Training

Zhou Dinghai left the Nine Spirits Sect the very next day, saying he didn't want to owe the sect any more favors.

Zhou Heng knew that his father was doing it mostly so he wouldn't be distracted, and could devote all his attention to cultivation. After thinking it over, he didn't try to stop him. He didn't want to disappoint his father.

He pressed his feelings for his family deep inside and focused on improving his cultivation.

The free-flowing energy the Black Broken Sword provided him was already beginning to dwindle. He was certain that this energy had been cultivated over the past ten years. So even if he had the same talent as Zhou Dinghai, the energy would probably run out once he reached the Ninth Layer of Body Refining.

If he wanted to keep surging ahead on the path of cultivation, he would have to find another way.

Gathering Essence Pills, for instance. Or the flesh of demonic beasts!

He set his sights on the Top Ten of the Outer Sect. If he could replace one of them, he would receive the sect's special support.

But challenging one of the Top Ten of the Outer Sect wasn't as simple as picking a fight. They could only be challenged on the first day of each month, and it was only early February. He still had more than twenty days to wait.

Just as he was fretting over it, he received his first training mission since joining the sect: enter the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range and hunt demonic beasts.

Hunting demonic beasts served two purposes. It trained the sect's disciples, and it provided "food" for the sect's outstanding students. After all, they couldn't be expected to waste their precious time hunting for themselves.

Each hunting party was led by an Inner Sect disciple, with five or six Outer Sect disciples as members. Any more would be too many to look after.

Early that morning, Zhou Heng arrived at the foot of the mountain to meet the others on his team.

He didn't recognize a single one of them!

But just because he didn't know them didn't mean they hadn't heard of him. After defeating the four strongest Outer Sect disciples single-handedly, he'd already made a name for himself. Even many Inner Sect disciples had heard of him.

Zhou Heng counted five Outer Sect disciples in all, himself included. They were all men.

After a while, two figures approached, one after the other. The woman in front was alluring and glamorous, with a voluptuous figure. Her full breasts bounced with each step, and her slender waist swayed with bewitching grace.

It was Han Yulian!

The young man behind her looked to be just over twenty. He was tall and handsome, but his eyes remained fixed on the swaying curve of Han Yulian's hips, and he was practically drooling.

"I'll be leading your hunting party this time," Han Yulian said bluntly. Her seductive gaze swept over Zhou Heng, and she immediately remembered the surprise he'd given her. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment.

"Senior Sister Han, aren't you going to introduce me?" The young man behind her smiled. "We've got a newcomer here, so allow me to introduce myself. I'm Qi Guangyao, an Inner Sect disciple. I volunteered to come help you out, Senior Sister Han!"

"Hmph. I don't need you meddling," Han Yulian said, glancing at Qi Guangyao with unconcealed disgust.

"Senior Sister, this is your first time leading a team, and you only recently entered the Blood Refining Realm. I'm just concerned about you." Qi Guangyao's expression was full of devotion, and he made no effort to hide it from the others.

He was younger than Han Yulian, but he had reached the Tenth Layer of Body Refining before her, so he spoke with the air of a seasoned senior.

"Who asked you to meddle?" Han Yulian waved a slender hand. "Let's go!"

She set off first, with Zhou Heng and the other four close behind. Qi Guangyao chuckled and followed at an unhurried pace.

The Nine Spirits Sect was built at the foot of the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range, so they were already in the mountains. But to hunt demonic beasts, they naturally had to go deeper. They were unlikely to find any near the outskirts.

Four days later, they had ventured deep into the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range, far beyond the point Zhou Heng had reached on his previous trip. The slopes grew steeper and steeper, and terrifying roars rang out from time to time, making their hearts tremble.

"From here on, demonic beasts roam everywhere. Stay alert, everyone. Don't go beyond the thirty-li limit. Blood Refining Realm beasts appear past that point," Han Yulian said gravely.

Everyone tensed. If they ran into a Blood Refining Realm beast, Han Yulian would probably have no choice but to flee, leaving them to fend for themselves.

"Don't worry. With me here, even a Blood Refining Realm beast can be cut down!" Qi Guangyao's voice rang out from nearby. Han Yulian had kicked him out of the group, but he'd shamelessly kept following them and chimed in from time to time.

Like Han Yulian, he was at the Tenth Layer of Body Refining, but he'd reached it half a year earlier and was now at its peak. Still, the higher one's martial cultivation, the harder it was to break through. It was hardly unusual to get stuck at the Tenth Layer for three or five years before advancing to the Eleventh Layer of Body Refining.

Starting with the Blood Refining Realm, the importance of comprehension became crystal clear.

Two masters at the Tenth Layer of Body Refining were certainly formidable, but if they encountered a demonic beast of the same level, they'd have little choice but to flee! Naturally, no one took Qi Guangyao's bragging seriously. They'd been listening to him boast so much along the way, he was practically about to blow the sky apart.

Qi Guangyao, however, had no self-awareness. When he saw the disdain on their faces, he gave a heavy snort, making no secret of his displeasure.

"Move out. This is your training. Unless your lives are in danger, I won't step in." Han Yulian waved them onward.

Zhou Heng and the other four nodded.

Zhou Heng took the lead. Though he was a complete newcomer, he'd made a name for himself in a single battle, so the other four had unanimously chosen him as their deputy leader.

There really were a lot of demonic beasts in these mountains. They hadn't gone far when they came to a wooded area and spotted a huge wild boar asleep beneath a tree. Its rumbling snores sounded like rolling thunder. The noise was what had drawn Zhou Heng and the others over.

The boar was six meters long and enormous. Golden-yellow bristles covered its body, and two tusks jutted from its mouth, each about a foot long and gleaming with a chilling light.

A demonic beast at the Eighth Layer of Body Refining—the Golden-Haired Pig!

Zhou Heng immediately leaped forward, unleashing Flying Cloud Steps as he charged at the beast. His sword rasped from its sheath, and he thrust straight at it.

He didn't want to flaunt Lin Fuxiang's name, so he'd wrapped the Frost Cold Sword in cloth and carried it on his back. The weapon he used now was just an ordinary iron sword.

"How reckless!" Han Yulian was furious. The most important duty of a leader was to coordinate the team and make sure every member could play their part.

But Zhou Heng had simply charged straight in. Where was the teamwork in that?

The other four young men were all hot-blooded and eager for a fight. Seeing Zhou Heng charge forward, they grew excited and rushed after him one by one.

The Golden-Haired Pig's snoring abruptly stopped. It opened its enormous eyes, both bloodred.

Whoosh!

Zhou Heng's sword came down, but he struck empty air. The Golden-Haired Pig looked fat and clumsy, but it was surprisingly nimble. It dodged his attack in an instant, let out a piercing squeal, and charged at him.

Flying Cloud Steps!

Zhou Heng felt neither joy nor sorrow. He was completely immersed in the sword intent of the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles. As his eyes opened and closed, two black swords appeared in his pupils, deep and unfathomable.

Every movement of the Golden-Haired Pig was laid bare before him!

The sensation was incredibly strange. It was as if he were an emperor in the highest heavens, looking down upon all living things below.

He dodged and pivoted, his feet gliding over the ground. He felt that with his command of the overall situation, he could move with ease even without Flying Cloud Steps! Of course, with Flying Cloud Steps, he was even more relaxed and could take on stronger opponents.

With Zhou Heng drawing the beast's attention, the other four could attack freely. A demonic beast's body was so tough that ordinary weapons could scarcely break its skin. But constant dripping wears away stone. All four were at the Bone Refining Realm, and their strength was real. Their cumulative attacks were quite powerful.

The Golden-Haired Pig kept squealing in pain.

Zhou Heng seized his chance and suddenly thrust his sword!

Pfft! Pfft!

He jabbed twice, and two sprays of blood flew into the air.

The Golden-Haired Pig let out a shrill scream and charged forward. It missed Zhou Heng, but rammed itself between two rocks and got stuck, unable to move either way!

"Nice work!" the other four shouted. Zhou Heng's thrust and follow-up jab had pierced both of the Golden-Haired Pig's eyes! A demonic beast's body might be tough, but its eyes, nose, mouth, and anus were still vulnerable spots!

If Zhou Heng hadn't been trying to blind the beast, he could have driven his first thrust deeper and inflicted much worse damage. But then he wouldn't have had time to strike a second time.

While the Golden-Haired Pig was stuck, the other four hammered it with blow after blow. The strength of those at the Bone Refining Realm was not to be underestimated. Even the Golden-Haired Pig couldn't withstand their full assault, and it squealed like a slaughtered pig.

Bam!

With a heavy thud, the wounded beast forcibly "pulled" itself free. Blood poured from its empty eye sockets, making it look even more horrifying.

But it was already at the end of its strength. It collapsed after only a few more moments, becoming the first beast the group had hunted.

The young men cheered. They'd killed Eighth Layer of Body Refining beasts before, but never this easily.

Han Yulian's red lips twitched a few times, but in the end, she said nothing.

She'd wanted to reprimand Zhou Heng for his complete lack of teamwork. But the Golden-Haired Pig had been dealt with cleanly, leaving her at a loss for what to say.

The group didn't press on. Instead, they immediately began processing the Golden-Haired Pig's carcass.

Its hide could be made into excellent armor, its tusks into exceptionally sharp weapons, and its bones into medicine. Its meat, meanwhile, was an excellent cultivation resource.

The Nine Spirits Sect had a special medicine that could extract all the moisture from meat, reducing over a thousand jin of it to less than a hundred jin and making it much easier to carry.

Zhou Heng couldn't help thinking that if Lin Fuxiang had brought some of that medicine back then, they wouldn't have had to waste the Six-Legged Giant-Headed Beast's carcass.

That woman—what a spendthrift!