Library of Heaven’s Path

Naturally, the ’Scarletleaf King’ was Zhang Xuan’s clone.

His clone and he were mentally connected, so they could easily transmit their thoughts to one another.

Earlier, in order to fool the Skyleaf King, Zhang Xuan had instructed the other party to morph into the Scarletleaf King’s form.

As his clone cultivated a simplified version of the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, he was unable to fully disguise his zhenqi to that of the Scarletleaf King nor conceal his level of cultivation perfectly, thus resulting in the Skyleaf King seeing through his clone’s disguise easily.

Back then, his clone had said that they shouldn’t waste their time with the Skyleaf King, and they should just end him with a single punch. However, Zhang Xuan felt that there was too huge of a disparity between their strength, so it was best for them not to move recklessly.

Even so, his clone still ended up striking the Skyleaf King anyway. It was truly fortunate that the Skyleaf King hadn’t really thought that anyone would be so brazen as to attempt an assault on him, and his clone also moved at a speed beyond the Skyleaf King’s expectations, so... the Skyleaf King ended up being struck in the head and died just after a single punch.

Upon seeing this sight, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but fall in a daze.

The Skyleaf King’s strength was centered on his Primordial Spirit, making his physical body significantly weaker in comparison, but nevertheless, he was still a Leaving Aperture realm expert. With his body reinforced by his powerful zhenqi, it would be difficult for anyone wielding strength beneath Saint 4-dan to inflict harm to him, even with a successful surprise attack.

Yet, his clone actually managed to destroy the other party’s head with a single punch. That was far beyond the might that he harnessed within his physical body, zhenqi, and soul combined!

If he were to challenge his clone in his current state, there was no doubt that he would be utterly destroyed!

Was that fellow really still his clone?

To think that his rate of cultivation and fighting prowess would end up being so far beneath his own clone... At this rate, he dared not claim that he was a genius anymore.

”How did you become so strong?” Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but ask.

The gap was between them wasn’t that huge previously. At the very least, he was still able to stand his ground against his clone to some degree in the past. But if he were to clash with his clone once more in the latter’s current strength... just the thought of it sent shivers down his spine!

Could it be that his rate of cultivation was actually really slow?

”You gave me the Lightning Elemental Orb not too long ago. I thought that it was quite useful, so I absorbed it a little…” his clone began explaining with a proud look on his face when a loud explosion suddenly sounded from behind. Following which, a furious roar echoed resoundingly within the chamber.

”Shit, the Skyleaf King is a Leaving Aperture realm expert! Even with his physical body destroyed, his Primordial Spirit would still be intact…” Zhang Xuan suddenly recalled the distinctive traits of Leaving Aperture realm cultivators, and his eyes widened in horror.

Leaving Aperture realm cultivators were capable of drawing their Primordial Spirits from their physical bodies and operate independently from it. Even if their physical bodies were to be destroyed, it wouldn’t affect their fighting prowess by much.

Since the Skyleaf King was a true Leaving Aperture realm expert, the same applied to him as well. In other words, they weren’t out of danger yet. If anything, they were in greater danger than before.

While Zhang Xuan was speaking with his clone, his hand hadn’t been idling about. Noticing the urgency of the situation, he immediately drove his zhenqi, physical strength, and soul energy to the maximum, such that he could feel a sharp pain acting on his meridians and muscles as they were pushed to the verge of tearing apart.

Kacha!

The seal dented deeper and deeper inwards, and eventually, Zhang Xuan’s finger finally came into contact with the Seven-colored Earth Jade Essence. He quickly kept it into his storage ring.

Hu!

The seal swiftly dissipated, freeing his hand.

”I will kill you!”

Hulala!

Along with a furious roar, a Primordial Spirit flew over with reddened eyes. Even without making a move, just the pressure it was exerting already left one feeling as if the world was being torn apart.

”Strong…” Zhang Xuan’s heart turned cold.

Even though he had encountered and even fought with a handful of Primordial Spirits in the past, none of them could begin to compare up with the one standing before him at this very moment. If the Primordial Spirit of the Jadeleaf King could be said to be a ferocious cat, the Skyleaf King would definitely have to be a ferocious tiger.

They weren’t even at the same level!

Just by the pressure itself, he could already tell that even with ten of him combined, he still wouldn’t be a match to the other party.

”That fellow really only knows how to cause trouble, I should never let him out again... If he hadn’t destroyed the Skyleaf King’s head, I might still be able to stall for some time. But this... What should I do…” With his life hinging on a thin thread, Zhang Xuan couldn’t be bothered with anything else anymore. He swiftly rushed for the exit as he cursed his clone in his mind.

Had his clone not acted so recklessly and destroyed the Skyleaf King’s head, the Skyleaf King also wouldn’t have gotten so furious.

He had only barely managed to flee from the seal, but at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he was captured by the Skyleaf King once more.

”Clone, you were the one who caused this trouble. You should take responsibility and fend him off…” Zhang Xuan bellowed furiously, but before he could finish his words, he suddenly saw something that caused his eyebrows to shoot up, ”Hey, don’t go! Wait a moment…”

With a speed even faster than him, his clone had already dashed out of the room, leaving only his back visible to him.

Who could have thought that his clone would actually be so disloyal, fleeing at a speed even faster than him? Zhang Xuan nearly died from sheer anger on the spot.

He had known all along that his clone was not a reliable teammate, but he had never thought that it would be to such an extent...

However, this wasn’t a moment to dwell about the matter. Knowing that he would die if the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit were to catch up with him, he quickly flicked his wrist, and the Lightning Elemental Orb appeared in his palm.

That was currently the strongest trump card he had at the moment. As long as he could activate it, he would be able to generate a field of lightning, which could possibly stall the Skyleaf King for some time, thus opening a small window for him to escape. That being said, it was nigh impossible for him to activate the Lightning Elemental Orb given his current level of cultivation, but considering the current circumstances, he had no other choice but to give it a try.

”Lightning…” Grabbing the orb tightly, Zhang Xuan infused zhenqi into it furiously. Halfway through his words, a loud ’kacha!’ sounded, and the orb was reduced to dust.

”...” Zhang Xuan was speechless.

He was still thinking how his clone had gotten so powerful within such a short period of time... It turned out that he had fully absorbed the lightning harnessed within the Lightning Elemental Orb dry, emptying out the precious artifact!

”Damn it…”

Realizing that he had lost his greatest trump card, Zhang Xuan was on the verge of tears. Watching as how the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit was swiftly catching up to him, he felt despaired. He was just about to give himself up to death’s embrace when he suddenly felt a burst of wind rushing past him.

He turned around to take a look, and to his shock, the Skyleaf King had ran straight past him, as if the other party hadn’t seen him at all.

”Ah?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.

As a large figure standing in the middle of the room, there was no way that the Skyleaf King would have missed him. So... why did the Skyleaf King run straight past him?

Nevertheless, since the Skyleaf King had chosen to overlook him, Zhang Xuan grasped the opportunity and swiftly kept the Violetleaf King back into the Myriad Anthive Nest before rushing out of the chamber.

Stepping out of the chamber, he saw his clone facing the Skyleaf King with a mocking look on his face not too far away. His clone wagged his finger provocatively while speaking in a resounding voice, ”If you really think that you can defeat me, come at me then!”

Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in shock.

”Could it be that... after absorbing the Lightning Elemental Orb, my clone’s cultivation has already reached Leaving Aperture realm and could defeat the Skyleaf King? If that’s the case, I won’t need to escape anymore…”

Zhang Xuan had thought that his clone was being disloyal for running away, but it turned out that the other party was actually luring the Skyleaf King out to face the latter one on one...

From the looks of it, his clone seemed to have gained the ability to defeat the Skyleaf King face on. There was no need for him to worry anymore.

”You’re courting death…” the Skyleaf King roared as he flung a fist forward furiously.

The clone also swiftly retaliated with a punch of his own.

”My clone is actually facing the Skyleaf King head on?” Seeing how his clone was valiantly charging at the Skyleaf King, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He opened his eyes wide to see who would emerge victorious from the clash, only to see that before his clone’s fist could even come close to connecting with the Skyleaf King, the Skyleaf King’s fist had already fallen on his head.

Padah!

His clone’s head was knocked flat.

Pu!

Zhang Xuan’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets, and he almost blacked out on the spot.

Aren’t you supposed to be powerful?

To be destroyed within just a single blow... Where in the world did you find the courage to behave so arrogantly before the Skyleaf King?

”He is intentionally luring the other party so that I can escape…” Zhang Xuan was dazed for a moment before realization came to him, and he couldn’t help but feel a little moved. Despite how his clone usually acted, it seemed like he was still a trustworthy ally during crucial moments!

Deciding not to waste the other party’s selfless sacrifice, he quickly dashed away.

Reanalyzing the situation, while his clone’s fighting prowess had increased significantly after absorbing the energy within the Lightning Elemental Orb, he was still far from matching the Skyleaf King. The only reason why his clone had challenged the Skyleaf King so arrogantly to his face was so as to vie some time for him to get away.

What a noble clone!

At this moment, Zhang Xuan felt deeply embarrassed that he misunderstood the kind intentions of the other party...

With reddened eyes, he swiftly dashed back towards the room where Wu shi and the others were at. Barely after he took three steps, a figure with a flattened head abruptly sprinted past him while shouting, ”Main body, you will have to deal with him yourself, I am not a match for him... Also, Skyleaf King, you should stop pursuing me. He’s the real Zhang Xuan, I am only a clone…”

”...” Zhang Xuan’s body shook as he spurted blood.

So, in the end, the fellow was just trying to posture but it ended in a failure...

Zhang Xuan swiftly took a glance behind him and saw that the Skyleaf King was looking at him with reddened eyes.

”Don’t come for me, he’s the real Zhang Xuan, I am just a clone... When have you seen a clone escaping faster than the main body?” Zhang Xuan immediately backed away fearfully.

”I will kill you first before killing him…” With a look of savagery, the Skyleaf King roared angrily as he rushed towards Zhang Xuan.

Huala!

An incredible might tore through the air, but surprisingly enough, despite standing before such devastating might, Zhang Xuan didn’t show the slightest hint of panic. Instead, his lips curled up into a faint smile.

”You want to kill me? Give it your best shot then!” the young man replied calmly as he stomped his feet on the ground.

Weng!

With a loud buzz, the formations that were set up around the chamber came to life. In the blink of an eye, a dense layer of mist shrouded the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit.

Zhang Xuan had already examined the formation closely when he first arrived, and with his clone’s help, they were able to successfully lure the Skyleaf King into the formation and trap him within it.

”He’s the one who had set up the formation, so there’s no way the formation can kill or trap him for too long. Let’s go!”

While Zhang Xuan was able to activate the formation to trap the Skyleaf King temporarily, given the Skyleaf King’s deep understanding of those formations, it would be nigh impossible for him to kill the other party through it. Thus, he chose to make use of this opportunity to swiftly return back to where Wu shi and the others were instead.

”I will kill you!”

Geji! Geji!

Shortly after Zhang Xuan left the formation, a series of loud explosions sounded behind him. The formations trapping the Skyleaf King had been torn into pieces.

Those grade-7 pinnacle formations could easily trap Vice Principal Ji Yan and the others, but against the Leaving Aperture realm Skyleaf King who commanded a thorough understanding of them, it could only barely last for a few moments.

On top of that, the formations required a person of sufficient strength to drive it in order to draw out its true strength, but Zhang Xuan’s Nascent Saint pinnacle cultivation wasn’t insufficient for him to drive a grade-7 pinnacle formation properly.

”Run!”

With the formations being torn apart, Zhang Xuan knew that he would be killed if the Skyleaf King caught with up. Thus, he pushed his body to its limits and dashed forward as fast as he could.

...

”What an incredible pulsation of energy... This is bad. The Skyleaf King must have noticed Principal Zhang, and the both of them have started fighting with one another!”

The crowd, who were resting within the small room, felt an intense disturbance in the surrounding spiritual energy, and their eyes narrowed in alarm.

”Let’s go out to take a look…” Wu shi said anxiously before taking the lead to head outside.

The others quickly followed suit, and not too long after leaving the room, they saw a monster with a flattened sheet dangling on his neck sprinting over. Behind him was a person whose entire body was charred black and hair was standing on end.

”What are those things?”

The crowd was horrified.