I Cheated While Cultivating

So, the lady who had a fear of needles and liked to eat candy was that strong?!

Zhou Heng was slightly taken aback.

Initially, he thought that judging from Cheng Jiangjian’s age and level of cultivation, she deserved a place on the People Ranking Board, but she would most likely be ranked among the thirties to the forties.

After all, the first sixty people ranked on the People Ranking Board were basically seventh-class martial artists.

Little did he expect her to actually be tenth place on the People Ranking Board.

This was based on the results of real-life combat!

She was indeed powerful.

The people ranked in the top ten could be considered legendary figures for the younger generations, and their experiences could even be written in a short or medium-length novella. They might even be spread for centuries!

This was an achievement to be dreamed of for numerous young martial artists.

But the title for Cheng Jiangjian was a bit too simplistic.

Jade Mountain meant that the place was basically a rock, which meant it was barren, and barren meant having nothing, which could also mean having no money. It was such an ominous name!

Now that Zhou Heng thought about it, he was staying with a poor immortal, and it instantly made him panic. Would he not be able to make money in the future?!

He was a bit superstitious and obsessed with Chinese metaphysics.

At that moment, he could not wait to dash home and ask her to leave the house or ask her to change her title.

“Hey! What are you looking at?” Yu He realized that Zhou Heng was in a daze. He waved his hand right before his eyes as he smiled and said, “Why are you looking so star-struck after hearing the name Cheng Jiangjian? I hope you’re not comparing yourself with her, right?”

“No,” Zhou Heng shook his head and said, “I was just a little curious to hear that an eighteen-year-old was ranked at tenth place, I haven’t even heard of this name before.”

“That’s because you’re ignorant,” Yu Hen grinned and said, “Cheng Jiangjian is a disciple of Pious Sun Palace Sect of the Third Palace of Daoism. She’s the personal disciple of Qi Rui, mountain master of Beautiful Jade Mountain, also known as Sage Clear Emptiness.

“She cultivates one of the ultimate techniques of the Pious Sun Palace Sect that could help her reach the realm of Deva. Rumor has it that she’s extremely talented in swordsmanship. After observing, exploring, and learning the weapon that protects the sect, she immediately gained insights from it and acquired an amazing sword technique.

“A month ago, when she first descended from the valley, she killed a seventh-class expert from the Nine Evil Daoism Death Sect. Half a month ago, she defeated the original tenth-ranked on the People Ranking Board, known as Three Ultimate Killing Steps Shen Cong at Mountain County, and she did it in three steps. Since then, she gained fame and became known as Immortal Jade Mountain.”

“Awesome!” Zhou Heng nodded and praised her.

“As such, we’re totally incomparable with her.” Yu He patted Zhou Heng’s shoulders. Then, he smiled as he said, “Don’t be sad, bud. I understand how you feel. She’s definitely out of our league. We may not even have a chance to see her once in our lifetime. Allow me to treat you to meat-skewers tonight, yeah?”

“That won’t be necessary. I still have some leftover ingredients at home, I’ll go back and prepare my meals.” Zhou Heng shook his head.

After all, Cheng Jiangjian was still waiting for him at home. He could not afford to eat meat-skewers outside while leaving her to starve at home.

She was his golden egg-laying goose. After all, she gave him four taels of silver per day!

“You’re just too frugal.” Yu He knew that all the while, Zhou Heng had been very prudent and thrifty. He smiled and said, “I’ll treat you tomorrow then. After all, you’re going to become the temporary guard for Ms. Wang in two days, and you’ll get money from her.”

“I’ll be eating lavishly by then.” Zhou Heng smiled as he said.

“By the way, speaking of Ms. Wang, her hometown is in Yu Yang County, right?” Yu He seemed to have thought of something, then he said to Zhou Heng, “There’s a true disciple of Red Flower Palace, and she’s a evil, demonic woman called Chen Hanyu. She’s ranked on the thirty-fourth place of the People Ranking Board. I heard she used to turn up in Yu Yang County. You need to be careful.”

“Do you mean that mysterious Red Flower Palace who takes pleasure from killing men?” Zhou Heng was stunned, and he said, “A person who’s ranked at the thirty-fourth place on the People Ranking Board is considered at least a seventh class martial artist. If I were to bump into her, I’m so dead. When did she appear in Yu Yang County?”

“Half a year ago. Now, she’s long gone. Haha!” Yu He was instantly delighted, he pointed at Zhou Heng. Then, he smiled and said, “You’re scared, aren’t you? Finally, I managed to terrify you this time. Hehe!”

“There’s a price to pay for making me scared!” The corner of Zhou Heng’s mouth twitched. Then, he waved at Yu He and said, “Come. It’s been a while since we last sparred. You and I have learned Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique, let’s practice now!”

“I’m sorry, I took the day off!” Yu He sensed that something was not right, so he immediately ran out of the martial arts school in a flash. His voice was heard, “You can practice on your own, my family’s inn’s business is booming for today, so I’ve got to head home to help out…”

“Hey! This guy…” Zhou Heng swung the saber in his hand a little. He turned his body and walked toward the martial arts practice field. He could not help but heave a sigh and said, “He’s truly living an easy life.”

‘I really envy those wealthy people.’

The sun was setting in the west, and the moon was rising in the east.

It was dusk.

Zhou Heng was on his way home, considering if he should prepare a sweet dish tonight.

After all, Cheng Jiangjian seemed to have a sweet tooth.

After that, he would discuss the issue of her title with her.

However, when he arrived home, the familiar silhouette was no longer in the bed.

It was only an empty room.

The room was all silent and cold.

Zhou Heng was a little stunned.

Then, he shifted his gaze and noticed a letter on the desk, along with a few taels of silver.

Zhou Heng walked over to it and read the words written on it.

[I could not thank you enough for taking care of me over the past two days, Mister.

[All thanks to your great care, Mister, my body has fully recuperated today. As such, I do not wish to further cause any inconvenience to you. I should leave now.

[I’ve placed the daily rental payment as well as coins for the candies on the desk. Please keep them.

[There’s still a long way to go in the world of martial arts, do take care of yourself. Our friendship remains and we’ll keep in touch.

[I’ll see you around.]

Her handwriting was elegant yet meticulous and sharp, just like herself.

‘It’s alright, as long as she didn’t forget to give the money.’

Zhou Heng smiled faintly as he grabbed the silver and tossed them.

‘Not bad, that’s about six taels of silver. The extra two taels of silver should be the money for candies.’

After that, he folded the letter neatly and kept it.

He prepared a simple meal for that night. After eating his meal, he picked up a chopstick. Sadly, he had no company to practice with him. As such, he could only practice the skills by himself.

“You’re practicing hard for Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. The level of proficiency increased by 3.”

“You’re practicing hard for Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords, the level of proficiency increased by 5.”

“Congratulations! Your continuous practice has triggered the Heavenly Rewards, and you gained deeper insights into Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. The level of proficiency increased by 50.”

“Congratulations! The level of proficiency for Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords has reached perfection! You’ll be rewarded with a Bronze Lucky Bag.”

“Congratulations! Your level of proficiency for Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords has reached perfection, therefore, you’ve gained deeper insights regarding sword theory. The level of proficiency for Eighth-Class Solo Nine Swords—Broken Sword Style automatically advanced to intermediate level.”

“Congratulations! The level of proficiency for Eighth-Class Solo Nine Swords—Broken Sword Style has reached the intermediate level, therefore, the level of proficiency of sword technique for Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords automatically increased by 5000.”

Ninth-Class Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. Perfection rate: 5000/5000.

Zhou Heng was stupefied watching the series of notifications popping up in his mind. ‘With the practice of one type of sword technique, my level of proficiency for another sword technique has increased tremendously. Solo Nine Swords is indeed a good technique!’

He could not believe that he had achieved perfection for his Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords, a level that not even the siblings from the Sun family had managed to reach. Well, at least not Sun Zhengpin.

‘Speaking of which, I wonder how did Cheng Jiangjian and the lord mayor handle the incident at that time. Sun Zhengfen never once showed up to cause me trouble.’

Well, even Yu He could only vaguely recall the events of that day.

The tricks of sages were indeed unfathomable.

After that, Zhou Heng washed his hands carefully ten times and got ready to open the Lucky Bag.

The fact was, as long as Lady Luck smiled at him, even a Bronze Lucky Bag would grant him a reward as good as Solo Nine Swords. On the contrary, if he was down on his luck, even a Silver Lucky Bag may reward him something as poor as an increase in the level of proficiency for a ninth-class martial arts.

As such, it was crucial to use Chinese metaphysics to boost his luck.

“Congratulations! You’ve been rewarded with a state of clear mind with little desires.”

“Clear mind with little desires is a state that enables one to keep his mind clear and have fewer desires. One has to take the initiative to activate it. You can do it once daily, and it can last for fifteen minutes.”

‘What is this?’

Zhou Heng was confused. ‘Could this be the legendary kenja mode?’

Indeed, if there was no statement of “you’re very lucky” when he opened the Lucky Bag, the reward gained would either be poor or completely useless.

He recalled the Silver Lucky Bag which he had opened previously that had rewarded him three distributable points for the level of proficiency in three types of martial arts skills. That had been a true Silver Lucky Bag!

This time, he was really unlucky!

Zhou Heng heaved a sigh and was contemplating if he should give a try on the clear mind with little desires.

Since he had opened it, he should at least give it a try.

Therefore, with a thought in his mind, he immediately felt himself shudder and shiver.

He felt a cold stream of water rush in from the soles of his feet to his head, making him lose interest in everything.

He no longer had any interests in the levels of proficiency, Lucky Bag, rewards, martial arts, women, and so on and so forth… It was as if there was no longer anything that was pleasurable to him, and everything seemed bland.

The only thing that seemed to bring him pleasure was only silver.

“So… this is indeed kenja mode!”

Zhou Heng rolled his eyes, then he immediately fell on the bed which still had some of Cheng Jiangjian’s fragrance on it. Despite this, his heart did not flutter at all and soon, he fell into a deep slumber.

Zhou Heng had been sleeping very well these few days.

As such, he was in good spirits.

It was because he discovered that this technique of having a clear mind with little desires had really good effects in putting him to sleep, even if it had no other effects.

Today was the day he was to serve as Wang Qingqing’s temporary guard. He was to work along with the rest of her guards and servants in order to escort her back to her hometown.

There was no welcoming ceremony, not even any pleasantries.

After all, Zhou Heng was only a temporary guard for the sake of earning money.

He had already familiarized himself with the other six guards appointed by Ms. Wang. As such, he arrived at Wang residence early in the morning and immediately set off after some preparations.

At Yellow Wood City’s administrative office, Cheng Jiangjian wore her Star Messenger mask and a white martial arts outfit. She flipped through the information inside a study room.

Actually, she had yet to depart from Yellow Wood City.

After dispelling the ghost aura, she went to Yellow Wood City’s administrative office to look for Mayor Wu Zhongshan and inform him about the ghost and its assistants.

Although the ghost was already dead, she could not allow its assistants to escape.

The cooperation between people and ghosts was an unusual phenomenon. That person either had a special life form, or he or she had some terrible plot in mind. Therefore, she must find them as soon as possible.

Cheng Jiangjian and Mayor Wu Zhongshan split into two teams.

She was going through the details of various people in Yellow Wood City for the past year inside the study room. Meanwhile, Wu Zhongshan was sending people to investigate in the shadows in order to trace the people or places related to the ghosts within the city.

After checking for a few days, Cheng Jiangjian generally narrowed his list of suspects to three families. All of them had moved to Yellow Wood City in the last six months.

One of the biggest suspects was the Wang family, which was the same family where Wang Qingqing was located.

The head of the Wang family, Wang Tong often sent his people to buy herbs that nourished a woman’s qi and blood circulation.

However, it was known that his wife had long since passed away, and he had not taken in concubines. He only had an unmarried daughter. Logically speaking, there was no need for these herbs for anyone there.

Moreover, these herbs could not only nourish a woman but also cultivate Yin energy, which could increase a ghost’s ability as well as its essence.

At the same time, the other two families bore similar suspicions too. Hence, it was difficult for her to identify the real culprit at the moment.

Just then, Mayor Wu Zhongshan returned hurriedly. He saluted her respectfully and said to her nervously, “Star Messenger, there’s bad news. We discovered this from the Wang family.”

After that, he waved his hand. Three to five constables carried a pot of bright red flowers and walked in. The color of the flowers was stunningly beautiful and gorgeous. Water droplets lay on the petals like teardrops.

“What’s this?!”

Cheng Jiangjian immediately rose, and her gaze fixated on that pot of red flowers. She asked in shock, “Are these Tears of Crimson Flower?!”

“Indeed. They are Tears of Crimson Flower!” Wu Zhongshan nodded, and he said in a grave voice, “Only the true disciples of Red Flower Palace will plant Tears of Crimson Flower, which can charm one’s mind and seduce one’s soul.

“They actually planted this inside a mansion in the city. It’s no wonder why the Wang Family never welcome any visitors to their mansion, it’s all because they’ve hidden the Tears of Crimson Flower in it. Darn it!”

“The Wang family?!”

Cheng Jiangjian was a bit worked up. Her mind raced, and she said, “If the Tears of Crimson Flower is a sign of the existence of a true disciple of Red Flower Palace, and Wang Qingqing is able to charm people to the point that they lose their minds… I’m afraid she’s a disciple of Red Flower Palace!”

As she thought of this, she immediately picked up the longsword placed beside her and dashed out of the study room in the administrative office. Within the blink of an eye, she was nowhere to be seen!

Chen Jiangjian remembered vividly that Zhou Heng would be escorting Wang Qingqing, and they had departed yesterday.

A whole day had passed! She must still be able to make it to him alive!

Despite the Great Qara being similar to ancient China, the road condition was good.

To Zhou Heng, the road was so flat that it was as good as the tarmac roads on the Earth.

This was quite amazing.

As such, the group’s speed was rather fast. They had finished almost half the journey in just a day.

They were almost reaching their destination.

The only thing that irritated Zhou Heng was that Ms. Wang seemed to be a little over-enthusiastic about him.

When the team stopped to rest or have their meals, she often took the initiative to come close to him. She would either sit beside Zhou Heng and slowly close the gap between them or even pretend to fall sideways so that she could coincidentally fall next to Zhou Heng.

If Sun Zhengpin were to be in his place, he would probably have gone crazy with glee.

Unfortunately, Zhou Heng only wanted to have a purely monetary transaction with Wang Qingqing and was completely uninterested in other things.

Night fell, and the wind howled.

The road was located in the wilderness. In front of them was forest land. He could faintly hear the wolves howling.

As the family’s well-protected eldest daughter, Wang Qingqing undoubtedly slept in the horse-drawn carriage with a maid by her side.

Meanwhile, a guard like Zhou Heng could only guard the horse-drawn carriage on the outside and occasionally take a nap.

The moon was up in the sky, it was already midnight.

Initially, Zhou Heng wanted to close his eyes to rest for a while. Suddenly, he felt his consciousness being drawn out by an unknown force, as if a part of his emotions was being wrung out.

In just a short while, he felt an inexplicable fire rise in his chest and belly. His face suddenly became hot, and his eyes involuntarily looked at the horse-drawn carriage where Wang Qingqing was sleeping.

“Chen Hanyu is applying Seventh-Class Mind Seduction and Desire Cultivation Technique to deliver a mind attack upon you. Your mental toughness counteracted some of the effects. The level of proficiency for Mind Seduction and Desire Cultivation Technique increased by 0.0001.”

The notification prompted suddenly.

Zhou Heng instantly shuddered and regained clarity in his mind. Just then, he recalled the random words Yu He said to scare him.

It was Chen Hanyu!

The person ranked at the thirty-fourth place on the People Ranking Board!

She was a seventh-class martial artist!

She was a true disciple of Red Flower Palace!

At that moment, a soft and feminine voice came from the horse-drawn carriage. There was slight bitterness and a tinge of expectation in it. That voice could make a person’s heart tingle.

“Mister, it’s late at night and misty. The cold wind will give you a cold. Why don’t you come in for a while and warm yourself?”