Library of Heaven’s Path

Chilling wind battered ceaselessly on the convoy of the Zhang Clan.

It was already in the midst of winter. While it was not as chilling as the usual weather at the Glacier Plain Court, most of the mountains were already cloaked with a thick layer of snow. Placed along with the white clouds in the air, it formed a mystical scenery of beauty.

Zhang Xuan stood in the room at the back of the aerial saint beast, frowning. Unable to hold back his curiosity anymore, he turned to the Xingmeng Sword Saints and asked, “What’s the reason behind the engagement between the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan? Since I’m the clan head now, I should know of it as well, right?”

Initially, Zhang Xuan had thought that his parents’ impatience had stemmed from wanting to see him settle down, but after flying for some time, he could not help but feel that something was amiss.

Of the items carried by the forty aerial saint beasts, there were pills, artifacts, secret manuals, beast skin, inner cores… There was basically everything that a cultivator would ever need. Even with the Zhang Clan’s fortune, it was not something that could be prepared on the spur of a moment.

The only possibility was that they had already prepared it in advance!

Of course, that was to be expected. After all, they even held the tournament back at the Zhang Clan to find someone to marry the little princess in his place. However, this served to remind him of how adamant the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan were in pushing this marriage forward.

Putting this together with what he had heard from Luo Xuanqing a while back, about how determined the elders of the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan were in realizing the marriage… He would have to be fool not to realize that something was amiss!

Furthermore, he had barely reunited with his parents. Surely his parents would not want to send him away so quickly.

“This…” Hearing his son’s question, a hesitant look surfaced on Sword Saint Xing’s face.

It was clear that his son had already guessed something, and it would be impossible to hide it from him any longer.

“I told you that we shouldn’t hide it from our son, but you just wouldn’t listen! Given how smart my Xuan-er is, how could he possibly not figure it out?” Sword Saint Meng harrumphed coldly.

Turning to Zhang Xuan, she scoffed impatiently. “The Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan’s arrangement is for mankind or whatever nonsense!”

“For mankind? What does the marriage with the Luo Clan have to do with mankind?” Zhang Xuan was even more confused.

It was just a marriage between him and Luo Ruoxin! Surely it would be exaggerating to say that the whole of mankind would be affected by their marriage.

“Let me tell him instead!”

The previously-silent Yang shi suddenly sighed deeply and spoke up.

“Un.”

Seeing that Yang shi was going to speak, the Xingmeng Sword Saints nodded before falling silent.

“The bloodline ability of the Zhang Clan is time whereas the bloodline ability of the Luo Clan is space,” Yang shi said. “Senior, I believe you should be very familiar with this, right?”

Zhang Xuan nodded in response.

He had been surprised by it at the start, but after witnessing it so many times, he had already gotten used to it.

“Those two abilities come together to form the power of spacetime, and this power is the key to unlocking the seal of the Temple of Confucius!” Yang shi revealed.

“The seal of the Temple of Confucius?”

“According to legend, in order to access the area where the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn is sealed, on top of the Celestial Amulets of Legacy required, one must also wield the power of spacetime! However, this is an ability that only the strongest of Ancient Sages wield!” Yang shi explained.

“However, it’s a pity that no one has been able to achieve a breakthrough to Ancient Sage over the past ten thousand years. The few living Ancient Sages are also reaching the limits of their lifespan, such that while they are still capable of fighting short battles, it would be difficult for them to decipher the flow of spacetime in order to break the seal. More importantly, it seems that Ancient Sage experts might not be able to enter the depths of the Temple of Confucius!”

“This…” Zhang Xuan was bewildered. “If Ancient Sages are banned from entering the depths of the Temple of Confucius, why did Kong shi create a seal that requires one to wield the power of spacetime to decipher it?”

What in the world was Kong shi intending to do?

It was one thing for Kong shi to place the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn in the Temple of Confucius instead of handing it over to mankind, but he had even created an insurmountable obstacle for challengers to overcome. Was he really intending for mankind to obtain the Great Codex of Spring of Autumn?

Alas, Kong shi had already long passed on, so it was impossible for them to fathom his thoughts anymore. Yang shi shook his head and said, “I don’t know the details either. Due to the seal placed in the Temple of Confucius, even if we gather all of the Celestial Amulets of Legacy, we still won’t be able to access the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn. However, if we fuse the bloodlines of the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan together, it might just be possible to pull it off!”

“Fuse the bloodlines of the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan?”

“If both bloodlines can be perfectly fused together, one will be able to harness the power of spacetime that usually only the most pinnacle Ancient Sage could wield!” Yang shi explained. “It’s for this reason that you were engaged to the little princess of the Luo Clan even before the both of you were born. No matter what happens, the marriage has to go through!”

“But… I have already lost my Zhang Clan bloodline. Even if I marry the little princess now, it would be futile…” Not expecting to hear such a story before the engagement, Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in alarm.

As mankind slowly lost its Ancient Sages, the tables would gradually turn in favor of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. As such, this made obtaining the Great Codex of Spring of Autumn of utmost importance to mankind. This matter could determine the very survival of mankind. As such, even the Master Teacher Pavilion was pushing this matter forward.

But considering that he had already lost his Zhang Clan’s bloodline and his grasp over the law of time was still rather elementary, even if he were to marry Luo Ruoxin, it would not help at all!

“You might have already lost your Zhang Clan bloodline, but the fact that you once possessed it means that your body carries the aptitude for it. As long as the Zhang Clan bloodline is infused back into your veins once more, you should be able to wield its power easily, so there’s no need to worry about that. Besides, the mutual feelings between you and the little princess will allow for greater synergy in your collaboration, making it easier for the two of you to produce the power of spacetime!

“Without a doubt, the two of you are the ideal candidates for this matter!” Yang shi affirmed with a smile.

There was still one more thing that he had neglected to mention, and that was the fact that Zhang Xuan was a Celestial Master Teacher.

Kong shi had been a Celestial Master Teacher as well, so while others might have difficulties obtaining the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn, Zhang Xuan might just be able to pull it off.

For this reason, even though the Zhang Clan had already found an individual who possessed even purer Zhang Clan bloodline than Zhang Xuan, he was still more supportive of having Zhang Xuan marry the little princess.

“I’ll be able to use the abilities of the Zhang Clan bloodline just by having it infused back into me?” Zhang Xuan asked in bewilderment.

He could understand how the chemistry between him and Luo Ruoxin would allow for a more harmonious collaboration between the two of them, but the notion of being able to use the abilities of the Zhang Clan just by having their bloodline infused into him sounded a little ridiculous.

“It’s true that your Zhang Clan bloodline has been torn away from your body, but this can also be said to be a blessing in disguise. You won’t be limited by your bloodline, thus granting you the potential to exceed the founder of the Zhang Clan!” Yang shi explained.

“Inheriting a unique bloodline is similar to inheriting the lineage of the predecessors. It grants one an incomparable advantage when it comes to intrinsic talent, but there is also a fatal flaw to it—one will be limited by one’s bloodline. It will be far more difficult for one to surpass the level of one’s predecessor as compared to an ordinary cultivator. Furthermore, the purer one’s bloodline is, the greater the bottleneck will be!”

“This…” Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in realization.

To make an analogy, a unique bloodline would be equivalent to walking down a safe pathway that one’s predecessors had already paved in advance. However, the downside of walking down an established pathway was that one would not know where one could safely advance toward once one reached the end of the pathway. Perhaps, the pathway might not even be suitable!

Under such circumstances, it would be nigh impossible to go any further than one’s predecessor!

A thought suddenly came to Zhang Xuan’s mind. Could this be why Kong shi was afflicted with the Innate Fetal Poison? The purpose was not to heal an Ancient Sage but to… surpass the predecessors?

The reason the Innate Fetal Poison was so little known on the Master Teacher Continent was likely due to how inefficient it was as a poison. After all, there were far more convenient and certain poisons to kill an infant as opposed to the Innate Fetal Poison, so it was more likely that Kong shi had planted it for its other purpose—substitution of bloodline.

Previously, he had been wondering what reasons there were to tear away Kong shi’s bloodline and afflict him with the Innate Fetal Poison, and this could very well be the case.

After all, Kong shi did manage to achieve what others failed in, surpassing all that came before him.

“Back then,” Sword Saint Meng suddenly interjected with reddened eyes, “the reason I agreed to having your bloodline torn out was because they promised me that nothing would happen to you and that you might even get an opportunity to strive for greater heights…”