I Cheated While Cultivating

The Qingxia God’s cries for help were urgent, as if he had reached the end of his rope.

Zhou Heng, through his Dharma Eye, could see the situation at the Qingxia River, but he did not pay any attention to it, nor did he respond.

Bai Jingtian, who was nearby, noticed Zhou Heng’s unusual expression and asked, “Sir, what’s wrong? Did you discover some clue?”

“It’s nothing,” Zhou Heng replied with a gentle shake of his head and a smile, “Someone is just subduing a demon. It should be over in a while. I hadn’t finished telling you just now, this move should…”

He continued explaining Martial Arts to Bai Jingtian, completely ignoring the Qingxia God’s plight.

…

On the Qingxia River, the waves were surging heavenward, and the one hundred zhang wide river had already submerged both banks, drowning the forests on either side.

Above the water, there was a luminescence filled with emerald light flickering on and off, enveloping a green snake over a thousand zhang long.

This green snake’s Dharma Body was covered in scales, with crimson eyes, and two bulges on its head as if horns were about to sprout, suggesting it was on the brink of transforming into a dragon.

The Qingxia God had already regained the level of Absolute Fourth Rank, manifesting the “Green Dragon Dharma Body.”

However, before reattaining the realm of Celestial Man, the Green Dragon Dharma Body could not be fully condensed, only able to manifest the rudimentary shape of the Green Dragon, which is what it looked like now.

Even so, the Dharma Body manifested by the Qingxia God was still immensely powerful, consolidating various Dharmic principles and Taoist rhymes, stirring the sea of heaven and earth’s vital energy, making the void within a thousand li seem as if it were boiling.

Countless people looked up to the sky and saw the originally azure sky filled with clouds now dyed green, giving the impression that the whole world had turned green.

The momentum of such wood elemental power was infinitely close to the level of Taoist power.

A normal Great Grandmaster of Absolute Fourth Rank would never be able to achieve such a feat.

After all, the Qingxia God was once a Tao Lord. Even though only a reincarnated Divine Soul with unawakened memories remained, his strength was far beyond that of an ordinary Great Grandmaster of Absolute Fourth Rank.

However, standing off against this green snake’s Dharma Body was no ordinary Dharma Body.

There were three Great Grandmasters of Absolute Fourth Rank from the Qing Emperor Palace.

One manifested into a giant tree soaring over ten thousand zhang, rooting deep into the earth, gathering the earth’s qi from a thousand li around, vigorously robust, with a diameter exceeding one hundred li, its branches entering the clouds, and its leaves lush like a canopy covering the sky, swaying as if shaking the heaven and earth.

This was the “Sustaining Heaven Tree King Dharma Body,” a direct path to the “Wood King’s Great Path” and a third-rank supreme technique of heaven.

Under the influence of the Sustaining Heaven Tree King’s Dharma Body, the Dharmic principles and Taoist rhymes concentrated by the Green Dragon’s Dharma Body started to scatter slightly, but this was not enough to affect the essence—Qingxia God’s Dharma Body was still powerful.

Yet, aside from this one Sustaining Heaven Tree King’s Dharma Body, there were two other Dharma Bodies from the Qing Emperor Palace.

One manifested a one thousand zhang tall figure, with an august treasure-like appearance, radiant with golden light, sitting on a lotus platform, hands forming mudras, full of life and rich in Zen, like a Buddha.

Medicine King Dharma Body!

The Qing Emperor Palace did not differentiate between Buddhism and Taoism, embracing and assimilating all Dharmas. This Medicine King Dharma Body’s Buddhist Martial Arts were also heavenly third-rank supreme techniques, capable of attaining Buddhist achievements and possessed Great Power.

The other figure was also of a thousand zhang stature, but clothed in shimmering azure brilliance, dressed in royal attire, supremely majestic and gallant, as if a supreme emperor had descended to the mortal world.

Qing Emperor Dharma Body!

This was the direct transmission Dharma Body of the Qing Emperor Palace, said to originate from an ancient inheritance partial scripture obtained by one of the Palace’s ancestors, containing the mysteries of ancient immortals and gods. Even if incomplete, it’s a Divine Skill capable of achieving the level of a Tao Lord, with immense power.

Moreover, only the direct disciples of the teaching patriarch’s lineage could cultivate it.

Therefore, in each generation of disciples from the Qing Emperor Palace, there was only one such Dharmakaya Practitioner.

Clearly, in order to capture the Qingxia God’s reincarnation, the Qing Emperor Palace had made a considerable investment, sending not only the very top Absolute Fourth Rank experts, but also the direct descendant of the current generation from the Qing Emperor Palace.

This was the person most likely to inherit the position of head of the Qing Emperor Palace, not an exaggeration to refer to as the Young Palace Master.

Under the joint attack of these three Dharmakaya Practitioners, the Green Dragon Dharma Body manifested by the Qingxia God was already at a clear disadvantage, the previously condensed Taoist Rhyme Theory nearly shattered, with the overall situation hanging by a thread.

In fact, this was quite normal.

No matter how strong the Qingxia God was, she had ultimately only recovered to the Absolute Fourth Rank level, and she was also without a true physical body to dwell in, only able to rely on the projection of Bai Yuejian to manifest her Dharma Body and operate Mana, which meant her strength was inevitably discounted.

The strength of these three top Great Grandmasters from the Qing Emperor Palace was formidable, so the Qingxia God naturally stood no chance.

However, the Qingxia God had anticipated such a situation in advance.

She had arranged two escape routes for herself.

One was the Qingxia River.

This was where her true form resided, and although it was still sealed, Jiang Tafa was no longer watching over it, and after thousands of years of erosion, it was no longer as impregnable as before.

Originally, her plan was to lure the people from the Qing Emperor Palace here if they truly intended to betray and harm her. A great battle could potentially fracture the seal somewhat, allowing her to absorb Taoist energy, greatly increasing her strength, and possibly even allowing her to recover to the Celestial Man level in one fell swoop.

The other route involved Zhou Heng in Yuanhe Prefecture City.

If she couldn’t draw Taoist energy from the Qingxia River, it meant she might very well fail this time and be captured by the Qing Emperor Palace, losing her Taoist seed. It would be better to submit to Zhou Heng willingly.

After all, Zhou Heng might be the reincarnation of a Middle Ancient Martial Arts Sage, and submitting to a powerful being who once defeated her completely, according to the concepts of the Dark Era, would not be seen as unacceptable.

It was for this reason that she continued to fight those three from the Qing Emperor Palace here, rather than choosing to escape.

She was aiming for the first escape route.

But now that the battle had reached this stage and the seal on the Qingxia River showed no signs of breaking, the Qingxia God couldn’t draw Taoist energy from it, which left her somewhat anxious.

So, she called for help from Zhou Heng in Yuanhe Prefecture City.

However, after her cry for help, there was no response from the direction of Yuanhe Prefecture City; it was as if Zhou Heng had not heard her plea at all.

“How could this be?”

The Qingxia God was utterly astonished and highly surprised.

She was confident that her message had been sensed by Zhou Heng, which meant that his lack of response suggested that he had no intention of intervening in her affairs or rescuing her.

“Could it be that he intends to abandon me, not wanting me as his servant?” the Qingxia God thought, her mind in turmoil, “Or did my intent to lift the Taoist seed oath anger him?”

And just as she was calling for help, the power of the Qing Emperor Dharma Body seemed to have increased once again, its brilliance growing ever brighter.

“Who are you calling for help, Zhou Heng from River Mansion City?” came a voice from within the Qing Emperor Dharma Body, high and lofty, filled with endless authority.

This was the direct disciple of the current head of the Qing Emperor Palace, ranked seventh on the Earth Rankings—the “Young Qing Emperor,” Lu Jingcang.

Already having cultivated a Dharma Body and reached the Absolute Fourth Rank five hundred years ago, to this day, he had honed his Green Dragon Dharma Body to the peak of the Absolute Fourth Rank stage and was on the verge of peering into the Heavenly Tao at any moment.

Undoubtedly, he was one of the top Absolute Fourth Rank Great Grandmasters of the age, far from an ordinary Absolute Fourth Rank, even the two Dharmakaya Practitioners who came with him were significantly less powerful than him.

“So what if I did?” the Qingxia God scoffed coldly, deciding not to concern herself with whether Zhou Heng wished to come to the rescue or not, and declared, “You and your master should both be aware of whom I made the vow to the Tao Seed with!”

“Ha,” Lu Jingcang chuckled, shaking his head. “Do you think you can use Zhou Heng’s fame to oppress me? Ridiculously laughable. To me, Zhou Heng is but a junior, hardly worth mentioning.”

“Even if he is a reincarnation of a powerful being, possessing some mighty trump cards, would he use them so frivolously? You too are a reincarnation of a powerful being, and you should be clear on this. Moreover, your previous attempts to break the Tao Seed vow are tantamount to betrayal to him. How could he possibly come to your rescue?”

“Yet the fact remains that the Tao Seed vow has not been dissolved,” the Qingxia God said gravely.

“But after you sought help before, did Zhou Heng respond to you?” Lu Jingcang’s face bore a thicker smile, as he raised his voice and bellowed, “Snake demon! Won’t you speedily surrender?!”

This shout, righteous and imposing, spread for thousands of miles, making people believe that a powerful being was exorcising demons in this world.

Before the echo faded—

Lu Jingcang had already extended his palm, condensing a giant sword of ten thousand feet, spanning the void, its radiance shimmering, almost turning the skies green for thousands of miles around.

The Qing Emperor wields his sword!

All vegetation submits!

In an instant, it seemed as if all vitality between heaven and earth converged upon this single sword.

The vitality of flowers and plants, of trees, of rivers, of birds in flight, of roaming beasts… It was as if all manner of life in the human realm had gathered their vital energy upon this one sword.

This was a sword of vitality, yet it was also a sword of all living beings.

Facing this sword was akin to making enemies with all living beings, with all things, with heaven and earth itself, subjected to the rejection of the laws of all things and the world!

“Youngster! You’re committing acts of deceiving your master and destroying your ancestors!” the Qingxia God roared furiously, her teeth clenched, her blood-red eyes filled with murderous intent as she stared at Lu Jingcang. She recognized this sword, and the Daoist Rhyme within it—it was once her most adept method of attack.

Now, the Qing Emperor Palace had, through later acquired ancient heritage, combined this with the Green Dragon Dharma Body, refining the attacking move, which seemed to have become even more powerful.

But this did nothing to quell the Qingxia God’s fury.

Granted, the core heritage of the Qing Emperor Palace was now the legacy of ancient Celestial beings, but the origins of their success began from obtaining a portion of the Qingxia God’s leftover heritage. In a way, this made them the disciples of Qingxia God.

The current actions of the Qing Emperor Palace were nothing short of deceiving their master and destroying their ancestors!

Faced with such an attack, the Qingxia God did not evade nor did she attempt to defend herself—instead, she directly charged with her thousand-foot snake body.

It was as if she were confronting Heavenly Punishment itself as she collided!

Boom!

Like the heavens splitting apart, an earth-shattering explosion erupted, and the immense shockwave spread, sparking fierce storms that shook the earth and rivers, causing the Qingxia River to evaporate, as large swathes of water were blasted into fine droplets that reached the sky.

At the same moment, the Qingxia God’s manifested Green Dragon Dharma Body was cleaved in two by Lu Jingcang’s sword edge, splitting the colossal snake body in the air.

However, such damage was not fatal for a Dharma Body practitioner.

Although the Qingxia God’s Green Dragon Dharma Body was split in two, the mana connections remained intact. If they could merge together again and let the mana flow afresh, they would quickly revert to their original state.

Of course, substantial weakening was certain.

But just as the two halves of the snake body tried to close in on each other, the Absolute Fourth Rank Great Grandmaster, who manifested the Dharma Body of the Medicine King, suddenly made his move, clapping his hands and chanting a Buddha’s name.

“`

“Amitabha, honored one, vanquish the demon!”

With this palm strike, it instantly transformed into a massive golden palm that covered the sky and eclipsed the sun, glittering with boundless Buddha-light, pressing down upon the Qingxia God, within the center of the palm the swastika symbol rotating rapidly, crushing the Qingxia God’s Dharma Body God Light.

At the same time, the towering Tree King began to move, its trunk swaying, and immediately, countless leaves fell, slicing apart the nebulous Taoist Rhyme Theory and weakening the Qingxia God’s ability to harness the laws of heaven and earth.

Boom!

The Buddha-light palm pushed out by the Dharmakaya Practitioner of the Medicine King slammed onto the two halves of the Qingxia God’s serpentine body, immediately casting her down into the dust, plunging into the bottom of the Qingxia River, sinking into the silt, the huge bisected serpent body filling the segment of riverbed that had run dry.

Yet, the Qingxia God, having fallen into the riverbed, did not show signs of weakening. Instead, it was as if she suddenly received some sort of nourishment; the serpent body that had been split apart instantaneously restored itself, and not only did her depleted vital energy recover to its original state, but it even became stronger.

Boom!

The Qingxia God soared back into the air, her might even greater than before, and even the bulge on her head had grown somewhat, as if the dragon horns were about to emerge.

Her strength had increased!

“This is not good! This Qingxia River is her true form’s dwelling. Just now, when she fell into the riverbed, she very likely received some residual traces of the Dao force!” Lu Jingcang immediately identified the problem.

Without a second thought, he flipped his hand and brought forth a cyan bronze bell, gently giving it a shake.

Dong!

The bell’s toll resonated, carrying the might to scatter divine souls!

The Qingxia God, having just been empowered and about to unleash her divine might to fend off Lu Jingcang and the others, abruptly heard the bell’s toll, which carried the might to fracture souls.

This kind of sound specifically targeted the three souls and seven spirits of a person, and she instantly felt dizzy, as if her soul had been scattered. By the time she came to her senses, she saw that the great bell was already being upturned towards her.

“Soul-Dispelling Bell!!”

The Qingxia God cried out in alarm.

She recognized this bell. It was once a treasure she had collected, a divine artifact of the Celestial Man rank, obtained from some immortal relics during the Dark Era.

It was said to be crafted by ancient immortals in imitation of a mythical powerhouse’s magic weapon, possessing an extremely powerful lethality against souls, specifically to counter beings like her that only had their souls remaining.

“Why am I so unlucky?!” The Qingxia God couldn’t help but question herself again.

First, she was wounded by ultimate skills that she herself had left behind. After managing to absorb some residual, minute Dao force from the riverbed to enhance her strength, she was again wounded by a “legacy” left by her past life.

It was her own things that were beating her, too unlucky!

Just as the Soul-Dispelling Bell was about to descend upon the Qingxia God, a streak of golden light suddenly flew from the distance and struck the bell, emitting a clear sound.

Dong!

It was as if a copper coin had landed on this cyan bronze bell, which should not have caused any significant effect.

But with that gentle collision, the Soul-Dispelling Bell immediately became dull and lost all its mystique, transforming into the shape of a bronze chime, falling from the sky into the hands of someone below.

“Zhou Heng?!” Lu Jingcang first cried out in surprise, then his expression turned stern as he said in a deep voice, “Do you really intend to meddle in this matter? This is someone who has betrayed you, right?”

“No, I’m just curious about this bronze bell,” Zhou Heng shook his head slightly, smiling as he said, “I wonder, where did you get this bell from?”

“`

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