Chapter 288: Chapter 8 Clues to the Land of Pure Yang

No matter whether it was Yun Wuzheng or Li Yuanxing, neither had expected Zhou Heng to flatly refuse.

Especially Yun Wuzheng.

He believed that in these past days, he had made quite a name for himself in Jiangzhou City, and at the same time, he had made many people from Qi Country itch with hatred. A young and skilled Qi Country martial artist like Zhou Heng, upon hearing his challenge, should have been eager to fight, right?

But he actually refused directly.

Could it be that Zhou Heng wasn’t afraid of being laughed at after people found out?

“You’re not joking, are you?” Yun Wuzheng frowned and said, “Could it really be that the second on Da Qi’s Renowned List is actually afraid of me, a mere number fifty-six on the Dragon and Tiger List?”

His words were meant to provoke and make the many Qi Country spectators around think that Zhou Heng was afraid of him.

But, to his surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, people began to mock.

“Just a fifty-sixth on the Dragon and Tiger List dares to challenge the second on our Da Qi Renowned List, and you think you’re worthy?”

“Exactly, you’re worthy? Little barbarian from the south, can’t you take a good look in the mirror? With your strength, what makes you think you can challenge Zhou Heng, eh?”

“The man Zhou Heng is the sixth-generation true disciple of the Pure Yang Palace, the first on the Heavenly List’s younger brother, personally taught by a Tao Lord, and even a great reincarnated being. Do you think you’re someone who can just challenge him as you like?”

“Out of your depth, does the little southern barbarian have a problem in his head? You think you’re worthy to challenge Zhou Heng? Go back home and cultivate for another fifty years.”

…

…

The mocking voices were continuous and came from everywhere.

This was entirely different from what Yun Wuzheng had anticipated. Listening to these piercing words, his face turned the color of a pig’s liver, his body trembling slightly.

He wished he could start fighting Zhou Heng right away.

Li Yuanxing, however, was much calmer. Ignoring the ridicule of the crowd around him, he said to Zhou Heng, “Young Master Zhou, why won’t you accept my junior brother’s challenge? Could it truly be that you think he is unworthy?”

“Knowing it in your heart is enough, why say it outright?” Zhou Heng touched his nose, somewhat embarrassedly saying, “I never said that.”

“…” Li Yuanxing’s facial expression instantly froze, staring at Zhou Heng incredulously. He had not expected Zhou Heng to be so direct, so recklessly unguarded.

Was he not afraid that he’d say too much and hurt his tongue?

“Zhou Heng! I’m seriously challenging you, why do you resort to verbal mockery, afraid to fight?” Yun Wuzheng tried to hold back the fury about to explode within him and said, “Is this the style of you people from Qi Country?”

“I haven’t resorted to verbal mockery,” Zhou Heng replied innocently, shaking his head and smiling, “If anyone is supposed to be mocking you with words, shouldn’t it be this elder brother of yours?”

“Fellow youngsters, Mr. Zhou is here to enjoy his time in Jiangzhou City and has no intention of fighting with anyone for now,” Lan Yingzhi stepped forward, trying to smooth things over.

“I think he’s just afraid to show his hand in front of everyone, scared of being exposed,” spat out Yun Wuzheng, his voice dripping with sarcasm: “Otherwise, why would someone who’s allegedly slain a Secret Sixth Rank in the True Gang Realm, the second on the Renowned List, beat around the bush when facing a challenge?”

The implication was already clear; he was suggesting that Zhou Heng had an inflated reputation, that the achievements of the second on the Renowned List had elements of falsehood, and he was reluctant to show his hand in front of everyone for fear of exposing his not-so-great strength.

“You guys are really thinking too much,” Zhou Heng said, not angered but chuckling, “There is a big gap between you and me, if you want to challenge me, there has to be a condition that satisfies me, otherwise, why should I accept the challenge for nothing and be at a loss?”

…

…

Yun Wuzheng and Li Yuanxing both froze upon hearing this, neither had thought that this would actually be the reason.

“Name your price,” Zhou Heng said with a smile, “I don’t want gold or silver, it has to be something that excites me.”

To pass up on fleecing when the opportunity presented itself would simply be a disservice to one’s own conscience. Since these two were so earnest in their challenge, he didn’t mind shearing them a bit.

Moreover, they were clearly up to no good, coming all the way from Southern Jin. He couldn’t let them off easy.

“A sharp weapon?” Yun Wuzheng spoke up.

For him, this was already quite a rare item. After all, weapons of that caliber were not often seen, usually only the best among Peak of the Seventh Rank martial artists and Sect leaders would be bestowed with one for self-defense.

“Too little,” Zhou Heng shook his head.

“You think even a sharp weapon isn’t enough?” Yun Wuzheng immediately got angry, but with no way out, he gritted his teeth and added, “Then I’ll throw in a Seventh Rank spirit medicine with healing properties.”

“Still too low,” Zhou Heng shook his head again and said, “None of these are significant to me.”

“You?!” Yun Wuzheng could feel the veins on his forehead throbbing, Zhou Heng seemed too greedy.

“I have something, Sir, that you wouldn’t want to miss.” Li Yuanxing appeared to make a decision, he walked over to Zhou Heng, opened his sleeve, and extended his hand in an inviting gesture.

“Oh?” Zhou Heng was quite interested. He reached into Li Yuanxing’s sleeve, and they communicated in secret.

Martial artists at the peak of the Seventh Rank could convey relatively secretive information through the contact of Inner Qi, and right now, Zhou Heng and Li Yuanxing were having a covert conversation through the contact of their Inner Qi.

The conversation was brief, and soon Zhou Heng nodded, “Good, the deal is struck.”

What Li Yuanxing offered was especially useful to Zhou Heng, a lead on the location of Pure Yang territory.

For Zhou Heng, finding the Pure Yang territory meant he could directly overcome the barrier of his current realm, merge the external scenery, refine Pure Yang True Qi, and make an immediate breakthrough to the Secret Sixth Rank.

Zhou Heng hadn’t expected to gain such benefits just from a whim to fleece some wool.

A windfall.

“Brother, what did you offer him? Why did he agree so readily?” Yun Wuzheng asked, puzzled.

“I will tell you afterwards,” Li Yuanxing replied without elaborating to Yun Wuzheng, but he said to Zhou Heng, “Then please, Young Hero Zhou, come with us to the Dueling Platform.”

“Alright,” Zhou Heng nodded.

…

In front of the Dueling Platform, a large crowd had already gathered, three layers inside and three layers outside, a sea of people.

On the way to the Dueling Platform for Zhou Heng, Li Yuanxing, and Yun Wuzheng, news of their impending martial contest spread like wildfire, and soon, more than a thousand people surged in.

Yun Wuzheng had been defeating many Peak Seventh Rank experts in Jiangzhou City over the past days, earning the bitter resentment of the Da Qi populace. However, none could discipline him due to a lack of martial prowess, leaving them no choice but to watch on helplessly.

Now that Yun Wuzheng was about to face Zhou Heng, it was most certainly an event not to be missed, to witness firsthand Yun Wuzheng’s defeat.

It would be cathartic!

Almost no one believed Zhou Heng would lose to Yun Wuzheng. After all, his ranking on the Heroes List was dazzling, with even Secret Sixth Rank powerhouses falling to him, not to mention someone like Yun Wuzheng.

Everyone had immense confidence in Zhou Heng.

As a result, when Zhou Heng arrived, cheers rose and fell in waves, all clamoring for Zhou Heng to teach Yun Wuzheng a lesson.

This inexplicably gave Zhou Heng the feeling of being the antagonist himself.

Of course, these cheers also made Yun Wuzheng and Li Yuanxing’s faces look very unpleasant, but after all, this was Qi Country, so such a situation wasn’t really surprising.

“Young Master Zhou, please come up to the stage.” Yun Wuzheng was the first to step onto the Dueling Platform, his chest burning with a fierce desire to battle, his gaze fixed on Zhou Heng, “Let me witness the martial arts of Pure Yang Palace!”

“Young Master Zhou, please go ahead!” Li Yuanxing, standing beside Zhou Heng, said with a cupped fist salute.

“Sir, be careful, Yun Wuzheng is not weak,” Lan Yingzhi cautioned.

“Rest assured.” Zhou Heng nodded with a smile, then stepped onto the Dueling Platform. As soon as he did, the surrounding spectators’ enthusiasm surged, the noise became deafening, and the cheers were like a tsunami.

“To fight you is truly difficult,” Yun Wuzheng snorted coldly, “and who knows whether you’ll still be able to maintain such a grand posture after today.”

“Hey, honestly, I really didn’t want to compete with you; your strength is too weak, it’s of no benefit to the polishing of my martial arts,” Zhou Heng said, his expression calm as he shook his head and chuckled, “But I couldn’t resist the conditions your senior brother offered.”

“I’ll make you regret this decision!” Yun Wuzheng was thoroughly enraged.

He let out a low roar, his inner qi burst forth from beneath his feet, and with a bang, his figure instantly crossed a distance of more than ten zhang, charging directly in front of Zhou Heng. Using his palm as a saber, he slashed at Zhou Heng’s neck.

This palm was no simple attack. As Yun Wuzheng made his move, he drew upon the subtle energies of heaven and earth, interweaving laws and principles to form an incredibly sharp saber glow on his hand.

Moreover, the saber glow seemed to contain a supreme, overriding quality, as if it were the will of heaven descending, ready to punish all in the mortal realm with this slash.

This was the first move of “Heavenly Will Saber,” a Sect Fifth Rank secret martial arts technique from the Heavenly Saber Sect, and it was the only move “Heavenly Will Supreme, Do Not Question” that Yun Wuzheng knew.

Under this “saber,” Zhou Heng standing there seemed like a commoner at the mercy of the heavens, apparently without any capacity to resist.

After all, how could one possibly resist the will of heaven?

Around the Dueling Platform, among the onlookers, there were not a few martial artists at the Seventh Rank and even the Peak of the Seventh Rank, who could all feel the potency of Yun Wuzheng’s slash, especially those martial artists who had been defeated by Yun Wuzheng. They turned pale.

It turned out Yun Wuzheng had never gone all out when he fought with them, never displaying such powerful saber technique. Even now, with his palm as a saber, it was terrifyingly powerful, enough to make one’s heart palpitate.

However, someone as strong as Zhou Heng should not find it difficult to deal with this strike, many thought, and they all turned their eyes towards Zhou Heng.

Li Yuanxing was also paying close attention to Zhou Heng’s movements.

This move “Heavenly Will Supreme, Do Not Question” was already Yun Wuzheng’s strongest killing move, but he knew his junior brother well enough to realize that Yun Wuzheng did not expect to defeat Zhou Heng with this one strike alone.

Yun Wuzheng’s real killer move was actually coming after “Heavenly Will Supreme, Do Not Question,” regardless of whether Zhou Heng chose to block or dodge. Yun Wuzheng had a very strong tactic ready to catch him off guard.

But at that moment, Zhou Heng moved. He raised his right hand, spreading his fingers, and seemed to casually slap towards the “saber-like heavenly will”.

Overturning Heaven Three Palms!

The world turned upside down!

In just an instant, everyone present felt as if they had witnessed a scene of the world collapsing, the cosmos inverting, a terrifying vision of universal destruction, and even the overriding will of heaven was shattered on the spot.

Bang!

A loud collision sound awakened everyone.

On the Dueling Platform, Zhou Heng stood with one hand behind his back and the other hand smacking down in front. The previously charging Yun Wuzheng, who was in the midst of attacking him, had been sent flying, crashing into a wall outside the platform and embedding deeply into it.

It was over.

Just like that, it ended.

There was no fierce exchange of blows, no tumultuous struggle between strength and weakness, just this single palm had ended everything.

This wasn’t a contest; it was a crushing defeat, like a father disciplining his son!

Thoughts of this kind flashed through the minds of everyone present, including Li Yuanxing.

“He really is that powerful!” Li Yuanxing muttered to himself, shock evident in his voice.

He suddenly realized that his previous estimations might have been wrong, and Zhou Heng’s record on the Da Qi’s List of Fighters might actually be true.

Could someone truly at the Peak of the Seventh Rank have the power to kill a martial artist at the Secret Sixth Rank of the True Gang Realm?!

The thought was utterly inconceivable.

At the same time, he felt some regret, feeling that his previous decision to give Zhou Heng the clue to Pure Yang Palace might not have been wise.

However, that was only the first clue. He still had the second and third clues in hand; without cooperating with them, Zhou Heng would not be able to find anything of value on his own.

Thinking this, Li Yuanxing’s mood became much lighter.

At this moment, Zhou Heng had already stepped down from the fighting platform, patted Li Yuanxing on the shoulder, and smiled, “Thank you.”

Then, he left with Lan Yingzhi.

…

The inn.

“What?!” Yun Wuzheng exclaimed in disbelief, staring at Li Yuanxing, “Senior brother, you gave Zhou Heng the clue to the land of Pure Yang as a condition? Ah, ow!”

A cry of pain escaped him as he clutched his chest and sat down, grimacing in agony.

Although Zhou Heng had held back much of his strength, it was still overwhelmingly forceful for Yun Wuzheng, who had not only been knocked out of his Saber Technique but also had several ribs shattered by the blow.

It was an utter and complete defeat.

“I have my own plans, and after all, it’s just the first clue,” Li Yuanxing’s expression remained calm as he spoke, “Moreover, relying solely on our own strength, we’ve been searching for nearly a year with no lead on the next step.

“Thus, it might be better to bring Zhou Heng into the picture. He is a disciple of the Pure Yang Palace with Pure Yang Inner Qi. If he helps us, we stand a better chance of finding the fourth clue.”

“But won’t that mean we have to share the final gains with Zhou Heng?” Yun Wuzheng was still somewhat dissatisfied, “I’ve heard that the strength of Pure Yang contained within the land is elusive and limited; the more people there are, the more dispersed the effects will be.”

“Who said we would share with him?” Li Yuanxing suddenly smiled, “Zhou Heng may be strong, so strong that I even considered whether it would have been better not to involve him.

“But on second thought, Zhou Heng only knows one of the clues and thinks there’s only this one. During the entire search process, we actually hold the initiative.

“By the time we have all the clues in our hands, Zhou Heng will likely still be missing at least two of them. Under such circumstances, it won’t be difficult for us to monopolize the benefits of the land of Pure Yang.”

“Haha, good, that’s excellent!” Yun Wuzheng nodded, but he grew worried again, “However, what if Zhou Heng takes this clue to Yan Shouyi for deduction, and they directly find the land of Pure Yang?”

“Junior brother, the Pure Yang Palace is one of the top Martial Dao Sects of this era,” Li Yuanxing shook his head and said, “The higher ranked the Martial Dao Sect is, the less they interfere with the cultivation of their disciples. That includes searching for opportunities. Our Heavenly Saber Sect does the same, and all the more so for the Pure Yang Palace.”

“You’re right,” Yun Wuzheng replied, relieved, “That puts my mind at ease.”

…

Zhou Heng didn’t stay at the Lan Family’s residence for long. After taking his leave, he found an entrance to Purple Tenuity Palace that was relatively close.

He was heading to the “Wishing Pool” in the Star Sea realm.

“My wish: Based on this clue, deduce all the clues related to this land of Pure Yang.”