Library of Heaven’s Path

His current strength was nothing in Qingyuan Empire, but in terms of matching his peers, he had absolute confidence at victory.

Regardless of who it was, well, perhaps excluding that monster of a clone he had, as long as the other party was of the same cultivation realm as him, he was confident that he could have the other party crying for their daddies and mummies at the end of the duel.

To dare to cause trouble in the Combat Master Hall, he sure was brazen!

As long as I, Zhang Xuan, am around, regardless of which hole you have crawled out from or how formidable you might be, there won’t be a shred of arrogance left once I am done with you!

“With Sun shi’s promise, I am reassured…” Hearing those words, Hall Master Xing heaved a sigh of relief as a smile appeared on his lips.

Despite possessing only a cultivation of Saint 1-dan pinnacle, Sun shi was able to dodge the simultaneous attack from three of them. The great strength he possessed was undeniable. No matter how powerful Principal Zhang may be, he definitely wouldn’t be walking out of a duel with him unscathed.

“However, Sun shi, you still have to be careful. That trouble I told you is said to be an invincible existence in his cultivation realm. Even though I haven’t really witnessed his strength in person or not, the many rumors that surround him suggest that he isn’t any weaker than you!” Hall Master Xing hesitated for a moment before saying.

He was deeply confident in Sun shi’s strength, but the opponent wasn’t easy either. It was best to proceed carefully.

“He isn’t any weaker than me?” Zhang Xuan was slightly taken aback for a moment before nodding.

It was surprising to hear that there was someone who was able to match him in the same cultivation realm, especially since he cultivated the Saint Ascension Decipher and successfully ascended to become a Celestial Saint. However, considering the immense size of the Master Teacher Continent, there might just be true geniuses who could match him.

His clone was one such example… Despite being of the same cultivation realm, he didn’t recall a single occasion where he could defeat his clone in battle. It was truly frustrating.

Considering how wary Hall Master Xing was regarding the matter, the other party’s strength was likely to be truly frightening. It seemed like he had met his match this time around.

“Indeed. I have never met the other party in person, but just the fighting prowess of his students is already plenty frightening. At the same cultivation realm, even I would struggle to match them. Thus, Sun shi, you mustn’t underestimate your opponent…”

“Even you would struggle to match the other party’s students?” Zhang Xuan was astonished.

It was already incredible for the other party to be powerful, but who could have thought that the other party’s students would be so formidable as well. At this point, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but feel intrigued by the other party.

“Interesting. I’ll be looking forward to meeting him then…” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

If he could fight against such a talented master teacher, it might give him some inspiration as to how he could further his fighting prowess.

“Sun shi, we have appointed a duel with the other party earlier, and it would be held a few days from while. Meanwhile, why don’t you cultivate in our Combat Master Hall and further your fighting prowess? Each of our Ten Divisions has complete heritages, and they might prove to be of some use to you in further developing your strength.” Hall Master Xing said.

Given how quickly the other party had managed to cultivate the Grand Constellation Finger, he should be able to master the other expertise of their Combat Master Hall swiftly too. With the future of the Combat Master Hall at stake, they couldn’t afford to take any risk. As long as it was something that could boost their chances at victory, they would have to grasp tightly onto it.

“It would be a pleasure!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

He happened to be looking towards furthering his Heaven’s Path Fist Art, Heaven’s Path Palm Art, Heaven’s Path Movement Art, and the such at the moment, and the high-tier battle techniques of the Combat Master Hall was indubitably an invaluable asset for that. This was a precious opportunity to learn, so naturally, he wouldn’t turn it down.

“Here is a token which represents my authority. With this in hand, you will be able to challenge any trial and enter any library in the Combat Master Hall freely!” Seeing how the other party was still able to remain humble despite his astounding strength, Hall Master Xing nodded in approval.

After which, he flicked his wrist and tossed a token over.

Zhang Xuan casually caught it.

After which, Hall Master Xing flicked his wrist once more and took out a slender but long jade container before explaining, “Here are the five concentrated high-tier spirit stones, I’ll pass them to Sun shi first as well. This battle is truly important to our Combat Master Hall, so I wish you luck in furthering your strength.”

“Thank you.” Not expecting to receive the spirit stones ahead of the battle, Zhang Xuan felt deeply grateful.

Since the other party trusted him so much, he had to return the favor and help the other party resolve their problem at its root. At the very least, he would pummel that troublemaker to the point where he would be unable to even manage his day-to-day functions!

The Combat Master Hall wasn’t an organization that likes of his could trifle with!

…

Sitting quietly in an isolated chamber, Zhang Xuan quickly conditioned his current state to the peak before taking out the long jade container.

Right after giving Hall Master Xing his word, he quickly entered an isolated chamber to cultivate.

With the concentrated high-tier spirit stones in hand, it was about time for him to push for a breakthrough!

With a swift flick of his finger, the seal on the jade container vanished, and incredibly pure spiritual energy immediately began wafting from the container.

Placed within the container were five crystalline spirit stones. Transparent, Zhang Xuan could see the many streaks of pure spiritual energy flowing to and fro within it like little dragons. It felt as if they would burst out from the spirit stones at any moment and soar into the sky.

The spiritual energy within is indeed much purer than high-tier spirit stones… Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Through his observation, he could tell that the purity of the concentrated high-tier spirit stone was at least twice the level of ordinary high-tier spirit stones. With it, he would definitely be able to overcome the Saint 1-dan bottleneck with ease.

Alright, time to begin!

Whipping out a spirit stone and grasping in his hand, Zhang Xuan closed his eyes.

Boom!

Pure spiritual energy immediately began surging into his body, and they were swiftly converted into Heaven’s Path zhenqi.

As ordinary high-tier spirit stones were simply not pure enough for the current him, he was only able to absorb an average of 10% of the spiritual energy within. On the other hand, using the concentrated high-tier spirit stones, he found that he could absorb nearly 100% of the spiritual energy within. The conversion efficiency was truly at a wholly different level.

To put it in other words, the effects of a single concentrated high-tier spirit stone was far greater than even several thousands of high-tier spirit stones combined!

Hu la!

In the blink of an eye, the newly-converted zhenqi finally arrived before Zhang Xuan’s Origin Core. With his previous experiences in attempting for a breakthrough, his movements were extremely smooth. With a thought, he had all of his zhenqi gushing towards his Origin Core like a furious torrent.

Geji! Geji!

Under the relentless striking of the torrent, the incredibly sturdy Origin Core finally began to open. However, barely after opening a slit, Zhang Xuan already felt that his zhenqi was running dry. If he were to stop at this juncture, it would render his previous efforts futile.

“Continue!”

At this crucial period, Zhang Xuan couldn’t afford to stop. Without any hesitation, he picked up another concentrated spiritual energy and began absorbing the energy within.

Hong long!

A long time later, the sturdy Origin Core finally broke open. An object reminiscent of an eye sat in its place, illuminating the surroundings.

Along with the opening of the Incipient Eye, Zhang Xuan felt his consciousness suddenly extending beyond himself, into the surroundings. In the blink of an eye, every nook and cranny within the chamber lay bare before his consciousness.

Minor details which he would only notice with just his Eye of Insight previously, they could all be vividly felt by him at this very moment. Those books in the distance, even if he didn’t open them, he could still ‘see’ the content within each and every page.

This is Spiritual Perception? It is truly a powerful ability! Zhang Xuan’s face flushed in agitation.

Through the means of the soul oracle, he was also capable of scanning his surroundings with his soul energy. What was different about it and the Spiritual Perception was that the Spiritual Perception amplified what he could see by manyfold, as if someone had fitted a magnifier before his senses. Even the most minor of details could be perceived by him with astounding clarity.

It was no wonder why a breakthrough to Spiritual Perception realm would result in a huge leap in one’s fighting prowess despite the minimal increase in zhenqi and strength. Just by opening one’s Spiritual Perception in battle, a cultivator would be able to perceive every single move made by his opponent, allowing him to easily dodge, retaliate, or even predict the future moves that his opponent would make.

If I had the Spiritual Perception previously, I would have been able to flee from Hall Master Xing and the others with greater ease previously. It wouldn’t have been such a close shave each time around… Zhang Xuan thought as he exhaled a mouthful of turbid gas.

While he did manage to successfully flee from the combined assault of Hall Master Xing and the others earlier one, it was by a hair’s breadth every single time. This was due to a lack of his grasp over his surroundings. His attention had to be fixed on dealing with the assault he was currently facing, leaving him unable to effectively perceive the movements of the other two to guard against them. This had left him in a truly bad position.

With his Spiritual Perception, if he were to find himself in such a position once more, he would be able to make the better decisions in view of his overall circumstances, and his escape would surely have been far smoother.

Continue!

The breakthrough alleviated the deep pressure that Zhang Xuan was feeling within from his students swiftly closing up to him. Heaving a sigh of relief, he picked up another concentrated high-tier spirit stone and began driving his zhenqi once more.

Spiritual Perception realm primary stage!

Spiritual Perception realm intermediate stage!

Spiritual Perception realm advanced stage!

Spiritual Perception realm pinnacle!

Within an hour, his cultivation had soared to Saint 2-dan pinnacle. However, at the same time, the five concentrated high-tier spirit stones had been completely depleted as well, reducing to mere white powder.

Let me see how far I can extend my Spiritual Perception for! With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan began concentrating on expanding his consciousness.

According to the records on books, depending on the cultivation technique one cultivated, the area where one’s Spiritual Perception could cover would differ as well. A typical Spiritual Perception realm pinnacle expert would generally be able to expand his Spiritual Perception over a radius of 400 meters or so.

Those who were stronger could reach 500 to 600 meters, but there was nearly no one who could reach the 1000 meters mark.

Given that he had cultivated the Saint Ascension Decipher and Heaven’s Path Divine Art, he was interested to see how he compared to other cultivators.

Hu la!

Extending his Spiritual Perception outward, it swiftly crept beyond the isolated chamber.

400, 500… Zhang Xuan counted mentally.

In the blink of an eye, it had already reached the 500 meters mark.

1000, 2000…

Zhang Xuan thought that 1000 meters should be where his limit lay, but he found that he could continue to push it forward with relative ease. Eventually, it was only at the 2500 meters mark where he found that he had reached his limit.

2500 meters, that’s roughly six times more than that of ordinary cultivators… Zhang Xuan thought excitedly as he retracted his Spiritual Perception,

He knew that his Spiritual Perception was bound to be powerful due to the strength of his Heaven’s Path Divine Art, but he hadn’t expected that it would be such an extent.

One must know that the space that one’s Spiritual Perception covered increased exponentially along with the increase in radius, so expanding one’s Spiritual Perception was an increasingly difficult task. In terms of the space covered, Zhang Xuan was more than two hundred times more than an ordinary cultivator!

With such a wide Spiritual Perception, he could easily notice the movement of anyone in the vicinity, making it difficult for anyone to spring an assault on him in battle.

On top of that, it seems like the keenness at which I can perceive my surroundings is far above that of other cultivators too. Zhang Xuan noted as he exhaled deeply.

This matter was truly too astonishing. If he were to speak of it, who knew how many cultivators would be scared to death.

As per his usual practice, it would be best for him to maintain a low profile.

The Combat Master Hall is indeed worthy of its title as one of the strongest organizations in Qingyuan City!

With even just a swift scan, Zhang Xuan found that the Combat Master Hall was filled with innumerable powerful formations which could easily kill even Primordial Spirit realm experts upon contact.

It was fortunate that he had strictly instructed Ruohuan gongzi and the others to keep those of the Xuanxuan Faction in check. Otherwise, if they were to cause trouble here, the consequences could be dire.

With my breakthrough to Spiritual Perception realm, I should be able to match Primordial Spirit realm experts now.

While Zhang Xuan’s strength hadn’t risen with his breakthrough to Spiritual Perception realm, his fighting prowess did increase significantly. In the past, he could only subdue Primordial Spirit realm cultivators through springing sudden assaults, but with his newfound strength, even Spiritual Perception realm experts would struggle to bring him down in a fair battle.

But of course, he would still do well to steer clear from Leaving Aperture realm experts like Hall Master Xing.

Still, just cultivating a single realm has taken me five concentrated high-tier spirit stones. Without a doubt, the need for spirit stones in my cultivation will only continue to increase… I really have to find a way to earn money… Staring at the white powdery remains on the ground, Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella in vexation.

Just when he thought that he had become a tycoon after slaying the Ten Kings of the Qingtian Lineage, a short moment of cultivation had put him back into his place as a poor bloke.

He really had to find a way to acquire more concentrated high-tier spirit stones, or else his cultivation would stagnate once more.

Forget it, I’ll deal with it later. For the time being, I need to deal with the trouble Hall Master Xing spoke of first. Let me head to the Fist Division, Palm Division, and Footwork Division to see what they have… Given how generous Hall Master Xing had treated him, it was only right for him to reciprocate the favor.

This was how diplomacy usually worked, and as the principal of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, the Combat Master Hall was an ally he would want to bring over.

Understanding this, Zhang Xuan walked out of the isolated chamber and headed to the Fist Division.