Library of Heaven’s Path

Have I really been discovered?

Zhang Xuan’s eyes narrowed in astonishment.

Back then, his spatial seal had allowed him to enter the barracks of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe without being noticed. Who could have thought that his trump card would actually fail him here!

Could the other party’s nose really be that effective?

With the doubt that the Goldspirit Cloudtiger was trying to lure him out, Zhang Xuan continued camping on the spot quietly.

In response to his quietness, the Goldspirit Cloudtiger sneered coldly, “Since you aren’t going to come out, I’ll just have to force you out myself then!”

With a growl, it swiped its claw and sent a surge of sword qi in Zhang Xuan’s direction.

This sword qi was infused with the keen intent of the metal attribute. It tore a vacuum through space as it bolted toward Zhang Xuan.

While Zhang Xuan had sealed the space around him, he had not broken free of the dimension that he was in yet. As long as an attack was sufficiently powerful, it could still tear through his spatial seal and injure him.

As soon as Zhang Xuan saw the trajectory sword qi, he realized that it was not a bluff from the Goldspirit Cloudtiger. It had indeed managed to find him.

With a helpless sigh, he tore free of the spatial seal and moved his feet.

Hu!

In that instant, time seemed to have slowed down for Zhang Xuan. Despite that, he only managed to dodge the sword qi by a hair’s breadth. Scratching his head in exasperation, he faced the five divine beasts before him and said, “If I said that I’m only passing by and am not from the same group as them, will you believe me?”

He really was not from the same group as those fellows before… although he was indeed there to capture the Goldspirit Cloudtiger as well.

Of course, he would not be so dumb as to give himself away. What was standing before him were five Sempiternal realm consummation beasts! Even with his current fighting prowess, the best that he could do was flee as far from them as he could!

“Passing by? Don’t you think it’s rude of you to pass by my lair without coming in to greet me?” the Goldspirit Cloudtiger scoffed.

Huala!

The Goldspirit Cloudtiger was still burning with fury at having almost been caught by a bunch of damned humans, so how could it possibly be in the mood to listen to Zhang Xuan’s reasons? With a furious bellow, it sent a barrage of sword qi toward Zhang Xuan.

The relentless barrage of sword qi formed a long current reminiscent of a majestic dragon.

“That’s a no then. I guess I have no choice…” Seeing that the Goldspirit Cloudtiger was unwilling to believe him, Zhang Xuan knew that there was nothing else that he could say to persuade it otherwise.

In such a situation, he would have to allow his strength to do the talking. Taking a deep breath, he flicked his wrist, and the Dragonbone Divine Spear materialized in his grasp.

“Break!” Zhang Xuan pushed the spear forward to meet the barrage of sword qi.

Huala!

Putting his strength from his soul energy, zhenqi, and physical body into the Dragonbone Divine Spear, the spear warped into a bolt of light before it collided together with the barrage of sword qi. A devastating shockwave rippled out as a result of the clash, causing cracks to appear in the space around. Countless trees were uprooted, and boulders were shattered into fragments.

This single clash actually produced a hemispherical depression of over several hundred meters wide in the midst of the dense forest!

“What the hell… Is he really only at Aureate Body realm?”

The trapped Wu Changping and the others widened their eyes in shock.

They recognized the young man—he was the fellow who had been following behind them earlier before being driven away by them. They had thought that he was just a simple Aureate Body realm cultivator, an insignificant existence to them. Never in their dreams did they imagine that he would actually be this powerful!

If they had known in advance, they surely would have pulled him into their group. With him, they would have been able to capture the Goldspirit Cloudtiger and escape before the other four beasts even came to realize the anomaly!

“I thought that he was a weakling, but it turned out that he’s actually the strongest of us all…” Wu Changping shook his head in bitter regret.

Earlier, they had discussed whether they should kill the young man or not. It was fortunate that they did not try it, or else the young man would have destroyed all of them before they could even encounter the Goldspirit Cloudtiger!

“Oh? It seems like he’s not too weak!” the Heavenwood Greenserpent remarked.

It did not think that the Aureate Body realm lad hiding by the side would actually harness such fighting prowess within that small frame of his. It stroked its serpentine beard with its claws as it studied the young man in interest.

“Humph!”

On the other hand, the Goldspirit Cloudtiger was less than pleased to have its attack countered by the young man. It was already at the peak of its anger when even a mere Aureate Body realm lad turned out to be able to counter its attack. Its eyes widened in fury as it scrunched its body tightly together, its golden fur trembling nonstop.

“Die!”

Si la!

As if a released from a bowstring, the Goldspirit Cloudtiger dashed forward and made use of its momentum to whip its tail toward Zhang Xuan.

The tail moved with such swiftness that it seemed to disappear completely from sight, making it nigh impossible to discern the trajectory of the attack.

“How fast!” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in shock.

He knew that he would not be able to withstand the attack given his current strength. Thus, he quickly activated the Zhang Clan blood essence within his body.

Huala!

The other party’s movements immediately slowed down. With a light leap, he escaped from the Goldspirit Cloudtiger’s area of attack.

Boom!

A massive crater was smashed into the ground.

Knowing that he would not stand a chance at this rate, Zhang Xuan wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead and said, “Hold it for a moment…”

“Are you going to beg for mercy now? It’s already too late!”

Seeing how the young man had managed to evade its strongest attack with ease and even had the leisure to chat, even though the Goldspirit Cloudtiger was furious, it knew that it was unlikely to be able to subdue the young man in the short run. Thus, it halted its attack, wanting to hear what the young man had to say.

In any case, the five divine beasts were gathered there. The earth and the sky were completely sealed. There was no way that the young man could possibly escape.

“I know there’s no chance that I’ll be able to escape from here anymore, so at the very least, I would like to have a fair duel with you. Will you at least accede to this request of mine?” Zhang Xuan clasped his fist.

“Fair duel?”

The five divine beasts glanced at one another, not knowing what in the world he was saying.

“Indeed. I am only at the Aureate Body realm at the moment, so I know that I won’t stand much of a chance against you all. Nevertheless, I would still like to fight for a chance for survival. I want to challenge the Goldspirit Cloudtiger to a one-on-one duel. If I lose, the only thing that awaits me is death. However, if I win by any chance, I beseech you to let me go!” Zhang Xuan said.

“Hah!”

The five divine beasts immediately understood Zhang Xuan’s intentions.

The young man was afraid that they would attack him together.

“Human, you should stop trying to judge us by your standards! You are belittling us far too much! Even if we are of the same cultivation realm, we aren’t going to stoop so low as to gang up on you!” the Heavenwood Greenserpent remarked impassively.

As ones who had inherited the bloodlines of ancient divine beasts, as well as monarchs who ruled over countless subjects, they had their own pride to uphold.

Putting aside ganging up on someone weaker than them, they would not do so even for someone in the same cultivation realm as them!

“You can rest assured that I won’t allow them to interfere in our battle!” the Goldspirit Cloudtiger spat.

It was just a moment ago that it had nearly been captured by a group of humans, and now, another human actually wanted to challenge it to a one-on-one duel… Given how it had already embarrassed itself earlier, if it was still unable to deal with someone two realms weaker than it, what right would it have to rule over the other beasts in the forest?

“That’s a relief…”

To be honest, Zhang Xuan had given the matter a try not expecting the five divine beasts to accede to his request. In fact, he had already been planning his escape route, but it seemed like there was no need for it anymore. Heaving a deep sigh of relief, he raised his head and said, “One more thing. As a cultivator, it’s not against the rule for me to use my artifacts in battle, right?”

“Feel free to use whatever artifacts you have!” The Goldspirit Cloudtiger harrumphed coldly, thinking nothing of Zhang Xuan’s request.

It would already be the blessing of the heavens that an Aureate Body realm lad like him had such a formidable spear. While the spear was indeed remarkable, the Goldspirit Cloudtiger was confident that it could deal with it.

“Also… I happen to be a beast tamer. It won’t be against the rules if my tamed beasts assist me, right?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“Tamed beasts? Humph! If you have anything decent, just bring them all out!” the Goldspirit Cloudtiger remarked arrogantly.

“I’m reassured then…” Nodding in satisfaction, Zhang Xuan flicked up his Dragonbone Divine Spear. “Let’s begin!”

“Humph!” The Goldspirit Cloudtiger let loose a furious roar before charging forward with narrowed eyes.

However, barely a second after it started moving, it suddenly felt a sharp pain assaulting its soul, as if someone was pricking it with countless needles. Following which, a suffocating pressure crushed down on it.

“Soul offense? Sh*t…”

Not expecting the young man to have such a card up his sleeves, the Goldspirit Cloudtiger’s massive body stiffened on the spot.

The Beast Tribe were known for their superior physical body, which granted them defensive and offensive capabilities far superior to human cultivators. However, they had a fatal weakness, and that was their soul. The other party had executed a soul offense right from the start, and it was stronger than what it had ever faced before. Caught completely off guard, it ended up succumbing to the move.