Library of Heaven’s Path

Zhang Jia also fell into a daze. Only at this moment did it realize that when the Young Master said that he cultivated slow, he was not trying to brag.

His normal rate of cultivation was really that fast!

Most cultivators would first have to condition their state and revise their cultivation technique before attempting to knock down their bottlenecks, but this young man did not have to do all of that at all. As and when he liked, he could simply channel his energy to make a breakthrough.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan suddenly said, “Little Jia, come here and strike me with your fist!”

Knowing that the Young Master wanted to test his newfound strength after his breakthrough, Zhang Jia stepped forward and said, “Alright.”

It just happened that it was curious to see how powerful its master was at the moment as well.

Over the past day since it had become a Celestial God, it had not been slacking off. It had been practicing the cultivation technique that its master had imparted to it, and that had allowed it to resolve most of the traumas and flaws in its cultivation. Even though it had only been a single day, Zhang Jia felt like it had improved more than it did over the past ten years.

Hu!

A massive fist flew over with a powerful gust of wind, carrying the deafening explosion of a sonic boom.

This sight made Qi Ling-er narrow her eyes in shock.

She could tell that the Phosphor Armored Beast had successfully become a Celestial God, but she did not think that it would be so powerful. After all, it had just overcome its bottleneck, so it would probably take some time for it to adapt to its newfound powers.

However, the strength it was displaying had far surpassed her expectations. With its tremendous strength and invincible defense, putting aside a low-tier Celestial God, it would be able to stand its ground even against a middle- tier Celestial God!

She could not imagine how the high-tier God pinnacle Zhang Xuan would be able to endure such a devastating punch. Looking at the situation worriedly, she saw the young man calmly raising his hand before flicking it outward.

Peng!

Zhang Jia was immediately sent flying, and he slammed right through the trunk of a massive tree and into a wall before the momentum of the attack finally faded. It slumped to the ground while panting raggedly for breath.

“Young Master…” Zhang Jia really had no choice but to submit to Zhang Xuan’s prowess.

It had thought that it should be able to narrow the gap against its master with the recent advancements that it had made, but from the looks of it, their disparity was only getting larger and larger despite its diligence!

Zhang Xuan turned to Qi Ling-er and asked, “Do you think that I’ll be able to defeat the three of them with my current strength?”

The reason he had challenged Zhang Jia earlier was to get a gauge of his current strength, as well as to check how powerful the other three contenders for the city lord position were from Qi Ling-er’s mouth.

You should be able to defeat most low-tier Celestial Gods easily, but against middle-tier Celestial Gods, you are still slightly lacking… I wouldn’t say that you don’t stand a chance, but it’ll be a really difficult fight,” Qi Ling-er replied hesitantly.

In order to become contenders for the city lord position, those three had to be one of the strongest experts within Dusklight City. As such, despite the prowess that Zhang Xuan had displayed earlier, Qi Ling-er still did not think that his chances of winning were too great.

Not to mention, after competing for the position for so long, there was no way they would submit to a young man who was not even a Celestial God that easily.

“Is that so? Let’s look for them now then!” Zhang Xuan said with a sigh of relief.

Given that he had only advanced his cultivation from low-tier God primary stage to pinnacle, he did not think that he would be able to defeat the three of them with an overwhelming advantage. It was only normal for it to be a difficult battle.

However, as long as it was not completely impossible, with his Eye of Insight and the Library of Heaven’s Path, he felt that he should still be able to emerge victorious in the end.

“We’re heading over just like that?”

Qi Ling-er had no idea where Zhang Xuan’s confidence came from, and she felt a little uncertain about this matter. Thus, she advised worriedly, “Once you challenge them, you’ll be officially in the race. Until the results are finally out, you’ll face endless harassment from them. Young Master Zhang, are you sure you don’t want to make a breakthrough to Celestial God first? Given your fighting prowess, it would be much easier for you to deal with them once you make a breakthrough…”

She would not have made this recommendation if it was anyone else. After all, the breakthrough to Celestial God was known to be a rather high hurdle. However, if it was Zhang Xuan they were talking about…

Given how he was able to advance three cultivation stages in a matter of seconds, she didn’t think that it would take him too long to become a Celestial God, perhaps just three to five days at most.

“It’s fine. I know my limits. Let’s go meet them now,” Zhang Xuan replied.

The way he cultivated was very different from the others. Even though he had a general direction of where he wanted to go, it would still take him some time in order to formulate the entire cultivation technique. Furthermore, it was impossible to forcefully hasten the process since he was attempting to devise something that did not exist yet.

Since that was the case, he would rather settle the matter concerning the city lord.

“If you’re confident, there’s no reason for me to stop you… Who do you wish to challenge first?” Qi Ling-er asked. “While Ming Laixiang is the weakest at the moment, she’s rumored to be the most terrifying. Lin Xie and Wu Yang are roughly equally powerful, but if we really compare them, I’d say that the unaffiliated cultivator is in a disadvantageous position. So, my suggestion is that you can challenge Wu Yang first, and once you defeat him, you’ll be able to replace his position. His faction will be left with no choice but to back you, and you’ll be in a more favorable position. The first opponent you choose is actually really important. It will serve as the basis for others to gauge your strength and determine whether you will gain their support or not.”

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan nodded contemplatively before saying, “Let’s challenge Ming Laixiang first then.”

Qi Ling-er froze in place.

Did my words go in one ear and out the other?

Didn’t I just say that she was the scariest of them all?

“Why?” Qi Ling-er blurted out.

“She’s the closest to us at the moment. It’ll save us the trouble from walking back and forth,” Zhang Xuan replied.

While they were walking toward the Three Bearded Cultivator’s residence earlier, he had asked about where the three contenders resided, and based on the information he had received, it appeared that Ming Laixiang lived closest to where they were.

Qi Ling-er nearly clawed her hair out.

Are you actually an alien impersonating as a human? That’s clearly not how a normal human thinks!

We are competing for the seat of the city lord! Look at how powerful your competition is. There’s a chance that we might lose the battle… What you should be thinking about is how you can win the battle, not who’s the closest to you!

After all, you can’t possibly be thinking of defeating all three of them in one go, right?

Aren’t you going to condition your state to make sure you are at your peak before challenging them? After all, you are going to fight against opponents that are stronger than you! Furthermore, won’t you need time to recover after each battle?

Have you even considered that?

Qi Ling-er tried to dissuade Zhang Xuan from making such a reckless move, but the latter did not seem to care at all and kept insisting on fighting Ming Laixiang first. In the end, she had no choice but to follow him there.

An hour later, they arrived at a residence.

It was where Ming Laixiang lived.

“Send in the name scroll,” Zhang Xuan said.

“I haven’t prepared the name scroll yet. Each city has their own rules for challenging an opponent, and I haven’t fully uncovered the rules for Dusklight City yet,” Qi Ling-er replied.

Since she was unable to talk Zhang Xuan out of his rashness, she could only hope to slow his footsteps a bit through this to make him calm down and think more rationally about the matter.

Zhang Xuan shot a glance at Qi Ling-er and immediately understood her intentions. So, he turned to Sun Qiang and said, “You do it.”

“Alrighty!” Sun Qiang replied excitedly.

He walked up to the residence and raised his voice to a level where it shook the surroundings. “Our Young Master is going to compete for the position of the city lord! The person in this residence, get out here and accept his challenge, or else we’ll take it as your loss!”

Qi Ling-er was stunned.

Is this still considered as making a challenge?

More like a provocation!

The fight for the city lord position was indeed intense, but there was no need to make enemies due to this. Even if one lost the battle, it would just end with some light injuries here and there.

However, after how disrespectful Zhang Xuan had acted, if Ming Laixiang did not retaliate viciously, others would take her lightly even if she did become a city lord. She would have to make an example out of Zhang Xuan in order to build up her reputation!

“Audacious! Who dares make a big fuss outside the Young Mistress’ residence?”

Shortly after Sun Qiang spoke those insolent words, it caused a huge uproar within the residence. Those from the surrounding residences also walked out to see the face of the fool who dared to insult the great Ming Laixiang like that.

Ming Laixiang was the one who was the most likely to become the city lord despite her lower cultivation.

Against someone of such standing, that fool actually dared act so insolently…

Just what the heck was running through his mind?

With his chest puffed up, Sun Qiang roared, “If you wish to become the city lord, you should stop your yapping and obediently come out here to accept our challenge. Our Young Master doesn’t have time to listen to your prattling!”

“Preposterous! Someone of your caliber actually dares challenge our Young Mistress…”

But before the person could finish his words, the voice of a young lady echoed in the air. “Come in.”

Jiya!

The gates to the residence opened.

Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan and Sun Qiang made their way in.

The courtyard of the residence was rather spacious. Standing inside was a valiant young lady with a particularly tall profile. It was a little weird to call her a young lady as she was extremely built. Looking just at her profile, it was extremely easy to mistake her for a guy instead of a girl.

“You wish to become the city lord?” The young lady looked at Zhang Xuan and scoffed. “Little brother, take a look at your age and cultivation. Someone like you should head back home and sleep in your mother’s cradle. It’s good that you have great ambition, but you should know your own limits!”

“You seem to be terribly concerned about me,” Zhang Xuan replied with a smile. “Since I have already made that declaration, I have no intention of backing off. I’ll give you two options here. You can either choose to compete with me and lose tragically, or I can give you a Beauty Pill and you surrender to me.”

Those words left Ming Laixiang a little taken aback. “Beauty Pill? You were the one who forged the Beauty Pill of Twilight City?”

It had not been long since the Beauty Pill appeared, but it had already made its name out in the world. There was hardly anyone who would not be moved by its name.

Ming Laixiang was no exception.

She had been born with a large bone structure, giving her a physique that was similar to a man. As a result of that, while her friends had already gotten attached and married, she could only cultivate quietly on her own.

But due to that, she was able to achieve great feats in her cultivation, giving her the right to compete for the seat of the city lord.

She had heard of the effects of the Beauty Pill from Twilight City, and she had intended to head there to purchase it. The only problem was that there were only twenty of them, and they were all sold out.

She did not think that the person who had forged the Beauty Pill would come looking for her a day later.

“Indeed.” Zhang Xuan nodded. “I am the apothecary who created the Beauty Pill. This is Qi Ling-er. You might know her as the person who sold the Beauty Pills at Twilight City!”

“Qi Ling-er?”

Ming Laixiang turned her gaze over and saw a seductive lady standing leisurely behind Zhang Xuan. Even though she had never seen the underground black market boss of Twilight City in person, she was still able to recognize the other party swiftly at a glance.

“Paying respects to Miss Ming.” Qi Ling-er stepped forward and bowed slightly.

“Un.” Ming Laixiang turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, “Your Beauty Pill, other than making a person prettier, does it have the effect of altering a person’s bone structure?”

In terms of appearance, she was not ugly by any means. Her only concern was her huge frame, which tended to scare other people away.

“I’m afraid it’s hard to change a person’s physique.” Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He could change a person’s complexion by nourishing their skin and muscles with the Heaven’s Path zhenqi, but the alteration of one’s bone structure required a much more complicated medical procedure. It could not be done just by swallowing a single pill.

“If that’s the case, I’ll have to say that your Beauty Pill doesn’t really hold much attraction to me anymore. Make your move. I’m interested to see just how powerful the person who forged the Beauty Pill is to dare openly challenge me here!” Ming Laixiang said as she assessed Zhang Xuan from head to toe.

She could tell that Zhang Xuan was no fool, and the fact that he dared challenge her despite so meant that he had some tricks up his sleeves.

“Sure!” Zhang Xuan nodded as he whipped out a sword.

It was the one that he had received from Wu Fangqing back in Twilight City. He had already tamed it into his own possession along the way.