Chapter 1233: Returning to Qingyuan City
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.
To think that the Book of Heaven’s Path would be able to store such a huge island. As expected of a product of the Library of Heaven’s Path, there was really no questioning its quality!
Putting the Book of Heaven’s Path back, Zhang Xuan returned to where Wu s.h.i.+ and the others were.
Even though the trip to the Marshlands of the Northern Meadows had been fraught with dangers, the returns had also been rather substantial. Putting aside the ma.s.sive power up that Vicious would receive upon his reawakening, just the hundred or so Leaving Aperture realm intermediate stage puppets that he had acquired would become a powerful fighting force for him.
If he released all of them at once, even a Saint 6-dan primary stage expert would be pummeled into the ground.
More importantly, unlike the other Otherworldly Demon puppets that he had acquired previously, these puppets were the purely engineered works by celestial designers, so they did not carry the slightest aura of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe on them. As such, there were no issues with using them in public!
“Princ.i.p.al Zhang, where is that island?” Wu s.h.i.+ and the others turned to look at Zhang Xuan curiously.
“Due to the great implications in this matter, I’m afraid that I can’t tell you anything…” Zhang Xuan shook his head apologetically.
At this point, he did not feel like blatantly lying to Wu s.h.i.+ and the others, but it was not safe to speak of the existence of the Library of Heaven’s Path to others. Thus, he decided to sidestep the topic instead.
“Alright then, we understand,” the crowd replied understandingly.
Even though they were curious, they knew that Zhang Xuan, as a Celestial Master Teacher, was bound to have secrets of his own that would not be convenient for him to reveal to others. Thus, they reined in their curiosity and held themselves back.
As the group headed out of the marshlands, Wu s.h.i.+ asked, “Princ.i.p.al Zhang, should we report this matter to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters?”
By now, the sun had already begun rising. It was truly a terrifying night filled with twists at every turn, but it was fortunate that they had survived it in the end.
Zhang Xuan shook his head. “It would be best not to.”
Since this matter concerned Vicious, the headquarters was bound to investigate the issue thoroughly. If they were to uncover the Book of Heaven’s Path in the midst of doing so, it would cause Zhang Xuan a great deal of trouble.
“This…” Wu s.h.i.+ hesitated for a moment before adding, “But if we don’t report this matter to the headquarters, there’s no way we can account for Pavilion Master Gou and Tian Qing’s death.”
Considering the number of casualties in the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion as a result of this issue, there was no way they could simply wrap up the investigation in such a slipshod manner. The headquarters would surely send men over to question them on the incident or even conduct an investigation themselves, and that could lead to more trouble then.
“Is that so?” Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella in frustration.
If it was up to him, he would have preferred for this matter to pa.s.s quietly. Otherwise, his plan of maintaining a low profile would be shattered.
Knowing Zhang Xuan’s considerations, Wu s.h.i.+ advised, “If we take the initiative to report to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, we’ll be in a better position to decide the information to be pa.s.sed on to them.”
As young as Zhang Xuan was, he had a very dependable and humble personality. He was able to see through the splendor and glory of being a Celestial Master Teacher to understand the responsibility and risks that he carried before making the rational decision to conceal his ident.i.ty and maintain a low profile. To be able to avoid getting complacent despite being in such a glorious position, he was truly a role model for all master teachers!
Naturally, stirring a ruckus over this issue was not something that a person as humble as him would wish to see happening!
However, this matter was simply too big, such that it was impossible for them to simply put it aside and disregard it anymore. If they were to take the initiative to report it, they could at least choose what information to filter out before sending it to the headquarters, and naturally, this would be to their advantage.
“Alright then.” After a moment of thought, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist, and two corpses appeared before him. “This is the corpse of the Qingtian Emperor. When you report the matter to the headquarters, just pin the blame for the entire incident on him.”
“The corpse of the Qingtian Emperor?” Wu s.h.i.+ was bewildered by Zhang Xuan’s words.
Wasn’t the Qingtian Emperor already dead? Why would another one pop out all of a sudden?
Noticing the look of confusion on Wu s.h.i.+’s face, Zhang Xuan swiftly explained the situation, but that only seemed to deepen the astonishment on Wu s.h.i.+’s face.
As expected of an Otherworldly Demon Emperor who had lived for countless years! To actually have multiple clones under his command, it was really as if he was an indestructible c.o.c.kroach!
Honestly, just thinking about the opponent they had clashed with would leave Wu s.h.i.+’s back drenched in fear. It was truly fortunate that they had Zhang Xuan with them, or else they might have died on the first encounter!
“I’ll report the matter concerning the Qingtian Emperor and the Ten Kings of the Qingtian Lineage to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters and have them make a judgement on the matter!” Upon learning the full story, Wu s.h.i.+ could also roughly guess what the young man’s bottom line was.
For some reason, it seemed like he was reluctant to have others learn of the matter concerning the little island turning into head, as well as the mastermind behind the Qingtian Emperor.
While he was curious about the matter, he eventually decided against probing any further in.
“Un.” Seeing that Wu s.h.i.+ had understood his intention, Zhang Xuan nodded.
The important thing was to not have anyone learn of Vicious’ involvement in this affair.
Other than that, everything else would be fine.
It was really fortunate that the Qingtian Emperor had been involved in this matter as well, so they could use him as a cover to explain everything what had happened in the Qingyuan Empire.
“I think it would be better to stop by our Northern Meadows City and report this matter at our Master Teacher Pavilion. We can apply for a holographic communication with the headquarters there and ensure that the appropriate information reaches them!” Ji s.h.i.+ suddenly interjected at this moment.
“That would be great!” Wu s.h.i.+’s eyes lit up as he turned around to seek Zhang Xuan’s opinion on the matter.
Through the holographic communication, they would be able to present the corpse of the Qingtian Emperor to them as well. Considering how huge the incident was, their report had to have ample evidence to back up their claims.
“Hmm…” Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment before replying. “Wu s.h.i.+, you should follow Ji s.h.i.+ to the Northern Meadows City Master Teacher Pavilion to explain the matter to the headquarters then. I still have some matters to attend to, so I’ll be returning to Qingyuan City first.”
Even though Zhang Xuan had put on a composed front when Vicious claimed that he had Liu Yang held hostage, the fact was that he was actually deeply apprehensive and unnerved within. He had long wanted to return to Qingyuan City to check on Liu Yang.
While Liu Yang had no particularly outstanding talent, he was still a student who had followed him from the days when he was still in Tianxuan Kingdom. A step at a time, they had come this far together. The year they had spent together had already forged an inseparable bond between the two of them.
Knowing what Zhang Xuan was worried over, Wu s.h.i.+ nodded. “Princ.i.p.al Zhang, I understand. Go ahead!”
It was roughly noon when they finally got out of the marshlands. Getting onto the aerial saint beast, they first flew over to the Northern Meadows City, where Wu s.h.i.+ and the others alighted, before returning back to Qingyuan City.
As soon as he was alone, Zhang Xuan quickly dived into the Myriad Anthive Nest without any hesitation.
Shortly after his entry, he heard a furious bellow within the Myriad Anthive Nest. “You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I’ll kill you!”
Peng peng peng peng!
Following which, the sound of punches and kicks echoed in the air. Walking over to the origin of the sound, Zhang Xuan saw his clone viciously pummeling the Primordial Spirit of the Qingtian Emperor, not giving the latter an opportunity to recover at all.
At this moment, the Qingtian Emperor’s Primordial Spirit was so faint that it seemed as if it would dissipate at any moment. However, his face remained as ferocious as ever, reflecting his strong desire to rip the duo before him into shreds.
“Alright, stop your ruckus. Hold still and allow me to conduct a Soul Search!” Zhang Xuan uttered coldly as he drew out his soul and placed his palm on the Qingtian Emperor’s head.
Tzzzzzz!
Before the Qingtian Emperor’s horrified gaze, Zhang Xuan sent a sliver of his will into the other party’s consciousness.
Two hours later, Zhang Xuan returned his soul to his body. Rubbing his glabella, he exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.
At this moment, the Qingtian Emperor’s consciousness had been completely shattered, leaving a mindless Primordial Spirit behind.
“Vicious has already gone into hibernation, so I’ll leave this Primordial Spirit for you to a.s.similate,” Zhang Xuan told his clone.
Vicious’ consciousness had already gone into a deep sleep before they could even get out of the marshlands, leaving Zhang Xuan with a pile of unanswered questions.
Since that was the case, it would be better to leave the Qingtian Emperor’s Primordial Spirit to his clone. It would be able to raise the latter’s fighting prowess significantly.
“Roger that!” Zhang Xuan’s clone replied happily as he dragged the mindless Primordial Spirit back into a room. Not too long later, a scream of agony sounded in the air.
Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan began to organize the memories that he had just obtained through his Soul Search.
Regarding the matters concerning Vicious, it was mostly just as Vicious had described earlier.
The reason the Qingtian Emperor had obediently heeded Vicious’ orders was to bide his time until the day he obtained the latter’s full heritage and could take over the latter’s body. On the other hand, the reason Vicious took in the Qingtian Emperor as his disciple was to make use of the latter’s strength to find his remaining body parts and make a full recovery.
Despite working with one another, both had their own private intentions in mind.
Through his Soul Search, Zhang Xuan was able to acquire the soul cultivation techniques that Vicious had imparted to the Qingtian Emperor. However…
It seems like Vicious has only imparted the Saint 1-dan to Saint 5-dan soul cultivation techniques to him.
Zhang Xuan studied the soul cultivation techniques for a while before sighing deeply. I guess it isn’t that easy for a soul oracle to convert their soul into a Primordial Spirit.
A Primordial Spirit was basically an evolution of the Embryonic Soul, an existence made up of zhenqi and soul energy. It was also for this reason that it could exist outside the body, and it harnessed the strength to tap into zhenqi independently of the body as well.
On the other hand, the souls of soul oracles were purely made of soul energy. Through utilizing unique soul cultivation techniques to enhance and temper their soul energy, a soul oracle was able to exert overwhelming might.
As ordinary Primordial Spirits contained zhenqi, they had a more upright and orthodox air to them. On the other hand, due to the yin nature of soul energy, the souls of soul oracles emanated a cold and eerie aura, and they feared both sunlight and lightning.
Fundamentally, Primordial Spirits and the souls of soul oracles were two completely different ent.i.ties.
As a result, it was extremely difficult for soul oracles to convert their souls into Primordial Spirit.
On top of that, the overwhelming yin nature of their souls also made the Leaving Aperture Ordeal an extremely high hurdle for them to overcome.
As a result, despite the overwhelming benefits that soul oracles had earlier on, most of them ended up capping at Quasi Leaving Aperture realm, unable to advance any further.
Out of ten thousand soul oracles, there might not even be one of them who would be able to clear the Leaving Aperture Ordeal.
In a sense, the Qingtian Emperor could be considered an incredible genius for successfully cultivating up to Leaving Aperture realm advanced stage.
However, as I have cultivated the Heaven’s Path Soul Art right from the start, my soul doesn’t have any attribute. So, I shouldn’t face a bottleneck from that.
Aside from that, Zhang Xuan’s soul had also been tempered by the Saint Ascension Ordeal as well. As such, even though he was only at the Embryonic Soul realm, his soul already possessed resilience far superior to the Primordial Spirits of ordinary cultivators.
The issue that most soul oracles would encounter was not a problem to him at all.
After compiling the soul cultivation techniques that Vicious has left behind together with the terpsich.o.r.e, spirit awakener, and demonic tunist books, I have managed to compile the Saint 1-dan to 4-dan Heaven’s Path Soul Arts successfully. I can cultivate the first two realms with high-tier spirit stones, but as for the remaining two, it seems like I will have to gather more concentrated high-tier spirit stones before working on them, Zhang Xuan thought.
Thinking back, roughly ten days had pa.s.sed since the friendly spar with the other Combat Master Halls. The rewards from the Combat Master Hall headquarters should have arrived by now, so the problem concerning the lack of concentrated high-tier spirit stones was not an issue for the time being.
Thus, putting the matter aside for the moment, Zhang Xuan flicked his hand and released the puppets he had confiscated from Vicious back in the Ghost Cavern inside the Myriad Anthive Nest.
He had the inner demons leave them one by one before using his Impartation of Heaven’s Will to tame them. In less than three days, those fellows had already become his loyal subordinates.
Leaving the Myriad Anthive Nest, Zhang Xuan realized that he was still a distance away from Qingyuan City. Thus, he began going through the Qingtian Emperor’s storage ring to see if he could find any treasures in it.
To his disappointment, while there were quite some treasures in the storage ring, there were no concentrated high-tier spirit stones to be found.
From the looks like it, it seemed like the Qingtian Emperor had most likely used any concentrated high-tier spirit stones he managed to acquire himself.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan decided to use the remaining time he had before arriving at Qingyuan City to browse through his books and cultivate.
…
While Zhang Xuan was rus.h.i.+ng back to Qingyuan City, Wu s.h.i.+ and the others entered the Northern Meadows City Master Teacher Pavilion, and after a series of formalities, Ji Tianxiong placed his palm lightly upon a screen. A powerful aura slowly rippled from the screen as the silhouette of an elder gradually came into appearance.
The head of the Empire Alliance Master Teacher Pavilion, 8-star Master Teacher He Xuan!
“What has happened that would require you to establish a holographic communication with me?”