I Cheated While Cultivating

Zhou Heng stood there as if he were a mere ant facing the vast heavenly might, at any moment liable to be crushed into dust.

This was the power inherent to one born before the heavens.

Pei Luoling suddenly tensed up, grabbed Pei Luoshu’s arm next to her, and shook it violently, saying anxiously, “Brother, what do we do?! Think of something quickly!”

“Ah, this is my own life-saving trump card,” Pei Luoshu said with a pained expression as he pulled out a jade talisman from his Qiankun Bag, ready to activate it.

At the same time, atop a distant mountain peak.

Cheng Jianjian stood up all at once, having been ready, she threw out a piece of red silk, which transformed into a beam of red light across the sky.

She stepped forward onto the beam of red light, ready to join Zhou Heng at his side to defend against Liu Songshan’s attack.

A Martial Artist of the Sixth Rank on the Martial Path was already capable of uniting with external forces; their Inner Qi could return to an innate state, and even casual motions could harness the incredible natural forces of the world, enabling them to leverage the power of nature with their bodies to unleash infinite might.

Normally speaking, even the weakest Sixth Rank Celestial would be stronger than the most powerful and invincible at the peak of the Seventh Rank.

This was an insurmountable gulf, a difference in the very essence of life.

Even Zhou Heng, with his current strength sufficient to rank near the top among martial artists and to compete with outstanding heirs from major top-tier sects and noble families, had absolutely no ability to resist when facing a Sixth Rank on the Martial Path if relying solely on his own power.

He would need extremely powerful magical talismans to stand a chance.

However, Zhou Heng himself was not the least bit panicked, as he never intended to fight Liu Songshan head-on.

The instant Liu Songshan appeared, he had already started circulating his inner qi, prepared to activate the Geng Metal Sword Energy Talisman.

Of course, although the sword energy from the talisman had the might of a Sixth Rank, it was definitely still lacking compared to a true Sixth Rank Innate.

With just one strike of Geng Metal Sword Qi, Zhou Heng wasn’t expecting to defeat a Sixth Rank Innate; he planned to use it to distract Liu Songshan, buying time to use his projection card and materialize his projection.

Project the Qingxia God!

That was his real trump card.

But just at that moment, within the crowd of onlookers, a sudden surge of azure light soared up, forming a small mountain about thirty to forty zhang high almost instantly.

The various phenomena that had arisen due to Liu Songshan’s use of his secret technique dissipated, the clouds ceased churning, the rocks stilled, and the wild wind settled, as if everything were subdued by this small mountain.

Immediately after, the small mountain streaked across the sky, colliding with the giant hand that Liu Songshan had slammed down.

Boom!

A deafening blast resounded, with waves of qi spreading outwards, the ground shaking and clouds in the sky shattering into pieces.

Even the natural energies within several miles were so stirred up, it was like whirlpools upending rivers, causing Martial Artists at the peak of the Seventh Rank starting to integrate internally and externally to feel their blood and qi roil.

The once imposing and mighty giant hand shattered into countless streams of light upon the impact with the small mountain, yet the mountain remained undamaged, simply turning in the air before flying back above Liu Songshan’s head.

Liu Songshan’s face turned ashen with shock, his previous air of dominance instantly shattered, and he looked panicked, trying to mobilize the cloud light beneath his feet to escape while frantically looking around and saying, “Whoever you are, high above, with neither past grudges nor recent quarrels against me, why do you attack me… ”

But before he could finish his words, the small mountain crashed down fiercely, covering nearly a hundred zhang around and casting a large shadow on the ground.

Boom!

As the mountain struck the earth, the ground trembled, cracks appeared in the land around the mountain’s base, and the long-standing Sixth Rank Celestial, Liu Songshan, was heavily suppressed beneath the mountain.

This sudden turn of events all happened in the blink of an eye.

From the formation of the mountain to the point where Liu Songshan was smashed down from the heavens, it was all incredibly quick and smooth.

Many were still in shock and hadn’t reacted when Liu Songshan was already pressed beneath the mountain.

“What the heck?! What just happened?”

“Who made that move, suppressing Liu Songshan in an instant?”

“Could there be a Grandmaster here? Was it the Grandmaster who struck?”

The crowd suddenly erupted, all incredulously staring at the small mountain that had formed out of nowhere and then instantly demonstrated its divine might.

This is a small mountain purely condensed from Heaven and Earth’s vital energy!

The person who has displayed such a technique must possess a high cultivation realm and is extremely adept at refining and transforming Heaven and Earth’s vital energy into form, with formidable strength far beyond the ordinary.

At this moment, Cheng Jianjian, who had just stepped into the red light, paused slightly before retreating back to look at the crowd, quickly locating someone in a modest Taoist robe.

“So it turns out that Brother Jiang from Pure Yang Palace’s Cui Peak is here.”

She smiled, retracting the red silk treasure and completely calming down, recognizing the identity of the Taoist. With him around, even if a grandmaster from the Chang Xing Sect made a move, they could still ensure Zhou Heng’s safety without harm.

Inside the crowd, Pei Luoling patted her small chest and heaved a sigh of relief, joyfully saying, “Is this a heroic expert stepping forward to lend a hand in the face of injustice? This is just like the main character in the stories the storyteller tells, where there is always a high personage to save the day in times of peril.”

“It’s not about stepping forward in the face of injustice.” Pei Luoshu shook his head and searched the crowd, saying, “This small mountain is not a common technique, but the Sect Fifth Rank martial arts ‘Qing Mountain Suppressing the Vast Sky’ of Pure Yang Palace’s Cui Peak.

“Judging from the degree of refinement and power of this small mountain, the person practicing the martial arts must have trained the tenth layer of the technique to the seventh, with a cultivation most likely at the peak of the Sixth Rank.”

“Qing Mountain Suppressing the Vast Sky?” Pei Luoling tilted her head and waved her folding fan, saying, “It sounds familiar. Have I heard it somewhere before, like in a story…

“Ah, now I remember, it’s a story about the person who was first on the people’s rank six years ago, ‘Tianshan Cui Peak’s Jiang Taihe,’ which I heard from a storyteller.”

“…It seems that the storyteller’s tales are not entirely without merit.” Pei Luoshu pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling his headache slightly alleviated.

Six years ago, the one who was first on the people’s rank was indeed famous throughout the world, and even if time had diluted his past reputation, with a reminder, many people immediately recalled it.

“Tianshan’s Cui Peak, is it Tianshan Cui Peak’s Jiang Taihe who has re-emerged in the jianghu?”

“After reaching the Sixth Rank six years ago, Jiang Taihe returned to Ta Hua Mount’s Cui Peak to enter closed-door cultivation, this must be his first time showing up in the jianghu in these six years.”

“Judging from that initial strike, Jiang Taihe can’t be far from the Fifth Rank Sect Master Realm, huh? When he was of the Seventh Rank, so was I, but now he is almost at the Fifth Rank while I am still at the Seventh Rank.”

“But why would he come here? Could he have come together with Zhou Heng, just to secretly protect him?”

“How is that possible, Jiang Taihe is the personal disciple of the Cui Peak’s master, does he need to protect a mere authentic inheritor like Zhou Heng?”

“Perhaps that rumor is true?”

While the crowd was abuzz with discussion, the young Taoist wearing the modest Taoist robe, stepping on black cloth shoes and binding his hair only with straw, looking somewhat unkempt, walked out.

He had a handsome face, a tall frame, and appeared to be in his twenties, not yet thirty, but he emanated the aura of someone who had experienced the vicissitudes of life and seemed to have seen through the worldly dust.

“It really is Jiang Taihe, but how has he become like this?”

“I heard that Jiang Taihe was bold and vigorous, with heroic spirit, once pursuing a thousand li to avenge a friend, a chivalrous figure who righted wrongs with pleasure. But now, he doesn’t seem quite the same.”

“Has he gone through some sort of ordeal?”

…

Zhou Heng also gazed at Jiang Taihe, smiling and saying, “Thank you for just now.”

It was thanks to his intervention that the use of a Geng Metal Sword Energy Talisman and a projection card was spared.

“Younger uncle is too kind,” Jiang Taihe gently shook his head and also smiled, “Even if I had not acted, I am certain the younger uncle would have had means to manage that person.”

Younger uncle?!

Jiang Taihe’s address to Zhou Heng left everyone present in shock.

That previously far-fetched rumor…

Was actually true?!

Zhou Heng really is the sixth generation authentically inherited disciple of Pure Yang Palace?

A Celestial Man’s junior brother!

The disciple of a Tao Lord?!

What sort of sky-reaching background is this!

Meanwhile, inside the control hall of the Chang Xing Sect, Sect Master Wan Fengchun, a Fifth Rank grandmaster, almost staggered and fell from his chair.

“Go, go, all of you follow me down the mountain to apologize!”