White Bone Temple

It was a newly erected tent, as magnificent as a heavenly palace.

He Heng glanced at the tent, then slipped inside without a sound, his figure moving swiftly through the shadows.

It was the dead of night. The moon hung high, its gentle light shining over the earth. Through the tent, He Heng could make out two figures entwined, one above the other...

From time to time, sighs and moans drifted out. Bathed in moonlight, the scene was exceptionally alluring.

He Heng watched the two figures coldly, his mind utterly calm, unmoved by anything around him.

At last, after a long while, they stopped moving. One of them promptly fell into a deep sleep, snoring like thunder.

The other figure suddenly rose and sat on the bed. A head of long, lustrous black hair spilled out from beneath the embroidered bed curtains.

Though He Heng could see only a vague silhouette from where he stood, he could clearly make out a peerlessly beautiful woman. Every curve of her body was flawless, radiating an irresistible allure. Her figure was graceful and lithe.

But now, this beauty, who had only just been pleasured, sat strangely at the head of the bed, looking coldly at Hu Tiehua, who had fallen fast asleep. Her expression was utterly indifferent.

He Heng watched her in silence. To his surprise, she smiled, then glanced at the unconscious Hu Tiehua before abruptly walking out of the tent, completely naked, without a stitch of clothing.

At that moment, He Heng moved too. He suddenly appeared before her, gazing at her naked body with an utterly indifferent expression.

"Shi Guanyin—or should I say, Li Qi!" He Heng stared at her coldly, his voice certain.

He Heng's sudden appearance startled Shi Guanyin. How could anyone appear beside her without her noticing?

Then He Heng revealed her true identity, leaving her utterly shocked. It was no surprise that he knew she was Shi Guanyin, but there could hardly be more than a handful of people in the world who knew her birth name was Li Qi. Who was this man?

A trace of murderous intent surfaced in Shi Guanyin's eyes, but her expression remained composed. In a gentle voice, she said, "Young master, how did you learn this humble woman's name?"

Her voice was naturally soft and melodious, and now it was gentler than ever. It was enough to make anyone swoon.

An ordinary woman would have felt uncomfortable standing naked before a man, but Shi Guanyin seemed afraid He Heng might not get a good enough look. She kept changing her angle, revealing every hidden, enticing part of herself in the moonlight.

She truly was a peerless beauty, her naked body seemingly carved from ivory. Her eyes shone brighter than the stars, her waist was impossibly slender, and her delicate fingers were soft as if boneless...

All of it was enough to captivate a man, stir his desire, and make him long to possess her.

Yet none of it changed He Heng's expression in the slightest. He was like a cold statue, his face unchanging as he calmly observed every inch of Shi Guanyin. His deep-set eyes seemed to see straight through her soul.

Shi Guanyin felt a little disappointed. She saw not a trace of human feeling in those cold eyes. In the past, no matter how virtuous or self-disciplined a man was, as long as he was still a man, none had ever looked upon her body without feeling desire.

Even Huangfu Gao, the "Righteous Swordsman" who had rejected her all those years ago, had shown a flicker of emotion when he first saw her body. It was only his so-called sense of morality that had allowed him to overcome his desire.

But in this man before her, she could not see the slightest trace of the desire men were born with. His eyes were cold and detached. He looked at her as though she were an ant, utterly beneath his notice.

Shi Guanyin clenched her pearly teeth. Her smooth, jade-like body danced in the moonlight, sinuous and alluring to the extreme.

"Do you think I'm beautiful?"

Shi Guanyin's voice grew softer still, as though filled with endless emptiness and loneliness. Her plaintive tone stirred a peculiar sense of guilt and desire, making a man want to pull her soft, smooth body tightly into his arms.

That might have been true of most people, but He Heng was not one of them.

His gaze was cold, carrying a solemn hint of murderous intent and an endless chill. He watched Shi Guanyin's performance with indifference, as though she were a clown.

No matter how seductive a pose she struck, no matter how alluring she made herself, his expression never changed. He met her with nothing but cold indifference.

After a long while, He Heng finally spoke, smiling faintly. "Shi Guanyin, if you have no other performances to put on, then use that move of yours that men can't withstand. Let me see whether I can withstand it or not."

Shi Guanyin's expression froze. She stared at He Heng for a moment before saying, word by word, "I don't believe you're truly unmoved by me. Stop holding back. Come, join me in Heaven..."

He Heng glanced at Shi Guanyin again and said coldly, "Do you know about the Buddhist practice called the White Bone Meditation? Once mastered, it makes no difference whether one looks upon an ugly village woman or a heavenly immortal; both are seen as nothing but bones beneath the skin. The Daoist Sect also teaches that Heaven and Earth are not Benevolent, treating all things as Straw Dogs. In the eyes of Heaven's Way, all people are the same."

"So stop testing my patience. I've held back because you're a martial arts grandmaster of your generation. If you keep this up, don't blame me for no longer giving you a chance."

"White Bone Meditation?" Shi Guanyin's face darkened to the extreme, as though someone had punched her. She glared at He Heng. "I don't believe there's a man who can truly ignore my beauty."

"You don't believe it? So be it. I've never needed you to believe me." He Heng gazed down at Shi Guanyin with cold indifference, his right hand already gripping the Longevity Sword. "Now, let's fight!"

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Shi Guanyin extended a soft, slender hand, her voice icy. "The last man who dared reject me, I left naked under the blazing sun. I let the sun ruin his face and blind him, then made him push a grindstone like a mule, never allowing him a moment's rest... Soon, I'll make you suffer ten times worse than he did."

"Is that so? If you really can do it, I don't mind finding out." He Heng's gaze remained utterly unmoved. Shi Guanyin's cruel threats had no effect on him. In truth, he was merciless not only toward others but toward himself as well. He feared no torture. The only thing he cared about was his own path.

In that instant, the Longevity Sword left its sheath!

Its murderous sword energy surged like a prison of death. A flash of cold light filled the tent, tearing through the layers of darkness as it stabbed toward Shi Guanyin's chest.

Shi Guanyin's expression turned grave. Her graceful figure began to dance, each movement beautiful beyond compare and filled with boundless allure. Beneath the soft moonlight, her pale body seemed to glow with a sacred radiance. The afterimages of her hands intertwined like a thousand-armed Guanyin, appearing holy and solemn in the moonlight.

"Whoosh!"

Shi Guanyin leapt into the air. In that instant, it was as though she had grown five extra arms, all of them striking toward He Heng like lightning. In the blink of an eye, her attacks covered every vital point on his body: his throat, eyes, chest, and abdomen.

"Interesting." He Heng's expression did not change. The Longevity Sword continued forward, its dazzling light shining with blinding brilliance, chilling Heaven and Earth.

Sword energy swept across the air, surging forth like a tide and forming a cage around Shi Guanyin from head to toe. Even with seven hands, she could not guard herself everywhere. She had no choice but to turn back and parry. In an instant, one sword wound after another appeared across her flawless body, and blood slowly welled from them.

Shi Guanyin's expression turned cold. With a sharp shout, her figure shifted and blurred. She evaded the torrent of sword momentum rushing at her from every direction, tore open a gap, and leapt out.

Then her seven hands interwove, their chaotic afterimages converging into one hand, which suddenly reached for the top of He Heng's head.

He Heng suddenly smiled. His figure leapt into the air as well, drifting with the wind. His sword energy swept out in every direction, utterly free of worldly taint, as though a Banished Immortal were ascending to immortality.

This was his original movement technique, Flying Immortal Wander. Paired with the Longevity Sword, it could unleash the most fearsome move of all: Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens.

He Heng did not dare claim that his sword move surpassed Ye Gucheng's original in finesse or artistic conception, but he was confident it was no less impressive.

However, He Heng's internal energy and martial arts cultivation were far above Ye Gucheng's, so the power of this strike naturally far exceeded the original.

A single point of sword energy gleamed with piercing, dazzling brilliance.

The two figures soon clashed. Jade hands met the sword in a fierce struggle. True energy streamed everywhere, and sword light flashed in every direction. In just a few moments, He Heng and Shi Guanyin had exchanged hundreds of blows. The heavy impacts tore through the tent and woke Hu Tiehua, who had been dead drunk. They shattered the stillness of the night and alerted everyone nearby.

"Something's happened to Old Hu!" Chu Liuxiang jolted awake from his tender embrace, pushed away the Princess of Kucha, and hurriedly leapt out.

By then, He Heng and Shi Guanyin's fight had reached its decisive moment. A dazzling flash intertwined with sword energy that filled the sky and palm shadows that roared through the air. He Heng quietly retreated and stood ten yards away, gazing coldly at Shi Guanyin. His eyes remained icy and lifeless, as still as an ancient pool, his indifference as vast as Heaven itself.