Ambush at White Jade Valley

Still seeking votes for the Three Jiang ticket—currently in fourth place, being chased hard, don't want to get overtaken~

"Who are you?" Zhou Heng's gaze swept over the man blocking his path. It was a burly man in his thirties. Though it was only the start of February and the weather was bitterly cold, he bared his arms, revealing muscles knotted like rock.

Blood qi surged skyward, overbearing and unmatched!

Blood Refining Realm!

And not just any Blood Refining Realm—a peak expert at the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining!

"Kid, you didn't think you could swagger away after killing someone from White Jade Valley, did you?" the burly man rumbled, his voice rolling like thunder.

White Jade Valley!

Right. Earlier, with Black Water Hall's golden signboard, White Jade Valley wouldn't dare attack openly. And the rule forbidding combat within Fengyu City was jointly set by the Three Great Sects!

Moreover, Zhou Heng had ties with Black Water Hall and even caught the attention of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Someone like that was best killed on the sly!

Hence, the ambush on the road!

Logically, to play it safe, they should have sent a Spirit Gathering Realm expert, leaving Zhou Heng utterly powerless to resist.

Thinking this, Zhou Heng couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile. He knew his own strength, but White Jade Valley didn't. Wasn't dispatching a Twelfth Layer of Body Refining expert enough? Let alone the Twelfth Layer—even the Tenth Layer would be a sure win!

That smile landed in the burly man's eyes, instantly stoking his fury. This damned brat dared to sneer at him—courting death!

"Still laughing? Good. But soon, you won't even be able to cry!" The burly man lunged, reaching out to grab Zhou Heng. His orders were to capture Zhou Heng alive, not kill him, or he'd earn blame instead of merit.

Zhou Heng activated Flying Cloud Steps, sidestepping with uncanny precision, slipping several paces away and dodging the grab.

"Oh?" The burly man's face flickered with surprise at the missed strike.

A mere Ninth Layer of Body Refining peak youth should have been an easy catch, yet he'd failed—that truly startled him.

"Hmph, dodge once, but can you dodge twice?" He reached out again to seize Zhou Heng.

"Courting death!" Zhou Heng's eyes flickered with killing intent. They were strangers with no personal grudge, but their positions were set. He wouldn't just surrender.

Clang! The longsword slid from its sheath—Flying Waterfall Sword Technique!

"What?!" The burly man recoiled, but several white marks had already appeared on his arm.

The Flying Waterfall Sword Technique was one of the Nine Spirits Sect's three strongest martial skills, and after Zhou Heng's improvements, its power was even greater. Coupled with Zhou Heng's surge in strength, a single strike could even hit a Twelfth Layer of Body Refining peak expert!

Truly worthy of the Nine Spirits Sect's signature art—overcoming the strong with the weak, landing a blow in one stroke!

Though the burly man's carelessness played a part, without the sword technique's absolute subtlety, such an effect would have been impossible.

"Flying Waterfall Sword Technique?" The burly man's eyes gleamed with astonishment. "How could you have learned the Nine Spirits Sect's signature art?"

It was like White Jade Valley's Crimson Flame Heart-Burning Palm—a technique nearly exclusive to the sect leader.

"That's none of your concern!" Zhou Heng said calmly, twirling his longsword in an arc.

"Hmph, the Flying Waterfall Sword Technique is indeed powerful, but you're only at the Ninth Layer of Body Refining—the gap between us is too vast!" The burly man shook his arms. "You can't possibly break my defense!"

"Haha, once I capture you, our valley will gain a new signature art!"

He laughed heartily, swooping down like an eagle to attack Zhou Heng again.

Zhou Heng activated Flying Cloud Steps underfoot, his longsword slashing like lightning, striking the burly man's body blow after blow.

The Flying Waterfall Sword Technique was profoundly subtle, and only at the Ninth Layer of Body Refining could Zhou Heng truly unleash its power. Unfortunately, the gap between him and the burly man was stark—the sword scraped against him like stone, leaving only white marks without even breaking the skin!

At first, the burly man dodged a few times, but unable to match the technique's agility, he soon stopped bothering, letting Zhou Heng hack away while shielding only his eyes, ears, and vitals. He pressed forward relentlessly, relying on his superior realm to overwhelm.

"Kid, this is the gap in cultivation!" he roared with laughter.

Zhou Heng remained expressionless. A Twelfth Layer of Body Refining opponent was the perfect whetstone for him—not something to waste.

"Time to end this!" The burly man suddenly shot out a hand, impossibly fast, grabbing Zhou Heng's sword before he could pull it back. "Did you really think I couldn't handle you? The Flying Waterfall Sword Technique is subtle, but you used it seven or eight times in front of me—did you think I wouldn't catch on?"

He yanked hard, and the longsword flew from Zhou Heng's grip, snapping into seven or eight pieces with a series of cracks!

Such was the strength of the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining!

"Kid, come quietly, and I'll spare you some pain."

Zhou Heng sighed, taking the Frost Cold Sword from his back and unwrapping the cloth layer by layer. "You could have lived a little longer."

"What?" The burly man laughed in fury. "You think you can kill me?"

As he spoke, Zhou Heng finished unwrapping the cloth, revealing the Frost Cold Sword.

Seeing Zhou Heng with another sword, the burly man's face twitched. He'd endured so many strikes just to seize Zhou Heng's weapon, only to find he had a second sword!

What kind of person carries two swords?

You're not a dual-wielder!

Clang! The Frost Cold Sword slid from its sheath with a crisp ring, as if protesting its long confinement.

The burly man's expression shifted. With his eye, he could instantly tell how sharp this blade was!

"Scared?" Zhou Heng said flatly, as if stating the most ordinary thing.

"Hmph, a mere Ninth Layer of Body Refining!" The burly man's gaze turned fierce. Though he feigned disdain, he dared not be careless. He clenched his fists and assumed a strange attacking stance.

"This is the Tyrant Fist!"

He had already channeled all of his True Essence Power, his voice rumbling like thunderclaps beside the ear, enough to shake a person senseless: "Though it can't compare to the Flying Waterfall Sword Technique, it's still one of the top existences among mid-grade martial techniques!"

"With my power three realms higher driving it, one punch will blast you to pieces!"

"The young master ordered me to bring you back alive, but he never said you had to be intact!"

The burly man roared, thrusting out a punch. True Essence Power surged wildly, compressing the air into a wave that blasted toward Zhou Heng.

"Thousand Tyrant Shadow Strikes!"

Boom, boom, boom. He struck repeatedly from a distance, forming wave after wave of air pressure, like the roar of an ocean, crashing toward Zhou Heng one after another!

He feared the sharpness of Zhou Heng's treasured sword, so he spared no True Essence Power in attacking from afar. But the strength of the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining had reached a terrifying degree—even force unleashed through the void was enough to shatter Zhou Heng's body in an instant!

Zhou Heng snorted coldly, his body lunging forward as his divine sense instantly unfurled, mapping the battlefield with exquisite detail in his mind.

—Seventy-four air waves were hurtling toward him from different angles!

He activated the Flying Cloud Steps, advancing instead of retreating!

His body slid like a fish through water, weaving between the air waves, carving a path through the storm of attacks!

"How is this possible!" Watching Zhou Heng close in step by step, the burly man felt an indescribable shock surge within him.

He knew no attack could be flawless; there would always be gaps, or weaknesses. But through the refinement of technique, those flaws could be minimized, even concealed!

The Tyrant Fist had its flaws, but as a mid-grade martial technique, those flaws were naturally extremely subtle! Most crucially, he was executing it with the power of the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining, while his opponent was only at the Ninth Layer!

In the face of absolute strength and speed, so-called flaws were essentially negligible, because the weaker party could never seize that one-in-ten-thousand, or even one-in-a-billion, chance!

Yet now, he was witnessing a freak who could latch onto the nearly imperceptible gaps between his moves, charging forward unstoppably!

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Heng was upon him!

—This was the combined result of the Flying Cloud Steps and Zhou Heng's all-seeing divine sense; neither could be missing.

Third Style of Heaven-Soaring!

Sword intent surged wildly, draining the True Essence Power from his body. Zhou Heng swung a sword strike that seemed capable of cleaving heaven and earth, dazzling and brilliant!

The blade swept through!

Pfft! Blood sprayed three feet high. The sword cut clean through, severing the burly man at the waist!

Zhou Heng immediately collapsed to the ground. The Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles truly weren't meant for human use—even though he had grasped their essence, unleashing a single strike drained all his strength.

If he had used the Flying Waterfall Sword Technique with the Frost Cold Sword, he would still have won steadily, but a steady win didn't guarantee a kill!

His actual cultivation was only at the Ninth Layer of Body Refining. If the burly man had tried to flee, Zhou Heng simply couldn't catch up, so a single fatal blow was necessary!

—Since the man intended to capture him and deliver him to death, Zhou Heng had nothing more to say. Only one word: kill!

Mercy to an enemy is cruelty to oneself. Once he struck, he showed no mercy. Zhou Heng had embraced this resolve from the moment he set foot on the martial path.

He searched the burly man's corpse, finding nothing but a few banknotes. Counting them, they totaled over five thousand taels. But when he saw the seal on the notes, Zhou Heng couldn't help but twitch his mouth.

They were unmistakably issued by the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion!

He pocketed the banknotes. He was desperately poor right now, so he had no qualms about profiting from the dead. Taking a deep breath, he continued his journey into the Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range.

The grudge with White Jade Valley would be settled completely one day!

Three days later, he returned to the Cold Pool of the Absolute Valley. His True Essence Power had reached its peak state, and he was ready to break through to the Blood Refining Realm!

"Oh? Which bold bastard dares trespass into This Seat's cave dwelling?" A raspy voice like a broken duck's croak rang out, and a black donkey appeared before Zhou Heng.

"So it's you, you despicable donkey!"

"Your granddaddy's—This Seat is a divine donkey!"

The black donkey lunged at Zhou Heng, biting him.