I Cheated While Cultivating

The figure within the Five Emperors nodded with a smile as if he had expected the question, “There’s no need for confusion, maintaining a certain degree of respect towards you can strengthen the affinity between oneself and the corresponding constellations. The most direct benefit is that it can provide access to more inheritances.”

“Is that so?” Zhou Heng was stunned and asked, “How come I wasn’t aware of that?”

“Do you remember when I previously mentioned that your emergence as ‘Ziwei’ is a great advantage to the entire Zhou Tian Boundary Officer?” The figure within the Five Emperors said with a smile, “That is why.

“Among the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions, ‘Ziwei’ is held in the highest esteem, being the master of all stars. Although the corresponding celestial position does not signify the actual cultivation realm, its status is indeed above all other Star Officers.”

“In fact, the heavenly constellations chart contains not just a set of Upper Third Rank martial arts and the Taoist formulas for borrowing stellar force from afar, but also many other wondrous aspects.”

“However, these are not immediately accessible, one needs to enhance their affinity with the stars to gain further access.”

“The most common method is to ponder the meanings of the constellations and adjust one’s behavior as a Star Officer, thus gradually strengthening the affinity to obtain more inheritances.”

“But after the appearance of ‘Ziwei,’ the Star Officers now have a new method, which is to maintain a certain degree of respect towards you, naturally enhancing the affinity.”

“Because in the stellar system of the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions, all the Star Officers are in fact ‘Ziwei’s subjects. By being respectful towards you, they are fulfilling the attitude of a subject.”

Zhou Heng was left dumbfounded by what the figure within the Five Emperors had said.

“There’s actually such a thing.” Zhou Heng was extremely shocked, utterly astonished.

At the same time, his thoughts drifted. He remembered according to the meaning of the star charts, ‘Gou Chen’ was actually the empress of the Heavenly Emperor. That would mean… However, the position of Gou Chen seemed to still be vacant.

“However, the effect is still quite limited for now, as your realm is not high. Saluting you once won’t be useful again for the next month or two, and moreover, it only works in this world where Purple Tenuity Palace resides.”

The figure within the Five Emperors looked at Zhou Heng with a half-smile and said, “If you were already in the Celestial Man Realm, a single bow from me would probably grant you a new inheritance instantly.”

“Then I really need to cultivate diligently,” said Zhou Heng with the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

Me being so weak is really too embarrassing!!

But thinking about so many Middle Third Rank strong individuals and even the Upper Third Rank Celestials showing him such respect, he felt somewhat secretly thrilled.

“Haha, you have supreme talent and are sure to possess the stature of a Celestial Man,” the figure within the Five Emperors chuckled, then asked in confusion, “By the way, what brings you back this time?”

He remembered that he had just assigned Zhou Heng a task a few days ago.

Had something difficult occurred?

The task system of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer was still quite rudimentary, especially in terms of information transfer.

Since the mask could not send information back through space, the only way to know if a task was completed was to update the task information at Purple Tenuity Palace with the mask in hand.

Hence, the figure within the Five Emperors did not know whether Zhou Heng had completed the task.

“I came to update my task info and, by the way, to fulfill a wish,” Zhou Heng honestly replied.

The Purple Tenuity Palace was quite empty at the time. Although he had taken the common star path when entering, there were still only him and the figure within the Five Emperors in the palace, without even a passerby.

“The task is completed?” The figure within the Five Emperors was somewhat surprised, and with a smile, said, “Well, with your strength, it’s indeed possible to complete… Wait, you’re here to fulfill a wish. Have you accumulated enough merit points?”

“Yes, I have,” Zhou Heng nodded and replied.

“…” The figure within the Five Emperors fell silent.

He reflected on how he had to continuously complete tasks worth one or two hundred merit points each, desperately killing ghosts of the same rank to scrape together thirty thousand merit points.

Zhou Heng had managed to amass five hundred merit points so quickly…

That was five hundred merit points!

Even if he had received every possible bonus from that previous task, it would amount to only three hundred and twenty merit points at most.

Did he kill a few ghosts to make up the five hundred?

But are ghosts that easy to kill?

One hundred and eighty merit points require killing a Seventh Rank and an Eighth Rank ghost.

Zhou Heng himself was only Eighth Rank and, though he might be strong enough to rank among the forefront of martial artists, ghosts have peculiar abilities and typically surpass those of the same rank, making them difficult to kill.

Could this be a reincarnation of a mighty being?

“By the way, can merit points be traded, senior?” Zhou Heng then inquired.

“They can be traded, but there are some restrictions,” the figure within the Five Emperors nodded and then looked at Zhou Heng with some surprise, “However, after you use five hundred merit points to fulfill a wish, you still have some left over?”

“Just a little,” Zhou Heng said with a smile.

He didn’t elaborate that he now had over five thousand merit points, for he feared that the figure within the Five Emperors might faint from excitement upon hearing that.

“If it’s just a little, it’s better to save it for yourself,” the figure within the Five Emperors advised kindly, then explained, “At the tri-monthly gathering hosted by the Azure Dragon and Tianyi, a trade fair is held.

“There, offerings include weapons, martial arts, Taoist formulas, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and various other extraordinary items, all settled with merit points and typically costing fewer points than directly fulfilling a wish would require.

“Merit points can only be traded and transferred during that event. Of course, if people meet on regular days and decide to trade, they can make a note of it and transfer during the gathering.”

“Thank you for clearing my doubts, senior.”

Zhou Heng thanked the figure within the Five Emperors.

Afterward, he took his leave to settle his task and then went to the starry sea’s Wishing Pool, where he spent five hundred merit points to fulfill a wish and received a knife with three special effects.

It was a saber three feet and three inches long, with a blade as bright as starlight and a deep purple hilt adorned with exquisite and elegant patterns, exuding mystery and refinement.

The special effects were indeed in line with Zhou Heng’s wishes when he made them at the Wishing Pool: to release lightning, be swift, and accelerate.

They were just right for executing the Purple Thunder Seven Strikes.

Zhou Heng gave it a name, ‘Purple Lightning.’

Having achieved his wish, he left the Wishing Pool of the Star Sea Realm.

Upon leaving the Purple Tenuity Palace, he found that Huagai and Gou Chen had been waiting for him outside the whole time, escorting him to the Purple Qi Platform opposite the palace. They were thoroughly dutiful.

Zhou Heng exited the world of the Purple Tenuity Palace, got back on his red date horse, and continued on his way to the Chang Xing Sect.

Now, there were only two days left until the appointed time.

Thanks to Wu Zongshan’s vigorous promotion, the news of Zhou Heng’s intention to challenge an entire sect single-handedly spread rapidly like a hurricane.

At the same time, his identity as a true disciple of the Pure Yang Palace was also revealed.

However, most people were dubious about his identity as the sixth-generation true disciple of Pure Yang Palace and the junior brother of the current sect leader “Zhou Tian Boundary Officer” Yan Shouyi—they hardly dared to believe it.

Because that was simply too preposterous.

But without a doubt, the news that Zhou Heng was going to challenge all of the lower third rank disciples of the Chang Xing Sect had completely heated up.

This had become a major event in the martial world of Pingzhou, and it had even spread to other states and counties, drawing many onlookers who came to watch the excitement.

Meanwhile, Zhou Heng was casually riding a horse and comprehending martial arts, not in a hurry at all.

…

After escaping from the predicament in Ansong County, Chen Yingyu also returned to the Purple Tenuity Palace for a visit.

However, she had dealt with some local matters in Ansong County City and, without a fine steed like the red date horse, her journey on foot was somewhat slow, so she arrived a bit later than Zhou Heng.

After returning to the Purple Tenuity Palace, Chen Yingyu visited the “Hall of Resolving Worries.”

This was the place to update mission information.

She had previously accepted a task to investigate the situation in Anxing County Town, and now that she had failed, she needed to update the information.

At the moment, a Heavenly Emperor from within the Five Emperors was here, picking out Zhou Heng’s next mission, looking for something appropriate and with substantial rewards.

Finding such a task was no easy feat.

As he was searching, he saw Chen Yingyu come back and smiled, “Siming has returned, did ‘Ziwei’ save you?”

“Yeah, the emperor was truly amazing!” Chen Yingyu nodded again and again, excitedly saying, “The emperor’s strength is unbelievably strong for an Eighth Rank martial artist.

“He easily dealt with a ghost that surpassed the peak of the Seventh Rank, several ordinary Seventh Rank ghosts, and many Eighth and Ninth Rank ghosts. They were all like chickens and dogs before him, one by one effortlessly vanquished!”

“Yes, his strength is indeed not bad… wait, what did you just say??” The voice of the Heavenly Emperor trembled, and the booklet of mission information in his hands seemed to weigh heavier. He looked at Chen Yingyu in astonishment, “You just said ‘Ziwei’ killed a lot of ghosts? One that surpassed the peak of the Seventh Rank, several ordinary Seventh Rank ghosts, and many Eighth and Ninth Rank ghosts??”

“Yes,” Chen Yingyu’s eyes gleamed with admiration, “The emperor is the strongest Eighth Rank martial artist I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen anyone kill ghosts as effortlessly as him. It was like chopping vegetables, you should’ve seen it; you would have been shocked too.”

“No, I’m not concerned with that. I just want to ask, how much spiritual reward do you think ‘Ziwei’ got from killing those ghosts?” The Heavenly Emperor had a feeling as if he were being outdone by the newcomer, but he wanted to get an accurate answer.

“How much spiritual reward? I haven’t calculated it in detail, but let’s say fifty for a Ninth Grade, eighty for an Eighth Rank, and a hundred for a Seventh Rank…” Chen Yingyu pondered briefly, “Probably around four or five thousand.”

“…” The voice of the Heavenly Emperor was filled with profound self-doubt.

To think in the past, how hard he worked for thirty thousand spiritual rewards, and now this kid, on his very first mission, had earned four or five thousand?

Compared with others, one really gets thrown; compared with others, one might as well be dead!

Could it really be that he was too mediocre?

“This is truly the case of the new waves pushing the old ones.” The Heavenly Emperor heaved a sigh.

Suddenly, he felt that he might have misheard Zhou Heng’s words before.

It shouldn’t be “a little bit,” but rather “100 million bits,” right?

…

With half a day left until the agreed date,

there were already many martial artists gathered in front of the Chang Xing Sect’s gate. Some were Entry Rank who purely came to watch the buzz, and there were Ninth and Eighth Rank martial artists who came to witness the high-level confrontation.

Many well-known martial artists were also present.

After all, Zhou Heng had been in the limelight these past few months, and no one could be sure they wouldn’t have to face him in the future. Watching his combat and understanding his strength was beneficial.

Many disciples from the Chang Xing Sect had also arrived at the gate, waiting angrily.

In their eyes, Zhou Heng, originating from the Longxing Martial Arts Hall, was just a dog they had raised, and now he had the audacity to bite back. It was simply courting death.

So what if he’s a true disciple of the Pure Yang Palace!

In the rules of the martial world, if you come to provoke, even if you’re beaten to death, it’s justified!

And so, amid the anticipatory gazes of thousands,

at noon,

Zhou Heng finally arrived leisurely on his red date horse, bathed in bright sunlight, slowly making his way, and his whole person seemed to be enveloped in a halo of light.

Immensely dazzling.