Bright Jade Art

Zhou Heng smiled and clasped his hands. "I ask for Senior Sister Shen's guidance!"

With her background at the Third Heaven of Spirit Gathering, her knowledge of martial arts was certainly broader than his, so it wouldn't hurt to listen.

Shen Xinqi smiled radiantly. She had long wanted to mend relations with Zhou Heng but had never had the chance before—this time, she wouldn't miss it. She walked over to him and took the martial arts manuals from his hands.

"You probably don't know this yet, Junior Brother Zhou, but martial arts are divided into grades!" She fixed her gaze on him.

Zhou Heng paused for a moment, then thought of the Moon Shadow Heart Art. Compared to the Blazing Sun Art, that technique was more than twice as efficient at refining True Essence Power. Since techniques had advantages, it was no surprise that martial arts had grades too.

"I really didn't know!" Zhou Heng nodded honestly.

Shen Xinqi smiled again. "Martial arts are split into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. Naturally, upper is the best and lower is the worst. Those manuals you're holding—heh—they're all lower grade!"

If he was going to learn, he might as well learn the best!

Zhou Heng said, "What advice does Senior Sister Shen have for me?"

"Oh, it's not that I don't want to help you, but this first floor only has lower-grade martial arts. The middle-grade ones are on the second floor!" Shen Xinqi's beautiful eyes sparkled with an indescribable charm.

But Zhou Heng had no interest in women. In his eyes, Shen Xinqi was less valuable than the techniques in his hands. He frowned, thinking: if middle-grade martial arts were on the second floor, wasn't she just toying with him?

"Still, there is one upper-grade martial art on this floor. Would Junior Brother Zhou be interested?" She turned the conversation back.

No wonder some said only women and petty men were hard to deal with!

Zhou Heng asked, puzzled, "How could an upper-grade martial art exist on this floor?"

Shen Xinqi smiled faintly. "It's not that strange when you know the story. That manual is called the Bright Jade Art. It's said to be upper-grade, but no one has ever mastered it—not even the first layer! And it wasn't passed down by the Nine Spirits Sect's earliest founder. Over a hundred years ago, an old sect master found it in a ruin and speculated it was upper-grade."

"Since no one ever succeeded, over time people began to wonder if it was just a joke left by someone from the past."

"Also, cultivating the Bright Jade Art requires a heavy upfront investment—you need medicinal baths to temper the body—and after that, there's no sign of progress. So naturally, fewer and fewer people chose it. Now, hardly anyone even knows this upper-grade art exists!"

Hearing this, Zhou Heng grew interested. Following Shen Xinqi's guidance, he found a manual in an inconspicuous corner of the last shelf. The words "Bright Jade Art" leaped out at him.

He opened it and saw that, as Shen Xinqi had said, to cultivate the Bright Jade Art, one first needed to bathe in medicinal baths to lay the foundation. Otherwise, relying solely on True Essence Power to temper the body would never forge it to an indestructible state.

Should he choose this?

Shen Xinqi said no one had ever mastered the Bright Jade Art.

It could be that the art was truly too profound, leaving everyone at a loss, unable even to enter its threshold. But it could also be a joke from the past—if so, it would be a waste of time.

After only a moment's hesitation, he decided to choose it. He had pride in his heart—if he was going to pick something, he'd pick the best!

Zhou Heng set down the other manuals, keeping only the Bright Jade Art.

"Junior Brother Zhou, are you really planning to cultivate this art?" Shen Xinqi was somewhat surprised that he was so decisive.

"Yes!" Zhou Heng nodded. Once he made a decision, he wouldn't waver. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister Shen!"

"No need to be polite!" Shen Xinqi wanted to say more, but saw Zhou Heng already turning to leave with the Bright Jade Art. This left her feeling stifled—she thought, why was this kid so oblivious to charm?

A beauty like her—others fought to get close and curry favor—yet this brat didn't even treasure the chance to be alone with her!

No wonder his combat strength was so high; he put all his focus on martial arts, just like Jing Tian. She wondered which of the two had a brighter future.

Zhou Heng took the Bright Jade Art to the gray-robed elder and said, "Senior, this junior chooses this martial art!"

"Oh? The Bright Jade Art?" The elder was slightly startled, looked up at Zhou Heng, and said, "Young man, do you know that no one has ever mastered this art?"

"Yes!" Zhou Heng nodded.

"And you still choose it?"

"Yes!" Zhou Heng answered without hesitation.

"Very well, I'll fetch the copy for you." The elder walked through a door and came out shortly, holding a manual. He placed it on the table and said, "You have one month to study it. It must be returned after that. You may not teach it to others, or... you will face the harshest punishment!"

"Yes!" Zhou Heng acknowledged solemnly.

Martial arts were not to be passed on lightly—he understood this principle. In the Zhou Family, for example, important techniques were never taught to outsiders. The youths from other families in town only learned the most basic arts; only those with exceptional talent received advanced techniques.

He took the Bright Jade Art back to his quarters and immediately began reading.

It was a hand-copied version, not the original. That made sense—after so many years of transmission, the original was probably tattered and would crumble at a touch.

The Bright Jade Art was extremely complex. Every line of the oral formula was profoundly subtle and very hard to understand.

"No wonder no one has mastered it. Ordinary people seeing these formulas would probably think they were nonsense written out of boredom. When something is profound enough, it really does look no different from gibberish!"

Zhou Heng smiled faintly. Fortunately, his comprehension had been terrifyingly sharpened by the Black Sword's subtle influence, and with his constant study of the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles, even the most abstruse things seemed simple to him. He quickly grasped the essence.

The Bright Jade Art had ten layers. At the highest level, the body itself could rival a human weapon!

The art itself wasn't hard to cultivate. The difficulty lay in the prerequisite medicinal baths to build a foundation. If one skipped this step and tried to cultivate directly, the True Essence Power would first tear the body apart from within.

Zhou Heng looked at the list of ingredients needed for the medicinal bath and couldn't help but gasp.

He was no longer the naive youth who had first left Raw Stone Town. His horizons had broadened considerably, and preparing that medicinal bath would cost at least tens of thousands of silver taels.

He had no money!

Aside from a Golden-Crowned Snake's gall, Zhou Heng had nothing of value on him. He couldn't very well sell the Frost Cold Sword, could he?

Where could he get some money?

The Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range!

It was a massive treasure trove. Back when he had just entered the Flesh Refining Realm, he had dared to charge in, so why not now, especially when he was even stronger?

Moreover, he was not far from the Blood Refining Realm and wanted to visit the Cold Pool in Absolute Valley to figure out what that figure beneath the water really was.

After packing the necessary items, he set off immediately. After all, he had already obtained the fifteen Gathering Essence Pills.

The Nine Spirits Sect placed few restrictions on its disciples' movements; they only needed to complete mandatory tasks each month. But that had nothing to do with Zhou Heng—the Top Ten of the Outer Sect only needed to cultivate and were exempt from all tasks.

In less than half a day, he had already entered the vast mountains. Gazing at the green hills and clear waters, he felt his heart open wide, his True Essence Power surging like a tide, like an avalanche or a tsunami.

Light! Indescribably light!

Zhou Heng stared at the blazing sun in the sky, and in that moment, his state of mind underwent a tremendous elevation.

At this instant, he understood his own heart.

He was an eagle of the heavens, needing a vast sky to soar, not a limited patch of land or region.

Whether in the Zhou Family or the Nine Spirits Sect, he had felt bound by an invisible force. But in this moment, his heart was set free—he could ascend to the nine heavens to slay dragons, or dive into the deep seas to roam, completely unleashed!

The Black Broken Sword vibrated lightly, and heaven and earth seemed to respond. Streams of pure power surged from all directions, entering Zhou Heng's body.

This was not the Black Broken Sword releasing power; rather, the change in Zhou Heng's state of mind had resonated with the Black Broken Sword, which in turn caused heaven and earth to resonate, producing this inexplicable transformation.

"Could this be... the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!" Zhou Heng was shocked. He had heard of it many times—Spirit Gathering Realm experts cultivated not by refining energy from food, but by directly absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

But he hadn't even reached the Blood Refining Realm, so how could he sense, let alone absorb, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth? Yet if it wasn't spiritual energy, how could he explain this power, born from nothing?

The Black Sword!

That was it! A martial artist had to open their Dantian to advance to the Spirit Gathering Realm, merging their Dantian world with heaven and earth to draw in spiritual energy! And the Black Sword was in his Dantian, acting as a bridge, helping him connect directly to heaven and earth!

Zhou Heng sat down cross-legged. He had no time to ponder whether this was correct; he quickly activated the Moon Shadow Heart Art, converting this vast energy into True Essence Power, rapidly boosting his cultivation.

Late stage of the Ninth Layer of Body Refining!

Half an hour later, Zhou Heng stopped. The power around him had ceased flowing into his body, meaning the sudden opportunity he had gained was over.

"Just a sliver away from the peak of the Ninth Layer of Body Refining. The energy the Black Sword releases now is getting weaker, but it's still far more effective than a Gathering Essence Pill. I should reach the peak of the Ninth Layer of Body Refining within ten days!"

"I still have some time. First, I'll hunt a few demon beasts, then head to the Cold Pool in that secluded valley!"

He leaped up and dashed through the mountains, executing the Flying Cloud Steps. It felt as if heaven and earth were propelling him—his movement technique was mysterious and swift, yet consumed very little energy. Combined with his body nearing the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, his physique was increasingly robust, enough to sustain long-distance travel.

Two days later, he arrived before a dense forest. Just as he was about to enter, he saw four people walking out, all cursing and grumbling.

"That damned donkey! If I ever run into it again, I'll slaughter it and eat donkey meat!"

"Too despicable, shameless, and low! I've never encountered a demon beast like this!"

"It even dared to trick us into thinking it was some kind of divine beast of heaven and earth!"

Zhou Heng nearly burst out laughing. No need to guess—the donkey they were talking about was definitely that Despicable Donkey from Mist Death Valley!

That Despicable Donkey still hadn't left the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range?