Zhang Xuan had seen many beauties.
Shen Bi Ru, Mo Yu, Zhao Feiwu, Yu Fei-er, Luo Qiqi… Even his students, Wang Ying and Zhao Ya, were beauties in their own rights.
Among them, there were a few who bore feelings for him, and some even voiced their willingness to be with him…
But Zhang Xuan’s heart remained unmoved.
He wasn’t devoid of feelings, nor was he uninterested in beautiful ladies; he was simply unmoved.
Since he possessed no particular feelings for them, he wasn’t willing to get involved with them.
He thought that it might be due to the Library of Heaven’s Path in his head. Perhaps the library had come together with the unfeelingness of the heavens. Never had he imagined a day would come where his heart would actually beat helplessly at the sight of a lady.
It was as if the other party possessed some kind of quality that drew him in, leaving him with no choice but to leap forward.
She was extremely beautiful, such that even Zhao Ya would pale before her. Even so, Zhang Xuan’s mind wasn’t so weak as to be assailed by mere physical appearance. But for some reason, this lady had an extraordinarily intimate presence to him.
As if he had seen her somewhere before.
“I mustn’t allow anything happen to her…”
Such a thought simply appeared out of nowhere.
Prowling in the area were more than thirty Transcendent Mortal 5-dan spirit beasts and eight beast hunters. If they were to attack the white-robed lady, she would surely be unable to withstand their assault.
‘Save her!’
This thought sprouted in Zhang Xuan’s mind, and it was growing stronger by the second, compelling him into action.
He didn’t want to see this white-robed lady being torn apart by all of these spirit beasts.
‘If I were to rush forward to save her, I would be surrounded by them before I could even reach her. If so, I would be dead before I could even achieve anything!’
While the thought had gripped Zhang Xuan’s entirety, he knew that it would be foolishness to dive in without a plan.
There were plenty of formidable aerial spirit beasts amidst the group as well. Even with Zhang Xuan flight capability, it would still be difficult for him to outrun them.
‘Should I disguise myself as Yang shi to scare this group off?’
After a moment of thought, Zhang Xuan realized that he couldn’t find any better idea. Thus, he decided to resort to his specialty… hoodwinking!
If he could frighten this group off, that would be for the best.
Otherwise… he would have no choice but to face them.
At the most, he would just have to call his clone out at that time to fight alongside him. While victory was unlikely, he was confident that he could at least get away.
‘It’s settled then!’
Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xuan refined the details of his plan before standing up. His muscles slowly shifted, turning his appearance into that of Yang shi.
Hualala!
Right when he was done with his preparations, the spirit beasts finished circling the entire area. There was a bizarre glint in their eyes, and it seemed as though they would leap forward at any moment.
“I have to go in now or else I won’t make it in time…”
Frowning, Zhang Xuan immediately flew straight toward the side of the lake, where the white-robed lady was.
“Humph!”
While he was in the air, a cold harrumph resounded in the area. It sounded like the roar of a dragon, causing the entire forest to tremor.
His soul energy and zhenqi were devoted to this harrumph, and it carried a grandness that made one feel small in comparison.
Accustomed to playing as an expert, Zhang Xuan naturally commanded an aura befitting of one. With his majestic demeanor, he resembled a deity descending from the heavens.
The spirit beasts and beast hunters who were just about to pounce on the white-robed lady all halted their movements before his presence.
While the intelligence of spirit beasts hadn’t reached the level of humans yet, they were still no fools.
Considering how the figure was able to fly in the sky, it was unlikely that they would be able to stand against him.
Hu!
Seeing that his presence had made everyone stop for the moment, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. With a few steps, he walked to the aerial space right above the white-robed lady.
From the current location where he was standing, he would be able to grab her and escape swiftly should the unexpected happen.
Now that he was closer to the white-robed lady, he was able to catch a clearer look at the latter’s features. She was a young lady of a similar age to him. She had a composed look on her face, seemingly unaware that she was already completely surrounded by many spirit beasts and beast hunters.
With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan’s gaze fell upon the spirit beasts and beast hunters.
“I am fond of this scenery, and I don’t wish for blood to besmirch this land. Back down!”
After saying these words, he secretly sent a telepathic message to the young lady below him.
“Try to find a way to escape later on. Spirit beasts have already surrounded this area, and I fear that they… mean you harm!”
However, after waiting for a while, Zhang Xuan still didn’t receive the other party’s reply. Glancing downward, he saw the white-robed lady looking at him nonchalantly.
‘Could it be that… she doesn’t believe me?’
Zhang Xuan frowned.
Those spirit beasts and beast hunters had approached silently, and they were currently hiding amidst the greenery. It was possible that the other party did not believe his words.
Thinking about it, it wasn’t too surprising. Given that a man had suddenly appeared and sent a telepathic message to her saying that the area was filled with spirit beasts, she would probably think that he was a lunatic.
“Do my words mean nothing to you?”
Knowing that he would only make himself seem less credible the more he explained the matter, Zhang Xuan decided to turn his gaze back to the forest, flung his sleeves, and roared, “I told you to back down!”
Roar!
Zhang Xuan’s bellow had succeeded in inducing fear in the spirit beasts in the region. One of them unintentionally let loose a fearful whimper, revealing its presence.
Knowing that the other party was already aware of their presence, the spirit beasts and beast hunters decided to step out of their hiding spots.
Hualala!
The might of more than thirty Transcendent Mortal 5-dan spirit beasts and eight beast hunters exerted an immense pressure on Zhang Xuan.
“Now you should believe me, right? They are intending to deal with you and your Snow Fox…”
Cold sweat dripped off Zhang Xuan’s forehead as he sent a telepathic message to the white-robed lady.
The white-robed lady seemed to be slightly astonished by the arrival of the spirit beasts as well.
“You don’t need to fear. Since I’m here, I won’t allow them to do as they please. Don’t worry, I’ll chase them off for you!” Zhang Xuan reassured her before turning to the crowd.
“Are you certain you want to challenge me?”
Hong long!
A powerful surge of soul energy swept through the entire area.
Zhang Xuan’s cultivation might be ordinary, but his soul energy was superior to even the Transcendent Mortal 8-dan Ye Wentian’s.
With the release of his soul energy, the spirit beasts and beast hunters immediately felt immense threat.
Padah!
One of the aerial spirit beasts even lost control of its body and plummeted from the sky.
A few spirit beasts also collapsed to the ground, unable to withstand the pressure.
Seeing this situation, the tense Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
It seemed these spirit beasts were no fools. They knew better than to challenge an opponent beyond them.
Roar!
But just as Zhang Xuan thought that the group would back down from fear, a ferocious howling sounded. It came from the Armored Beartiger that he first met.
Hualala!
Hearing the howling, the frightened spirit beasts immediately regained their nerves. They turned their gazes over once more—this time, it was filled with savagery.
‘What’s going on?’
It was just a moment ago that all of them were trembling in fear. Yet, after this fellow’s howling, all of them seemed to have regained their fighting spirit. Zhang Xuan’s face immediately warped in fear.
Could it be that… this Armored Beartiger recognized him as the person from before?
In the previous meeting with this fellow, his true cultivation was probably exposed. But even so, the person whom he saw previously was Zhang Xuan while the current him was Yang shi. How could the other party possibly recognize him?
Roar!
While Zhang Xuan was still bewildered by the situation before him, the Armored Beartiger yelled furiously once more. Pushing its large paws against the ground, it leaped forward.
‘This is bad!’
Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.
It was extremely clear that he had given himself away somehow.
It seemed that his disguise still needed a little more work for it to be effective under the scrutiny of spirit beasts’ astute senses!
Even though they didn’t possess intelligence on par with humans, they had sharp eyes and sensitive noses in exchange. Perhaps he had neglected an important aspect of his disguise that allowed the Armored Beartiger to see through it.
Or perhaps, it might be due to the lack of harmony between his soul and his body, resulting in his inability to hide his aura perfectly.
With his aura leaking out, it wasn’t too difficult for them to deduce that this ‘expert’ was a fake.
‘I have no choice but to fight them now…’
Seeing the large fellow rush over, Zhang Xuan knew that a fight was inevitable. Thus, he rushed in front of the white-robed lady and grabbed her hand. “Run!”
Hu!
But before they could escape, the Armored Beartiger was already right before Zhang Xuan. It swung its massive claws, and a sharp wave of might tore through space, heading straight for Zhang Xuan’s arm.
“Damn it!”
Zhang Xuan’s face darkened. The Armored Beartiger was much stronger and faster than he had expected.
The strongest aspects of an Armored Beartiger was its claws and strength. Even though Zhang Xuan’s physical body had been tempered by the Cleansing Lake, it would still be hard for him to clash with the other party face-on.
Letting go of the lady, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and the Glacier Rain Sword appeared in his palm. He immediately slashed it toward the other party’s claw.
Huala!
The sword qi immediately covered a distance of several dozen meters and collided with the other party’s attack.
Boom!
A loud explosion created two huge depressions of seven to eight meters deep.
Zhang Xuan remained unmoving on the spot whereas the Armored Beartiger was forced back. A shallow, white cut appeared on its body.
Even though the Armored Beartiger was one of the strongest even among Transcendent Mortal 5-dan spirit beasts, Zhang Xuan’s soul, physical body, and zhenqi were simply extraordinary.
Even so, the other party was indeed formidable.
If it had been any other ordinary Transcendent Mortal 5-dan spirit beast, Zhang Xuan’s sword would have surely split it in two. To leave behind just a single shallow white cut said a lot about the other party’s fearsome defensive capability.
Roar roar roar!
However, the very survival of the Armored Beartiger against Zhang Xuan showed that he wasn’t sufficiently powerful to stand against all of them. The spirit beasts and beast hunters in the surroundings immediately realized that Zhang Xuan was just acting before. Thus, with a loud roar, they charged forward furiously.
Sou sou sou!
Numerous arrows also came flying straight toward Zhang Xuan—the beast hunters!
They specialized in long-range attacks, and their arrows were infused with dense zhenqi. Even from afar, astounding killing intent could be felt from them.
Narrowing his eyes, Zhang Xuan felt his goosebumps rising up.
There were aerial spirit beasts to guard the sky, land spirit beast to charge on land, and even long-range support fire from the beast hunters… If they managed to surround him, it would be difficult for him to break out from their encirclement even with the help of his clone.
“Flee!”
Flicking his wrists swiftly, multiple blasts of sword qi shot out to deflect the arrows. Following which, Zhang Xuan pulled the white-robed lady forward and leaped into the lake.
Amidst this perilous situation, this was the only possible escape route!
