Library of Heaven’s Path

”What?”

Not expecting a weak human whom he could easily squeeze to death with a finger of his to have so many Saint realm puppets in his possession, the Ancient Ape’s body stiffened. It immediately turned around to flee.

But with so many Saint realm puppets going after him simultaneously, how could it possibly stand any chance at escaping?

Pi li pa la!

The sound of fists and kicks sinking into the flesh echoed resoundingly.

With the experience the puppet had from dealing with the Byzantium Helios Beast, they were able to deal with the Ancient Ape efficiently.

In just a few moments, there was not a single unharmed spot on the Ancient Ape, and it was teetering on the verge of death.

”Don’t kill me! I am willing to be your tamed beast!” the Ancient Ape pleaded. At this point, with its life at stake, it couldn’t care less about its dignity as a saint beast anymore.

”I don’t need it!” Zhang Xuan waved his hands coldly.

It would indeed be convenient for him if he had a Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle tamed beast serving him. But for killing Wei Changfeng... Zhang Xuan wanted it to pay with its life!

Otherwise, how could he face Wei Changfeng’s daughter?

”Kill it!”

Turning his gaze away from the Ancient Ape, Zhang Xuan drew out his soul.

If his Heaven’s Path zhenqi couldn’t save Wei Changfeng, perhaps his means as a soul oracle might still stand a chance.

But after taking a look, he could only shake his head helplessly.

Wei Changfeng was simply far too severely wounded. If not for his sheer determination to obtain the Cloudmist Flower, he would have already died hours ago.

As soon as the tension in his mind was released, his soul was immediately absorbed into an unknown dimension, disappearing from the face of the world.

Putting aside him, not even Kong shi would be able to save Wei Changfeng.

”Don’t worry, I will take good care of your daughter!” Zhang Xuan said solemnly as his soul returned to his body.

Even though it hadn’t been long since he met Wei Changfeng, and there were even some unpleasant memories between them, Zhang Xuan was still filled with respect for him. Wei Changfeng wasn’t a good man, but he was a good father. He was willing to lay down everything he had for his daughter, and that was truly admirable.

Knowing that it was impossible to save Wei Changfeng, Zhang Xuan kept his corpse in his storage ring before turning to the Ancient Ape once more. At this point, it had only a few breaths left in it.

Even though it was a Saint 1-dan pinnacle beast, it was still no match against twenty powerful puppets who knew not of exhaustion or pain.

”Human, as long as you don’t kill me, I will let you in on a secret...” Noticing Zhang Xuan’s gaze on it, the Ancient Ape anxiously made an offer.

It knew that it would surely die if it didn’t do anything, so it could only make a gamble.

”A secret? What secret can you offer me?” Zhang Xuan asked disdainfully.

”It’s the location of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence! As long as you spare me, I can bring you to it...” the Ancient Ape hurriedly spoke.

”Earth Vein Spirit Essence?” Zhang Xuan was slightly taken aback.

”Indeed! That is the condensation of spiritual energy that accumulates only within major earth veins. The spiritual energy contained within Earth Vein Spirit Essence is far easier to absorb than those within spirit stones, making it highly useful for cultivators beneath Saint realm!” the Ancient Ape explained hurriedly, fearing that Zhang Xuan wouldn’t know what it was.

Zhang Xuan was moved by the offer.

At the current moment, what he was lacking direly at the moment was spirit stones to provide ample spiritual energy for his cultivation. If he could obtain the Earth Vein Spirit Essence, he could be spared a great deal of effort.

Even though he had never heard of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence before, considering that it was the condensation of spiritual energy within major earth veins, it must be incredibly valuable.

”The reason why saint beasts of Cloudmist Ridge disallow humans from entering the mountain is to protect the Earth Vein Spirit Essence. As long as you don’t kill me, I can bring you over...” the Ancient Ape offered.

”I will be able to find it even without you!” Zhang Xuan uttered coldly as he raised his hand, and the puppets immediately continued raining blows on the Ancient Ape.

At the same time, Zhang Xuan drew his soul out of his body and formed a series of hand seals.

Soul Art, Soul Search!

As the culprit who killed Wei Changfeng, the Ancient Ape had to die. There was no room for negotiation at all.

Under normal circumstances, given Zhang Xuan’s current soul cultivation, it should have been impossible for him to conduct a Soul Search on a Saint realm expert. However, a saint beast’s soul was typically weaker than a human Saint realm expert’s, and that fellow has also been beaten to the point that it was on the verge of dying.

On top of that, Vicious was also helping him by the side.

As a result, the Ancient Ape succumbed swiftly to the Soul Search.

Tzzzzzzz!

Dragging out the Ancient Ape’s soul, its memories and knowledge began flowing in Zhang Xuan’s mind.

”There’s indeed a lake of Earth Vein Spirit Essence here!”

Browsing through the Ancient Ape’s memory, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

The other party didn’t lie to him, there was indeed Earth Vein Spirit Essence on the Cloudmist Ridge. It was for fear that humans would discover its existence that they guarded the area faithfully.

To be honest, the Ancient Ape hadn’t expected to luck out as well. If it had been anyone else, the other party might have chosen to spare it in consideration of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence. But never in its dreams would it have expected the young man before it would be a soul oracle possessing the ability of Soul Search!

While I do know the location of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence now, it won’t be easy for me to get to it. There are four saint beasts of the Ancient Ape’s level guarding it... If I had really followed this fellow there, even with my puppets, it would have been unlikely for me to have escaped with my life!

The existence of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence might be true, but the Ancient Ape wasn’t speaking the entire truth.

If Zhang Xuan had really listened to it and followed behind it, he would have found himself encircled by four Saint 1-dan pinnacle saint beasts and countless Half-Saint and Nascent Saint beasts. Even with the Otherworldly Demon puppets he had in his possession, it would be extremely difficult for him to break free.

After all, even though the puppets feel no pain and could fight fearlessly, they were still limited by the spiritual energy within them.

After the previous few uses, their energy reserves were already half depleted. Unlike in the underground chamber, where there was a river filled with spiritual energy that could be used to recharge the Otherworldly Demon puppets, it wouldn’t be so easy to do it here.

Once the puppets ran out of energy, given Zhang Xuan’s current strength, the only fate before him would be death.

Even at the expense of its death, the Ancient Ape intended to drag him down from it.

Under the forceful impact of the Soul Search, the Ancient Ape’s soul dissipated into nothingness. After procuring its inner core and other useful parts and storing them in his storage ring, Zhang Xuan fell into deep contemplation,

Based on what it said, the Earth Vein Spirit Essence is made out of spiritual energy. Even though its purity isn’t on par with high-tier spirit stones, it is far easier to absorb it, such that even plants could absorb spiritual energy from the Earth Vein Spirit Essence. If I were to give it to the Ten-leafed Flower, I could make it bloom within a single day!

After studying the effects of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence according to the Ancient Ape’s understanding of it, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

While spirit stones had an incredible reserves of spiritual energy within them, its solid form made it less efficient and effective in terms of absorption rate as compared to the Earth Vein Spirit Essence.

If spirit stones was coal, the Earth Vein Spirit Essence would be fuel.

While coal was capable of producing greater heat over a longer period of time, in terms of ignition speed and utility, fuel was still inherently superior.

If Zhang Xuan could obtain that, he would be spared from finding hundreds of high-tier spirit stones he would require to reach Saint realm!

The Earth Vein Spirit Essence is located at the direct center of the Cloudmist Ridge. It isn’t too far from here, but... four Saint realm 1-dan beasts are guarding it. On top of that, there are also many Nascent Saint and Half-Saints in the area... It won’t be easy for me to bypass them!

Having learned the existence of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence, it was natural that Zhang Xuan would want to obtain it. However, with his current strength, he would only die if he were to attempt to charge in forcefully.

Vicious could suppress a Saint realm 1-dan beast easily, but there was nothing he could do about it when there were too many of them.

After all, he had only just awakened, and he was merely a little more than a heart at the moment. Naturally, his strength was still far from his peak.

Besides, it wouldn’t be safe to rely solely on Vicious. If Vicious were to attempt a mutually assured destruction and refuse to help him, he might very well end up losing his life.

Thus, it would be best to depend on himself wherever possible.

”Looks like I should still rely on my soul!” After a moment of contemplation, a thought emerged in Zhang Xuan’s mind.

It would be impossible for him to infiltrate the center of the Cloudmist Ridge in his physical body. No matter how well he hid his trail, considering the dense concentration of spirit beasts and saint beasts in the area, he would definitely be found easily. However, it would be a different case if he was just a soul.

Unlike saint realm cultivators, saint beasts had far weaker souls. It would be harder for them to sense the presence of souls.

If Zhang Xuan were to play his cards well, he might be able to creep in silently and smuggle the Earth Vein Spirit Essence out.

”Alright, it’s decided then!”

Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan sat on the floor and drew his soul out.

With a slight flick, he kept his physical body within the storage ring.

The Myriad Anthive Nest was extremely squeezy with the Byzantium Helios Beast and the Myriad Anthive Queen packed inside. Despite the harsh conditions in the storage ring for a living body, considering Zhang Xuan’s current cultivation realm and the resilience of his physical body, it should be fine if it was just for a few hours.

”What should I do about the ring...”

Since he had stored his physical body and his clone within the storage ring, it would be safer for him to bring it along with him wherever he went. Otherwise, if spirit beast were to find his storage ring and take it away, it would be too late for tears.

But if he were to carry something tangible with his soul, that would be going against the very purpose of infiltrating into the center of the Cloudmist Ridge as an intangible soul. He would be giving away his location to his enemies!

”Wait... what about the Myriad Ants?” A thought suddenly struck Zhang Xuan.

He might be unable to bring the storage ring with him, but he could leave it with the Myriad Ants!

Despite their small size, those ants were still savage beasts. It wasn’t too difficult for them to fly with a ring.

Furthermore, the intelligence network they shared allowed them to avoid spirit beasts and saint beasts in advance as well. They could follow his soul silently and bring the storage ring to where he wanted it to be.

Even if some beast really managed to obtain the storage ring from them, as long as there were Myriad Ants keeping tabs on its location, he would still be able to find some way to retrieve the ring.

”It’s decided then!”

Zhang Xuan sent a telepathic message to the Myriad Anthive Queen to inform it of his plan, and a Myriad Ant immediately flew over to carry the storage ring. As he had expected, it had no problem flying while bearing the weight of the ring.

”Good. Fly close to the ground, near the shrubs...”

Seeing that his plan was feasible, Zhang Xuan issued it several instructions before advancing to the center of the Cloudmist Ridge.

After the Soul Search he had conducted on the Ancient Ape, he had gained an insight into how the beasts were distributed on the Cloudmist Ridge. With the Myriad Ants scouting the area as well, Zhang Xuan’s soul managed to avoid the detection of the spirit beast and saint beast.

An hour later, he arrived before a towering cliff.

Before the cliff was a gigantic waterfall that produced a deafening rumble reminiscent of thunder as it cascaded from the peak. The water eventually led to a river which meandered into the horizon.

”It should be here...”

Zhang Xuan raised his gaze and stared at the waterfall. It was completely concealed behind the cascading water, but if staring at it intently, he could still barely see the outlines of a cavern behind the waterfall. If one hadn’t known in advance, it would have been impossible to notice it.

Based on the Ancient Ape’s memory, the Earth Vein Spirit Essence was inside the cavern.

Instead of rushing into the cavern, Zhang Xuan first scanned the surroundings, and expected, he found a couple of saint beasts who possessed strength on par with the Ancient Ape camping in the area. Slightly further away, he sensed the presence of at least a dozen Saint realm primary stage, intermediate stage, and advanced stage beasts.

”It’s fortunate that I didn’t come here in my physical body...”

Upon seeing this sight, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

Had he brought his physical body over, he would have definitely been surrounded and killed.

On the other hand, a soul was intangible and nearly indiscernible. As long as he didn’t exert any power, it would be difficult for the enemies to notice his presence.