Ninth Layer of Body Refining

These corpses were likely all at the Body Refining Realm when alive, so after death, wind and rain had weathered them, their bones far less durable than in life. Under Zhou Heng's longsword, they fell like rotten wood, one after another.

It was fortunate that Zhou Heng was the one here. Anyone else, lacking the support of Flying Cloud Steps, could never have avoided a single scratch under the siege of so many walking corpses.

Poison—that stuff didn't necessarily need to hit a vital spot!

Thud, thud, thud. The corpses collapsed one after another, dust returning to dust, the green flames in their eye sockets extinguishing along with them.

After more than ten minutes, several hundred corpses were all taken down. Zhou Heng stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow.

This battle seemed like a complete victory, but it had been fraught with danger. If he had been even slightly careless during it, those walking corpses would have grabbed him. If he had been tainted by the poison, he had no idea what would have happened!

In any case, it would have been nothing good!

Zhou Heng's gaze fell upon the Blood-Colored Stone Stele, and he strode over to it.

All of this was caused by this stele—this ability to "raise the dead," to influence and control minds. What exactly was this thing?

"Junior Brother Zhou, don't touch that thing. It's too sinister!" Han Yulian's voice trembled behind him. She was utterly terrified.

Zhou Heng waved his hand but continued forward, stopping in front of the stele.

This time, the stele showed no reaction at all.

He couldn't understand a single one of the characters on it—dense and packed like a sky full of stars. He paused, then slowly reached out his hand and pressed it against the stele.

Han Yulian's heart leaped into her throat. She wanted to stop Zhou Heng, but her feet felt as if nailed to the ground, unable to move an inch. Her breathing grew heavy, and she felt she might faint at any moment.

After all, the sight of resurrected skeletons had shaken her too deeply. It made her completely forget that she was a martial artist whose cultivation surpassed Zhou Heng's, and she was reduced to nothing more than a frightened woman.

His palm drew closer and closer to the stele. Zhou Heng seemed to hear the wailing of a sinister wind, a shiver running through him that raised goosebumps all over his body.

Fearless in his heart, he pressed his hand down.

Boom!

A flash of blood-red light surged across the stele, rushing along his hand and into his body, sending him flying backward to crash heavily onto the ground. Zhou Heng's consciousness instantly retreated into his body, and he could no longer sense anything around him.

Pain! Such pain!

Blood-red light flooded every inch of Zhou Heng's body, as if it were about to burst him apart! Just then, the Black Broken Sword gave a faint tremor, and a pressure that could suppress the nine heavens and ten lands instantly radiated outward.

Like snow melting in boiling water, the blood-red light scattered in all directions, seeping into Zhou Heng's flesh, blood, and meridians.

The Moon Shadow Heart Art began to circulate on its own, as if trying to refine the power within that blood-red light!

Zhou Heng wanted to wake up, but he had no way to do so. He had a vague feeling that he had to expel this blood-red light from his body.

Want to harm me? I'll drain you dry first!

He actively activated the Moon Shadow Heart Art, beginning to wrestle with the blood-red light, refining it over and over again!

Though the blood-red light had been scattered by the Black Broken Sword, losing most of its power, the remaining force was not to be underestimated. It stubbornly tangled with Zhou Heng, refusing to let him refine it easily. But within Zhou Heng's body, with the Black Broken Sword suppressing it, this resistance was utterly futile.

One strand, two strands, three strands—the blood-red light transformed into pure energy, absorbed by Zhou Heng and converted into his own True Essence Power, rapidly increasing his cultivation accumulation.

Over these many days, though the free-floating energy released by the Black Broken Sword had been dwindling, it had still pushed him to the peak of the Seventh Layer of Body Refining. With this accumulation of True Essence Power, he could now break through to the Eighth Layer of Body Refining!

Though he was in a semi-conscious state, far from an ideal time for a breakthrough, Zhou Heng was like an arrow already nocked—he had no choice but to shoot!

If he didn't break through, he couldn't contain any more True Essence Power. Yet the Moon Shadow Heart Art was still circulating on its own. If he couldn't find a way to absorb the True Essence Power within his body, he would be burst apart alive!

Then let it come!

Zhou Heng's mind cleared, and he began to assault the Eighth Layer of Body Refining.

After entering the Bone Refining Realm, every minor realm breakthrough became considerably more difficult! Relatively speaking, thanks to the existence of pills like the Spirit Gathering Pill, accumulating True Essence Power was truly no challenge. Some heavenly treasures could even allow someone to complete the True Essence Power accumulation for a minor realm in a single day!

But a breakthrough required not only an accumulation of power but also enlightenment.

The higher the realm, the more prominent the importance of enlightenment.

Zhou Heng's divine sense condensed into a miniature human form, wandering through his body, observing his interior, guiding the True Essence Power to assault the barrier of the Eighth Layer of Body Refining.

Observing one's own interior—this shouldn't have been an ability available to a Body Refining Realm martial artist. It was something one could only achieve at the Spirit Gathering Realm! Yet Zhou Heng had broken this rule. When others charged at a bottleneck, it was like a blind man feeling an elephant—they had no way of knowing if they were right or wrong beforehand, only finding out after the attempt.

But Zhou Heng was different. He was like a god looking down from on high, understanding his own body with perfect clarity. He only needed to make the most accurate choice.

And his enlightenment?

Compared to the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles, this was practically child's play!

In less than half an hour, his body suddenly trembled, and his aura instantly surged by a notch!

Eighth Layer of Body Refining!

This was far from over. The blood-red light within Zhou Heng's body still lingered in countless strands. He continued to suppress, refine, and absorb, his True Essence Power steadily accumulating.

The process of accumulating True Essence Power was the process of tempering the body.

During this process, Zhou Heng's skin grew tougher, his muscles denser, his bones harder. Only his blood could not be tempered—that belonged to the Blood Refining Realm.

Eighth Layer of Body Refining, mid-stage, late-stage, peak!

In just three short hours, Zhou Heng completed the entire power accumulation for the Eighth Layer of Body Refining and could now assault the Ninth Layer!

"How is this possible!" Han Yulian finally came to her senses. She had witnessed Zhou Heng's breakthrough to the Eighth Layer of Body Refining with her own eyes, which had already stunned her nearly to the point of fainting. But what happened next forced her to hold on.

She could clearly sense Zhou Heng's aura rising from the early stage of the Eighth Layer of Body Refining all the way to its peak—it was like a dream!

Had this guy eaten an immortal pill?

"That stone stele!" Han Yulian's beautiful eyes fixed on the Blood-Colored Stone Stele. Zhou Heng had only changed like this after touching that thing—could it really increase cultivation?

But she had also witnessed Zhou Heng's earlier bizarre transformation. His entire body had glowed with blood light, as if it were about to tear him apart. If she touched it, would she instantly shatter into billions of fragments?

It was Zhou Heng who had saved her from the state of helplessly waiting for death, which showed he had the ability to resist the stele, while she... could not!

Though she was greedy, she was no fool. Now she could only wait quietly. When Zhou Heng woke up, if he was willing, he might even shield her and let her gain some benefits too!

Zhou Heng was completely unaware of the outside situation and immediately began his assault on the Ninth Layer of Body Refining.

Too easy!

Another half hour later, this barrier once again opened fully to Zhou Heng. True Essence Power surged violently through the bones of his entire body. Now that the Bone Refining Realm was fully cleared, True Essence Power could enter every corner of his bones—the exhilarating sensation was indescribably wonderful!

"Hiss!" Han Yulian sucked in a cold breath. Another breakthrough!

She must be seeing ghosts!

She had been through it herself and knew clearly the difficulty of advancing from the Seventh Layer of Body Refining to the Eighth, then the Ninth. The challenge wasn't in accumulating True Essence Power, but in how to break through. For her, going from the early Seventh Layer to its peak had taken seven months, but breaking through the barrier had taken five!

From the early Eighth Layer to its peak took nine months, and breaking through to the Ninth Layer also took nine months!

The higher the realm, the more the ratio of accumulating cultivation to breaking through reversed. After reaching the Blood Refining Realm, one might spend a year or two building power, yet need three or four years to break through!

Zhou Heng was absolutely a monster!

Her beautiful eyes wandered, and she couldn't help but sigh inwardly with regret.

If Zhou Heng had been born ten years earlier, when she was still in the bloom of youth, she was confident she could have seduced him into being her most devoted follower! Unfortunately, though she was still in her prime, she was after all seven or eight years older than Zhou Heng!

"What am I thinking about!" She couldn't help shaking her head with a wry smile, then fixed her gaze back on Zhou Heng, her eyes filled with tension—if this guy died here, she would be buried with him!

The blood light within his body had not yet been completely purged!

Zhou Heng was in no hurry to wake up now. Instead, he wished the amount of blood light could be even greater, letting him charge straight to the peak of the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining in one go!

He believed that even the barrier of the Spirit Gathering Realm wouldn't hold him back for long!

And once he became a Spirit Gathering Realm expert, he could go to White Jade Valley and slaughter them all!

Middle Ninth Layer of Body Refining!

The blood light finally dissipated completely.

Zhou Heng let out a soft sigh, then regained control of his body. He suddenly opened his eyes, two sharp gleams flashing past before immediately returning to ordinariness.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Zhou!" Han Yulian said sincerely. She had come to admire Zhou Heng's monstrous talent to the core and was now genuinely intent on forging a friendship with him.

Zhou Heng smiled and said, "Just a stroke of luck!"

He looked back at the stele and noticed that the blood-colored glow on its surface seemed to have dimmed somewhat. Could he absorb a bit more? Zhou Heng's heart stirred, and he placed his hand on it again.

Boom!

The black broken sword in his Dantian vibrated on its own, and instantly, a massive amount of blood light was drawn out. But this time, not a shred was given to Zhou Heng—it was all monopolized by the black broken sword!

The black broken sword's absorption power was immense. In just a single breath, the blood light was drained completely dry!

Zhou Heng couldn't help clicking his tongue in amazement. Earlier, a single burst of blood light from the stele had let him leap two minor realms. If all that blood light had been swallowed by him, how far would it have sent him?

The Twelfth Layer of Body Refining? Or perhaps straight to the Spirit Gathering Realm!

"Junior Brother Zhou, we should leave this place quickly!" Han Yulian said, still shaken by lingering fear.

Creak!

At that moment, the stele suddenly shifted upward, emitting a very harsh sound.

What was this?

Creak, creak. Under Zhou Heng and Han Yulian's fixed stares, the stele shifted upward again, and the frequency grew faster and faster.

Bang! A burst of sand and dust flew up as the entire stele suddenly collapsed, and a black shadow shot out.

"Wahaha, This Seat has finally come out!"

PS: "This Seat" makes an appearance, begging for collections and recommendations~