Zhang Xuan was extremely unhappy.
It was out of goodwill that he had come over to help nourish Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit so that the latter could deal with whatever trouble he was facing. It was one thing for them not to compensate him, but they even launched an attack against him on top of that.
If not for his swift reaction, he would have already been dead by now!
Was this how the Combat Master Hall treated their benefactor?
“Y-you…”
While Zhang Xuan was fuming, Hall Master Xing and the others widened their eyes in shock, unable to speak a single word.
Of the three of them, there was one who had reached Half-Leaving Aperture realm while the other two were at Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle. With the three of them attacking in collaboration with one another, even a Saint 5-dan primary stage expert could easily have been taken down if caught off guard.
The young man was only at Saint 1-dan pinnacle, but he had still managed to escape from their encirclement unharmed. The combat sense and reflexes he had displayed had surpassed any one of them there!
And more importantly… he was actually able to control the formations in the Heart Division!
Wasn’t only the head of the Heart Division able to control them?
“That should be our question instead! Speak, what is your motive for infiltrating our Combat Master Hall?” After recovering from his shock, Division Head Liao harrumphed coldly. Flicking his wrist, he took out a token.
The token was the symbol of authority of the Heart Division, and it was also the key to controlling the formations within it.
Huala!
A flash of light burst from the token, and the frozen palm print abruptly shook free from its restraints. With a resounding explosion, it burst forth once more.
“Humph!” Sneering coldly, Division Head Liao was waiting for the palm print to fall upon Zhang Xuan when it suddenly switched direction and headed toward the three of them.
Hong long!
Astonished, the trio hurriedly retreated to dodge the palm strike. The palm print eventually struck the ground, creating a huge depression beneath it. At the same time, innumerable cracks crept across the ground within the room.
Amid an intense gale that burst forth from the palm strike, the fruits on Hall Master Xing’s head fell to the ground amid resounding ‘plops’.
“Division Head Liao, how in the world are you controlling your formation?”
Cloaked with a layer of dust, Division Head Wei roared furiously. At the same time, he gathered his zhenqi into his clenched fist and sent a powerful punch right toward Zhang Xuan.
The might of the palm burst forth, crushing down in Zhang Xuan’s direction.
“Humph!” Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up as he stood his ground.
Hu!
Before the punch could connect, it made an abrupt U-turn and returned right back at Division Head Wei himself.
“What?” Shocked, Division Head Wei quickly thrusted his palm forward to ward off the might of his punch. Nevertheless, he was still forced to retreat eight steps, and a numbing sensation engulfed his arm. The impact had also jolted his zhenqi, causing him to sustain some internal injuries.
He had exerted his full might in the previous punch, and it seemed like the formation had further enhanced the strength of the punch before sending it back. With his last moment defense, he inevitably ended up suffering some injuries from the encounter.
Pale-faced, Division Head Wei roared furiously, “Liao Bujin, what the hell are you doing?”
With his eye of discernment, it was apparent that it was the Heart Division’s formation that caused his attack to turn against him. Given that Liao Bujin was the head of the Heart Division, it went without saying that he was the one who wielded absolute control over its formations. Yet… why was he helping the enemy instead?
“I have no idea! It is as if… he has obtained higher control rights over the formations than me…” Division Head Liao narrowed his eyes in horror.
The formations in the Heart Division were left behind by the founder of the Heart Division, and its control rights were determined by a strict hierarchy. In fact, the head of the Heart Division was not chosen by nomination, but by whether one was able to control the formations of the Heart Division or not.
Back then, it was because he had bested the other elders in terms of his control over the formations that he had been given the token, thus becoming the head of the Heart Division.
Under normal circumstances, with the token in hand, there should have been no one in the Combat Master Hall who could surpass him in terms of control over the formations, and this included the hall master. So, how could the young man be able to supersede his control so easily? This should have been impossible!
Seeing through the situation, Hall Master Xing turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, “How did you manage to obtain higher control rights over the Heart Division’s formations than Division Head Liao?”
However, Zhang Xuan was in no mood to answer their questions at this point. With an incredibly dark face, he said in a chilly tone, “It’s under your invitation that I came here to nourish your Primordial Spirit. While some mishap happened in the midst of it, it’s due to Division Head Wei abruptly barging into the room despite my warnings beforehand. I’m sure it should be apparent that I bear no ill intentions. Yet, not only did you not reciprocate my favor, you even turned around and assaulted me. Why?”
Zhang Xuan’s voice gradually grew colder and colder. As he spoke, he slowly walked step by step down from the sky.
With every step that he took, the pressure that Hall Master Xing and the others felt intensified by a notch. After several steps, they felt as if they were shouldering an entire mountain, causing their legs to tremble uncontrollably. Cold sweat trickled ceaselessly down their faces.
This immense pressure came from the formations of the Heart Division!
Given that the other party was in control of the formations, he could easily kill all of them as long as he willed it to happen!
“I asked why!” Zhang Xuan roared once more furiously.
Huala!
Unable to withstand it any longer, the trio collapsed to the ground. A stifling sensation choked them, and blood spurted from their mouths.
Zhang Xuan was truly furious this time around.
He had always acted by the principles that he deeply believed in. He did not think that he was a noble and selfless person, but at the very least, he had never done anything that went against his conscience. Even though a mishap did happen, it was a fact that he had helped to perfect Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit. And yet, these three combat masters had actually made an attempt on his life!
And it was an attempt that was completely devoid of mercy! If it was not for his swift reflexes, he would have been dead already!
He had been trying his best to find a way to resolve Hall Master Xing’s condition, and yet, they actually attempted to kill him without rationalizing the situation!
“You are asking why even though you have tried to kill our hall master?” Division Head Liao spat indignantly as he tightened his grip around the token in his hand, wanting to wrestle back control over the formation. However, it was to no avail.
Before the other party, it was as if his token as a mere toy. Putting aside controlling the formation, he found that he was even unable to feel it at all. This was how absolute the other party’s control over the formation was.
“Kill your hall master? If I really wanted to kill him, do you think that he would still be alive and kicking now?” Zhang Xuan sneered coldly as he flung his sleeves furiously.
Peng!
A powerful force struck Division Head Liao, and his body crashed heavily into the wall. He was completely helpless before the power of the Heart Division’s formation.
In truth, even though Zhang Xuan’s cultivation was only at Saint 1-dan, he still could have easily destroyed Hall Master Xing’s Primordial Spirit earlier on. There was no need for him to go to such lengths to do it.
As such, when he heard Division Head Liao replying him with such a ridiculous reason, he could not hold back his temper any longer.
Seeing that his companion was wounded, Division Head Wei clenched his jaws furiously. “With more than a hundred inner demons in your heart, do you honestly expect us to believe that you wanted our hall master to bare his Primordial Spirit out of goodwill?”
Considering how the wall had turned so dark after the other party had entered the Trial of Inner Demons, it was apparent to see that he harbored malicious intentions at heart. No matter how he tried to reason his actions, they were bound to be excuses!
“Inner demons?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
He had not really thought that the trio would attempt to kill him for such a reason.
“So that’s why you attacked me?” Zhang Xuan gazed down on them coldly. “Those inner demons aren’t mine. I was assaulted by the Sky Bearing Bandit Cang Xu back at the Spirit Awakener Guild, and a sliver of his soul ended up latching onto me. It was his soul that resulted in the congregation of inner demons.”
If it had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have bothered to waste his words. He would have just pummeled them straight to vent his anger and return some sense back into their heads.
However, he was in the Combat Master Hall, and as the principal of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, his actions were representative of the entire organization. Given that the Xuanxuan Faction was going to have an exchange with the Combat Master Hall very soon, it could prove to be very troublesome later on if he beat up the hall master and two division heads.
The other party might even vent their anger on his students.
Considering that they were in Qingyuan City, the other party’s home turf, he had no choice but to hold himself back.
“Cang Xu?” Hall Master Xing and the others were stunned to hear that name.
He had heard how the fellow was stomped to death by the guild building.
If one had to compile a list of the ten most unforgivable criminals in Qingyuan Empire, that fellow would definitely have been on the list.
“Indeed. I have already killed that fellow and taken down all of the inner demons.” Zhang Xuan harrumphed coldly. “If I really have hundreds of inner demons, do you think that I could walk out from the Trial of Inner Demons perfectly fine?”
“This…” The trio froze.
The other party was right. If those inner demons were indeed his, even with the safety measures in the formation, he would still have been driven to a state of near insanity by the simultaneous onslaught of the inner demons!
Considering how the other party was in a completely rational state, capable of making astute judgements in battle and analyzing the situation keenly… it did appear that he was unfazed by the inner demons.
Zhang Xuan gazed down on Hall Master Xing coldly. “Besides, if I really intend you harm, do you think that I would have entered the Trial of Inner Demons just to cause problems for myself?”
“To deal with our hall master, it’s natural that you would have to gain our trust first. You could have known of the existence of the Trial of Inner Demons beforehand and made countermeasures against it, only for the countermeasures to fail halfway through the trial,” argued Division Head Liao.
If possible, they would not doubt their benefactor either. However, when they thought back about what had happened, everything seemed too coincidental to be true.
Just as they were about to find a powerful spirit awakener, he suddenly appeared in the Spirit Awakener Guild. It should have only been an ordinary spirit enchantment, but it ended up turning Hall Master Xing into a flowering cactus.
It was not to say that the points raised by the other party did not make sense, but there were still too many doubtful points for them to simply accept it as it was.
It was due to these doubts that they harbored that they were swiftly convinced that the other party was up to no good upon finding out that there were so many inner demons in the other party’s heart.
“Alright then. Let’s take a step back and not debate whether I would have to win your trust before dealing with your hall master. With just my control over the Heart Division’s formations, do you think that anyone will be able to stop me if I attempt to kill the three of you?” Placing his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan spoke with the utmost arrogance.
So what if they were combat masters?
With the many formations of the Heart Division under his control, he was the sole sovereign within this space!
If he wanted to make a move, he could have easily killed the trio without anyone being any the wiser.
Hearing those words, the trio fell silent.
That was indeed true.
Perhaps the other party might still have needed to resort to schemes beforehand, but with the formations of the Heart Division now under his absolute control, there was no need for him to waste his breath on them.
Seeing that the trio was unable to speak a word, Zhang Xuan continued. “Hall Master Xing, if I’m not mistaken, your Primordial Spirit suffered significant damage in the past, right?”
“That’s right… Twenty-five years ago, I fought with an Otherworldly Demon King in the Subterranean Gallery and ended up being wounded by him,” Hall Master Xing replied.
There were quite a few people within the Combat Master Hall who were aware of the wounds his Primordial Spirit had suffered. Back then, his injuries were so severe that he had nearly lost his life. He was unconscious for three whole years, and if not for the relentless effort of the old guild leader of the Physician Guild, he might have just passed away back then.
However, it was a pity that the old guild leader suddenly went missing after saving him, leaving him unable to repay the other party’s favor.
That had become a huge regret of his.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan began explaining with a softened tone. “The damage sustained by your Primordial Spirit has ended up leaving behind a huge rift in it. I used my spirit enchantment to help cover up your rift, but Division Head Wei entered at that crucial moment, and your awakening Primordial Spirit ended up ejecting my consciousness from your mind. After which, while you were attacked by the inner demons, the enchanted spirit ended up fusing completely with your Primordial Spirit, thus resulting in that weird form of yours. It’s indeed my fault for not explaining things to you earlier, but it was definitely not my intention to harm you.”
“This…” Hall Master Xing’s face paled.
He had felt his Primordial Spirit becoming much more wholesome than before, but as he had not done a thorough check, he didn’t notice that the rift had been healed. Upon hearing Zhang Xuan’s words, he hurriedly looked inwardly to check on his Primordial Spirit, and a moment later, his eyes widened in astonishment and delight.
“You treated… the rift in my Primordial Spirit?” Hall Master Xing asked hoarsely. He could hardly believe what had happened to him.
The huge rift in his Primordial Spirit had become a huge bottleneck for his cultivation. He had sought many formidable physicians due to that matter, but all of them were helpless before that issue.
Twenty years had passed, and he had already given up hope.
The reason he intended to challenge the Trial of Inner Demons was in hopes that perhaps that highest secret art could repair that wound of his. Although, to be honest, he did not harbor much hope for that either.
He had thought that his cultivation would be capped at this level for his entire life, and never had he thought that the spirit awakener before him would actually successfully repair his Primordial Spirit. How could he have made an attempt on the life of his great benefactor?
Millman: published slightly early because the system’s timer is dumb 😀
