Seeing someone come to their aid, the four youths all showed joy, but when they realized that the aura Zhou Heng displayed hadn't even reached the Bone Refinement Realm, disappointment immediately crossed their faces.
Zhou Heng swept in, deploying the Flying Waterfall Sword Technique, scattering countless sword shadows like descending waterfalls, even carrying the roaring sounds of waterfall impacts!
This indicated that his understanding of the Flying Waterfall Sword Technique had reached an extremely high level, almost completely mastering the essence of this swordsmanship!
Amidst the dancing sword shadows, even the Golden Crown Snake dared not to hastily engage its edge, coiling its thick body while raising its head high, launching attacks from above.
Zhou Heng's thoughts unfolded. Although he hadn't used the Sky-soaring Technique, he naturally utilized a strand of Sword Intent, exerting an invisible pressure on the Golden Crown Snake and, combined with his anticipation of the situation and the marvel of the Cloud Flying Step, he repeatedly turned danger into safety.
Seeing this scene, the four youths all showed astonishment!
Although one of them could just manage to confront the Golden Crown Snake, it was known that Shi Gang was at the Eighth Layer of Body Refinement! This youngster was merely at the Body Refinement Sixth Layer, yet he could achieve this step, which was truly hard for them to accept.
"Divine Sword!"
"His movement technique is bizarre!"
After exchanging glances, the four quickly drew their conclusion, but they would never know that Zhou Heng's commanding capability in battle was even more exceptional, the key factor allowing him to confront a Demon Beast of the Ninth Layer of Body Refinement while only at the Sixth Layer!
"Brother Gang, what should we do?" a youth asked Shi Gang.
Shi Gang furrowed his brows, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Even with him added, we can't kill this Golden Crown Snake! Let's leave immediately while this demon beast is entangled by that youngster!"
"Brother Gang, isn't it a bit dishonorable to do this since he helped us?"
"Hmph, then you stay here and die with this youngster!" Shi Gang said coldly.
"That's not what I meant—"
"If we stay here, we'll only die together. It's better to preserve our precious lives, come back when our cultivation has greatly advanced, kill this vile snake, and avenge him! Otherwise, dying here together, what's the point?" Another youth rationalized their shamelessness.
"Right, we are the future hope of the Shi Family. We can't die here! Let's go!"
"Brother Gang, isn't it a pity to let the Divine Weapon of that youngster be buried with him?" the third youth reluctantly said, his eyes filled with greed as he looked at the Frost Cold Sword.
"Are you a pig?" Shi Gang snorted coldly, "Does a demon beast use weapons? After this youngster is eaten by the Golden Crown Snake, we just need to come back and pick up the sword!"
"Exactly!"
The other three's eyes lit up, and the four of them simultaneously retreated, suddenly turned around, and quickly ran off until they disappeared.
Zhou Heng knew the maliciousness of human hearts, but still believed there was a bottom line in everyone's heart. However, the deeds of these four were so shocking that he finally understood he had overestimated some people's shamelessness.
No wonder no one in this world wishes to be a good person anymore!
He scoffed in his mind, yet didn't take it to heart because he hadn't really hoped for their help. With their departure, he could unleash the Sky-soaring Second Form without any reservations!
Quick fight, quick decision!
After a while, those four would surely return to check. He must kill the Golden Crown Snake quickly, then leave immediately. Once he recovered, he would fear nothing.
Sky-soaring Second Form!
Zhou Heng paused, his long sword extended flatly, and a terrifying momentum suddenly emanated from him, creating a shockwave that fiercely struck towards the Golden Crown Snake.
The Golden Crown Snake's movements involuntarily stalled, its mind enveloped by an indescribable immense pressure!
Being fierce, the duration of mental control on the demon beast was extremely brief!
Zhou Heng seized this instant, swish, the long sword slashed out!
Booming repeatedly, all the power within his body surged out without reservation, the sword circulated, heaven and earth resonated, an array of forces not belonging to Zhou Heng also converged on the sword blade, continuously elevating the power of this strike.
Ultimately, the Golden Crown Snake was a Ninth Layer of Body Refinement Demon Beast. At the instant the long sword hit, it finally reacted, swish, it swung its tail fiercely at Zhou Heng.
Slash!
Zhou Heng roared, the Frost Cold Sword slashed down, its sharp blade, supported by ferocious power, unhesitatingly tore through the snake's scales, sliced open its tough and dense body, cutting through bones tougher than Hundred Refined Fine Iron!
Whoosh, a large snake head flew into the air.
The snake tail attacked!
Cloud Flying Step!
Zhou Heng forcibly gathered his breath, his figure making an unimaginable turn in the air, whoosh, he slid horizontally for over ten meters to the left and slammed hard onto the ground, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, a strong sense of weakness surged through his body.
The Sky-soaring Second Form had drained all his strength, and the forced use of the Cloud Flying Step had inflicted serious injuries on him!
Now, he could not even move a finger!
—This was after his body had already experienced the impact of the Sky-soaring Second Form once and had gained a certain ability to adapt, otherwise, the injuries would have been even more severe.
The headless corpse of the Golden Crown Snake convulsed wildly, its tail lashing like a steel whip, leaving deep marks on the ground whenever it struck! If it were to hit someone, their bones would definitely be shattered in an instant!
Zhou Heng could only pray that the tail would not strike him while he executed the Moonshadow Heart Jue, trying to regain as much mobility as possible.
His luck was not bad. As the Golden Crown Snake had lost its head, its death throes were aimless, just its snake-like breath lingering for nearly ten minutes before it finally calmed down, its slightly greenish blood spilled everywhere.
Zhou Heng hurried to recover his strength, knowing that the Shi Family's four members would definitely come back.
One minute, two minutes... ten minutes... fifteen minutes!
Zhou Heng stood up, even though he had only recovered about twenty percent of his strength, but he could not delay any longer.
With his Frost Cold Sword, he slowly cut open the body of the Golden Crown Snake, puffing for breath. With insufficient strength, even a divine weapon would struggle to cut through the tough hide of a Demon Beast.
He did not know where the snake's gallbladder was, so he had to cut from head to tail bit by bit. It was not until he had cut open three meters that he finally found the gall of the Golden Crown Snake, only half the size of a fist, and a brilliant green.
Every part of a Demon Beast is exceedingly tough, the snake gallbladder was also very elastic, merely deforming under the pressure of his fingers without showing any signs of breaking. Zhou Heng confidently stowed the snake's gallbladder and also removed its fangs, another item that could fetch a good price, though not nearly comparable to the gallbladder.
As he was about to start skinning it, a sense of unease washed over him, like a stone thrown into a calm lake stirring up endless ripples. He immediately turned his head towards the source of this unease and saw the four members of the Shi Family just coming out of the woods.
In the imagination of the four Shi Family members, Zhou Heng should have already been devoured by the Golden Crown Snake; they just needed to pick up his dropped sword. But the scene before them left them stunned!
The Golden Crown Snake was actually dead!
How could this be!
Seeing Zhou Heng's eyes, cold and indifferent, their first thought was to flee, to flee far away!
"Humph, merely the last throes of a dying power," Shi Gang immediately sneered, eyeing Zhou Heng with a slight smirk, "Put down the sword in your hands and leave behind what you got from the Golden Crown Snake, and you can save your life!"
Reminded by him, the other three members of the Shi family suddenly realized—Zhou Heng only had the Sixth Layer of Body Refinement, being able to kill the Golden Crown Snake was indeed incredible, but this was not an ability he should possess, and he must have paid a terrible price!
This boy was just holding on by sheer will; otherwise, how could he remain so calm in front of these four ungrateful people?
Pah, they were not ungrateful; nobody asked this boy for help, right!
Zhou Heng gave a faint smile. Angry at such petty people? Not worth it! He brandished his Frost Cold Sword and said, "I also saved your lives once, and moreover, I killed this Golden Crown Snake alone. Why should I give it to you?"
"Without us having worn down this Demon Beast's strength beforehand, could you have killed it?" Shi Gang sneered dismissively, "Don't foolishly hope to buy time to recover. Killing a Bone Refinement Realm Demon Beast with only the Sixth Layer of Body Refinement is not something you can achieve in a mere moment!"
"Brother Gang, why not just kill him?" one person whispered, keeping this kid alive would only expose their misdeeds, wouldn't it?
"You fool, if this kid could kill the Golden Crown Snake, who knows how terrifying he would be when fighting for his life? Go ahead and die if you want to!" another also whispered back angrily.
Shi Gang sneered coldly, he was naturally not being kind when he let Zhou Heng go; if he made a move, he would show no mercy. If it weren't for fearing Zhou Heng still had some tricks up his sleeve, he would definitely not let go of such a genius capable of killing a Bone Refinement Realm Demon Beast at the Sixth Layer of Body Refinement!
Deceitful and shameless by nature!
Zhou Heng's smile turned grim. He vibrated the long sword in his hand and with a chilly gaze sweeping over the four men advancing step by step, he declared resolutely, "I swear here that I shall slay you four. If I break this oath, I'm worse than pigs and dogs!"
The faces of Shi Gang and his three men changed; they could hear the undisguised intent to kill in Zhou Heng's words! Somehow, this sent chills down their spines!
"Since that is so, then you cannot be allowed to leave!" Shi Gang moved swiftly, his green knife cleaving out, casting a cold light.
"Clean up your neck and wait for death!" Zhou Heng didn't defend but instead, opened up Cloud Flying Step and rushed upward, his figure turned elegantly after a few twists, easily breaking free from the encirclement of the four men, instantly getting a hundred meters away.
Shi Gang took steps to chase, being in the Bone Refinement Realm, his absolute speed was faster than Zhou Heng's, but just as he lunged forward, Zhou Heng, who was clearly darting forward, turned bizarrely!
By the time Shi Gang stopped and turned around, Zhou Heng had already run more than a hundred meters away and "swooshed" into the woods in a flash.
It was basically impossible to catch up!,
"Brother Gang, what should we do now?"
"Clean up the Golden Crown Snake, and let's head back to the family! With this snake, we can definitely surpass Shi Qingfeng this time!"
"Yes!"
The other three responded in unison, their faces showing elation. Shi Qingfeng was another genius of the Shi Family, with an even higher aptitude than Shi Gang. The next Family Head was likely to emerge between these two. As followers of Shi Gang, they naturally hoped that Shi Gang could surpass Shi Qingfeng by a wide margin.
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