began to tumble down. Many animals of the mountains tried to flee the area, but not one could escape.

Some were crushed to death by falling boulders, others shredded by the remnants of the blade’s energy.

“Be careful!!” Cheng Jianjian voiced a warning, “This monster is many times stronger than before; it seems to have been nourished and strengthened by the power of the stars!”

“Don’t worry!” Zhou Heng responded, “Big Dipper, you focus on completing your task, absorbing the power of Big Dipper Seven Stars. Leave this beast to me.”

“Arrogance! Seeking your own death!” The Demon King roared in fury, feeling a burning flame in his chest. He felt belittled; for hundreds of years, no one had dared to scoff at him in this manner!

Boom!

A thunderous noise erupted from the sky, and the already powerful pitch-black blade light grew even thicker and longer. It also seemed to trigger a certain mechanism between heaven and earth, locking onto Zhou Heng, with the intention of making it difficult for Zhou Heng to dodge.

“What a decent blade!” Zhou Heng gritted his teeth and smiled.

The power of this blade was immense.

Even for Zhou Heng, facing this blade head-on, he felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

He was well aware that if he were to directly resist with his Golden Bell Cover, he would most likely be cleaved in two on the spot.

That blade light was too sharp.

Zhou Heng had a clear sense of this.

No!

This was no longer just sharpness!

This blade light had reached into the rules and principles of heaven and earth, a technique specifically enhanced to more effectively kill members of the Human Race.

The Demon King, being at nearly a Secret Six Rank level, although not quite reaching the true Secret Six Rank, had already far surpassed Seventh Rank and possessed some ability to interweave the rules of heaven and earth.

At this moment, that blade strike could be considered the strongest Zhou Heng had ever faced in a head-on battle.

Even Ma Quan from before, likely wasn’t as powerful as this Demon King.

After all, at that time, Ma Quan was already half-crippled, nearly spent, and although a true Secret Six Rank, he didn’t have much strength left.

The Demon King was different.

Even though he had been affected by the Illusion Technique, his strength didn’t seem to have been affected too much, which might be related to him previously absorbing the power of the stars from Seven Lords Mountain.

“One cannot directly confront this blade, but it can be deflected!” Zhou Heng made his assessment. He did not attempt to dodge, but instead put on his sharp glove and proceeded to apply various Martial Arts techniques.

Pure Yang Danjing, Innate Skill!

Connecting with heaven and earth, drawing from the vital energy!

Golden Bell Body Protection!

Immortal Seal Method!

Deflecting the force!

Star-shifting Technique!

Using his own technique against him!

Boom!

Zhou Heng pressed both palms on the blade light that the Demon King had unleashed.

In an instant, a dazzling golden light emerged, contrasting against the pitch-black blade light, and a blurry Golden Bell shadow enveloped his entire body.

Dang, dang, dang!

The bell chime resounded loudly, but in only a few breaths, the Golden Bell shadow shattered, the Golden Bell Cover was broken through.

However, at the same time, Zhou Heng had successfully deflected the blade light’s attack.

He caused the exceedingly sharp blade light to change direction, turning back to its origin, slashing towards the Demon King!

“Take a taste of your own blade first!!”