Demon Face Left Envoy

Grand Tutor Gao Fan glanced at his grandson, Gao Yi, took a sip of tea, and said in a measured tone, "To accomplish great things, one must be able to hold one's composure."

He then added, "Even if that old man Xing Yao truly intends to let that brat Zhou Cheng take charge of the Ten Thousand Stars Sect, Zhou Cheng must have the strength to back it up."

"Otherwise, it will be difficult to convince the masses."

"Besides, old man Xing Yao is advanced in years, his vitality gradually drying up; he won't last many more years. Once he dies, who will still remember his words?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Yi lowered his head and said, "Grandfather's teachings are correct." He then added, "It's just, isn't it said that this Zhou Cheng's martial arts talent is mediocre? Why would the Grandmaster insist on taking him as his closing disciple?"

Gao Fan also wore a look of confusion. "I had people look into it. The people at the Zhou Mansion say that Xing Yao claims Zhou Cheng's martial arts talent is astonishing."

Gao Yi scoffed, "Zhou Cheng only just broke through to the fourth level of Body Tempering, didn't he? Breaking through to the fourth level of Body Tempering at thirteen—is this what they call astonishing martial arts talent?"

Gao Fan could not make sense of it either.

At this moment, in Zhou Cheng's courtyard, Zhou Cheng swallowed a Nine-Orifice Golden Pill.

Under the impact of the pill's medicinal power, his Northern Dark Divine Technique surged continuously.

Soon, the cultivation progress of the Northern Dark Divine Technique reached 100, and he broke through to the second level of Qi Refining.

At the same time, his Black Tortoise Divine Body and Indestructible Vajra Divine Body improved by another 4.

Zhou Cheng checked his status panel.

Host: Zhou Cheng
Northern Dark Divine Technique: Qi Refining Second Level, Progress 12
Black Tortoise Divine Body: Initial Success, Progress 12
Indestructible Vajra Divine Body: Initial Success, Progress 12

When he broke through to the first level of Qi Refining, there had been no realm gift package, and after this breakthrough to the second level, there was still no gift package, which made Zhou Cheng frown.

Could it be that there won't be any more in the future?

In the afternoon, Xing Yao came to find Zhou Cheng. Originally, he had left the Ten Thousand Stars Sect to attend to an important matter, but he had been delayed after meeting Zhou Cheng. He came to bid Zhou Cheng farewell, as it was inconvenient to bring him along for the task at hand.

Xing Yao and Zhou Cheng agreed to meet again at the Ten Thousand Stars Sect in ten days.

Ten days later, the apprenticeship ceremony would be held at the Ten Thousand Stars Sect.

As one of the five supreme grandmasters of Da Feng, Xing Yao could not be hasty in taking a disciple; a grand apprenticeship ceremony was required.

Under the setting sun, Xing Yao, dressed in gray, drifted away.

Night fell.

Zhou Cheng stood in the courtyard, gazing at the stars in the night sky.

Because the Northern Dark Divine Technique automatically cultivated by devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, Zhou Cheng found himself with much more free time after breaking through to the Qi Refining realm.

With nothing to do, Zhou Cheng felt the urge to spar with Qin Meng.

Qin Meng used a saber, so Zhou Cheng used the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique to spar with him.

Of course, during the spar, Qin Meng suppressed his cultivation to the second level of Qi Refining.

Qin Meng's saber technique was bold and unrestrained, natural and smooth, having already reached the realm of perfection.

After sparring for a while, the system's voice suddenly rang out in Zhou Cheng's mind.

"Your Demon-Subduing Saber Technique has benefited greatly from sparring with a master whose saber technique is at the realm of perfection; cultivation progress has increased significantly."

Zhou Cheng was stunned.

Opening the system, he saw that the cultivation speed of the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique was indeed much faster than usual.

After the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique entered the realm of pure mastery, its cultivation speed had slowed; automatic cultivation only yielded 1 point per day. Yet, after just a short while of sparring with Qin Meng, the progress had increased by 1.

Seeing that the cultivation speed increased significantly after sparring with Qin Meng, Zhou Cheng immediately threw himself into it, using every ounce of his strength to unleash the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique in a fierce battle with Qin Meng.

They fought until midnight before Zhou Cheng finally stopped.

Even with his dual divine bodies, after several hours of intense combat, Zhou Cheng was drenched in sweat, his blood and energy feeling as if they were boiling.

Usually, when Zhou Cheng killed demonic beasts in the Green Demon Mountain Range, he would only gain 1 point after a whole night, but after these few hours of sparring, he found that the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique had increased by 10.

At the same time, Zhou Cheng thought: since the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique could be improved rapidly through sparring, what about the Wind-Facing Willow Steps and the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist? Could they also be improved rapidly through sparring?

Although Qin Meng used a saber, his fist techniques were equally profound, with one style also reaching the realm of perfection.

And Lin Ru possessed a footwork technique at the realm of perfection.

However, it was already late at night, so Zhou Cheng suppressed the urge to continue sparring.

He slept until he woke up naturally.

The next day, at the first light of dawn, Zhou Cheng pulled Qin Meng up to continue sparring.

This time, he sparred with Qin Meng using fist techniques.

Sure enough, after a round of sparring, the cultivation speed of his Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist increased significantly. Moreover, because of the Azure Dragon and White Tiger divine beasts, the cultivation speed of his Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist was even faster than that of the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique.

After sparring with Qin Meng on fist techniques in the morning, Zhou Cheng spent the afternoon sparring with Lin Ru on footwork.

By now, Zhou Cheng's Wind-Facing Willow Steps had reached the realm of pure perfection, allowing him to glide over a dozen paces in mid-air. From afar, he looked like a willow branch drifting in the breeze, shifting and unpredictable, though Lin Ru's footwork was even more formidable, leaving behind a trail of afterimages in the air.

After sparring with Lin Ru on footwork, the cultivation speed of the Wind-Facing Willow Steps had increased significantly; while the rate of improvement wasn't as fast as the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist, it was no slower than the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique.

This made Zhou Cheng heave a sigh of relief.

He had previously been worried about where to find a storm.

Now that sparring could improve his Wind-Facing Willow Steps, there was no need to go searching for one.

In the afternoon, after Zhou Cheng finished sparring with Lin Ru, Qin Meng reported that an assistant from the Demon God Smithy had gone missing.

Zhou Cheng sent Jiang Chen, Yang Yu, and a few others out to investigate.

In the end, they discovered the body in a dense forest outside the Capital City.

By then, the night had deepened.

Zhou Cheng, Qin Meng, and Lin Ru arrived before the corpse and discovered a wound on its neck—a saber wound, fatal in a single strike.

Judging by the wound, nothing could be determined, but Lin Ru stepped forward and made a grasping motion with one hand toward the injury, revealing a faint, wispy black demonic aura emanating from deep within the cut.

"Demonic aura." Qin Meng said in a low voice, "The work of the Demonic Cult?"

In the Demonic Cult, almost everyone practiced demonic arts, and their internal energy was imbued with demonic aura.

Just then, a shocking blade of light suddenly tore through the night sky, striking toward Zhou Cheng. The blade light was as fast as lightning, reaching Zhou Cheng in an instant.

As the blade light was about to slash across Zhou Cheng's throat, a long saber appeared in his hand, and he slashed horizontally, while Lin Ru simultaneously struck with his sword, the Sword Qi falling like snowflakes.

Clang!

A crisp, loud sound rang out.

The long saber in Qin Meng's hand hummed, and he retreated several steps.

However, the opponent was also forced back by Lin Ru's Sword Qi.

Seven or eight meters away stood a masked man dressed in a black robe, his eyes coldly fixed on Zhou Cheng, Qin Meng, Lin Ru, Jiang Chen, and Yang Yu.

His gaze landed on Qin Meng and Lin Ru, and he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Two Xiantian Seventh Layer experts!"

At this moment, Zhou Cheng was wearing the Demon God Garment, his demonic aura rolling as he looked at the man: "The Demon Face Left Envoy of the Demonic Cult."

The person who had arrived was none other than the Demon Face Left Envoy of the Demonic Cult.

The Demon Face Left Envoy looked at Zhou Cheng coldly: "You are the owner of the Demon God Smithy?" He then pointed at Qin Meng: "And you are the subordinate who killed the Four Great Dharma Kings of my Demonic Cult?"