Chapter 181

Hou Zhenfang covered his chest, staring fixedly at Heng Xian, saying nothing.

Dao Ba pressed his face, a hint of palpitation, and continued in a low voice: "He is at the eighth level of the Qi Hai Realm; his realm is not lower than ours, his primary cultivation method must be of extremely high grade, because his spiritual power is incredibly abundant, his power is immense!"

He is also definitely not an ordinary ancient sword body; that kind of innate sword technique, we have never seen before!

Moreover, his way of attack is pure slaughter, which is not the same as our cultivation method!

"Right from the start he traded lives for lives, wounding both of us—this… we can't fight, let's go first!"

Hou Zhenfang looked at the fallen junior sister's corpse in the rice field below, then at the pained junior brother beside him: "Even if we can't win, we must fight—use the senior's talisman!"

Saying that, he leapt forward, pinching a talisman between two fingers, chanting the incantation and thrusting it forward.

Dao Ba gritted his teeth, likewise stepped forward, and flicked out a small talisman dagger—this was a protective talisman gifted to him by his master!

"Humm—"

"Whoosh—"

The talisman transformed into a palm seal that blotted out the sky, the entire heavens were covered, a terrifying Nascent Soul Realm aura instantly locked onto Heng Xian and came crashing down.

Meanwhile, that talisman dagger grew larger as it flew—starting at about three feet long, it instantly turned into a hundred‑foot‑long giant blade, wrapped in bloody light, sweeping straight at Heng Xian to slash.

Heng Xian frowned slightly, retreated three steps, and pulled out ten seal talismans from his master Nangong Liluo; he had wanted to unleash them all, but only the last ten remained, so he could only release eight.

"Hummm…"

The eight talismans turned into eight techniques of Nangong Liluo's ultimate skill, appearing strange but possessing incomparable power.

In an instant the whole sky became a chaotic mess!

Heng Xian immediately fled backward at high speed.

Opposite, Hou Zhenfang and Dao Ba also flew backward, dragging along that male disciple of the Baowang Sect.

"Boom—"

Blade light, giant palm, and eight figures collided.

The entire valley, rice fields, and surrounding area of several dozen li instantly turned into a wasteland of mud and debris, the nearby mountains collapsing like landslides.

It was as if the apocalypse had arrived.

Just as they reached the riverbank and boarded a small boat to escape, the two so‑called "experts" and a group of peasants and a little girl's corpse were hit by a fierce surge of spiritual energy, capsizing the boat.

Fortunately, everyone could swim, and the water flow blocked the spiritual energy impact, so they did not lose their lives.

High altitude.

Heng Xian gripped his sword, feeling somewhat relieved—at least the talismanic power of his master Nangong Liluo could block one strike from the two Nascent Soul old monsters.

He couldn't help but look toward the opposite side.

At this moment the sky above the rice‑field valley was in utter chaos—gray dust, grass leaves, and spiritual fluctuations made visibility very low.

Just then, Hou Zhenfang and Dao Ba flashed out from the dust and spiritual fluctuations, attacking like lightning.

Heng Xian coldly snorted, gripped his sword with his right hand, employed his movement technique, and rushed toward Hou Zhenfang like a ghost.

Hou Zhenfang stared fixedly at him, his eyes brimming with hatred and killing intent, his spirit sword thrusting out the finest strike of his life!

The sword was like a startled swan, righteous and awe‑inspiring!

Around the sword flickered threads of lightning, a mighty will locking onto Heng Xian.

Sword intent— the sword like thunder, slaying everything!

At the peak of fury, his sword finally broke through the sword bone and sword momentum, grasping a hint of sword intent!

Coupled with his innate true‑fire thunder physique, this strike could slay a Fake Pill cultivator!

Heng Xian stared at him and his sword, then thrust out a sword of his own.

This sword went forward unstoppably, firm and indestructible, cannot be shaken.

Even with the momentum of "though ten thousand foes, I will go forward," he feared nothing!

This, too, is a kind of sword intent!

The tips of the two swords touched, emitting a piercing sword ring, a terrifying aura sweeping outward.

"Clang lang lang—"

Immediately, Hou Zhenfang's sword thrust into empty air, veering to one side.

But Heng Xian's sword strangely arrived at his chest, piercing his heart!

"Cough cough..." Hou Zhenfang stared, slowly looking at the sword in his chest, then at Heng Xian; the smug smile on his face faded, and he asked bewilderedly: "Why?"

Heng Xian looked at him: "Your heart is filled with anger and vengeance; though your strike seems peak, it easily misleads your judgment,

"Although you have grasped sword intent, I understood it earlier; you… are not my opponent!"

Hou Zhenfang trembled as he looked at him: "You… are a demonic scoundrel, you killed so many people… why is your talent so terrifying? Heaven is so unfair… could it be… that I shouldn't be angry…?"

"I haven't killed anyone; I, Heng Xian, walk the path of light and act upright—I'll wait for you in the next life to settle this!" Heng Xian roared angrily and jerked out his sword.

"Cough..." Hou Zhenfang exhaled his last breath, fell face‑up, his eyes gradually losing focus.

Meanwhile, Heng Xian flipped upside‑down in midair and slashed a sword behind him.

"Dang—"

A shudder that made the teeth ache.

The sneak‑attacking Dao Ba, person and blade both, was blown flying; mid‑air he stared wide‑eyed at Hou Zhenfang's corpse, likely not expecting him to be killed by a single sword, his face paled as he barely steadied himself: "Heng junior brother, it's a misunderstanding! No! Let's stop here—I, I will immediately return to my sect and from now on never provoke you again!"

Having said that, he turned and fled.

However, just as he began to move, a figure strangely appeared at his side.

"Spare me once!"

Dao Ba roared and swung a blade, the blade like a racing thunder.

However, just as he had swung halfway, it was forcibly blocked back.

Heng Xian's sword strangely coiled around the blade, pressing down on the edge, the tip thrusting toward his throat.

Dao Ba truly realized how terrifying it was to duel Heng Xian one-on-one; this person's swordsmanship, every move lethal, simply impossible to resist!

At the critical moment, he stretched out his left hand to catch the blade, shouting angrily: "Junior Brother Heng! Spare my life, my wife is pregnant!"

"You only now remember your wife is pregnant? You ask me to spare your life? When did you ever spare that little girl's life? When did you ever spare me?"

Pfft—

The sword tip pierced Dao Ba's right hand, then pierced his throat.

"Cough…" Dao Ba maintained a strange posture, as if wanting to say something but unable to utter a word.

Heng Xian unwilling to look at him any longer, abruptly drew his sword.

Dao Ba, clutching a spray of blood, struggled as he fell toward the ground; before he even landed, his eyes were already a dead ash gray.

Boom!

Splashed up a patch of mud.

Heng Xian swept his gaze, looking at the last Overlord Sect male disciple on the ground not far away, his body half-rotted, landed on the ground, and walked over step by step.

That male disciple first shifted back a little, but couldn't retreat any further, so he gave a wry smile, closed his eyes, and muttered something.

Heng Xian's sword pressed against his throat, he slightly raised his head to look at the sky, sighed, and then slashed down hard.

Pfft—

The corpse collapsed to the ground, twitched a few times, then lay still!

Thus, the four major sect true transmission disciples were all dead!

Heng Xian remained silent for a long time, picked up the four men's Storage Bags, turned and left.

Far across the river, the two 'experts' and a group of farmers holding the little girl's corpse had already run far away.

Straight ahead was a village backed by a mountain; because the mountain blocked it, aside from some houses collapsing, the village suffered little other impact.

Heng Xian landed at the village entrance, sheathed his sword, and walked into the village step by step.

The villagers, already terrified out of their wits, seeing him drenched in blood descending from the sky, involuntarily fell to their knees, kowtowing repeatedly.

Heng Xian swept his gaze, finally settling on the two great 'experts' and the little girl's parents in the village center, and walked over.

The two great 'experts' no longer bore any expert demeanor, thudding to their knees, kowtowing like pounding garlic: 'Senior, spare my life, senior, spare my life…'

Meanwhile, that couple holding the little girl's corpse also knelt to one side, their faces numb.

Heng Xian silently regarded them, finding it hard to understand: having lost their daughter, yet having to grovel before their enemy, daring not to show the slightest dissatisfaction—what kind of feeling is that?

Before, when reading novels and watching films, I always thought the 'law of the jungle' and such were nonsense, but reality is even more cruel and suffocating.

After a while, he faced the little girl's corpse and performed a proper salute.

Then he took out a hundred low-grade spirit crystals and all the gold and silver from his bosom.

This is the utmost sincerity; spirit crystals, to ordinary people, are priceless treasures, but any more would only bring them harm.

"This counts as compensation for the damage to your rice fields; as for the little girl… I am truly sorry!"

Heng Xian thought it over, then searched Hou Zhenfang's Storage Bag, pulling out a scroll of cultivation technique bamboo slips and some medicinal pills: 'Keep this safe; if there are juniors in the family who can cultivate, give it to them!'

"It's fine! It's fine…" the couple, eyes blurred with tears, clung tighter to their daughter's corpse, retreating on their knees, humbled to the dust.

"The things are hidden away."

Heng Xian lingered no longer, seized the two 'experts', and hurried straight out of the village.

(End of chapter)