Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 174 - 169: A Fluke Victory (5/5, seeking monthly votes)

Chapter 174: Chapter 169: A Fluke Victory (5/5, seeking monthly votes)

Zhou Heng didn’t loathe him; at least this expert of the Heaven-Opening Realm was fairly upright and forthright. However, that naturally wasn’t enough to instill any intention of yielding in Zhou Heng. He was determined to give this battle his all.

He wanted to know the limits of his own strength!

Nine Nether Ice Heaven Jue!

Zhou Heng called to the sky with his left hand, activating his Azure Dragon bloodline power. Instantly, the giant fist in the sky was enveloped in severe ice, with cold air overflowing in all directions, enough to immediately kill a Martial Artist of the Land Cleaving Realm with ice!

Five Elements Lotus Break!

An eight-colored lotus flower formed immediately and hurtled towards the mountainous, ice-sealed giant fist.

Bang!

The explosive sound was like thunder. Even Martial Artists at the level of the Land Cleaving Realm couldn’t help but cover their ears with their hands because the might was just too overpowering. Despite covering their ears, their eyes remained fixed on the sky, only to see that Li Aobo’s giant hand was smashed to pieces, sending countless shards of ice flying every which way, causing searing pain upon hitting their bodies!

Hiss, this young man has broken an attack from an expert of the Heaven-Opening Realm again!

Not only that, Zhou Heng broke through Li Aobo’s giant hand, the Black Sword streaked through the air, and sword waterfalls spontaneously formed, raining down furiously on his opponent.

Truly, the fight was a give-and-take!

Everyone was dumbfounded. How could this young man be so dominant? How could he be so defying the heavens!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zhou Heng and Li Aobo clashed at close quarters, both wielding momentum in close combat, with neither willing to lose ground.

Experts of the same realm generally avoid close-quarter combat because it’s exceedingly dangerous and can easily lead to serious injury or even death! People don’t cultivate hard just to die a glorious death in battle. Hence, unless there’s an irreconcilable hatred, they’d stop once the winner is determined.

Otherwise, who would be left alive if today you killed me and tomorrow I killed you?

But Zhou Heng, apparently, had the guts to engage in close combat with a Heaven-Opening Realm expert. Such an act was supposed to be feasible only between combatants with equivalent battle power. Wasn’t he afraid of being smashed into a pulp by one of Li Aobo’s punches?

Unlike attacks derived from techniques, which are all manifestations of concentrated spiritual power like giant hands and huge palms, their attack strength is formidable, but they can never compare to the real punches wrapped in spiritual power!

It’s just like how a Martial Artist can slay an enemy of the same realm with a mortal artifact wrapped in spiritual power. Close-quarter combat signifies immense danger.

And Li Aobo was well-known for his monstrous brutal strength. Clashing power with him? That would be sheer folly!

Zhou Heng was indeed freakish, invincible within the Land Cleaving Realm, and could even challenge experts of the Heaven-Opening Realm. But such challenge was limited to one or two exchanges. The gap between Heaven-Opening Realm and Land Cleaving Realm was truly as vast as heaven and earth, and not something that any talent could bridge.

In close-quarter combat, one needs equivalent battle power, or else they’d be instantly crushed to dust.

"Kid, you really have the guts!" Li Aobo laughed heartily. With his strong physique and astonishing brutal strength, there had never been a peer in the same realm who dared engage in a fistfight with him.

But now, he was actually being close-pressed in combat by a young man from the Land Cleaving Realm, which was indeed a fresh experience.

Zhou Heng even put away the Black Sword and just pounded with his fists.

Bang!

Their fists collided once, and Zhou Heng was immediately knocked back thirty feet, tumbling at least seven or eight times mid-air before landing. His face flashed a shade of blood red, and his right hand was a bloody mess.

"Competing in strength and physique with Li Aobo, isn’t that just stupidity?"

"Haha, this young man’s entire right hand will be ruined!"

"Naturally, that’s what he gets for thinking he is invincible. He deserves it!"

Some people envied Zhou Heng and immediately started making sarcastic remarks.

Zhou Heng shook his right hand, and the battered flesh all fell from the bone, revealing his golden-colored finger bones, completely unharmed.

His whole skeleton, having devoured a massive amount of metal for reinforcement, had already reached the level of the Land Cleaving Realm, while his right hand, fully transformed by the essence blood of the Gold Devouring Clan, was naturally even tougher.

It was absolutely comparable to the Heaven-Opening Realm!

Zhou Heng let out a long howl and once again pursued close combat. He couldn’t be bothered to use bloodline power to heal his right hand. After all, it would be mangled again in the clash.

Li Aobo’s eyes flashed with zeal. As someone with a powerful physique, he naturally enjoyed close-quarter fights too, but it was a pity that there were few who dared to fight him like this. Now seeing Zhou Heng daring to press in close excited his fervent fighting spirit.

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two exchanged punch for punch without giving in, not taking any shortcuts but colliding force with force—in such close-quarter combat, neither had any room to dodge.

To the surprise of everyone, although Zhou Heng’s right fist seemed terribly wrecked, reduced to just a skeleton, its toughness was enough to astonish anyone.

Indestructible and eternal, it seemed to truly resemble gold itself, capable of withstanding the test of time and enduring through the ages!

"Normal human bones are white, this guy must’ve practiced some Body Tempering Technique to turn his bones golden!"

"It’s truly defying the heavens, he can actually stand toe-to-toe with Open Heaven Realm experts!"

"Don’t forget, Li Aobo has just been through a major battle, his Spiritual Power is greatly diminished, and he can only unleash at most ten to twenty percent of his power!"

"Even so, it’s unbelievable!"

Zhou Heng fought wildly; his left hand, not as tough, kept launching the Eight-Colored Lotus, or activating the Nine Nether Ice Heaven Jue, while his right hand kept pounding and pounding relentlessly!

In front of him were rocks that he shattered! Mountains, likewise, he shattered!

The path he pursued was the path of the invincible, and in terms of momentum, he absolutely would not lose to anyone.

Fight, fight, fight!

Zhou Heng’s long roar thundered; his fighting spirit had completely unfolded, his right hand’s fingertips all radiating a dazzling golden light, not giving off a sense of misery or fear at all, but rather an indescribable nobility.

In terms of life hierarchy alone, the Gold Devouring Clan far surpassed humans. Each individual from birth could devour metals, growing their physique to terrifying levels, and such a race naturally possessed an innate noble aura.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zhou Heng grew increasingly dominant, to the point where Li Aobo became unsteady on his feet, starting to retreat step by step!

It wasn’t that Li Aobo’s Battle Power was insufficient, but the previous battle had simply drained too much strength, and now, at most, he had only twenty to thirty percent of his power left. This should have been enough to suppress any Land Cleaving Realm martial artist, but who would have expected him to encounter Zhou Heng?

Boom!

Zhou Heng struck with his final punch. The Vigorous Power whipped around his golden finger bones, continually evolving into Rune after Rune, as though they contained the secrets of heaven and earth, leaving anyone who saw them momentarily with a sense of comprehending the great Dao.

Li Aobo forcefully shook his spirit, shifting his gaze away from Zhou Heng’s fist bones. Otherwise, his mind might be absorbed into them, and he would likely take a direct hit from Zhou Heng’s punch. Li Aobo launched a punch to meet Zhou Heng’s.

But he was already at the end of his strength, each punch weaker than the last, whereas Zhou Heng was at his peak. As one waned and the other waxed, the outcome was swiftly decided.

Li Aobo was blasted back a hundred zhang, his figure teetered, his face turned pale, then it immediately flushed red, as if he was about to spew blood, yet he forcefully suppressed it.

"You’ve won!" Li Aobo showed the dignity fitting of an expert, although his defeat wasn’t due to being outclassed by Zhou Heng, but because the previous battle had drained too much of his power, but a loss was a loss, and there was nothing to argue about!

"Senior has acknowledged it!" Zhou Heng cupped his fists in salutation, his face void of any triumphant expression.

To him, the outcome of this battle wasn’t important, but knowing his own limits was.

Li Aobo gave Zhou Heng a deep look, then turned around and left on his own.

The crowd found it not hard to understand, although Li Aobo’s defeat was excusable, losing to a Land Cleaving Realm martial artist was still a blow to his pride, and he naturally had to depart gracefully; staying would only lead to mockery.

"The six battles have ended, and the distribution plan for the Spirit Stone Mine is also out! Baidian Country and Tuluuo Country each will take thirty percent, Water Origin Country and Cold Blue Country each will take twenty percent. The contract is established, and henceforth no one shall renege, otherwise the three countries will join forces to annihilate them!"

The dispute over the Spirit Stone Mine finally came to a conclusion. Although contracts are often made to be broken, at least for the short term, this arrangement was unlikely to change unless a new expert emerged in any of the countries, which then could forcibly alter the status quo.

Currently, Zhou Heng truly seemed to qualify!

Even though his victory this time had elements of chance, given another ten, twenty, or even just three to five years, perhaps he could break into the Open Heaven Realm! Once he steps into the Open Heaven Realm, who among the four great countries would be his match?

Although Cold Blue Country had secured an extra ten percent of the mining rights, avoiding complete embarrassment, their face was saved by a Land Cleaving Realm martial artist, which was indeed a bitter pill to swallow.

In particular, Nangong Changkong and Liu Qingxuan, both harboring deep concerns, the stronger Zhou Heng became, the more unsettled they felt.

They must eliminate this whelp before his wings were fully grown; otherwise, if left unattended, it would become nurturing a tiger that would ultimately bring about their own demise!

The crowd did not disperse immediately as drafting the contract took time; it would probably be another day before everyone could return to their respective countries.

Fang Heqing once again came to Zhou Heng’s tent to personally congratulate him, but the solicitation he had previously mentioned was no longer brought up. He was self-aware that Zhou Heng, a dragon above the nine heavens, was not someone he could subdue—at least not yet.

Meanwhile, Fang Xiwen harbored affectionate feelings and originally wished to express her love to Zhou Heng, yet she saw Xiao Huoshui intimately interacting with him. That woman, who effortlessly eclipsed her in beauty and poise upon first glance, made all her adoration ebb away like running water.

In front of Xiao Huoshui, she was plain and ordinary; what made her think Zhou Heng would give her a second glance?

...

"Ambush—" In the dead of night, a furious roar came from a distance, and a figure stumbled and hurtled forward, revealed to be Li Aobo!

However, he was now in a pitiable state, soaked in blood and seemingly suffering from a grave injury. This was not the result of Zhou Heng’s assault, but an injury sustained only moments ago. But who could have inflicted such a heavy blow upon him? Although there may be those in the four great countries who could defeat him, to gravely wound an Open Heaven Realm powerhouse was exceedingly rare.

Who had struck him? (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, I invite you to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)