Clang, clang! Chaos erupted as the Black Donkey kicked up a storm. It had been only at the Eighth Layer of Body Refining, but after just a few days apart, it had shot up to the peak of the Ninth Layer, every bit Zhou Heng's equal.
After fighting for nearly half an hour, the man and donkey both called it quits. They sat on the ground, glaring at each other and panting hard.
"How did you end up here, you Despicable Donkey?"
"How did you find your Lord Donkey's lair, you brat?"
They asked at the same time, but the Black Donkey immediately lashed out with a hoof. "It's Divine Donkey Lord!"
Zhou Heng sat off to one side, meditating to recover his energy. With the Black Donkey around, how was he supposed to break through to the Blood Refining Realm? But the donkey was so troublesome that there was no chance of driving it away. Was he supposed to leave instead?
"Brat, what did you come all this way for? Did you want to be my mount?" The Black Donkey couldn't help being obnoxious. Every time it opened its mouth, it could make someone furious.
Zhou Heng laughed. "Then what did you come here for?"
The Black Donkey stared at Zhou Heng. It wasn't confident it could drive him away, either. Whenever Zhou Heng unleashed that sword intent, the donkey instinctively sensed something terrifying. It smacked its lips and flopped onto the ground, propping its huge head up with a hoof. "I like the night scenery here!"
"You noticed the strange shadow in the pool, too?" Zhou Heng guessed as soon as he heard that.
"Huh? You know there's a strange shadow in the pool, too?" The Black Donkey curled its lip. "Ha! You must have learned that movement technique of yours here! I wondered why that figure's footwork looked familiar. Now I get it!"
"Despicable Donkey, haven't you tried diving down to investigate?" Zhou Heng egged it on.
"It's Lord Black Donkey—" The Black Donkey glared fiercely at Zhou Heng, then suddenly barked, "Woof!" and lunged at him, jaws snapping.
"You're not a dog. Why do you keep barking like one?"
"Because I feel like it!"
After another scuffle, Zhou Heng waved a hand. "Let's agree on three things. From now on, I won't call you Despicable Donkey, and you won't call me brat!"
"Fine. You have to call me Divine Donkey Lord!" The Black Donkey puffed out its chest.
"Don't you have a more ordinary name?" Zhou Heng would rather die than call a donkey "Lord."
"I was born to shine. How could I possibly have an ordinary name?" The Black Donkey pranced around grandly, striking one pose after another.
"Then I'll stick with Black Donkey."
"Brat, what's your name?"
"Zhou Heng!"
"Ugh, that's too hard to remember. I'll stick with brat!"
The man and donkey formed a temporary alliance, since they were both intensely curious about the figure beneath the Cold Pool.
Zhou Heng couldn't be bothered with the long-tongued Despicable Donkey, who claimed to have slept for hundreds or thousands of years. He went beneath a tree, closed his eyes, and began meditating. The Black Donkey grew bored of talking to itself, so it went beneath the cliff to meditate as well.
Watching a donkey sit cross-legged like a person, Zhou Heng couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth.
He calmed his mind and began breaking through to the Blood Refining Realm!
Others needed absolute quiet to break through, but Zhou Heng was different. Each breakthrough took him only three or four hours, five or six at most. Even the Black Donkey would never guess that he'd dare try it now!
It looked risky, but was absolutely safe.
Yesterday, he had already reached the absolute peak of the Ninth Layer of Body Refining. The True Essence Power he cultivated could only be released from his body; there was nowhere left to store any more.
Blood Refining Realm, here I come!
The Moon Shadow Heart Art circulated as Zhou Heng guided the True Essence Power within him toward his blood, trying to pierce through the barrier.
This was incredibly dangerous. As one's cultivation rose, a martial artist's True Essence Power grew more destructive, yet the blood had never been nourished by True Essence Power and remained extremely fragile. One careless mistake could destroy the blood itself!
If too much blood was ruined, the martial artist would die immediately, just as if they had lost too much blood.
Zhou Heng spread his divine sense over every blood vessel in his body, keeping them all under his watch. Only the divine sense that had been transformed by the Black Sword could withstand such a terrifying expenditure. Otherwise, in less than ten seconds, he would have been so mentally exhausted that he passed out.
Boom!
The True Essence Power began battering the layer of blood, breaking through the invisible barrier.
Zhou Heng remained calm, circulating his True Essence Power and striking the barrier again and again! Again and again! Again and again!
Three hours later, he abruptly opened his eyes. A gleam flashed through them, and his aura surged!
The Tenth Layer of Body Refining, the Blood Refining Realm!
His blood surged like liquid mercury and jade pulp, rolling with the thunder of a great river!
"Brat, you broke through?" The Black Donkey sprang to its feet and stared at Zhou Heng in shock, its mouth hanging so wide it looked like it could swallow a person's head.
"Heh!" Zhou Heng smiled but didn't get up. Instead, he continued circulating the Moon Shadow Heart Art. Although he had broken through, the amount of True Essence Power he possessed hadn't increased. He had merely opened the path to further improvement.
"What a freak!" The Black Donkey scratched its neck with a hoof and muttered, "Did the Mystic Venerable have talent that good back then? Bah, this brat doesn't deserve to be compared to the Mystic Venerable!"
Night fell. Zhou Heng built a fire and took out the dried meat he'd prepared earlier to roast. Before long, its rich aroma filled the air.
"Sniff, sniff, sniff!" The Black Donkey twitched its nose and came over. While Zhou Heng wasn't paying attention, it opened its mouth and tried to bite into the meat.
Smack!
Zhou Heng kicked out and planted his foot against the Black Donkey's face, stopping it from stealing the food. "Hey, what's wrong with you? You're a donkey, not a dog. Why are you eating meat?"
"I like it!" The Black Donkey darted left and right, but couldn't get past Zhou Heng's defenses. It simply opened its mouth and bit down on Zhou Heng's lips.
"You Despicable Donkey, were you raised by dogs?" Zhou Heng yelped in pain and stamped his feet.
"Pah, disgusting! How many centuries has it been since you washed your feet, brat?" The Black Donkey spat again and again, looking full of regret. Then it darted forward, snatched the meat in its mouth, and raced far away in a flash.
"Too hot! Too hot!" The Despicable Donkey kept shouting, but ate even faster. It quickly polished off the meat. "Brat, roast another hundred or so pieces for me to snack on!"
"Get lost!"
Zhou Heng roasted another batch. This time he kept a closer eye on it and didn't let the Despicable Donkey get away with it.
"Brat, we're brothers, bound by unbreakable bonds and as close as the sea is deep! How can you have so little honor and keep it all to yourself?" The Black Donkey reproached Zhou Heng righteously, though drool kept spilling from the corners of its mouth.
Zhou Heng deliberately ate very slowly, without even looking up.
"I'm furious!" The Black Donkey swished its rump and walked away. Before long, it came back carrying a huge pile of herbs and fruits in its mouth.
Ginseng, Vermilion Fruit, Poria—all potent tonics!
Zhou Heng's eyes lit up. He wolfed down the meat in a few bites, then walked toward the Black Donkey.
Shing! The Frost Cold Sword flashed from its sheath. He thrust it at the Black Donkey.
"I curse your ancestors for eighteen generations—!" the Black Donkey cried, turning tail and running.
Zhou Heng burst out laughing. Looking closely, he saw that everything on the ground was a treasure of the spirit-medicine grade. He didn't care that the Black Donkey had brought them. He washed them by the Cold Pool and started eating.
Now that he had reached the Blood Refining Realm, his blood and energy were vigorous, and he had begun to develop resistance to the cold. He no longer felt as if his whole body were about to freeze solid, as he had the last time.
"Brat, you're a real schemer!" The Black Donkey came back, looking disgruntled.
"Likewise! You made off with a piece of my meat earlier!" Zhou Heng retorted.
"Bah! My willingness to eat your food is a favor to you!" the Black Donkey said shamelessly.
"Speaking of which, where did you get all these spirit fruits and strange herbs?" Zhou Heng asked curiously. He had just eaten an old mountain ginseng root that had grown for at least several hundred years. It would have been worth a fortune outside!
The Black Donkey lifted its head. "I was born with a keen nose. No spirit medicine can escape me!"
"...You really are just like a dog! Say, Despicable Donkey, are you sure you aren't some mongrel?"
"Brat, I'm going to bite you to death! Woof!"
After another scuffle, the two reached a truce. Zhou Heng would roast meat for the Black Donkey from then on, while the Black Donkey would provide Zhou Heng with spirit herbs. They would both benefit.
Naturally, Zhou Heng came out far ahead. Weren't those spirit herbs and exotic fruits worth a fortune each? But for the Black Donkey, it was nothing. As long as it wanted to, the entire Heaven-Leveling Mountain Range was an open treasure vault!
Besides, it could never learn to roast meat. It didn't have fingers!
Only then did Zhou Heng understand how the donkey's cultivation had improved so quickly. It had been eating spirit fruits and mountain ginseng every day. With tonics that potent, how could its cultivation not rise quickly?
That night, the figure appeared in the Cold Pool again, but neither Zhou Heng nor the Black Donkey dove in after it. The Black Donkey had yet to recover its strength to the Blood Refining Realm, while Zhou Heng had only just entered the Tenth Layer of Body Refining and hadn't yet stabilized his cultivation.
He wasn't in a hurry. Now that he had an agreement with the Black Donkey, he could quickly improve his cultivation in the short term and raise it a little further, giving himself a better chance.
The Black Donkey wanted to secretly learn the Flying Cloud Steps, too, but only managed to trip over its own feet again and again. Zhou Heng laughed at it, saying that the movement technique was meant for people, so why would a donkey learn it? The Black Donkey opened its huge mouth and chased Zhou Heng, biting at his backside.
The man and donkey divided the work: one hunted, while the other gathered spirit fruits.
"Despicable Donkey, if you weren't so despicable, you might almost count as a good donkey!" Zhou Heng teased as he gnawed on an unfamiliar spirit fruit.
"Bah! I'm the king of donkeys. One day, I'll rule the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, and all the myriad races under heaven will bow before my donkey might!" the Black Donkey declared proudly.
"Come to think of it, your cultivation's improved quickly, too," Zhou Heng said seriously. In just four or five days, the Black Donkey had reached the Tenth Layer of Body Refining, putting it on equal footing with him in terms of cultivation.
"I was already one of the world's top experts. I was just suppressed for who knows how many years, and all my cultivation was drained away, so I had to start over. Otherwise, one fart from me could blow you to pieces!"
Zhou Heng leaned against a tree trunk. "Then tell me, what exactly does martial cultivation involve?"
"Brat, you're only at the Tenth Layer of Body Refining, and you already want to know the truth of the Martial Way?"
"So you don't know, either!"
"Bah! How could I not know? Don't think I haven't noticed you're trying to provoke me. For old times' sake, I'll tell you the secret of becoming a god through the physical body!"
Before you continue