Library of Heaven’s Path

Zhang Xuan intention was to examine what the heart was, but right after coming into contact with it, his body immediately came under the control of the other party. Left with no choice, he could only try to convince the other party to let go of him.

It was a desperate attempt, but who knew that it would really work?

As soon as he was released, he rushed right into the Library of Heaven’s Path to check the book that was just compiled on the heart, and after taking a look, he immediately realized what was going on.

Even though Vicious had described himself to be a powerful figure, he was nothing more than a fragment of his previous self. He had barely awoken from his long hibernation not too long ago, and he was still in a severely weakened state. Even if he could possess Zhang Xuan, he would have to pay a heavy price for it.

However, if Zhang Xuan were to relinquish control over his body, Vicious would be spared a lot of trouble.

In any case, this was the only opportunity Zhang Xuan was going to get to deal with Vicious. He immediately whipped out the Book of Heaven’s Path and activated the golden page.

This was the strongest weapon he currently had in his arsenal. Even if Vicious had really come from the same era as Kong shi, it was impossible for him to withstand the wrath of heaven!

As expected, with the materialization of the book, the energy from the heart that was wrapped around Zhang Xuan to prevent him from escaping vanished, and he regained control over his body.

”Who am I? I am your grandfather!” Zhang Xuan roared furiously as the book smashed down on the heart.

However, before the book could crush the heart, the pedestal beneath the heart shattered instead.

Hong long!

With the destruction of the pedestal, the formation sustaining the entire underground chamber began collapsing. Spiritual energy from the stream began diffusing into the surroundings, and the underground chamber started to shake violently.

”This is bad, I forgot that this is the core of the formation…”

Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.

He was too intent on dealing with Vicious and freeing himself from danger that he forgot that he was standing before the core of the formation sustaining the underground chamber.

This underground chamber was relying on a huge formation to regulate the spiritual energy and reinforce the structures here, and the center of the formation just happened to be the location where the heart was placed—the pedestal.

With the collapse of the pedestal, the reinforcement from the formation to prevent the underground chamber from collapsing vanished, and the ceiling began caving in on them.

From his current location, it would take at least two to three minutes for him to escape from the underground chamber. Given the rate at which the underground chamber was collapsing at, it was impossible for him to escape. He would be buried alive!

But at this moment, the anxious yelling of the heart crushed under the golden book sounded, ”Don’t kill me! I can bring you to safety…”

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan stared at the heart hesitantly for a moment before replying, ”Fine, I’ll trust you this once!”

Vicious was by no means a trustworthy person, but the dire situation Zhang Xuan was in didn’t grant him the luxury of choice. The underground chamber was going to collapse on him at any moment now, and it was already too late for him to escape. His only hope lay with Vicious.

Given the millenniums that the other party had lived for, he might be aware of certain secrets hidden in the underground chamber. Perhaps, the other party might just know of something that could save him.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Xuan was about to withdraw the book when a thought suddenly struck him.

’I might be unable to kill him now, but I wonder if it’s possible for me to seal him with the golden page…’

Once Zhang Xuan withdraws the golden page, it would vanish. Without this weapon to keep Vicious in check, there was no saying that the latter might just renege on his promise.

Since the golden page could assimilate the content of the books in the Library of Heaven’s Path for his own, raise his Soul Depth, and slay enemies, then perhaps… it might be able to turn into something that could seal this heart too?

If he could seal Vicious into the golden page somehow, he would not need to worry about the other party’s retaliation.

Hu la!

As soon as the thought emerged in his mind, the book suddenly opened up, and a brilliant pillar of light rose from the book.

Wham!

In an instant, the book clamped down on the heart, and the pillar of light vanished as well. It floated in the air for a few seconds before abruptly falling to the ground.

”Hmm?”

Rushing forward to grab the book, Zhang Xuan opened it up and saw a heart beating ceaselessly inside. Realizing that it was trapped within the book, it struggled with all its might, but it wasn’t able to escape from the confine of the page.

It was a mystical sight to see a beating heart within a book.

”Let me go!” the heart roared savagely.

Delighted to see that the Book of Heaven’s Path possessed the ability to seal as well, Zhang Xuan chuckled and said, ”Bring me to a safe location first!”

”I am Vicious, a person whom even Kong shi fears. How dare an impertinent ant like you treat me like that…”

The heart bellowed ferociously, but before he could finish his words, he was suddenly flicked by a finger.

Peng!

As if struck by a bolt of lightning, the heart was sent tumbling into the depths of the page.

”Your name is Vicious, isn’t it? Why don’t you give me a bright smile? Let me see how vicious you can get!” Zhang Xuan smirked.

”…” The heart twitched violently, as tears of blood threatened to flow from its atriums.

To think that a day would come which he would find himself in such a position… Back then, he was the infamous Vicious who domineered the world. Even though he was still in a weakened state, having yet to recover his strength after his demise back then, the strength that he wielded was still more than sufficient for him to toy with Saint realm experts easily…

And yet, here he was, sealed by a twenty-year-old brat in a book, flicked around as if he was a mere toy…

To hell with this!

Where did my dignity as the Immortal’s Envoy go?

Even though he had no idea what kind of artifact he was trapped in, the imposing authority of heaven harnessed by the artifact induced a deep and instinctive fear within him, rendering him helpless before it.

Honestly speaking, in face of such overwhelming power, he knew that it was a blessing that he was still alive at this point.

”Why? You aren’t going to smile?”

Just as he was bubbling with rage, he saw the other party bending his forefinger, ready to send another flick at him…

The heart immediately cowered in fear.

”I’ll smile, I’ll smile…”

The heart formed a human face and smiled.

What choice did he have but to submit? He was already sealed in this book, and his fate was firmly held in the other party’s hands. He might have been a formidable figure in the past, but that was all history. It couldn’t possibly help him now.

As bright as the smile on his face was, his heart was bleeding profusely.

Back then, I stood toe-to-toe with Kong shi and crushed many 9-star master teachers.

And yet, here I am, forced to smile under the commands of a mere brat…’

”This is more like it. Now, lead me to somewhere safe!”

Having affirmed that the other party was under his control, Zhang Xuan heaved a long sigh of relief. However, this wasn’t the time for him to rest yet. At this point, the ground was shaking more vehemently than ever, and the ceiling was still moments from caving in on them.

”Yes!” Upon seeing Zhang Xuan withdraw his finger, the heart heaved a sigh of relief before turning to the Otherworldly Demons and yelled, ”Hurry up and lead the way!”

Roar!

Upon receiving those orders, the Otherworldly Demon puppets standing by the edge of the stream immediately rushed forward.

Grabbing the book with Vicious in it in his hand, Zhang Xuan followed closely behind those puppets. At the same time, he also established communication with his clone and urged him over.

Not too long after, his clone came rushing over, and Zhang Xuan hid him in his storage ring.

Forged using the Nine Hearts Lotus, his clone could be said to be nearing the point of being indestructible. Even the combined might of two Saint realm puppets couldn’t threaten its existence.

Just that, due to the severe injuries it had incurred, it would require a long rest to recuperate from its wounds.

With the heart held hostage in Zhang Xuan’s hands, those puppets didn’t dare to show the slightest disrespect to Zhang Xuan. In fact, two of the puppets even stepped forward to carry Zhang Xuan.

When Saint realm puppets sprinted as fast as they could, the speed was truly nothing to scoff at. In less than two breaths, they were already standing in a vast room.

At this point, the underground chamber finally gave into the massive pressure and caved in.

With its collapse, the room was abruptly plunged into darkness.

Thus, Zhang Xuan whipped out a Night Illumination Pearl to light up the surroundings.

Following which, he opened the book, and the heart immediately began explaining, ”This is a sanctuary we built to escape from the humans were they to enter this underground chamber. It is specially reinforced such that it will remain standing even if the underground chamber collapses… Just that, there’s no exit from here…”

Back then, after the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe lost the war, their army was expelled from the Master Teacher Continent while the remnants were hunted down. As one of the top leaders of the Otherworldly Demons, Vicious had prepared a sanctuary in advance for such a situation.

Even if humans were to find his hiding location, he would be able to kill them all by collapsing the underground chamber while he hid in this sanctuary.

However, to prevent anyone from finding this underground chamber, there was only one entrance and exit. While they were still safe for now, it was hard to say whether they would be able to get out of here or not.

”There’s no exit?”

Zhang Xuan frowned.

If there was no exit here, wouldn’t it be a matter of time before he suffocated to death?

”That’s right…” the heart replied.

”Is that the case… Since I can’t get out, I might as well absorb you to raise my cultivation!”

Zhang Xuan raised his palm and pressed it down against the page.

The Book of Heaven’s Path had sealed Vicious’ abilities, thus rendering him completely helpless before Zhang Xuan.

”Wait a moment, wait a moment…”

The heart was on the verge of tears.

Back then, there was no one who didn’t fear him, not even the most ferocious demon in hell nor Kong shi. And yet, this fellow actually threatened to beat him up and absorb him. The sudden reversal in his position left him so frustrated that he found himself losing his mind.

But throwing a tantrum would be useless now. Judging from the other party’s attitude, he might really just end up being absorbed by the other party!

What the hell was this…

It wasn’t easy for him to wake up from his hibernation, and he thought that he could finally slowly recover his strength and rule the world. And yet, before he could even leave the underground chamber, he just had to meet with this kind of pervert possessing such a monstrous artifact…

Even the ’Great Codex of Spring and Autumn’ that Kong shi went to great lengths to craft, which was said to harness the ability to reverse yin-yang and alter the flow of time, didn’t seem to be this powerful!

Just who was this fellow? Where in the world did he pop up from?

”There’s indeed no exit, but it’s possible to dig a way out. However, it might take a few days!”

The heart quickly placated Zhang Xuan’s worries for fear of being absorbed.

”Dig a way out? True. You should hurry up and get those puppets of yours to work then!”

Zhang Xuan waved his hands casually.

Considering how they were able to excavate such a huge underground chamber in the first place, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they would be able to dig a passageway out either.

And since there were so many puppets here, there was no need for Zhang Xuan to work personally, either.

”Alright,” the heart replied.

He used an unknown means to communicate with the puppets, and they started to dig upward.

These puppets were commanded might equivalent to a Saint realm expert, so digging a tunnel for a human to pass through wasn’t too difficult. However, the tricky part was that the underground chamber had just collapsed, so the surrounding ground was a little unstable at the moment. If they weren’t careful, the sanctuary could collapse as well.

While the puppets were busy digging a path out, Zhang Xuan waited patiently below.

He turned his attention to the book once more.

”Alright, I have some questions I would like to ask you. Answer me honestly.”

”Yes…” the heart replied.

”Since you came from the same era as Kong shi and even exchanged blows with him, have you ever heard of his Innate Fetal Poison?” Zhang Xuan asked.

Through the Library of Heaven’s Path, Zhang Xuan could tell that Vicious was telling the truth. He did belong to the same era as Kong shi, so there was a chance that he might know about the Innate Fetal Poison.

”Innate Fetal Poison? I’m not too sure either… Kong shi and I were enemies, and he was already considerably strong in the first time we met…” the heart replied.

In that era, the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe dominated the humans and all other races. It was during that period of time that Kong shi suddenly rose to power. Even from a very young age, he wielded exceptional strength surpassing that of most Otherworldly Demons. Under his leadership, the armies of humanity were rallied in a campaign against the Otherworldly Demons, and eventually, humanity emerged victorious in that war.

”Are you certain that you don’t know anything about that? Are you lying to me?”

Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.

”I dare not…” the heart hurriedly explained, but before he could finish his words, he was flicked by the other party’s finger once more.

”AHH!”

Peng peng peng peng!

As if struck by a bolt of lightning, he was sent spinning in the Book of Heaven’s Path, and his body convulsed violently from the impact. White foam began leaking out from the heart.

”This is nothing. If I ever find out that you are hiding something from me, I’ll kill you!” Zhang Xuan said.

”Yes…”

Red tears streamed down the heart as it trembled in agitation.

’I really am Vicious, the Vicious who dominated the ancient era, the Vicious whom even Kong shi feared…

’Please trust me!’