I Cheated While Cultivating

He had just arrived in this world, sensed the strong smell of blood here, and had hurried over to investigate the situation, just in time to hear this dog demon mention a woman with the surname Cheng.

Naturally, he had to ask for details.

“Humans, humans, how can you possess such great strength?!”

Black Saint roared in disbelief.

It had never encountered a human as powerful as this. Even those from the great families had only powerful Slaying Demon techniques; it was utterly impossible for them to have such terrifying strength.

What kind of monster was this?!

“Why all the nonsense?” Zhou Heng frowned upon hearing that, raised his hand and grabbed through the air, gripping Black Saint by the dog head and lifting it up, leaving its feet dangling in the air.

“Sir, we, we also know about the Empress!” Yao Qianjiao mustered courage from who knows where, clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and shouted, “Please, sir, slay the demon!”

“Damn it! Damn that woman! Minions, attack!” Black Saint eyed Yao Qianjiao with murderous intent. It knew its death was certain and sought to take someone with it.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!!”

The barking suddenly intensified; those dog demons that had been gnawing at corpses all raised their heads and charged furiously towards Yao Qianjiao, their gaping maws ready to tear and bite.

Clang!

With the sound of a sword’s cry, Zhou Heng waved his hand and released four streams of Sword Qi, sweeping across the area, instantly severing all the dog demons in half, leaving none behind.

The dog demons, which had been so ferocious just moments before, now lay in two pieces on the ground, with blood flowing everywhere.

At the same time, a red flame ignited in Zhou Heng’s palm.

In just a moment, it engulfed the whole body of the self-proclaimed “Black Saint” dog demon, producing billowing smoke and an acrid smell. In an instant, nothing was left but a pile of ashes.

Yao Qianjiao and her personal guards stood there agape, watching the scene with disbelief, almost suspecting they were dreaming.

Since when was slaying demons this easy?

Before the emergence of the Empress, demons ran rampant in the world, and only people from great families had the ability to slay demons, with nearly everyone growing up with stories of demon-slaying.

Weren’t the demon-slayings in the stories always filled with hardships?

Even when a monster was beaten and captured, seriously injured, to truly kill it required blood to draw charms, the establishment of an altar, and great effort to fully execute the demon.

Who had ever heard of someone like this youth who could effortlessly kill a demon capable of taking complete human form, as if it was straight out of the legends of an Immortal’s feats?

It seemed that when the Empress first appeared in the world, she too had similar tales, didn’t she?

With this thought, Yao Qianjiao suddenly became excited.

Could it be that this youth actually had the same origins as the Empress, and he had come to investigate the truth upon hearing of the Empress’s incident?

“The demons are eliminated; you may speak now,” Zhou Heng turned his head to look at Yao Qianjiao and her companion, adding, “Where do you need to go? I will escort you there.”

To get the most detailed information naturally, he should ask while escorting them; under these circumstances, they would surely tell all they knew without reservation.

“Thank you, sir, thank you so much! We need to go to Qinghe City, which is more than ten miles away. Your kindness is appreciated,” Yao Qianjiao said hurriedly and respectfully bowed, feeling tremendously grateful in her heart.

After that, Zhou Heng buried the remnants of the corpses and limbs, and then he and Yao Qianjiao’s party set out on their journey.

…

On the journey that followed, they didn’t encounter any more monsters.

This was convenient for Zhou Heng to make inquiries.

Through Yao Qianjiao’s descriptions and the additional information from her personal guard, a rough outline of the mysterious Empress with the surname Cheng was taking shape.

No one knew the Empress’s given name, nor did they know what she looked like or her age. They only knew her surname was Cheng, and she emerged out of nowhere two years ago, sweeping across the world with overwhelming might, unstoppable in her conquest.

Whether it was the military forces of the local governors, the demonic practitioners of the arcane cults, or the influential Demon Kings—all were like clay chickens and pottery dogs in her presence, easily shattered with a mere strike.

This Empress seemed very strange to the people.

Her strength could be called the most formidable among humans for thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years.

Yet the nature of her power was unlike any known to the world.

She had no bloodline from a prestigious family, yet she was stronger than those of noble descent.

She could crush the demonic arts that the arcane cults prayed for from the Evil God, using her own strength alone.

Her physical prowess exceeded that of monsters, and her body was more robust.

The techniques she employed actually resembled what was considered in the jianghu as the so-called “Martial Arts.”

But since ancient times, even the pinnacle of Martial Arts could only endow one with the strength of a thousand catties; the idea of killing common tigers or leopards with bare hands was implausible, so how could it be that she alone could dominate the world?

The source of the Empress’s strength remained a mystery, but her achievements were universally acknowledged.

In the two years since her appearance, she unified the variously governed local territories, reassembled the collapsing Imperial Court at the center, eradicated wars, and pacified the world, thus revered as the Empress.

These were her worldly accomplishments.

In addition, the monsters that once roamed and caused chaos, eating people, were thoroughly exterminated by her and the prominent families, to the point where the monsters of the world dared not show themselves, and the common people could live in peace, even daring to leave the city to visit relatives.

Then there was the arcane cult that used to capture people for bloody rituals, trying to please the questionable existence of the Evil God. The Empress alone, with one sword, eradicated this cult, leaving only a few remnants to flee and hide.

Since then, the world had enjoyed unprecedented peace and stability.

A month ago, the Empress invited the heads of the seven major families to Seven Lords Mountain; it was rumored that she intended to open an ancient divine repository there to thoroughly eliminate the demonic threat.

But since then, there had been no news. The only word was that the heads of the seven major families had returned home with serious injuries, and the Empress was suspected to have gone missing…

“And there are rumors… rumors that the Empress has already fallen…”

Yao Qianjiao spoke more sorrowfully as she went on; tears streamed down her face again. “No, I don’t believe it. How could someone as powerful as the Empress die? It’s impossible!”

“Hmm, she can’t be dead,” Zhou Heng nodded and smiled. He was quite certain by now that this so-called Empress was indeed Jiang Jian.

In this “Demon Spirit World,” the Human Race had no Martial Path heritage, and their Martial Arts could never breakthrough to the Ninth Grade; the only extraordinary power in the Human Race was the bloodline of noble families.

An “Empress” who could suppress the world with her Martial Arts must undoubtedly be the outsider, Jiang Jian.

And Jiang Jian was not someone who would die easily.

“The divine repository in Seven Lords Mountain is probably the last step in completing her mission. Just that something must have gone wrong at the last moment, preventing her from truly succeeding?”

Zhou Heng frowned, silently musing, “Next, I need to take a look at Seven Lords Mountain. Hmm, and I also need to have a thorough questioning of the heads of those seven major families.”

“Sir, the city up ahead is where my family resides,” Yao Qianjiao suddenly spoke up, pointing to a large city in the distance. “Master Zhou, I’ll never forget the great kindness you’ve shown me. Would you please come to my house to rest?”

“Your house?” Zhou Heng looked up at the city ahead and said without thinking, “There’s demonic qi!”