Chapter 312: Chapter 186: With a Single Slash, Mountains and Rivers Shatter

SWISH~

A wisp of Powerful Qi, sharp as a blade, shot out from Gu Zheng’s body.

SHHFFT!

The space before Gu Zheng instantly split open, revealing a fissure where a void of black wind swirled within.

Although the spatial fissure vanished in a flash, the ability itself was still terrifying.

Shattering Void!

A single, simple blast of Sword Qi could actually shatter the void!

This was the power one grasped after mastering *Ten Thousand Blades Heaven Slaughter*.

Shattering Void Sword Intent!

Mastering *Golden Thousand Blades* allowed one to grasp Spatial Blade Intent.

Mastering *Ten Thousand Blades Heaven Slaughter* allowed one to grasp Shattering Void Sword Intent!

According to the theory behind the True Skill, by channeling *Ten Thousand Blades Heaven Slaughter* at full power with a high-grade Spiritual Soldier-level Sword Artifact, a single slash could pulverize mountains and rivers for ten thousand li!

This was the theoretical peak of *Ten Thousand Blades Heaven Slaughter*’s power.

Shattering mountains and rivers for ten thousand li with a single slash!

As Gu Zheng delved deeper into his comprehension, fully grasping the mysteries of the *Ten Thousand Blades Heaven Slaughter* True Skill, he realized that shattering mountains and rivers was simply impossible at the Heroic Body Realm.

’The King’s Body Realm probably wouldn’t be enough either.’

’It seems only by advancing to the True Body Realm could I achieve the feat of shattering ten thousand li of mountains and rivers with a single slash.’

...

Spatial Blade Intent and Shattering Void Sword Intent.

With both types of Sword Intent related to space now fully under his command, Gu Zheng’s understanding and enlightenment of space rose to a whole new level.

The refining process for the Forbidden Sky Tower, which had been progressing slowly, was completed in a matter of breaths.

As for repairing the Heaven-piercing Halberd and recasting its Divine Weapon Spirit, Gu Zheng was clueless.

The birth of an Artifact Spirit was inherently complex and mysterious.

However, after refining and mastering the shattered Divine Weapon Core, a realization dawned on Gu Zheng.

Thunder Essence and Fire Soul!

He just needed to collect Thunder Essence and Fire Soul and place them near the Heaven-piercing Halberd. The Divine Weapon would absorb them and repair itself on its own.

But both Thunder Essence and Fire Soul were rare items.

The Thunder Stones Gu Zheng had previously obtained didn’t even qualify as "Thunder Essence."

This was a pain. He could only wait and rely on luck.

Although repairs were difficult, the innate sharpness of the Heaven-piercing Halberd as a Divine Weapon was completely unaffected.

Gu Zheng took out the Half-sized Divine Weapon he had retrieved from the Thunderous Bone Demon Fiend’s body and tried tapping it against the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

’Is it just my imagination, or does the Heaven-piercing Halberd feel inferior to the half-sized one?’

’Are there different grades among Divine Weapons?’

Gu Zheng was surprised and suspicious.

He then put away the Half-sized Divine Weapon and began dissecting the Giant Snake Ancient Demons with a swing of his Heaven-piercing Halberd.

Only the sharpness of a Divine Weapon could easily tear through the scale armor and sever the sinews of these Giant Snake Ancient Demons.

Gu Zheng stayed on Great Dragon Mountain, taking out the Giant Snake Ancient Demons from his Storage Pouch one by one to descale, skin, de-sinew, and butcher them.

He even collected the snake blood in wooden jars.

As he was busy...

SWOOSH!

A blurry afterimage flashed, and Pang Hu appeared out of thin air, crouching on a nearby rock. His azure eyes widened. "Mrow~!"

"What are you doing here?" Gu Zheng glanced at the Little Fatty Cat and continued to pull the sinew from a Giant Snake Ancient Demon.

The Little Fatty Cat had been staying in the county town ever since Gu Zheng’s last return.

Qingshi County Town had become several times livelier after its population grew.

There were acrobats, singers, people arguing, brawlers...

The Little Fatty Cat had been happily watching the excitement every day, overjoyed.

"Mroow~~"

Pang Hu patted the rock with his fleshy paws, a fawning look on his round face.

"It’s nothing. You can go back to playing," Gu Zheng replied without looking up.

Pang Hu, "Mrow?"

"Sure, eat whatever you... Wait a minute!"

Gu Zheng’s hands paused. He looked up at the Little Fatty Cat and asked strangely, "Are you saying you want to eat this snake meat?"

"Mrow!" Pang Hu nodded, licked his lips, and a greedy look appeared on his small, round face.

"Don’t you only like Exotic Insects?"

Gu Zheng leaned on his Heaven-piercing Halberd, studying the Little Fatty Cat. "Oh, right, and dried fish."

"Mrow~ Mrow!"

Pang Hu shook his head, then nodded again, patting the rock with his paws and wagging his tail back and forth.

"So it doesn’t have to be an Exotic Insect? As long as it’s tasty, or has enough Anomalous Power? It’s the Anomalous Power, right?" Gu Zheng sought confirmation.

"Mrow!" Pang Hu nodded.

"So, this Giant Snake meat contains a lot of Anomalous Power?"

"Mroow~ Mroow!"

"A *large* amount of Anomalous Power?" Gu Zheng was astonished. "These Giant Snakes are Ancient Demons. Do Ancient Demons also have some kind of Anomalous Power like Exotic Insects do?"

’What a new discovery.’

However, when Gu Zheng used Shadow to check, he couldn’t find this so-called Anomalous Power.

"Fine."

Gu Zheng gave up trying to sense it and gave his permission. "Go on, eat. Eat as much of the Giant Snake meat as you can."

"Mrow~!"

Pang Hu howled excitedly, his small, round face filled with joy.

In the next instant, he opened his mouth towards the pile of Giant Snake meat and took a sharp breath.

WHOOSH~ WHOOSH!

Visibly, piles of Giant Snake meat were pulled by an invisible force, transformed into balls of energy, and sucked into Pang Hu’s mouth.

The Little Fatty Cat’s body was only so big, while the Giant Snake meat was piled up like a mountain.

Yet right now, his mouth seemed to have become a bottomless pit, ceaselessly devouring the Giant Snake meat.

The meat from the ten Giant Snakes that Gu Zheng had already descaled, skinned, de-sinewed, and butchered was devoured by Pang Hu in just a few moments.

"Mrow!"

Pang Hu flicked his tail and hopped twice on the rock, his azure eyes growing even brighter.

"Are you... alright?"

Gu Zheng took a few steps forward and carefully examined the Little Fatty Cat’s belly.

There was no sign of bloating or expansion.

’All that Giant Snake meat was absorbed and digested instantly?’

"Mrow~ Mrow!"

Pang Hu wagged his tail, patted the rock with his paws, and meowed urgently.

"...You want more?"

Gu Zheng’s eyelid twitched. "Fine. You can eat your fill."

With that, he swung his Heaven-piercing Halberd and continued to process the remaining Giant Snake Ancient Demons.

Descaling, skinning, de-sinewing, draining blood, and butchering.

Having gotten the hang of it, the whole process unfolded quickly and methodically.

Plates of Snake Scale, strands of Snake Sinew, jars of snake blood, and chunks of snake meat...

...were sorted and piled up accordingly.

Pang Hu crouched to the side, his small, round face filled with excitement as he opened his mouth and inhaled continuously.

Chunk after chunk of snake meat turned into energy orbs, entered his mouth, and vanished into his belly.

By the time Gu Zheng had processed ninety percent of the Giant Snake Ancient Demons, Pang Hu finally stopped eating. He lay on the rock, his small body curled into a ball, shrouded in a hazy white light.

’No, to be precise, it was a constantly changing light.’

Because it wasn’t very conspicuous and flickered quickly, it only looked like a white glow.

Gu Zheng didn’t notice at first. It was only after he finished processing another Giant Snake Ancient Demon and tossed the meat onto the empty ground in front of Pang Hu that he saw the Little Fatty Cat was completely still.

He immediately put down his Heaven-piercing Halberd, strode over, and placed a hand on the Little Fatty Cat’s head.

To his touch, it felt like a feverish ball of flesh.

Using Shadow, he sensed that the Little Fatty Cat had fallen asleep—or rather, into a deep slumber.

’It’s accumulated enough Anomalous Power. Is it going to evolve, or level up?’

Gu Zheng wasn’t entirely surprised.

The Little Fatty Cat’s origins were mysterious, and Gu Zheng had long been prepared for something like this.

Now that it had devoured a huge amount of Giant Snake meat and entered a deep slumber, it would have a new form and demeanor when it woke up.

Simply put, it would be advancing from its juvenile stage to its growth stage, or perhaps even its adult form!

’Good thing I brought back so much Giant Snake meat.’

Gu Zheng glanced at the piles of Snake Scales, Snake Skins, and Snake Sinews. There wasn’t much meat left.

Gu Zheng decided to save what little was left for the fatty cat to eat when it woke up.

As for the Snake Scales, Snake Skins, and Snake Sinews, once they were cleaned and deodorized, he could forge them into armor!

...

Actually forging armor wasn’t easy for a novice.

Fortunately, Gu Zheng didn’t need to do much. The Snake Scales, Snake Skins, and Snake Sinews were all ready-made. He could skip the process of repeatedly forging the Armor Plates and just connect them together.

After consulting Ke Juzhen on the techniques for piecing together armor plates, Gu Zheng quickly finished crafting the first suit of Snake Scale Armor.

The Snake Scales, Snake Skin, and Snake Sinews were linked together to form the shape of the armor.

Yet it only weighed about ten kilograms.

For comparison, the Great Sun Armor weighed a full one hundred kilograms!

With the first suit a success, crafting the rest was just a matter of following the same steps.

After he had completely dismantled all the Giant Snake Ancient Demons, the resulting Snake Scales, Snake Skins, and Snake Sinews were enough to create exactly five hundred suits of Snake Scale Armor!

Having been busy for several days, Gu Zheng could finally relax a little.

Then, Gu Zheng sensed something was wrong.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pile of dust.

It was the powder left behind after using a Heaven-Covering Leaf.

’Someone performed Divination on me?’