Words could not begin to describe how agitated Fan Xiaoxu felt at that very moment.
He had guessed that Zhang Xuan was an Ancient Sage, but he did not think that the other party would be that powerful among the Ancient Sages. After all, if the other party was truly that powerful, there should not have been any need for the other party to borrow his identity in order to get into the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism.
But at that very moment, the sheer might he produced seemed to be too great for even the heavens to contain. It was as if he was a being that had risen above the rules of the world!
Peng peng peng!
As the two of them crossed blows with one another, lacerations emerged one after another in the sky. The folded space containing the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism was placed under huge strain, and it seemed as if the entire folded space would collapse at any moment.
“H-he’s Zhang Xuan? You actually competed with him back then?” Zhong Qing gulped down a mouthful of saliva as he turned to look at Nangong Yuanfeng.
“Back then, he passed himself off as a member of the Luo Clan, assuming the name of Luo Tianya. However, based on what I heard afterward, he’s indeed Zhang Xuan…” Nangong Yuanfeng nodded as he could not help but tremble in the face of Zhang Xuan’s incredible might.
It had at most been just a few months since he had last seen the young man, right?
When in the world did he become so powerful?
Not even the great Ancient Sage Yan Qing possessed such tremendous strength! If this was the power that the young man had wielded back then, he could have been killed with just a simple flick of the young man’s finger. It seemed like the young man had truly been merciful to him!
Si la!
In his moment of shock, the fighting duo had already torn through the space of the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism and vanished from sight.
The next moment, the two of them were standing above a vast mountain range.
Over there, the examinees who had just cleared the test were trying their best to decipher the formation on the jade tokens that they had been given when a loud rumble suddenly echoed in the sky. They raised their heads, and they were welcomed with a sight that they would never forget in their entire life.
Two experts bathed in lightning were clashing intensely with one another. Every strike from them made the entire world tremble. It was almost as if the end of the world had arrived!
One of them had a head completely bathed in crimson blood, and he had a frenzied expression on his face that looked as if he would blow up from all of the rage that he had accumulated within. On the other hand, the other young man had a composed smile on his lips, and he brandished the sword in his grasp with grace.
“Are the two of them Ancient Sages?”
“There’s probably no one in the world who commands such tremendous strength other than the Ancient Sages!”
“But why would the two Ancient Sages be fighting with one another? It looks as if they are fighting one another to the death!”
“I don’t know either. They might have some grudge with one another…”
A huge commotion broke out beneath.
With fists clenched tightly by their sides, the examinees stared at the majestic battle unfolding before them with envy in their eyes.
This was what they had been cultivating all their lives for!
From the moment they took the first whiff of spiritual energy into their body and converted it into zhenqi, it had already become their lifelong pursuit to acquire greater strength.
The tremendous strength that was right before their eyes could be said to be their terminal goal. It represented the top of the world to them.
“Don’t you dare hurt our teacher!”
At this moment, two voices reverberated in the air before two youths younger than them rushed into the air.
The lightning in the air immediately became even more intense.
Astonishingly, the person with his head bathed in blood was able to stand his ground even when faced with three opponents simultaneously. After crossing several blows, the two youths who had just joined the fray were sent crashing to the ground.
“You aren’t a match for him, so don’t come over anymore. Don’t worry; leave him to me!” Zhang Xuan said.
At the same time, he flicked his wrist and leaped into a dimension rift, disappearing from sight.
“Where do you think you’re going?” The deity immediately chased after Zhang Xuan, determined not to allow the latter get away.
Just like that, the two of them vanished from sight.
If not for the countless lacerations in space left in the sky as a result of their fight, they would have thought that everything that they had seen a moment ago was just a dream.
…
“You said that they are very likely powerful experts?”
The head of the Stone Village looked at the village belle, Xiu Ru, and he shook his head. “How could that be possible? If they are really as powerful as you’ve made them out to be, do you think that it’s possible for them to maintain such politeness with us and even offer to compensate us for the losses in our fields?”
It was as if the village belle’s mind had not been working right ever since she returned from the short journey with those three guests. As soon as she returned, she had gone around telling everyone that the three guests that had been there not too long ago were actually Saint realm experts.
Of course, there was no one in the Stone Village who would believe such ludicrous news.
There was no way that a Saint realm expert would be so courteous to them, going to the extent of offering to compensate for their losses. Besides, if they were really Saint realm experts, they could have just flown all the way to Fan City! Why would they waste their time riding on Xiu Ru’s tamed aerial spirit beast?
In their view, Saint realm experts were domineering and authoritative. They were beings so far above them that even crossing them would have warranted the death penalty. They simply could not imagine an amiable Saint realm cultivator!
“It’s true. Why won’t any of you believe me? I saw them flying in the sky without any external support with my own eyes, and they flew at an incredible speed!” Xiu Ru exclaimed in exasperation.
It was so frustrating to see everyone acting as if she was blabbering gibberish.
She was certain that she had seen the three of them vanishing right before her eyes! While she had found it unbelievable at first, she was convinced that they were definitely Saint realm experts!
Had she known that they were Saint realm experts right from the start, she would not have acted so haughtily. Instead, she would have humbly asked for their guidance in her cultivation.
“I know that you have great ambitions in mind, but Saint realm experts only exist within major clans. People like us will never get a chance to see them at all…” The village head sighed deeply as he tried to console Xiu Ru.
But at that very moment, the deafening rumbling of thunder filled the air.
Everyone quickly raised their heads, and what came into their sights were two figures shrouded in lightning.
They were crossing blows intensely with one another, and every strike they dashed out tore the fabric of space apart, causing dark rifts to appear all around the surroundings.
“Isn’t that young man…”
Recognizing one of the two figures in the sky, the villagers widened their eyes in shock.
It was certain that the young man equipped with a spear fighting in the air was the person whom they had welcomed into their village not too long ago!
The village belle had just said that they could very well be Saint realm experts, and they had thought that it was ridiculous. But what they were witnessing had already far exceeded what Saints or even Great Sages could achieve!
“H-he… He is actually an Ancient Sage!” The village head felt his throat turning dry as he spoke.
Even though they were only ordinary villagers who were unqualified to cultivate, they did hear a fair bit about the various cultivation realms and the strength that they commanded.
Not even the esteemed Great Sages in the top echelon of the Hundred Schools of Philosophers could summon such tremendous might. The young man in the sky was definitely an Ancient Sage, and a very powerful one at that!
“I actually journeyed together with an Ancient Sage… But not only did I neglect to learn from him, I even… scorned him?” The village belle, Xiu Ru, nearly burst into tears at the realization.
For the longest time, she had desired to acquire higher cultivation techniques to advance her cultivation, but when the opportunity presented itself, she had actually allowed it to slip through her fingers due to her arrogance.
Even though she was highly-regarded in the village, she knew that someone of her caliber would never be able to catch the sight of an Ancient Sage.
In an instant, her guts turned green from regret.
…
On that very day, almost everyone in the Hundred Schools of Philosophers witnessed the intense fight in the sky between those two top experts, and their silhouettes were imprinted deep in their minds.
Even tens of thousands of years later, the incident would remain an undying legend.
Why can’t I find anywhere that’s empty? Zhang Xuan frowned with a troubled look on his face.
He did not run about just to show off his strength; it was just that he was unable to find a sufficiently remote place to release all of his finishers at once. The world that the Hundred Schools of Philosophers lived in was simply too crowded!
He did not like the idea of exposing his trump cards even to his own comrades.
Thus, he could only continuously retreat while fending the deity off.
Some time later, they finally arrived at a relatively empty mountain range.
“Finally…” Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
It seemed like effort did pay off in the end.
He quickly threw down a bunch of formation flags and sealed the surroundings so as to prevent his aura from leaking out.
“Oh? You aren’t going to run anymore? I assume that you have resigned yourself to your fate,” the deity scoffed when he saw that the young man was not escaping anymore.
He had not been blindly chasing Zhang Xuan around. During his pursuit, he had been able to fully ascertain the extent of Zhang Xuan’s abilities, and he was confident that he would be able to kill the latter easily as long as the latter stopped running away.
“Resigned myself to my fate? Aren’t you jumping too quickly to conclusions? Well, it just happens that I have a twin brother who wishes to meet you…”
As Zhang Xuan said those words, he flicked his wrist.
Hu!
A figure identical to Zhang Xuan appeared right next to him.
