Library of Heaven’s Path

”With such a formidable teacher... Could he have really broken the record?”

Before this revelation, everyone was still doubtful as to whether he had truly broken the record. However, after hearing that the other party had a formidable teacher whom even Pavilion Master Mo and Elder Mo were in awe of, their mind couldn’t help but wonder if he might be speaking the truth.

Master teachers who had progressed beyond 6-star possessed incredible means which they could hardly fathom.

This was also the reason why the offsprings of Sage Clans possessed formidable capabilities far beyond their peers. Entitled from birth, the offsprings of Sage Clans were exposed to things that were far beyond their wildest imagination, thus paving the way to greatness.

”You have my gratitude!” Upon hearing Yuan Hong agree to his terms, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

Since it was crafted by a 6-star blacksmith and a 6-star celestial designer, he might just be able to fix it. If he were to succeed, he could spare himself from paying that heavy compensation!

In a sense, not having to pay that hefty compensation could be considered as earning that sum of money as well!

It couldn’t be helped, he was simply too poor at the moment. He had yet to reach the point where he could spend money as he pleased.

Walking over to the ruins, Zhang Xuan took in a deep breath and placed his hand on the ruins.

Back then, when he was still in the Chamber of Earth Flame, he had only used his Eye of Insight. As such, he hadn’t compiled a book on the chamber and the passageway yet.

As the mechanisms and the formation of the two were connected to form an immense structure, he should be able to compile a book on them by placing his hand against the wall.

”Flaws!” Zhang Xuan muttered in his head, and with a jolt, a book appeared in the Library of Heaven’s Path. He quickly turned his gaze to it.

After flipping through a few pages, his eyes narrowed.

The reason why the infrastructure collapsed was due to the depletion of the spiritual energy gathered in the Earth Flame Hearts, resulting in an imbalance in the formation. As the formation served as the energy supply for the mechanisms for the Passageway of Records, it ended up breaking down as well.

If Zhang Xuan wanted to fix the problem, he would have to first find four more Earth Flame Hearts to substitute the depleted ores. From there on, he would be able to repair and re-establish balance in the formation, and that should allow the mechanisms of the passageway to function once more as well.

Repairing the formation and re-establishing balance, those were within his means. However... where was he supposed to find Earth Flame Hearts?

Even if he were to put aside the fact that Earth Flame Hearts were extremely rare commodities that one could hardly find in the market, given his current wealth, he wouldn’t be able to afford one even if he were to stumble on one by some coincidence!

”There is no way I can repair it like that unless... I can solve the flaw regarding the usage of Earth Flame Hearts as catalysts for the formation!” Zhang Xuan fell into deep thoughts.

The Earth Flame Hearts were listed as a flaw in the Library of Heaven’s Path due to several compatibility issues with the formation. If Zhang Xuan could find a cheaper and more effective alternative, he would be able to spare himself a lot of trouble.

But this had its own problems too. What he should swap it with and how he would swap it were questions he would have to answer if so. However, Zhang Xuan’s understanding of the entire system was still far too lacking for him to come up with a feasible solution.

In the end, Zhang Xuan turned to Yuan Hong and asked, ”Elder, I have one request to ask of you...”

Even though he didn’t know what was the position of the old man before him, there should be no mistake addressing him as ”elder”.

”What is it?” Yuan Hong frowned.

”It’s like that... I’ve examined the passageway and gained some understanding of its workings and sustained damage. However... there are some things which I am not too sure of, so may I borrow some related books on this subject in the Blacksmith School to browse through?”

Since Zhang Xuan was lacking information, there was only one thing to do—gather sufficient books to form a corresponding Heaven’s Path secret manual.

This might be extremely abrupt and last-minute, but there was nothing more effective than that at the moment.

”You wish to browse through some books?” Yuan Hong was stunned.

To only start reading up right now, don’t you think it’s a little too late?

”What kind of books do you need?” Even though Yuan Hong was a little iffy about Zhang Xuan’s intentions, he still decided to ask anyway.

”Any books regarding the Chamber of Earth Flame will do. The more there is, the better it’ll be...” Zhang Xuan replied.

The Chamber of Earth Flame was an extremely complex system which intricacies could easily take months to comprehend, and yet Zhang Xuan didn’t seem to have the slightest clue on where he should start.

A dark line streaked across Yuan Hong’s face, but eventually, after a deep breath, he turned to the side and instructed, ”Luo Yan, bring all of the books regarding the Chamber of Earth Flame from our library here.”

If it was anyone else, he would have never granted him this privilege. However, that fellow before him had Elder Mo’s token in hand, and he seemed to have the backing of a formidable teacher as well. Frustrated as he may be, he still decided to hold himself back.

And more importantly, he was also curious to see how the other party intended to fixing the Chamber of Earth Flame when it was already left in such ruins.

”He wants to read up? But considering how complex the formation and mechanism is, can he even understand those books?”

”Indeed, I also have no idea what’s going on. Perhaps he wants to analyze its internal structure?”

”In any case, the blueprints of the Chamber of Earth Flame aren’t secrets. The only thing valuable about it is the four Earth Flame Hearts used as the core of the center formation. I heard that the Blacksmith School had to pay a hefty price to obtain it back then. As long as those Earth Flame Hearts remain intact, it shouldn’t be too difficult to fix it.”

...

After hearing the young man’s intentions of reading through books regarding the Chamber of Earth Flame, doubt flickered across everyone’s faces.

While books were useful sources of knowledge, it was impossible to fully grasp such a complex subject without the guidance of a teacher.

So far, there had never been a person who had become a great expert of the continent by secluding himself and studying by his own.

That fellow had declared confidently that he would attempt to fix the damage, so everyone thought that he would have some level of proficiency in smithing and mechanism design. Who knew that he would end up engaging in last-minute studying instead...

If that could really work, everyone would have been 6-star master teachers by now! It was no wonder why Vice School Head Yuan Hong was so angry.

Ignoring the bizarre gazes around him, Zhang Xuan waited patiently, and before long, Luo Yan returned back into the room.

The books on the Chamber of Earth Flame were placed together, so it wasn’t too difficult to gather all of them together. After allowing his teacher to double check the titles, Luo Yan flicked his wrist, and a pile of several hundred books appeared before him.

Some of these books depict the structure of the Chamber of Earth Falme, some of them explained the functions of it, and there were even some with several suggestions for improvement on them... However, many of these suggestions were just opinions from the authors, making it difficult to discern right from wrong.

Walking up to the book, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and touched every single one of them, as if he was trying to find a certain a book. Soon, after his finger brushed through every last one of them, he casually picked up a book and flipped it open.

His eyes were fixated on the content of the book, but his consciousness was deep within the Library of Heaven’s Path, compiling the content of the books he had just gathered together.

Hu!

A moment later, a brand-new book appeared before him, and Zhang Xuan swiftly flipped it open.

”There are still so many flaws?” After taking a look, his eyelids began twitching uncontrollably.

It seemed like several hundred books were still far from enough! He was still unable to iron out all of the flaws to form a perfect manual. Taking a swift glance, there was actually 52 of them!

Nevertheless, his goal wasn’t to perfect the manual. More importantly, he just had to find a suitable substitution for the Earth Flame Hearts.

Flipping through the book swiftly, he soon found a portion regarding the Earth Flame Heart flaw.

”Earth Flame Hearts are incompatible with the formation in the Chamber of Flames, resulting in high energy inefficiency. If they could be placed with Earth Flame, the efficiency could be enhanced severalfold, and there will be no worry of the depletion of the catalyst as it could be easily retrieved from the ground. However, Earth Flame is extremely difficult to control, and its heat intensity is lacking as compared to Earth Flame Hearts...”

The content extended over an entire page.

While Earth Flame was stated as a plausible substitute, it had its own flaws as well, and it wouldn’t be easy to make the swap as well.

First and foremost, Earth Flame was lacking in heat intensity, so its effects wouldn’t be as pronounced as with Earth Flame Hearts. Considering how the Chamber of Earth Flame was intended as a trial to one’s physical resilience to heat, it wouldn’t do for the temperature to be lowered.

If Zhang Xuan wanted to use it as a catalyst, he would have to find a way to raise its heat intensity somehow. One method came into his mind—auxiliary formation.

One of the books did propose the usage of a 5-star auxiliary formation to further intensify the heat in the Chamber of Earth Flame. Given Zhang Xuan’s current ability, he was more than capable of setting up a 5-star formation.

However, there was another potential problem. To set up a 5-star auxiliary formation in the Chamber of Earth Flame, he would have to project it over the original formation. When formations compound with one another, it was extremely easy for them to come into conflict with one another, thus making an explosion extremely likely!

As a result, the usage of Earth Flame as a catalyst for the Chamber of Earth Flame was only practical in theory.

In order to ensure stability in both formations, one would have to identify the balance point and establish power equilibrium from that point. However, even the most capable of formation masters in Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy didn’t possess the means to do so, needless to say, others.

This was precisely the reason why the original builders of the Chamber of Earth Flame decided to go to great lengths to obtain Earth Flame Hearts to construct it.

But while finding the balance point might be a nigh impossible for others, it was no problem for Zhang Xuan at all!

Wasn’t it just a mere balance point?

Of his formation master capabilities, this seemed to be his greatest specialization...

Breaking formations, challenging the Sea of Formations, calming the Cleansing Lake... It was through finding the respective balance points that he was able to achieve those feats and make a name for himself!

”However... I still don’t have a complete understanding of the Chamber of Earth Flame yet. It won’t be easy for me to find the balance point like that. Nevertheless, 10 high-tier spirit stones are at stake, I should give it a try regardless!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

Other than the stability issue, there were still many other problems that Zhang Xuan had to resolve. For one, Earth Flame was far more deconcentrated than Earth Flame Hearts, and this could potentially result in an unstable intensity of heat throughout the Chamber of Earth Flame.

It was problematic that Zhang Xuan didn’t have sufficient information to work with in order to construct a perfect formation to resolve all of the problems. However, the main issue at hand should be swapping the Earth Flame Hearts with Earth Flame and ensuring the stability of the compounding formation. As long as he could achieve that, he should be able to deal with the other problems slowly after that.

”Alright, the Earth Flame it shall be then!”

After running some simulation scenarios in his head, Zhang Xuan verified that there shouldn’t be too much of an issue with it before standing up once more.

”This elder over here, may I know if there is any way to connect the Chamber of Earth Flame directly to the Earth Flame beneath the ground?”

”Earth Flame? It should be possible to do so.” Yuan Hong nodded. ”Often, our blacksmiths require the immense heat from the earth to refine and mold metal. Thus, we have procured a direct source to it in our Blacksmith School.”

It wasn’t uncommon for students of the Blacksmith School to have to handle difficult ores, and ordinary coals often produce insufficient heat process them.

As such, a huge formation was crafted within the Blacksmith School in order to allow students to tap into the Earth Flame below directly.

”That’s great!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up. ”I would like to borrow that for a use. May I ask elder to help connect the source of the Earth Flame to the formation in the Chamber of Earth Flame?”

”You intend to use Earth Flame to substitute the Earth Flame Hearts?” Yuan Hong frowned.

”Yes, I have found a feasible solution to do so. Don’t worry, I’m certain about its feasibility!” Zhang Xuan said with a confident smile.

”Alright then!” Seeing Zhang Xuan’s confident face, Yuan Hong hesitated for a moment before eventually relenting.

While Earth Flame was indeed dangerous, he had handled it many times in the past while smithing weapons, so controlling it wasn’t too much of an issue for him. Given such, he should be able to handle the situation even if things were to go awry, so it shouldn’t be dangerous.

In any case, since that fellow had declared his confidence, he was also curious to see what he was up to.

If this were to succeed, that fellow would be doing what countless predecessors had failed at. This would be, in the truest sense, the breaking of a record!

Yuan Hong left the room, returning with a metal formation plate in hand a moment later. After checking the positioning, he placed the formation plate on the ground and injected a surge of zhenqi into it.

Weng!

The engravings on the formation plate began to shine, and a searing heat permeated the surroundings. Suddenly, a pillar of fire rose from the ground like a flame dragon, seemingly intent on melting down the surroundings.

However, the flame dragon was swiftly suppressed and kept under control under Yuan Hong’s proficient maneuvers.

”Thank you!” Zhang Xuan smiled.

The temperature of the Earth Flame was indeed subpar compared to the Earth Flame Heart. It seemed like the book was right. He would have to use an auxiliary formation to intensify the heat if he wished to restore the Chamber of Earth Flame back to its previous state.