I Cheated While Cultivating

The aura of the Qingxia God was incomparably clear and pure.

It was fundamentally different from the projection summoned by Zhou Heng through the Qingxia God’s snake scale.

After all, that projection was false.

But now the aura he felt was incredibly real, as if the true Qingxia God was right here.

“Young Master, you’ve returned!” At this moment, the Bai manager greeted him, his face full of smiles and relief as he said, “It was truly dangerous before, it’s good that you’ve safely come back.”

His home was quite distant from the place where the earlier battle took place, and the news hadn’t spread yet, so the Bai manager didn’t know what Zhou Heng had done in the battle just now.

“Sir, are you all right?” Bai Jingtian rushed out, looking at Zhou Heng with immense surprise and joy as he smiled and said, “I knew you would be fine.”

“Big brother, Mother has made some delicious food, come join us!” Bai Yuejian still looked lively and cute, everyone was as usual, appearing very normal with no signs of abnormality.

However, upon seeing Bai Yuejian, Zhou Heng’s heart suddenly tightened; he sensed an extremely strong Qingxia God’s aura on this little girl.

This was the source of the Qingxia God’s aura he had just sensed.

Right on Bai Yuejian.

Yet, she was only a seven-year-old girl, looking no different from before.

Why would she have the aura of the Qingxia God?

Zhou Heng intentionally notified You Ziheng and the inner seats of the Five Emperors.

These two were the most powerful beings in Yuanhe Prefectural City. If Bai Yuejian truly had a connection with the Qingxia God, seeking their help to save the little girl was undoubtedly the best hope.

Although Zhou Heng now had the basic attribute bonus of Insight +2, in his eyes, Bai Yuejian seemed entirely normal, but he still couldn’t be at ease.

The level of the Qingxia God was just too high.

If it truly wanted to hide something, he might not be able to discern it.

At this moment, Zhou Heng suddenly felt a blur before his eyes, instinctively wanting to use the “Fooling Card” and “PeakCard” to lower the opponent’s intelligence and then launch the peak state Purple Thunder Seven Strikes.

If this combo was executed, as long as the Qingxia God hadn’t returned to the realm of a Celestial Man, it would either be severely injured or die.

But immediately after, he saw a cyan light shine on Bai Yuejian’s body, quickly condensing into the virtual image of a young woman dressed in green, charming and alluring.

She appeared to be in her twenties, with a beautiful face like a painting, and exquisitely delicate features that were beyond what mortals could possess.

Only, on the bone above both her eyebrows, there were two shiny cyan scales, and there were slight bulges on her forehead as if there were budding horns.

The woman’s green dress was of an ancient style, and her whole being was out of sync with the current era, as if she came from a time long past.

As she appeared, everything and everyone around became black and white as if this space had been cut off and became independent, which was very eerie.

Whether it was the Bai manager or Bai Jingtian, or even Bai Yuejian, they all seemed to be frozen, motionless in this black and white scene.

However, although the woman appeared with an anomaly, she seemed to bear no hostility towards Zhou Heng.

With her left hand pressed against her chest and her right hand on her abdomen, she bent slightly at the waist and bowed respectfully—this seemed to be a very ancient form of etiquette, and Zhou Heng had some recollection of it but forgot where he had seen it.

“Little deity Qingxia, greets the Dao Master.” The woman’s attitude was very respectful, even somewhat fearful.

“Oh?” Zhou Heng feigned surprise, still exceedingly cautious, ready to use special ability cards at any moment as he said, “What business do you have?”

It was unexpected that the Qingxia God would take the form of a beautiful woman after transforming; her true form was a green snake. He wondered if there was also a White Snake?

Zhou Heng’s thoughts raced with many speculations.

The Qingxia God was revealed from within Bai Yuejian. Could it be that the little girl had a close connection with the Qingxia God?

If he were to kill this Qingxia God, could it harm Bai Yuejian?

“The little deity has no intention of deceiving, only to explain some situations.” The Qingxia God bowed her head with some trepidation and said, “Please rest assured, though Bai Yuejian is my reincarnated body, I have no intention of taking her place.”

“Is that so?” Zhou Heng sneered coldly, narrowing his eyes as he continued to feign—so Bai Yuejian was the reincarnated body of the Qingxia God, no wonder.

“The little deity dares not deceive the Dao Master.” The Qingxia God still maintained a submissive and humble attitude, earnestly saying, “My Dao seed and Primordial Spirit are still intact. As long as this reincarnated body comes of age, I can separate myself from it and use my Dao power to reforge a physical body, without the need to awaken within the reincarnated body.”

She seemed very scared, explaining with a sense of urgency.

“Then I will tentatively believe you!” Zhou Heng spoke in a heavy voice, his gaze sharp and frosty as he watched the Qingxia God, firmly saying, “Conduct yourself properly; you may leave!”

“Thankyou, Dao Master.” At these words, the Qingxia God was overjoyed and once again bowed respectfully, deeply bending over before her form rapidly faded until it vanished.

As she disappeared, the black and white surroundings and the creatures within also returned to normal.

The area seemed as if nothing had ever happened, with the Bai manager, Bai Jingtian, and even Bai Yuejian showing no signs of anomaly.

Zhou Heng’s first reaction was to leave this place and report the matter of the Qingxia God to You Ziheng and the inner seats of the Five Emperors.

But on second thought, the Qingxia God seemed to regard him as the reincarnation of some Dao Master, so if he were to leave in a hurry now, it might give himself away, potentially leading to even greater trouble.

Compared to leaving, it seemed safer to continue the act.

So Zhou Heng pretended as if nothing had happened, shared a meal with the Bai manager’s family, bid them farewell, and then left the Bai household.

Only after he had safely exited the Bai household and returned to the inn where You Ziheng and the inner seats of the Five Emperors resided, did he finally exhale a breath of relief.

Regardless, it was always much safer to be in the vicinity of these two powerhouses.

However, Zhou Heng still did not truly let down his guard; after all, he was still in Yuanhe Prefectural City, very close to the Qingxia God, who could potentially seek him out at any time.

Only after You Ziheng leaves here and heads to the Pure Yang Palace will I truly be safe.

Nightfall brings utter silence.

The huge upheaval during the day has left everyone in Yuanhe Prefecture City both physically and mentally exhausted, so most people went to bed early to rest, and the Bai’s family was no exception.

At this moment, although the young girl Bai Yuejian had already gone to sleep, there was a layer of cyan-green light emanating from her head. The woman who claimed to be the Qingxia God once again emerged from her body, condensing into form.

“That Daoist seems to be in a strange state. I actually didn’t sense any pressure of the Dao on him,” the Qingxia God frowned slightly and thought to herself, “This is somewhat abnormal.”

Daoist is an appellation from ancient times for beings of Divine First Rank, who have the supreme existence controlling a particular Dao and are considered sacred, the masters of the Dao.

Previously, Zhou Heng used “Restart” and “Five-Color Divine Light,” which, to the Qingxia God, were Great Divine Powers that could only be wielded by a Daoist of Divine First Rank.

Therefore, she concluded that Zhou Heng must be the reincarnation of a Daoist who had fallen in a distant era, with the Five Elements Path being the Dao once under his dominion.

Even though the Qingxia God could not understand why a once-sacred being who controlled the Five Elements Path was able to wield Great Divine Powers that could restart all things, she did not doubt her earlier guess.

After all, the extremely profound yet unmistakably clear and distinct true intent of the Five Elements Path cannot be faked.

It was precisely because of this speculation that she was extremely fearful in her heart.

The Qingxia God feared that Zhou Heng would seize her Dao seed to hasten his own recovery.

For the reincarnated sacred being who had once controlled the Five Elements Path, the fastest way to recover was to seize the five Dao seeds corresponding to the Five Elements Path and then merge them together to condense the Dao.

Based on the prowess Zhou Heng showed when he employed the Five-Color Divine Light, the Qingxia God guessed that even if the reincarnated body of the Daoist was only at the Martial Path Eighth Rank, his ability to manipulate the authority of the Dao must have recovered quite a bit, already comparable to the peak of the Fourth Rank.

With her Primordial Spirit and Dao seed just awakening, she would be utterly powerless to resist.

The current Qingxia God’s Primordial Spirit and Dao seed are extremely weak, roughly equivalent to the Fifth Rank.

This was the reason she showed herself and saluted Zhou Heng as soon as she saw him, behaving with the utmost reverence, presenting herself very humbly for fear of displeasing Zhou Heng and bringing about her own fatal disaster.

However, after having a conversation with him, the Qingxia God found this “reincarnated Daoist” to be somewhat strange.

When she approached the “reincarnated Daoist,” her “Greenwood Dao Seed” inside the Primordial Spirit didn’t show any activity at all.

This was highly abnormal.

Normally, if the reincarnated Daoist was already capable of mobilizing some of the power of the Five Elements Path, it would mean he had regained part of the “Daoist’s” stature.

Then, as the weakened “Greenwood Dao Seed” approached him, it would surely be suppressed by the pressure of the Dao.

But in fact, the Qingxia God didn’t sense this kind of pressure.

“Could it be, this reincarnated Daoist hasn’t actually recovered to the level of the Fourth Rank!” A bold idea suddenly surfaced in the mind of the Qingxia God.

“Perhaps, perhaps the Five-Color Divine Light previously employed by the reincarnated Daoist was just a fallback from his previous life, and his current use of Dao power isn’t that strong. During the day, he was just bluffing!”

Once this thought appeared, it could not be stopped, and the Qingxia God became excited, with the two small dragon horns on her forehead even growing longer.

If this speculation were true, it would mean she had stumbled upon a tremendously good fortune, an incredible opportunity!

“The reincarnated body of the Five Elements Daoist can recover quickly by seizing the corresponding Dao seeds, and equally, the Dao seeds can plunder the yet-to-recover authority of the Dao to nourish themselves!

“However, this is just my speculation and cannot be confirmed… let me split a wisp of my Primordial Spirit to visit his dreamscape. If his control over the Dao has truly recovered to the Fourth Rank level, he must be able to remain lucid in the dreamscape.

“If his dreamscape is muddled and his senses unclear, then… haha!!”

The Qingxia God is thoroughly action-oriented. With a thought, she immediately acted, splitting a wisp of her Primordial Spirit, passing through the void, and arriving in the guesthouse room where Zhou Heng was staying.

At this time, Zhou Heng lay in bed, breathing steadily, sleeping peacefully.

The Qingxia God’s split Primordial Spirit sent out an invitation for a meeting in the dream to Zhou Heng.

Such an invitation could only be sensed by those whose spirit level reached the Fifth Rank, who could maintain true lucidity in their dreams.

– Under normal circumstances, a Martial Artist needs to reach the Sixth Rank to maintain some lucidity in their dreams, but their thoughts would remain somewhat chaotic and slow. Only upon reaching the Fifth Rank level can they truly think as clearly as when they are awake.

This is a very normal invitation, neither abrupt nor invasive, as it is a polite inquiry by nature.

The Qingxia God waited for a while.

To find that the invitation sank like a stone in the sea, receiving no response whatsoever.

She was overjoyed in her heart.

This meant that the other party most likely didn’t sense the invitation at all, suggesting that the reincarnated Daoist might be incapable of maintaining lucidity in his dreams!

“Should I directly invade his dreamscape to see?” The Qingxia God found herself conflicted, mainly due to the immense temptation before her.

If she really could plunder the yet-to-recover authority of the Five Elements Path, not only could she quickly recover to the Second Rank level, but even her future path to attaining Divine First Rank would become much easier.

“Take a chance; on the road to the Dao, when is anything ever certain!” In the end, she made up her mind. The split Primordial Spirit turned into a wisp of cyan light and forcibly entered Zhou Heng’s dreamscape.

“If there really is any accident, I will immediately sever the connection between this wisp of Primordial Spirit and my main body, and may still be able to escape.”

However, after entering Zhou Heng’s dreamscape, the Qingxia God did not encounter the expected dizzying and complicated scene. After passing through a layer of murky fog, she found herself in a vast and boundless world.

This place seemed infinite yet empty, as her Primordial Spirit couldn’t detect anything within its range, almost like the state of existence before the birth of all things.

“A real dreamscape!?” Qingxia God’s face changed dramatically, and she nearly jumped out of her skin from fright.