Chapter 171

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Harbinger of Misfortune

The sound had just faded when a person entered Zhou Heng’s training room.

This person appeared to be in his twenties, with handsome features, long, narrow eyes, and a face showing an eerily pale color. He was dressed in a blue shirt embroidered with white clouds.

He strode in, treating the place as if it were his own backyard, and with a sweep of his eyes that briefly passed over Pei Luoshu, they settled on Zhou Heng. He grinned and said, “So you’re ‘Purple Lightning Thunder Blade’ Zhou Heng? I’ve heard you’re the sixth-generation True Disciple from the Pure Yang Palace, the junior brother of that old coot, Yan Shouyi?”

Zhou Heng, however, did not engage with him. He hurried over to Yu He’s side, placed his palm on Yu He’s back, and a surge of Innate Inner Qi flowed out, regulating his chaotic Qi and blood, and healing his injuries at the same time.

The newcomer had been brutally ruthless, delivering a kick straight into Yu He’s chest. His ribs broke in four or five places, and his internal organs were somewhat shattered. If not for his foundation in martial arts, he would have died on the spot.

Even now, though not dead, if no one came to his aid, unable to stabilize his condition, he would still die within a quarter of an hour.

“You’re a True Disciple from the Cloudsky Heavenly Palace?!” Pei Luoshu recognized the person’s attire and said incredulously, “Wearing your sect’s uniform, making no effort to conceal your identity, and Huangtong Mansion City’s authorities actually let you pass?”

“Stop me? Would they dare?” The man laughed lightly, “My master is just outside the city. Should anyone dare stop me, my master would come into the city.”

“What’s your name?” Zhou Heng had temporarily stabilized Yu He’s condition and helped him lie down on a cushion. Standing up, he turned to face the man.

“A man about to die needs not know my name,” the man chuckled. “You just need to know, by killing my dog, you will bear my wrath. Your life will pay the debt!”

Boom!

His feet suddenly shook the ground, and he burst forth like an arrow from the string, charging directly at Zhou Heng. His palms continuously slapped out, whipping up gusts of wind, causing the air around to whine shrilly.

The momentum of this attack was immensely overwhelming, like a storm plummeting from the heavens, intent on shredding everything in its path, causing the entire training room to reverberate with a thunderous roar.

“Zhao Yanlie is using the martial arts technique ‘Cloudsky Midair Palm’ [Secret Six Rank]. Observing his technique, you gain some insight, proficiency +0.1.”

Martial arts of the Secret Six Rank!

One of its characteristics is that it can invoke the great forces of nature to some extent when deployed, producing attacks that surpass the limits of the human body, with tremendous power.

Zhou Heng, however, furrowed his brows because Zhao Yanlie’s palm strike did not produce that effect.

Yet, his cultivation realm was clearly at the peak of the Seventh Rank, capable of manifesting internal cultivation externally, and should not fail to execute it.

This means that there must be another purpose behind his palm strike.

But regardless of what move Zhao Yanlie had next, Zhou Heng was no longer interested in countermove by countermove.

He was not here to spar.

He was here to kill.

Boom!

Suddenly, thunder erupted from Zhou Heng’s palm. Golden thunder struck Zhao Yanlie, causing his figure to abruptly stall, and momentarily slowing his movements.

Boom, boom, boom!

Then as thunder continuously sounded, a long saber enshrouded with purple lightning appeared in Zhou Heng’s hand out of nowhere, and with the fury of a Thunder God delivering divine punishment, he fiercely slashed down at Zhao Yanlie!

Winter Thunderbolt!

In an instant, purple lightning wrapped around Zhao Yanlie, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably. Right after that, the saber light of the Purple Thunder Sword came crashing down, cleaving his entire body in two.

But as the saber struck, no blood was scattered, nor did he feel the sensation of cutting through flesh and bone—it was as though the blade hit not a person but a cloud.

“Impressive saber technique! The Purple Lightning Thunder Blade lives up to its reputation!” Zhao Yanlie had somehow made his way behind Zhou Heng, his Dharma Body manifested externally, and a faint layer of cloud mist twisted Zhou Heng’s vision.

His fingers converged into a spear point, following up with a jab at Zhou Heng’s lower back.

Cloud Breaking Stake!

This was a Seventh Rank martial arts technique, known for its extreme speed and practicality in close combat. It seemed Zhou Heng didn’t even have time to react before getting hit in the lower back.

“Not good!” Pei Luoshu noticed the grim turn of events and was about to lend assistance.

But then, the “Zhou Heng” that was struck suddenly blurred and with a poof turned into a paper effigy. The effigy, punctured by Zhao Yanlie’s hand spike, floated down in pieces.

Wood Escape Technique!

The real Zhou Heng in a flash appeared beside Zhao Yanlie, his fingers clenched into a fist, golden light bursting forth, as he took a mighty swing forward!

Grasp Gold Hammer!

Bang!

A burst of golden light appeared, and Zhou Heng’s golden fist collided fiercely with Zhao Yanlie’s body, instantly rending him into pieces, scattering flesh and blood in all directions.

“Congratulations! You have defeated your equally matched opponent Zhao Yanlie. Fortune Bag [Silver] +1.”

However, as a streak of cloud light passed by, the corpse of this True Disciple from the first major sect of the Da Qi Evil Path vanished without a trace.

The training room returned to tranquility once more.

Apart from the severely injured Yu He lying on the ground, it was as if Zhao Yanlie had never been there.

“It was a Life-saving Talisman.” Zhou Heng knew full well that his Grasp Gold Hammer had killed Zhao Yanlie. If the corpse disappeared in such a situation, then it was mostly the effect of a Life-saving Talisman.

“Priest Zhou, are you alright?” Meng Xing hurried over with his men and sighed in relief when he found Zhou Heng unscathed. He looked around, his gaze filled with confusion.

Where was Zhao Yanlie?

Since Zhao Yanlie had entered the city, he followed closely behind, ready for battle at any moment, but he hadn’t expected Zhao Yanlie to head straight for Longxing Martial Arts Hall, and he didn’t catch up in time.

He had watched Zhao Yanlie enter with his own eyes.

“Priest, that… where’s Zhao Yanlie?” Meng Xing asked with confusion.

“I killed him, but he used a Life-saving Talisman to escape,” Zhou Heng said indifferently, “Does Captain Meng know why he came here?”

Zhao Yanlie’s arrival left him utterly baffled.

It made no sense at all.

“Do you still remember the evildoer from Canxin Pavilion whom you helped us capture when entering the city?” Meng Xing spoke gravely: “Canxin Pavilion is a subordinate sect of the Cloudsky Heavenly Palace, so we suspect Zhao Yanlie came to restore the lost dignity after the capture of the disciple from Canxin Pavilion…”

“How did the interrogation of that person go?” Zhou Heng inquired.

“…Ah, it is rather embarrassing, but we had not yet interrogated him before he took his own life,” Meng Xing sighed and said, “Moreover, his manner of death was very bizarre, his expression full of terror as though he had seen something extremely horrifying.”

“Just now, that man indeed said Zhou Heng killed his dog, referring to the people from Canxin Pavilion, right?” Pei Luoling thought out loud.

“I’m afraid not,” Pei Luoshu shook his head with a grim expression, “Cloudsky Heavenly Palace is the top sect of the Da Qi Evil Path, and there are countless subordinate sects like Canxin Pavilion.

“Even if an entire sect were wiped out, given their way of doing things, they might not necessarily come out to avenge it, especially considering Zhou Heng’s extraordinary status. Most likely, Zhao Yanlie’s words were just a cover.

“And this is Prefectural city, a place under the strict control of the Imperial Court. It’s a serious taboo for disciples of the Evil Path to brazenly enter, yet he even said his master was just outside the city. That is even stranger—it’s a slap in the face of Pingzhou County’s governor.”

The governor of Pingzhou County of Da Qi was his and Pei Luoling’s father, Pei Hongdao, who was a Grandmaster at the peak of the Fourth Rank.

Pei Luoshu’s words were clear; Zhao Yanlie’s blatant entry as a disciple of the Evil Path, with his master standing outside to support him, was tantamount to offending a Grandmaster at the peak of the Fourth Rank.

Was their purpose really just to avenge a Seventh Rank Warrior from a subordinate sect and salvage a bit of lost face?

Impossible!

Unless both master and disciple were utter fools.

Blind to gains and losses.

“Who is Zhao Yanlie’s master and what is his rank in the Martial Path?” Zhou Heng suddenly asked.

“He is the Cloudsky Heavenly Palace’s Disaster Envoy, ‘Zhong Xinghai’, a Fifth Rank Sect Master,” Meng Xing, familiar with the background of various figures from the Jianghu’s Evil Sects, responded, “He has cultivated the Fourth Rank supreme technique ‘Fortune Diluting Technique’ of the Cloudsky Heavenly Palace, creating the ‘Disaster Dharma Body’, his methods strange and his strength formidable, and he once killed two Grandmasters single-handedly in battle…”

The Cloudsky Heavenly Palace is adept in martial arts techniques related to fate and fortune, enigmatic and mystical. The Fortune Diluting Technique is just one of the supreme techniques related to calamities. When cultivated to its peak, it can condense a Disaster Dharma Body or a Dharma Body of misfortune, eyeing the great avenue of calamity.

“Sect Fifth Rank… good,” Zhou Heng nodded lightly, then continued, “Captain Meng should go and check other places first; if my guess is right, both Zhao Yanlie and Zhong Xinghai are mostly just distractions.

“The one who truly aims to act is likely already lurking in the shadows.”

“What?!” Meng Xing’s face changed as he heard this, but he quickly grasped the implications. If Zhao Yanlie and Zhong Xinghai’s actions were so abnormal, then it probably meant they had other motives.

In fact, both he and the Mansion Lord Wu Zongshan should have realized this earlier.

But the sudden descent of a Fifth Rank Sect Master from the Cloudsky Heavenly Palace had put the whole Prefectural city on high alert, their spirits tightly wound, leaving them no chance to consider all these factors in the brief span of less than a quarter of an hour.

—From the moment Zhong Xinghai appeared at Huangtong Mansion City’s gate with Zhao Yanlie, to when Zhao Yanlie charged into the practice room of Longxing Martial Arts Hall, and then to when Meng Xing arrived, the whole incident took less than a quarter of an hour.

“Thank you for the reminder, Priest. I’ll go inform the Mansion Lord immediately,” said Meng Xing as he hastily bowed and left with his men in tow.

“After I’ve settled Yu He, I’ll go over and take a look myself,” Zhou Heng said.

At the same time, he triggered a Projection Card with a thought.

…

Outside Huangtong Mansion City.

A middle-aged man wearing a black robe and a golden crown stood at the city gate, exuding an incredibly dark aura. It was none other than Zhong Xinghai, the Disaster Envoy of the Cloudsky Heavenly Palace.

Wu Zongshan stood ready on the city wall, prepared to act at any moment to prevent this master of the Evil Path from erupting suddenly.

However, Zhong Xinghai simply wore a smile, looking relaxed as if he was just there to admire the scenery.

All of a sudden.

A cloud of light flickered at his side and Zhao Yanlie stepped out from the mist, unharmed.

“Master, the investigation is clear.”

…

Meanwhile, at the center of the ruins of Leidian Fang.

There stood a figure in a white cloak, face obscured, who looked around and chuckled, “This level is just right, fitting for Master’s use.

“With this, even the evil creature sent for Zhu Wucui hasn’t gone to waste.”