Zhang Xuan looked at his direct disciples intently.
It was only a month for him, but it had been more than a year for them. He could see hints of maturity and determination on their youthful faces. At the same time, they had also advanced their cultivation significantly too.
They hadn’t let him down on his teachings.
“Let’s go!”
With a wave of his hand, all nine of them flew into the air simultaneously. Zhang Xuan touched his tamed beast sack with his finger lightly, and the Serpentine Dragon materialized in the air. It grew along with a powerful gale, and in the blink of an eye, it was already more than a hundred meters long.
Zhang Xuan and his disciples quickly got on top of it.
“A Pseudo Dragon?”
“Such a lifeform actually exists in the world?”
Innumerable people of Xuanjiang City saw the appearance of the dragon. From the initial shock, they quickly kneeled onto the ground one after another, not daring to raise their heads.
Pseudo Dragons had only appeared once in the history of the Forsaken Continent. It was expected that it would cause such a huge impact when it appeared once more.
“Pseudo Dragon…” Wu Jiangcheng felt even more like crying.
The appearance of this being reinforced the fact that it was indeed the most powerful man of the Forsaken Continent right in front of him.
He actually had the guts to question the other party’s direct disciples, not to mention, he even audaciously claimed that he was the other party’s teacher!
At this rate, he really should just find a brick and knock himself out with it!
Wu Jiangcheng trembled in fright, fearing that Sect Leader Zhang Xuan would harbor a grudge against him for his insolent behavior earlier.
At this moment, the voice in the air continued sounded once more, “Zhang Yuanwai, you have my gratitude for saving my nine direct disciples. As long as your descendants arrive at the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion with this token in hand, you can be assured that they would be entitled to the top resources of our sect.”
A token fell from the air and landed quietly atop Zhang Yuanwai’s palm.
“Thank you, Sect Leader Zhang!” Zhang Yuanwai bowed deeply in gratitude.
This token was pretty much a token of invulnerability in Xuanjiang City. No power or clan would dare to provoke him. At the same time, once he sent the descendant he had chosen to the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion with the token, it was guaranteed that his clan would rise to greatness.
Understanding the deep significance behind the token, Zhang Yuanwai clutched onto it tightly with his fingers as he raised his head. However, he found that there was nothing in the sky anymore. The Pseudo Dragon had disappeared along with the others.
Kindness goes around in a circle. I must do more good deeds and generate more positivity in the world, Zhang Yuanwai thought as he kneeled onto the floor and kowtowed deeply.
It was true that he had saved those nine with ulterior motives in mind, but to be honest, he didn’t expect to be repaid like this. After all, even he knew that the chances of what that had happened to Dan Xiaotian happening to him were extremely slim.
Yet, it still happened in the end. He didn’t think that he would be rewarded in such a manner.
“Brother Zhang, you have really changed your fate. Everything will be different from today onward,” Wu Jiangcheng remarked in envy as he looked at his food friend.
Just the favor of having saved Sect Leader Zhang’s direct disciples was enough to pave his way to greatness.
“My luck was really good. However, I think what’s more important is for us to view the world is kindness and do more good deeds,” Zhang Yuanwai smiled.
To celebrate his fortuitous encounter, Zhang Yuanwai hosted a banquet that night, and of course, Wu Jiangcheng joined in the festivities as well. But as he returned home from the night banquet, he couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
“It feels like I have gotten too caught up with vying for power and wealth in this world that I started viewing the world with skepticism. I forgot about the core that makes me human…” Wu Jiangcheng remarked with a bitter smile.
He couldn’t help but recall how his first response after hearing Zhang Yuanwai’s words was utter skepticism. He didn’t think that his skepticism was unjustified, but it felt like he had lost the trust for the world that he did in the past.
Perhaps, it was time for him to make a change?
Putong!
While he was deep in thoughts, a dull thud echoed in the bushes not too far away.
Alarmed, Wu Jiangcheng turned his head over and saw a fatty lying on the ground. The fatty’s head was filled with dry grass.
“That friend over there, are you fine?” Wu Jiangcheng quickly rushed over to help the fatty.
On the other hand, the fatty rubbed the back of his head and he leaped to his feet. With a hint of wonderment on his face, he asked, “Is this the Azure?”
“Azure?” Wu Jiangcheng blinked his eyes blankly.
“Since you are from the Azure, have you ever heard of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion?” the fatty asked.
“I have heard of it,” Wu Jiangcheng nodded in a daze, unsure of what the fatty was getting at.
“Wonderful! Our Young Master is currently serving as the sect leader there. I need you to bring me over to the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion. As long as I can find our Young Master, you can be assured that you’ll be handsomely rewarded for your service,” the fatty patted off the dust from his robe as he looked at Wu Jiangcheng with his head tilted upward.
“Your Young Master is serving as the sect leader? Could it be that…” Wu Jiangcheng’s pupils dilated to round circles. “Are you related to Sect Leader Zhang Xuan?”
“That’s right! I am Sect Leader Zhang’s butler!” the fatty replied proudly.
This fatty was Sun Qiang, who had entered the Azure through the spatial passageway. He had taken some time to pass through the spatial passageway, but due to the time difference, it had only been several hours on the Azure. As he had consumed the chicken soup Zhang Xuan had given to him, he managed to overcome the spatial turbulence without any trouble.
With his Ancient Sage 4-dan cultivation perfectly intact, he would definitely be considered as a powerhouse in Xuanjiang City.
“You are Sect Leader Zhang’s butler?” Wu Jiangcheng was still unable to come to terms with the current situation. “That doesn’t seem right. I have heard of Sect Leader Zhang’s butler, and he is an ex-bandit named Cao Chengli. I don’t recall Cao Chengli being such a plump individual…”
“Cao Chengli?”
It looked as if Sun Qiang’s world had suddenly collapsed. With a pained expression on his face, he clutched his chest and exclaimed to the sky, “Young Master, it has only been a single month and you have already replaced me with someone new! I, Sun Qiang, will not accept this! Hmph, where the heck is that Cao Chengli? I’ll go castrate him this instant!”
“…” Wu Jiangcheng.
…
While Sun Qiang was raging at the fact that someone had replaced his role, Zhang Xuan and his direct disciples had just arrived at the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion.
“Teacher!” Dan Xiaotian rushed forward to greet Zhang Xuan.
“Un. These are your seniors over here,” Zhang Xuan looked at Dan Xiaotian and gestured. After that, he turned to Zhao Ya and the others and said, “This young lad over here is a disciple whom I have taken in here, Dan Xiaotian.”
“Junior, you have our deepest gratitude for having saved our teacher!”
Along the way, Zhao Ya and the others had heard about their teacher’s happenings after he had arrived at the Azure. If not for Dan Xiaotian saving their teacher at the very start, it was hard to tell how their teacher would have been right now.
So, the nine of them bowed deeply to Dan Xiaotian in order to express their gratitude.
“Seniors, there’s no need for this! Please, you are too polite!”
Astonished, Dan Xiaotian quickly bowed again and again in a fluster to the seniors as well.
“Here are some Superior Immortal Pills and cultivation technique manuals. I have designed the cultivation techniques specifically to suit each of your constitutions. Cultivate them and aim to reach High Immortal as soon as possible so that you can lend me a hand too!” Zhang Xuan said as he took out a couple of pills and jade tokens.
Given his current identity, he had no lack of cultivation resources at the moment anymore. If he willed so, he could easily gather hundreds of Superior Immortal Pills.
After receiving their teacher’s bestowment, the crowd quickly left for their own accommodations so that they could start cultivating.
Zhao Ya and the others possessed great potential, and that allowed them to advance their cultivation swiftly as well.
Soon after, Bai Ruanqing returned back to the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion as well. She had been out on a mission together with her grandfather earlier. At this very moment, her cultivation had already reached Heavenly True Immortal realm.
She was only a step away from reaching High Immortal realm.
Zhang Xuan imparted his modified High Immortal realm cultivation technique to her and instructed her to raise her cultivation swiftly.
After dealing with the affairs concerning his students, Zhang Xuan was in no hurry to leave with Wu Chen. Instead, he looked for a silent chamber and began cultivating.
He had managed to acquire the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s altar, which meant that he could conduct a ritual and teleport over to where the Starchaser Palace’s altar was. However, he didn’t think that the timing was right yet.
Putting aside Kong shi, the Hall of Gods had plenty of experts in their ranks. Furthermore, they were bound to have some trump cards at their home ground too. If he wanted to save Du Qingyuan and solve all trouble, he would definitely have to raise his cultivation to Semi-Divinity realm at the very least.
Only then would he be able to fight on equal grounds with Kong shi and save Du Qingyuan.
However, he didn’t have a proper cultivation technique for that yet. He would have to forge his own path if he wanted to reach greater heights in the future.
It was just that creating one’s own path was no easy feat.
Zhang Xuan had already immersed his consciousness in the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn for many days so far, but he still had no directions as to where he should focus on at all.
Hu!
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan brought his consciousness into the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn as well, and he began contemplating over all of the insights he had received over the last few days. Slowly, he got into a state of deep concentration.
As someone who has cultivated the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, my body won’t be able to practice cultivation techniques that are too inferior.
Putting aside whether an inferior cultivation technique would be able to spur the growth of his exceptionally powerful cultivation and body, even if it was able to, it wouldn’t raise his fighting prowess by too much.
Thus, I can’t compromise too much. Even if the cultivation technique I have created won’t be able to reach the level of Heaven’s Path Divine Art, it must at least be close to that level!
This was also Zhang Xuan’s bottom line as well. If he was going to do it, he was determined to do it to the best of his abilities so that he wouldn’t have any regrets in the future.
Kong shi said that he has comprehended the Heavens’ Order whereas I have comprehended the Heavens’ Imperfections. The more often I use my Library of Heaven’s Path, the more reliant I would be on it. Eventually, I would be assimilated by the heavens… Zhang Xuan pondered.
Granted that those words were spoken by the enemy, even after he pondered over the matter, he still thought that there was a high possibility that it was the truth.
Similar to the Celestial Master Teacher, the power of the heavens definitely granted him incredible growth. However, if he wanted to surpass the heavens, he would have to eventually sever his connection with it.
Otherwise, his reliance on the heavens would eventually cap his growth, causing him to eventually stagnate.
Heavens’ Order and Heavens’ Imperfections, I wonder what else there are…
As thoughts filled Zhang Xuan’s mind, he gradually lost track of time.
Regardless of whether he was reliant on the Heaven’s Path Divine Art or not, it was a fact that it would become more and more difficult for him to gather cultivation technique manuals as his cultivation advanced. Besides, he couldn’t allow the grayish gaseous substance to continue growing either, or else he would eventually become a puppet of the heavens!
Thus, he knew that he had no other choice but to embark on this route.
For three days straight, he sat motionlessly on the same spot, not eating or drinking at all.
Three days in the Azure equated to roughly three hundred days in the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn. Unknowingly, almost a single year had already passed for Zhang Xuan.
Within this single year, Zhang Xuan didn’t rest a single wink. His exhaustion had caused his eyes to turn scarlet. If not for the fact that his cultivation had reached Heavenly High Immortal realm, he would have already suffered a breakdown by now!
“This doesn’t work…”
“This isn’t working either…”
“Just a bit more… Why am I always off by just a bit!”
Just like that, another seven days passed in the Azure.
In this period of time, Zhang Xuan had come up with at least ten thousand possible ingenious cultivation technique manuals, but they were either infeasible for his current body or that there was still something lacking with it that he was dissatisfied with. Eventually, he had no choice but to give up and return his consciousness to his physical body.
It had only been ten days in the real world, but he had already spent nearly three years in the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn.
Working intensely throughout this period of time had left his mind deeply withered.
He felt desperate. If he couldn’t create a cultivation technique, he wouldn’t be able to achieve a breakthrough. And if he were to head to the Hall of Gods in his current state, he would only be courting his own death.
Sighing deeply, he walked out of the silent chamber to first deal with the matters he had at hand.
He quickly found one of the elders of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion and asked, “How is the search going on? Have you found her yet?”
After returning from the Master Teacher Continent, he had the elders of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion to inform the Sevenstar Pavilion, Myriad Beasts Hall, and Starchaser Palace to look into Luo Qiqi’s whereabouts.
Considering that ten days had passed, they should have some results by now.
