Library of Heaven’s Path

It was no wonder they reacted in such a manner.

The long reptile convulsing on the floor was the ninth rank on the Sky of Cloud Dragon’s Board of Potential God Kings. Even the first rank Shentu Feng was far from a match for him.

They had thought that the Sky of Drifting Specters would be humiliated after this incident, becoming the joke of the Nine Skies, but who would have thought that a savior would appear at this moment?

Not only did he managed to defeat Ao Hua in a physical brawl, he even managed to jolt the latter to the ground with a roar even after he had morphed into his dragon form!

How in the world did he manage to do that?

“It’s the Eight Notes of Heavenly Dragons…”

“I thought that all Pureblooded Dragons are able to make those sounds? Why would Ao Hua be jolted to such a state?”

“You’re right to say that all Pureblooded Dragons are able to voice the Eight Notes of Heavenly Dragons, but it seems like the language can be classified into various tiers. There’s a legend concerning that, but I don’t really know how true it is…”

“A legend?”

“It’s said that many years ago, when the heaven and earth had just parted and the world was in great chaos, the eastern land was susceptible to the pull of gravity caused by the rising sun in the east. It was then that the Cloud Dragon Monarch appeared and pinned the land in place. Through observing the state of the world, he created the Eight Notes of Heavenly Dragon. These eight notes can be voiced by any pureblooded Dragons, but the prowess of them is dependent on how harmonious one’s voice is with nature, and that is affected by the purity of one’s bloodline!”

“Unlike our Qiankun Demon Monarch, who lives a life free of desires, the Cloud Dragon Monarch is known to have a lot of descendants. He has nine sons in total, and that’s also where the saying ‘The Nine Sons of the Dragon’ comes from…”

“Indeed. Over the years, his family tree has expanded to encompass countless generations. Even though those in the current generation are still considered Pureblooded Dragons, their bloodline is unbelievably thin. As a result, if they encountered a Pureblooded Dragon whose bloodline was even purer than them voicing the Eight Notes of Heavenly Dragon, they would feel an innate suppression resulting from the hierarchy in bloodline.”

“I see… If that’s the case, does it mean that the young man over there is an expert of the Dragon Tribe as well and likely possesses a bloodline even purer than that of Ao Hua?”

With hushed voices, Shentu Feng and the others lying on the ground began discussing the situation with one another discreetly.

By the side, Qi Yue and Qi Ling-er were looking at the situation before them with widened eyes. They felt so incredulous that they could not help but wonder if they were really in reality.

Did the old ancestor not say that he was the Spirit God? Why would he suddenly be affiliated with the Sky of Cloud Dragon?

Just how many identities did that fellow have?

Was it possible for someone who possessed the bloodline of a God Monarch to switch the nature of their bloodline around?

This was getting more and more ridiculous by the moment!

If they had not known that the Spirit God and the Cloud Dragon Monarch were both guys, they would have wondered if the two of them had some sort of secret relationship with one another.

On the dueling ring, however, Zhang Xuan was still oblivious to the huge uproar that he had stirred up. He calmly walked up to the convulsing massive dragon and gazed down on the other party’s eyes, which were ironically even larger than Zhang Xuan’s body, and said coolly, “How is it? Do you want to admit defeat? I would have loved to play around with you a bit more, but I still have some other matters to attend to…”

Hu!

Amid the convulsions, the massive dragon began to shrink before finally returning to his human form.

Biting his lips anxiously, Ao Hua immediately kneeled onto the floor and kowtowed. “Junior Ao Hua pays respects to his ancestor!”

“Ancestor?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.

What was going on?

He was just testing out to see if the Eight Notes of Heavenly Dragon were effective on Pureblooded Dragons; he did not expect it to work so well. Not only did it cause his opponent to crash to the ground, his opponent even started calling him… ancestor?

Did the earlier fall rattle his brain too much or something?

Zhang Xuan was perplexed, but somehow, he was already accustomed to facing such bizarre situations. Without revealing the slightest hint of emotion on his face, he nodded and remarked, “I should have replaced you as ninth rank on the Board of Potential God Kings now, right?”

“A-ah?” Ao Hua looked at Zhang Xuan with a hint of bewilderment and fear, and he asked hesitantly, “H-have you never participated in the test back in the Sky of Cloud Dragon?”

The young man before him had a bloodline that was innumerable times purer than his own. If the young man had participated in the test before, his ranking should be quite high… but he knew whom the top eight were, and the young man was not among them!

Had he really not participated in this test before?

Zhang Xuan looked at Ao Hua speechlessly and remarked, “I am in the Sky of Drifting Specter. Why in the world would I take the test in the Sky of Cloud Dragon?”

The earlier impact must have struck the intelligence out of his opponent as well! Why would the other party ask such an obvious question?

“A-ah?” Ao Hua was surprised by Zhang Xuan’s response once more.

Could it be that the young man before was an ancestor who had been left behind in the Sky of Drifting Specter?

Thinking about it, their Sky of Cloud Dragon did indeed find quite a few people with their bloodline from the other Skies every year…

It was just that most of their bloodline would have already thinned out by then. This was his first time encountering someone outside whose bloodline was even purer than his.

Ao Hua wanted to ask more about the matter, but when he saw the young man looking at him impatiently, as if he was a scammer who was going to deny his loss, he sighed deeply and replied, “I am ninth rank in the Sky of Cloud Dragon, so our duel won’t affect the Sky of Drifting Specter’s board. The first rank of the Sky of Drifting Specter, Shentu Feng, is the guy over there whom I have just beaten up. Yes, you are pointing at the right guy. The one with dried blood on his mouth, yep…”

Seeing how the attention of the crowd had suddenly turned to him, Shentu Feng tried to put on his coolest smile and said, “Indeed, I’m the first rank in the Sky of Drifting Specter!”

It might have looked cool if his mouth was not leaking air due to the swelling of his face.

Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched.

That fellow was actually first rank?

So, in other words, before he even got there, that fellow had already been downed by someone else?

That explained why the other fellow was able to turn into a Pureblooded Dragon! After all the confusion, it turned out that he was from the Sky of Cloud Dragon!

Qi Ling-er was also dumbstruck.

It had not been long since she returned to Royal City, so she had not managed to strike up connections with the figures on the Board of Potential God Kings yet. As such, she did not notice that the first rank was also present.

She had thought that the others lying on the ground were weaker than Qi Yue, but who could have known that even the first rank was there?

So, the person whose eyes were swollen and nose was broken was actually the number one expert beneath the God Kings in the Sky of Drifting Specter, the person whom countless women viewed to be their ideal type?

Weak!

It was no wonder Young Master Zhang had said that it did not matter who he challenged. It turned out that he really had the strength to back up his words…

Despite only taking two breaths to make a breakthrough, he was still able to easily defeat someone who had cultivated for centuries to get to first place…

The bloodline of a God Monarch sure was scary!

Qi Ling-er could not help but sigh at how different people could be just on the basis of their birth.

It seemed like it was time for her to change her train of thought. She should stop trying to interpret Zhang Xuan with her common sense.

The very existence of the God Monarchs was an aberration of nature. It was because they could achieve what others deemed impossible that others had no choice but to revere them.

“If you defeated the first rank, and I defeated you right after, shouldn’t that count as well?”

After all the effort that he had put into the fight, Zhang Xuan did not think that his opponent turned out to be nothing more than an extra. With a troubled look, he glanced at the cultivators lying on the ground and murmured, “Should I just challenge these fellows just to be safe?”

The so-called Free Knights were not there to supervise the duel, so he was not sure if his earlier fight was valid. In any case, there was no harm in getting a guarantee. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if he had to return there to fight again.

“W-what? L-let’s not do that!” Shentu Feng quickly spoke up. “I’ll report this matter honestly to the Free Knights and surrender my spot to you!”

He would rather surrender the position of his own accord than suffer a tragic defeat against someone who was clearly out of his league.

Even Ao Hua appeared nothing more than a toddler before him, and he was probably nothing more than a toddler to Ao Hua…

Even if he cultivated for another century, he could not see himself defeating the young man unless he made a breakthrough to God King. Since that was the case, he might as well admit his defeat and spare himself needless agony.

“Is that so? That would really be helpful.” Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

This matter was settled far easier than he had expected. But as soon as he thought about the criterion about having to reach the top of an occupation, he felt another headache coming on.

Oh, wait a moment…

Zhang Xuan turned to Ao Hua and asked, “Did you mention that you’re from the Sky of Cloud Dragon?”

Yes, ancestor,” Ao Hua replied obediently.

“I heard that the Sky of Cloud Dragon has dispatched a group of physicians here to challenge the Sky of Drifting Specter’s Physician Guild. Is that true?”

“There’s indeed such a thing. I am part of the group,” Ao Hua replied.

“I would like to have my skills in the Way of Medicine assessed so as to earn the right to use the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation, but as those in the Physician Guild are preoccupied with preparing to face you in the Physician Tournament, they don’t have the time to care about anything else. Is it possible for me to request for your group to hold the test for me instead?” Zhang Xuan asked.

After asking Qi Ling-er more about it, he realized that what he needed was just to have his skills in medicine recognized by someone esteemed in the field.

Since those in the Sky of Drifting Specter were busy, he could just ask those from the Sky of Cloud Dragon for help instead!

His goal was just to receive the rights to use the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation anyway. It did not matter to him who handled his test.

“You wish to have your skills in the Way of Medicine assessed?” Ao Hua asked.

Zhang Xuan nodded. “That’s right.”

Ao Hua pondered for a moment before replying. “Well, I think it should be possible since our guild leader and the elders came with us. With their standing in the physician community, they should be qualified to hold the test… I’ll bring you to them then!”

While the Sky of Cloud Dragon was headed by the Pureblooded Dragons, it did not consist solely of members of the Dragon Tribe. There were many ordinary humans living among them as well, and the leader of their Physician Guild was one such example.

Despite not possessing the bloodline of the Pureblooded Dragons, his medicinal skills were astounding, such that he was well-respected in the other Skies as well.

“That would really be great.” Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

When one door closes, another door opens.

It was just a moment ago that he was turned away at the Physician Guild, but who could have thought that he would encounter a physician from the Sky of Cloud Dragon while he was trying to get into the top thirty in the Board of Potential God Kings?

Everything worked out so conveniently for him, sparing him the trouble of having to approach the other guilds.

While he was confident in his skills in the other occupations, he was hesitant to reveal them in public. He had already displayed his superior talent in pill forging, and if he continued revealing more of his hands, he would really start drawing unwanted attention to himself.

He quickly looked for a Free Knight together with Shentu Feng in order to confirm his placing on the Board of Potential God Kings before following Ao Hua all the way to the accommodation of the physicians from the Sky of Cloud Dragon.

Fortunately, their accommodation was not too far away. That was also why Ao Hua had the time to spare to drop by and challenge the others.

“You wish to earn the qualification to use the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation on the basis of your skills in the Way of Medicine?”

Shortly after entering a residence, two elders walked out to hear Zhang Xuan out. The old lady on the left looked at him with a grim look on her face.

“That’s my intention,” Zhang Xuan replied.

“The right to use the Great Displacement Teleportation Formation is no joke. It concerns the safety of the Nine Skies, so there’s a cap on the number of people who can receive this right. Only two physicians in our Sky of Cloud Dragon are entitled to this privilege, the two of us.

“However, we can give you a chance to prove yourself. As long as you are able to defeat either of us, we can pass on the right to you,” the old man on the right replied.

“Sounds fine by me!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

He knew that he would have to compete for the right, and he had already prepared himself mentally prior to going there.

“Good!” the old man said.

“I am the leader of the Cloud Dragon Royal City’s Physician Guild, Liao Xin. May I know how I should address you?”

It was only right to ask for the other party’s name since they were going to compete in a duel.

“My name is Zhang Xuan.”

“Zhang Xuan?” Liao Xin repeated with a slight nod before abruptly freezing in place. His eyes widened in shock before his body began trembling in agitation.

“Is it possible that… you are the person who created the Breakthrough Pill and Beauty Pill, Apothecary Zhang Xuan?” ‘Yes, that’s me,” Zhang Xuan replied.

Liao Xin staggered back a little before abruptly bowing deeply before Zhang Xuan. “Thank you for saving my life, benefactor! There’s no need to compete anymore. Your skills in medicine are indubitably superior to mine…”

Zhang Xuan was stunned. Qi Ling-er was flabbergasted.

What is it this time?

Why is everyone getting so overexcited today? Do you know how exhausting it is trying to match your energy?