Library of Heaven’s Path

The Dragon Gate Formation that Zheng Yang had gone through consisted of the Dragon Tail, Dragon Body, and Dragon Head, and in every phase of the trial, he had to face someone who was even stronger than him in terms of cultivation.

In order to clear the trial, he would have to defeat everyone.

It was clear that the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation paled far in comparison.

Granted, the formation itself might be harder to deal with, but if the challenger could manipulate the formation to their advantage, it could make the battle easier.

Every formation was bound to have its weaknesses, and as long as one could find these weaknesses and exploit them, it would become a supporting force.

The stronger the formation was, the more effective it would be to exploit these flaws.

“Without a doubt, Feng Jiang will be participating in the formation as well. Two years ago, even though there was some gap between our fighting prowess, it wasn’t too big. During the period when my cultivation regressed, he was cultivating hard, and he made full use of the cultivation resources that the clan gave him. Given so, it would be difficult for me to defeat him in a normal battle, let alone having to face a formation that consists of him and eight equally powerful opponents…” Feng Jiuge’s voice was filled with despair.

He did not think that he could win this battle.

Over the past two years, he had not been able to receive any cultivation resources from the clan. As such, even though he had regained his cultivation, his progress was bound to be much slower than the other party.

Furthermore, Feng Jiang still was not the strongest cultivator in their power class.

It could be said that his death was guaranteed if he agreed to challenge the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation.

Seeing how shaken Feng Jiuge was, Zhang Xuan sighed deeply before looking straight Feng Jiuge. “Jiuge, do you trust me?”

“Of course!” Feng Jiuge nodded right away.

If not for his teacher, he would probably have wasted his life away in despair and depression.

It was the other party who gave him hope and a new life. Who else would he trust if not his teacher?

“If you trust me, accept the other party’s challenge and face the so-called Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation,” Zhang Xuan said.

“We are going to accept the trial?” Feng Jiuge was stunned. “But…”

“Rest assured. Nothing will happen to you,” Zhang Xuan said with a chuckle.

“Alright then…” Feng Jiuge was a little uncertain where this was going, but seeing how confident his teacher was, he eventually nodded.

With a wave of his hand, he stopped the two young men who were walking toward him and said, “I agree to it. I’ll face the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation!”

“You’ll face the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation?”

Those words left everyone dumbstruck for a moment.

Even Feng Jiang thought that he had heard wrong. “Are you certain?”

He was the one who had suggested it, but he had never thought that Feng Jiuge would accept his ridiculous demand.

After all, it was so dangerous that only those who were on their deathbed would think of attempting it. As someone who had become a high-tier Celestial God in his early twenties, Feng Jiuge had a long life ahead of him, and there was a good chance that he could achieve great things even outside the Inferno Phoenix Clan.

Was there was a need for him to court death like that?

“Of course!” Feng Jiuge replied.

“You must have become much more powerful after you regained your cultivation. Very well, let me see just how capable you are!” Feng Jiang sneered.

Without any hesitation, he pushed his feet against the ground and dashed forward.

At high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle, Feng Jiang was just a notch beneath the God Kings. His movement caused the air in the courtyard to grow heavy as the powers from nature surged toward him at a rapid pace.

It seems like he has already comprehended some of the secrets of a God King. As expected of an expert of the Inferno Phoenix Clan, Zhang Xuan thought.

In terms of individual strength, Feng Jiang was probably beneath Ao Hua of the Sky of Cloud Dragon. However, just looking at how easily he was able to tap into the powers of nature, it was clear that he had a preliminary grasp of some God King powers.

It would be difficult to subdue him in a direct clash of powers.

Facing Feng Jiang’s attacks, cold sweat trickled down Feng Jiuge’s back.

Even though he had managed to make a breakthrough earlier, it did not change the fact that he had been crippled for two years. Putting aside the fact that he could not utilize his newfound strength properly, his ability to use the powers of nature was also lacking greatly in comparison to Feng Jiang.

His chances of achieving a victory were very slim.

Peng peng peng!

Within three blows, Feng Jiuge was already forced to retreat seven steps. While neither side had sustained any injuries, it was already clear who was the stronger of the two from this.

“You aren’t even a match for me, but you want to challenge the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation?” Feng Jiang harrumphed coldly. “You sure are brazen!”

“I…” Feng Jiuge gritted his teeth furiously.

He turned to look at Zhang Xuan with an indignant expression.

He would not have been a match for the formation even at his peak two years ago, let alone in his current state. He had no idea why his teacher had asked him to accept the trial.

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan turned his gaze to Feng Jiang and smiled. “Jiuge would indeed be unable to clear the Nine Phoenix Stellar Formation in his current state, but can you give us two hours to make some preparations? That should be more than enough for him to clear your formation with ease.”

“Who are you?” Feng Jiang asked with a frown.

As Zhang Xuan had been standing behind Feng Jiuge the whole time, Feng Jiang had assumed that he was Feng Jiuge’s subordinate. However, from what had just been said, it was apparent that he was wrong.

“I am… Feng Xuan! I am a member from the side family who has returned for the tournament,” Zhang Xuan replied calmly.

“Feng Xuan?” Feng Jiang was stunned for a moment before he scoffed disdainfully. “A mere member of the side family dares to make such boastful claims?”

The key difference members of the side family and members of the core lineage lay in the purity of their bloodline.

Even if they were of the same cultivation realm, due to the difference in bloodline, the members of the side family still would not be a match for members of the core lineage.

Thus, it was utterly absurd for a member of the side family to make such a huge claim. It was really a wonder what gave the other party the confidence to boast like that.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that. There’s no reason a member of the side family would be inferior to a member of the core lineage!” Zhang Xuan pointed out with a composed smile.

“Preposterous! Men, take that brazen young man down!” Feng Jiang roared.

Huala!

The two young men from before stepping forward once more to grab Zhang Xuan’s arms simultaneously. But before they could even touch him, Zhang Xuan suddenly shook his shoulder twice.

Peng peng!

With two dull thuds, the two young men were knocked into the nearby wall. Judging from their pained expressions and how tightly they were clutching their chests, it seemed like they had sustained quite the injury from the earlier encounter.

“What?” Feng Jiang narrowed his eyes in astonishment.

He was capable of pulling off the earlier maneuver as well, but he was not confident of pulling it off as smoothly and leisurely as the other party did.

Could it be that the other party, despite being from the side family, was actually even stronger than him?

“This explains why you dared spout such brazen words. It seems like you aren’t as inept as I thought. Very well, let’s see what kind of ability you have!”

With a cold harrumph, Feng Jiang released an intimidating aura as he dashed right toward Zhang Xuan.

He was using the same move that he had used to curb Feng Jiuge, and based on the domineering pressure he was exerting, it seemed like he had decided not to hold back at all.

“This is a great opportunity, Jiuge, so make sure to keep your eyes open and watch carefully. It would have been more difficult to impart these theories to you without showing you the practical side of it…”

Even in this tense moment, Zhang Xuan turned his attention over to Feng Jiuge and spoke with a calm voice. “Since he’s using the same move against me as well, I’ll show you one way you can counter his offense with your current strength.”

As he spoke, he stepped forward till he was roughly five meters away from Feng Jiang before finally coming to a halt.

For some reason, the very act of stopping at that point seemed to have disturbed Feng Jiang’s offense. It was clear that the momentum of Feng Jiang’s offense had taken a nosedive, as if someone had severed his flow of energy.

The main difference between Feng Jiang and Feng Jiuge’s strength lay in their ability to tap into the natural energies in the surroundings, and the spot that Zhang Xuan had walked over to happened to be the mingmen[l] of this battle technique.

By standing in this spot, Zhang Xuan had managed to sever the flow of energy into Feng Jiang, leaving the latter with no choice but to rely solely on his cultivation.

However, Feng Jiang was no weakling. Noticing Zhang Xuan’s intention, he immediately began driving his zhenqi to its limits and augmented the might of his strike so as to avoid losing momentum. As a result, he was able to retain the might of his offense.

Over the past two years, Feng Jiang had managed to reinforce his high-tier Celestial God realm pinnacle again and again through the extravagant use of cultivation resources within the clan. While he was still a way off from becoming a God King, there was no doubt that he was far stronger than most of his peers.

In fact, it was questionable whether the genius of the Qi Clan, Qi Yue, would be a match for him.

[1] Mingmen is a traditional Chinese medicine term, but in the context of martial arts, it refers to a blind spot or the location of a weakness.