Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 469 - 453 Just One Step Away (1/3)

Chapter 469: Chapter 453 Just One Step Away (1/3)

Zhou Heng did not emerge, and for Moon Shadow Saintess and her companions, this was a welcome turn of events, as it meant one less formidable competitor! And no one else dared to trouble Zhou Heng—wasn’t that just asking for trouble?

The Black Donkey, true to its nature, trotted over to the hole where Zhou Heng had fallen and said, "Zhou, how long do you plan to stay in this mud pit?"

"I need to go into seclusion for a few days. Just go about your business!" Zhou Heng replied.

"Tsk, why choose now of all times to go into seclusion!" muttered the Black Donkey, but still loyally sat down to guard him. However, its eyes remained fixed on the sky. If that Divinity Transformation Realm Magic Artifact were to fall here, it would instantly forget its loyalty and grab the treasure to run away.

In the heart of the Black Donkey, treasures always came first.

Zhou Heng forgot everything and focused entirely on absorbing the spiritual energy from the Upper Grade Spirit Stone, quickly replenishing his own spiritual power.

After a day and a night, he finally restored himself to his best condition.

He began the refinement of the Life Essence Qi he had extracted from the Black Sword.

This process was rather swift; just half a day later, Zhou Heng stopped and his brow slightly furrowed.

He was just a tiny bit short!

His spiritual power was sufficient, but his Divine Infant lacked the opportunity for transformation into an adult.

It was as if he was standing in the middle of a door, where stepping forward would lead him into a new world, yet he couldn’t make that step.

Zhou Heng had never faced such a situation before.

In his view, once the spiritual power accumulated sufficiently, everything else should naturally fall into place. From the start of his cultivation, he had never encountered a bottleneck in his realm.

But now he was facing one, like a thin film, intangible and invisible, yet very much there, hindering his progress.

This was what they called a bottleneck!

If the bottleneck had a physical form, then it wouldn’t be difficult to break through—having a direction would be enough to strive, to impact, to shatter it. But the essence of a bottleneck is its invisibility, with no clue as to what might be lacking!

Zhou Heng pondered what he could possibly be missing.

He sprung from the ground, shooting up from beneath the earth and lightly landed on the surface, while the Black Donkey lay nearby waiting for him. Catching sight of him, it first yawned and then, suddenly brightening, said, "Zhou, it looks like you’ve made a breakthrough! But it seems you still haven’t entered the Divinity Transformation Realm. How strange!"

The donkey’s perceptiveness was sharp.

Zhou Heng cracked a slight smile and said, "Indeed, I’m just a little bit off."

"Such a pity! If you had stepped into the Divinity Transformation Realm, Donkey Master here could have strutted around!" The Black Donkey sighed, his gaze at Zhou Heng filled with frustrated aspirations.

"Really sorry to disappoint you and make you suffer!" Zhou Heng said through clenched teeth. The donkey never had nice things to say and could instantly be irksome. Changing the subject, he asked, "So who ended up getting that Magic Artifact in the end?"

"The Moonshadow Fairy!" said the Black Donkey, drooling all over, "Imagine if I could subdue her—not only would I gain a servant but also add a Divinity Transformation Realm Magic Artifact to my collection?"

"Daydreaming!" Zhou Heng bluntly burst the donkey’s bubble.

"Humph, that’s my lofty dream!" the Black Donkey began to circle around Zhou Heng, ranting, "Zhou, a person must have goals, must have dreams. A life without goals and dreams is pitiful! Ah, I truly pity you!"

Zhou Heng was speechless. In this donkey’s mouth, everything could lose its original meaning, turning dreams into something so base and vulgar.

"Zhou, are we heading back now?" the Black Donkey asked after running a few laps, stopping to look at Zhou Heng.

"No, let’s go check out the mountains first!" Zhou Heng’s gaze fixed on the towering Seven Lush Mountains.

"What’s there to see there? There are no treasures left!" the Black Donkey mumbled, immediately becoming listless.

"How do you know they’re all gone?" Zhou Heng countered.

"Eh, right, there might still be some treasures left behind that we missed. How could I not think of that!" the Black Donkey suddenly leaped up, "Come on, let’s set off right away!"

It dashed ahead.

Zhou Heng followed behind, sensing the powerful energy within him that seemed strong enough to burst through his body but finding no way to release it and clear the blockages.

He now struggled to control his own power. Without even needing to move his hands or feet, just the swirling of his aura caused the surrounding rocks to shatter into rubble, and the air itself sliced into swirling blades of energy around him.

On the verge of entering the Divinity Transformation but not quite getting there, this was a very delicate state.

Zhou Heng seemed like a destructive human-shaped puppet, blazing a trail through the landscape that left onlookers speechless.

The restriction was still in place but had weakened substantially, only affecting Martial Artists below Half-Step Immortal. This was why the Black Donkey thought the mountains already had no treasures—it was as if the doors to the Seven Lush Mountains had been opened to Half-Step Immortals, signaling nothing left to steal, no fear of thieves taking a stroll or two through the place.

The Black Donkey was the first to squeeze into the restriction, saying it had previously entered once.

"Donkey, didn’t you say you were guarding me all this time?" Zhou Heng snorted and proceeded towards the restriction.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle, his immense power clashed violently with the restriction, forming a void layer around him within three meters, his power and the formation’s annihilating each other, creating a deeply dark canopy.

"Ah—" the Black Donkey, realizing its slip of the tongue, hastily spoke incoherently, shaking its head and spouting nonsense as if it had suddenly lost the ability to speak.

"Huh?" After talking for quite a while, the Black Donkey saw that Zhou Heng had stopped moving! It couldn’t help but wonder, asking, "Zhou, what are you doing? Is it fun over there?"

The reach of the restriction was roughly thirty feet wide, though crossing it felt like trudging through deep, sticky mud, difficult every step of the way. Yet, it was only thirty feet, which could be crossed in a few steps.

The restriction’s power was not strong now; even a Half-Step Immortal could pass through, but contesting this force was not entirely a pleasant affair, so naturally, one would walk as fast as possible. However, Zhou Heng seemed to have grown roots under his feet, stopping there motionless.

Zhou Heng waved his hand slightly, and he suddenly discovered that resisting this force was quite beneficial, as it allowed him to see a glimpse of dawn, seeming to provide a breakthrough to his current predicament.

He released his power to contest the restriction; boom and thunder, the restriction trembled wildly, appearing on the verge of collapse.

Hum!

The entire Seven Lush Mountains burst into brilliant light, with little purple Heavenly Dragons encircling the formation, immediately causing the power of the restriction to increase substantially.

Zhou Heng was like contesting a swath of stars—the force was immensely heavy!

Yet, he revealed a slight smile, finding it very interesting.

Unleashing power, his strength seemed to have found a way to vent; in the contest against the restriction, flashes of enlightenment crossed his mind, making him feel as if he had truly touched that barrier.

The Divine Infant showed signs of growth!

Stronger! Let me see it more clearly!

Zhou Heng said to himself, standing tall like a mountain, his aura becoming increasingly formidable.

The mysterious gate to the Divinity Transformation Realm slowly opened to him.

Still not clear enough, not distinct enough!

Zhou Heng fiercely contested the restriction, sensing the pressure wasn’t enough to completely open that gate. Unless he could fully open this gate, he wouldn’t truly see the secrets of the Divinity Transformation Realm.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

The purple light trembled, the power of the restriction continuously intensified, pressing down towards Zhou Heng.

Not enough! Not enough! Not enough!

Stronger!

Huh?

Zhou Heng suddenly showed a look of disappointment—the power of the restriction had actually reached its limit!

The power was persistent, but it wouldn’t increase anymore!

It was like facing an unmatched Immortal who restrained his power to the same level as Zhou Heng to contest him; he couldn’t be defeated, yet victory was unachievable.

Not enough!

Zhou Heng stepped out of the restriction and couldn’t help but sigh; he had just truly touched the threshold of the Divinity Transformation Realm, only to fall short!

Just a tiny bit short!

"Eh, Zhou, it looks like you’ve improved again!" Black Donkey was dumbfounded. Could passing through a restriction also have such an effect? It really needed to stay longer!

The cheeky donkey immediately rushed into the restriction, not expecting that the restriction, triggered and stimulated by Zhou Heng, was much more pressured than usual; the Black Donkey was immediately suppressed to the ground, completely sprawling out in a ’big’ shape!

Not only that, under the terrifying pressure, its eyeballs were even squeezed out of its sockets, and its entire body was almost flattened into a donkey pancake!

"Zhou, I’m not done with you!"

The Black Donkey screamed, exerting all its strength to crawl out from under the formation’s suppression, shook its body, and its flattened body immediately returned to normal, its eyeballs also retracting back into place.

After blabbering on and not feeling satisfied, it opened its mouth to bite towards Zhou Heng, "Daring to trap your Donkey Master, I’m going to bite your ass off!"

"Ha ha ha, that’s your own doing! What does that have to do with me?" Zhou Heng immediately pushed him away cleanly.

"I don’t care, quickly compensate me with the Hundred Ghosts Sword!"

"Scram!"

Man and donkey continued speaking as they walked up the mountain; the powerful force here prevented them from flying, forcing them to advance step by step.

Strangely, the trees here were completely unaffected, growing lush and green, with branches waving freely, causing Zhou Heng and Black Donkey to marvel; it was indeed a maneuver set by the Eternal Great Emperor.

After walking a full circle, they discovered nothing.

"Zhou, what are we exactly searching for?" Black Donkey couldn’t help asking.

"Looking for what’s abnormal!"

"What’s abnormal? The mountains, water, grass, and trees here are as normal as they can be!" Black Donkey said.

"Then let me ask you, where did those treasures spurt from before?" Zhou Heng looked up at Black Donkey.

"Yeah!" Black Donkey immediately slapped its thigh, "Where did they spurt from?"

Zhou Heng looked down from the top of the mountain; he actually wasn’t concerned with whether the Eternal Great Emperor had left other treasures behind, but rather wanted to know the whereabouts of the first emperor of all time—whether he had disappeared into the annals of history or achieved the Immortal’s position!(To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to recommend and vote at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)