A Savage Beating

It was so hot, I didn't even have the energy to act cute. I could only lie under the electric fan and beg for a few votes~

Zhou Heng casually flicked his hand, and Zhao Si's corpse hit the ground. His face was utterly expressionless.

Zhao Si was only a lowly servant, acting on orders. Killing him wouldn't sate Zhou Heng's hatred. The true culprit was the mastermind behind him!

Bang!

Just then, another commotion sounded at the courtyard gate. But this time, it wasn't pushed open. Someone kicked it open with a heavy blow, and four youths strode in—Zhou Kan and his three lackeys.

"Zhou Heng, get out here!" Zhou Kan shouted. "I know you just got back. Don't think you can hide in your room and play dead. Now, even your useless father can't protect you!"

They'd come right to his door to die!

Zhou Heng closed his eyes, then opened them again. By then, he had made up his mind.

He was going to make a scene!

The Great Elder might hold the Zhou Family in the palm of his hand, but there were four other elders in the lineage. They had long resented Zhou Xianming's monopoly on power. If Zhou Heng gave them a chance—a glimpse of hope that Zhou Xianming could be overthrown—they would never let it slip by!

He patted the Frost Cold Sword at his waist and strode out of the room.

"Hahaha! You cowardly turtle, so what if you hid from me for three months? Do you think you can hide forever?" Zhou Kan laughed. "Come over here and kneel before me. Lick the soles of my shoes!"

His three lackeys grinned. They wouldn't have dared to act so brazenly before, but Zhou Dinghai had already been reduced to a cripple, and Zhou Heng himself was a useless good-for-nothing who couldn't cultivate. After the New Year, he'd be struck from the family register. What was there left to fear?

"Zhou Kan, I'll give you a chance. Break your own right hand and cut out that tongue of yours that does nothing but spew filth. I'll spare your life," Zhou Heng said calmly. All his fury had turned into a bone-chilling killing intent.

"Hahaha!" Zhou Kan froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "A good-for-nothing who can't cultivate can only run his mouth! Oh, right, I forgot to tell you: I broke through the Seventh Layer of Body Refining a month ago. Now, I'm in the Bone Refining Realm!"

"Good-for-nothing, kneel and submit before my dazzling brilliance, and I might let you be a dog at my side!"

Zhou Heng shook his head. "Since you're asking for death, you can't blame anyone else!"

"You three, didn't you hear me say that this good-for-nothing has to lick my shoes?" Zhou Kan swept his gaze over his three lackeys and snorted.

The three hurried forward and advanced on Zhou Heng. None of them even drew their weapons. Did they really need weapons to deal with a good-for-nothing who couldn't cultivate?

With a roar, they all lunged at once, like vicious dogs pouncing on their food.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three heavy thuds rang out. The men flew backward like kites with their strings cut and slammed into the courtyard wall one after another. Two passed out on the spot. Only one managed to struggle back to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Huh?" Zhou Kan stared in disbelief. He had never imagined things would turn out this way.

How could this good-for-nothing be so strong?

He shuddered and looked at Zhou Heng again, sensing the aura radiating from him. It was deep and vast, no weaker than his own!

The Bone Refining Realm!

How was that possible?!

Wasn't this man a good-for-nothing who couldn't cultivate? Just over three months ago, he'd been as useless as they came. How had he suddenly gained enough strength to rival Zhou Kan?

"Zhou Heng, so what if you can cultivate? Your father's already crippled. You think you can turn the world upside down?" Zhou Kan shouted again. An eighteen-year-old in the Bone Refining Realm was certainly remarkable, but the Zhou Family wasn't short on Bone Refining Realm cultivators!

Talents needed time and space to grow. If they were snuffed out early, what difference was there between a genius and a good-for-nothing?

"Same offer as before: kneel and lick my shoes, and I might consider letting you live!"

Zhou Heng's expression was icy. Zhou Kan's family had brazenly come all the way to his doorstep to kill him. He would make them pay in blood!

"Die!" He raised his sword level with his body. The humiliation his father had suffered weighed on his heart, building into boundless fury. He blamed himself. If it weren't for him, how could his father have fallen so low?

His searing guilt turned into endless killing intent. He longed to see his enemies' blood.

He pressed forward, step by step. His killing intent seemed almost tangible, surging around him and taking the shape of sword blades. Look closely, and they were identical to the Black Broken Sword—only these were complete black swords.

The killing intent aligned with the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles. Though he had yet to make a move, it still formed an overwhelmingly powerful pressure, enough to make the heart of anyone with a weaker cultivation base burst!

Zhou Kan retreated step by step without even realizing it. Though he was also in the Bone Refining Realm, under Zhou Heng's immense pressure he couldn't summon the slightest urge to resist. His opponent felt like a towering mountain, a vast ocean—how could he possibly stand against him?

Thud. He felt something solid behind him and could retreat no farther. Only then did he realize he had backed into the courtyard wall. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, but he didn't even have time to wipe it away. It felt as if the slightest movement of his hands would bring down Zhou Heng's thunderous blow!

The feeling humiliated him beyond measure!

No. He couldn't lose to a good-for-nothing!

At last, Zhou Kan let out a roar and mustered a flicker of fighting spirit. His sword rasped from its sheath. He sprang forward and swung it hard at Zhou Heng.

Bang!

He had barely begun his swing when Zhou Heng's body blurred. In an instant, he was right in front of Zhou Kan, and a fist rapidly swelled in Zhou Kan's vision before smashing into his face.

A bolt of agony struck him. Zhou Kan's head jerked to the side against his will, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with several teeth. He stumbled backward three steps and slammed into the courtyard wall again.

Trembling, he wiped his mouth and looked at Zhou Heng's murderous expression. At last, he realized Zhou Heng wasn't threatening him. He really would kill him!

Why?

Why had this brat suddenly become so powerful?

He was Zhou Kan, the Great Elder's only grandson. He had entered the Bone Refining Realm before turning eighteen, the Zhou Family's new pride. How could he lose to a good-for-nothing?!

"You wouldn't dare kill me! This is the Zhou Family. My father is the family head, and my grandfather is the Great Elder. If you kill me, you'll make an enemy of the whole Zhou Family!" Zhou Kan shouted, as if clutching at the last straw.

"So what if I make an enemy of the Zhou Family?" Zhou Heng said calmly. "Besides, what gives you the right to claim that you, your father, and your grandfather speak for the whole family?"

He lunged with his sword.

"Bastard!" Zhou Kan roared and hurriedly raised his sword to block. With a sharp clang, his weapon was cut down to half its length. The Frost Cold Sword kept going and plunged into his left shoulder.

"Ah—" He let out a bloodcurdling scream. As Zhou Heng pulled back his sword, blood gushed from the wound in his shoulder.

Zhou Heng had no intention of letting him die so easily!

The three generations of their family had treated Zhou Heng's father this way, trying to humiliate a lifelong hero to death. How could Zhou Heng not be furious?

"Zhou Heng, don't you dare! Don't you dare!" Zhou Kan was truly terrified now. He'd lost several teeth, and his voice had gone hoarse. There was a bloody hole in his shoulder. He had temporarily used his True Essence Power to stanch the flow of blood, but if Zhou Heng stabbed him a few more times...

"Good. You know how to fear death." A cold smile tugged at Zhou Heng's lips. He flicked his right hand, and the Frost Cold Sword darted out again.

Pfft!

Zhou Kan's counterattack seemed like child's play to him. The Frost Cold Sword met no resistance as it pierced Zhou Kan's left leg.

"Ah—" Zhou Kan screamed again, so loudly it seemed he would tear the roof off.

"Why are you shouting so loud? Afraid you'll disturb people? What terrible manners!" Zhou Heng snorted and punched him in the face.

Zhou Kan's scream stopped for a moment, but then he began spewing blood, along with a few more broken teeth. Instead of falling silent, his cries only grew louder.

"Didn't I tell you not to disturb anyone?" Zhou Heng threw several punches in a row. Zhou Kan's face swelled up at once. By then, even Zhou Jianming might not have recognized that the pig-faced wreck was his own son.

Clack!

A brick hit the ground. Zhou Heng turned his head and saw that the only conscious one of Zhou Kan's three lackeys was trembling so hard he'd knocked down a brick that had been propped up.

When Zhou Heng glanced at him, the man shuddered from head to toe. Warmth spread through his crotch; he had wet himself in terror.

This madman's willing to torture even Zhou Kan like this. If he turns on me, he'll kill me with one stroke!

Zhou Heng turned back. Bang, bang, bang! He landed several more punches. Zhou Kan was on the verge of death, and at last he obediently kept his mouth shut.

Clang! Another loud crash rang out. Zhou Heng turned around again and saw Zhou Kan's lackey running frantically out of the courtyard. A heavy gate slammed against the wall behind him. But before Zhou Heng could turn back, the man came running in again.

It wasn't one man, but two!

A middle-aged man in his forties had joined him. He was of average build, with a deeply gloomy expression. At a glance, he seemed like a man with a great deal of cunning.

Zhou Jianming, Zhou Kan's father!

He had come so quickly because Zhao Si had taken so long to report back. On a sudden impulse, he had come to take a look, intending to humiliate his old rival—whom he had kept down for decades—in front of Zhou Dinghai.

He never even reached the gate. Instead, he ran into the panicked lackey fleeing from the courtyard, and that was how he found himself here.

"Kan! Kan'er!" Zhou Jianming's gaze landed on Zhou Kan. His son's face was so badly disfigured that he could no longer make out his features, but blood called to blood, and Zhou Kan's clothes helped him recognize him.

He had only just leapt forward when a streak of swordlight flashed by, sharp and fierce, forcing him to stop in his tracks.

Zhou Jianming fixed his cold gaze on Zhou Heng, standing with sword in hand. His fists clenched, cracking in a rapid series. By now, he had calmed down. "Zhou Heng, you attempted to harm a member of the lineage. The evidence is conclusive. As family head, I hereby declare you expelled from the Zhou Family!"

"Is that so?" Zhou Heng smiled faintly, bent down, and lifted Zhou Kan. The killing intent on his face was completely undisguised.