Library of Heaven’s Path

School Head Mo’s face blanched. ”Zhang shi, you must leave right now! The Golden Beartiger Beast is having his strength forcefully raised, and he will gain great power in the short term. If you don’t leave right now, you will be in danger…”

Despite the severe side effects afterward, such forceful infusion of energy could heal the Golden Beartiger Beast’s wounds and even bring his cultivation up another level. Once this infusion was complete, none of those present would be a match for him!

Before School Head Mo could even finish his words, the Golden Beartiger Beast’s strength already recovered to Saint realm 1-dan, and with incredible momentum, he achieved a breakthrough and reached Spiritual Perception realm shortly afterward.

Spiritual Perception realm primary stage, intermediate stage, advanced stage…

His cultivation sped forward at an unbelievable pace.

Faced with such a sight, those kings who had pledged loyalty to Zhang Xuan earlier began trembling in fright.

Over the years, they had learned that the Golden Beartiger Beast was hiding some powerful means up his sleeves, but they didn’t think that it would be so fearsome!

If they had known that the Golden Beartiger Beast was capable of this, they never would have dared to betray him! Having pledged allegiance to the wrong faction, they were all doomed to die now.

Kacha!

With another loud buzz, the Golden Beartiger Beast’s cultivation achieved another breakthrough, reaching Saint realm 3-dan before gradually coming to a halt.

”Remember your promise!” the illusory figure warned sharply before gradually dissipating into nothingness.

”Hahaha, you must not have seen this coming when you betrayed me. Today, you all shall learn the consequence of turning your back on me!”

Feeling the magnificent power coursing through his body, the Golden Beartiger Beast swiped his paw down with a roar, sealing the entrance to the cavern. No one could escape anymore.

He had always been the emperor of the Cloudmist Ridge, and no one had dared to disobey his orders before. Yet, in a single day, not only had he found his subordinates betraying him all at once, he had even been severely injured by them. The rage that he felt within was enough to drive him mad.

Hong long long!

As the might of a Saint realm 3-dan expert permeated the area, the entire cavern began creaking under the pressure, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

”Master…”

In the face of the Golden Beartiger Beast’s absolute strength, the Scarlet Blaze Lion and the others trembled in fear, and with pale faces, they turned to Zhang Xuan, hoping to find a chance of survival.

At Saint realm 3-dan, Embryonic Soul realm, one’s dantian would be forged into an Origin Soul, amplifying the power one could wield many times over. Even if the nine of them were to gather their strength to fight against him, they still wouldn’t be a match at all!

If a battle were to truly occur, it wouldn’t be long before they breathed their last.

At this moment, they could only bank their hopes on the master they had acknowledged just a while ago and pray that he would be able to create a miracle once more.

”Mo Zhu, I gave you a chance earlier, but you refused to budge. It’s too late now. Not only will you die, Hongyuan City and the Master Teacher Academy will pay the price for your foolishness as well! They shall be devastated by the army of aerial spirit beasts, and history will remember you as the sinner who caused it all!” the Golden Beartiger Beast roared savagely.

Hong long!

With a deafening cry, the Golden Beartiger Beast charged at School Head Mo. The Golden Beartiger Beast raised his paws, and a massive palm print appeared in the air and fell violently upon the latter.

”Thirteen Swords of the Red Leaf!”

Without any hesitation, School Head Mo drew his sword once more and utilized his strongest technique to retaliate.

As soon as the sword came into contact with the red leaf, the red leaf after-shadows immediately dissipated, and with a loud ’kacha!’, the sword snapped into innumerable pieces and scattered all over the ground.

Pu!

School Head Mo was sent flying before knocking onto the wall of the cavern. Blood spewed out of his mouth frenziedly, and his face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

When he’d used that same sword art earlier, he had at least been able to force the Golden Beartiger Beast back by a single step. However, after the other party’s surge in strength, he couldn’t even stop a casual blow from the beast.

The disparity in their strength was truly despairing.

Even if Senior Byzantium Helios and Senior Golden Origin Cauldron were to collaborate against him, they still wouldn’t be a match for him.

”Zhang shi, hurry up and leave,” School Head Mo urged anxiously.

It wouldn’t matter if he were to die here, but nothing could be allowed to happen to the principal!

Otherwise, the division within the academy would never be breached, and it would fall into chaos once more.

The Golden Beartiger Beast turned to Zhang Xuan and sneered, ”Leave? Hahaha, after inducing so many of my subordinates to betray me, do you think that I will allow you to leave?”

Leaping forward, the Golden Beartiger Beast raised his paw and struck down forcefully.

”Be careful!” School Head Mo exclaimed anxiously.

Even he was unable to stand against the assault of the Golden Beartiger Beast, let alone the Transcendent Mortal 9-dan Principal Zhang!

Enduring the severe wounds he was afflicted with, School Head Mo hurriedly got to his feet to rush forward and take the blow for Zhang Xuan, but before he could move, an immense pressure abruptly crushed down on his body, nearly shattering it.

The enemy was simply too powerful. Just his aura was already sufficient to render him nearly powerless.

”No need to get hasty, you will be next! No one will be getting away today!” Sneering coldly, the Golden Beartiger Beast pushed his palm down toward Zhang Xuan, and ’jiya!’, the ground creaked loudly under the pressure of the palm.

”Zhang shi!” School Head Mo exclaimed in despair.

He had never thought that it would eventually end like this. If he had known, he never would have agreed to let Zhang Xuan come with him.

”Getting away? Who says that I intend to escape?”

Just when everyone thought that Zhang Xuan would surely die, a nonchalant voice suddenly sounded in the air. Following which, an overwhelming killing intent suddenly burst forth from behind Zhang shi and swept through everything in its path like a hurricane.

Hong long!

Under the burst of killing intent, the offense against Zhang Xuan was neutralized, and before the arrogant Golden Beartiger Beast could realize what was going on, his head suddenly bent backward, and his tongue fell out from his mouth as he plummeted from the sky, crashing head first to the ground. A massive depression appeared in his wake.

”Ding Ding, destroy him!” Zhang Xuan instructed.

The Golden Origin Cauldron immediately charged forward to slam into the Golden Beartiger Beast.

Peng!

As the duo collided, a resounding chime reminiscent of a bell echoed, and a spurt of blood mixed with a few teeth spewed out of the Golden Beartiger Beast’s mouth.

The situation he suddenly found himself faced with left him dumbfounded.

He had thought that after reaching Saint 3-dan with the infusion of power from his emperor, he would be able to slaughter everyone present and shake the Master Teacher Academy to the core. Who could have known that, before he could even display the full extent of his prowess, he would be abruptly knocked out of the sky by an aura that jolted his soul?

Furthermore…

What was with the sudden appearance of this Saint-tier artifact?

He might possess greater strength than the other party, but Saint-tier artifacts, especially a cauldron like the one before him, were known to possess nigh invincible defense; how was he supposed to defeat the other party?

Peng!

Just as the Golden Beartiger Beast was overwhelmed by the turn of events, the Golden Origin Cauldron suddenly charged over with a roar and smashed into his head once more.

A deafening blast reminiscent of the heaven and earth collapsing sounded, and the sight before the Golden Beartiger Beast abruptly turned dark. His massive body tumbled backward with astounding momentum, leaving a deep gorge in his path. By the time he knocked into the cavern wall, his body was already cloaked in a layer of dust and bits of granite.

”This…”

”Even the powered up Golden Beartiger Beast… is no match for the Saint-tier artifact?”

The Scarlet Blaze Lion, Tigerhead Beast, and the other kings gulped down a mouthful of saliva.

From the looks of it, it seemed like the Golden Origin Cauldron had truly gone easy on them back when they had fought with it.

Otherwise, with just a body slam, their bodies might have been crushed to bits.

Those saint beasts who had just regretted pledging allegiance to Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but shudder in astonishment. It was fortunate that they hadn’t said it out loud, or they might just have been the next ones to follow the Golden Beartiger Beast.

”Hahaha, this is truly exhilarating! It has been long since I was last able to fight like that. Little beast, just watch how Grandpa Ding turns into cinders today!” the Golden Origin Cauldron yelled excitedly as it slammed into the dying Golden Beartiger Beast again and again.

The might of the Golden Origin Cauldron was so great that ordinary Saint realm experts couldn’t hope to withstand it. Only against this fellow would it be able to use its full strength.

”This…” School Head Mo felt his head spinning as he stared at the sight with slackened jaws.

He had thought that they would all lose their lives, but… this reversal had come far too quickly!

The Golden Origin Cauldron was powerful—there was no doubt about that—but ultimately, it was only a Saint-tier artifact. Without anyone wielding it, it was difficult to bring out the full extent of its power. Thus, School Head Mo didn’t think that it would be able to defeat the Golden Beartiger Beast.

What had truly reversed the tides of the battle was the fearsome killing intent that had burst forth from behind Zhang shi earlier!

Where did it come from?

Had the Golden Origin Cauldron charged forth without that killing intent incapacitating the Golden Beartiger Beast beforehand, it would have surely been knocked back, and a one-sided pummeling wouldn’t be happening now either.

School Head Mo swiftly turned his gaze to Principal Zhang, only to see the latter with a nonchalant expression on his face. It was as if he knew that this matter would end in such a manner, and there was not the slightest trace of surprise or fear on his face.

And in truth, this matter was truly nothing to Zhang Xuan at all.

The Golden Beartiger Beast had gained massive power from the emperor he spoke of, reaching Saint realm 3-dan, but Zhang Xuan’s trump cards didn’t consist of just the Byzantium Helios Beast and the Golden Origin Cauldron. There was the even more powerful Vicious as well.

After consuming a third of Kong shi’s writings on the scroll, he had grown significantly more powerful than before. Putting aside a mere Saint realm 3-dan primary stage cultivator, a surge of zhenqi could easily knock down even a Saint realm 4-dan expert from the sky and incapacitate him.

Before a mere Golden Beartiger Beast, he wouldn’t even bat an eyelid!

Peng peng peng peng!

The Golden Origin Cauldron continued to ram itself into the Golden Beartiger Beast, and before long, he was already bruised all over. His breathing was so faint that it seemed as if he would just pass away at any moment.

”Alright, that’s enough!” Seeing the Golden Origin Cauldron getting more and more excited from the battle, Zhang Xuan hurriedly stood forward to stop it.

”Master, he tried to kill you earlier! Let me pummel him to death to show him the consequences of baring his fangs at you…” The Golden Origin Cauldron was reluctant to stop in the midst of his fun.

It wasn’t easy for it to find someone who was so tolerant to its beating, so it should at least have its fair share of fun with him.

”Leave him alive for now, I have some things to ask him,” said Zhang Xuan.

There were still many mysteries surrounding this matter, such as the emperor whom the other party had summoned earlier and the various bizarre happenings on Cloudmist Ridge.

If the Golden Beartiger Beast was killed, they would lose a valuable source of information.

Hearing those words, the Golden Origin Cauldron could only stop with a regretful look on its face.

Zhang Xuan walked up to the Golden Beartiger Beast, and upon taking a closer look at its current state, his lips couldn’t help but twitch.

It must be said that the Golden Origin Cauldron really hadn’t held back. It had rammed its body at the Golden Beartiger Beast’s head forcefully, again and again, knocking away every hint of the other party’s former glory as a king of the Cloudmist Ridge.

As a result, the other party’s massive head was filled with creases, similar to those of a shriveled meat bun.

If he hadn’t stopped the Golden Origin Cauldron in time, the other party would definitely have lost his life!

Flicking his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out a bit of Earth Vein Spirit Essence and fed it to the Golden Beartiger Beast, restoring a little bit of his vitality. Afterward, he gazed down at the other party coldly and said, ”Submit to me, or die!”

As long as the other party submitted to him, he should be able to acquire all of the intelligence he needed. Otherwise, even if he were to force the other party to speak, there was no way of telling whether the information acquired was credible or not.

”You want me to submit to you? Dream on! My life belongs to my emperor, and if you dare to kill me, my emperor will surely exact vengeance for me!” the Golden Beartiger Beast roared furiously.

”Your emperor? Hah, you expect an incomplete soul to exact vengeance for you?” Zhang Xuan sneered.

Zhang Xuan had assessed the ’emperor’ that the Golden Beartiger Beast spoke of with his Eye of Insight when it was summoned earlier, and he was certain that it was only a soul.

The reason the soul was able to raise the Golden Beartiger Beast’s cultivation so swiftly was probably due to some kind of secret art it possessed.

So far, Zhang Xuan only had the cultivation techniques for soul oracles from Transcendent Mortal 1-dan to 9-dan.

On the other hand, considering how the ’emperor’ was able to raise the Golden Beartiger Beast’s cultivation to Saint realm 3-dan in just a short period of time, it should at least be at Saint realm 4-dan or 5-dan.

Considering its strength, even if it was a mere incomplete soul now, it would still be extremely beneficial to Zhang Xuan if he could capture it.