Library of Heaven’s Path

Low-tier God Essence Pills could be used by those whose cultivation was beneath the Celestial God realm. Zhang Xuan was still a long way off from becoming a Celestial God, so he was bound to need a lot of them. Not to mention, he had a lot of people behind him that he needed to take care of.

“Great!” Having received Zhang Xuan’s approval, Qi Ling-er turned to the middle-aged man behind her and said, Tell Old Ye that I’ll be taking all the God Essence Pills he has.”

The middle-aged man nodded before backing out of the room.

Soon, he returned with a storage ring in hand.

“Boss, I bought all of his God Essence Pills. There’s a total of three hundred of them in here. He says that he’ll find a way to procure more if you still need more of them.”

“Good.” Qi Ling-er nodded in response. She quickly moved the God Essence Pills in the storage ring into another one before passing it over to Zhang Xuan. “I have l,3〇〇 God Essence Pills here. I need thirteen pills. I know that you are still in a feeble condition at the moment, so I’ll give you ten days to forge the pills.”

“There’s no need for that. I don’t like putting things off for later. Wait here for a moment. I’ll pass them over to you in a moment’s time.”

Zhang Xuan dragged his weakly slumping body into the isolated chamber and closed it shut. Around fifteen minutes later, he walked out and passed two jade bottles over to Qi Ling-er.

He looked even more haggard than before. His face was pale, and a trail of blood was trickling down his lips. His body was swaying weakly from side to side, and he looked so exhausted that it was hard to believe that someone could remain alive in such a state.

After prying open the jade bottle to take a look, Qi Ling-er widened her eyes in surprise.

This is… twenty pills?”

Previously, the young man had only been able to make a single pill out of one hundred God Essence Pills, so she was delighted to see that there seven extra in the jade bottle.

“I was lucky to succeed more this time,” Zhang Xuan replied hoarsely.

“Wonderful, you have truly done well! This is a Divine Card that is commonly used in the Firmament. I’ll be transferring the profits from the pills directly into the card, and the amount will be fifty percent of the profits, just as we agreed on before,” Qi Ling-er said gleefully as she passed a card over.

Zhang Xuan could tell that the Divine Card was likely to be equal in terms of value to a storage ring, so he accepted it with a satisfied smile. Then, he asked, “As for my Mayang Beast Blood…”

•You’ll have to wait a day for the Mayang Beast Blood to arrive. I don’t have that much here at the moment, so I_ll ne^ to have the goods transferred over from the other black markets. Even at the fastest speed, it’ll still take a day at the minimum,” Qi Ling-er replied.

“Don’t worry, I always make sure to take good care of my business partners. As for the money, there’s no need for you to give it to me. We’ll just deduct it from your share of the profits, alright?”

Zhang Xuan nodded in response before bidding farewell. “I’ll be taking my leave then.”

After saying his piece, he turned around and left the store. He swiftly found the blind man and returned to Twilight City via the same boat.

As soon as he left, the middle-aged lady who had consumed the beautifying pill earlier asked, “Young Mistress, since that fellow was able to create such a formidable pill, why don’t we just imprison him and force him to fork out the pill formula? Isn’t it a huge waste to share the profits with him?”

Qi Ling-er was providing the raw materials and handling the marketing, the distribution network, and everything else. All the young man had was the know-how to forge the pills. There was no reason for them to pay him such a huge amount of money for that.

It was not as if they were in Twilight City. As long as they captured the young man, it was only a matter of time before he was forced to spit out the formula.

“Do you think that he overexerted himself while forging the pills earlier?” Qi Ling-er suddenly asked.

“Isn’t that so? I checked on his condition, and it appeared that his vitality was impaired due to pushing himself too far,” the middle-aged lady replied with a frown.

“I understand that the process of forging this pill can be highly damaging to one’s body, but as long as we offer a decent price, I believe there should still be plenty of apothecaries who will be more than willing to offer their services…”

Humans were creatures who would charge into danger for the sake of fulfilling their greed.

Qi Ling-er shook her head. “He is feigning weakness.”

“Feigning weakness?’ the middle-aged lady repeated in astonishment.

“That’s right,” Qi Ling-er said. “Despite his severely weakened appearance and aura earlier, I sensed that his soul remained wholesome. There weren’t any signs of deterioration at all. That goes to show that he wasn’t injured in the first place.

“As a low-tier God, he wouldn’t pose a threat to us regardless of whether he was injured or not. However, the token that he used to enter the underground black market belonged to Streak of Gray, and I received news that Streak of Gray and his band were utterly defeated by an unknown fellow last night. According to what I heard, Streak of Gray wasn’t able to hold his ground against his opponent even in a one-on-one fight. Chances are, the person he fought with was that young man.”

“Young Mistress, are you saying that the lad possesses the strength to subdue middle-tier Gods despite only being a low-tier God himself?” The middle-aged lady was taken aback by that news.

A thought surfaced in her mind, and she hurriedly added, “Does it mean that he possesses an exceptionally powerful bloodline?”

There was a significant power gap between every cultivation realm after reaching godhood, thus making the hierarchy of power among gods extremely strict. To put it simply, it was viewed to be impossible for a god to defeat opponents of a higher cultivation realm.

There were only two possibilities if someone was able to pull something like that off.

The first possibility was that the individual was a genius that boasted unbelievable talent, similar to the Heaven Subjugating Monarch. Through sheer talent, these geniuses were able to surpass the limitations of their bloodline to reach a height beyond any of their predecessors. However, these geniuses were extremely rare to come by, and most of them already possessed exceptional strength at a young age.

The second possibility was that the individual possessed an extremely powerful bloodline, similar to that of the Dragon Tribe, Phoenix Tribe, or some other unique divine beast.

Given that the young man was already in his twenties, it was unlikely for his talents to have not bloomed yet. The fact that he was still low-tier God at his age meant that his talent was average or subpar. So, it was more likely for him to possess a powerful bloodline!

Most formidable divine beasts, prior to their transmogrification, would tend to advance their cultivation slowly, so their strength would be rather limited in their earlier years.

“We’ll know whether that’s the case or not with a quick test,” Qi Ling-er remarked calmly.

She waited quietly on the spot for a moment before one of the middle-aged men brought a bottle before her.

Qi Ling-er took the bottle, inspected its contents, and chuckled softly. “This is the fresh blood that he has spat out while he was forging the pills in order to deceive us. Even though it has already dried up, it’s still possible to test the strength of the bloodline.

“We’ll set his dried blood alight on the Netherworld Pool to pay respects to the heroic spirits of the preceding Celestial Gods, God Kings, and Conferred God Kings worshipped by Netherworld Palace. If the heroic spirits are able to harness the blood, it means that the young man’s bloodline is beneath them. On the other hand, if the heroic spirits dissipate, it means that the young man’s bloodline is more powerful than theirs…

“If the young man’s bloodline is more powerful than theirs, it’s highly likely that he has powerful backing behind him. It would be courting death to touch such a person… On the other hand, if his bloodline is weak, I have left a Soul Imprint on the Divine Card that allows us to track him down whenever we want to. Hahaha! My business partner should at least have enough strength not to be devoured whole by me in order to work with me, don’t you think?”

“I understand.” The middle-aged lady nodded, impressed by how thorough the Young Mistress was in dealing with matters.

Then again, there was no way an incapable individual would have been to govern such a massive underground black market.

Having made their decisions, the two of them quickly changed their clothes and put on disguises before leaving the black market. Two hours later, they arrived at Netherworld Palace, where Zhang Xuan had been earlier.

Through their connections, they were able to head straight to a tightly sealed room.

At the very forefront of the room was an altar filled with many rows of tablets. Each of these tablets represented a renowned expert of the Sky of Drifting Specters.

Out of respect for the predecessors, this room was carefully maintained by those of the Netherworld Hall, such that there was not the slightest speck of dust to be seen around. From time to time, visitors would stop by to pay respects to the predecessors.

At the center of the room was a crimson pool that was filled with an unidentifiable fluid that bubbled furiously, emanating domineering energy that left one’s heart thumping fearfully.

“Let’s begin!”

With a toss, Qi Ling-er threw the jade bottle filled with the dried blood that she had acquired from Zhang Xuan earlier toward the crimson pool.

Tzzz!

The dried blood immediately burst into flames.

Sensing the energy emanating from the dried blood, a powerful presence swiftly emerged from the crimson pool, creating great pressure on the surroundings.

Weng!

An illusory middle-aged man dressed in a tight suit of armor manifested above the crimson pool. He raised his sword to strike down on the blazing dried blood.

“It’s the heroic spirit of Celestial God Wu Jiang!” Qi Ling-er recognized the armored middle-aged man.

Celestial God Wu Jiang was not from Twilight City, but he possessed great fame in the Sky of Drifting Specters. He had made great contributions during the first receding of spiritual energy, and even when he was encircled by his enemies, he had managed to kill several experts of the same caliber as him before finally succumbing.

It was due to this that his tablet was allowed to be placed on the altar to be worshipped despite only being a Celestial God. Through the powers of the Netherworld Pool, he would be able to forge a heroic spirit and continue existing in the world.

Just as the sword was about to strike down on the burning blood, an illusory figure suddenly manifested right above the blood. It was the young man whom they had met earlier.

The young man had his eyes tightly shut. It seemed like he did not know where he was or what was happening at all.

Paying no heed to Celestial God Wu Jiang’s incoming sword, he stood motionless on the spot and muttered some words beneath his breath.

Hearing those words, Celestial God Wu Jiang froze. A moment later, his knee caved in, and he knelt on the ground.

“He is… paying respects to the young man?” Qi Ling-er’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “Does this mean that the young man carries the bloodline of a God King?”

There was only one instance where a Celestial God would bow down to another person, and that was if the person’s bloodline was stronger than his…

The only beings possessing stronger bloodlines than the Celestial Gods were the God Kings!

Even the city lord of Twilight City was only a low-tier Celestial God, but this young man actually possessed a bloodline that was comparable to the God Kings? Did that not mean that there was a good chance that he might become a God King in the future?

Hu!

Shortly after Celestial God Wu Jiang knelt down, the crimson pool began to bubble furiously once more, and yet another illusory figure manifested in the air. This time, it was a young man with a crown on his head. He carried a spear in his hands, and he stood with imposing airs.

“It is the God King of Transcendent Flames! I have heard of his legend before. With a spear in hand, he achieved the outstanding record of slaying three God Kings one after another, making him a feared existence even among the God Kings. If not for his premature death, he might very well have become a Conferred God King by now…” Qi Ling-er clenched her fists tightly as she spoke in agitation.

In the midst of her words, the illusory figure of the God King walked over to the young man and thrust his spear toward him.

Just as everyone thought that the powerful God King of Transcendent Flames would devour the young man whole in order to buff himself, the spear suddenly halted at the very last moment. Then, just like Celestial God Wu Jiang, he knelt on the ground like an obedient student.

Qi Ling-er felt a little light-headed upon witnessing such a sight.

Even a God King had submitted to him?

Just how powerful could that fellow’s bloodline be?

Sou!

The crimson pool bubbled yet again, and another illusory figure manifested in the air.

Dressed in a silver helmet and armor, this young man carried whips in both hands. His arms were bulging with power, hinting at the unbelievable strength that he wielded.

“It’s Conferred God Nangong Ping!” Qi Ling-er exclaimed with a hushed voice, fearing that she would offend the other party.

Conferred God Kings were existences who enjoyed lifespans of beyond a hundred thousand years. Under normal circumstances, it was extremely difficult for them to die. However, there were exceptions.

Forty years prior, Nangong Ping’s body had been torn to shreds by a single finger of the Heaven Subjugation Monarch, leading to instant death.

Even though he was defeated by a single finger, that did not mean that he was weak. It would be sheer naivety to think that a person who could rise to a position that was second only to the God Monarchs could possibly be weak.

The young man should finally cave in!

Nangong Ping brandished his whip to strike the young man.

But before anyone could react, he suddenly retracted his whip and knelt down beside Celestial Wu Jiang and the God King of Transcendent Flames.

“Even a Conferred God King has kneeled down to him. Could it be that…”

The cheeks of Qi Ling-er and the middle-aged lady quivered as a terrifying thought popped in their minds.

“… the bloodline of a God Monarch?”