I Cheated While Cultivating

Star Monarchs, after all, are Star Monarchs; they are the foundation upon which the Star Palace has suppressed the world for thousands of years, representing the most formidable of beings today.

Even now, with aberrations in the Star Realm, where Star Officers below the Star Monarchs can no longer draw upon star power, Star Monarchs can still, as before, summon the power of the Star Gods upon the mortal realm, wielding unmatched formidable might.

They formed a formation among themselves, their vital energies linked, and their star powers fused together. Their combined action immediately caused celestial phenomena to change, as daylight turned into night in an instant, yet twelve stars hung high in the sky, shining brilliantly.

The overpowering force of the stars fell from an unfathomable height, like a beam of light descending from the supreme Star Realm, locking onto Zhou Heng, slashing towards him.

To ordinary people, this scene resembled the Milky Way hanging upside down in the sky, with Zhou Heng about to face the deluge of this celestial river.

At this moment, Zhou Heng just stood there laughing as an ordinary person, seemingly insignificant in comparison to the starlight sword river that seemed to have pierced through heaven and earth.

As insignificant as ants.

Boom!

The starlight sword river fell, and a deafening boom exploded between heaven and earth. The void screeched, the land trembled, as this power far beyond the comprehension of mortals truly began to display itself.

For a time, people on the earth fell silent, even those from Confucianism, Taoism, and the Buddha Sect who had previously been loudly extolling Saints, Heavenly Sovereigns, and Buddhas, closed their mouths, held their breath, and watched in silence, not making a sound.

At this time, everyone’s nerves were stretched to the limit.

Of course, many were surprised and shocked.

They hadn’t expected that despite the abnormal conditions in the Star Realm, the Star Monarchs could still display such powerful might.

Some had even begun to consider whether to adjust their plans for future actions.

Meanwhile, Zhou Heng still stood steadily in mid-air, not showing the slightest intention of evading, as if he hadn’t even seen the dazzling sword river falling from the sky.

However, just as the starlight sword river was about to truly strike down upon him, he suddenly raised a hand, his skin taking on a faint dark golden hue, and directly reached out for the sword river.

He intended to catch it head-on.

The twelve Star Monarchs, seeing this, were immediately filled with rage.

“Presumptuous! Who does he think he is, trying to directly catch the attack unleashed by our concerted effort!”

“This is a death wish; even the most powerful ancient gods and demons at their peak wouldn’t dare to directly catch the attack of the star force.”

“Perhaps this ancient deity has only just returned, his mind not yet recovered to normalcy.”

“He won’t die from this, but he’ll be gravely wounded.”

The Star Monarchs were very confident in the power of this starlight sword river attack.

The combined force of twelve Star Monarchs, harnessing twelve distinct yet complementary Star God powers, formed an attack fused together that was powerful enough to sweep aside any foe.

This was their understanding.

Confronted with such an attack, and this ancient deity intending to meet it with his body was a behavior tantamount to seeking death.

In fact, not only did the twelve Star Monarchs believe this, but even the Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian factions on Earth thought the same when they saw Zhou Heng reaching for the starlight sword river with his hand.

He must be mad!

This truly is madness!

To not dodge or evade was one thing, but to actually try to catch the attack launched by the combined might of twelve Star Monarchs with his hand?!

That’s simply madness!

Hum!

Just at that moment, the starlight sword river had already fallen upon Zhou Heng’s body, emitting a violent and ear-piercing trembling sound, as layers of bright silver-colored light waves spread out from Zhou Heng as the center.

In an instant, the sky became brightly lit, countless scattered starlight patterns expanded like ripples on a lake, illuminating much of Yuezhou’s sky in a silvery white.

In the center of the starlight sword river’s onslaught, Zhou Heng remained unmoved, only the dark golden color on his hand became slightly more pronounced.

This layer of dark goldenness was like an impregnable wall; no matter how the starlight sword river, jointly slashed down by twelve Star Monarchs, assaulted it, they couldn’t shake it in the slightest.

This was the Vajra Unbreakable Divine Technique!

After stepping into the rank of Sect Fifth Rank, Zhou Heng had elevated this peerless skill, causing his physical body to become unbelievably strong.

Now, even without using mana, just standing here, if martial artists of the same realm were to attack him, they might not be able to affect him, and even if they utilized a Fifth Rank treasure weapon, it might just shatter against his flesh.

And this starlight sword river, at best, was only comparable to the peak level of Sect Fifth Rank, which simply couldn’t hold a candle to the strength Zhou Heng wielded now.

It simply couldn’t breach Zhou Heng’s defenses.

The gap was too significant.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the starlight sword river seemed to have sustained a massive impact. Starting from where it collided with Zhou Heng’s palm, it rapidly disintegrated.

In the blink of an eye, it scattered into billions of streaks of light, flying in all directions, completely vanishing without a trace.

Silence returned to heaven and earth, as if nothing had happened before.

The twelve Star Monarchs stared at Zhou Heng with their mouths agape, almost disbelieving the scene they had just witnessed.

The people of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism on the ground were dumbfounded.

Although they knew Zhou Heng was very strong, and his battle achievements on the way to Yuezhou had shown he was much more formidable than a regular Star Monarch, they hadn’t expected him to be this powerful.

Merely with a casual grab, like a common person crushing a dry leaf, he had effortlessly shattered the terrifying attack of the twelve Star Monarchs working together.

Such formidable strength was simply inconceivable!

Was this really a level humans could achieve?

Or, was this seemingly human mighty figure actually one of the so-called ancient supernatural beings?

“Is this the extent of your abilities?” Zhou Heng looked around before his gaze settled on the twelve Star Monarchs. He chuckled, “With such mediocrity, you wish to slay an ancient evil god?”

It really was too weak. The starlight sword river appeared impressive, but it was actually hollow on the inside. He only needed to activate the Vajra Unbreakable Divine Technique and gently grabbed it, causing it to crumble and dissipate.

It was evident how dispersed the force of the starlight sword river was, and in terms of the concentration of strength, it might not even compare to an ordinary grandmaster.

The strength of these Star Monarchs truly wasn’t worth mentioning.

Zhou Heng felt somewhat listless.

Although his goal was to defeat mighty individuals to raise his fame, making it easier to find Cheng Jianjian and Qi Rui, after all, he was a martial artist who looked forward to clashing with the strong.

Therefore, he had been quite interested in the pinnacle Star Monarchs of this world, but he hadn’t expected this kind of outcome when he actually made a move.

It was truly disappointing.

“Arrogant and ignorant! Utterly foolish!”

One of the Star Monarchs sneered with a lifted chin, haughtily saying, “Ancient evil gods are just that, ancient. They’ve fallen too far behind the times. Do you think we only know how to gather star power and strike together?”

“Correct, the strength of the current Star Palace is simply beyond what you ancient evil gods can imagine!” Another Star Monarch also snapped back to reality and shouted, “Take action! Call upon the Star Gods to descend and exterminate the remnants of the ancient evil god!!”

“Invite the Star Gods to descend and exterminate the remnants of the ancient demons!”

“Invite the Star Gods to descend and exterminate the remnants of the ancient demons!”

The other Star Monarchs also began to shout loudly and in unison, bowing respectfully towards the sky as if they were inviting some unknown and powerful existence to arrive.

At the same time, high above, twelve great stars lit up, and behind each of the twelve Star Monarchs, the void twisted slightly. The starlight spun out like threads, rapidly sketching the towering silhouettes of colossal figures.

These figures, even with just their outlines visible, brought an incomparable sense of oppression, making the people within Yuezhou City feel as though they were struggling to breathe, as well as experiencing an inexplicable fear.

As these gigantic figures were outlined more and more clearly, that feeling also became increasingly intense, to the point where some people had already fainted from being unable to withstand the pressure.

“The Star Palace has actually developed such a secret technique, it’s inconceivable! How is this possible!” exclaimed an experienced individual from the camps of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, immediately drawing the attention of others.

The person’s complexion was pale, and their expression terrified, but they continued to explain: “Inviting the Star Gods to descend is to invite those who originally resided in the Star Realm to come to the mortal world, displaying Their boundless Great Power in order to destroy the enemies.

“This star magic was once considered impossible because the Star Gods have never truly descended to the mortal realm. I can’t believe the Star Palace has actually succeeded! It’s too late, no matter how powerful this person is, he cannot possibly compare to the descended Star Gods!”

Star Gods are the strongest, and there cannot possibly be any existence more powerful than the Star Gods; this belief is deeply ingrained in the hearts of all people in this world.

Under normal circumstances, no one would ever think that the Star Gods could be defeated.

Even avatars summoned by the Star Monarchs of the Star Palace are considered invincible.

Zhou Heng, on the other hand, watched all of this with great interest and did not intervene.

In truth, the speed at which these twelve Star Monarchs were summoning the gods was not exactly commendable; if he had wanted to, he could have easily prevented their success.

In the time taken to summon the gods, Zhou Heng could have killed them a million times over.

The reason for his non-interference was that Zhou Heng wanted to see exactly what would descend after the invocation: whether they were truly Star Gods or Evil Gods in disguise.

There was another reason.

Zhou Heng had once perceived the stars in heaven, the genuine luminaries, when he was in the Purple Tenuity Palace.

They were the true gods of all stars, not limited to the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions but also including the One Hundred and Eight Stars of the Heaven and Earth.

The Star Gods of this world were exactly these One Hundred and Eight, and the star power used by these Star Monarchs was very similar to what he had once perceived.

Therefore, he wanted to see if the Star Gods here were indeed the real One Hundred and Eight Star Gods.

If they were, he wondered whether there would be clues about Earth on these Star Gods.

Under Zhou Heng’s deliberate inaction, the majestic silhouettes behind the twelve Star Monarchs were gradually outlined by the starlight, and one by one, radiant divine beings high above descended into the mortal realm.

These images were filled with intense star power and were interwoven with complex principles of law; their mere appearance caused disturbances in the principles of law in the world, creating a series of extraordinary phenomena.

The Star Monarchs were overjoyed.

The disturbance in the principles of law signified the successful arrival of the Star Gods!

Thus, the twelve Star Monarchs hurriedly bowed with respect.

“Welcome the descent of the Star God of Valor!”

“Welcome the descent of the Heavenly Sword Star God!”

“…”

“Welcome the descent of the Star God of Wounds!”

“Welcome the descent of the Hidden Earth Star God!”

“…”

“…”

Accompanied by the welcoming voices of the Star Monarchs, the twelve Star Gods’ images truly descended upon the world. Immense pressure swept across heaven and Earth in an instant, causing all beings within the bounds of Da Wei to feel an inexplicable terror.

It was as if an invisible boulder had suddenly pressed down upon their hearts, making it tough to breathe.

At this moment, Cheng Jianjian, who was still on her way to the Star Palace, also looked up at the sky with a look of shocked uncertainty and thought to herself, “This feeling—is it the avatars of the Star Gods descending to the mortal realm?

“How could this be? Could there have been some calamity in the Star Realm… It seems I must hasten to the Star Palace, or else things may change for the worse… I don’t have much time left!”

Within Yuezhou City, whether they were martial artists or common folk, everyone felt a fear they had never experienced before.

Looking up at the twelve images of the Star Gods, each person felt like an insignificant ant, liable to be crushed for any number of reasons at any moment.

Even those from the Buddha Sect, Taoism, and Confucianism who had just barely transcended the limits of mortals through secret techniques to reach the Martial Saint realm felt nothing but fear in their hearts upon seeing the images of the descending Star Gods.

The gap was too immense!

At that moment, nobody believed Zhou Heng could win anymore.

The twelve Star Monarchs who had made their move earlier, no matter how powerful, were still humans. Zhou Heng defeating them was also a defeat of a group of powerful humans—it was a battle between humans.

But now, the Star Monarchs had actually summoned the Star Gods to descend and manifest their images in the mortal realm to demonstrate their might!

This had completely transcended the realm of humanity!

This was a gathering of gods!

How could humans possibly triumph over gods?

It was simply impossible!

Everyone thought so, and so did the twelve Star Monarchs.

After successfully invoking the gods, they completely relaxed.

For the coming of the Star Gods’ images signified the death of their enemy, and in their eyes, this was without doubt.

No one could withstand the power of the Star Gods.

Even the ancient gods and demons who had returned were not an exception!

Even if this god or demon could block a river of starlight swords with one hand, even if this god or demon’s power was unfathomable!

It didn’t matter!

The Star Gods were supreme, invincible beings!

One of the Star Monarchs, barely containing his exhilaration, performed a respectful salute to the Star God he had summoned and said loudly, “Exalted Star God, the ancient god or demon is powerful, and we have presumptuously…”

Bang!

Before the Star Monarch could finish his speech, he was obliterated by the Star God he had summoned, turned to ash and ceased to exist.

The rest of the Star Monarchs met nearly the same fate, with only three managing to move quickly enough to escape by a stroke of luck.

Then, these three witnessed a scene that made them question everything they knew.

The twelve images of the Star Gods that had descended to the mortal realm astonishingly shrank on their own to the size of ordinary people and, trembling, came before Zhou Heng, bowing respectfully before him and chanting in unison:

“We greet the Emperor!!”

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!