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With a thunderous crash, the wall of the inn was shattered by a gigantic burst of fiery red light. Along with the blaze, fragmented wood chips burnt up in the air, turning into red sparks that scattered all around.

The intense heat was nearly instant, filling every corner of the inn. The crimson flames floated in the air like blossoming red lotuses in an empty void.

This was a steed covered in golden armor, entirely engulfed in scarlet flames, with even a single golden horn emerging from its forehead, ablaze with roaring fire.

Atop the horse sat a tall and upright figure. His eyes, cold and filled with endless intent to kill, peered through the multitude of red lotuses made of flame and settled on the woman’s figure.

It was Zhou Heng.

“Playing at gods and ghosts!” The woman shouted loudly, her body, which seemed boundlessly beautiful moments before, suddenly twisted grotesquely as spikes of bone pierced through her flesh and skin.

The spikes glistened with a sharp chill, as if weapons refined a hundred times had grown from the woman’s body.

“Die!” The woman leaped towards Zhou Heng, who was seated on the flaming steed, with arms and legs outstretched, aiming to skewer him with her bone spikes.

She intended to impale him directly with her spikes!

“Insignificant trick.” Zhou Heng scoffed coldly, giving the jujube-red horse beneath him a light pat, causing the surrounding flames to burst forth anew.

The jujube-red horse reared up, standing on its hind legs and focusing its gaze on the woman who had turned into a monster. It snorted derisively and two streams of crimson fire erupted from its nostrils.

These flames, like blooming red lotuses, contained the power of utmost yang and rigidity. The moment the woman came into contact with them, she was wholly enveloped.

Her body, as if doused in oil, burst into an intensely raging fire that in an instant turned her into ashes.

This time, she did not recover.

Next, the red flames that had reduced the woman to ash flowed in all directions, “cleansing” the entire inn, purifying the miasma and banishing all specters.

The “guests” who had suddenly rotted earlier collapsed one after another, their flesh decayed into dust and dispersed into smoke.

When everything had been incinerated by the blooming red lotuses, the building of the inn itself suddenly twisted and transformed, changing from a not-so-small inn into a desolate wilderness.

In several flat areas, four white flags were planted, waving in the wind, consolidating an extremely chilly aura, making one shiver uncontrollably even at noon.

What bizarre circumstances were these??

Neither Lin Cang nor Lei Xiuyan had ever seen such a scene in their decades of life, and were immediately stunned and at a loss for what to do.

Yu He had fainted earlier from the immense psychic shock when the woman transformed, and she was still unconscious now.

“Thank you, noble hero.” Lin Cang and Lei Xiuyan were about to thank the strange man who had come riding on a horse of flame, the very person who’d saved their lives.

“Trainer Lin, Grandmaster Lei, no need for thanks,” Zhou Heng said, manipulating his Inner Qi across the space to stop them from bowing in gratitude. Simultaneously, he concealed the effect of the red lotus horse gear, and both he and the jujube-red horse reverted to their original appearance.

“Zhou Heng?!”

“Little Zhou?! How is it you?” Lei Xiuyan and Lin Cang were utterly shocked, their eyes widening in disbelief as they looked at Zhou Heng, feeling that the world had turned utterly mad, defying all logic.

No wonder they were surprised.

Under the effect of the red lotus horse gear, Zhou Heng and the jujube-red horse were clad in armor and flame, appearing to others as a giant fireball, possibly even mistaken for the descent of a fire god.

Lei Xiuyan and Lin Cang didn’t believe in gods descending to earth, but they understood very well that the knight’s display of elegance and demeanor, plus the strength he had shown in killing the strange woman in an instant, was extraordinary and powerful.

How could this be related to Zhou Heng?

But the scene before them forced them to believe, to admit to what they saw.

“Impressive, truly impressive!” Lin Cang laughed heartily. “We were originally worried about you, wanting to stop and persuade you, but it turns out we were the ones saved by you instead.”

“Being in the martial arts hall for too long, I’ve become too comfortable to understand these strange events,” Lei Xiuyan sighed. “Zhou Heng, your future holds great promise; are you sure you want to go looking for trouble with the Chang Xing Sect now?”

How old was Zhou Heng?

Not even eighteen yet!!

So young, yet he already possessed such strength and such mystical power—his potential was truly limitless.

If he were to fall at the hands of the Chang Xing Sect because of this incident…

That would be a true pity.

“No worries, Grandmaster,” Zhou Heng smiled. “Since I dared to have the lord of Huangtong Mansion spread the word, I naturally have complete confidence. If the Chang Xing Sect dares to touch those close to me, they will have to pay the price.

“Trainer Lin, Grandmaster, take Yu He and go back. I’ll be fine.”

In the two years since arriving in this world, Zhou Heng hadn’t found many he truly valued, but the Yu Family and the trainers at Longxing Martial Arts Hall were definitely among them; the Chang Xing Sect had gone too far this time.

Lei Xiuyan wanted to persuade him further, but Lin Cang shook his head at him, indicating that there was no use. Having trained Zhou Heng for two years, Lin Cang knew his character all too well.

Having said so much, Zhou Heng obviously had made up his mind and would not turn back.

“Sigh,” Lei Xiuyan also understood Lin Cang’s gesture, and he turned to Zhou Heng, saying, “Then proceed as you wish, but remember, if you can’t win, you must run. Do not throw away your life in vain.”

“Don’t worry, Grandmaster, I always value my life,” Zhou Heng said with a smile.

Afterwards, the two groups split up, with Lin Cang and Lei Xiuyan taking Yu He back to Huangtong Mansion City, while Zhou Heng continued on his way to Chang Xing Sect.

…

Since the Red Lotus Horse Gear was simply too shocking and drew far too much attention, Zhou Heng chose not to use its effects for the rest of his journey.

Rather, he simply rode on his jujube red horse at its normal speed.

In a place with no one around on his way, Zhou Heng tried on the mask symbolizing the “Ziwei Great Emperor” and received the task information assigned by the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer as well as the merit rewards obtained from slaying that ghostly woman.

Eighty.

The ghostly woman was of Eighth Rank, and in terms of power alone, she was simply no match for Lei Xiuyan, hence why she was thoroughly crushed in combat.

However, the body of a ghost creature is nearly indestructible; it can resurrect and recover ceaselessly, and purely with martial arts of the Lower Third Rank and Middle Third Rank, it was practically impossible to slay her completely.

As a result, although Lei Xiuyan and Lin Cang were powerful enough to win against the ghost woman, they still had a tremendously difficult time and had no way to truly kill her.

If Zhou Heng hadn’t arrived in time, they might have really died there.

“Hmm? This task…”

After looking over the task content distributed by the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer, Zhou Heng startled for a moment, then chuckled lightly, “It seems the Five Emperors’ Inner Chamber has really selected a suitable task for me.”

“Task Briefing: Ansong County and Lufeng County of Huangtong Mansion in Pingzhou have been experiencing mysterious disappearances at night. Starting a month ago, till now, more than thirty people have vanished, including men, women, the elderly, and children.

“Task Objective: Investigate whether ghost creatures are involved and unveil the truth.

“Task Warning: Half a month ago, an organization member with the codename ‘Siming,’ of Seventh Rank in martial path, went to investigate and has since lost contact.

“Base Task Reward: One hundred and twenty merits, five hundred taels of silver.

“Additional Task Reward: If ‘Siming’ is successfully rescued, an additional two hundred merits will be awarded.”

Ansong County and Lufeng County are the two closest counties to Chang Xing Sect, and for Zhou Heng, heading there wouldn’t require any detour, he could just go directly.

Clearly, the task was distributed by the Five Emperors’ Inner Chamber after some careful selection.

“However, something capable of causing a martial artist of Seventh Rank to lose contact must not be simple.”

Zhou Heng fell into deep thought, musing inwardly, “Based on the task description, that ‘Siming’ is likely still alive, which means even if there’s really a connection to ghost creatures involved, it’s probably not beyond Sixth Rank, exactly within my ability to handle.”

And after calculating a bit, as long as he completed this task, rescued ‘Siming,’ and then killed a Seventh Rank ghost creature, his merits would reach five hundred.

The wish he made before could then be fulfilled.

“These two counties are not far from Chang Xing Sect, at most half a day’s journey. There are still six days left from the time I mentioned before, so there’s no need for me to hurry over,” Zhou Heng thought. “It would be better to let the news spread a bit more.”

The reason he asked Wu Zongshan to help spread the news was to let more people know about it, preferably drawing a sizable crowd to witness, so that he could humiliate Chang Xing Sect in full public view.

At the same time, this was also a form of security, for as long as Chang Xing Sect cared about their face, they wouldn’t make a move against him openly in front of everyone.

Though even if a grandmaster were to take action, Zhou Heng had ways to deal with it, but being extra prepared never hurt.

…

Underneath Ansong County City.

Here lay a man-made cavern, vast in space, with seats, tables, stools, and even a small palace. It was truly another world. The area flickered with ghostly blue flames, chilling to the bone.

In the center of the cavern sat a man over nine feet tall, broad and muscular. He was cloaked in armor of an ancient design, his head adorned with a helmet, concealing his face. Only a pair of eyes could be seen, glowing blue.

Around this man stood more than a dozen others, also in tattered armor, gathered around the central seat with the utmost respect.

“Report!!”

Just then, a gaunt man rushed in from outside, panic-stricken. He knelt before the man, saying, “Great King, there’s trouble.”

“Speak,” the man said coolly, as if devoid of any emotion.

“The soul lantern of ‘Ah Hong’ went out; she’s dead,” the gaunt man said. “Much of the martial blood we’ve used lately was collected by her, and now that she’s dead, we’ll receive much less martial blood.”

“No need to worry,” the man spoke with the same calmness, “Has the ‘Siming’ from Zhou Tian Boundary Officer been found? If I can consume her, I can fully recover.”

“No, not yet…” the gaunt man shook his head, his body starting to tremble.

“Useless!” The man suddenly let out a cold snort, the blue light in his eyes intensifying, revealing a face of skin and bones, riddled with scars, utterly ferocious.

At the same time, the man’s mouth opened, and out came a withered tongue like a vine, piercing the gaunt man’s head and drilling into his body. In an instant, he sucked everything inside dry.

All that was left was a piece of withered skin.

The dozen or so people around all kept their heads low, still showing utmost respect, as if they had seen nothing.

“The one who killed Ah Hong is most likely the member sent by Zhou Tian Boundary Officer to rescue ‘Siming,\'” the man retracted his tongue and swallowed, speaking indifferently, “These days, there’s no need for you to catch people. Wait until the person arrives before taking action.”

“As you command, Great King!!” All the people spoke in unison, kneeling down.

“Just make sure you don’t disappoint me like the worthless one just now,” the man’s eyes flickered with blue light, “Capture both ‘Siming’ and this new arrival in one fell swoop!”