Library of Heaven’s Path

“This lightning tribulation is simply too huge. I don’t think that I’ll be able to deal with it at my current strength. So, I was hoping to borrow some Dimension Sundering realm cultivation technique manuals from the Zhang Clan to push for a breakthrough… or else, I fear that your Zhang Clan might be destroyed if the lightning tribulation falls as it is!” Zhang Xuan scratched his head awkwardly.

“Are you threatening me?” the First Elder asked lividly.

“Of course not!” Zhang Xuan shook his head. “However, the lightning tribulation is simply too huge. I fear that I won’t be able to keep it under control!”

At this moment, the storm clouds seemed to have finished charging up their energy and sent a bolt of lightning down on Zhang Xuan’s popped out head.

Alarmed, Zhang Xuan hurriedly retracted his head back into the storm clouds.

Kacha!

The lightning bolt streaked all the way down to the ground, tearing through the formations to strike down on the ‘剑 (Sword)’ character in the vault.

The lightning tribulation would only strike the cultivator who was undergoing his cultivation ordeal. While Zhang Xuan was hiding inside, there would be very little that it could do. Naturally, when Zhang Xuan emerged from the storm clouds, it tried to attack him as furiously as it could.

The First Elder clenched his fists tightly together in frustration.

Had it been anyone else, he surely would have dashed right up to crush that person to death. However, he knew that if he charged into the lightning tribulation, it would cause it to intensify, and perhaps, he might even become a target of the lightning tribulation as well, thus placing him in a worse position.

Thus, he gritted his teeth and harrumphed coldly. “I can make an exception for you if you really want to browse through our Zhang Clan’s secret manuals. However, my condition for you is that you have to become a member of our Zhang Clan. Take it or leave it!”

His voice reverberated all the way up to the clouds.

“You want me to become a member of the Zhang Clan?” Zhang Xuan’s head popped out from the storm clouds once more. “Forget what I just said then. I’ll find a way to deal with the lightning tribulation myself!”

Considering how shameless the Zhang Clan was, there was no way that he would demean himself by joining their ranks!

Kacha!

Another bolt of lightning zapped down, and Zhang Xuan hurriedly pulled his head back into the storm clouds, dodging it by just a hair’s breadth.

Boom!

Another cluster of buildings was destroyed.

“Y-you! If you have guts, face your own lightning tribulation yourself! Stop hiding cowardly inside the storm clouds!” the First Elder roared frenziedly.

“Face my own lightning tribulation? Very well then!” Zhang Xuan replied calmly as he dashed out of the clouds and took a position right beneath the storm clouds.

He could not absorb any more lightning energy, so there was no point in him remaining in the storm clouds. Since that was the case, it was indeed worth a try for him to face it head on like an ordinary cultivator. Perhaps, he just might be able to tide through it like that.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As soon as Zhang Xuan came down, the lightning tribulation seemed to have found an outlet for its rage, and many bolts of lightning immediately streaked down furiously.

As dozens of lightning bolts, each roughly the width of a water vat, gathered together, the devastating force that they commanded was so great that a massive, pitch-black spatial rift was torn in the surroundings.

“This is too much!” Not expecting the lightning tribulation to come at him with such zeal, Zhang Xuan leaped in fright.

He hurriedly raised his hands to fend against the lightning bolts.

Boom!

The two forces collided, but Zhang Xuan swiftly found himself being overwhelmed and knocked into the mud from the formidable force of the lightning. However, that was not the end of it yet.

Many more streaks of lightning continued to fall, causing the earth to tremble as formations and buildings collapsed one after another.

In terms of the devastation, it was much worse than when Zhang Xuan had just popped out his head.

“Damn it!” the First Elder cursed furiously. His teeth were gnashed so tightly together that they would chip at any moment.

If the lightning tribulation was allowed to continue as it was, in less than five minutes, the entire city would cease to exist.

To think that the number one Sage Clan in the Master Teacher Continent would be threatened by a mere Phantasmal Space realm lad like that but still be completely helpless to retaliate… Raging fury bubbled within him as he glared at the young man in cold hostility.

“First Elder, what should we do now? He’s currently in the midst of his lightning tribulation, so it’s inconvenient for us to interfere, but if it gets out that our Zhang Clan was destroyed by a Phantasmal Space Ordeal…” Zhang Wuchen exclaimed, panicking.

If it was a true Macrocosm Ascendancy Ordeal or something even stronger that had destroyed Zhang Clan, that would have been more acceptable, but it was a mere Phantasmal Space Ordeal. If it became known that the Zhang Clan had been destroyed by something of this caliber, the clan would lose the trust and confidence of its subordinate powers!

“We only have two options at the moment!” the First Elder spat as he stared at Zhang Xuan with a wintry look.

“One, we could grant him entry to the library and have him deal with the lightning tribulation.”

“But the library contains all of the precious secret manuals that the Zhang Clan has accrued over the years! If he enters those grounds, the lightning tribulation will surely follow him, and by then, everything will be destroyed! That would be equivalent to ruining the very foundation that built up the Zhang Clan! This won’t do…” Zhang Wuchen anxiously rejected the First Elder’s words.

They could indeed make an exception to the young man considering the dire circumstances, but the problem was that the lightning tribulation would follow him no matter where he went! If they allowed him into the library, there was little doubt that the library would be completely wrecked! If so, how could they face their ancestors and everyone that was in the Zhang Clan?

If they lost even their cultivation technique manuals, the Zhang Clan would be crippled for good!

“We only have the second option then,” the First Elder mumbled with his eyes narrowed coldly. “Kill Zhang Xuan! That’s his cultivation ordeal, so it will surely dissipate once he’s dead!”

“Kill Zhang Xuan?” Zhang Wuchen was slightly astonished at the start, but he soon fell into deep contemplation.

Making light of a master teacher’s life was a taboo to the Master Teacher Pavilion, but it had to be said that it was the best solution available to them.

Since the lightning tribulation had come due to the young man, as long as the young man died, the lightning tribulation would swiftly scatter as well.

“But… Zhang Xuan is Yang shi’s student! If we kill him just like that, I fear that we will incur Yang shi’s wrath!” Zhang Wuchen said worriedly.

They were well aware of Yang shi’s strength. Killing his direct disciple would be infringing on his bottom line, and a falling out with him could result in massive losses for the Zhang Clan. Even as elders of the Zhang Clan, that was something that they could not take responsibility for.

“Are we to let that fellow fool around just out of fear of Yang shi’s wrath? Do you have any better ideas?” The First Elder flung his sleeves furiously.

“This…” Zhang Wuchen fell silent.

To be honest, there were no other solutions that he could come up with.

“Didn’t he say earlier that he requires Dimension Sundering realm cultivation technique manuals? Since that’s the case, why don’t we give them to him first and get back at him after the lightning tribulation passes? Since he has made such a demand, he probably has an idea in mind,” Zhang Wuchen said hesitantly after some thought.

To be honest, be it taking the young man to their library or killing him, both were rather bad options. In any case, their main goal at the moment was to resolve the lightning tribulation. As for the problem of their secret manuals leaking out, they could always find some way to force the young man to join their Zhang Clan afterward as long as they successfully overcame the crisis right before them.

“What’s the use of bringing him Dimension Sundering realm cultivation techniques? Is he going to make a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm on the spot? Besides, what if he brings in the Dimension Sundering Ordeal after his breakthrough? Wouldn’t the lightning tribulation simply grow even larger and more uncontrollable?” the First Elder hissed furiously.

He did not think that providing the young man with Dimension Sundering realm cultivation technique manuals would resolve the problem.

Even if the young man managed to achieve a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm by some chance, that could potentially place them in greater danger.

Perhaps, the young man might even be thinking that the Phantasmal Space realm was not strong enough to destroy them and wanted to give them an even bigger one!

If they agreed to his request, they might just bring about the Zhang Clan’s demise!

Hong long long!

While the two of them were speaking, lightning bolts continued streaking down with increasing intensity, and many more formations and buildings collapsed around them.

Fortunately, the storm clouds in the sky seemed to have dissipated slightly.

At that moment, the young man standing in the midst of this disaster, Zhang Xuan, was still completely charred black, and a look of exhaustion could be seen on his face.

Even though he had successfully made a breakthrough to Phantasmal Space realm pinnacle and absorbed a fair portion of the lightning tribulation, it was still much too powerful for him to deal with.

“We should do it now. There are many cultivators that succumb to their cultivation ordeal each year. Considering the sheer strength of this cultivation ordeal, surely Yang shi will be unable to say anything if his direct disciple falls to it,” the First Elder said with a cold glint in his eyes.