Ferocious Progress

Though he did not want to sleep, Zhou Heng still forced himself to rest. He was at a crucial stage of growth.

After sleeping until dawn, Zhou Heng got up, hurriedly ate breakfast, and began deducing and pondering the Nine Sword Styles in his mind.

He did not aim too high. He focused all his attention solely on the first sword style.

This was a gradual process. To learn the second sword style, he first had to master the first; there was no skipping ahead. This was the conclusion he had reached after observing the Nine Sword Styles in his mind countless times.

From morning until late at night, Zhou Heng pondered the first sword style, constantly smoothing out its mysteries. Each execution brought new insight, making him increasingly at one with heaven and earth, in harmony with nature.

Even so, he still could not perform this first sword style in its entirety.

With the moon hanging high overhead, Zhou Heng stopped studying the sword art and instead sat cross-legged to cultivate the Blazing Sun Art.

Buzz!

At midnight, the Black Broken Sword trembled on schedule, releasing a vast amount of free-floating energy. Zhou Heng naturally did not stand on ceremony. He absorbed it like the sea swallowing rivers and whales drawing in water. Half an hour later, he had completely absorbed the energy, and his cultivation had improved considerably once more.

"At this rate, I'll reach the Peak of Body Refining Tier One in five or six days!" Zhou Heng could not hide the delight on his face.

Though he did not understand the Black Broken Sword in the slightest, that did not stop him from making a guess. For the previous ten years, the Black Broken Sword had been absorbing the True Essence Power he cultivated, as though forging a key.

Once it had accumulated enough True Essence Power, the key had been forged, unlocking the Black Broken Sword's supernatural ability. It passed on to him nine unfathomably mysterious sword styles and supplied him with immense amounts of free-floating energy every day.

The previous ten years had been an incomparably long trial. If he had become disheartened and given up along the way, he would never have lived to see the outcome before him!

Fortunately, he had persevered. Otherwise, he would have spent his entire life accomplishing nothing, becoming a worthless good-for-nothing in every sense of the word.

The fragrance of plum blossoms came from bitter cold. Through ten years of lying low and enduring, Zhou Heng had cultivated incomparable patience and tempered his will into something unshakably firm.

He had indeed started ten years later than others, but as long as the Black Broken Sword could continue displaying its miraculous effects, he would need only four months to make up for it! And afterward, his path of cultivation would be countless times broader than anyone else's!

"Three months from now will be the Year-End Ceremony. Who knows how many people are waiting to laugh at me and see me struck from the family register!"

"After all these years, the image of me as a good-for-nothing has taken root in everyone's hearts. Who has ever looked me in the eye?"

"I've imagined it countless times—one day, standing proudly before them all and slapping them hard across the face with the facts. Now, the chance has finally come!"

"The Year-End Ceremony will be when I stun everyone with a single brilliant feat!"

"Continue studying that mysterious sword art!"

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed. The Black Broken Sword did not disappoint Zhou Heng. Every midnight, it released great amounts of free-floating energy, allowing him to steadily advance his cultivation to the Peak of Body Refining Tier One.

Next came the breakthrough into a minor realm. If he did not cross this threshold, his cultivation could not advance even an inch further.

Relatively speaking, such breakthroughs were easy. They were all within the Skin Refining Realm; as long as one possessed sufficient strength, one could break through in a single push, without much difficulty. But breakthroughs into major realms were extremely hard. The threshold of the Flesh Refining Realm alone was enough to leave ninety percent of martial artists dejected and heartbroken.

In just an hour, Zhou Heng felt his entire body grow lighter. He had already entered Body Refining Tier Two.

"So easy?"

"Minor realm breakthroughs are supposed to be easy, but isn't this a little too effortless?"

After breaking through, Zhou Heng did not feel any increase in strength. This was normal. A breakthrough in realm merely gave him room to continue improving. Its benefits would slowly reveal themselves through the accumulation of cultivation, rather than appearing immediately.

He gave the nine mysterious sword styles a name: the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles. Though he spent most of every day practicing the first sword style, he still could not even imitate it by drawing a gourd after the model!

The Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles could not be seen by outsiders, so Zhou Heng no longer went to the plaza. Every day, he remained in his own courtyard, occasionally jumping up like a madman and waving his wooden sword a few times.

As for his absence, the younger members of the Zhou Family all assumed he knew he could not reach the Flesh Refining Realm before year's end and had finally given up his last desperate struggle. Naturally, this led to another round of ridicule and sarcasm.

Zhou Heng naturally did not care what others thought. He simply lay low in silence, waiting for the day he would break from his cocoon and become a butterfly.

Another ten days passed. He advanced his cultivation to Late Body Refining Tier Two. In just another two or three days, he would reach the peak and charge toward Body Refining Tier Three! What delighted him even more was that he had finally made a breakthrough in studying the First Form of Heaven-Soaring and could barely execute half a move.

Zhou Heng had no sparring partner and had no way of knowing how powerful this half-style was. Nor could he casually find someone in the Zhou Family to exchange blows with, so he could only keep practicing alone.

"It'll take at least another half month before I can completely execute this sword style!" Zhou Heng could not help shaking his head. Just one sword style required a month before he could barely use it. Was he simply too stupid, or were the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles too profound?

"I can't spar with anyone from the Lineage, so I'll go to Leveling Heaven Mountain and test myself against wild beasts! Only real life-and-death combat can improve one's use of sword arts! This is experience—something no one can teach!"

"But I must wait until I reach the Flesh Refining Realm. Otherwise, it'll be far too dangerous!"

"Settle down!"

Zhou Heng stopped thinking about such matters and devoted himself to rigorous sword practice. Instead, advancing his cultivation became exceedingly simple; he only needed half an hour each day to refine the free-floating energy released by the Black Broken Sword.

If others learned that half an hour of his daily cultivation equaled an ordinary person's month of bitter training, every single one of them would turn red-eyed with envy!

After enduring ten years of disdain and suffering, Zhou Heng had finally gained a weighty reward.

Another two days passed. He reached the Peak of Body Refining Tier Two, and in little more than an hour, he broke through again, entering Body Refining Tier Three.

Counting the time, only nineteen days had passed from beginning to end!

The speed was enough to leave people speechless!

Zhou Heng did not become carried away. Though his cultivation was progressing ferociously now, his starting point had been too low. Body Refining Tier Three was nothing to be proud of.

The Zhou Family rules stated that anyone who had not reached the Flesh Refining Realm by eighteen would be struck from the family register. This alone showed that Zhou Heng's cultivation was still pitifully low, far from even the minimum requirement.

In the blink of an eye, the still-scorching September had long passed, and the crisp, clear October was already half gone. Zhou Heng's cultivation continued to advance by leaps and bounds, reaching the peak of Body Refining Tier Three and confronting the first great challenge since he began cultivating.

A breakthrough into a major realm!

Zhou Heng had thought this would trap him for at least ten days, perhaps even longer. After all, even his incomparably talented father had needed a full nine days. Yet unexpectedly, he crossed this threshold in only half a day!

He stood there blankly for quite some time before accepting the fact. When he looked back and considered it, Zhou Heng realized there was a reason for it.

That was because, over the past month, he had continuously studied the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles. Even the slightest insight made him feel as though he had grasped the most profound principles in the world, as though nothing before him held any secrets.

The Black Sword was absolutely a treasure of the highest grade!

On the path of martial cultivation, the first obstacle was the accumulation of True Essence Power. Yet rather than calling it an obstacle, it would be more accurate to say it simply took time. In theory, as long as one was willing to spend enough time, one could always reach the peak of a given realm—except in special cases like Zhou Heng's, where his True Essence Power had been devoured.

The second obstacle was naturally breaking through major realms. This was the truly deadly one!

Accumulating True Essence Power only required the accumulation of time, but breaking through major realms required comprehension. If one could not comprehend it, then one simply could not comprehend it; one could remain stuck in the same place for an entire lifetime!

From this perspective, comprehension was actually more important than diligence!

Thus, those who reached the pinnacle of martial cultivation were generally geniuses. Occasionally, diligent people also climbed to great heights, but they must have encountered tremendous fortuitous opportunities. Otherwise, no amount of diligence would be of use.

Yet the Black Sword had resolved both difficulties at once!

The suffering and humiliation he had endured over the past ten years had not been in vain!

It was time to head to the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range!

A martial artist who had never undergone actual combat could only remain at the level of discussing warfare on paper. Once they encountered a life-or-death battle, they might die beneath an enemy's blade before even displaying ten percent of their strength.

The strong were not trained into existence—they were forged through battle!

Zhou Heng packed his belongings, strapped an iron sword to his back, quietly left the Zhou Family, departed Raw Stone Town, and entered the dense forests of the vast Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range.

When had he last left Raw Stone Town?

Zhou Heng thought back. It had been when he was very young. His father had once taken him into the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range to hunt demon beasts. But after his "inability to cultivate" arose, Zhou Dinghai began searching the world for spiritual medicine for him, naturally leaving him no time to accompany Zhou Heng.

Where was Father now? Zhou Heng could not help feeling an intense yearning for him.

The Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range was immense. As for just how immense, Zhou Heng did not know. He only knew that the mountains contained not only countless wild beasts, but demon beasts as well!

Demon beasts were wild beasts born capable of cultivation. Some strengthened themselves by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, while others did so by hunting and devouring one another. The energy contained in their flesh far surpassed that of ordinary wild beasts, making them a great tonic for martial artists.

But demon beasts were also extremely dangerous. Just as humans were far from a match for fierce tigers, martial artists of the same realm were likewise no match for demon beasts. Zhou Heng had waited until reaching the Flesh Refining Realm before entering the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range precisely because he feared encountering demon beasts—existences he could not contend against.

Half a day later, he was already deep within the mountains and forests. Tiger roars and ape cries rang out everywhere, filling the air with a primal aura.

"Roar—" With a thunderous bellow, an enormous Black Bear burst from the bushes and swiped a claw at Zhou Heng.

Zhou Heng could not help revealing an excited expression. With a ringing clang, his longsword left its sheath, and the first form of the Heaven-Soaring Nine Swords began to flow.