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The young man blocking the way was named Zhou Kan, who was the same age as Zhou Heng, also seventeen. However, his cultivation level was much higher than Zhou Heng's, already at Body Refinement Sixth Layer, just one step away from stepping into the Bone Refinement Realm!
Zhou Kan's father, Zhou Jianming, also had considerable talent. Unfortunately, his contemporary was none other than the prodigy, Zhou Dinghai! Under the brilliance of Zhou Dinghai, Zhou Jianming naturally paled in comparison, always being a tragic figure used to set off others.
This was why Zhou Jianming harbored intense hatred for Zhou Dinghai. Regrettably, no matter how hard he tried, he could not keep up with Zhou Dinghai's pace—even though Zhou Dinghai spent most of his time searching for Spiritual Medicine for Zhou Heng.
To his consolation, his son had inherited his talent and had reached Body Refinement Sixth Layer early on, a level that Zhou Heng could not even hope to look up to.
Under Zhou Jianming's covert cues, Zhou Kan had always been at odds with Zhou Heng, just like the current situation which had happened many times before.
"You big piece of trash, what's the matter, did you go deaf?" Zhou Kan chuckled and said. At first it was because of his father's instructions, but now it had become a habit, as if not bullying Zhou Heng daily made him uncomfortable.
Zhou Heng looked at the other party coldly. This guy dared to be so arrogant because his grandfather was also a family Elder!
According to the Zhou Family's clan rules, as long as one's cultivation reached the Blood Refinement Realm, they could become an Elder, regardless of age or seniority. Once someone became an Elder, they entered the power center of the Zhou Family, which wielded much more power than the nominal Family Head!
Zhou Kan's grandfather, Zhou Xianming, was a being at Body Refining Twelfth Layer, the Zhou Family's top expert and the first-ranked Elder, holding a high and powerful position! Furthermore, with Zhou Dinghai often out searching for "healing" Spiritual Medicine for Zhou Heng, Zhou Jianming dared to instruct his son to bully Zhou Heng.
"Get out of the way!" Zhou Heng said indifferently, attempting to walk around.
——The other party could only show off through words, not daring to really make a move, given that Zhou Heng was not a fatherless child to be pitied!
"You big piece of trash, your good days are coming to an end!" Zhou Kan moved his foot, blocking Zhou Heng once more, "In just over three months it'll be the year-end celebration, and the clan has decreed that anyone who has reached eighteen without entering the Flesh Refinement Realm will be removed from the family registry. They won't be allowed to practice cultivation anymore and must turn to business to earn profits for the clan!"
"In the future, remember to call me sir when you see me!"
"And this gap between your legs, you have no choice but to crawl through it now! Haha, hahaha!"
Zhou Kan laughed out loud, full of triumph.
Zhou Heng's brows furrowed; indeed, the family had such a rule.
Although the Zhou Family was the only martial path family in Origin Stone Town, ruling over more than two thousand people, their income was high and so were their expenses, especially in providing for the martial artists' cultivation!
Martial artists cultivated by extracting energy from food and converting it into their True Yuan Force. As a result, martial artists had enormous appetites, it wasn't strange to eat five or six meals a day, or even eight or nine, and each meal they consume could equal a whole day's worth of food for an ordinary family of three!
This was enough to impoverish an average well-to-do family!
With nearly four hundred people in the entire Zhou Family, if everyone cultivated, even the Zhou Family's resources wouldn't be enough. Therefore, the clan had established this rule to have those with poor talent and unsuitability for martial arts turn to business instead, and in turn support the family's martial artists.
This sacrifice was necessary!
Without strong martial power, how could the Zhou Family protect its legacy? Trying to equalize everything would only result in the decline of the Zhou Family!
Although engaging in commerce also contributed to the family, in a world that revered martial power and respected strength, once relegated to the status of a merchant, one wouldn't even have the right to remain in the family registry, just slightly better off than a servant.
Zhou Heng was currently only at Body Refinement First Layer, and still in the initial period. To break through to the Flesh Refinement Realm in just over three months? That was utterly wishful thinking!
No wonder Zhou Kan was so smug; if Zhou Heng were to switch to business, where would Zhou Dinghai's face be?
Looking at his opponent's smug face, Zhou Heng couldn't help clenching his fists tightly, wishing he could smash them right into him!
However, he held back.
The gap between the two of them was too great; he simply couldn't hit the other party, but it would instead give Zhou Kan a reason to strike, and if Zhou Heng got hit, he would still be the one at fault—his opponent's Great Elder grandfather was not just for show.
Bear with it!
One day, he would repay all the humiliation he had suffered, double!
Zhou Heng again walked past Zhou Kan. This time, the latter did not stop him but instead let out a series of cold laughs.
Once back in his residence, Zhou Heng sat down and abruptly punched the table, his face full of anger.
He was, after all, just a seventeen-year-old youth at the most passionate and impulsive age. Having to constantly endure others' mockery and ridicule, how could he not feel a trace of anger?
"Black Sword, oh Black Sword, you've tormented me for so many years, I don't expect any compensation from you. I just hope that you, old man, will be satisfied soon and stop tormenting me!" Zhou Heng said in his heart. This was the roadblock in his path of cultivation that he had to overcome before even thinking of anything else.
"Continue the cultivation!"
"Although the effect of Fierce Sun Jue is not as good at night as it is during the day, I cannot afford to waste a single minute!"
Zhou Heng went out to the courtyard, sat down cross-legged, and started to refine the evening meal he had just consumed using Fierce Sun Jue. It wasn't until he was utterly drained that he crawled into the house and went to sleep.
He didn't ask for any servants; his father was always on the road, looking for "healing" Spiritual Medicine for him, and his mother had passed away early on, so he had long been accustomed to living alone.
A night passed, and Zhou Heng began another monotonous, dull day, enduring the scorching sun as he poured the True Yuan Force he had cultivated laboriously into the seemingly bottomless appetite of the black Broken Sword.
On the fourth morning, Zhou Heng didn't go to the square.
Even though sitting on that large rock was where he absorbed the most heat, which was highly beneficial for the cultivation of the Fierce Sun Jue, Zhou Heng felt that the change in the black Broken Sword was just within reach!
He didn't know whether it would produce some bizarre scene. Maybe the Broken Sword would emerge from his body and shoot into the sky, or perhaps release blinding light. Either way, he didn't want to take such risks.
Cultivating in his own courtyard, though the effect was slightly weaker, wasn't too much less for just today.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Zhou Heng sat cross-legged on the ground and began cultivating under the blazing sun.
Half an hour, one hour... Time ticked away, and before long, four hours had passed.
Humm!
A slight tremor came from the black Broken Sword in Zhou Heng's Dantian, rippling in waves within it. The trembling grew stronger and stronger until it was like a cataclysmic tsunami, raging and surging.
Every muscle in Zhou Heng's body began to tremble, as if they would tear him apart, inflicting unbearable pain!
"Damn it! I've nurtured and endured you for so many years, and yet you are so ungrateful, still torturing me, Young Master!" Zhou Heng thought ruthlessly. He had never complained to anyone about the hardship over ten years, but this damned Broken Sword was still tormenting him, which enraged him beyond measure!
"Suppress!"
Not knowing what else to do, Zhou Heng simply channeled all his resentment toward suppressing the Broken Sword with his willpower.
The vibration of the Broken Sword weakened a little—though not markedly, it indeed lessened!
Zhou Heng had his pride, but unfortunately, he had always been unable to cultivate like a normal person, compelling him to bear it silently. Some might lose their edge in such silence, but Zhou Heng became even more aloof, just waiting for the day he would transform into a dragon and burst forth with radiant brilliance!
This was now a competition of will, unrelated to power, which fully ignited his pride!
"This is my body, and you must obey me while you're inside it!"
Zhou Heng roared inwardly, his will becoming even more resilient and tough as he fiercely suppressed the Broken Sword.
Humm! Humm! Humm!
The black Broken Sword, unwilling to be suppressed by Zhou Heng, started to vibrate violently again, sending out tremors that felt as though they would make Zhou Heng's body burst!
Zhou Heng scoffed coldly in his mind, showing no weakness in his counterattack, determined to suppress the black Broken Sword.
Man and sword were locked in a stalemate, waging a war of attrition. The Broken Sword felt no pain, but Zhou Heng, flesh, and blood, was sweating profusely, soon soaking his clothes completely, with every muscle in his body groaning in pain.
But for a young man who had harbored resentment for ten years, this black Broken Sword was the prime culprit—how could he concede to it?
He had endured for ten years, but today, he would bear it no longer!
Having cultivated the Fierce Sun Jue for ten years, Zhou Heng's will had been greatly tempered, giving him the strength to engage in such a conflict; otherwise, he would have fainted within a minute.
Ten minutes, thirty minutes, one hour!
Zhou Heng's body was trembling on the verge of collapse. At this moment, just a push from someone would make him fall flat and pass out instantly. But there was one string that remained taut, unbroken. He endured bitterly, and his will, forged by such trials, became as hard as steel.
It was all about keeping his breath!
Even though the black Broken Sword was just an object, Zhou Heng couldn't swallow his anger. He would rather lose to anyone else but not to this thing that had harmed him for ten years!
Two hours, three hours!
Zhou Heng had long reached his limit; he no longer felt any pain in his body. It wasn't that the pain had disappeared, but that he had become numb, unable to feel even if his limbs were broken at this moment.
Yet his will grew stronger, firmly suppressing the black Broken Sword without the slightest compromise or retreat!
The vibration of the black Broken Sword grew weaker and weaker until finally, it stopped altogether.
The moment it came to a complete halt, a deep, ink-like shadow burst forth from the sword, more brilliant than starlight and more dazzling than the sun!
Boom!
Nine patterns immediately appeared in Zhou Heng's mind, deeply etched into his memory, constantly changing. They depicted a sword slashing and thrusting with profound mystery!
This was... the Nine Forms Sword Techniques!
This mysterious black Broken Sword had actually imparted to him the Nine Forms Sword Techniques!
Zhou Heng was dumbfounded, finding it unbelievably astonishing! But if the Broken Sword could reside in his Dantian for ten years—maybe even longer before he noticed it—such a bizarre oddity had already occurred, so what was so surprising about it teaching him the Nine Forms Sword Techniques?
In just an instant, all the images shattered, turning into countless black spots that scattered throughout his mind and merged into his blood and bones.