Sensing the sudden murderous aura released by Zhou Heng, even with Feng Tengyuan's cultivation level, he couldn't help but feel a chill rise from the bottom of his heart.
This son-in-law has an immeasurable future!
Feng Tengyuan shook his head and said, "Someone afflicted by the Crimson Flame Burning Heart Palm feels like their body is being scorched by flames, and must continuously counteract it with their own True Yuan Force. However, this is an attack at the level of the Spirit Gathering Realm, aggregated with nature's spiritual energy. Its power is so formidable that even a martial artist at the Twelfth Layer of Body Refinement would find it hard to withstand, and will end up having their life's True Yuan Force drained, and then..."
"This old man is powerless to help!"
Zhou Heng felt as though his heart was being sliced with knives, knowing his father was enduring such pain at every moment. Yet during their conversation yesterday, his father had not shown any signs at all. How much willpower did it take to suppress this?
That's why his father had passed out immediately after he had left!
"Senior, is there really nothing you can do?" Zhou Heng clenched his fists so tightly that his nails pierced his skin, drawing blood.
"This old man cannot help, but surely, there is someone capable of healing within the sect," Feng Tengyuan's tone shifted.
Indeed, the Nine Spirit Sect definitely has Spirit Gathering Realm experts presiding over it. They surely can!
Zhou Heng hurriedly asked, "Senior, when can we set off?"
"This old man came to Origin Stone Town to seek talents for the sect. In one month's time, our sect will begin recruiting disciples!" After hesitating for a moment, Feng Tengyuan smiled, "Speaking of talent, there's one right in front of me!"
The elderly man was very pleased; even if Zhou Heng wasn't a 'son-in-law', just the fact that he could kill a Blood Refinement Realm martial artist while at the Bone Refinement Realm, was enough to make the sect take notice and focus on his training!
Finding such talent was indeed a great achievement for him!
"The minimum requirement for selection is to reach the Bone Refinement Realm but be under twenty years old. I have observed in the past few days, and only two individuals met this criterion. One is you, the other..." He gave a wry smile. The other had already been decapitated by Zhou Heng!
"If all goes well, we can leave today!"
Zhou Heng nodded and said, "The sooner, the better!"
His father's injuries cannot be delayed!
Feng Tengyuan naturally had no objections. Despite being a top expert in Origin Stone Town, he was insignificant in the Nine Spirit Sect. His level of cultivation was common there! Therefore, flattering the 'son-in-law' was essential, possibly even presenting a chance to advance into the Spirit Gathering Realm!
After discussing with Feng Tengyuan, Zhou Heng learned that the Nine Spirit Sect was in Fengyu City, located at the foot of the Pingtian Mountain Range just like Origin Stone Town, though it required traveling over a thousand miles.
He requested a carriage from his family; with his authority after slaying Zhou Xianming, knowing that he was taking Zhou Dinghai to seek medical treatment far away, no one would oppose him, hoping this potential troublemaker would not get involved in any power struggles.
Less than an hour later, a luxurious carriage was ready, drawn by four fine horses. The carriage itself was like an exquisite bedroom, equipped with everything one could need.
Zhou Heng was quite satisfied. He helped his father onto the carriage, and Feng Tengyuan also boarded. The coachman snapped his whip through the air, making a cracking sound, and the carriage slowly began to move, heading towards the distant lands.
Although there were some rough patches on the road, the carriage was exceptionally well-made with great attention to shock absorption. It hardly felt bumpy, allowing Zhou Heng to fully relax his mind. However, since Zhou Dinghai had passed out, he had not woken up since, which made him very anxious.
He was someone who could focus or let go when necessary, knowing that worrying now was useless. So he started to consult with Feng Tengyuan, inquiring about the outside world.
Eager to foster a good relationship, Feng Tengyuan was an open book, sharing everything he knew.
The outside world was truly beyond Zhou Heng's imagination!
Just near the Ping Mountain Heavenly Vein alone, there were over a hundred towns like Origin Stone Town, and Origin Stone Town was one of the smaller ones. Some of the larger towns even had populations of over ten thousand!
All these towns were governed by Fengyu City!
Nine Spirit Sect, White Jade Valley, and Azure Cloud Sect were the three major rulers of Fengyu City, sharing the power. Just as families within the sect competed for power, the struggle between these three sects was even more fierce and bloody, each trying to suppress the others, even annihilate them completely!
But the three powers were always evenly matched; none could subdue the others, thus they divided to rule and shared the power.
Over a hundred towns were governed by these three powers. Luckily, Origin Stone Town was under the Nine Spirit Sect, otherwise, Zhou Heng might not have been able to kill Zhou Xianming!
But although Fengyu City might seem very large, it was just one of the smaller cities under the jurisdiction of Tianhang City, which in turn was just one of the Eight Great Cities within the Cold Blue Country. Countless towns like Origin Stone Town and small cities like Fengyu City together formed the vast governance system of the Cold Blue Country.
Beyond Cold Blue Country, there were many more countries, as for how many and the extent of their power, that was beyond Feng Tengyuan's knowledge. In fact, even the specifics of Tianhang City were unclear to him.
The world was truly vast, very vast!
If one traveled alone, a Martial Artist in the Bone Refinement Realm could likely reach Fengyu City in about two to three days thanks to their speed and endurance. However, because they were traveling by coach and had to consider Zhou Dinghai's injuries, their progress was much slower, and it took them nineteen days to finally arrive.
During that time, Zhou Dinghai regained consciousness several times, but each time he was delirious, sometimes calling out "Kexin" and at other times "Heng'er", his face gaunt, which nearly brought Zhou Heng to tears.
The "Kexin" Zhou Dinghai mentioned was Zhou Heng's mother, who had the surname Zhao. She passed away from illness not long after Zhou Heng's birth; thus, Zhou Heng only had the concept of a mother, but no memories of what Zhao Kexin looked like.
"This is Fengyu City!" Zhou Heng exclaimed as he looked ahead at the majestic ancient city before him and could not help but reveal a look of astonishment.
It was vast!
The city walls stretched for hundreds of miles, towering dozens of meters high—looking from afar like a supine dragon that seemed as if it could come to life at any moment, full of dominance!
Compared to this, Origin Stone Town was simply incomparable!
Yet, such a massive city was considered a small city in Cold Blue Country? How magnificent then must Tianhang City be? And what about the imperial capital of Cold Blue Country, Shengyuan City?
Zhou Heng was filled with an urge to travel the entire world and see everything clear and direct.
The coach soon arrived at the city gate where Feng Tengyuan presented a token which sixteen city guards checked before respectfully saluting and allowing them entry. Zhou Heng, with his keen eyes, saw that one side of the token bore the words "Nine Spirit", while the other side was blank and entirely black.
—The style of the token was the same as the one Zhou Heng had seen in Jue Valley, except that the other side of the token in Jue Valley also had the character "Su" engraved on it, and it was purple in color.
It seemed that the different colors of the tokens also represented different status levels.
The coach entered the city, and under Feng Tengyuan's arrangements, Zhou Heng checked into an inn. It was operated by the Nine Spirit Sect, used to accommodate the youths attending the entrance examination, so everyone coming in and out was about sixteen or seventeen years old, the youngest even being under fifteen!
The first requirement to take part in the entrance exam was to reach the Bone Refinement Realm!
Therefore, everyone here was at least at the Seventh Layer of Body Refinement, causing Zhou Heng to be amazed secretly. His current progress in Origin Stone Town could be described as genius, but here it seemed quite ordinary.
The place was filled with geniuses, making the word "genius" seem significantly less valuable, at most they could be considered talents.
This was normal; the path of Martial Path was difficult, and among millions, only one or two could reach the peak! How many people were there in Origin Stone Town? At best, it was like picking a taller one among the short.
Only in a place like Fengyu City, if one could still stand out, then they were worthy of being called a genius.
A true genius!
After settling in, Feng Tengyuan left with Zhou Dinghai to find an expert within the sect to treat him, at least to control his injury from worsening. Zhou Heng stayed behind to participate in the entrance examination that was to take place in ten days. If he could rank among the top three, he would receive a substantial reward.
In Feng Tengyuan's eyes, Zhou Heng was a future son-in-law of the Nine Spirit Sect, naturally meant to be taken directly inside the sect. However, he did not know the real situation. Indeed, finding an Earth Rock Cloud Stone mine was a great success, but Zhou Heng had used it to exchange for the chance to treat Zhou Dinghai's injury.
Therefore, he felt no different from anyone else, and since there were rewards for placing in the top three, why not participate?
After Feng Tengyuan's departure, Zhou Heng sat down to meditate and regulate his breathing. Although he hadn't spent much time cultivating during those days, his Cultivation Level had still advanced to the late stages of the Seventh Layer of Body Refinement, and in another half month, he would be able to reach the peak of the Seventh Layer and directly break through to the Eighth Layer.
Unfortunately, he didn't have that much time left.
After resting briefly, night had fallen and the streetlights were just lighting up, Zhou Heng, feeling hungry, left his room and walked towards the inn's main hall.
The inn had four large yards, accommodating two to three hundred people, making it one of the three largest inns in the city—the other two naturally belonging to White Jade Valley and Azure Cloud Sect.
At that time, there were already many people dining in the main hall, and since they were all young people who, even though strangers, had common topics, the atmosphere was quite lively.
All being talents from various towns, naturally no one was willing to concede to the others. When discussing the upcoming assessment in ten days, everyone became heated and eagerly claimed that they were the true geniuses among geniuses.
Bang!
"Stop arguing, the number one spot can only be our Brother Qingfeng's!" a youth asserted, slamming his hand on the table forcefully and placing a foot on another table, his demeanor incredibly arrogant.
"Who are you to speak like this?" This immediately caused the ire of everyone present.
"Black Soil Town, Shi Family!" the youth said proudly, "Haven't you heard of our Brother Qingfeng? He's only nineteen this year, but he is already at the Ninth Layer of Body Refinement!"
As soon as he spoke, the surroundings fell into silence. Perhaps this was not the most extraordinary talent, but it definitely was the highest Cultivation Realm among the young people present.
In this world where power is king, all else is illusion!