Library of Heaven’s Path

Huala!

The spiritual energy from the surroundings converged together to form a massive palm print, which was then blasted toward Zhang Xuan with astounding force.

If he were struck by the palm strike, there was no doubt that he would die there and then.

”Skyleaf King, your opponent is me!”

Alarmed, Wu shi and Guild Leader Han hurriedly rushed forward to defend Zhang Xuan from the palm strike.

Not expecting there to be such an abrupt twist in events, Luo Ruoxin’s face darkened as she shouted hurriedly, ”Don’t rush over!”

However, it was already too late. Wu shi and Guild Leader Han had already stepped into the perimeter of the lightning ordeal. Pumping their zhenqi furiously, they were able to barely deflect the powerful palm strike that the Skyleaf King had sent over. However, in the next moment, a deep rumbling sounded from above, and the dark clouds abruptly expended more than twofold.

An even more astonishing amount of lightning energy was gathering within the dark clouds, preparing to launch a lethal strike upon its target.

Upon seeing that sight, Zhang Yinqiu’s face paled. ”What happened?”

Why would there suddenly be a rise in the difficulty of the lightning ordeal? The previous streak of lightning was already something that even Zhang Xuan could hardly withstand, so if it were to grow stronger…

”The Saint Ascension Ordeal alters its difficulty according to the strength of the cultivator. As Wu shi and Guild Leader Han stepped into the vicinity of the lightning ordeal, the lightning ordeal mistakenly thought that Zhang shi has achieved a breakthrough, so it’s sending down an even stronger streak of lightning for him to deal with,” Luo Ruoxin explained with a pale face.

”What should we do then?” Zhang Yinqiu’s body shook in shock.

”There’s nothing we can do; we can’t interfere in the matter.” Luo Ruoxin gritted her teeth. ”The more we try to help, the more formidable the lightning ordeal that Zhang shi will be put through…”

Kacha!

Before she could finish her words, the black clouds finally finished charging up, and the lightning grew two times larger in the blink of an eye.

Hong long!

From the first streak of lightning, Zhang Xuan’s entire body was already charred black. With the descend of the second streak of lightning, he felt as if a force was tearing his entire body apart.

Pu!

Fresh blood burst forth from his mouth as his veins ruptured from the lightning energy rampaging through his body. In the blink of an eye, his entire body was dyed crimson.

”Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body!” Muttering softly, the insides of Zhang Xuan’s body began glowing brilliantly as he drove the Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body to its very limits.

The second streak of lightning was the Body Ordeal, so he only had his strongest physical body cultivation technique to rely on to fend off the lightning.

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

Under the relentless assault of the lightning from above, layer after layer of radiance shimmering around him broke one after another. As if his body was made of ceramic, cracks began appearing on his skin, and blood flowed profusely out of those cracks.

How could the lightning be so powerful? Zhang Xuan exclaimed within his heart.

Even though the previous Soul Ordeal was unbearable, it had not been beyond his limits. On the other hand, the Body Ordeal he was going through was simply too powerful. Despite having cultivated his Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body to its pinnacle, facing the lightning, he felt like an egg being smashed by a hammer. There was no way he could win at this rate.

Geji!

The cracks on his body grew larger and more numerous, and the lightning energy engulfed his entirety. In that moment, Zhang Xuan felt as if his head and four limbs were torn apart by five horses heading in different directions.

It’s not just five horses. It’s a hundred of them, a thousand, ten thousand…

The lightning energy felt like ten thousand horses tugging every part of his body. It was as if it would not rest until he was reduced to ashes.

I can’t hold on any longer.

The zhenqi in his body swiftly flowed to fend off the lightning energy, and it managed to fend off the devastating lightning energy for nine whole breaths. However, on the tenth breath, he finally came to the limit of his strength, and the lightning energy broke through the defenses of his zhenqi.

Even though he cultivated the peerless Heaven’s Path Divine Art, the lightning ordeal he was currently going through exceeded his limits. He could not hold on any longer.

This won’t do. If this continues, I will surely die.

So what if you are a lightning ordeal? I don’t believe that you don’t have flaws!

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xuan turned a cold gaze toward the dark clouds in the sky.

You might be a powerful force of nature, but nothing in this world is perfect. As long as you have flaws, I will be able to exploit them to tide me through this crisis!

With a glance, a book materialized in the Library of Heaven’s Path.

Zhang Xuan quickly flipped it open.

Hu la!

A series of words appeared in his head.

”The second phase of the Saint Ascension Ordeal, Body Ordeal. Through gathering the Power of Lightning, it devastates the cultivator’s physical body and zhenqi through the destructive might harnessed within it. Flaws: No.1, the nature of the lightning makes it highly destructive against material beings, but it inflicts minimal damage on immaterial beings like souls. It is considered a physical attack…”

Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up. It inflicts minimal damage on souls?

His soul was still weakened from the previous Soul Ordeal. If the lightning within the Body Ordeal was ineffective against his soul, he could very well absorb it with his soul.

”Come out, my soul!”

With a roar, his soul swiftly slipped through his glabella, and opening his mouth wide, he devoured the lightning that was still descending from the heavens.

Due to the overwhelming radiance of the lightning, no one saw his soul. They merely thought that he had used a secret art of some sort.

Tzzzzzzzzzzz!

As if a potent tonic, the devoured lightning was swiftly processed into soul energy, enlarging his soul once more.

When the lightning coursed through Zhang Xuan’s body and exploded, it caused his body to be inflated to its limit, seemingly threatening to burst it apart. However, when it came to his soul, while it had similar effects, all it had done to its soul was only to make it slightly more condensed. That was not much of a threat at all.

Before long, his soul was finally done absorbing the energy harnessed within the second streak of lightning, and his soul reverted back to its initial size of ten meters.

While the quantity of his soul energy had increased, its purity did not take a dip at all. If anything, it seemed to be even more fearsome than before.

This… Does this mean that I have cleared the second phase of the Saint Ascension Ordeal?

Swiftly returning his soul back to his body, Zhang Xuan looked up and saw that the second streak of lightning swiftly weakening before eventually clearing altogether, and he heaved a huge sigh of relief.

It was fortunate that he had swiftly analyzed the flaws of the Body Ordeal’s lightning with the Library of Heaven’s Path, or else his body might have succumbed to it and turned into meat paste.

Hong long long!

With the conclusion of the second streak of lightning, thunder began rumbling in the dark clouds above once more as the third streak of lightning threatened to fall.

This time, the rumbling was clearly much louder, and the sheer size of the lightning spanned a diameter of a meter. It was as if it was determined to tear Zhang Xuan apart.

Kacha!

It finally descended down into the world.

”Die!”

In that moment, the Skyleaf King flicked his finger toward Zhang Xuan, and a surge of sword qi flew over.

Upon seeing that Zhang Xuan had managed to clear the second phase of the Saint Ascension Ordeal, he felt deeply threatened. Thus, he intended to kill Zhang Xuan once and for all before the final streak of lightning descended.

Otherwise, if the humans were to usher in another Celestial Saint, that could very well become a catastrophe for the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.

As such, even though it was only a single flick of the finger, that surge of sword qi actually harnessed the full strength of his body.

Luo Ruoxin’s eyes narrowed upon seeing that attack. She began to move forward to protect Zhang Xuan, but before she could do so, a figure suddenly appeared right before her.

Puchi!

That sword qi tore a huge hole through the figure, but it was eventually still stopped before it could reach Zhang Xuan.

Upon seeing that sight, Luo Ruoxin heaved a sigh of relief and stopped.

The figure was none other than Zhang Xuan’s clone.

The Skyleaf King had provoked them far too many times that even someone as composed as the clone could not hold himself back anymore.

”How dare you attack my main body? You must be tired of living!” With a furious roar, the aura of Zhang Xuan’s clone’s body surged furiously, and with a ’hu!’, he leaped right up to the Skyleaf King in the air.

”You…” Not expecting the other party to charge right up to him without any fear for his life, the Skyleaf King was stunned for a moment before sending a palm strike downward.

Kacha!

Struck by the palm strike, Zhang Xuan’s clone was reduced to a pancake once more. Nevertheless, it did not erode his fighting will in the least. He continued to dash forward furiously despite the unseemly form he was in, determined to bring down the Skyleaf King.

Tzzla tzzla!

The next moment, a ferocious might struck the Skyleaf King, causing his Primordial Spirit to dissipate slightly.

”Damn it!” Not expecting the other party to risk his life to launch such desperate attacks against him, the Skyleaf King’s face turned livid with rage.

Honestly speaking, he was getting vexed at dealing with the fellow before him. It was as if the fellow’s body was indestructible! No matter what kind of attacks he launched against the fellow, the latter would always be able to morph back into his original shape a moment later and continue launching frenzied attacks against him. He truly had no idea how he should deal with such an opponent.

No, this won’t do. It’s pointless for me to engage them in conflict. As long as I can fuse the map and the sphere together, I will be able to gain complete control over the Qiu Wu Palace. By then, even if Zhang Xuan successfully becomes a Celestial Saint, he will still be trapped in my grasp, the Skyleaf King thought as he dodged the clone’s attack.

As a Primordial Spirit, he dared not approach Zhang Xuan in close quarters due to the overwhelming lightning energy that had gathered around him, so he had been trying to launch long-range attacks instead. However, it had not been too effective as the others had been trying their best to intercept his attacks. Not to mention, there was even a seemingly indestructible existence among their ranks that was plaguing him. At this point, he had already realized that it was unlikely that his attacks would reach Zhang Xuan.

Thus, the best option he had was to quickly fuse the map and the sphere together. As long as he could gain complete control over the Qiu Wu Palace, he would be able to destroy the group before him easily, even if they did have a Celestial Saint among them!

”Scram!” With a furious roar, the Skyleaf King knocked the clone away before placing one of his palms on the sphere to forcefully push it against the map, hastening the fusion process.

Weng!

A loud buzz sounded as the map and the sphere fused with one another.

”Quick, we have to stop him!” Zhang Yinqiu exclaimed in a panic.

Wu shi, Guild Leader Han, and Vice Principal Ji Yan dashed over, but before they could come close, they were already knocked back by a flick of the Skyleaf King’s hand.

As the battle continued, it was apparent that the Skyleaf King held the advantage in terms of stamina. On top of that, the rest of them had sustained considerable injuries over the course of the battle, resulting in a significant decline in their fighting prowess as well. As a result, they found themselves gradually becoming less and less able to stop the Skyleaf King.

”We are doomed.” Seeing that the map and the sphere were close to being fully fused with one another and the shaking of the Qiu Wu Palace had stopped as well, Zhang Yinqiu’s face paled in horror.

It seemed like they had come to the end of the route now. There was nothing they could do at this point anymore.

”We can only pray that Zhang shi successfully becomes a Celestial Saint. If he can achieve a breakthrough, we might still stand a chance at reversing the current situation,” Zhang Yinqiu muttered as he turned to look at the young man on the Saint Ascension Platform.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan was currently facing the final phase of the Saint Ascension Ordeal, the Heart Ordeal!

This was known to be the hardest trial to overcome, and its dangers far exceeded the previous two.

”It won’t be easy to overcome the Heart Ordeal. Inner Demons will sprout within one’s mind and assault one’s weaknesses. Even the strongest of experts will find it hard to withstand the beguilement of the Inner Demons. Let’s hope that he can endure it!” Luo Ruoxin said with a worried frown on her forehead. Zhang Xuan’s successful clearance of the first two trials had done little to alleviate her worries.

If Zhang Xuan were to fail this trial, his consciousness could be wiped out, resulting in his complete death.

It was known among cultivators that tempering one’s body was easy, but tempering one’s mind was difficult.

Countless talented cultivators in history had died not in the midst of battle but against the Inner Demons that had sprouted in their minds during cultivation.

Oblivious to the happenings outside, in that very instant, Zhang Xuan found himself sinking into a unique state of mind.

As thick as the lightning streak for the Heart Ordeal was, it did not inflict the slightest pain on his body. Instead, it brought his consciousness into a land of complete darkness. Alone and lost, he found himself unsure of where he had come from and where he should head to in the future.

Aimlessly, he walked within the seemingly boundless world of darkness. No directions and no goal, he found himself sinking deeper and deeper into confusion.

Where am I? Where do I have to go? Zhang Xuan thought in a daze.

Boom!

In the midst of his confusion, a completely dark existence reminiscent of a devil suddenly materialized before his eyes. With an alluring voice, he said, ”The cultivation technique that you have cultivated so far is flawed! If you continue down this path, death is the only thing you will find at the end of the road…”

”Flawed?”

Even in his dazed state, Zhang Xuan was taken aback by those words. Then, his dazed eyes opened wide on reflex as he replied, ”For you to say that the cultivation technique I have cultivated is flawed, it seems like you must have a seriously wrong interpretation of cultivation. How about this, why don’t you become my student, and I will give you some guidance? Don’t worry, I am a very good teacher!”

”…” Inner Demon.