I Cheated While Cultivating

Chapter 350: Chapter 70: The Unexpected Visitor

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After confirming the next steps in his action plan, Zhou Heng intended to directly descend the mountain and head for Southern Jin.

However, before descending, an unexpected visitor disrupted his plans.

The current number one on the people’s list.

“Sword Idiot” Fang Wen.

…

Jade Void Peak, a tranquil halfway up the mountain guest house.

Zhou Heng selected a rather secluded courtyard to receive Fang Wen.

Almost half a year had passed since their last meeting, and Fang Wen’s appearance hadn’t changed much, but his aura had undergone an earth-shattering transformation compared to his demeanor at the Chaoyang Wine Gathering.

At the Chaoyang Wine Gathering—

Fang Wen was dressed in white robes, carrying a sword, with a handsome yet pale face and a frail figure as delicate as a sickly girl, exuding femininity with hardly a trace of masculine energy.

Anyone seeing him for the first time would find it hard to associate him with the “Sword Idiot” who had occupied the top spot of the people’s list for a long time.

If one were not careful, it was even possible to mistake him for a young maiden.

Nevertheless, even with his feminine aura at that time, Zhou Heng’s divine sense could still feel the piercing sword qi radiating from him, sharp and imposing.

Fang Wen was like an invincible, all-conquering treasure sword with incomparable sharpness, able to cut down any enemy. The so-called frail femininity was all an illusion.

But now, the piercing sword qi was no longer present in Fang Wen. At a glance, one could only see… a youth with a feminine and delicate beauty, just somewhat sickly.

Zhou Heng, on the other hand, could see more clearly. Fang Wen hadn’t lost the sharpness of his treasure sword; instead, he had finally completely concealed his sharpness, integrating it with himself, drawing the blade’s edge back into the scabbard.

He had grown stronger.

And by a considerable amount.

Although Fang Wen didn’t exude any outward manifestation of Innate True Qi under the detection of divine sense, the impression he gave Zhou Heng was far stronger than any Secret Six Rank individual he had ever encountered.

“Congratulations, Brother Fang, on your advancement in the Sword Dao.”

Zhou Heng said with a cupped hands smile, having discerned that Fang Wen must have made further progress on the path of the Sword Dao that he had carved out, advancing much farther.

Furthermore, it was not simply a matter of imitating the Martial Path’s fusion with the external realm to step into the Innate, but a truly unique and different cultivation path from the Secret Six Rank of the Martial Path’s outward manifestations.

Perhaps, this was also why he remained at the top of the people’s list.

“I am far from having achieved success now, just the beneficiary of a legacy left by predecessors, not a path I have carved out for myself.” Fang Wen shook his head and said, “I have come this time to ask for something.”

“Oh?” Zhou Heng’s interest was piqued, and he smiled, “Please speak, Brother Fang.”

He and Fang Wen didn’t have much of a relationship, to put it simply, they had only met once and had never engaged in deep conversation.

Normally, such a relationship wouldn’t extend to the point where one would seek help.

Fang Wen surely understood this as well, yet he had still come, which meant the matter was so important he had no choice but to seek Zhou Heng’s assistance.

With a thought stirring in his mind, Zhou Heng quickly formed a preliminary guess about Fang Wen’s intentions.

“I wish to re-establish Sword Pavilion,” Fang Wen said very seriously, “and I’d like your help.”

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Indeed…

The Sword Pavilion, once established by the “Sword Saint,” one of the Nine Saints of the Middle Ancient era, was the ancestral home of the world’s Sword Dao before the battle with Heaven. To be accepted into the Sword Pavilion was once the ultimate goal of countless practitioners of the Sword Dao.

However, it was later sacrificed by Emperor Taiyang, and the entire sect’s mountain gate residence vanished overnight without a trace.

After Zhou Heng acquired the Cave Sky of Yuanzhenzi, he discovered the ruins of the Sword Pavilion’s mountain gate within and speculated that Fang Wen’s mysterious disappearance might have been influenced by the Sword Pavilion.

After all, if the Sect of True Void could still retain the statue of Daoist Qingyu to preserve its heritage, the Sword Pavilion, as a sect personally established by the Nine Saints of the Middle Ancient era, should certainly have measures to continue its legacy.

Now, Fang Wen is seeking his assistance to re-establish the Sword Pavilion, evidently because he has received the heritage of the Sword Pavilion.

It might be a voluntary act, or perhaps a mission that one must undertake upon accepting the heritage.

“However, Fang Wen does not know that the Cave Sky of Yuanzhenzi is now mine, and naturally he is also unaware that I possess the ruins of the Sword Pavilion’s mountain gate. So his reason for seeking me out…” Zhou Heng thought to himself, “Is probably because the enemy of one’s enemy is a friend.”

The most apparent enemy for Fang Wen’s attempt to re-establish the Sword Pavilion would indeed be the Heaven Sword Sect of Southern Jin.

The Heaven Sword Sect was one of the “Hundred Schools” that appeared during the era of the Middle Ancient saints. Its founding ancestor once listened to the teachings of the Sword Saint and could be considered a disciple of the Sword Saint.

Although this member of the “Hundred Schools” eventually deviated and carved out his own “Heavenly Sword” path, cultivating his Dao and achieving the rank of Tao Lord, and establishing the Heaven Sword Sect, it has always regarded the Sword Pavilion as the superior sect. The Heaven Sword Sect’s leaders would pay respect and tribute to the Sword Pavilion during festivals and holidays.

However, after the disappearance of the Sword Pavilion at the end of the Middle Ancient period, the Heaven Sword Sect underwent a self-restructuring aimed at “de-Sword Pavilion-izing.”

This restructuring took the Heaven Sword Sect several hundred years, as they strove to completely sever their association with the Sword Pavilion.

They specifically prohibited any mention of their history of acknowledging the Sword Pavilion as the superior sect.

For three thousand years, as long as the Sword Pavilion remained absent, all was quiet and calm.

But if someone were to attempt to re-establish the Sword Pavilion, even if that person harbored no ill will against the Heaven Sword Sect, the sect itself could not possibly sit idly by and watch the Sword Pavilion be revived.

This meant that Fang Wen’s aim to re-establish the Sword Pavilion would undoubtedly face obstruction from the Heaven Sword Sect.

And now, even if Fang Wen’s cultivation had significantly advanced, and his combat power likely reached the pinnacle of the Secret Six Rank, trying to confront a top-ranking sect of the Martial Path like the Heaven Sword Sect on his own was nothing short of a deluded fantasy, simply impossible.

For this reason, Fang Wen needed allies.

Zhou Heng’s previous actions in Jiangzhou, helping the Lan Family recover their separate residence and the forging furnace, and incapacitating several peak Grandmasters of the Heaven Sword Sect with his Secret Six Rank cultivation, had already spread far and wide, causing a tremendous uproar.

As a result, the Heaven Sword Sect publicly declared that if Zhou Heng dared to step foot within the territory of Southern Jin, their disciples would never spare him.

However, what the outside world did not know was—

Ten days ago, Yu Yang, the Vice Leader of the Heaven Sword Sect, had followed the orders of their leader, Tan Qianshan, ascended to the Golden Peak of Jade Void Peak, and apologized to Zhou Heng and Yan Shouyi, making a series of promises.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Among those promises was even one stating that if disciples of the Pure Yang Palace were to find themselves in Southern Jin, they simply needed to seek out Heaven Sword Sect disciples and they would provide any necessary assistance with all their strength.

A stark contrast to their public proclamations.

This just goes to show that when one is outmatched, despite bluster on the surface, concessions must be made in private; this is the way of survival for great sects.

This means that there are actually no major conflicts between Zhou Heng and the Heaven Sword Sect at the moment.

And Fang Wen is completely unaware of this.

“But even if I still had grievances with the Heaven Sword Sect, it’s very unlikely that I would really stand up for him.” Zhou Heng assessed Fang Wen and thought to himself, “Could it be that he has some sort of ace up his sleeve that he thinks can persuade me?”