Library of Heaven’s Path

Sovereign Chen Ling’s eyes were on the verge of popping out of their sockets. This was utter madness to him!

He had paid a heavy price in order to conduct the ritual to summon the deity, and he had thought that he could unite the Spirit Tribe through the power of the deity and destroy all the voices of opposition. Who could have known that his wildest ambitions were actually quashed by a single book?

He rubbed his eyes again and again, fervently wishing that he was simply seeing things.

A Dimension Shatterer realm against a mere book… How could it have possibly ended in the victory of the book?

As this thought surfaced in his mind, blood spurted out from his mouth once more.

The heck! What in the world is this?

Aren’t you supposed to be a being that towers over others, such that everyone in this world is no different from an ant to you?

Aren’t you supposed to be a being who governs the life and death of others?

To actually die from being squashed by a book…

Still unable to believe the situation, Sovereign Chen Ling rushed forward to inspect the deity’s body, only to see that the latter’s head had been cracked open, and his spirit, mind, and soul had already departed from the world. The deity could not have been any more dead than he already was.

Before he knew it, Sovereign Chen Ling’s eyes began to blur. Tears had begun flowing down his cheeks.

How could he have been so unlucky?

The dragon blood that he had refined with great difficulty had been stolen, the energy that he had paid a heavy price for in order to heal his injuries had been snatched right before his eyes, and even his trump card had ended up being slaughtered in the blink of an eye.

Nothing had gone well for him ever since he met that b*stard Zhang Xuan!

It was fortunate that the deity had never thought that he would die, so he did not make it in time to crush his soul. Otherwise, he would have departed from the world together with the other party.

Sovereign Chen Yong, Ancient Sage Allfire, Ancient Sage Mo Ling, and the others looked at one another quietly. They blinked blankly as their minds struggled to rationalize what they had just witnessed.

They had thought that they were really doomed, but who would have thought that there would be such a plot twist at the critical moment?

He had actually brought out a book and squashed the deity as if he was getting rid of a mere cockroach…

That was insane!

At the same time, the two Ancient Sages who had just defected to the deity’s side looked utterly despaired. At that moment, they really wanted to bang their heads against a wall and die.

If they had persisted a little longer and chosen to follow Sovereign Chen Yong, they would have risen above the ranks as meritorious subjects who had quelled a coup d’état. However, with their earlier betrayal, such hopes were no longer possible. They had already offended Sovereign Chen Yong through and through. It would not be long before they found themselves without a place among the Spirit Tribe.

The deity was supposed to be an invincible being, yet why was he so unreliable?

The crowd were not the only ones who were flabbergasted by such a turn of events. Zhang Xuan was equally dumbfounded.

To be honest, bringing out the golden page had truly been his last resort. He had thought that the golden page would only be able to block the deity for a brief moment. Who would have thought that it actually wielded the power to smash him to death!

Had he known that the golden page was able to work its wonders even against a Dimension Shatterer realm cultivator, he would have long brought it out and spared himself from much suffering!

It wasn’t too long ago that the golden page met some hindrance while trying to get rid of an Ancient Sage 1-dan Otherworldly Demon at the Harvest Valley City Seer Guild. Yet, it actually managed to get rid of the deity so easily… Is this one of the effects of the recent upgrade of the Library of Heaven’s Path?

Given how the golden page had met with some difficulty trying to kill a Blood Continuance realm Ancient Sage, he had thought that it would not work against the deity. However, everything had proceeded much more smoothly than he had expected. From the looks of it, this probably had something to do with the Great Codex of Spring of Autumn, which had been recently assimilated into the Library of Heaven’s Path.

In other words, even though the Library of Heaven’s Path was unable to see through the deity, the might of the golden page far exceeded that of the deity!

“Sovereign Chen Yong, I’ll leave this fellow to you!”

With the death of the deity, Sovereign Chen Ling no longer posed a threat. Thus, Zhang Xuan waved his hand and walked over to the deceased deity.

If he could forge a Soulless Metal Humanoid out of the body of a Dimension Shatterer realm cultivator, he would be pretty much invincible in this world!

More importantly, it could serve as an important tool for him to ascend to a higher dimension, thus allowing him to find Luo Ruoxin.

As for the conflict between Sovereign Chen Yong and Sovereign Chen Ling… he had already helped Sovereign Chen Yong this far, so he felt that he should leave the rest to the latter.

He felt that this was what Sovereign Chen Yong wanted.

“Thank you, Young Master!”

Seeing that Zhang Xuan had chosen to give him the freedom to deal with Sovereign Chen Ling, Sovereign Chen Yong nodded in gratitude. Following which, he turned a cold gaze to Sovereign Chen Ling and uttered, “Sovereign Chen Ling, I have never treated you poorly. Yet, you colluded with the humans and betrayed me. I believe that there’s no need for me to explain the outcome that awaits you, right?”

Sovereign Chen Ling looked around him and saw that Mo Ling, Allfire, and the other Ancient Sages had sealed the surrounding space. Knowing that there was no way that he would be able to escape, he exhaled deeply and said, “The winner takes it all. I have nothing to say now that I have lost!”

If he had won, the world would have been his. Since things had failed to go his way… the worst that could happen was death anyway.

Back then, when he made the decision to turn against Sovereign Chen Yong in the hope of becoming the next leader of the Spirit Tribe, he had known that such an outcome was possible. However, he had thought that there was no way that he could have accepted a loss, so he had gone to the extent of resolving himself to offer his soul up to a deity in order to ensure that he would be the last one standing.

Yet, as he faced his defeat, he found himself feeling calmer than ever. Perhaps, it was the realization that everything was really over that finally tamed his ambitious mind.

“I know why you chose to turn against me.” Hearing Sovereign Chen Ling’s response, Sovereign Chen Yong shook his head. “Ever since the ancient times, the Three Sovereigns have always been headed by the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling. However, ever since my grandfather’s era, the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling has been in decline…

“Your birth was viewed as the turning point of the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling. Your exceptional talents caused your clan members to pin all of their hopes on you, and you wanted to meet their expectations. You set your mind to bringing the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling back to its former glory, and you persevered toward that goal… but unfortunately, you met me.

“You knew that you would have to overcome me for the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling to rise to the top once more, so you pushed yourself to your limits. However, you never succeeded. That’s why you had no choice but to resort to this. You thought that as long as I was out of the way, you’d be able to rise to the top and make the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling the true leaders of the Spirit Tribe once more. However, this turned out to be the worst move that you have ever made.”

Sovereign Chen Ling sighed deeply in lamentation.

Ever since ancient times, the entire Spirit Tribe had always been centered around the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling. This was also why the lineage had been bestowed with the honor of carrying the ‘ Ling ¹ ‘ character in its name. However, the sudden appearance of Kong shi in mankind and Vicious in the Spirit Tribe had changed everything. The great war that had happened caused authority to be eventually amassed in the hands of the lineage of Sovereign Chen Yong.

As the ones who had been leading the Spirit Tribe for countless years, there was no way that the lineage of Sovereign Chen Ling could accept such an outcome. Resentment had swiftly built up over the years, eventually resulting in such a series of events.

In a sense, this situation could be said to have been an inevitability. It had only been a matter of before everything blew up.

“You can pin any crime on me you want to. I’ll be a dead man by then anyway, so what care do I have for the words of others?” Sovereign Chen Ling waved his hand calmly.

“Pin any crime on you?” Sovereign Chen Yong laughed. “You are really underestimating me. I won’t do something as petty as that. Not only so, I’ll give you one more chance so as to show you that the difference between us has never been something that you could surmount!”

“You’ll give me one more chance?” Sovereign Chen Ling scoffed in disdain.

“It’s simple. I’ll challenge you to a fair duel without allowing anyone else here to interfere. If you can defeat me, you’ll be allowed to leave here alive. On the other hand, if you lose, you shall meet your end here!” Sovereign Chen Yong replied.

Since the reason that the other party had chosen to betray him was due to his inability to surpass him, he would drive in the fact that the gap between them was something that the other party would never be able to bridge!

“Are you certain about this?” Sovereign Chen Ling raised his head as he assessed Sovereign Chen Yong with narrowed eyes.

He had already resigned himself to his death, but who could have known that this fellow would be so foolish as to challenge him to a fair duel?

Had it been in the past, there was no way that he could have been a match for Sovereign Chen Yong. However, with the severe injuries that Sovereign Chen Yong had sustained, the one who held the advantage in the battle was indubitably him!

“Have I ever reneged on my words before?” Sovereign Chen Yong replied impassively.

“Sovereign Chen Yong…” Hearing Sovereign Chen Yong’s decision, Ancient Sage Hao Xun was stunned.

It would be so much easier to simply slay this kind of scoundrel once and for all. Why would he bother giving the other party an opportunity to make a comeback?

Was this not simply asking for trouble?

“Let him be!” Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

He could somewhat relate to Sovereign Chen Yong’s feelings.

Sovereign Chen Yong was not fond of pointless bloodshed, but one would have to be really naive to think that he was a compassionate man. He was unforgiving toward his enemies, and even more so toward those who dared to betray him. The wounds that his body had incurred could not begin to compare to the pain in his heart!

What he desired was not just Sovereign Chen Ling’s death. He wanted to crush the latter’s soul entirely and show him despair!

This was his pride as the highest leader of the Spirit Tribe!

“We understand!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling and Ancient Sage Hao Xun nodded before taking a step back.

They knew of Sovereign Chen Yong’s feelings, but watching as it unfolded before their eyes left them feeling a little melancholic.

In the days that they had spent with Sovereign Chen Yong, they had come to realize just how severe his wounds were. It was really no easy feat for him to have survived up to this point. Another battle at that moment would really spell his end!

Despite knowing that certain death awaited him regardless of victory or defeat, he still stepped forward to fight the battle, all just to uphold the pride in his heart.

Perhaps it was this very trait of his that allowed him to rise as the highest leader of the Spirit Tribe and unite his tribesmen.