It was already hard enough to deal with a single Qingtian Emperor, and dealing with two of them simultaneously was nearly impossible. As such, Zhang Xuan had slowly made the necessary preparations. First, he had his clone conceal himself in the hall before retreating again and again so as to make the Qingtian Emperors lower their guard, as well as to lure them where he wanted them.
The final explosion served as a distraction for the duo, buying sufficient time for his clone to launch an assault.
It sounded simple on the surface, but it was actually much more complex than it sounded. In order to put up a convincing act to fool the Qingtian Emperors, he had needed to carefully decide which techniques he should use, how far he should escape, where he should stop, and from which angle his clone should launch his assault to not be noticed.
It was only due to such careful calculation that the plan worked out in the end.
At the same time, it was also fortunate that his clone had been cultivating hard in recent days, granting it strength far greater than the main body, allowing it to destroy the bodies of the two Qingtian Emperors with ease.
Otherwise, with just him and the Golden Origin Cauldron, the chances of victory would have been extremely slim.
“Damn it!”
The corpses of the Qingtian Emperors fell to the ground with a loud ‘plop’. Following which, with a furious roar, two souls oracles rose from the two bodies.
The Primordial Spirits of the Qingtian Emperors!
Astonishingly, the division was not just limited to the Qingtian Emperor’s body—even his Primordial Spirit had split in two as well!
Boom!
As soon as the two Primordial Spirits appeared, the surrounding air suddenly seemed to have grown even more viscous, as if one was standing in quicksand. Putting aside making a move, just remaining upright would have been a struggle for any ordinary cultivator!
As soul oracles, the Primordial Spirits of the Qingtian Emperors were far stronger than their bodies, allowing them to exert strength far greater than before.
Hu!
All of a sudden, the two Primordial Spirits suddenly began fusing back together.
It appeared that the Qingtian Emperor’s Art of Cloning had become unstable with the destruction of both of the bodies, making it difficult for the Primordial Spirits to maintain their divided form.
The fusion was completed in an instant.
Seeing how his advantage had been lost, the Qingtian Emperor’s face turned incredibly livid. With a wrathful bellow, he charged toward Zhang Xuan once more. “You bastard, how dare you destroy my body? I’ll make you pay the price for your actions!”
He had thought that he would have been able to kill Zhang Xuan with ease once he activated his trump card, the Art of Cloning. Yet, not only did he fail to kill that brat, his physical body had even ended up being destroyed in the process. At this moment, the sheer frustration and rage in his mind were enough to make him erupt.
If he had only been angry at Zhang Xuan for undoing his many years of efforts and preparations before, at this very moment, there was nothing else in his mind but the overwhelming loathing he had for Zhang Xuan.
Before the other party’s threat, Zhang Xuan simply chuckled leisurely. “Is that the only line you know? You have already said it quite a few times, but aren’t I still alive and kicking over here? Cut the crap.”
Not even bothering to avoid the Qingtian Emperor’s attack, he thrust his palm forward instead.
Tzzzzzzzz!
As soon as the Qingtian Emperor’s Primordial Spirit came into contact with Zhang Xuan’s palm, a sizzling reminiscent of metal coming into contact with sulfur filled the hall. In the blink of an eye, a massive hole had been corroded open in the center the Qingtian Emperor’s Primordial Spirit.
“Ahhh!” The Qingtian Emperor cried in agony as he hurriedly retracted his hand. At the same time, he stared at Zhang Xuan with a disbelieving look. “Y-you…”
Even back when he was in his physical body, he had still managed to overpower Zhang Xuan easily, but he had unfortunately been done in by the young man’s schemes in the end. Given that, he should have been able to deal with the young man even more easily now that he was in his Primordial Spirit form. Yet… why would it turn out like that? Why did his Primordial Spirit end up being corroded instead?
“If you were just an ordinary Primordial Spirit, I might not have been able to deal with you so easily. But since you are a soul oracle, I happen to have a hundred ways to end your life…” Paying no heed to the other party’s shock, Zhang Xuan smirked haughtily as he swiftly shrouded the entire hall with his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, not intending to give the Qingtian Emperor any opportunity to escape at all.
Typically speaking, with his current strength, he should not have been a match for the Primordial Spirit of a Leaving Aperture realm advanced stage cultivator. However, the Qingtian Emperor just happened to be a soul oracle, resulting in the yin energy in his Primordial Spirit being far more concentrated compared to ordinary Primordial Spirits… and the Heaven’s Path zhenqi happened to be the very nemesis of that!
Just as a metal hammer would eventually be corroded into nothing no matter how hard it pounded on sulfur, as powerful the Qingtian Emperor might have been, there was no way he stood a chance against the Heaven’s Path zhenqi!
“Damn you…” The Qingtian Emperor glared at Zhang Xuan coldly.
At this moment, he finally realized how far he had screwed up. With his superior strength, he had wielded the decisive advantage at the very start of the battle, but with the scheming of the young man, his advantage had gradually been lost throughout the course of the battle, and now, he was in the weaker position.
Glancing at the zhenqi shrouding the entire hall, his face turned ghastly pale.
At this point, while he could not understand the reason behind it, he had already come to realize that the zhenqi in the area had the ability to corrode his Primordial Spirit. If he attempted to charge out of the encirclement, he would only wear himself thin and worsen his position.
“Even if I die here, I’ll bring you down with me!” Gritting his teeth furiously, the Qingtian Emperor roared furiously as he focused his soul energy together and charged at Zhang Xuan once more.
At this point, it was already a do or die situation. If he could kill the young man before his Primordial Spirit corroded into nothing, he might still stand a chance at survival.
Even if he did die in the end, he would never be able to rest in peace if he did not bring the young man down with him!
Boom!
Exerting his full strength once more, the Qingtian Emperor cast another Spatial Seal around Zhang Xuan, restricting the latter’s movements.
“You sure are a resilient insect. I guess the Emperors of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe aren’t just for show after all,” Zhang Xuan remarked coldly as he released a powerful burst of zhenqi, breaking the Spatial Seal around him. After which, he swiftly raised his palm to face the Qingtian Emperor’s assault.
Tzzzzzzzzzz!
That palm strike infused with the Heaven’s Path zhenqi swiftly clashed with the Qingtian Emperor’s Primordial Spirit, producing yet another series of sizzling sound.
“Ahhh!” With a cry of agony, the Qingtian Emperor’s Primordial Spirit shrunk significantly.
“Damn it! Damn it, damn it!” Gritting his teeth tightly, the Qingtian Emperor cursed furiously.
The greatest trump card of a Leaving Aperture realm expert was their control over the environment, allowing them to limit the movements of their enemies. Yet, for some reason, the young man was able to break his Spatial Seal easily as if it was nothing at all.
With a swift motion, the Qingtian Emperor distanced himself away from Zhang Xuan. After which, he gathered his energy on his fingertip before blasting it toward Zhang Xuan.
He was thinking that as long as he could distance himself from the young man, it would be more difficult for the young man’s zhenqi to get to him.
Weng!
The burst of energy from the Qingtian Emperor was incredibly concentrated, and it traveled so quickly that its motion was hardly discernible with the eye.
Peng!
As expected, Zhang Xuan failed to withstand the burst of energy, and it struck him squarely in his chest, sending him flying into the distance.
Using the same method, the Qingtian Emperor also sent Zhang Xuan’s clone flying as well.
Without his Heaven’s Path zhenqi to suppress the Qingtian Emperor’s strength, there was no way Zhang Xuan would be able to face the Leaving Aperture realm advanced stage soul oracle head on.
Seeing how the Qingtian Emperor was able to come up with a countermeasure against him so quickly, Zhang Xuan’s face turned grim. As expected of an old monster who has lived for countless years, he sure does react swiftly!
While using his Heaven’s Path zhenqi to heal his injuries, he swiftly reanalyzed his current situation.
The further he spread out his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, the less concentrated it would be. While it was true that he would be able to defeat the Qingtian Emperor if he just bombard the entire hall with his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, the problem with that was that the consumption of zhenqi would be insane as well. He might very well deplete his entire zhenqi reserves for that.
Considering how he had not even met Vicious yet, depleting his zhenqi reserves at this point would likely be an unwise move.
What should I do? Zhang Xuan thought with a frown.
However, the Qingtian Emperor did not intend to grant him any time to think. With a furious roar, he sent another burst of energy toward him.
Wuuuuuuuu!
The sheer accumulation of power burst through the air, seemingly wanting to tear a hole through the world.
Having anticipated the move, Zhang Xuan easily dodged the attack with a swift side step. Just when he was about to counterattack, a thought suddenly came to his mind. A smile slowly crept up his lips, and he flicked his wrist.
Bam!
An altar fell onto the ground.
Zhang Xuan placed his palm on it lightly.
Hu la!
The inscriptions atop the altar swiftly lit up, and a powerful suction force began pulling the Primordial Spirit of the Qingtian Emperor in.
Feeling the powerful suction force pulling him in, the Qingtian Emperor widened his eyes in astonishment. What? Isn’t that the altar that I set up in Qingyuan City?
That was the altar that his clone had set up in Qingyuan City to kill master teachers and nab their souls. Who would have thought that the other party would actually bring it with him and even use it against him?
Supposedly, that altar could only be activated with the Zhenqi of Slaughter unique to Otherworldly Demons. Furthermore, the formation for it was extremely complicated. Even he would require much preparation in order to activate the altar once, and the energy consumption was massive. So how in the world did that fellow do it so easily?
Noticing something, the eyebrows of the Qingtian Emperor shot up in astonishment. Wait a moment, he’s using his own zhenqi to activate the altar?
The other party was actually using his own zhenqi to fuel the altar! Just how much zhenqi did he possess to squander it like that?
The Qingtian Emperor was convinced that Zhang Xuan would not be able to maintain the activation of the altar for too long, but as time passed, he found the suction power from the altar growing stronger and stronger. Eventually, he was unable to hold on anymore, and his Primordial Spirit was swiftly dragged all the way to the top of the altar.
The altar was crafted using a unique method from Vicious. Those whose soul or Primordial Spirit was still grounded by a physical body might have been able to withstand the suction force of the altar, but with only his Primordial Spirit remaining at the moment, the Qingtian Emperor stood no chance at all.
The Qingtian Emperor struggled furiously as he was helplessly dragged toward the altar, but it was to no avail. At this point, he suddenly saw two Zhang Xuans charging up to him before launching a furious barrage of attacks on him.
Elbow, palm strike, punch, kick… Every single possible attack that could be launched by a human rained down on him relentlessly.
“Damn it!” With a cry of anger, the Qingtian Emperor roared furiously as he released an overwhelming burst of energy with his full might.
That burst of energy had sapped his zhenqi and soul energy significantly, but it did free him from the suction of the altar. As soon as he broke free, he immediately stretched his claws toward Zhang Xuan to snap his neck.
But before his hands could reach, the two Zhang Xuans had already retreated a hundred meters away.
Naturally, the next course of action that the Qingtian Emperor would do was destroy the altar beneath him, but to his horror, the young man had already stowed the altar into his storage ring.
The Qingtian Emperor’s face immediately turned livid. He swiftly gathered his energy on his fingertips once more and launched a barrage of attacks on the two Zhang Xuans, only to see them whipping out the altar once more to activate it.
Huala!
He was swiftly dragged over, and the two Zhang Xuans charged over to pummel him.
“You bastard! I swear that I’ll rip you into pieces!” Feeling so furious that he could have exploded on the spot, the Qingtian Emperor tapped into the reserves of his strength and successfully broke free of the altar once more.
However, again, he found that the two fellows had already fled to somewhere even further away to activate the altar.
Padah!
He was pulled over once more, and yet another barrage of attacks fell on him.
The cycle continued a few more times, and the Qingtian Emperor’s Primordial Spirit grew smaller and smaller.
Feeling that he would dissipate at any moment, the Qingtian Emperor finally burst into tears.
How can there be someone that shameless in the world?
He had seen plenty of capable and powerful master teachers in his time, but this was the first time he was seeing someone as shameless as that!
