Library of Heaven’s Path

Zhang Xuan was oblivious to the visit by the three master teachers. At the moment, he was in the kingdom’s Book Collection Vault, and his eyes were gleaming with excitement.

”It’s complete...”

After reading books for an entire afternoon, he had finally finished flipping through all of the Pixue realm books in the Book Collection Vault. He had also managed to compile a complete version of the 6-dan Heaven’s Path Divine Art in the library.

The front part was exactly as he had deduced before, so he only had to follow the steps behind.

”Time to cultivate!”

In any case, he was here alone, so there was no need to restrain himself. Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan sat onto the ground and started cultivating.

Pipa! Pipa! Pipa!

The moment he started training, a dense congregation of spiritual energy immediately surged into his body from the heavens, causing the acupoints in his body to blow open consecutively. A series of crisp ‘pops’ reminiscent of frying beans echoed in the vault.

After an unknown period of time, Zhang Xuan opened his eyes. A look of astonishment appeared on his face as he was in a state of disbelief.

”I actually managed... to open all 108 acupoints?”

Legend has it that there are 108 acupoints in a human’s body. However, only 72 of which can be opened. Furthermore, there is a specific order to how these acupoints could be opened. With differences in every individual’s physique, there is a different order that everyone has to follow in order to achieve the best results. If one fails to follow the exact sequence, one might very well only open thirty to forty acupoints in their life and thereafter be stuck permanently.

He had initially thought that even with the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, it would be considered an incredible feat to open 72 acupoints. Never in his dreams did he expect to be able to open all 108 acupoints.

At this moment, the acupoints throughout his body were twinkling, as a sky full of stars. He felt strength surge through his entire body.

If others were to learn that he had opened all of the acupoints in his body, they would definitely die of shock.

”108 acupoints mean that my strength has been boosted by 108 ding. Before reaching Pixue realm, I already have 20 ding of strength, and adding in the 90 ding from my physical body, my total strength is 218 ding. That is equivalent to a Tongxuan realm intermediate stage expert...”

Doing a rough calculation of his strength, Zhang Xuan’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

In Tongxuan realm, one possesses 100 ding of strength in the primary stage, 200 ding in the intermediate stage, 300 ding in the advanced stage, and 400 ding in the pinnacle stage.

It is unheard of in Tianxuan Kingdom, or even in the surrounding kingdoms, for a Pixue realm pinnacle to possess the strength of a Tongxuan realm intermediate stage.

Yet, Zhang Xuan had easily achieved such a feat.

Even he himself couldn’t help but suspect if he was dreaming.

There aren’t many people in Tianxuan Kingdom who can rival him now.

After all, the strongest person in Tianxuan Kingdom currently is only at Tongxuan realm pinnacle.

”I should continue and see if there are Fighter 7-dan cultivation techniques...”

Zhang Xuan stood up and continued into the depths of the Book Collection Vault expectantly.

”What a pity...”

After circling around the entire Book Collection Vault once, Zhang Xuan could not help but shook his head in disappointment.

There wasn’t any Fighter 7-dan cultivation technique in the Book Collection Vault.

But now that he thought about it, it was to be expected.

After all, Fighter 7-dan Tongxuan realm experts can be considered as the top-notch fighting power of the Tianxuan Kingdom. As such, the value of 7-dan cultivation techniques is incomparably valuable. Thus, how can one possibly leave such books lying around here, especially when visitors can be granted entry?

They would most probably be kept somewhere accessible only to the emperor.

”Since there is no cultivation technique, I should check out the battle techniques...”

Thinking of such, he walked with big strides toward the region where the battle technique manuals are stored.

There is a massive collection of books in the kingdom’s Book Collection Vault. Even though the battle techniques kept here are not exclusive profound arts, its redeeming factor is that there are plenty of them. Just a single move can have several thousand different schools to it.

Zhang Xuan stopped before a certain bookshelf and glanced toward the books on it.

It is the region where the movement and leg techniques are stored.

《The 72 Lake Manoeuvre》、《Whirlwind Legs》、《34 Styles Chain Kicks》、《Eluding Traversing Dragon》

All kinds of movement and leg technique secret manuals filled the entire shelf.

”Wang Ying’s legs were once injured. Even though she has the Body Nourishing Medicinal Solution to heal her legs, it would still be difficult for her to match up to the swift Du Lei. However, if she were to learn a good movement and leg technique, it should increase her chances of victory significantly.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xuan started flipping through the books.

Hualala, hualala!

In an hour’s time, Zhang Xuan had managed to imprint all the books related to movement and leg techniques into his head, and two books had formed in his head.

Heaven’s Path Movement Art and Heaven’s Path Leg Art!

Casually flipping open the manuals, he immersed his concentration into the books. Four hours later, he managed to master the two moves.

Due to the books in the Book Collection Vault being about the most basic and fundamental moves, only a single movement was created, just like how it was for the Heaven’s Path Spear Art.

That was especially so for the Heaven’s Path Movement Art. It allowed him to move a distance of twenty meters the time of a tenth of a breath. His movement was so fast that it seemed as though teleportation.

Of course, attaining such breakneck speed causes a huge strain on the body. If it weren’t for him cultivating the Heaven’s Path Golden Body, such instantaneous movement would have caused his blood vessels to burst. Even so, given his current physical capabilities, he can only execute the move once. If he were to overdo it, it would cause him to bleed from his ears and nose due to excessive pressure.

Still, it is an extremely fearsome move. If one were to suddenly perform an instantaneous movement when battling with another person, even a Tongxuan realm pinnacle expert can be destroyed in an instant if he isn’t guarded against it.

After learning the movement and leg techniques, he moved to the fists technique region and once again started flipping through the books, forming a single punching move.

Two hours later, he had easily completed learning the fist movement.

Just like the movement technique, even though it is just a single move, it allows his strength to be enhanced by a single fold instantaneously.

Given his current strength of 218 ding, a single fold meant that he was able to execute a punch with 436 ding of strength behind it. In other words, by executing the Heaven’s Path Fist Art, his fighting prowess would rival that of a Tongxuan realm pinnacle expert.

Of course, this pushes his physical body to the limits as well. Just like the movement technique, he wouldn’t be able to use it repeatedly. Given his current level of ability, he can only execute three punches at maximum.

Continuously flipping through the books and studying them, time passed slowly.

Fortunately, Zhang Xuan had foreseen that he would be staying in the Book Collection Vault for an extended period of time and had prepared some food in his storage ring in advance. Otherwise, he would surely die of hunger before he could even begin to train.

……………………

Countless lanterns hung and lit the palace.

”Apothecary Chen Xiao, why are you here?”

Walking into the main hall, Du Miaoxuan was filled with bewilderment.

He was just an ordinary elder of the Du Clan, and following the deterioration of his cultivation, even that title had become just a name. Yet, he was summoned abruptly by Emperor Shen Zhui today and thus, he was completely confused by what was going on.

Upon walking into the palace, he saw that Apothecary Chen Xiao, Ling Tianyu, and Luo Chong were all here.

”I have also received His Majesty’s summons. It must be something that has to do with Yang shi. After all, all of us here have benefitted from Yang shi’s grace!”

At this moment, Apothecary Chen Xiao no longer looked as sickly as he did previously. On the contrary, he was filled with vitality and liveliness.

”That might be possible...”

Du Miaoxuan nodded his head in agreement. Ling Tianyu and Luo Chong also suddenly came to a realization.

However, there was no need for them to ponder over the matter as they would soon know the answer. At this moment, Emperor Shen Zhui walked into the main hall with large strides. Smiling, he introduced to the crowd.

”I am not the one who invited everyone here today. It was the three master teachers.”

”Master teachers?”

Du Miaoxuan and the others were taken aback. They hurriedly stood up and saw three dignified elders following behind the emperor.

”Sit. You must be Ling Tianyu. I heard that your wife was sick. Can you tell me about what happened during the treatment?” After trading some pleasantries, Liu shi turned his attention to Ling Tianyu.

After a moment later.

”You say that... Yang Xuan, with a single look, discerned that your stone lion is made of Southern Blood Jade and deduced from it that your family member was sick? Then... With a few needles, not only did your wife awake from her coma, she even gained the ability to walk immediately?”

Liu shi widened his eyes in disbelief.

”The Southern Blood Jade absorbs a person’s vitality. Given how your wife was stuck in a state of coma, this meant that her illness had already reached an extremely severe state. In order to resolve the issue, not only does one need to find the exact blockages of the meridians, one also requires intermediate-tier zhenqi to break open those blockages. To be able to see through those exact spots, such that there weren’t any hesitation in his movements... Can a master teacher really possess such sharp eyes?”

...

”The moment you entered, before you could even forge pills, he could tell that you were afflicted with death aura and would die at any moment? One who is afflicted with death aura would have a dark mark at their glabella, so it isn’t surprising that he would be able to tell that much. Also, apothecaries often come into contact with cauldrons, it was natural that he would deduce as so... However, to be able to deduce all these without asking a single question... Why do I feel like he isn’t a master teacher but a fortune-teller...”

”Also, he could tell that your unstable state of mind was caused by your consumption of Dragon-scaled Prawns just by your forging movements without asking a single question at all? You must be joking...”

...

Upon hearing everyone’s experiences, the three master teachers became baffled.

The heck, is he some enlightened deity?

Even though master teachers possess sharp eyes, it isn’t that exaggerated!

”Looks like... there are only two possibilities. Firstly... That Yang Xuan’s standard is much higher than ours, to the point that we are unable to comprehend the full extent of his abilities.”

After a long moment, Liu shi concluded with a grim expression.

”Or secondly... He knows of their conditions beforehand and searched for a solution before curing their illness at a single go, thus astounding everyone here. In other words... He is an opportunistic fraud who is looking to make a fortune.”

Zheng shi and Zhuang shi nodded their heads. They shared Liu shi’s judgment as well.

”If it is the former, it isn’t a big matter for me to pay him a visit and learn from it. But if it turns out to be the second...” Speaking of which, Liu shi’s eyes turned cold. ”As a master teacher, I have the responsibility to expose such black sheeps so that they do not sully the reputation of master teachers.”