Library of Heaven’s Path

”This…” Mu shi’s puppet hurried forward to take a closer look.

The other party’s zhenqi sphere wasn’t big, but it carried a slight glow with the hues of a myriad colors, reminiscent of a rainbow, leaving one’s gaze fixated on it.

More than three hundred strands of zhenqi were intertwined with one another, layer after layer, in a unique structure. It was so perfect that it couldn’t find the slightest mistake to criticize.

Back then, it had taken it nearly a hundred years of study, diligence, and experimentation in order to refine the precise distance that each strand should have from one another before it had succeeded in forming the first decipher.

On the other hand, it had only been ten minutes since the other party had picked up the book, and he hadn’t even flipped open the pages at all. Yet, somehow, he was already able to create a decipher far more perfect and beautiful than his… Just how?

At this moment, Mu shi’s puppet couldn’t help but feel that the hundred years it had spent on studying the Saint Ascension Decipher had gone to waste…

While it was still reeling in shock, the young man opposite to it continued flicking his fingers, and a massive wall of zhenqi strands abruptly appeared before it, concealing its sight. A slight buzzing sound echoed in the room, and before long, dozens of zhenqi spheres were already floating before its eyes.

Hong long!

The next moment, the young man abruptly clasped his hands together, and a deafening explosion sounded. The dozens of zhenqi spheres gathered together to form one around the size of a longan.

”This works too?” Mu shi’s puppet gulped as it felt as if it was going to go insane.

The energy contained within each decipher was great enough to be considered a miniature bomb. As such, it was imperative to be extremely careful when putting them together, or else the slightest touch could result in devastating consequences. Back then, it had spent five years just to put two deciphers together, paying careful heed to the distance and strength, fearing that it would make a mistake.

On the other hand, this young man had actually just clasped his hands, and the dozens of decipher had melded together with nary a problem… Just how deep of an understanding and control of zhenqi must the young man before him possess to be able to achieve this?

Watching how easily the young man achieved feats that had taken it great effort and time, it couldn’t help but think that it had cultivated a fake Saint Ascension Decipher!

After forming the longan-sized zhenqi sphere, Zhang Xuan asked with a frown, ”Is this how it works? It doesn’t seem really difficult… How did you spend several centuries on it?”

It was such a simple method of condensing and arranging zhenqi, yet the founder of the Master Teacher Academy had actually spent a few hundred years on it? Was this for real?

Wasn’t his talent way too bad?

”Cough cough! This… isn’t important!” With twitching lips, Mu shi’s puppet hurriedly shook its head.

The talent and capability that it had taken pride in and others had admired it for felt like they weren’t even worth a mention before this young man. This experience had left it so traumatized that it could still brag about his talents and capability before others, but before this young man, it felt like they weren’t even worth a mention at all. It felt such a strong feeling of defeat that it couldn’t find the courage to speak anymore.

Examining the dozens of decipher the young man had created, regardless of whether it was the strength, distance, or stability, they were all beyond his! Even if it had attempted this at its peak, it would still have been unable to do it any better than the other party!

It could be said that the other party’s understanding of Saint Ascension Decipher had already surpassed it.

In that moment, however, a voice suddenly disrupted its thoughts.

”Something is wrong. This Saint Ascension Decipher might seem to be very steady, but there are still many flaws in it. It is still a long way off from being considered the most stable structure,” the young muttered with a deep frown.

It was true that the current Saint Ascension Decipher could make the Pseudo Core and Temporal Core that one cultivated more stable and stronger, but through the Library of Heaven’s Path, Zhang Xuan still noticed many mistakes that could possibly result in one’s undoing.

The Saint Ascension Decipher was an incredible technique, but it was still a far way off from becoming a Heaven’s Path cultivation technique.

[If only I could find some cultivation techniques to perfect it…] Zhang Xuan fell into deep thought.

Accustomed to the Heaven’s Path techniques, he really couldn’t bring himself to cultivate a technique riddled with flaws…

This was similar to how a person used to eating delicacies and donning fine clothes would find it hard to swallow dry bread and rough fabric.

[It seems like I should search for some Chrysalis realm, Half-Saint, and Nascent Saint cultivation technique manuals in the academy’s Cultivation Compendium!] Zhang Xuan thought as he rubbed his glabella in distress.

He was the principal who had been granted the greatest degree of authority in the Master Teacher Academy’s history. Regardless of which facility he wished to access, there was no one who could stop him.

Perhaps, he might be able to perfect the Saint Ascension Decipher through the books in the academy.

Hearing Zhang Xuan’s words, Mu shi’s puppet shook his head. ”I know that there are flaws in this cultivation technique, but it is already the crystallization of the wisdom of countless predecessors.”

Even 9-star master teachers dared not claim that the cultivation technique they had created was impeccable.

The Saint Ascension Decipher had been further refined by countless experts over the years, and while there were still many flaws with it, it was practically impossible that anyone would be able to see through it and exploit it against them. Even if there was a person who could, they would have to be at least an 8-star master teacher, and against such an opponent, defeat was guaranteed regardless of whether the flaw existed or not.

”Indeed…” Naturally, Zhang Xuan also understood the logic behind it. Shaking his head, he was just about to change the subject when Mu shi’s puppet suddenly continued speaking.

”Not everyone is a Kong shi. If only we could find the cultivation technique manual he left behind back then, we would be spared a great deal of effort!”

”The cultivation technique manual Kong shi left behind?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

Back when he was at the Saint Ascension Platform, he had encountered a sliver of Kong shi’s soul, and the latter had given him his personal handwriting, saying that there was a cultivation technique contained inside and that he might be able to comprehend it if he were to study it carefully…

Zhang Xuan hadn’t paid much heed to it, but the words of Mu shi’s puppet suddenly sparked some thoughts in his mind.

Could it be… the cultivation technique that Kong shi was referring to was the Saint Ascension Decipher?

The Saint Ascension Platform was the ground where Kong shi had ascended to Sainthood, so the cultivation technique he had left behind there should be related to that! If he could obtain Kong shi’s cultivation technique and merge it together with the Saint Ascension Decipher he had in hand, he might just be able to form a Heaven’s Path cultivation technique!

Otherwise, he should still be able to make up for most flaws contained in the current Saint Ascension Decipher. As long as the number of flaws dropped to an acceptable range, he would be able to pinch his nose and tolerate it.

With such thoughts in mind, he flicked his wrist and took out a scroll. Flipping it open, what he saw left his lips twitching uncontrollably.

He had forgotten that the writing had been devoured by Vicious…

That fellow had consumed parts of the writing on two occasion, leaving only a third of it behind. Even if there was a cultivation technique contained inside, it was probably already incomplete at this point in time.

What the heck was this? If he had known earlier, he never would have allowed Vicious to do that!

Just as Zhang Xuan was boiling with frustration, he suddenly heard the quivering voice of Mu shi’s puppet. ”That item in your hand, could it be… Kong shi’s personal handwriting?”

Thinking that there was no need to hide it, Zhang Xuan nodded. ”That’s right.”

”Can you… allow me to take a look?” Mu shi’s puppet asked anxiously.

”Of course!” Zhang Xuan threw the scroll over casually.

”Be careful!” Seeing how casually the young man treated Kong shi’s personal handwriting, Mu shi’s puppet nearly died of a heart attack. With a frightfully pale face, it hurriedly caught the scroll and held it gently.

There was no master teacher who didn’t carry an inherent trust and respect for Kong shi. If one was so lucky as to obtain Kong shi’s personal handwriting, they would surely treasure it dearly, unwilling to allow the slightest dirt or scratch appear on it… Yet, this fellow threw it about as if it was nothing much…

It was hard to tell whether he had that strong a heart or he just simply didn’t care for it.

Opening the scroll gently, the eyelids of Mu shi’s puppet twitched. ”Why does it seem like there is a huge chunk of words missing in the scroll?”

”Oh… It was already like that when I obtained it. Perhaps… it has been left for too long!” Zhang Xuan replied without his face turning red in the least.

”Left for too long?” Hearing that insincere response, Mu shi’s puppet was rendered speechless. Nevertheless, since the other party was unwilling to speak, it chose not to ask on.

Soon, it finished examining the scroll, and with a look of agitation, it asked, ”Is this… the insight Kong shi left on the Saint Ascension Platform?”

It had been to the Saint Ascension Platform on multiple occasion back when it was younger, and it could recite the entire insight word for word fluently. There were a few words here and there different from the ones he remembered seeing on the cliff face, but otherwise, it was identical.

In response to the question from Mu shi’s puppet, Zhang Xuan nodded.

”The insight written personally by Kong shi… If I had found this back then, I would surely have been able to gain a deeper understanding of Saint Ascension Decipher!”

Studying the remaining words on the scroll carefully, Mu shi’s puppet couldn’t help but feel as if its horizons were being stretched.

It could remember the content word for word, but when paired with Kong shi’s handwriting, the feeling it gave was completely different, seemingly guiding its understanding of it.

If it were to work based on its comprehension from the insight on this scroll, it might just be able to come up with a cultivation technique far superior to the current Saint Ascension Decipher!

[Compile!

While Mu shi’s puppet was busy admiring in Kong shi’s scroll, Zhang Xuan’s consciousness was immersed in the Library of Heaven’s Path, compiling Kong shi’s insight and the Saint Ascension Decipher together.

Hu!

A short moment later, a brand-new book emerged.

Flipping it open, Zhang Xuan took a look, and before long, he shook his head.

The insight that Kong shi had left behind consisted only of the insights he had when attempting a breakthrough to Saint realm; it wasn’t a real cultivation technique. As such, the resulting product from compiling it with the Saint Ascension Decipher was only a pile of incomprehensible gibberish.

Zhang Xuan had only decided to give it a try in the hope that he might just be lucky, but of course, perfecting the Saint Ascension Decipher was indeed not that easy.

Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan was just about to give up when a thought suddenly struck him. [Even if I can’t compile a perfect version, I can always work on it bit by bit… As long as I study the insights Kong shi had when he made his breakthrough and match them to the corresponding content in the Saint Ascension Decipher to refine it, I should be able to improve it significantly!

There was no cultivation technique contained within the insight, but the process and sensations that Kong shi experienced were clearly detailed in it. Through it, Zhang Xuan would be able to deduce the zhenqi circulation pathways, thus reverse engineering the cultivation technique Kong shi intended to pass down!

Typically speaking, a certain sensation could be triggered by hundreds or even thousands of zhenqi circulation pathways, making it nigh impossible to reverse engineer the process. However, Zhang Xuan was different!

Possessing the Library of Heaven’s Path, he could easily determine whether his deduction was right or not. By putting together the correct pathways, he would be able to derive the complete zhenqi circulation pathway!

[I should give it a try!

Diving into it without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan sat cross-legged on the ground and began deconstructing Kong shi’s insight.