Chapter 173: Chapter 173 Wujiang Prefecture
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Why would he come here?!
The True Yang of the mortal world, the leader of the Pure Yang Palace, the foremost name on the Heaven’s List!!
Yan Shouyi!
Why would he come here?
Zhong Xinghai felt like he was going mad, his previous confidence and feeling of everything being under control instantly shattered.
How could this be?
Why would this be??
Could it really just be because of that Zhou Heng?
Did a Martial Artist of the Eighth Rank deserve such attention? Could he really be the reincarnation of an ancestor of the Pure Yang Palace, a Celestial Man??
Zhong Xinghai was completely unable to comprehend the current situation.
Since the Battle of Tianyang three thousand years ago, no Tao Lords or Saints of the Celestial level had appeared amongst mortals, and were practically considered nonexistent; thus, the strongest beings in the world were the Celestial Powers.
And Yan Shouyi, known as the True Yang residing in the world, shone as intensely and brilliantly as the sun in the sky – not only was he the current number one on the Heaven’s List, the number one Celestial Man, but he had also been the foremost Celestial Man for the last three thousand years.
Why would such a being, who had not descended from his abode since suppressing an evil Celestial Man a hundred years ago, leave the Pure Yang Palace just to protect one person?
The descent of a Celestial Man was bound to be an earth-shattering event. Why was there no sign at all?
At this moment, Zhong Xinghai’s mind was filled with nothing but question marks.
“Why try to test whether I am a person from the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer?” Zhou Heng said with icy cold eyes as he looked at this envoy of the Yun Xiao Heavenly Palace, his voice deep.
After Yan Shouyi’s projection appeared, Zhou Heng had it use Divine Sense Perception to lock onto Zhong Xinghai and Zhao Yanlie, so he had a clear understanding of their previous conversation.
Nothing was missed.
“I, I…” Zhong Xinghai tried to justify himself, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he caught Yan Shouyi’s icy, indifferent gaze and instantly shivered, saying, “Yes, someone asked me to kill the people of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer. He would help me condense my Dharma Body.”
“Who?” Zhou Heng asked, his voice deep.
“Cang Hua, I only know he goes by Cang Hua, claiming to be from the shores of the Eastern Sea, with unfathomable strength, suspected to be a Celestial Man,” Zhong Xinghai quickly seized the opportunity to explain:
“The idea to set up the Luck-Capturing Formation and turn Huangtong Mansion City into a city of doom to assist me in condensing my Dharma Body was also his. And that evil creature, it was given to me by him, too!”
Cang Hua?
“How did you meet him, and why would you trust him?” Zhou Heng frowned. He had never heard this name. Could it be some hermit Celestial Man?
The shore of the Eastern Sea…or perhaps a Loose Immortal from the overseas islands?
Why would he target the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer?
“We met…”
As Zhong Xinghai was about to answer, his voice abruptly ceased. Suddenly, a plume of azure flames spewed from all his orifices, as if the words he had just spoken had triggered some taboo and the flames threatened to turn him into ash.
Yan Shouyi’s projection lifted a hand and pointed, immediately halting the azure flames from burning further. However, in that brief instant, the flames had already reduced Zhong Xinghai’s Divine Soul to nothingness.
Although Zhong Xinghai’s physical body was still present, it was now nothing but an empty shell.
“Quite cautious,” Zhou Heng muttered, his expression darkening.
He had initially thought it was just a crazed grandmaster of the Yun Xiao Heavenly Palace who wanted to sacrifice the entire Huangtong Mansion City to elevate his own realm, and had planned to clarify things before killing him.
But he hadn’t expected that it would involve a Power that seemed to be targeting the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer.
Correct, a Power!
To trigger a restriction under the watchful eyes of Yan Shouyi’s projection and manage to act before the Celestial Man’s projection could save Zhong Xinghai’s Divine Soul…it’s an act that only an Upper Third Rank Immortal or equivalent could achieve.
Even if this projection of Yan Shouyi could only exert up to seventy percent of the original’s strength, even if its movements were quite rigid and not flexible,
and even though it often required Zhou Heng’s orders to act, when compared to the original, its strength might only be one percent or even less – yet, a Celestial Man’s one percent, a thousandth, remains a Celestial Man.
Cang Hua, at least a Celestial Man!
“We should head back first, the projection doesn’t have much time left,” Zhou Heng decided, letting Yan Shouyi’s projection take him back to Huangtong Mansion City.
As for the matter of Cang Hua, he intended to ask about it when he reported back to the Ziwei Palace, either to the inner courts of the Five Emperors or some of the other powerful figures present at the time at the Ziwei Palace.
The Zhou Tian Boundary Officer could surely not be oblivious to a Celestial Man who was targeting one of their own, could it?
…
After returning to Huangtong Mansion City.
Zhou Heng went directly to Wu Zongshan and revealed to him the true intentions of Zhong Xinghai and Zhao Yanlie, as well as about Cang Hua, the suspected Power of a Celestial Man.
This was to signify the seriousness of the situation, having Wu Zongshan report to higher levels of the Imperial Court, thus strengthening security for Huangtong Mansion City.
Of course, the matter of Zhou Heng summoning Yan Shouyi’s projection was naturally omitted; as for how an Eighth Rank Martial Artist could deal with Zhong Xinghai and Zhao Yanlie, that wasn’t important.
For someone who reincarnated from a Power, there would always be some strong methods unknown to others.
After that, he went to find Pei Luoling and Pei Luoshu.
He asked the siblings to inform their father, Prefectural Governor Pei Hongdao of Pingzhou, ranked ninth on the Earth’s List, about the situation in Huangtong Mansion City.
When matters involved a Celestial Man, no issue was too small; this was the stance of the Great Qi Imperial Court, and Zhou Heng’s actions were considered quite normal.
Subsequently, Zhou Heng stayed in Huangtong Mansion City for another three days.
After meeting with Pei Hongdao who had rushed over from Pingzhou and clarifying some things, he then left Huangtong Mansion City and headed toward Wujiang Prefecture.
Previously, Pei Luoling had mentioned that there were rumors of ancient treasures there, attracting many Martial Artists, including some of the leading figures on the People’s List. Among them was Li Wuwang, a mysterious individual of formidable strength who had risen swiftly through the ranks.
Now, Zhou Heng eagerly wanted to find strong opponents to spar with, sharpen his Martial Arts, and find the breakthrough opportunity for his realm.
…
Wujiang Prefecture was located at the peripheries of Pingzhou, close to Xuanzhou, and more than two thousand li away from Huangtong Mansion City, sitting beside the Wu Jia River and facing Jiabeifu across the river.
Consequently, with convenient waterways and being a point of convergence between two provinces, the business of transporting goods thrived. Merchants from various regions passed through the Wu Jia River to Wujiang Prefecture, fostering numerous businesses and allowing Wujiang Prefecture to flourish and prosper, paralleling Jiabeifu as the two wealthiest prefectures in Pingzhou.
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Wujiang Prefecture City was already bustling on ordinary days, but in the past month, it had grown even busier.
A rumor about an ancient treasure brought hordes of experts from all corners of the jianghu.
The streets were teeming with sword-carrying jianghu heroes, old and young, including those dressed in regular strong clothing, as well as monks, Taoists, nuns, beggars… a mixed lot.
For the common folk, there wasn’t much change, at most there was more excitement to watch and plenty of new gossip to talk about after meals.
After all, with an increase of jianghu members, contests of martial arts were inevitable.
Especially youthful and vigorous young warriors, full of vim and vigor, were neither willing to be outdone nor to admit defeat.
It was common for them to issue challenges upon sighting someone they disliked, and extend a hand to spar with those they did fancy.
More than a dozen martial arts platforms had been built in Wujiang Prefecture City, which had been empty for years but now seemed insufficient.
Challenging battles had to be queued for.
As more and more people arrived.
The so-called treasure rumor was of less concern to most of them.
Many came here with the purpose of seeking challengers, sharpening their martial arts, and enhancing their cultivation.
The treasure had not yet been found, but many had made a name for themselves in Wujiang, becoming some of the most recognized and strongest figures among the numerous jianghu personalities present.
The most famous of them was “Sky-Concealing Hand” Li Wuwang.
At just nineteen, with only three months of experience under his belt, he had already climbed to the fifteenth place on the People’s List.
Such speed in “scaling the ranking” was rare, especially for an “ordinary person” who wasn’t a disciple of a top-tier martial dao sect.
This made him the hope of many “ordinary people.”
And indeed, he lived up to their expectations.
In the many contests in Wujiang Prefecture City, Li Wuwang had remained undefeated, with very few able to last more than three moves against him.
Such strength was seen as godlike by many ordinary martial artists.
Way too strong.
At this moment, on one of the martial arts platforms in Wujiang Prefecture City,
Li Wuwang was in the midst of a battle.
He was an average-looking young man, with plain features and soft lines, yet his temperament was full of wild arrogance and spiritedness.
The person who came to challenge him this time was a twenty-eight-year-old Seventh Rank Warrior, who although had not yet reached the Peak of the Seventh Rank, possessed Innate Divine Strength and was fairly famous for wielding a pair of large hammers; his strength was not weak.
However, anyone who had seen Li Wuwang in action would not think this person was his match.
Even the man himself must have been aware of it.
Apparently, this was someone who sought to make a name by challenging Li Wuwang, knowing that even a slight injury inflicted upon Li Wuwang on the platform would boost his own fame substantially.
Unfortunately, the match had ended as soon as it had begun.
The man couldn’t withstand even a single move from Li Wuwang and was directly slapped off the platform with a palm strike.
Not far from there, atop a restaurant,
He Mengqiu and Yun Xiu had ordered a table full of dishes and were watching the battles on the platform outside.
“What do you think of this Li Wuwang?” He Mengqiu asked her disciple.
“Not good-looking,” Yun Xiu shook her head gently, and said, “He’s far inferior to Brother Heng, and he has an indescribable falseness about him, as if he’s wearing a mask.”
“To have such a feeling means you have entered the threshold of the Three Dreams Dharma,” He Mengqiu nodded slightly, smiling. “Reaching such a level in two months, you truly are my good disciple.”
“How long did it take you to reach the threshold, Master?” Yun Xiu asked curiously.
“Three days,” He Mengqiu replied with a smile.
“…” Yun Xiu rolled her eyes and said, “I shouldn’t have asked. Your words aren’t as pleasant as Brother Heng’s.”
“Missing him?” He Mengqiu chuckled.
“No,” Yun Xiu’s cheeks turned slightly red; she took a sip of water, shook her head, and said, “I am only making an objective commentary on the way you speak… Hey, that group of people is rushing up to ask questions again.”
At that time, Li Wuwang had already stepped down from the platform.
Many people rushed up and surrounded him, bombarding him with all sorts of questions.
Most of them were about his thoughts on the fight they had just seen.
Li Wuwang usually ignored such questions, hardly deigning to reply.
But this time, someone came up with a question.
“Li Wuwang, who do you think is stronger, you or Zhou Heng?”
At this, the surrounding crowd instantly quieted down.
After all, Zhou Heng’s affair with the Chang Xing Sect and his miraculous feat of a single Eighth Rank Warrior overpowering a sect had already spread far and wide, and people relished talking about it.
So, between Zhou Heng and Li Wuwang, who was stronger?
Hearing the question, Li Wuwang paused, turned his head towards the inquirer, smiled lightly, and said, “Zhou Heng? Let’s talk when he steps onto the Seventh Rank of the martial path.”
Having said that, he parted the crowd and left, leaving behind a throng of dumbstruck people.
What did that mean?
Was he implying that Zhou Heng, who had not yet stepped onto the Seventh Rank of the martial path, was not qualified to be compared with him?
…
At this moment, Zhou Heng was still on his way to Wujiang Prefecture City,
and had found a passageway to enter Ziwei Palace, intending to update his mission information.
He also planned to inquire about Cang Hua.