Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 219 - 212 Love Knot (3/3)

Chapter 219: Chapter 212 Love Knot (3/3)

As for Zhou Heng taking away the fragment of the blood-colored greatsword, Han Yiyao didn’t stop him, and she said she wanted to share some of the benefits.

It’s true that she was the one who broke the door, but she used Zhou Heng’s magic artifact, and the blood-colored greatsword was cut by the Black Sword, which had nothing to do with her! If it weren’t for that, she would have been enslaved by the blood-colored greatsword by now!

Besides, even a peerless magical instrument, when broken, is just precious material, with its value decreased who knows how much.

She wasn’t an unreasonable person; both morally and logically, she had no reason to intervene at this time.

However, she had originally thought that the legendary peerless magical instrument was hidden here. She didn’t expect to have hoped in vain, nearly losing her life! If she had entered alone, it would have surely been a certain death.

Although she and Zhou Heng helped each other, the fact remained she owed Zhou Heng a favor.

Zhou Heng was satisfied as he stored the fragment of the blood-colored greatsword in the Nine Mystic Trial Tower. In front of Han Yiyao, it wouldn’t be good to start refining it immediately, even though he was eager to do so.

Han Yiyao looked deeply at Zhou Heng, thinking to herself that even though he wasn’t well-known now, it was only because his cultivation realm was slightly lower. If he could advance to the Mountains and Rivers Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, he would inevitably become famous throughout the world.

She had no intention of getting involved with Zhou Heng anymore. Right away, she leaped towards the outside of the stone chamber; she still had to search for that divine artifact, which was a matter of life and death for her!

"Ah!"

"Hmm!"

After Han Yiyao had leapt a hundred zhang, both she and Zhou Heng simultaneously let out a groan, their faces turning extremely pale!

It was a heartache like being cut by knives, as if their hearts were about to shatter!

The love knot!

They had thought that since the caster was dead, the exotic skill would naturally dissipate, but it still remained within their bodies! After leaving a hundred zhang, first there was a heartache like being cut by knives, and then heart explosion leading to death!

Neither dared hesitate; one backed away, the other moved forward, quickly closing the distance between them.

The feeling of heartache immediately vanished.

This cultivation technique must have been conceived by some spiteful woman!

Both of them thought the same, but in this way, wouldn’t they be unable to separate by a hundred zhang forever! If one dies, the other will also die, like grasshoppers tied to the same string.

But Blood Sword Heavenly Monarch was only in the Spirit Sea Realm; if they could reach such a level, they would surely be able to expel each other’s exotic skill. However, until then, sorry, but they could only advance and retreat together and remain in each other’s company day and night.

"Let’s go!" Although Han Yiyao didn’t want to speak to Zhou Heng, the big rascal, the situation was stronger than the person, so she had to speak out.

She needed to find the peerless magical instrument.

Zhou Heng smiled slightly and said, "When you’re making a request to someone, you should say ’please’!"

Han Yiyao’s brows arched. Her personality was actually quite mild, not prone to anger or conflict, but because of Zhou Heng’s previous "light remarks" toward her and his "hands-on approach," her impression of him was extremely bad.

Seeing such a rascal made her angry, and she should say "please"?

"Are you coming or not?" she said coldly, her aloof charm incredibly enchanting.

"No," Zhou Heng resisted, why should he compromise?

"Fine!"

Immediately, Han Yiyao turned around and headed outside the room. After walking a hundred zhang, she paused in her steps.

Both of them showed an expression of pain.

The love knot was acting up!

For both of them, taking a step toward each other would end this heartrending pain. However, that step wasn’t easy to take; whoever took it first would be conceding the second step, the third step, the hundredth step in the future!

Humans are a strange species; boundaries can widen step by step. Once you back away the first step, it’s easy not to mind taking a second, then retreating further and further until it’s too late for regrets.

Therefore, for a martial artist to reach the summit, there is only moving forward with courage; one must never retreat lightly.

This represents spirit, will, resolution!

Needless to say, Zhou Heng had never given up since he started cultivating at eight, although every time his power got sucked away by the Black Sword, leaving nothing behind. He was fond of Han Yiyao’s body, but that didn’t mean he would listen to her!

If she was his woman, then under the premise of not violating major principles, he was willing to accommodate her somewhat. But now it was out of the question!

Han Yiyao certainly was not willing to compromise with Zhou Heng either. In her heart, Zhou Heng was a rascal; if she conceded to him, wouldn’t he take even more liberties and make unreasonable demands!

Those vulgar words—just hearing them was disgusting!

Both were enduring tremendous pain, yet neither was willing to bow their heads.

But if they died like this, it would be too unworthy! Considering this, both of them wanted to end this stubbornness, but until they reached their limits, neither wanted to show weakness first.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes!

At the very moment the third minute arrived, both of them took a step toward each other, and instantly, the excruciating pain disappeared; both were drenched in sweat on their foreheads, having just skirted the edge of death.

The limit was three minutes, otherwise the heart would literally burst!

"Please, let’s leave this place," Han Yiyao changed her attitude, truly angry inside. Although both were bound by the love knot, she was a dignified Mountains and Rivers Realm Martial Artist and yet she couldn’t command this junior Open Heaven Realm boy!

There was no point in getting angry without reason, especially since the other party had courteously taken a step back. Zhou Heng nodded agreeably.

The two exited the stone chamber, passed through the underground tunnel, floated to the water’s surface, and reached the shore.

What next?

The two could not separate by more than a hundred yards, necessitating joint actions, thus arising a question: who should lead?

Fortunately, both shared a common goal at this time, to continue the search for that Peerless Magical Instrument, preventing any immediate divergence of opinion. Zhou Heng fell into silence, letting Han Yiyao lead the way, while he simply followed, trailing about ten yards behind.

He wasn’t befuddled; he was refining the fragments of the Blood-colored Greatsword.

Thanks to the Black Sword, the Greatsword had broken into over a dozen fragments, turning into the purest high-tier metal which he could easily refine and absorb without having to suppress the Artifact Spirit within.

He took a smaller fragment and cut the flesh on his right hand to wrap around it.

This would not alert Han Yiyao to anything odd and would accelerate the absorption process—a two-fold advantage.

He followed Han Yiyao instinctively, his focus entirely on refining that piece of metal essence. As time slipped by, he also devoured the essence within the metal, little by little. It transformed into countless particles that surged into his body, converging into a pinpoint that continued to grow in size.

The quality of this Blood-colored Greatsword was astonishing!

This tiny fragment alone was equivalent to all the metal essence he had absorbed before, filling Zhou Heng with elation. If he could fully refine all these fragments, enhancing his physique to the Mountains and Rivers Realm would be no problem, and he might even directly break through to the Spirit Sea Realm!

Only after two days did he finally refine such a small fragment, then took out a slightly larger one to embed beneath his flesh in the same manner.

Han Yiyao was also at a loss, not as fortunate as Ying Cheng’en who would encounter Magic Artifacts upon leaving the house. After several days of searching, there were no gains—not even a high-grade Spirit Grass in sight.

Before they knew it, ten more days had silently passed.

Zhou Heng suddenly halted, asking Han Yiyao to wait for a moment, then sat down cross-legged. Boom, boom, boom! Thunderous sounds erupted from within his body.

Han Yiyao’s impression of Zhou Heng had slightly changed. In the past ten-something days, Zhou Heng hadn’t spoken a word to her, seeming like a different person. Since Zhou Heng hadn’t voiced any objections to her lead during these days, she felt inclined to show respect.

But the thunderous sounds... clearly indicated an imminent breakthrough!

She had fought with Zhou Heng before and knew that his strength was incredibly formidable, yet he was firmly at the First Layer Heaven of Open Heaven. If there were to be a breakthrough, it would likely be to the Second Layer Heaven of Open Heaven. But why such commotion for a breakthrough that wasn’t a Great Realm?

Although Han Yiyao considered herself wise, she couldn’t make heads or tails of this scene. Yet Zhou Heng had more than once shown miracles before her, and one more seemed hardly surprising.

Zhou Heng was indeed undergoing a Great Realm breakthrough, but not in Cultivation Realm, rather in physical constitution!

— He had devoured enough metal essence, and his bodily strength was formally advancing into the Mountains and Rivers Realm!

Crack, crack, crack, the bones in his body continuously shattered and even splintered, but then quickly began to merge and reassemble, droplet by droplet. Although the brutal snapping of bones was extremely painful, each reformation made his bones stronger.

This process was exceedingly painful; although Zhou Heng never furrowed his brow, his forehead was soaked with sweat the size of soybeans, wetting his entire body as if he had just been pulled from water.

Han Yiyao watched, feeling a mix of nervousness and admiration.

The fact that Zhou Heng, in his Open Heaven Realm, was breaking out in a cold sweat, manifested the severity of pain he was enduring. But despite being a hooligan, how could he have such tenacity, not even twitching his skin!

Great perseverance paves the way for a great future!

Too bad, he was just too despicable; otherwise, several years later, he would be capable of clashing with Zhao Duotian and Ying Cheng’en for supremacy and brilliance, becoming a shining figure on the continent!

Han Yiyao then gave a bitter smile, finding herself in an awkward situation with no concern for others’ issues.

Faced with her own difficulties, she couldn’t help falling into deep thought.

Ten times, fifty times, a hundred times!

The breaking and reassembling of Zhou Heng’s bones grew more frequent and faster. After three days, his body had undergone 360 cycles of reconstitution, finally ceasing. Each bone glowed with the color of crimson gold, luminous like glaze, imbued with a holy and majestic aura.

He leaped up with a roar, like the cry of a dragon, that reverberated through the clouds and scattered the mists above the marshes. Sunlight fell upon him, lighting his figure amidst the gloomy world as if a deity had appeared!

Radiance flooded the sky!

In that instant, Han Yiyao mistook him for Ying Cheng’en, for only that sun-like man could emit such a captivating light!

No, perhaps the radiance of the man before her was even more dazzling! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)