“That’s right!” the young man sneered in disdain. “If you think that I am speaking nonsense, why don’t we verify it through a physical fight? If you lose, you’d better hand Young Master Tao obediently to us and admit that you are unqualified to be his teacher! On the other hand, if you win, I can even acknowledge you as my teacher…”
The young man roared, “How is it? Do you dare to take on the challenge?”
Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.
The other party was a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan expert. Even without the use of the Library of Heaven’s Path or Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan could still easily tell that the other party possessed tremendous physical strength and resilience. Even if Zhang Xuan were to gather the entirety of his 10,000,000-ding strength, he couldn’t be sure whether he could break the other party’s defenses or not!
Not to mention, his physical strength only amounted to 4,000,000 ding!
But if Zhang Xuan couldn’t defeat the other party, what right did he have to be ‘Young Master Tao’s’ teacher?
While it might look as if the other party was acting recklessly by challenging Zhang Xuan to a battle all of the sudden, the truth was that he had grasped Zhang Xuan’s weakness accurately and placed him in check.
Furthermore, if it was just a battle involving only their physical strength, the other party would be able to avoid Zhang Xuan’s Impartation of Heaven’s Will too… His move was indeed ingenious.
Placing his hands behind his back, the young man taunted derisively, “That’s right! Do you dare to accept the challenge?”
“Humph!” Seeing how the other party arrogantly attempted to push him to a corner, Zhang Xuan flung his sleeves and harrumphed. But at that moment, an excited voice suddenly sounded, “Teacher…”
Turning around, Zhang Xuan saw Yuan Tao, Zheng Yang, Wang Ying, and the others walking over with eyes brimming with agitation.
Over the past month, his students seemed to have made significant advancements in their cultivation.
From this, it could be seen that they had been working diligently over this period of time.
“Young Master!”
Sun Qiang was also amidst the group.
At this moment, he had already reached Transcendent Mortal 3-dan Yin-Yang realm intermediate stage.
Even though his cultivation was slightly beneath Wang Ying and the others, considering Sun Qiang’s usual indolent nature, it could be considered rather impressive.
Seeing that each and every one of them was spirited, Zhang Xuan felt heartened, and a slight smile crept onto his face. All of the sudden, a majestic aura flowed out of Zhang Xuan as he turned around toward the young man and replied nonchalantly, “Fine, we’ll have a duel using just our physical bodies!”
“Duel? Teacher…”
Hearing those words, Yuan Tao and the others immediately panicked.
Even though their teacher’s cultivation had improved swiftly, it was still much too difficult for him to defeat a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan expert who specialized in physical body cultivation in a physical duel.
“Don’t worry, he’s nothing more than a little pebble in the way. Just watch how I crush him!”
Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan placed his hands behind his back grandly.
Since the other party had already gone this far, how could Zhang Xuan possibly back down now, especially before his students?
“It’s good that you agreed to the duel. Come!”
Hearing the other party agreeing to the duel, the young man immediately burst into laughter. He proceeded to the center of the room, and just by flexing his muscles, he seemed to have grown a few inches taller. His bulky and powerful frame gave him a sharp appearance reminiscent of a ferocious tiger.
“There’s no need to rush into it.”
Even though the young man was already preparing himself for the duel, Zhang Xuan still remained on his seat. With a smile, he turned to King Huai and asked, “Your Highness, there’s a matter I need to trouble you with. Is there a secret chamber here that I can use here? There are some matters that I need to attend to!”
“Secret chamber? Of course there is!”
King Huai was still busy finding a way to form a close relationship with Zhang Xuan when the latter delivered an opportunity for him to express his goodwill. Thus, he immediately waved his hand, and ‘jiya!’, the wall by the side of the room suddenly split apart, revealing a hidden chamber.
As a member of the royal family of a Tier-1 Empire, it wasn’t too surprising for him to install have several secret chambers in his main hall so as to discuss confidential matters.
A special formation was set up here in order to prevent anyone, regardless of strength, from peering into the room or eavesdropping into the conversation.
“Thank you.”
With a smile, Zhang Xuan entered the chamber and closed the doors. After which, he flicked his wrist, and his clone appeared before him.
With the measly 4,000,000 ding of strength that Zhang Xuan could harness in his physical body, it was surely impossible for him to teach the other party a lesson. However… his clone was different.
His clone had been forged of the Nine Skies Lotus Embryo, thus making its physical body far stronger than his. Zhang Xuan had little doubt that the young man wouldn’t be an opponent for his clone as well.
Zhang Xuan swiftly filled his clone up on the details through their mental connection.
“That’s how it is. So, go there and smash his teeth out!”
“Don’t worry!”
His clone nodded, put on Zhang Xuan’s previous clothes, and walked out of the secret chamber.
Considering how the clone had the same form as the main body, and the main body was hidden within the secret chamber, there was no need to worry about the trick being exposed.
“You’re finally out!”
Upon seeing ‘Zhang Xuan’ coming out from the chamber, the young man sneered coldly.
‘Geji! Geji!’
Cracking sounds echoed from his body, and the aura shrouding him rapidly grew stronger. He flicked his wrist, and a deafening sound boomed in the air, seemingly threatening to shatter everything in the area to pieces.
When one’s physical body reached a certain realm, the prowess it could exert would be on par with zhenqi.
No matter how thin it was, the young man still possessed the powerful Emperor’s Bloodline. On top of that, the long heritage of his clan meant that he had access to the best physical body cultivation techniques, thus resulting in the might of his physical body to exceed even his zhenqi cultivation of Transcendent Mortal 8-dan.
‘Zhang Xuan’ chuckled lightly as he walked to the center of the room as well.
“Humph!”
Seeing how a Consonant Spirit realm brat actually dared to pit his physical body against him, the young man’s face twisted in savageness. Kicking against the ground, he dashed forward.
Boom!
Due to the absurd speed he was traveling at, a deep rumbling reminiscent of thunder boomed along with his movements.
Even before he reached Zhang Xuan, the air in the surroundings had already been torn apart, forming a huge vacuum around Zhang Xuan.
“Teacher…”
Seeing how the young man executed his strongest technique from the very start, Yuan Tao clenched his fists tightly.
Even though the young man could be considered his fellow clan member, the relationship between him and his teacher ran far deeper than that.
Wang Ying and the others were anxious as well.
They were well aware of the strength their teacher wielded. Just a month ago, their teacher was only at the Clarifying Turbidity realm, so even if he had made a breakthrough in the past month, he would only be at Consonant Spirit realm at the moment. A Consonant Spirit realm against a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan… The gap was simply too huge!
It could be said that both parties weren’t even on the same level, how could Zhang Xuan triumph against him?
“Don’t worry, since the young master agreed to the duel, he won’t lose!” Sun Qiang said by the side.
Before his students, the young master always put on an austere face to uphold his prestige. It was not that Wang Ying and the others didn’t believe in Zhang Xuan, but the gap between the two was simply too huge.
At the same time, considering the upright personality of their teacher, he wouldn’t do anything despicable just to achieve victory.
However… Sun Qiang had a differing opinion.
After living with the young master for a period of time, he had gained a good grasp of the latter’s personality. Had the young master ever done anything he was unconfident at?
Since the young master agreed to the other party’s challenge, there was no doubt that he must have found a way to pummel the other party. Besides, it was suspicious how the young master asked to use the secret chamber before the duel.
“Won’t lose?”
Wang Ying and the others were a little doubtful upon hearing Sun Qiang’s words.
Hu!
Before the young man’s ferocious attack, their teacher didn’t bother to dodge. Instead, he raised his right arm and sent a fist over.
“A frontal attack?”
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan’s reaction, everyone’s eyebrows shot up. Even Elder Yuan also frowned in confusion.
Elder Yuan knew very well how strong the young man was. Even Transcendent Mortal 8-dan intermediate stage experts would find it hard to breach his defenses.
‘A Consonant Spirit realm small fry like you actually dares to face him head on… Aren’t you courting death?’
Peng!
In just the blink of an eye, the two fists clashed with one another, and a frenzied wind burst into the surroundings. The ground beneath the duo’s feet immediately cracked from the tremendous impact of the clash.
Upon the collision of fists, the young man’s excited face slowly turned in astonishment. He felt as if he had struck a steel plate, and an intense pain assaulted his knuckle.
Kacha! Kacha!
In just a brief moment, the bones in his fist were shattered. Following which, an immense force traveled through his arm, seemingly trying to suppress him altogether.
Hu!
The young man was sent flying backward.
Due to the limitations of his cultivation, it was impossible for the clone’s strength to match up to the other party. However, a unique property of a physical body crafted by the Nine Skies Lotus Embryo was its incredible toughness that was on par with any other God artifact…
To make an analogy, it was equivalent to an ordinary man striking a wall with his full strength, not to mention that the young man’s strength was beyond ordinary. When the immense force of his attack rebounded back on him, how could he possibly withstand the impact?
On top of that, the qualitative difference in the bodies of the duo was also way too great. If the young man’s body was iron, the clone’s body would be diamond. No matter how compact the iron was, it could still be easily torn apart by diamond.
“How can you have such a powerful physical body…”
The young man widened his eyes in astonishment. At this moment, he felt as if he was going crazy.
He possessed the Emperor’s Bloodline, and he cultivated one of the strongest physical body cultivation technique in the clan. It was no joke to say that he was almost invincible in his power class. Even Spirit high-tier weapons might not necessarily be able to pierce his skin…
And yet, the other party’s fist actually crushed his bones…
‘Are you sure that I am the one possessing the Emperor’s Bloodline, not you?’
How could such a powerful physical body possibly exist in the world?
Howling furiously, the young man tried to steady his flying figure. But at that moment, a blur abruptly flashed across his eyes, and unknowingly, his opponent had appeared behind him.
Peng!
Once again, the two bodies clashed with one another.
Kacha! Kacha!
Two cracks resounded clearly in the air. The prided bones that the young man had devoted a very long period of time to cultivating had broken yet again.
“I…”
The intense pain he was experiencing left him frenzied. He immediately twisted his body and elbowed the other party with his intact left arm.
It must be said that the young man was indeed a skilled fighter. His reaction was swift and deadly. With this blow, the other party would surely have to dodge, thus giving him time to take a breather and regain his momentum in the battle.
But Zhang Xuan didn’t move at all. He simply stood idly, allowing the young man’s elbow to strike him.
Peng!
The elbow struck Zhang Xuan’s head.
“Great…”
The head was the weakest spot of a human body. Upon striking it squarely, the young man’s eyes immediately lit up in excitement. However, before he could celebrate, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm once again.
His bones had been shattered to pieces.
“What is going on?”
The young man finally cried.
The Emperor’s Bloodline was known for its invincible defense, thus making him far stronger than any cultivator of his power tier. He thought that he would be able to crush Zhang Xuan as easily as tearing a cabbage into pieces, but the other party remained completely unfazed by his attacks. On the contrary, it was his bones that had been shattered in the collisions…
It was as if he was fighting against a Saint artifact.
What the heck was with this?
“This…”
By the side, Elder Yuan’s eyes were widened as much as humanly possible.
Zhang shi was the one being beaten up, and yet he was able to rebound the might back onto his opponent and crush the other party’s bones… And this was taking into account that his opponent specialized in physical body cultivation!
How powerful must Zhang shi’s physical body be?
Even Elder Yuan, despite the long years of cultivating his body, had to admit that he was incapable of such a feat!
Could it be that… he had identified the wrong young master? Was Zhang shi the true possessor of the Emperor’s Bloodline instead of Young Master Tao?
“Teacher… is actually so strong?”
Wang Ying, Yuan Tao, and the others stared at one another in astonishment.
They’d thought that their growth rate in the past month was already incredible, but it seemed their teacher had improved far more than them!
To actually crush the other party’s bones by being pummeled, who else in the world was capable of such a feat?
Kacha! Kacha!
The same astonishment also surfaced on King Huai’s face. Amidst gazes of disbelief, Zhang Xuan went on to shatter the bones in the legs of the young man before standing quietly at the main hall.
With a nonchalant gaze, he gazed down at the young man lying on the ground and asked calmly, “So, with the strength of my physical body…
“… am I qualified to be Yuan Tao’s teacher?”
