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“It seems someone has gotten ahead of us,” Xu Kong said with a smile, “Shall we go over there, Brother Zhou?”

“What about your junior brothers and sisters?” Zhou Heng asked.

“They’ve most likely already gone ahead,” Xu Kong replied with a laugh, his gaze drifting northward, “The strength of this thing should not be weak, they are no match for it.”

“Let’s go,” Zhou Heng said, nodding his head. Given the circumstances, there was no need to refuse to travel together anymore. It was only sensible to hurry over as quickly as possible.

Zhou Heng then finished off the remaining noodles and soup in two gulps, laid down a stack of copper coins, grabbed his Purple Thunder Sword, and left the restaurant.

Xu Kong followed closely behind, chuckling, “Brother Zhou, I’ve heard of your exceptional agility. How about a little competition to see who gets there first?”

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Heng had already taken a significant lead, moving through the streets like a phantom to the north.

He simply didn’t respond to Xu Kong’s words.

“So fast!” Xu Kong’s eyes lit up, his face showing excitement as he laughed, “Impressive! Truly lives up to the reputation! But I’m not too shabby either!”

Immediately after, his footsteps wobbled as if he were drunk, but his speed increased several fold, quickly catching up to Zhou Heng, lagging behind only slightly.

This was the “Drunken Immortal Step,” a secret Sixth Rank qinggong from the Longevity Way, which emphasized a seemingly inebriated state without being drunk, using unpredictably floating steps to increase one’s speed of movement.

The Longevity Way was one of the ten great sects of Da Qi, which rose to prominence after the Battle of Tianyang, and already boasted three Celestial Men among its ranks, demonstrating formidable strength and high potential.

It was said to have some connection with the Taixu Viewpoint of Southern Jin.

…

Boom!

As Zhou Heng and Xu Kong hurried over, another thunderous sound erupted from ahead, signaling yet another clash had taken place.

And this time, the impact seemed even more colossal.

Even the skies showed subtle shifts, becoming overcast, as heavy dark clouds gathered. The surrounding temperature dropped, adding a chillier bite to the already cold weather.

“At least a Peak of the Seventh Rank expert,” Xu Kong said gravely, looking ahead, “And judging by the extent of the changes in the skies, it’s most likely the strength of someone within the top ten of the human rankings.”

Since Da Qi had established the three ranks of Heaven, Earth, and Man for many years, the martial world had come to recognize certain implicit divisions of power.

Therefore, “top ten of the human rankings” sometimes did not refer to the top ten of the current edition but could also describe those with formidable skills comparable to the current top ten who, due to age, were not listed.

After all, in true combat, what matters is only skill, not age.

“It’s martial arts and inner qi with the essence of ice,” Zhou Heng deduced, but his brows furrowed as he spoke in a deep voice, “Yet I can’t feel what kind of power the enemy wields.”

This was a serious issue.

This could mean that the “thing” that was howling could far surpass the top ten of the human rankings in strength. It could handle attacks at this level with ease, even to the extent that no power leaked out.

“This could be troublesome,” Xu Kong understood what Zhou Heng meant and his expression turned grave as well, shedding his previously somewhat carefree demeanor.

As the two conversed, their pace did not slow, and they continued moving swiftly.

On their way.

Zhou Heng and Xu Kong came across a young man and woman who appeared to recognize Xu Kong and wanted to greet him.

But Xu Kong used his inner qi to toss them back through the air.

“Go back immediately! Don’t follow us!”

Those were Xu Kong’s exact words.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, he no longer wanted his junior brothers and sisters to follow.

Because he could not guarantee their safety in the upcoming battle.

…

To the north of Sanhe County town lay a dense jungle.

Last night, there was snow.

Now this place is dressed in silver.

Just as Zhou Heng and Xu Kong stepped into this forest, the ground suddenly trembled violently, and then they saw ten large trees in front of them come to life.

These ten large trees shook off the snow from their bodies and waved their branches and leaves, then charged forward like living beings, trying to stop Zhou Heng and Xu Kong from advancing.

“Ha! Mere child’s play!” Xu Kong saw this and sneered, his longsword already unsheathed in his palm. With one slash, a streak of green light flashed.

It was a sword Qi extending thirty feet, instantly cutting the ten “tree people” in half.

Such an attack could not be called anything but fierce.

Truly worthy of the reputation of sword Qi reaching to the skies.

However, it did not serve any purpose, for although the tree people were cut in half, they still moved. Even the sections that were cut off “stood” up, waving their remaining branches and continuing to hinder Zhou Heng and Xu Kong.

The number of tree people had transformed from ten to now twenty!

“Don’t bother with them, just take a detour.” Zhou Heng said solemnly.

He had already perceived that the strength of these tree people was, in fact, not strong, at most at the level of early Seventh Rank, but they were exceedingly difficult to destroy, clearly aimed at wasting their time and draining their Inner Qi.

“Hmm.” Xu Kong nodded, following him, with a newfound respect forming in his heart for Zhou Heng.

Being able to assess the situation so swiftly without engaging in futile combat and decisively heading straight for the goal, at least in this regard, Zhou Heng was stronger than him.

It’s a pity that he did not get to see Zhou Heng make a move.

In fact, Xu Kong was very curious about just how strong Zhou Heng, the recently skyrocketing and highly famed young master, was.

There’s a saying that seeing is believing, and hearsay is less convincing than direct observation.

Since he started roaming the jianghu, he had already heard too many rumors about Zhou Heng.

Although Zhou Heng currently ranks only thirteenth on the Celestial List, people’s evaluation of him in the jianghu suggested that he was not weaker than the top ten.

“This should be a good opportunity,” Xu Kong thought to himself.

And from the start to the end, he didn’t take the enemy they were about to face too seriously.

Because he possessed a secret treasure.

In his opinion, if he encountered a situation he couldn’t handle, with the power of the secret treasure, he would be equipped to deal with it.

…

“Monster! Meet your demise!”

As Zhou Heng and Xu Kong were about to reach their destination, a tender shout came from afar.

It was the voice of a young woman, accompanied by the trembling sound of weapons, causing the snow in the woods to whirl and the cold to overflow.

It must be the master who had dealt with the wailing creatures earlier.

“Aaaaah! Wuu wuu… Agh! Aaaaagh!!!”

Sharp and piercing wails came through, filled with extreme sorrow, while the power fluctuations that had not appeared before erupted.

A dark purple aura rose into the sky, obscuring the clouds, filled with anger and resentment, as if hating everything in the world and wanting to drag all into an abyss of destruction.

Zhou Heng and Xu Kong exchanged a look and immediately quickened their pace.

After passing through an area piled with numerous animal carcasses and a few human bodies.

They finally arrived at the “battlefield”.

This was a wide and flat meadow that seemed to be the center of this forest, with the first thing that caught their eyes being a gigantic eerie tree being growing in the middle of the meadow.

Over thirty feet tall and with a diameter exceeding fifteen feet, the surface of the tree had faces of different shapes and expressions, at least hundreds of them, and its waving branches were as dexterous as arms, with fruits even hanging from them.

These fruits were flesh-colored and all resembled children, but these “children” each had sharp teeth and mouths, and their ears were long and thin; their bodies were smeared with blood, exuding a dense filth and an evil aura.

The cries and shouts were coming from these humanoid fruits.

The incredibly thick and dense roots sprawled across the earth, pulsating and circulating like veins, as if they were absorbing nutrients from the soil.

Surely, if an ordinary person witnessed this scene, they would faint on the spot or even become so disturbed that they would lose their mind and turn insane.

Engaged in battle with this strange tree creature was a young woman in her twenties, dressed in a pure white gown, with a beautiful appearance, a cold expression, and a sharp gaze.

She wielded a long polearm, which she swung with the grace of a diving white dragon, while streams of cold air stirred, conjuring up snowflakes and gathering a cold light as she continued to attack the eerie tree creature.

From the might she displayed and the changes in the sky, it was clear she had revealed her inner landscape, putting forth all her strength, but still, she hadn’t caused any substantive damage to the tree creature.

“It’s the White Dragon Maiden of Tianshan!” Xu Kong exclaimed as if he recognized the young woman. “The disciple of Yaochi Sect who ranks seventh on the Human List, known as the ‘White Dragon Maiden of Tianshan,’ Li Qingyao.”

He felt somewhat uneasy; he had heard of Li Qingyao’s strength, her feat of spearing through ten Peak of the Seventh Rank warriors, and the fact that the former seventh on the Human List hadn’t lasted three moves against her.

She was extremely strong.

Yet even Li Qingyao, with such strength, was currently at a disadvantage against this sinister tree creature.

“Brother Zhou, let’s join forces!” Xu Kong said.

“No rush.” Zhou Heng shook his head lightly.

He wasn’t in a hurry to take action but was observing the tree creature.

This tree creature exuded an aura that was a mix of ghostly and evil beings.

It was exceedingly strange, unlike anything he had ever seen.

Moreover, the power of the tree creature was strong and bizarre, and a hasty move would be inconsequential.

“No need for you two to take action,” Li Qingyao spoke as well, swinging her spear to attack while saying, “I can still handle it…”

Bang!

Before she could finish her sentence, a tree branch brutally struck her chest, causing her to spew blood and violently fly backward.

“Ahhhh! Wahhhh! Aaaaah! Ahhhhhh!!!”

Upon landing a successful hit, the tree creature seemed extremely excited. The thousands of faces on its bark, along with the children-like fruits on its branches, all began to cry out.

It sounded like wailing, yet it seemed more like laughter.

After sending Li Qingyao flying, the tree creature found a new target.

That was Zhou Heng and Xu Kong.

The tree branches, adorned with the sinister fruits, swiftly slapped toward them.

“I didn’t attack you, yet you come for me?” Xu Kong drew his longsword and shouted, “Monster, it seems you haven’t taken me seriously at all!!”

Clang!

The sound of the sword echoed, and Sword Qi soared to the sky!

Xu Kong held his longsword, enshrouded in a layer of green flame, as if he had transformed into a sharp sword himself.

With a leap, as he swung his longsword, a circle of fierce Sword Qi filled the area ten paces around him!

It was as if hundreds or thousands of invisible swords were suspended in the air!

This place had become a realm of swords!

His inner landscape revealed!

“Kill!”

Xu Kong bellowed, and his sword came crashing down!

Blue light erupted!

In an instant, the air in front of him was slashed into a vacuum, creating a hurricane-like surge that blew apart to both sides.

Even the heavy clouds that blanked the sky were cleaved by that sword strike, tearing open a fissure.

This sword strike was also witnessed by Li Qingyao who’d just been sent flying, severely wounded and struggling to stand.

She could feel that this sword strike was strong, incredibly strong.

At the Lower Third Rank, this sword strike could be said to have reached the pinnacle.

But she also knew that Xu Kong’s sword strike was unlikely to cause the strange tree creature any substantial harm.

The regenerative ability of this tree creature was just too strong!

Crack!

In the end, Xu Kong’s sword strike had chopped off one of the tree creature’s branches, but it had countless more just like it and seemed completely unaffected.

Even more, the freshly severed branch took root upon hitting the ground, instantly growing into a new tree creature, emanating an extremely sinister and powerful aura.

Hiss!

Xu Kong couldn’t help but inhale sharply, his grip on his sword tightened even more, and his expression turned extremely grave.

He knew that he had encountered the most terrifying and powerful enemy since leaving the Sect.

“Should I use the secret treasure to finish it off?”

The thought appeared in Xu Kong’s mind without a doubt the most secure method, but then he wouldn’t be able to temper his Martial Arts.

He was torn.

“Distracted in a life-or-death battle, do you not want to live?”

Right then, a low scolding voice came through, and suddenly Xu Kong felt a pain in his shoulder, a tremendous force struck from the side, the scenery around him swiftly flew past, and he was sent hurtling through the air.

Bang!

Xu Kong crashed to the ground and realized it was Zhou Heng who had smacked him away, and right where he had been standing, an extremely sharp wooden spike had suddenly shot up from the ground.

This sent a chill through him.

If Zhou Heng hadn’t knocked him away just then, he probably would have been skewered by now!

“Brother Zhou, let me help…” Xu Kong got to his feet, ready to reengage.

But at that moment, the newly grown tree creature charged at him, interrupting his words and launching an attack.

“Just handle your own side,” Zhou Heng said with a casual smile, “I can take care of this thing by myself.”

“Be careful! This creature is extremely sinister!” Li Qingyao called out, not truly believing Zhou Heng could deal with the peculiar tree creature, but in times like these, resisting was better than sitting ducks.

“What I’m best at is dealing with these kinds of sinister things,” Zhou Heng said lightly, smiling. He had already observed the tree creature thoroughly and thought of a countermeasure.

No sooner had his words fallen than he charged towards the tree creature, gently tapping his Qiankun pouch at his waist and pulling out a stack of fifty paper effigies.

With a flick of his wrist, he scattered them.

The paper effigies expanded upon meeting the wind, growing to the size of an average person in an instant.

Transforming paper into soldiers!

Then, under the incredulous gazes of Li Qingyao and Xu Kong, the fifty paper soldiers surged forward, rushing at the tree creature.

Launching an attack upon the “faces” on the bark and the “fruits” on the branches.

Meanwhile, Zhou Heng moved in a fighting stance, manipulating the five energies, his whole body already emanating a light of thunder and fire.

The Five Thunder Righteous Method!!