The shocked Ancient Sage Mo Ling swiftly turned his gaze toward Zhang Xuan, and what he saw left him even more flabbergasted.
At that very moment, Zhang Xuan was standing less than three meters away from Ancient Sage Lan Ya, but it was as if the latter could not see him at all. It was truly a baffling sight to him.
Ancient Sage Mo Ling quickly figured out what was going on.
It’s the work of the formation…
Due to his high cultivation, it would have been understandable if Ancient Sage Lan Ya had been unable to detect his presence if he hid himself. But the fact that Ancient Sage Lan Ya was unable to notice Zhang Xuan—despite being in close proximity to one another—could only mean to say that the formation was really overpowered!
Ancient Sage Mo Ling carefully extended his Spiritual Perception, wanting to see the principles behind the formation that concealed their presence. However, when his Spiritual Perception swept across Ancient Sage Lan Ya and Zhang Xuan, he astonishingly received no feedback at all. In other words, it was as if the two of them were illusions that did not exist in the world!
He could clearly see them with his eyes, but he could not perceive them with his Spiritual Perception…
Is this… a Spatial Formation?
Ancient Sage Mo Ling narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
He had long mastered Soul Traverse, and he could even pull others into folded spaces together with him, showing that his comprehension of spatial laws was not low at all. However, the Spatial Formation right before him had far surpassed whatever he had seen before.
For even Ancient Sages like them to be unable to detect or see through the Spatial Formation… could it be that Zhang Xuan had mastered the legendary Spatial Quintessence?
No wonder he was so confident in his formation. It turned out that he had the capability to back up his words.
It was laughable how, a moment ago, he had been wondering if Zhang Xuan was exaggerating his claim.
“Now!”
While Ancient Sage Mo Ling was still deep in thought, a voice sounded in his mind. He immediately raised the Soulcrushing Ruler in his grasp and sliced it across the air to strike Ancient Sage Lan Ya.
But before his offense could strike its target…
Putong!
Ancient Sage Lan Ya had already collapsed to the ground.
He was dead.
Seeing this, Ancient Sage Mo Ling anxiously turned his gaze toward Zhang Xuan, only to see the latter standing with a sinister saber in his grasp. With an embarrassed look on his face, the latter said, “My bad. I didn’t think that this fellow would be so weak, so I ended up killing him unintentionally…”
Knowing that the other party was an Ancient Sage, he had thought that it would require the collaboration of Vicious and Ancient Sage Mo Ling to slay the other party silently. Yet, who could have thought that all it would take was an Infernal Blacksaber to the other party’s heart?
To die without uttering any lines at all… this had to be the most pitiful death ever!
“Ancient Sage Lan Ya is an Ancient Sage 1-dan Bloodline Continuance realm expert. How could he have been killed so easily?”
Zhang Xuan was not the only one pondering over the matter. Ancient Sage Mo Ling also bore some doubts toward this peculiar outcome.
Even though Ancient Sage Mo Ling had never fought Ancient Sage Lan Ya before, many years of acquaintanceship allowed him to know roughly how powerful the latter was. With Zhang Xuan’s Sempiternal realm consummation cultivation, such a thing should not have been possible!
He could understand it if Zhang Xuan, paired with the Infernal Blacksaber, was able to escape or even put up a fight against Ancient Sage Lan Ya, but to actually kill the latter with a single strike… taking the life of an Ancient Sage was not such child’s play!
Could Ancient Sage Lan Ya possibly be faking it? Should he step forward and deal the other party a few strikes of his ruler?
With such thoughts in mind, Ancient Sage Mo Ling came out of his concealment and rushed over to Ancient Sage Lan Ya’s side. Scanning the latter’s body with his Spiritual Perception, his lips began twitching once more.
Ancient Sage Lan Ya… was indeed dead. His soul had dissipated, such that there was not the slightest bit of vitality left in his body.
“This is really bizarre…” Ancient Sage Mo Ling rubbed his glabella in frustration as he found himself unable to rationalize the situation before him.
Ancient Sages were beings who stood at the very top of the world, be it the Master Teacher Continent or the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. While Zhang Xuan had indeed landed a critical hit on the other party’s vitals, the other party should not have died that easily. To breathe his last breath without even saying a word or letting loose a scream…
It almost felt like a supernatural case.
“Could he possibly be a fake?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“No. I have known him for several thousand years now, and I would recognize him even if he was reduced to ashes. My guess is that he might have suffered some severe injuries that shook his foundation prior to this, such that he didn’t even wield a tenth of his usual strength,” Ancient Sage Mo Ling replied contemplatively.
Taking a closer look, he realized that Ancient Sage Lan Ya’s body was extremely feeble. It was faint at this point in time, but he could sense the scent of deterioration from the other party’s body.
It was apparent that the other party’s foundations had already been shaken. Even if they had not made a move, the other party was unlikely to have been able to live for long.
But… when he met Ancient Sage Lan Ya not too long ago, the latter had still been overflowing with energy. According to the other party’s triumphant bragging, it seemed like he was close to reaching Ancient Sage 2-dan too… How did he land himself in such a state all of a sudden?
Unable to figure out the cause behind the deterioration, Ancient Sage Mo Ling could only shake his head and turn back to Zhang Xuan. “What should we do now?”
“I’d planned on capturing him alive and conducting a Soul Search so that I could figure out Sovereign Chen Ling’s current condition and the location of the dragon blood. But since he’s already dead, I guess I have no choice but to drop the initial plan,” Zhang Xuan said bitterly.
He felt disappointed. He had prepared so many ways to deal with whatever Ancient Sage Lan Ya threw at them, but everything had been concluded so quickly that it felt like his diligence had gone to waste.
What a letdown!
“Do you still intend to disguise yourself as him?”
“Of course! How else am I going to get into the sleeping chamber?” Zhang Xuan replied.
With a thought, his bones and muscles began warping. Even his soul aura started to change into the likeness of the collapsed Ancient Sage Lan Ya.
Then, he took off Ancient Sage Lan Ya’s clothes and put them on himself. He did not forget to take Ancient Lan Ya’s storage ring and place it on his finger.
When Ancient Sage Mo Ling looked at Zhang Xuan once more, his heart could not help but jolt in amazement.
He had thought that the other party’s disguise would only stop at identical outer appearances, but it was far more elaborate than that. Be it in terms of gestures, disposition, soul aura, or even the state of mind, the person standing before him was Ancient Sage Lan Ya. If not for the naked corpse lying right next to them, he would have really been fooled by the disguise!
This was truly an eyeopener!
Paying no heed to Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s astonishment, Zhang Xuan calmly asked, “Where would Ancient Sage Lan Ya normally take the spring water?”
“He would usually enter the sleeping chamber. As for exactly where he would go and what he would do, I’m afraid that I don’t really know,” Ancient Sage Mo Ling replied.
“I see. I should head over to the sleeping chamber and take a good look at it!” Zhang Xuan said as his eyes lit up in excitement.
Since it was part of Ancient Sage Lan Ya’s daily routine to enter the sleeping chamber, he could walk right in without any fear.
With a wave of his hand, he took out the gourd that Ancient Sage Lan Ya had prepared in his storage ring and filled it with the clear spring water.
After that was done, Zhang Xuan turned to look at Ancient Sage Mo Ling and said, “It’ll be too dangerous for you to follow me into the sleeping chamber, so I’ll just head in alone!”
As Sovereign Chen Ling harbored some doubts toward Ancient Sage Mo Ling, it would be hard for the latter to enter the sleeping chamber together with him. Since that was the case, it would be more convenient for him to proceed alone.
Otherwise, it was likely that they would be doubted and dealt with as soon as they entered the sleeping chamber.
“But that’s too dangerous! Something might happen to you!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling exclaimed worriedly.
Zhang Xuan’s cultivation was only at Sempiternal realm consummation. Based on what he knew about the sleeping chamber, there were at least three Ancient Sages stationed in the area. If someone noticed that Zhang Xuan was an impersonator, he would be killed without any doubt!
“Don’t worry. If anything really happens, I’ll send a signal for you to rush in and save me,” Zhang Xuan said with a smile as he threw Ancient Sage Lan Ya’s body into his storage ring.
The body of every Ancient Sage was a treasure, so he could not allow it to go to waste.
Ancient Sage Mo Ling also knew that his current position was a little awkward, and attempting to forcefully tag along would only bring them greater trouble. Thus, he hesitantly agreed with a slight nod.
Putting aside the fact that Zhang Xuan was the guild leader of the Soul Oracle Guild, just on the very basis that he was the most talented master teacher of the Master Teacher Continent, he could not allow any harm to come to the other party.
“Un!”
Having made his decision, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and walked out of the Hall of Sweetspring. He quickly recalled the outline of the palace before heading in the direction of the sleeping chamber.
