Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 230 - 222 Purple Flame Mutation (1/3)

Chapter 230: Chapter 222 Purple Flame Mutation (1/3)

Zhou Heng’s right hand didn’t stop for a moment, but continued to reach for the neck of the man in green robes.

The man in green robes dared not touch Zhou Heng, as this youngster was practically a human-sized fire pit that would injure at a single touch! But how could he not defend himself? He didn’t possess Zhou Heng’s speed; escape was not an option!

"Ah!" "Ah!" "Ah!"

An elder of the Mountains and Rivers Realm kept screaming in agony, a sight that was truly hair-raising!

Having reached this realm, who wouldn’t remain calm with a mountain collapsing before them, enduring mere flesh wounds? But the intense heat emanating from Zhou Heng was too fierce, bone-piercing upon contact and nerve-searing. This was torture beyond human endurance!

After a few moves, Zhou Heng had grabbed the man in green robes by the neck, lifting him up like a dead dog! Normally, this would be very dangerous, exposing one’s own vital points, like the ribs and chest, to the enemy.

But this was ineffective against Zhou Heng.

Earlier, even when Zhou Heng had been unconscious and lying on the ground, the man in green robes couldn’t do anything; what could he do now?

Zhou Heng scooped up Han Yiyao, who was still sitting on the ground healing, enveloped her with spiritual power, turned his body, and flew toward the man in purple robes. Releasing the Swift Cloud Radiant Step to its limit, he quickly caught up and reached out his left hand towards the man in purple robes.

Compared to the man in green robes, the man in purple robes was in even worse shape, subdued by Zhou Heng in less than ten moves, his neck seized in the same manner. It wasn’t that his strength was significantly inferior to the man in green robes but that he had used a technique that greatly drained his vitality, severely weakening his fighting ability.

Zhou Heng then pursued Tiger Granny Zhang.

Though it didn’t take long to subdue the man in green robes and the man in purple robes, given the speed of a Mountains and Rivers Realm elder, Tiger Granny Zhang had already gotten far away in that short span of time.

That was only because the environment of the Wildfire Marsh was exceptionally harsh; otherwise, she would have probably made it hundreds of miles away by now.

Zhou Heng was like a humanoid magical weapon, charging straight through no matter the danger. In just a few leaps, he had blocked Tiger Granny Zhang’s path.

"Hmm! Hmm!" The man in green robes and the man in purple robes, their necks clutched, were both furious and terrified!

—If their heads were twisted off their bodies, neither of them would survive!

"You youngling, so ruthless!" knowing she couldn’t escape, Tiger Granny Zhang shouted sternly at Zhou Heng.

"Wrong, I am not ruthless enough, which is why you folks are still hopping around before me!" Zhou Heng said calmly, his expression turning stern, "But I’ll take care, never to make such a mistake again!"

"Ah—" "Ah—"

The man in green robes and the man in purple robes suddenly screamed. Steam surged from their necks, which turned visibly red—not from blood congestion but from the scorching heat burning them.

Boom!

Two balls of fire erupted, and the man in green robes and the man in purple robes burst into flames immediately. Purple flames started at their necks, quickly spreading over their bodies, with a streak of snow-like white at the core of the purple flames.

Tiger Granny Zhang had faced countless dangers in her life, seeing life and death as common, and had killed numerous martial artists. Many young, beautiful women had also failed to escape her brutal torture. But the scene before her still made her flesh crawl.

It wasn’t that Zhou Heng’s methods were crueller than hers, but rather that she too would have to endure such pain!

When torture was inflicted on others, she found it satisfying, fearing only that the punishments weren’t cruel enough to deprive her of some pleasure. But it was intolerable when she found herself facing punishment, even a slap was too much to bear!

She didn’t want to die!

Tiger Granny Zhang let out a furious howl, shouting, "Youngling, I will fight you to the death!"

"What will you fight me with?" Zhou Heng said calmly.

Indeed, what could she fight with?

Tiger Granny Zhang’s hands trembled. As a Mountains and Rivers Realm elder, she naturally had many secret techniques to boost her fighting power several-fold instantaneously! But even with that boost, she could not match the power of the Spirit Sea Realm, so how could she possibly contend with the monster before her, comparable to a Mountains and Rivers Realm magical weapon?

This was a dead end; whatever she did, there was no escape!

"Zhou, you are too slow; Donkey Master is getting impatient!" Black Donkey finally rushed over, not having Zhou Heng’s abnormally resilient physique, and could not simply blitz through dangers in a straight line.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!" The man in green robes and the man in purple robes had been burnt to char, but as martial artists of the Mountains and Rivers Realm, their life forces were long. They were still alive, though barely, with more breath leaving them than coming in, death merely moments away.

The Purple Flame had already reached the level of a Heavenly Spirit Body, and after absorbing the Earth Fire causing a mutation, it had become even stronger!

To know, the Earth Fire could melt even Zhou Heng’s bones, comparable to a Mountains and Rivers magical weapon; how could the man in green robes and the man in purple robes possibly resist?

"Kill!" Tiger Granny Zhang naturally did not want to wait for death; the tragic fate of the man in green robes and the man in purple robes exerted tremendous mental pressure on her, preferring to die fighting than to perish in such a manner!

Zhou Heng snorted coldly, suddenly tossing the man in green robes and the man in purple robes aside. With a flick of his right hand, the Black Sword was already unsheathed. With two swift strikes, the blade easily pierced the bodies of the two men, nearly incinerated by the flames, ending their lives.

He then brandished the Black Sword, advancing towards Tiger Granny Zhang.

"Damn kid, your bloodthirstiness will end you one day, and someone will kill you with the same methods!"

"I swear, even after my death, I will become a fierce ghost, and my resentment will forever haunt you!"

Tiger Granny Zhang screamed furiously, struggling in her final moments, as no martial artist willingly awaits death.

Minutes later, this old woman followed the footsteps of the other two, dying from Black Sword piercing her heart.

"Zhou, hand over that broken sword to Donkey Master!" Black Donkey scrambled over, eyes gleaming with mischief, drooling from the corners of his mouth.

"Here you go!" Zhou Heng indeed passed the Black Sword over.

Black Donkey was stunned, not expecting Zhou Heng to really agree, but immediately bit towards the hilt, showing no hesitation in slaying those familiar. As soon as the hilt was in its mouth, it turned tail and ran, muttering, "Master suddenly has a stomach ache, need to find a place to drop some gold!"

Zhou Heng didn’t chase after him, just smiled faintly. As the shadow of the Black Donkey vanished, he triggered his thoughts, and the Black Sword swiftly broke through the air, returning to his Dantian space.

He set Han Yiyao down, pressed a palm on her shoulder, and sent a stream of spiritual power into her to assess her injuries.

Thankfully, though her internal injuries were serious, they were not fatal. After all, the majority of the impact from the Giant Flame Stone had been borne by him, and the Earth Fire had burned him, not her. She had only suffered some backlashes.

Even so, she would need at least several days to recuperate before she could recover!

Zhou Heng didn’t want to bring an seriously injured companion to the Wind Fire Dead Lake to hunt for treasures. Another attack like before, and while he might survive, she would definitely be doomed!

Besides, due to the effects of the love knot, if Han Yiyao died, he would not survive either!

Thinking of his own life, Zhou Heng decided to wait until her injuries healed and then give her a good beating!

After quite some time, Black Donkey returned, face smelling foul, his hooves kicking the ground with a tap, tap, tap.

Zhou Heng couldn’t help but burst into laughter, but he didn’t provoke the wretched donkey further. Instead, he sat down cross-legged and refined the Life Essence Qi he had absorbed from the three Mountains and Rivers Realm experts with the Black Sword.

The Life Essence Qi from three such experts was incredibly abundant for Zhou Heng, who was still in the Late Period of First Layer Heaven in his cultivating, like a feast of gluttony—it took him three whole days to completely refine it.

Late Period of First Layer Heaven, still a short distance from the peak.

His Dantian space was simply too vast. The life essence of three Mountains and Rivers Realm experts hadn’t been enough to make him break through the First Layer Heaven! However, his physique had reached the Mountains and Rivers Realm level, and though slaying experts of such realm wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, it wasn’t much of a challenge either!

Killing any Mountains and Rivers Realm enemy would be straightforward, and slaying thirty to forty would elevate his spiritual power to the Mountains and Rivers Realm!

Thirty to forty?

It didn’t seem much, but even in the most powerful dynasties, how many old ancestors of the Mountains and Rivers Realm could a nation have? If not for the commotion caused by the peerless magical instrument, how could so many Mountains and Rivers Realm experts have appeared?

Wait a minute!

Zhou Heng frowned, the so-called peerless magical instrument hadn’t been seen by anyone, it was merely hearsay. Who could guarantee this wasn’t a trap? He had suspected this earlier but hadn’t delved deeper.

Who, having eaten their fill, would deceive so many martial artists over just to prank them, purely for self-entertainment, he couldn’t think of anyone that idle.

But there was one force that targeted the hearts of martial artists!

The Mao Family!

Could this be their trap, gathering a large number of martial artists to make them easier targets? Considering the perilous Wildfire Marsh, any number of deaths wouldn’t raise suspicions.

Martial artists might be smart on a normal day, but the moment they hear about relics or treasures, their brains heat up, rushing there desperately, afraid they’d miss out on peerless treasures or great opportunities.

After all, the Xuanqian Continent had countless such relics, housing countless treasures passed down from ancient experts!

What if it was real?

Zhou Heng thought it over; whether the Mao Family was behind this was a fifty-fifty chance.

He temporarily set this matter aside, focusing instead on his own body.

What thrilled him wasn’t the accumulation of his spiritual power but the mutation in his Purple Flame bloodline!

He had succeeded, unleashing the abilities of the Gold Devouring Clan and applying them to his Purple Flame bloodline.

Strictly speaking, the abilities of the Gold Devouring Clan were also a kind of bloodline, passed down through generations but not used for combat, meant only to enhance one’s physique. Such enhancement was essentially a boost in battle power, achieving the same effect.

This made Zhou Heng extremely curious—what exactly is a bloodline?

Now his Purple Flame bloodline had gained the ability to absorb fire to enhance itself, a fundamental change, not just a simple upgrade from a One Star Human Spirit Body to a Ten Star Heavenly Spirit Body! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)