Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 194 - 187 Miss Lu (3/5)

Breaking through in cultivation required one’s own understanding, something no one else could impart. Only miraculous spirit pills could help a martial artist, but cultivation techniques were different; they could be spoken and taught, passed down from one generation to another, enduring through the ages.

Despite not having natural talents in combat skills, both women were far from foolish. With Zhou Heng explaining over and over, they completely grasped this Heaven Level Technique after three days.

Orchid Concubine was particularly afraid that the bandit bully would get impatient and give a stern look, with her tiny heart lifted to her throat, and her cautious demeanor naturally made Zhou Heng even more irritable.

While the two women earnestly practiced cultivation, Zhou Heng began to devour the large pile of magic artifacts.

He kept three of them for the two women and Zhou Dinghai, while he ignored An Luochen and Lin Jianchen, his cheap fathers-in-law. After all, the landlord’s family had no surplus grain – he wished he could devour all the metals on the Xuanqian Continent!

If he could actually do that, could he become immortal just with his physical body?

Because there were so many magic artifacts, for the sake of speed, Zhou Heng directly cut open his right hand and used his Golden Finger Bones to grab and start the refinement process of the artifacts one by one, his physical strength immediately began to soar.

After all the magic artifacts had been devoured, another five days passed.

With a thought from Zhou Heng, his Azure Dragon bloodline activated, and a clear flow of water gushed forth, healing his right hand instantly, leaving the fingers long and strong, as white and smooth as warm jade. But he knew very clearly that beneath this flesh and blood, his bones had turned from pale gold to crimson gold!

His physical strength had reached an outrageous level; if he merely stood still and let a Land Cleaving Realm martial artist hack at him with a magic artifact, at most it would only break the surface of his skin without harming his vital parts!

At his level, he could already reverse his skin and blood vessels, hiding them beneath his bones. As long as his bones remained unbroken, his body would not perish!

Especially his right hand, which had already reached the Heaven-Opening Realm level, could now even withstand a full-force strike from a Peak Third Layer Heaven practitioner without damage!

This was not to say that Zhou Heng could defeat someone in the Heaven-Opening Realm, but rather that it would be very, very difficult for someone in that realm to kill him!

His defensive power had even surpassed his battle power!

"A human-shaped monster, indeed!" he said contentedly to himself, a little pride when alone wasn’t too harmful.

Although the tower was safe, anyone would get bored after staying for too long; hence, Zhou Heng took the two women and left the cave dwelling. When they arrived on the second floor, they noticed that the entire garden of medicinal herbs had been harvested clean.

Zhou Heng patted his head in dismay, having made a miscalculation. He had been so focused on cultivating the Falling Snow True Scripture and refining artifacts that he had forgotten to harvest the spirit grass here!

It must have been the work of the Zhao Family’s Old Ancestor – although they did not obtain Ma Buqian’s inheritance, they had still made a small fortune.

After hearing about it, Xiao Huoshui and Orchid Concubine also exclaimed in pity. If it was possible to prepare poison that could open the Heaven-Opening Realm, the value of the spirit grass here naturally must have been extremely high.

Zhou Heng wasn’t too bothered by it; after all, spirit grass needed to be refined before it could be consumed. Moreover, the most precious spirit grass had been eaten by the Black Serpent, and now it had been refined into serpent blood essence.

One could say that he had already reaped the greatest benefit, and there was no need to be downcast about losing a few sesame seeds.

The three of them left the cave dwelling and went into the town. After they had not enjoyed good food for several days, the first thing they naturally did was to order fine wines and delicious dishes, indulging to their heart’s content.

"Hey, have you heard? The richest person in our town, Miss Lu from the Lu Family, was kidnapped by the bandits at Maowo Mountain while she was out doing business!" a husky voice suddenly erupted.

"Miss Lu from the Lu Family, Lu Chenfu?"

"Who else but her could be called Miss Lu from the Lu Family!"

"Sheesh, that gang of bandits has really hit a jackpot. Lu Chenfu is a business prodigy. In just five years, she’s built up the greatest fortune in Lvying City. Who knows how much ransom they’ll be able to extort!"

"The key point is the bandits know Lu Chenfu’s worth a fortune, so they’re not just asking for a ransom – they want both the person and her business!"

"Are they planning to make Lu Chenfu the bandit chief’s wife?"

"The Lu Family has already put up a reward – anyone who can rescue Lu Chenfu will be given 200,000 Lower Grade Spirit Stones or 10,000 Middle Grade Spirit Stones!"

"Wow, that’s a lot of money!"

"Even if someone rescues her now, I bet that Miss Lu has already been played broken by the bandits. In a few months, she might even be carrying a bundle of joy – buy one, get one free!"

"I wonder what this Miss Lu looks like. If she’s a delicate flower, wouldn’t it be a waste?"

"Pah, even if Lu Chenfu looks like a sow, with her business acumen, which man wouldn’t fight over her? Does it matter whether she’s a virgin? If you could marry her, just have her work like a dog or a horse to make money for you!"

"That’s true!"

In the tavern, there was a buzz of conversation as people naturally harbored a jealousy towards the wealthy. If Lu Chenfu weren’t a woman, there would likely be even more people taking pleasure in her misfortune. As it was, the people were mostly concerned about whether this Miss Lu was beautiful and how the mountain thieves had ravaged her.

Zhou Heng paused mid-bite, a thought crossing his mind.

"You’re thinking of playing the hero to save the beauty?" Xiao Huoshui raised her expressive black and white eyes and said as if she could read his mind.

Zhou Heng smiled slightly and said, "The middle-grade Spirit Stones are running out!"

The ten thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones he had robbed from Ying Bingfeng were long spent at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Although he also managed to get a few when obtaining the Spirit Core, the number was very small. It was enough for occasionally restoring his strength, but if he used them for serious Cultivation, they would deplete quickly.

He needed to break through to the Heaven-Opening Realm within two or three months, so apart from killing with the Black Sword, he could only rely on Spirit Pills and Spirit Stones.

Spirit Pills were hard to come by, but Spirit Stones were much easier to obtain!

"Let’s hurry on then!" Xiao Huoshui elegantly wiped the corner of her mouth, her coquettish demeanor bewitching countless men, but given the formidable presence of the trio, none of the riff-raff like Liu Qi or Zhang Donglin dared to come up and seek trouble.

This was Xinlan Country, also a vassal state of Bright Moon Country. The overall national strength here was much stronger than that of Cold Blue Country because the Yang family, which controlled the state, had an Old Ancestor in the Mountains and Rivers Realm. Hence, even in Lvying City, which was not the Imperial Capital, there could be an Old Ancestor in the Heaven-Opening Realm.

In the Imperial Capital, the Heaven-Opening Realm Old Ancestors had to look up to others, but here, they could dominate.

However, could it be that bandits had appeared within the jurisdiction of this Heaven-Opening Realm Old Ancestor?

Zhou Heng inquired and learned that Maowo Mountain had an extremely complex terrain, shrouded in dense fog all year round. This fog not only obstructed vision but also blocked Divine Sense. Even the Heaven-Opening Realm Old Ancestor would have a hard time finding the bandits’ lair.

If they couldn’t find the bandits’ lair, how could they clear out the bandits? Moreover, it was beneath the dignity of a Heaven-Opening Realm Old Ancestor to personally take action against common bandits!

Therefore, the bandit problem had always plagued Lvying City. Previously, they hadn’t made such a big commotion, but this time they had actually kidnapped a wealthy family. The temptation of ten thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones was enough to make even Heaven-Opening Realm experts tempted, it was just too embarrassing to earn money that way!

Zhou Heng strolled through the mountains, appearing unhurried. However, with a single stride, he could cover a distance of several hundred yards, a speed so astonishing that even a Spirit Gathering Realm Martial Artist who saw it would just think their eyes were playing tricks on them, as his figure flashed by.

Despite its rustic name, Maowo Mountain was an extraordinarily large range, stretching over a thousand miles from north to south, with dozens of steep peaks that soared over a thousand feet, creating terrible terrain. No wonder the bandits here could live so comfortably.

"With such a vast mountain, how do we find the bandits’ lair?" Xiao Huoshui asked with a calculating look towards Zhou Heng.

This had nothing to do with Battle Power. Zhou Heng could punch a hole through the sky, but what could he do now? To turn this massive mountain range upside down would take so long that by the time they found anything, the children of Miss Lu might well be running all over the place.

Zhou Heng pinched her chin and smiled, saying, "We don’t need to find them; we’ll have those bandits come to us!"

"Cut it out, they’re not fools. Why would they come to us on their own?" Xiao Huoshui rolled her eyes at Zhou Heng, her allure shaking to the core.

As for Orchid Concubine, she didn’t even have the privilege to speak up. Being allowed out to see the light of day was already a special treat, how could she ask for anything more?

"They will!" Zhou Heng smiled and told the two women, "Conceal your aura as much as possible!"

Once he said this, Xiao Huoshui and Orchid Concubine immediately understood. He was planning to use the two of them as bait!

Indeed, with the looks and charms of the two women, especially Xiao Huoshui’s seductiveness, which man could resist? Ordinary people might hold back, but bandits were notoriously violent and greedy, conducting desperate ventures. Their hot-headedness left no room for considerations—they would simply emerge with blades drawn.

"Let’s go!"

The three of them set out, walking through the mountain paths.

It was not easy for them to find the bandits, but it was equally difficult to accidentally stumble upon them. Although the bandits were snakes of their own turf and had eyes and ears along every path, they had limited manpower. From spotting a valuable "fat sheep" to relaying the message and then mobilizing forces for robbery, a considerable amount of time was needed.

Zhou Heng was not in a hurry. The bait was already laid out; all he needed now was to patiently wait for the fish to bite.

Two days later.

"This mountain is mine, this tree I’ve grown; if you wish to pass this route, leave behind some toll!" More than a dozen shabby men emerged from the dense woods, laughing and surrounding Zhou Heng and his companions.

Their greedy gazes swept over Xiao Huoshui and Orchid Concubine. Xiao Huoshui, naturally flirtatious, attracted even more attention.

"Sweetheart, come do some happy things with big brother!"

A man reached out his hand towards Xiao Huoshui’s prominent chest, his lower half already rigid with excitement.

Boom!

"Ah—"

Zhou Heng lashed out with a kick, and instantly, the man was kneeling, clutching his crotch—the sound of eggs shattering piercingly clear, making the other dozen men wince in empathetic pain.

"Kill him!" they all shouted, brandishing their weapons.

Body Refinement Realm, Body Refinement Realm, Body Refinement Realm... Zhou Heng scanned them one by one, a wistful expression crossing his face. Two years prior, he was much like these men, unable to even dream of the Spirit Gathering Realm, yet now he had reached the peak of the Third Layer Heaven of the Land Cleaving Realm, on the verge of stepping into the threshold of the Heaven-Opening Realm.

With a single wave of his hand, boom, boom, boom, the men were sent flying backward, their weapons snatched away by Zhou Heng.

"Monster!" The bandits’ faces struck with terror, as they watched the weapons instantly "eaten" and turned to ash.

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, I invite you to vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)