Library of Heaven’s Path

2057 Counterattack

Astonishingly, even with his current cultivation realm, he was unable to see through the depths of the old man’s cultivation.

Up to this point, the strongest Semi-Divinity realm cultivators that he had met were Han Jianqiu, Fu Chenzi, and the middle-aged man. However, the old man before him was at a whole different level from them.

The aura that he emanated seemed to swallow the very essence of the world. The darkness engulfing them was a result of his aura devouring the light in the area. It felt like there was no way to escape from him at all.

“Taming four Semi-Divinity realm beasts and slaying Fu Chenzi and Ying Chen. It’s no wonder the master values you so highly, choosing to mobilize even me to deal with you,” the old man remarked. “It’s really beyond my imagination how you are able to come this far within ten short days. Even the current me would have some trouble trying to capture you.”

“You know that I was the one who killed Fu Chenzi and the middle-aged man?” Zhang Xuan felt his body tensing up a little.

It was likely that Ying Chen was the name of the middle-aged man from the Hall of Gods who had made a move against Jiang Yao in the City of Collapsed Space.

But they had been in the City of Collapsed Space when he killed the two of them, and he had even made sure to seal the surroundings in order to ensure that those two would not be able to send any messages out to the Hall of Gods. So, how could the old man before him know of this matter?

Furthermore, no one should have known that he had tamed four Semi-Divinity realm beasts other than Jiang Yao.

Given that he had tamed the Blackback Tortoise in his capacity as Liu Yang, did that not mean that the Hall of Gods was aware of the fact that he was the head of the Sevenstar Pavilion?

This was impossible!

He did not think that he would be able to hide this matter forever, but he did not expect someone to figure it out so quickly either!

“There’s nothing the Hall of Gods doesn’t know about,” the old man replied nonchalantly, as if it was nothing to make a fuss about. “Come with me. You might have four Semi-Divinity realm beasts and a Semi-Divinity artifact, but you won’t stand a chance against me.”

“How will I know if I don’t give it a try?” Zhang Xuan scoffed.

With a flick of his wrist, he brought out the Blackback Tortoise and the three sharks, and the four of them charged furiously toward the old man. He then took out the Semi-Divinity artifact and the ten Heavenly High Immortal-tier swords and directed them to assault the old man as well.

It felt like even the stars in the sky would be knocked down by such an overwhelming force, but for some reason, no matter how they charged forward, they simply could not reach the old man. It was just a short distance of several steps between them and the old man, but this small gap formed the greatest difference in the world.

Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes. Dimensional Sand?

He had encountered such a situation back when he was on the Master Teacher Continent as well. Back then, the space had been reduced to sand, such that no matter how quickly he was moving, he was unable to move forward at all.

Could it be that the old man had comprehended such an ability as well?

Through shattering the space before him into dust, those who stepped into the area would feel as though they were stepping into quicksand, preventing them from moving an inch no matter how powerful they were.

Zhang Xuan widened his eyes. No, that’s not right. It isn’t Dimensional sand… It feels like that starry night in the surroundings is somewhat like his Dominion. Those who step into this space have to obey his laws. All those who are weaker than him aren’t able to approach him unless he allows them to!

Not even Dimensional Sand would be that powerful as to completely halt even the movement of a Semi-Divinity realm expert. As long as a Semi-Divinity realm expert released their energy, they should be able to dispel the quicksand.

However, the fact that the Blackback Tortoise and the three sharks were unable to do it hinted that there was an even greater power at play.

In a sense, the old man was using an ability similar to Kong shi’s Word of Law.

In other words, all those who were pulled into this space would have to obey his rules. How could Zhang Xuan win a battle like this?

It was at this moment that Zhang Xuan realized that he had once again underestimated just what Semi-Divinity realm cultivators were capable of.

So, he knocked on his tamed beast sack and asked, “Little Chick, are you still dead at the moment?”

The little yellow chick in his tamed beast sack was likely his greatest hope at turning the tables around. While the other party was scarily unreliable in battle, there was no doubt that it possessed miraculous powers.

Huhu!

The little yellow chick remained completely motionless in his tamed beast sack, not responding to his calls at all.

Ever since it devoured the droplet of god blood back in the Vacant Sea, it had gone completely silent, not moving at all.

Knowing that there was nothing he could do about it, Zhang Xuan could only gnash his teeth in frustration.

I guess I can only rely on myself since that fellow is out, Zhang Xuan thought as he raised his gaze to assess the old man before him.

The latter was standing quietly on the spot with a slight smile on his face, not moving at all. Zhang Xuan felt as if he was looking at a picture.

Yet, despite the lack of movements on the latter’s part, the four Semi-Divinity realm beasts and the others simply could not reach him at all.

“It’s futile. In this space, even if you wield the strength of a Semi-Divinity, you still won’t be able to hurt me,” the old man commented as he raised his hand and waved it.

Padah!

The Blackback Tortoise and the others were immediately knocked down onto the surface of the ocean. They tried to regain their balance and get up, but for some reason, it felt as if the entire world was crashing down on them, preventing them from moving at all.

After suppressing the four beasts, the old man raised his hand, and the Semi-Divinity metal chain immediately flew into his grasp. “I’ll be taking this back then.”

As soon as the old man’s hand fell onto the metal chain, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up. “Now!”

Two Semi-Divinity realm corpses immediately materialized right in front and behind the old man.

Boom! Boom!

Two resounding explosions occurred simultaneously, causing the surroundings to collapse inward from the sheer shockwave. As if a black cloth shrouding the sky was being forcefully pulled away, folds and cracks immediately appeared on the starry night sky above.

Pu!

The old man did not expect Zhang Xuan to be so vicious as to refine two Semi-Divinity corpses and explode them on him without the slightest shred of hesitation. Moreover, he even used a Semi-Divinity artifact as bait for him to lower his guard…

Based on the sheer intensity of the explosion, it was likely that the artifact would have sustained damage severe enough to cripple it for good.

In fact, if not for his Dominion protecting him, he could have lost his life as a result of the explosion.

His eyes crimson with rage, the old man bellowed with a savage glint in his eyes, “You obnoxious brat. I could have spared you, but you are really testing my patience, aren’t you?”

“Despite being a sack of old bones, I must say that you are as resilient as a cockroach,” Zhang Xuan scoffed coldly.

He had forged the corpses of Fu Chenzi and the middle-aged man into Soulless Metal Humanoids, thinking that they would be a useful trump card against the Hall of Gods. It was indeed fortunate that he had done so.

He had been wondering how he could allow those two fellows to get close to the old man, and after some thought, he had eventually decided to use the metal chain as bait.

The metal chain was an extremely rare Semi-Divinity artifact that could alter its form, granting it great flexibility in battle. Zhang Xuan was confident that the old man would try to claim it for himself, and that would create a perfect opportunity for him to launch an attack.

So, he had created a mini folded space at the front and back of the metal chain and placed the two Soulless Metal Humanoids inside.

As expected, it had worked out well.

It was just that he did not expect the old man to be so powerful as to survive the explosions from two Semi-Divinity realm experts at such proximity without sustaining any damage whatsoever.

It was no wonder the Hall of Gods had only sent a single person this time to deal with him. It was apparent that they knew that it did not matter how many ordinary Semi-Divinity cultivators they sent at him, so they decided to send their strongest one instead.

It was really lucky that he did not get arrogant and diligently made preparations beforehand, or else he might have been cornered.

“You b*stard! I’ll kill you!”

With a furious roar, the severely wounded old man charged toward Zhang Xuan.

But as soon as he made a move, the space around him began warping once more, and a black mist swiftly crept out of nowhere.

Rather than mist, it resembled billowing smoke that rose from an inferno more. The earlier explosion had created cracks in the old man’s Dominion that allowed the black mist to creep in.

“Do you think that a Confinement Formation of such a tier will really be able to stop me?” the old man sneered frostily. ‘You underestimate me too much, brat. This is nothing at all to me. I’ll kill those four beasts of yours and drag you before my master!”

Boom!

The surrounding spiritual energy surged toward the old man, and his injuries began to heal at a visible rate. The old man seemed to have used some sort of secret art that allowed him to swiftly recover from his injuries.

Your recovery ability is spectacular. I am very impressed. Your master must be much stronger than this… but don’t you think that it’s too naive of you to assume that this is just an ordinary Confinement Formation?” Zhang Xuan chuckled softly as he watched the old man’s actions with composure.

“Is it not?” The old man was taken aback. The next instant, his eyes widened, and his body began trembling in disbelief. “It can’t be… You brought the air of degeneration out of the City of Collapsed Space and infused it into the formation? You lunatic!”

“I knew that I would require special means to deal with you persistent cockroaches. If you weren’t injured, the air of degeneration would never have been able to harm you. In fact, I believe that you possess the means to suppress the air of degeneration and prevent it from seeping into your body with sheer strength…

“But what a pity. You were so anxious to capture me that you neglected your surroundings. You furiously absorbed the spiritual energy from the surroundings in order to quickly heal from your injuries, but that caused you to unwittingly take a massive amount of air of degeneration into your body. I wonder how much longer you have after getting so severely poisoned,” Zhang Xuan scoffed.

Given how potent the air of degeneration was, how could he not gather some of it to use as a weapon?

Most cultivators of the High Immortal realm and above already possessed the ability to ward off the air of degeneration, so its effects would have been severely lacking if he had used it directly. Thus, Zhang Xuan had known that he would have to find some way to severely injure the old man first before deploying it.

Or better still, if he could force the old man into a position where the latter would take in the air of degeneration of his own accord, that would surely seal the latter’s fate.

Pu!

The old man spat out three mouthfuls of black blood consecutively as his body trembled nonstop. He felt as if his head was going to explode.

He had gone there completely confident that he would be able to accomplish his mission without fail. He had known that the young man was a witty person, but he did not think that the young man’s wits would mean anything before his strength. He had never thought that he would meet such an end!

Tzzzz!

As the air of degeneration flowed through the old man’s body, his innards became more and more corroded. Slowly, his vision began to blur, and his body began to sway weakly. It looked as if he would faint at any moment.

“I have underestimated you, but even though I might be unable to apprehend you, you don’t possess the means to kill me. Just you wait!”

Knowing that his mission had already failed, the old man clenched his teeth and flew into the distance. Given his current condition, his only hope was to quickly return to the Hall of Gods and seek the master’s help in dispelling the air of degeneration in him.

Otherwise, in less than an hour, he would become a pitch-black corpse.

“Do you think that I would have prepared so much just to allow you to escape at the last moment?” Zhang Xuan laughed to himself. “It’s far too late for you to think about escaping!”

Boom!

A halberd shot down from the sky, aimed right toward the old man’s head. Alarmed, the old man tried to dodge, but it was too late.

The halberd stabbed his shoulder, causing him to halt.