I Cheated While Cultivating

Chapter 199: There are Skies beyond the Sky, There are Boundaries beyond the Boundary

“What is the Evil Spirit Mark?” Zhou Heng frowned and asked, “And what is an evil spirit? I only felt that its aura was very similar to evil creatures, yet somewhat different.”

This Evil Spirit Mark actually made these two Celestial Men lose their composure, which seemed to be a serious matter.

“An evil spirit is a higher-level evil creature, akin to a Ghost Immortal,” the Supreme explained. “Once an evil creature reaches a level equivalent to that of Sect Fifth Rank, it can transform its life form through some special means.

“After undergoing this transformation of life form, an evil creature will obtain greater potential and power, which is known as an evil spirit. In fact, this information would have been directly available in the data stored inside your mask after you completed your third task.”

Yet my third task hasn’t been assigned even now… Zhou Heng quietly complained in his heart, even wanting to ask where the Boundary Officer had gone, and whether he had forgotten to assign the task?

And when would the inner seats of the Five Emperors be restored? It’s always the reliable seniors who issue tasks in a timely manner.

“However, this kind of evil spirit, the one you encountered, should be different,” Heavenly Reason said in a deep voice. “An evil spirit capable of leaving an Evil Spirit Mark must be at least at the level of Upper Third Rank.”

“What?!” Zhou Heng was shocked and puzzled. “But the evil spirit I encountered seemed to be just slightly stronger than the peak of Seventh Rank, apart from being more resilient, its strength didn’t seem that formidable.”

Then, he briefly explained his previous experiences to the Supreme and Heavenly Reason, only omitting specific details and locations.

After all, Star Officer was still close by.

This Star Officer was not aware of his true identity.

“That was not the true body of the evil spirit,” the Supreme said after hearing Zhou Heng’s description, pausing to think for a moment. “If it is as you say, then the evil spirit must have already left some evil magic in the mortal world to serve as a ‘guide’ for its avatar to descend, thereby paving the way for the arrival of its true body.”

“Descend?” When Zhou Heng heard this word, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. He keenly caught the significance of the word used by the Supreme, and many thoughts flashed through his mind. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Does this mean the true body of this evil spirit is outside of Da Qi?”

The term ‘descend’ is generally only used to refer to instantly crossing vast distances and appearing at a certain location.

For example, during the incident in Yuanhe Prefecture City, Great Saintly Merciful Immortal directly descended from overseas.

Of course, there was another scenario that Zhou Heng speculated about.

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“Not only outside of Da Qi but also beyond the heavens,” the Supreme nodded slightly and said. “Given the infinite distance, the power that it can manifest here is naturally very limited.”

“Indeed beyond the heavens?” Zhou Heng murmured to himself, while openly showing his puzzlement. “Beyond the heavens? The cosmic starry sky, or are we talking about… another world?”

“It’s a world different from the one we live in,” the Supreme clarified solemnly. “This is not surprising, just as there are countless stars above us, just as there are myriad stars within the Star Sea Realm, there naturally isn’t just one universe.”

Zhou Heng fell silent upon hearing this, lost for words, as if plunged into a deep shock.

In fact, the answer given by the Supreme finally confirmed his longstanding suspicion—beyond this universe, is there a heaven beyond heaven, a realm beyond realms?

As someone who transmigrated from Earth, Zhou Heng naturally did not believe in only one universe; that would be illogical. However, he had no way of confirming whether there were other worlds.

Because, the universe where Da Qi is situated, is truly a heaven and earth, heaven round and earth square, rather than a planet.

This made him wonder at times whether he had come to another universe with fundamentally different rules than Earth, to the extent that he was not even clear about the concept of a “cosmic starry sky” here.

Yet on that occasion within the Purple Tenuity Palace, stepping into the Star Sea Realm and heading to the Wishing Pool, he became clearly aware that this world also has an outer starry sky, stars, galaxies, an immense cosmos.

Though he could not yet confirm whether the Star Sea Realm truly was the universe, at least he could assert the existence of the concept of a universe in this world.

Now having the Supreme’s affirmation, there are heavens beyond and other worlds.

This was extremely important for Zhou Heng.

It related to whether his desire to return to Earth was just a delusional fantasy.

It was also, so far, the only hope he had seen.

Therefore, his silence now, though not entirely due to being shocked by this information, truly stirred up tumultuous waves in his heart.

After a long while, Zhou Heng barely managed to calm his emotions and began to think. “So you’re saying, evil creatures, and even the evil gods as the source of the sinister path, actually all come from other worlds?”

At this moment, he also somewhat understood why the data he had seen before mostly described evil creatures in vague terms.

—They basically just mentioned that around three thousand years ago, strange creatures suddenly appeared among humans. Other than that, they only introduced the hazards of evil creatures.

Evil creatures, evil spirits, and evil gods all coming from other worlds—such information would cause great mental and cognitive shocks to ordinary people.

“So the Ziwei Master already has some understanding of evil gods and the sinister path,” Heavenly Reason chimed in. “Yes, the sources of evil creatures, evil spirits, and evil gods are indeed from other worlds.

“Three thousand years ago, a few evil creatures began to appear in the world, but due to the Battle of Heavenly Yang, these were initially not taken seriously. Later, as the number of evil spirits increased, the Tao Lords and Saints began to pay attention to these strange and ominous beings.”

“Unfortunately, by that time, it was already too late. With the descent of the first Evil God, a sinister and indelible path was firmly imprinted in our world, and the situation became irreversible.”

“Since then, our world has been able to give birth to evil creatures and even Evil Spirits, which later became one of the main targets for eradication by the Zhou Tian Boundary Officers.”

The way Celestial Man described the event was filled with sighs, as if he had personally experienced this series of cataclysms.

“We don’t need to talk about the old affairs of the Battle of Tianyang, focusing on the present is the proper way,” said The Supreme, changing the subject. “The urgency of the moment is to eliminate the Evil Spirit Mark on the Ziwei Master as soon as possible. Otherwise, the repercussions will be endless.”

“Indeed, that is the case,” Celestial Man nodded in agreement.

“The Battle of Tianyang…” Zhou Heng pondered the term.

He felt once again that this point in time must have been extremely significant, a critical turning point.

However, both Celestial Man and The Supreme seemed reluctant to delve into the matter.

Therefore, Zhou Heng didn’t press for details and instead asked about the Evil Spirit Mark.

The Supreme explained it to him.

The Evil Spirit Mark can only be left by Evil Spirits of Upper Third Rank.

It serves as a “pathfinder” for the arrival of their true form.

It establishes a mysterious connection between the mark-bearer and the Evil Spirit.

If the person with the mark becomes spiritually weakened or is tainted by the evil aura of other evil creatures, or even if they devoutly chant the name of that Evil Spirit in their heart, according to what the Evil Spirit says, it will further strengthen this connection.

And when this connection grows strong enough, the true form of the Evil Spirit can gestate within the mark-bearer’s body, ultimately draining their flesh and blood before breaking out and truly descending upon this realm.

Moreover, the Evil Spirit Mark is not an ordinary spiritual imprint or Divine Soul mark; it is a mark that involves the level of rules.

The very basis of this mark’s existence is “Zhou Heng killed the Evil Spirit Li You.”

Of course, for an Evil Spirit of at least Celestial Man’s level, dying once, even truly dying, isn’t considered a serious matter.

In theory, unless one can erase the existence of this event at its source, as if it had never happened, it is impossible to eliminate the Evil Spirit Mark.

Even using the Wishing Pool to make a wish would require a large amount of virtuous deeds.

However, after centuries of struggle, the two leaders of the Zhou Tian Boundary Officers did find a solution.

They discovered that to penetrate into our world and leave a mark, the power and the theoretical nature of the Evil Spirit must necessarily be similar to an existing “Evil Path.”

If the person with the mark kills those who practice various evil arts derived from that Evil Path, it can weaken the corresponding Evil Spirit Mark, until it is completely eradicated.

“So, I should go and kill the members of the Plague Emperor Sect?” Zhou Heng suddenly laughed, saying, “It seems I indeed share a deep connection with the Plague Emperor Sect.”

From the test of joining the Pure Yang Palace to later beheading Ma Quan in Wujiang Prefecture city, all were related to the Plague Emperor Sect.

“Hmm, based on the description by the Ziwei Master, the theoretical nature of the Evil Spirit Li You should be similar to the original Evil Path of the Plague Emperor Sect,” The Supreme nodded and said.

“Based on past experience, the Evil Spirit Li You can only exhibit strength slightly greater than that of a common Peak of the Seventh Rank. This Evil Spirit Mark should also be relatively easy to eliminate,” Celestial Man pondered briefly and smiled. “Killing about ten at the Peak of the Seventh Rank or one Secret Sixth Rank should be enough.”

“This… The Ziwei Master seems to have just entered the Seventh Rank,” Fang Ritu, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly spoke up with some concern. “Ten at the Peak of the Seventh Rank or even a Secret Sixth Rank from the Plague Emperor Sect, who are adept in using poison and deceit, could that be a bit difficult?”

“Haha, you needn’t worry about that.” The Supreme laughed, “With the Ziwei Master’s strength, killing ten at the Peak of the Seventh Rank is as easy as turning the palm of your hand, not a difficult feat. However, if you encounter a Secret Sixth Rank, I ask that the Ziwei Master proceed with caution and not force the issue.”

“I understand,” replied Zhou Heng with a nod.

“…” Fang Ritu fell silent upon hearing this, her expression under the mask one of astonishment.

She wasn’t familiar with the strength of Zhou Heng, the newly joined Ziwei Master, but hearing the implications and descriptions from The Supreme and Celestial Man, he seemed powerfully extraordinary.

“By the way, I have another question,” Zhou Heng suddenly spoke up, once again addressing The Supreme and Celestial Man.

“Please ask, Ziwei Master,” The Supreme said with a smile.

“There’s no need to ask about the Battle of Tianyang,” Celestial Man was more direct and nodded towards The Supreme, “This old gentleman here won’t let me tell you.”

“Cough cough!” The Supreme coughed twice, “It’s not like I’ve made the rule.”

“I wouldn’t want to make it difficult for the two seniors,” Zhou Heng smiled and then said solemnly, “Since Evil Spirits can come to our world through some means,

“Can we go to other worlds?”