I Cheated While Cultivating

He continued reading.

Most of it was about things Zhou Heng already knew.

However, there was one thing that Zhou Heng found very interesting.

That was the method of traveling to other worlds.

“Star Gate!”

In the myriad heavens, each had its own portals.

Opening a portal, one could set foot on the path to that world.

It is said that originally there were no paths to other worlds in this universe.

Only the immortals and gods from the ancient mythological era walked through the myriad heavens so much that they eventually forged numerous paths.

The Zhou Tian Boundary Officer, in essence, relied on the Unique Divine Weapon, the Zhou Tian Star Chart, to open the “Star Gate” to the myriad heavens, and then, based on known routing information, tread upon the virtual star paths to travel to other worlds.

There were two sources for routing information.

One was from Upper Third Rank powerful beings venturing beyond the heavens, capturing stray traces of information in the void, and then using the Zhou Tian Star Chart for deduction, there was a certain chance to obtain corresponding routing information.

The other was through slaying Evil Creatures, who after being killed, not only have their good deeds recorded by the mask but also the interwoven laws and traces on them recorded, which are then used to deduce routing information to other worlds.

This involved another concept—many Evil Creatures came from crossing over from other realms, but the process of arriving in this world was not accomplished overnight.

Before truly arriving in this world, an Evil Creature would have to pass through quite a few other worlds, thus intertwining different worlds’ laws and traces upon itself.

Moreover, each time an Evil Creature crossed into another world, it would consume a tremendous amount of energy, decreasing its rank and level, and even deteriorating its spirit and intellect, which needed replenishment in the next world.

This also led to Evil Creatures inevitably causing calamitous disasters in any world they descended upon, in order to draw on negative emotions and replenish themselves.

And when finally descending upon this world, the difficulties faced were the greatest, with Secret Six Rank Evil Creatures possibly being reduced to Ninth Rank Evil Creatures with little spirit and intellect.

Yet even so, countless Evil Creatures, ghostly spirits, and even Evil Gods were constantly endeavoring to descend upon this world.

“Does this world possess some special quality?” Zhou Heng furrowed his brows, but his understanding of this world was still too limited to figure out the reason at the moment.

“I still need to continue improving my cultivation realm and strength, try to gather more information from the Pure Yang Palace and the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer… perhaps, I could even find the answer in other worlds?”

His gaze settled on the mission privileges of official members of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer.

Compared to before, Zhou Heng could now freely go to the Solve Worries Hall to check the mission list appropriate to his level and make his choice, among which included missions to other worlds.

Most of these missions were mainly about eliminating Evil Creatures or ghosts in other worlds but there were also some other kinds of missions that could be chosen at will.

Moreover, the information about the missions was more detailed than before, with additional items and more generous rewards, though naturally, the difficulty was higher as well.

If official members wanted to travel to other worlds, they could only do so by accepting missions to other worlds, gaining the opportunity to open the Star Gate and routing information.

Zhou Heng briefly scanned the mission list he could access, then put this feature aside; he hadn’t planned to go to other worlds for the time being.

After all, there were still matters in Da Qi that he hadn’t finished dealing with.

“Being able to access more information, take on missions on my own, and travel to other worlds through the Star Gate essentially sums up the new privileges of being an official member.

“However, besides these, it seems I have some additional privileges?” Zhou Heng noticed there were other descriptions of privileges and looked them over.

“Smooth Star Road (Not Activated): Change the existing mechanism of the Zhou Tian Star Chart, allowing a Star Officer inside the Purple Tenuity Palace to enter established entrance channels in reverse to reach specific destinations. Different amounts of good deeds will be consumed depending on the distance of entry and exit, and the Star Master can obtain one-thousandth of the commission.”

“Good Deeds Trade (Not Activated): Change the existing mechanism of the Zhou Tian Star Chart, allowing for real-time good deeds trading between Star Officers, with the Star Master receiving a one-ten-thousandth commission from each trade.”

“Task Publication (Not Activated): Changing the existing mechanism of the Zhou Tian Star Chart can allow Star Officers to publish task information through their Star Officer masks. After review and approval by the Star Master, the tasks can be announced, and the Star Master can obtain one percent of the merit reward as a commission.”

Zhou Heng looked at these three new permissions somewhat dumbfounded.

What are these things?

Paid transportation?

An online trading platform?

Websites evolving from official postings to user-generated content?

Web2.0?

Is the Purple Tenuity Emperor this avant-garde?

Is the Zhou Tian Star Chart really left by that Heavenly Emperor?

——All the tasks currently in the Zhou Tian Star Chart are actually synthesized by the leaders Tianyi and Azure Dragon from the information traces within Da Qi and the myriad worlds. They use deduction methods to describe the specific content and judge the corresponding rewards based on the level of danger before finally publishing them.

It can basically be seen as “official publication.”

Ordinary Star Officers and even upper management cannot publish tasks on their own; otherwise, Zhou Heng wouldn’t have needed to ask The Supreme and the Principle of Heaven to post a bounty on his behalf.

“If I were to activate these two functions now, the situation of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer would undoubtedly undergo unprecedented drastic changes,” Zhou Heng thought.

Zhou Heng fell into deep thought, secretly saying, “Such a sudden drastic change is not necessarily a good thing for someone like me who has just become an official member.”

After all, the ones holding the authority over merit transactions and task publication are the Tao Lords, Tianyi and Azure Dragon.

If these two functions were rashly activated, it would be tantamount to encroaching on the authority of these two organizational leaders.

The outcome is unpredictable.

True, Zhou Heng could activate these permissions covertly, secretly taking a cut of the profits.

But if he had just become an official member and the mechanism of the Zhou Tian Star Chart changed, it wouldn’t take much thought to figure out that it was most likely related to him.

To go unnoticed would be nearly impossible.

“I should still wait until I have secured my position in the organization and have a clear understanding of Azure Dragon’s and Tianyi’s attitudes before considering whether to activate these two permissions or just one of them.”

Zhou Heng had made up his mind. The last two permissions were of great significance and had to be handled carefully. At the very least, he would wait until after the upcoming monthly meeting in eighteen days to see.

Additionally, attending the tri-monthly meeting was also a privilege of being an official member.

“However, I could try activating the first permission. It won’t have much impact on the overall situation of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer, yet it could be quite useful. It would also respond to the expectations of the seniors outside who are looking forward to my role as ‘Star Master,’ and it would help me stabilize my position.”

Ultimately, Zhou Heng decided that after leaving the Purple Tenuity Palace, he would reveal to The Supreme, Tianyi, and the Five Emperors within the Inner Circle some information about the “Smooth Star Road.”

Of course, he wouldn’t mention the commission part.

…

“What?! We can travel in reverse to the outer world!”

“There’s actually new progress!”

“This is too good, it’s so much more convenient than before!”

Upon hearing Zhou Heng’s description, The Supreme, Tianyi, and the Five Emperors within the Inner Circle were all very excited. As “veterans” of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer, they understood too well the significance of this feature.

It meant that the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer could now truly achieve short-term transportation throughout the entire territory of Da Qi, even those with lower cultivation realms could do so.

In this way, it would be possible to eliminate disobedient evil creatures more effectively.

This was a feature the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer had longed for——

The essence of the Zhou Tian Star Chart is incredibly high. Even with just a third of it incomplete, it suffices to cover the entirety of Da Qi. This can be seen from its ability to distribute task information regardless of distance.

And the essence of the Purple Tenuity Palace is only higher, not lower, than that of the Zhou Tian Star Chart.

Theoretically, one should indeed be able to enter the Purple Tenuity Palace from anywhere in this world, as well as travel from the Purple Tenuity Palace to any location in this world.

However, because the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer’s control over the Purple Tenuity Palace is insufficient and their understanding is also not enough, they have never been able to achieve this, and could only establish entrances at some specific places for ease of entry and exit.

As for departing from within the Purple Tenuity Palace to the outside world, it’s even more difficult. One needs to reach the cultivation realm of the Sect Fifth Rank in order to descend through some previously prepared spiritual guides.

And now, as long as this function is enabled, all these difficulties will no longer exist.

The only problem is that it will consume merit.

Wait, consume merit?

The Supreme, Heavenly Morality, and the three members of the inner seat of Five Emperors are all very sensitive to merit. Thinking of this, they all turned to look at Zhou Heng in unison.

“That is, Star Master, how is this merit consumption calculated? Is there a specific amount?” asked the main seat of the Five Emperors proactively.

“Yes, this is very important.” The Supreme nodded.

“Many people don’t have that much merit,” explained Heavenly Morality.

“Actually, I am not very clear on this either. How about we try it out after enabling this function privilege?” Zhou Heng pretended to be somewhat hesitant and said, “If the seniors think there’s no issue, then I will enable this privilege.”

“Absolutely no problem. This is a great benefit to the entire organization.”

“We two old fellows can still make decisions on this matter. You just need to be at ease.”

“Let’s give it a try and see how much merit it consumes.”

The trio exchanged words, all of them looking forward to Zhou Heng with anticipation. They truly wished to see Zhou Tian Boundary Officer prosper and make it easier to eliminate ghosts and vanquish evil.

“Alright.” Zhou Heng nodded and immediately, with a thought, he activated the newly acquired privilege.

Smooth Star Road.

BOOM!!

A deafening roar erupted as if the whole world was trembling. The Star River that encircled the mountains of the Purple Tenuity Palace suddenly surged, setting off towering waves.

Countless stars were flung into the sky and ultimately converged into a road paved with starlight, spanning the void between the purple qi cloud platform at the entrance and the mountains of the Purple Tenuity Palace, resting upon the grand Star River, becoming a bridge of starlight.

On this bridge made of starlight, phantom images appeared, totaling one hundred and twenty-eight, concealed among patches of starlight.

It represented the entrances to the Purple Tenuity Palace world pathways that Zhou Tian Boundary Officer had constructed across Da Qi over the past three thousand years.

“By stepping onto this bridge of starlight, you may sense all the entrance pathways, and then use these passages to travel to the corresponding places,” Zhou Heng explained, then he was the first to step onto the bridge of starlight.

After sensing the condition of each pathway, he gained a certain level of understanding about how much merit was consumed by different distances, and then he stepped back.

“Within one state, it’s basically a hundred merits, and if it’s crossing states, it will require between two hundred to two thousand merits, depending on the distance,” Zhou Heng explained the situation.

Hiss!

Upon hearing this, The Supreme, Heavenly Morality, and the main seat of the Five Emperors couldn’t help but gasp sharply, utterly taken aback.

“That’s too expensive.”

“The lowest is actually a hundred merits.”

“Can’t afford it, really can’t afford it!”

They all shook their heads again and again.

Being extremely sensitive to merit, they all started shaking their heads as soon as they heard the cost.

“Having the ability here is better than not having it at all,” Zhou Heng laughed.

Actually, this outcome suited him well. It was convenient for him and did not cause too much disruption to the existing situation of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officer.

Just perfect.

“Yes, having it is better than not, and it can be used for emergencies,” The Supreme nodded in agreement, showing approval for Zhou Heng’s view, and smiled.

The Celestial Order and the Five Emperors also nodded in agreement. Although the cost was quite high, the value was undoubtedly immense.

At the same time, they placed even greater importance on Zhou Heng in their hearts.

Looking forward to more changes in the future.

This was hope!

“What’s next for you?” the inner seat of the Five Emperors smiled and asked.

“I will go and thoroughly eradicate the residual marks of the Evil God,” Zhou Heng smiled and said, “This function has come just in time, making it convenient for me to kill experts from the Plague Emperor Sect in different places.”

“You’re going to use this Bridge of Starlight to descend over long distances?” The inner seat of the Five Emperors was surprised and then laughed softly, saying, “It must be nice to have money.”

At his level, earning merits was already quite difficult; each task was extremely dangerous, and the evil spirits and Ghost Immortals capable of providing a large amount of merits were also very strong.

Making “money” is hard indeed.

…

Xuanzhou, Fengyu Town.

There was a famous brothel far and wide here, named Su Xiang Garden.

Jia He was a regular client of this brothel.

Looking to be in his thirties, Jia He was strong and wealthy, making him a major patron for the girls of Su Xiang Garden.

Therefore, every time he came, a group of girls would flock to him, waiting for his “favor.”

On the surface, Jia He was a businessman who dealt in medicinal herbs, but in reality, he was a True Disciple of the Plague Emperor Sect.

He was a personal disciple of a Secret Six Rank Innate expert.

Not even forty years old yet, he had already reached the peak of the Seventh Rank, making him a key member of the younger generation of the Plague Emperor Sect.

In the elegant private room on the top floor of Su Xiang Garden.

Jia He was enjoying the service of seven “scantily clad” beautiful young girls, his face showing a look of intoxication, but his servant standing by the side looked panicked.

The servant appeared to be in his twenties, warily observing the surroundings, and finally couldn’t help but lean over and whisper, “Master Jia, why don’t we stay at home for a while?

“Now that Zhou Heng is hunting down evil cultivators all over the place, especially those of our path, although you’re not afraid of him, it’s better to avoid trouble, don’t you think?”

Smack!

Jia He, however, slapped the servant across the face and slurred, “Shut your damn mouth. That Zhou Heng was still over a million miles away in the northwest Sui State just a few days ago. How could he possibly get here to Xuanzhou in the central region so quickly?

“You’re scared shitless by that little bastard. Don’t worry, there’s no way Zhou Heng would come to Fengyu Town to kill me. Even if he did, I could easily take him down! Heh, Ah Xiang, come here, give me a kiss, heh heh…”

Bang!

Just at that moment, the door to the private room was suddenly kicked open, and a young man clad in a Taoist robe and carrying a Purple Thunder Sword strode in.

The young man grinned.

“Jia He, you said you could kill me?”