Library of Heaven’s Path

It was no wonder he had only seen four God King Breakthrough Pills when he estimated there to be at least ten. It turned out that the bulk of the medicinal energy had gone into the Pill King!

Not only so, the spirit of the Pill King was more developed. It possessed wisdom that was on par with that of a human.

That was why it had chosen to hide inside the cauldron while the other pills attempted to escape, choosing to bide its time for the ideal opportunity to run. Then, just as Zhang Xuan let his guard down, it had immediately dashed out.

Its patience and ability to gauge the right timing were indeed remarkable.

If Zhang Xuan allowed the Pill King to escape, he would be missing out on the true treasure.

“Do you think that I’ll let you escape?” Zhang Xuan scoffed as he channeled his zhenqi into his feet and leaped powerfully into the air.

Boom!

He swiftly flitted in the direction of the Pill King, leaving behind ripples in the air.

Having driven the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps to its limits, he was able to fly at a speed even faster than that of the pill!

“A high-tier Celestial God… is actually flying?” Fu Jiangchen widened his eyes in disbelief.

It was an unchanging law in the Firmament that only God Kings were capable of flight, but this…

It was one thing for the other party to be able to subdue those four pills with a single move, but to think that he would be able to fly at a speed that was not any slower than him…

How in the world was the other party doing this?

For a moment, Fu Jiangchen was really wondering if he was seeing things.

The escaping Pill King was also taken aback to see the high-tier Celestial God chasing after it so quickly. Seeing that the other party was going to catch up with it soon, it swiftly morphed into the appearance of a ferocious-looking young man and turned around to slap the other party.

It was a simple move, but it harnessed a terrifying amount of power.

In terms of strength, the Pill King had already reached a level comparable to God Kings.

“Humph!”

With an awful look on his face, Zhang Xuan halted his footsteps to dodge the attack before counterattacking with the sword in his hand.

He realized that even though he had rid his body of his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, his fighting prowess did not fall; instead, he was stronger than ever.

The only issue was that the amount of zhenqi he had was much lower than before, so he could not afford to use his zhenqi recklessly.

Thus, he had to end the battle as quickly as possible!

Furthermore, this was not just an issue of his zhenqi running out. More importantly, the escape of the Pill King had caused quite the commotion, such that he could feel dozens of people’s Spiritual Perception gazing over there in just a few short breaths. If he did not resolve this problem quickly, the situation might go out of control.

Only on demise will a silkworm run out of thread; only as ashes will the tears of a candle dry up!

Zhang Xuan executed the sword art he had comprehended from the Pathos of Heaven, and a thin thread shot forth from his sword and wrapped itself around the Pill King. As if the final spark of flame before a candle died out or the last yarn of thread a silkworm produced, this thin thread carried a heavy sentimentality and tied the Pill King down, preventing it from escaping.

You…”

The Pill King was astonished.

Celestial Gods and God Kings should have been two beings of different levels of existence. It thought that it would be able to get rid of the young man easily by retaliating with its full strength, but who could have known that it would be bound even before it could finish its attack.

Were the high-tier Celestial Gods really this powerful?

“Collect!”

Knowing that he would not be able to keep this up for too long with the limitations of his zhenqi—the earlier flight at his full speed and the two sword arts that he had executed had really sapped a lot out of him—he quickly pulled the thread made out of sword qi toward him to capture the Pill King.

“Argh!”

Amid its cries of agony, the Pill King, from its form as a young man, slowly grew smaller and smaller until it was no more than a round pill. At the same time, the spirit that had bom within it had been vanquished as well.

Having finally subdued the Pill King, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. Reaching out, he was just about to grab the Pill King when his body suddenly froze in place. Not only so, even his flow of zhenqi disobeyed his will and screeched to a halt.

“What’s happening?” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in shock.

Following that, he saw a beautiful lady walking toward him a step at a time.

With her dainty hand, she picked up the Pill King lightly between her fingertips.

“Friend, this pill is a medicine that my Berylgrass Gazebo paid a heavy price to forge. Thank you for capturing it in my stead. I am very grateful for your assistance,” the lady said with a smile.

“The Berylgrass Gazebo?” Zhang Xuan asked with narrowed eyes as he channeled his zhenqi to break the seal cast on him.

The Pill King was a medicine that could possibly aid one in making a breakthrough to the God King realm. There was no power in the Firmament that could resist such temptation.

As such, Zhang Xuan had been worried all this while that someone would attempt to steal the Pill King away from him, and it seemed like the worst-case scenario had happened.

This wench sure was greedy. She was there to steal his possession, yet she still wanted to claim the moral high ground and retain her reputation while doing so.

The Firmament was a lawless place. In the end, it was the one with the strongest fist that called the shots.

“Indeed,” the lady replied gracefully as she whipped out her jade token. “This is the insignia of our Berylgrass Gazebo. Given that you have done us a great favor, it’s only right for us to reward you accordingly. With this insignia, you will be able to choose any cultivation technique manual of your liking at our Berylgrass Gazebo!”

Then, with a flick of her wrist, she passed the jade token over to Zhang Xuan.

“Is this the story you have managed to come up with to steal my possession?” Zhang Xuan sneered as he sliced the jade token in two without any hesitation. “Do I look like a pushover to you?”

It was one thing for the other party to seal his movements and steal his pill, but to think that she would even dare claim that it was hers. Zhang Xuan had never seen such bullsh*t before!

“Steal your possession? That is a pill that I paid a high price to forge. Anyone with the slightest common sense will be able to tell that this is beyond a mere high-tier Celestial God’s ability to forge!” The lady flung her sleeves back and sneered coldly. “Think before you speak!”

“It’s indeed beyond my ability to forge this pill, which is why I engaged Master Fu Jiangchen’s help. I provided him with the medicinal herbs and the forging technique, but the pill ended up escaping just as we completed it. You said that you are the one who forged it, so why don’t you tell us what medicinal herbs are used in it, and what the respective steps required are?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“Fu Jiangchen?” The lady burst into laughter. “It seems like you do know quite a bit. Indeed, I was the one who instructed him to forge the pill on my behalf, and I provided him with the medicinal herbs in order to do so. Little boy, it isn’t right for you to claim possession of something that isn’t yours. But sure, I’ll go with you for the sake of fairness then. Let’s call Fu Jiangchen over here and have him testify who the true owner of the pill is!”

After saying those words, the lady turned toward a manor and bellowed, “Fu Jiangchen, hurry up and get over here!”

Her words were swiftly transmitted over to Fu Jiangchen through her zhenqi.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xuan quickly reassessed his situation solemnly.

There was no one else in the area, but he could feel dozens of people’s Spiritual Perception observing the happenings intently. The reason the lady had claimed that the pill was hers right from the start was to claim the moral high ground. This way, no one would be able to legitimately compete for the Pill King with her.

Otherwise, they would risk sullying their reputation.

Based on this, it could be seen that the lady before him had quite the standing in Linglong Royal City.

“You sure are brazen enough to not feel the slightest bit of embarrassment even after snatching your pill. Tell me, who are you?” Zhang Xuan harrumphed.

“You know of the Berylgrass Gazebo, but you don’t know who I am?” The lady chuckled softly. “I am Baiye Qinghong!” “Baiye Qinghong?” Zhang Xuan’s face immediately darkened. “A Conferred God King?”