Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Celestial Man Projection

The battle between Zhou Heng and Zhao Yanlie earlier in the Longxing Martial Arts Hall was quite intense, and as soon as Meng Xing and the others had left, Lei Xiuyan and Lin Cang hurried back.

It was only after seeing that Zhou Heng was unharmed that they felt relieved.

For them and the current Longxing Martial Arts Hall, Zhou Heng was everything.

With Zhou Heng there was everything, without him, all would be void.

“Master Lin, hall master, please take care of Yu He for me, I’ll be back shortly,” Zhou Heng said with a smile.

“Sure.”

“No problem.”

Lei Xiuyan and Lin Cang naturally had no objections to this and nodded in agreement.

After that, Zhou Heng turned and left.

Just as Zhou Heng was about to leave, Pei Luoling wanted to come forward and follow, but was stopped by Pei Luoshu.

“Brother, why are you stopping me?” the girl asked, puzzled.

“Do not meddle,” Pei Luoshu whispered. “I sense that a big shot is coming.”

“A big shot?” Pei Luoling was puzzled. She knew her brother had been sensitive since childhood and could detect many things. “An Absolute Fourth Rank?”

“More than that,” Pei Luoshu shook his head gently.

“How, how is that possible??” Pei Luoling exclaimed in astonishment.

Above the Absolute Fourth Rank?

Could it be the arrival of a Celestial Man, or an Overseas Loose Cultivator?

What situation?

…

Zhou Heng walked out of the Longxing Martial Arts Hall, moving briskly towards the ruins of the Ledger Yard.

By his side stood a person invisible to others.

This was a middle-aged Taoist who appeared to be in his thirties, plain and unremarkable in appearance, with ordinary features, wearing a simple blue Taoist robe, and exuding a strong scholarly aura.

But he had an expressionless face and lifeless eyes.

It was as if he were an image without any intelligence.

With the help of this Taoist, Zhou Heng could clearly “see” that in the ruins of the Ledger Yard, there was a mysterious figure in a white cloak busy setting something up.

This person had a decent cultivation level, already at the Innate Sixth Rank.

Zhou Heng reached a deserted alley and suddenly blurred, then in the next instant, he appeared directly in the ruins of the Ledger Yard, standing beside the cloaked mysterious figure.

The mysterious figure in white had been focusing on the setup — burying crystals of various colors and intersecting laws underground, drawing complex runes, hiding traces of array formation, and so on.

This was the most important mission of his trip, and also the only one.

Once the core of the Fortune Snatching Grand Array was set up, and through subsequent arrangements, the array would be truly activated, thereby absorbing the fortunes of all the residents of Huangtong Mansion City.

Gradually transforming this place into a city of misfortune.

In this way, the entire Huangtong Mansion City could become an important opportunity for his master, the Disaster Dharma Body Refiner Zhong Xinghai, to refine his body and help him reach the peak of the Absolute Fourth Rank.

If Zhong Xinghai could reach the peak of the Absolute Fourth Rank, then he himself would have the possibility of stepping into the realm of a Fifth Rank Sect Master, bringing immense benefits.

Therefore, he was very careful and cautious when arranging the core of the Fortune Snatching Grand Array.

Outside the Ledger Yard, a Sect Fifth Rank treasure was even arranged to conceal the real situation inside and prevent outsiders from noticing the changes happening here.

However, he never expected that someone could appear so silently here, standing right next to him.

“Who?!” The mysterious figure in white suddenly erupted, raising his five fingers like claws, reaching towards Zhou Heng.

In any case, it was best to strike first!

Facing this sudden claw attack, Zhou Heng’s expression instantly became stern; the power of an Innate Sixth Rank was truly formidable.

Even though the man was worried that moving the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth would expose his whereabouts and thus only used his own strength to attack, the physical prowess and strength of a Secret Sixth Rank far exceeded that of the Peak of the Seventh Rank.

This was a body truly refined through the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth, having undergone inner and outer interactions, and even Zhou Heng’s current physical state couldn’t compare.

Zhou Heng was very clear that if he did not use the Geng Metal Sword Energy Talisman or other items, he would have no chance of resistance whatsoever.

Innate was Innate!

It had absolute and complete suppression over those who had not yet truly undergone inner and outer interactions.

The mysterious figure in the white cloak also noticed Zhou Heng’s condition and instantly his eyes brightened; although he didn’t know how a kid who wasn’t even at the Seventh Rank had gotten here, he knew that this trouble wouldn’t be hard to deal with.

He’d simply kill him!

“`

A mere Eighth Rank, killing him is like slaughtering a chicken!!

However, before the mysterious man in the white robe could even touch Zhou Heng, he felt as if a great sun had appeared, a golden sun, blazing and dazzlingly bright, unbearably hot.

In just an instant, the man in the white robe felt a fierce fire erupting from within his own body, burning in unison with the scorching heat from the outside, engulfing him in flames!

What is this?

What kind of power is this??

Am I, am I going to die?!

This was his last thought before his entire being was burned to ashes, both body and spirit destroyed.

And all this came from the middle-aged Taoist standing beside Zhou Heng.

With just one glance from the Taoist, that Sixth Rank Innate was incinerated to ashes.

“Congratulations! You have killed the unworthy opponent Yuan En, Fortune Bag [Copper] +1.”

The reward notification sounded.

Zhou Heng was slightly startled. During projection killings, was the strength comparison based on projections?

Had he known, he would have projected someone else…

But still, it was better to be safe, to project the strongest to avoid any mistakes.

“Next, it’s those two.”

Zhou Heng gazed into the distance. Under the lead of his projection, his figure vanished, crossing through the void in an instant, fleeing thousands of miles away.

…

Zhong Xinghai had already left Huangtong Mansion City with Zhao Yanlie.

They also fled using flying techniques.

Their speed was extremely fast.

In less than half a quarter hour, they had already flown out three thousand miles.

Even though they were moving within the clouds, with Zhong Xinghai’s mana forming a barrier, not a whiff of wind could touch the two men.

“Master, I couldn’t detect the power of the stars on Zhou Heng,” said Zhao Yanlie with a frown. “It seems he is not one of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officers.”

“That may not be so,” Zhong Xinghai said softly, shaking his head and smiling. “Your inability to detect it might simply be because he’s hiding it well. However, the boy does have decent strength. A mere practitioner on the Martial Path at Eighth Rank, yet he managed to blow you to pieces.”

“I did not use my full strength,” Zhao Yanlie retorted somewhat defiantly.

“Even with your full strength, you wouldn’t have won,” Zhong Xinghai chuckled. “Why compare yourself with someone doomed to die? Not to mention that Zhou Heng, soon everyone in Huangtong Mansion will perish.

“Earlier, I created a diversion. While Wu Zongshan’s attention was all on me, your senior brother has already infiltrated the city and begun secretly setting up the Fate Siphoning Array.

“Once the array is complete, within three months the luck of everyone in the city will be siphoned away, and disaster will fall upon them. This place will become the ideal site for me to condense my Disaster Dharma Body.”

“Haha, congratulations to Master, three cheers for Master! After sixty years of arduous cultivation, soon you will reach the Absolute Fourth Rank before eighty—a Celestial Man within reach,” Zhao Yanlie said in great joy. “Master is on the verge of stepping onto the Absolute Fourth Rank before his eightieth birthday, this is what a Celestial Man aspires to.”

“Hahahaha!” Zhong Xinghai’s spirits were also very high, as he laughed heartily. “Once the Disaster Dharma Body is complete, I will become the master of misfortune among humankind.

“Then, spreading disasters and creating misfortune will be as easy as flipping my hand. Perhaps before I turn a hundred, I may truly glimpse the grand path of misfortune, establish my Primordial Spirit in the void, and achieve immortality as a Celestial Man.”

He was full of high spirits, as if he was on the verge of entering the Innate Third Rank.

“Celestial Man?”

Just at that moment, a voice filled with mockery rang out in the clouds of the high sky.

“Who is there?!” Zhong Xinghai suddenly turned pale, who could completely conceal their presence and approach him?

Where did this supreme expert come from?

He looked in the direction of the voice’s origin, prepared to inquire about the newcomer’s intent.

But that one look was enough to terrify him into a pale complexion, his whole body trembling, mana within him surging violently, nearly reversing its flow.

The mana barrier that protected against the astral winds also failed to hold.

Whoosh!!

Zhao Yanlie hadn’t yet had the time to speak or cry for help when he was blown off the flying light by the extremely fierce wind and fell from the sky, plummeting from a height of ten thousand feet.

“Ahh!!”

A scream came from below, but it was quickly dispersed by the wind, and it would probably take some time for Zhao Yanlie to fall any further.

“You, how did you come here?!!” Zhong Xinghai looked at the suddenly appearing figure in disbelief, feeling as though his breath and heartbeat had stopped, almost doubting whether he was dreaming.

“The, the esteemed Exalted True Sun senior!!”

“`