Library of Heaven’s Path

“Yang Xuan…” Zhang Xuan’s heart jolted in horror.

His first instinct was to escape, but he forced himself to remain calm.

From the looks of it, it seemed like the other party had seen through his disguise from the start. The fact that the other party had not made a move yet and instead chose to converse with him calmly showed that he bore no ill will.

On top of that, he had been trying to assess the other party’s strength, but as if staring into the abyss, he found himself unable to see the bottom of the other party’s cultivation. It was questionable whether he would really be able to escape or not even if he tried.

Rather than jumping into action, it seemed wiser for him to sound out the other party’s aim first.

While Zhang Xuan was in a state of utter shock, the elder standing opposite of him was also completely astounded.

He could tell with his eye of discernment that the person standing opposite to him was only in his early twenties, but the young man’s state of mind was so deep that even he was unable to see through him.

It was no wonder that no one had been able to see through the young man’s impersonation for so long.

More importantly, despite knowing who he was, the young man was still able to remain perfectly calm, not showing the slightest hint of fluster at all. Just from that, his state of mind had already surpassed all master teachers that he knew of.

There was a short moment of silence before Zhang Xuan remarked, “I have always taken pride in my disguise ability. If Yang shi doesn’t mind sharing, I am interested to know how you managed to see through me.”

He would not be so arrogant as to actually think that his disguise was impeccable, but with his Soul Depth of 29.1, which was on par with top 9-star master teachers, and the extraordinary flexibility of his body, not even Elder Qu and the others had been able to see through him. Just what kind of fatal opening was there in his disguise that made Yang shi so certain that he was Zhang Xuan?

“Your disguise was remarkable. From your outer appearance down to the aura of your soul, there’s no way I could have guessed it was you. The only reason I was so certain is because of the Sanctum Head Token in your possession,” Yang shi replied.

“Sanctum Head Token?” Zhang Xuan was stunned, not expecting to hear such an answer. He quickly flicked his wrist and took out his Sanctum Head Token.

After using it to defend against the attack from Elder Qu back at the Glacier Plain Court, he had placed it back into his storage ring, and he had not taken it out since then. Who could have thought that it would actually become the crux for Yang shi to find him?

“That’s right. The Sanctum Head Token is an artifact that Sage Kui, together with a group of powerful master teachers, painstakingly forged. While it isn’t the strongest weapon in the world, it harnesses the wills of the predecessors and the scholarly aura of the Sanctum of Sages. Even if you store it in your storage ring, you still can’t fully conceal the aura it emanates. It’s due to this property of the Sanctum Head Token that even with the untimely deaths of the preceding sanctum heads, the Sanctum of Sages was still able to eventually retrieve the Sanctum Head Token without fail!” Yang shi replied with a smile.

Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.

The Sanctum Head Token could be considered an insignia of authority and nobility for the Sanctum of Sages. Perhaps in a bid to sustain the legacy of the token, Sage Kui and the others had devised some method that would allow the top echelons of the Sanctum of Sages and Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters to trace the whereabouts of the Sanctum Head Token.

And it was using such a method that Yang shi had been able to find his whereabouts and confirm his identity.

“Since Yang shi has found me, do you intend to apprehend me?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“I haven’t returned to the Master Teacher Pavilion for a very long time, and the decrees they issue have nothing to do with me. The reason I came looking for you is solely out of curiosity… A person as talented as you couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere. I’m interested to find out what lineage you are from and whom your teacher is!” Yang shi replied with a smile.

Along the way, he had carefully browsed through Zhang Xuan’s records. The young man had claimed to be his student, but he knew very well that he had never met the young man before, let alone imparted any knowledge to him.

He knew all of the 9-star master teacher on the Master Teacher Continent, but he did not think that any of them wielded the ability to raise such a formidable student. In fact, even the student whom he had personally groomed, Feng Ziyi, was nothing compared to the young man standing before him.

He wanted to find out just whom the person behind Zhang Xuan was.

“This…” Zhang Xuan shook his head and replied, “I’ll be frank with you. I have never acknowledged a teacher before!”

Before others, he could still claim that his teacher was Yang Xuan, but with the person in question standing right in front of him, such lies no longer held any meaning.

“You have never acknowledged any teacher before?” Yang shi’s smile collapsed into a look of disbelief. “How could that be possible? I have looked through your records, and you were just an ordinary cultivator in the Tianxuan Kingdom. Within a single year, you have already grasped the strength of the Saint 8-dan Dimension Sundering realm. How could you grow so quickly without the guidance of a teacher?”

Be it in terms of cultivation or supporting occupations, the young man before him seemed to grasp everything in an instant. Even when it came to his cultivation, everything seemed to bank on his whims. He could achieve breakthroughs as and when he liked, as if the concept of bottlenecks did not apply to him.

As unbelievable as it seemed, it might still have been possible if he did have a formidable teacher to guide him along. However, to achieve all of that by himself… this was something that even Yang shi himself was unable to believe!

One must know that even the legendary Kong shi had not grown at this breakneck speed either!

“I don’t know why, but be it cultivation or supporting occupations, I’m able to grasp and master everything in an instant. There’s nothing I can do about how talented I am!” Zhang Xuan replied with a helpless edge to his voice.

He could not possibly talk about the Library of Heaven’s Path, so he could only attribute everything to his own aptitude.

There should have been individuals who were so monstrously talented that they could not be defined using common sense in history, such as the young prodigy of the Zhang Clan. Did they not say that he was already a Saint realm expert at birth?

Considering how there were people in the world who were born as Saints, surely his talent of mastering everything in an instant was nothing to gawk at.

“This…” Yang shi frowned.

In his lifetime, he had met plenty of prodigies, and there were indeed those who possessed such talent too—the little princess of the Luo Clan was one such example—but… none of them were as overpowered as this!

Besides, the Luo Clan’s resources were there for all to see. It was due to the massive influx of resources, and this was including the guidance of 9-star master teachers, that she had been able to grow that quickly. On the other hand, the young man before him was an unaffiliated cultivator… and yet, he was actually growing at a rate faster than the little princess!

There was no way that such a thing could be achieved if he did not have a teacher!

Furthermore, based on what he had heard, the young man also wielded many extraordinary means as well, such as taming the lightning tribulation into subservience… Even he was incapable of pulling something as ludicrous as that off!

Yang shi hesitated for a moment before flicking out a jade token and passing it over. “I have a battle technique here. It’s a finger art that Feng Ziyi was unable to achieve Major Accomplishment in despite having cultivated it for three years. Since you possess such talents, may I request that you try learning it so as to convince me that you really don’t have a teacher?”

Since the young man had claimed that he was able to master everything swiftly, there was a very simple method to verify this claim. If the young man was really able to master the finger art swiftly, that would mean that there was some truth to his words.

“A finger art?” Zhang Xuan took the jade token and swiftly browsed through it.

Severing Yang Finger!

It was a Saint pinnacle battle technique that wielded unparalleled might. If used well in a battle, it could easily serve as a trump card in dire situations!

Fortunately, I do have quite a few finger arts in the Library of Heaven’s Path… Compile!

Knowing that Yang shi was testing him, and he would clear this test as long as he could master the finger art, Zhang Xuan did not hesitate to collect the Severing Yang Finger into the Library of Heaven’s Path. After which, he compiled it together with the finger arts that he had collected back in the Combat Master Hall.

The Severing Yang Finger was a little similar to the Grand Constellation Finger, which he had practiced back then. Its crux lay in focusing one’s strength at a single point and releasing it all at once.

Soon, a new book materialized in the Library of Heaven’s Path.

Zhang Xuan quickly flipped it open and browsed through it.

Just as he had expected, the compiled finger art was devoid of flaws. With a touch, the knowledge regarding the perfected Severing Yang Finger flowed into his head.

“This finger art of mine is a little too heavy on its killing intent, but it’s still a formidable weapon when dealing with Otherworldly Demons,” Yang shi said. “This finger art allows one to sever the vitality and longevity of one’s opponent, but due to its might, it also inflicts a certain degree of damage on the practitioner as well. One must be able to concentrate one’s strength, mind, spirit, and will together in order to execute it perfectly.

“I’ll give you three days to learn this skill. If you are able to reach Minor Accomplishment within three days without my guidance, I’ll believe that you possess the capability to have reached your current altitude without a teacher to guide you along…”

“Three days? There’s no need for that!” Zhang Xuan opened his eyes and looked at Yang Xuan. “I am already done learning it!”