Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 397 - 383: Establishing Authority with Overturning Heaven Palm (3/3)

Chapter 397: Chapter 383: Establishing Authority with Overturning Heaven Palm (3/3)

Moon Shadow Saintess and her two companions naturally couldn’t have restored their Spiritual Energy in such a short time and rushed over. Fearing falling too far behind, they immediately gave chase after recovering some Spiritual Energy, which is why they arrived almost at the same time as Zhou Heng and Black Donkey.

They hadn’t taken time to recuperate fully, as each of them exuded an air of dishevelment, like defeated roosters, their pride greatly damaged.

Zhou Heng was in perfect condition, his spirit robust. He had three more days of rest than the Moon Shadow Saintess and her companions, plus he had absorbed the medicinal power from the pool, putting his body and deities in the strongest state.

He didn’t need to adjust; this was his prime condition.

"Physical strength?" Tong Lixin suddenly burst out laughing, his body not merely for show as it was his Brutal Strength that made it robust. Although he still didn’t know what the upcoming test specifically was, it was definitely related to Brutal Strength, where the stronger it was, the greater the advantage.

Moreover, they had to hurry, as only the first one to reach the bottom of the palace would receive Gu Yan’s inheritance!

With just a slight focus and inhale, he punched toward the stone wall, and with a loud thud, the wall shimmered with light that enveloped his whole body. When the light vanished, his robust body had completely disappeared.

"Just a random punch to get through?" Black Donkey suddenly leaped up, took a running start, and thudded its head against the stone wall. Similarly, light flickered on the wall, enveloping Black Donkey, and in an instant, it vanished.

Was this...really not requiring great strength, just a random hit to get through?

Moon Shadow Saintess concentrated her right palm, gathered Spiritual Energy, and struck the stone wall.

Buzz!

The wall remained immovable, unresponsive.

Gu Yan’s words inscribed nearby proclaimed that only pure physical strength should be used to strike, and indeed, it was true. While the previous person and donkey had passed smoothly, Moon Shadow Saintess’s palm, embellished with Spiritual Energy, was blocked there.

But what did this have to do with strength?

Zhou Heng deeply inhaled, clenched his right fist, and fiercely punched toward the stone wall, unleashing all his strength, a Golden Light twinkling.

This was not his manipulation of Spiritual Energy but the full explosion of the Gold Devouring Clan’s constitution!

Thud!

With his punch, the entire stone wall trembled, then a surge of brilliance washed over, enveloping him, and whoosh—he suddenly found himself in a strange place.

Simultaneously, a stream of information flooded his mind, helping him understand the purpose of that stone wall.

Everything summed up to Gu Yan selecting an inheritor, integrating aptitude, will, and physical body to find the most outstanding individual. Time, was the essence of this competition, all revolving around it.

This third trial was no exception.

Passing through that stone wall could directly lead one to the deepest part of the palace, and the first person to arrive would gain Gu Yan’s inheritance. The meaning of that stone wall was to transport each individual to different places based on their physical strength.

The greater the physical strength, the closer the distance to the destination.

Leading the first two challenges, but if physical strength was weak, they could potentially be overtaken in the final challenge.

Three trials, testing aptitude, will, and physical body respectively, only the one with the highest overall qualities could lead the rest, being the first to enter the depths of the Immortal Palace.

Zhou Heng digested this information and started surveying his surroundings.

This was a bloody red forest, at a vastly distant place, a huge mountain floated in the air, also bloody red, but too far to be distinctly visible.

That was the destination.

Zhou Heng did not know why the supposed deep part of the palace had turned into this appearance, but the information he had just received said so.

That place, was the end goal of this journey.

He couldn’t afford to wait for Black Donkey, and immediately set off.

In short-distance speed, no one could compete with him, the master of Swift Cloud Radiant Step, but this was ultimately not suited for long-distance travel. Regardless, the Divine Infant Realm’s level of Spiritual Energy was far beyond his.

Zhou Heng absolutely believed his physical strength to be the greatest, but this place was not merely a stone’s throw away from the ultimate destination, hence he could not afford to waste more time.

Moreover, along this path, who knew how much trouble he would encounter—around him were the growls of beasts, the intensity of their aura definitely reaching the Divine Infant Realm, perhaps even the peak of Divinity Transformation Realm!

Zhou Heng stretched out his figure, darting towards the distant floating bloody mountain.

To avoid encountering Demon Beasts on the ground, and because the sky was unimpeded by terrain, he flew to a high altitude, speeding through the air on foot.

Suddenly, a chilling force struck at his heart, Zhou Heng abruptly stopped and threw a fierce punch.

Thud!

He was blown away, tumbling dozens of times in the sky. In front of him appeared a strange eagle, evidently, with an eagle body but sporting a snake’s head, its feathers blood red. Just now, this beast had slashed at him with its razor-sharp wings!

Zhou Heng raised his right fist, to see a blood streak across his hand, deep enough to reveal bone!

If it had not been for his timely reaction and his body’s strength surpassing a Nascent Soul Realm Magic Artifact, that strike could have even cleaved him into two!

A Demon Beast of the Divine Infant Realm!

Utterly terrifying!

The snake-headed eagle had missed its prey with the first strike and immediately let out a shriek, swiftly turning its body around. With just a flap of its wings, it was already in front of Zhou Heng, slashing at him with its feathers again.

It didn’t need any Martial Arts Techniques or Magic Artifacts because its body was comparable to a Magic Artifact, and the force of one slash could match an upper-grade Heaven Level Martial Arts Technique!

Zhou Heng bellowed, fully deploying the constitution of the Gold Devouring Clan. His body flickered with golden light. Sadly, he couldn’t summon either the Black Sword or the Hundred Ghosts Sword and had to fight with his own strength.

Bang!

He punched the steel feathers of the snake-headed eagle again. The force shocked him backward as he was still no match in brute strength for a Demon Beast of the Divine Infant Realm. But this time he was fully prepared, and only a white mark was left on his hand, which quickly disappeared.

This was the weakness of using only the Gold Devouring Clan’s enhanced bones. He had to actively stimulate it to achieve the extreme toughness throughout his body, unlike the true Gold Devouring Clan members who were completely metallic inside and out.

But Zhou Heng was willing to accept this weakness, with no regrets.

"Hiss!" The snake-headed eagle shrieked again, seemingly very dissatisfied that it had failed to capture its prey again, and with a flap of its wings, it arrowed back towards him.

So annoying!

Zhou Heng sighed internally. If he could have summoned the Black Sword, he would have tried to slay this beast. But now, even if he killed this Demon Beast, it wouldn’t bring him much benefit—not to mention, barehanded, he couldn’t defeat a being of the Divine Infant Realm. The best strategy was indeed to flee.

He deployed the Swift Cloud Radiant Step, moving as swiftly as lightning with his tapping steps.

In less than a minute, he had left the snake-headed eagle far behind, its shadow no longer visible. Zhou Heng stopped using the Swift Cloud Radiant Step and proceeded with normal movement techniques; in this perilous place, depleting his Spiritual Power entirely was not a wise decision.

Now he could not hide inside the Nine Mystic Trial Tower.

But he had only traveled a hundred miles when a cry sounded from behind and a small black dot appeared in the sky. In an instant, the dot turned into a blood-red snake-headed eagle, ferociously swooping down!

It never ends!

Whoosh, the snake-headed eagle dived at him, its wings vibrating like extremely fast blades, its claws flashing with a grim cold light. Zhou Heng had no doubt that these claws could tear through the top of the head of a Divine Infant Realm Old Ancestor!

"Scram!" he shouted, swinging his punch. Spiritual Power and physical strength burst forth together, his golden fist tearing through the air, swirling with Divine Radiance.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One was a Demon Beast a Great Realm higher, and the other, a freak with enormous physical strength and a constitution that exceeded a Nascent Soul Realm Magic Artifact in brutality—both clashed fiercely.

In terms of strength, Zhou Heng was no match for a Demon Beast of the Divine Infant Realm. But he had the advantage of a ridiculously tough constitution—despite repeated attacks from the Demon Beast, it could only scuff his fists but could not break them, let alone injure him fundamentally.

However, continuing to fight like this was entirely meaningless!

In a flash of thought, Zhou Heng’s right hand violently transformed into a palm, striking towards the snake-headed eagle.

With this palm strike, Heaven and Earth seemed to unite!

It was as if a giant whale had deeply inhaled, all the Spiritual Energy within ten miles gathered into Zhou Heng’s palms, vastly enhancing the might of his strike.

Immortal Technique, Overturning Heaven Palm!

Subdue!

Boom! The palm fell like the heavens themselves, its terrifying power instantly knocking the snake-headed eagle from the sky to the ground, resulting in a giant explosion that sent a mushroom cloud rising.

Zhou Heng frowned, turned, and walked away.

The snake-headed eagle hadn’t died; after all, missing a whole Great Realm, it was already a miraculous feat that he managed to knock a Divine Infant Realm being to the ground! Continuing the fight would just be a waste of time.

He skimmed close to the ground, avoiding the empty sky. Flying up there would make him a glaring target, practically asking to be hit!

Soon, a shriek came from afar. The snake-headed eagle soared back into the sky, wings spread wide, searching everywhere for Zhou Heng. But this time, Zhou Heng was concealed on the ground, his presence hidden by a Stealth Talisman. How could he possibly be discovered if he didn’t jump into the air?

After circling a few times, the snake-headed eagle eventually flew off into the distance. But who knew whether it was hiding somewhere, waiting for a chance to ambush?

Dismissing the idea of flying, Zhou Heng stayed grounded, expanding his Divine Sense, sneaking past when possible, and circumventing trouble where silence wasn’t an option—always better than engaging in a meaningless fight again.

Even so, he had to fight a few battles, suppressing his opponents with Overturning Heaven Palm before escaping.

Now, looking back, Gu Yan’s requirement to comprehend the Overturning Heaven Palm as the first trial was quite meaningful. The Demon Beasts here were truly fierce; even if he could win, it would waste a lot of time.

And now, what everyone was racing against was time!

Three days later, Zhou Heng finally arrived at the base of the Blood Mountain. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit qidian.com to vote for and recommend it. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)