Volume II: Travels in the State of Qi, Chapter 141: The Thousand-Mile Ear

"Very well, Zhang Heng, I shall leave the matter of the demonic energy to you for now. Find a way to handle it yourself."

As long as Dugu Bai took action, the problem should be considered solved. There is an old saying: brute force can break ten thousand spells. All schemes and intrigues are futile in the face of absolute power. And Dugu Bai was exactly that person—a man of absolute power. Although he had only just stepped into the Tribulation Transcendence stage, his understanding of the Sword Dao had reached its zenith. His strength was undoubtedly ranked among the top ten in the entire cultivation world.

"Old Wu, I will not let you down."

"By the way, kid, why didn't you save the Qi Emperor? He is a truly good monarch. Although you have the Sword Saint backing you, saving the Qi Emperor would surely bring you considerable benefits." Wu Hong was puzzled. How could one refuse such a golden opportunity?

"Old Wu, it's not that I don't want to save him; it's that Senior Dugu Bai won't let me," Zhang Heng said helplessly.

"Why?" In Wu Hong's impression, Dugu Bai was a kind-hearted man. Why would he prevent Zhang Heng from saving the Qi Emperor?

"Old Wu, the Sword Saint said that as the ruler of the Qi Kingdom, the Emperor’s status is transcendent. Now that the Yin God Sect has dared to strike at him—and with the involvement of the dreaded demonic energy—there must be a terrifying conspiracy afoot. We have no leads, so we can only wait for them to make the first move." Zhang Heng didn't really know what the system was thinking, but that was the gist of it.

Wu Hong understood instantly. "To meet all changes with immutability—as expected of Senior Dugu Bai. To think he could devise such a brilliant strategy."

Zhang Heng stood stunned. Wu Hong was a fifth-rank alchemist; who would have thought he would stoop to flattery?

"Very well, kid, I shall return now. Handle it yourself. If you truly need help, tell this old man. My strength may be lacking, but I’ve been refining pills for hundreds of years and I know quite a few people."

Wu Hong turned and slowly vanished into the night. Seeing that Wu Hong had believed him, Zhang Heng smiled. Dugu Bai’s name was truly useful. He secretly decided that whenever he did something others couldn't understand in the future, he would just say Dugu Bai told him to do it.

Zhang Heng’s mind was in a whirl, and he couldn't sleep, so he began to wander through the palace. The black mist was demonic energy, and the demons were entangled with so many things, even linked to the safety of the entire cultivation world. Zhang Heng knew that if this matter were handled poorly, it could lead to an indelible catastrophe. It was no wonder the "Super Thigh System" hadn't told him what the black mist was; something that could affect the entire cultivation world was indeed not something the current Zhang Heng should know. He was too weak, just a small pawn forced to carry so much. He truly didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, his thoughts were pulled back. He saw a black shadow flicker across the distant sky.

Zhang Heng hurriedly gave chase. *Someone is stealing in the palace?*

Although the figure was highly skilled, reaching the ninth stage of the Return to Void realm, they were within the palace walls and moving stealthily, so they dared not move too fast. Therefore, Zhang Heng, utilizing his "Minor Aurora Phantom" movement technique to its fullest, could barely keep up.

Using the Phantom Void Stone to seal his aura, Zhang Heng followed. After several twists and turns, the person stopped outside an alleyway. Inside the alley stood another person in a black robe and a mask, whose strength had reached the third stage of the Heaven Origin realm.

*Good grief, they're working in a group.*

Fortunately, Zhang Heng had the Phantom Void Stone; otherwise, he would surely have been discovered. He kept a great distance, watching their movements but unable to hear their conversation. He dared not move closer; the other person was a Heaven Origin expert, and it was unsafe.

At this moment, the voice of the Super Thigh System chimed in.

*Ding. The Phantom Void Stone can allow the host to hear their conversation.*

"R-really? How do I do it?" As expected of my system; it knows me so well.

*Ding. Simply expand the range covered by the Phantom Void Stone.*

"System brother, that's not right. If I cover those two with the Phantom Void Stone's range, won't they sense me?"

The system’s voice sounded disdainful. *Ding. The host is truly dim-witted. I am telling you to expand the range, not to envelop them. Just expand the range to their vicinity. As long as they remain outside the range of the stone, they will not sense the host. Furthermore, the host will still be able to hear them clearly through the stone's function.*

Seemingly afraid Zhang Heng wouldn't understand, the system explained in great detail this time.

"Alright, I understand." Zhang Heng focused his mind to expand the range of the stone.

But a moment later, he was stumped again. "System brother, what now?" Controlling the range of the Phantom Void Stone consumed massive amounts of spiritual energy. With his current cultivation, he could only expand the range to a radius of three feet. For safety, he was currently far away from them, so even expanding it a little was useless. He still couldn't hear a thing.

*Ding. This system seriously questions the host's intelligence. Just control the Phantom Void Stone to form a channel between you and the two of them. To put it simply, perform a directional expansion. Do you understand now?*

He had been scolded by the system again, but Zhang Heng had no time to argue. These two were hiding their faces and meeting in the dead of night; they were clearly plotting something evil. To maintain world peace, Zhang Heng decided to listen in.

He concentrated, keeping the spiritual energy steady in other directions while pushing a bit of power toward the two figures. Sure enough, he felt it; the range in that direction began to grow little by little.

*This is actually quite fun.* Zhang Heng smiled and carefully controlled the stone. Finally, as the "channel" reached the two, he heard their conversation clearly.

The ninth-stage Return to Void expert took an item from the third-stage Heaven Origin expert and said in shock, "R-really? Must we do this?"

The Heaven Origin expert seemed displeased and said coldly, "Do your job well and the rewards will be yours. If you disobey, I will kill you and find someone else who is obedient."

Hearing this, the ninth-stage expert grew terrified and nodded repeatedly. "Fine, I will do it."

The Heaven Origin expert snorted and vanished into the night sky. The other person took the item and flew off rapidly.

*Damn it! I spent all that time researching, and I missed the key information.* Zhang Heng felt frustrated. By the time he figured out how to use the stone, they had finished talking. He had listened to nothing.

The system’s voice sounded coldly in his mind. *Ding. This system knows what they said.*

Zhang Heng realized his mistake. *Right, doesn't this ghost of a system know everything?* It probably knew what they said, what they planned to do, who they were, and who their ancestors were for eighteen generations.

Zhang Heng felt annoyed. With a bitter face, he complained, "System brother, if you knew, why did you have me eavesdropping here?"

*Ding. This system was training the host in the use of the Phantom Void Stone.*

"Fine." Zhang Heng calmed down. Although he hadn't heard anything, he had learned a new skill for the Phantom Void Stone. "Since it can hear so far, I'll call you the 'Thousand-Mile Ear'."