Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 317 - 305 Milky Way King’s Recruitment (3/3)

Chapter 317: Chapter 305 Milky Way King’s Recruitment (3/3)

A man doesn’t strike a smiling face, so since the other party came bearing gifts and presented themselves with such a low posture, Zhou Heng smiled and let them into the house.

"Brother Zhou, although the world is at peace for the time being, calm breeds chaos, and I’m afraid that a great turmoil sweeping across the world is not far off! We, as men, should rise in troubled times and establish our own foundations!" Kong Jinglei had no sooner taken his seat than he began to speak with fervor, foregoing even a sip of tea.

"Senior Brother Yang has grand aspirations and extraordinary abilities, destined to be a formidable figure in this generation! He thinks highly of Brother Zhou and has sent me to earnestly invite you to join us in a great endeavor!"

So this was a recruitment effort.

Zhou Heng thought for a moment and then it dawned on him.

The Shangtian Martial Pavilion is not just a Martial Path holy land; it brings together the most outstanding talents of the entire human Imperial Dynasty. Not all, but at least half.

Among these people are heirs from wealthy and powerful clans like Zhao Duotian and Ying Cheng’en, as well as loners like Zhou Heng himself, belonging to Loose Cultivators.

Those with backgrounds are difficult to recruit, but Loose Cultivators are different. It’s not hard to win them over if you promise substantial rewards!

After all, there are only a handful of individuals capable of breaking through the Nascent Soul Realm to become a major force. The Spirit Sea Realm is the endpoint for the majority of geniuses, but even so, the Spirit Sea Realm is a level close to the apex of this world.

People like Yang Zhan, Xing Yewu, and Sang Qingshan have already formed the embryonic stages of Deities and are merely a step away from the Nascent Soul Realm. Why do they stay here instead of focusing entirely on breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm?

It’s to recruit talent!

And Zhou Heng, with his Domain, was a sure bet to become a Nascent Soul Realm existence, and more importantly, his origins were "clean"—not belonging to any power, naturally making him an ideal recruitment target.

This gift would not be easy to accept!

Zhou Heng smiled and said, "I am naturally indolent and lack ambition, I’m afraid I will have to disappoint Brother Kong!"

"Brother Zhou, why not consider it carefully?" Kong Jinglei looked at Zhou Heng with a smile, "Senior Brother Yang does not like being refused!"

The underlying threat in that last sentence was clear.

If he’d spoken kindly, Zhou Heng would have also been polite; he didn’t like making enemies for no good reason. But Kong Jinglei’s condescending attitude greatly irked him.

He laughed too and said, "Is Senior Brother Yang’s temper that bad?"

"Brother Zhou, Senior Brother Yang is extremely protective of his own. As long as you are loyal, no matter how great a calamity you cause, Senior Brother Yang will shield you! Moreover, the Yang family, where Senior Brother Yang belongs, is also one of the top thirteen most powerful forces in the Heavenly Dragon Empire!"

"To side with Senior Brother Yang is to have the most powerful force in the world as your backing!"

"Brother Zhou, if Senior Brother Yang harbors good intentions, there will be peace in the world. But if he unleashes his thunderous wrath, blood will weep for thousands of miles. It’s best not to disappoint him, right, Brother Zhou?"

Zhou Heng burst into loud laughter, and seeing this, Kong Jinglei also started laughing heartily, appearing to enjoy a pleasant conversation.

"Enjoy your own damn company!" Zhou Heng suddenly bellowed and slapped Kong Jinglei across the face, Bang! With a loud noise, the other man was driven into the floor tiles—the Martial Pavilion bans private battles so there was no protective Formation present, and before a Spiritual Sea Realm Expert, these sturdy bricks were no different from tofu.

"Zhou Heng, have you lost your mind?" Kong Jinglei scrambled out of the dirt, both angry and frustrated, "How dare you strike me!"

"And what about it?" Zhou Heng clapped his hands, and again flattened Kong Jinglei back into the ground, "You already pointed at my nose and threatened me, and I can’t hit you? I’m supposed to smile and apologize?"

"You scoundrel!" Kong Jinglei climbed out of the dirt again, trembling with rage, his cheek swollen from receiving two slaps in a row. He pointed at Zhou Heng furiously, too incensed to say a word.

When had he ever suffered such humiliation!

Slap!

Zhou Heng struck again, and Kong Jinglei was embedded back into the same hole, utterly powerless to retaliate.

"I detest people pointing their fingers at my nose!" Zhou Heng said coldly.

With a smile, Han Yulian wrapped her arms around Zhou Heng’s waist from behind and said, "Husband, calm down, there’s no need to get angry with such a petty person—it’s not worth it!"

Kong Jinglei had just managed to rise when he almost tumbled back into the pit upon hearing these words!

What did she mean by such a petty person?

After all, he was an Expert of the Second Layer Heaven of the Spirit Sea Realm; even if he visited a major clan of the Divine Infant Realm, he would be a highly esteemed guest! There was no helping it—across the entire human Empire, there were only over two hundred Experts in the Nascent Soul and Divine Infant Realms, making the Spirit Sea Realm truly the pinnacle of the pyramid.

How could he not fume with indignation?

But to retaliate? Before he could even make a move, Zhou Heng had already slapped him thrice. What would he look like if he openly retaliated?

He didn’t dare!

A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him. This man had the audacity to reject Yang Zhan’s invitation; the Milky Way King would personally handle him. All he needed to do was fan the flames to make Yang Zhan’s fury burn even brighter.

"Zhou Heng, you wait!" After running a fair distance, Kong Jinglei finally shouted back at Zhou Heng.

"Hold on!" Zhou Heng said.

"Ha, scared now, are you?" Kong Jinglei sneered. "Zhou Heng, you’re nothing but a Spirit Sea First Layer Heaven. Even though you have mastered a Domain, who knows how many years it will take you to reach the Nascent Soul Realm? Senior Brother Yang could crush you with just one finger!"

"Take your stuff!" With a flick of his finger, Zhou Heng sent the gift list flying towards Kong Jinglei.

Kong Jinglei’s face changed again and again before he turned and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Husband, you really are like a magnet for trouble, attracting problems wherever you go!" Han Yulian nestled into Zhou Heng’s arms, her eyes sultry and mesmerizing.

"Why is it my fault now?" he laughed heartily.

"My husband is like a shining star; how could you not provoke others’ jealousy!" Han Yulian said exceedingly sweetly.

"Your flattery is getting sweeter and sweeter!" Zhou Heng laughed heartily.

"Want to try it?" Han Yulian giggled flirtatiously.

...

The next day, whether it was intentional by Kong Jinglei or not, the entire Martial Pavilion was buzzing with talk about Zhou Heng’s enmity with Yang Zhan. One was an acknowledged prodigy within the Pavilion; the other, a rising star – the matter was full of talking points.

Everyone was wondering when Zhou Heng would challenge those lofty figures. Could he shake the status that the three had unchallenged for so long? The conflict had erupted much sooner than anyone anticipated!

Zhou Heng really was a firecracker!

No sooner had he entered the Martial Pavilion than he had offended two direct disciples of Saint Yangtian, and now he had also made an enemy of Milky Way King Yang Zhan – his ability to stir up trouble was truly second to none!

It didn’t take long before Yang Zhan issued a challenge to Zhou Heng, setting a date for their battle seven days later at the Heavenly Arena.

The news sent shockwaves throughout Shangtian Martial Pavilion!

Yang Zhan, ranked among the top ten in the Spirit Sea Realm, could only be paralleled by a few, like Xing Yewu, Sang Qingshan, Zhao Duotian, Ying Cheng’en – he was considered one of the foremost experts below the Nascent Soul Realm...

Although Zhou Heng had mastered a Domain, he was still far from forming a Deity, and was merely at the Spirit Sea First Layer Heaven. The difference between minor realms wasn’t that significant, but the leap from the initial period of First Layer Heaven to the peak of Third Layer Heaven was still a thirteen- or fourteen-fold power gap, which couldn’t be overlooked.

To stand a chance against Yang Zhan, Zhou Heng needed a much more terrifying Dantian Space to make up for the disparity between their realms.

No matter how you looked at it, Yang Zhan held all the aces in this battle!

The only question was how many moves Zhou Heng could withstand!

Victory? It was a vain hope; not a single person believed Zhou Heng had a chance of winning. After all, Yang Zhan was renowned for his unparalleled might in his realm from the Land Cleaving Realm onwards, only encountering rivals when he met the Ice Phoenix Lady and the Giant Python King.

He was ranked third in the Martial Pavilion’s Spirit Sea Realm, but no one truly thought him weaker than Xing Yewu or Sang Qingshan; it was merely that they hadn’t seriously clashed.

Even officials from the Martial Pavilion were stirred by this battle. It was said that a Nascent Soul Realm old ancestor would be present to watch and act as an arbitrator, to avoid any fatal outcomes should the two Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses lose control during their fierce battle.

Zhou Heng was actually quite interested in the battle with Yang Zhan.

About to form a Deity, he would be on a similar level to Ying Cheng’en and Zhao Duotian. If he could bring down Yang Zhan, he would be confident in defeating Zhao Duotian and reunite his parents!

"Husband, your way of thinking is wrong!"

"Why?" Zhou Heng glanced at Han Yulian.

"Zhou, your progress in Martial Path cultivation might be fast, but when it comes to experience...sigh, you really are ignorant!" Mei Yixiang said, shaking her head dramatically.

Zhou Heng shrugged and said, "Don’t get so carried away with your sharp tongue, or you’ll end up being spanked pitifully by me again!"

Mei Yixiang involuntarily moved her hands to cover her bottom. Both she and Feng Lianqing had repeatedly been chastised severely by Zhou Heng, and their expressions of sitting on fire immediately drew laughter from the crowd.

She snorted and said, "Those in the Spirit Sea Realm can be roughly divided into two categories, those who haven’t formed a Deity and those who are in the process of forming one. The battle power between them is incomparable by reason!"

"Both are in the process of forming a Deity, but the degree varies dramatically, and the power is completely different. In a battle, a single palm strike could result in an outright kill!"

Zhou Heng pointed at himself and asked, "So how would you count someone like me who hasn’t formed a Deity, but has mastered a Domain?"

"This..." Mei Yixiang opened her mouth slightly, seemingly at a loss for words.

There had never been such an oddity in history!

(This is filler content added due to the need to exceed the original word count for modifications, please forgive me!)(This is filler content added due to the need to exceed the original word count for modifications, please forgive me!)(This is filler content added due to the need to exceed the original word count for modifications, please forgive me!)(This is filler content added due to the need to exceed the original word count for modifications, please forgive me!)(This is filler content added due to the need to exceed the original word count for modifications, please forgive me!)(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it with recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)