Heavenly Jewel Change

*Puuuu* Blood sprayed out from the assassin’s mouth. He had never imagined that the abrupt attack from Zhou Weiqing’s right leg could even reach such a level. At least six of his ribs were broken, and a strange cold energy invaded his body, warping into three icy cold auras that started to spread throughout his body.

Not good!

The Heavenly King assassin had rampaged throughout the entire continent for so many years, and he had faced countless dangers and slain countless opponents. In the shortest time, he made the most accurate choice. Sensing the invasion of the cold evil power, he instantly judged that the sheer toxicity of the poison was not something he could handle. Once it truly spread through his body, he would be in serious trouble with endless disastrous possibilities.

As such, he made an instant snap decision that not many else could. In an instant the black rapier spun around, striking deep into his own chest. A pierce, and a flick, meat and blood sprayed out as he forcefully dug out. The blood sprayed in midair, forming a strange blue, black and grey colours, before dissipating in the air.

With such a powerful will to live, the Heavenly King assassin had unbelievably managed to counter the tri-element venom of the scorpion tail hook of Zhou Weiqing’s evolution.

It could not be said to be luck, instead a more accurate description would be power, guts and vision. With his sword blocking, he was able to avoid the majority of the blow from the scorpion’s tail, and in the shortest possible time he had sealed his meridians, and finally he used his own sword to cut himself and force out all the venom. Only with all of that was he able to survive that onslaught. However, that also had a heavy price, as this assassin had finally suffered a serious injury, greatly sapping his vitality. To be fair, he had not lost to Zhou Weiqing, but he had lost to the sudden arrival of the two girls and more importantly, his lack of understanding of this new state of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation.

After entering the second state of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, Zhou Weiqing was only able to fight in close combat. However, in such a state, his melee capabilities had already risen to an unbelievably terrifying height, especially his defense. Even that Heavenly King assassin was not able to break through such a defense with ease, and that had been the most important adjustment that caused the series of snowballing changes leading to a different final result.

Without any hesitation at all, a thick black tail of flames spurted out from the Heavenly King assassin’s back. In an instant, he warped into a stream of light, disappearing into the distance within moments.

An icy cold voice rang out in the air. “I’ll be back.”

Tian’er and Shangguan Xue’er both landed on the ground at the same time, both their eyes showing their shock. This was especially for Shangguan Xue’er; with her pride, her heart was currently filled with fear. It had just been too dangerous. It had truly been a fine line then, and Zhou Weiqing had almost lost his life so many times. Although the assassin was only at the Heavenly King Stage, his assassination skills and offense… especially even when trying to kill someone so much lower level than himself like Zhou Weiqing, he still chose to ambush and launch a sneak attack, in the best possible time. It could be said that it was a lot of luck that Zhou Weiqing had survived.

In the air, Zhou Weiqing did not attempt to chase. Instead, he levitated there, wings spread out, as if a Demon King who had achieved victory.

By now, the battle on the ground had long ended. Currently, the two hundred Heavy Cavalry soldiers were below Zhou Weiqing, staring up at him with shock and awe in their eyes.

No matter the Berserker or Gold Crow Tribe soldiers, they were extremely proud and confident in their own combat abilities. However, that fight in the sky was truly something they had never witnessed before. Only at this time did they realise how terrifying a true powerhouse really was. Especially for the Heaven and Earth Anomaly that Zhou Weiqing had somehow activated, it had truly left a lasting impression in their hearts. What kind of horrifying strength was required to do such a thing! As for that assassin who had attacked Zhou Weiqing, they might not know what cultivation level he was, but for a Heavenly Jewel Master to be able to fly with just his own body and without any Consolidated Equipment, that already proved a serious problem. Yet, even under such a situation, Zhou Weiqing had still succeeded in forcing his enemy to retreat. It was clear that when the assassin had fled, he had been severely injured.

All of a sudden, a massive shout rang out, reverberating through the skies. “PEERLESS THROUGH THE WORLD!” The two hundred Heavy Cavalry Soldiers had howled out with all their might without any prompting, draining off all the feelings in their hearts as they did so. With such a powerful Commander leading them, they were filled with even greater confidence.

In midair, Zhou Weiqing’s wings slowly folded as he descended, landing on the ground. The tall, muscled body and brilliant scales, causing some of the Gold Crow Tribe female warriors to look at him with a glint in their eyes.

Tian’er and Shangguan Xue’er rushed to Zhou Weiqing. They were far more familiar towards the powers and limits of Heavenly Jewel Masters, as compared to the Peerless Heavy Cavalry soldiers. Zhou Weiqing had indeed survived, but the sheer power he had burst out with, no matter in terms of defense and offense, that was already enough to rival that of a Heavenly King Stage powerhouse. That was definitely not normal, and for him to gain such strength in a short period of time, they knew it was not possible to not pay a heavy price.

Zhou Weiqing looked at both girls with his strange eyes, one grey one red. As his spoke, his voice was clearly lower and hoarser than usual. “I’ll head back first. Ma Qun, Crow, retreat back to the city as well.”

After saying that, the wings behind his back flapped hard, and his entire body warped into a purple light as he disappeared as well. None of the others had even seen how he had entered the city, that speed was no lower than the Heavenly King assassin just now.

“Not good, let’s go back as well.” Shangguan Xue’er said softly to Tian’er. Both girls did not hesitate, quickly flying back towards the Crescent City as well. Currently, they no longer fought amongst themselves like normal, seemingly highly in sync.

As the Peerless Heavy Cavalry headed back for the Crescent City victoriously, the three hundred citizens on the city walls had already been stunned by the series of events.

They had witnessed the sheer power of the Peerless Heavy Cavalry with their own eyes. To them, these soldiers did not even seem human, as if they were divine soldiers descended from the heavens. Those Kalise Empire soldiers were scary enough to these commoners, and their numbers had surpassed the Peerless Cavalry many times over. Yet, in front of them, they had just seemed so weak and fragile. With such an army protecting the Crescent City, what was there to worry about?

What followed next with the fight in the air was even more shocking to them. Although Zhou Weiqing’s fight with the Heavenly King assassin had happened at lightning speed, finishing in a short period of time, but in just that short process, the shock that it brought about was perhaps even stronger than that of the Peerless Heavy Cavalry. The changes in Zhou Weiqing’s body, the Heaven and Earth Anomaly, to ordinary people like them, it was like a miracle from the gods.

Furthermore, they were at such a distance. From their perspective and knowledge, they could not tell that Zhou Weiqing had been at the disadvantage all the time. After all, at the speeds both had been fighting at, they could not see any details. All they knew was that finally Zhou Weiqing had sent the assassin flying with a single kick, and the enemy had fled.

Currently, besides the shock on the three hundred citizens’ faces, there was no longer the fear which had been there previously. That had been replaced with excitement and joy. Le Zi laughed heartily, shouting out to them: “All of you have seen for yourselves. That is our Peerless Regiment Commander! That is the strength of our Commander, and our Peerless Regiment! I am not afraid to tell you all, all of us here are just merely the vanguard party. You all should know how many people a Regiment has, and they are all elite soldiers almost as strong as us. With us here, the Crescent City will be paradise on earth. No longer will you have to fear our enemies! Alright, that is all for today, you all are free to leave now. Remember to let your friends and families know about our Peerless Regiment and our strength. Our Commander has invited you here to witness our battles, so that you can dispel the fears and worries in your hearts. Now, you can see for yourselves, there is nothing to worry about right?”

It could be said that Zhou Weiqing’s plan and goal had been completed to perfection, far beyond all his expectations. When these three hundred citizens returned to their homes, the word would spread and the sheer increase in public opinion could be foreseen. However, while that part was successfully, Zhou Weiqing was currently in huge danger.

…

As he dashed into his room, Zhou Weiqing abruptly crashed down on the ground. His entire body was shuddering violently, the red and black of his eyes appearing and disappearing in an unstable fashion, while each and every scale on his skin was trembling with a disruptive energy along with his movement.

He felt an intense pain in his body, as if his entire innards were being shredded apart, far beyond even the previous time where he had been immersed in lava! Every single cell of his body screamed in agony, as if bits of him were being disintegrated inside.

Previously, when he had entered the second stage of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, he had felt his entire body heating up to a blazing intensity, as if he was filled with infinite strength. However, such a state only lasted for only ten seconds. That was to say, for the rest of the fight, especially that last kick that sent the Heavenly King assassin flying, he had already been in the midst of enduring such pain.

As the heat dissipated, came the horrifying pain. However, with the endurance and willpower that Zhou Weiqing had trained from his years of cultivating the Immortal Deity Technique, and the time he had spent in the lava, only then had he managed to barely hold on, forcing himself to not give himself away as he flew back to the city as quickly as he could.

He could not allow anyone else to see the current state he was in. Firstly, it was in case the Heavenly King assassin was hidden somewhere nearby, who knows if that fellow had really left. He did not want the assassin to be able to seize the opportunity to kill him. Secondly, he had spent so much effort in impressing all those citizens, a state that he could not allow to fail at the last moment. At last, he managed to hold on until he reached his room before he could no longer withstand it any longer, collapsing onto the ground as waves of pain rolled within him.

The power of the Dragon and Tiger rampaged crazily inside his body. Originally, the dual energy had been balanced when he had achieved the Dragon-Tiger Transformation, but now they had gone berserk. If not for the layer of scales outside, perhaps the terrifying energy would have burst out of his body, destroying him totally. Pain… Pain!! It was not just his body, even his soul felt like it was being ripped apart. From below the scales, blood started to seep out all over his body, and the surface of the scales also began to change colour, growing dimmer… as if they were slowly in the process of disappearing. At this point, one could vaguely see that on Zhou Weiqing’s actual skin, there were shockingly cracks all over. His entire person looked like he was drenched in blood, and as the dragon tiger energy within his body raged all about… once the outer layer of scales disappeared, he could possibly implode and die.

Having his inner potential burst forth like that before its time in a forced entry to the second state of the Dragon-Tiger Transformation might have seemed like a good thing, and it had certainly saved his life. However, that also meant that Zhou Weiqing’s body had to endure levels of energy that it could not handle… how could he not pay the price now? He had chased away his enemy, but now the problems he was facing could just lead to his death. At this moment, any Skill was useless… not any amount of healing. After all, the source of this was internal, from within to without, a far more chilling destructive capability.

The intense pain had caused Zhou Weiqing to even lose his capability of thought, he could only lie down on the ground, trembling as the energy rocked his body, without the strength to even thrash around.