All along, Zhang Xuan thought that he was able to cultivate quite quickly. Nevertheless, he still spent half a month to raise his cultivation from Ancient Sage 4-dan to High Immortal realm. The sweat and blood he had put into it were enough to make any man break down in tears.
It could be said that every step he took was immensely difficult.
It was true that these 11 direct disciples of his had the simplified Heaven’s Path Divine Art, and they had sufficient Immortal Pills to fuel their cultivation too… But how did they manage to raise their cultivation from True Immortal realm to Heavenly High Immortal realm within just a few hours?
This was ridiculous!
“It isn’t fast at all. We took an entire month after your departure to reach our current level…” Zhao Ya replied sheepishly.
“An entire month?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “Was I away for that long?”
He knew that the flow of time in the Ethereal Hall was 1:10 of the Forsaken Continent. Going by what Zhao Ya said, a month in the Forsaken Continent should equate to roughly three days or 72 hours in the Ethereal Hall.
But all in all, he had only spent at most 2 hours in the Hall of Gods and 4 hours in the Ethereal Hall. Even factoring in 4 hours he spent climbing up the pillars, it would only total up to 10 hours at the very most…
That was different far off from the estimated 72 hours!
“Unless…”
A thought suddenly surfaced in Zhang Xuan’s mind.
Could it be that the flow of time in the Hall of Gods is also 1:10 of the Ethereal Hall? In other words, it is 1:100 of the Forsaken Continent?
If the flow of time in the Hall of Gods was even slower, that would make sense.
Using a 1:100 ratio, he had spent two hours in the Hall of Gods and four hours climbing up the Azure Bridge, which equated to 600 hours on the Forsaken Continent. Factoring in the four hours he had spent in the Ethereal Hall headquarters, that would be around 640 hours…
If so, it would indeed have been around a month on the Forsaken Continent.
The flow of time in the Hall of Gods is actually 1:100 of the Forsaken Continent… Is the flow of time in the Firmament that slow as well?
It would really be frightening if that was the case.
The slower the flow of time, the stabler the temporal laws of the world were.
Space and time were often collectively termed as spacetime because the two of them had an inseverable relationship with one another.
If the flow of time was indeed a hundredth of the Azure, that would likely mean that the stability of the space in the Firmament was a hundredfold as well.
And beings who existed in dimensions with stabler spacetime were likely to be much more powerful as well, especially since they would have to endure the greater pressure from the spatial laws.
In a sense, this provided Zhang Xuan with a peek into just how powerful the gods of the Firmament were. If so, Kong shi would likely be a terribly difficult opponent to deal with if he were to successfully make a breakthrough.
Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan put away these thoughts in his mind and turned to look at his disciples.
If they really had a month to work with, given their stable foundation and ample resources, it was indeed not too difficult for them to make a breakthrough from True Immortal realm to Heavenly High Immortal realm.
“Sit here and listen well. I’ll be imparting to you my comprehension of Semi-Divinity realm, as well as the crux of Gods’ Intent!” Zhang Xuan said.
Given the current situation, they still wouldn’t be of much help at Heavenly High Immortal realm. They would have to be at Semi-Divinity realm at the very minimum to be able to even stand a chance against Kong shi.
Since they were ready for it, he should lend them a hand for the final breakthrough!
All in all, he had comprehended seven Gods’ Intent so far. As long as his disciples were to comprehend the essence of one of them, they should be able to make a breakthrough to Semi-Divinity realm easily.
“Yes!”
Seeing that their teacher was going to conduct a lecture, Zhao Ya and the others quickly sat down and waited excitedly for the lecture to begin.
Han Jianqiu and the others were initially intending to leave the room as well, but after hearing Zhang Xuan’s words, they chose to linger around the sides of the room instead.
“In order to reach Semi-Divinity, you must first comprehend what divinity is. An unequaled existence, a being that has transcended nature, that is what divinity is. In order to reach that level, one must first affirm his own will and temper his determination…” Zhang Xuan spoke in a slow voice.
As Semi-Divinity realm cultivators, Han Jianqiu and the others initially didn’t think that Zhang Xuan’s lecture would be able to value-add to them. However, after hearing for a while, they soon found themselves completely engrossed over his words.
Despite having made the breakthrough themselves, the truth was that they still didn’t have a complete understanding of what the realm comprised either. They were able to drive the power in their body freely, but they had no idea where the power originated from and how it worked.
This was similar to how a human might not necessarily know how each and every part of his body functioned.
The reason why they were able to succeed was due to absorbing the unique aura in the circular platform by the Azure Bridge. Furthermore, the number of Semi-Divinity realm cultivators on the Forsaken Continent had always been severely limited, so it was inevitable that there was very little knowledge regarding the realm being passed down.
As a result, their comprehension of the realm was half-baked. Even if they wanted to, they wouldn’t be able to properly impart the quintessence of Semi-Divinity realm to their disciples either.
However, things would be different from this day onward.
Zhang Xuan’s lecture was simple and direct, allowing the listeners to grasp the crux swiftly. Along with this understanding, the zhenqi in their dantian immediately began moving on its own accord.
Boom!
Barely two hours after the lecture started, a powerful aura surged into the air. Zhao Ya and the others, who were still trapped at Heavenly High Immortal realm a moment ago, actually managed to make a breakthrough simultaneously.
ZhangXuan had already passed them a portion of the unique aura from the circular platforms not too long ago. With their newfound enlightenment, they were swiftly rushing toward a higher realm.
Han Jianqiu and the others also managed to advance their cultivation to Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm too. Their zhenqi became much purer and more condensed, granting them greater fighting prowess.
Soon, the lecture came to an end.
Han Jianqiu and the others also quickly halted their cultivation, and looking at Zhang Xuan, he asked, “Teacher, what’s the current situation with the Hall of Gods?”
They had been too engrossed in cultivation that they forgot to ask about the details after Zhang Xuan teleported over via the altar.
“It’s like this…”
Zhang Xuan swiftly told the others what he had encountered after moving to the other side of the portal.
“So, you are saying that Hall Master Kong has stolen the Aura of Divinity, and it’s likely that he’ll be able to reach the level of the gods?” Han Jianqiu narrowed his eyes in shock.
Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement, “If he were to succeed, it’s likely that it’ll be the end of all of us.”
Given Kong shi’s abnormal obsession with the fragments of heavens, it was likely that he would try to snatch the Library of Heaven’s Path away from him after he became a god. With his strength then, even with over twenty Semi-Divinities on their side, they would still be in a disadvantageous position.
Putting everything aside, Han Jianqiu and the others wouldn’t even be a match for him teamed up together, so it was unlikely that they would be able to put up a fight against a god-level Kong shi.
Whether that Kong shi was fake or not, his fighting prowess was the real deal.
“What should we do then?” Elder Kui Xiao asked worriedly.
“There are only two things that we can do at the moment. First, we look for Kong shi and snatch the Aura of Divinity away from him. As long as we are able to stop him from achieving a breakthrough, we’ll be victorious,” Zhang Xuan said.
The crowd nodded in agreement.
As long as Kong shi didn’t reach the level of the gods, they would still be able to stand against him with their current strength. If so, the other party wouldn’t dare to move recklessly.
It was just that there was a major flaw with that course of action.
After obtaining the Aura of Divinity, the next logical step that Kong shi would make was to find a place where no one would be able to find him and cultivate. There was no way he would leave behind any clues that would lead them to him.
It was likely that even his most trusted subordinate didn’t know where he was hiding at this moment!
Zhang Xuan paused for a moment before continuing on, “Second, we have to accrue sufficient strength that would allow us to deal with a god. That’s the only way we can cope with the danger ahead of us…”
If they couldn’t find Kong shi and snatch back the Aura of Divinity, the only thing they could do was to reinforce their defense.
If they could set up a formation which even gods were unable to escape from, or if he could just kill Kong shi with the golden page that he had at the moment, they would be able to resolve the danger that Kong shi posed.
But would the golden page really wield sufficient strength to kill a god?
Zhang Xuan wasn’t confident of that at all.
There was no doubt that the golden page was a powerful weapon, and it had saved him on many occasions as well. However, its prowess seemed to be dependent on the might of the heavens in the world he was in.
This was similar to how it was impossible for the heavens of the Master Teacher Continent to kill him anymore. The most that it could do was to expel him from their world.
The current Library of Heaven’s Path was augmented by the heavens of the Azure, which meant that the golden page was likely able to obliterate any Semi-Divinity realm cultivator easily. However, if the opponent was a god, an existence that surpassed the Azure itself… the chances of success were extremely slim indeed.
The reason why he was able to kill the deity descending from the Azure back then was because the latter was still at Ancient Sage 4-dan. That was the highest level that the Master Teacher Continent permitted one to reach. Any higher than that would be impossible.
Of course, this was just his conjecture at the moment too. It would be for the best if the golden page really worked, but he had no intention of gambling his all on that single hope.
He didn’t like the idea of leaving his fate to luck.
More importantly, Kong shi knew about the existence of his Heavens’ Imperfection, so there was a chance that the other party was aware of his trump card as well. If the other party were to go all out to guard against it, he wasn’t certain if he would really be able to land a clean blow with the golden page.
If not for this, he would have already used the golden page back when he encountered Kong shi outside the real Hall of Gods. He only held himself back because Kong shi was too far away then, which significantly lowered the chances of success were extremely low.
“Accrue sufficient strength? It won’t be easy, but I think it’s feasible. If our teacher is able to reach the level of the gods too, he should be able to deal with Hall Master Kong!” Han Jianqiu said.
Those words left a bitter smile on Zhang Xuan’s lips.
He didn’t have any Aura of Divinity with him, and he hadn’t come up with a feasible cultivation technique for him to achieve a breakthrough with yet too.
It had only been a day since he had reached Semi-Divinity after comprehending the sentiments between a master and a subordinate. It would take some time for him to make a breakthrough again.
“Teacher, didn’t you say that you have already saved Palace Master Du? Why don’t I see anywhere? She knows quite a bit about the gods, so she might have an idea in mind!” Elder Qin Yuan suddenly spoke up.
“Ah, I forgot!” Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in astonishment.
In the next moment, Du Qingyuan appeared before everyone.
He was too caught up with the series of events that happened afterward that he forgot to let Du Qingyuan out from the folded space.
“Paying respects to Palace Master Du!”
Han Jianqiu quickly filled Du Qingyuan in on the quandary they were facing before asking the question, “Palace Master Du, do you know of any alternative ways that would allow a cultivator to become a god other than through the Aura of Divinity?”
“If our Starchaser Palace is in possession of such knowledge, a god would have long appeared amongst us,” Du Qingyuan replied sharply.
Hearing her definite reply, awkward looks appeared on everyone’s faces.
Indeed. If there was an alternative way to reach the levels of the gods, the geniuses of the Starchaser Palace would have long done so. They wouldn’t have been so helpless in the face of the Hall Master Kong too.
“Is there really no hope at all?” Han Jianqiu remarked with anxious reddened eyes.
