Library of Heaven’s Path

In response to the sudden arrival of the figure, Ren Qingyuan and the others immediately raised their guard and whipped out their weapons. Just as they were about the attack the figure, they got a clear look of the other party.

Ren Qingyuan widened his eyes in astonishment and exclaimed, “It’s Luo shi!”

Jiang Fangyou and Luo Ganzhen also recognized the figure in the sky.

They had seen Luo Ruoxin during the engagement ceremony. Given her outstanding disposition and appearance, there was no way that they could mistake her for someone else.

Just that… why would she suddenly appear here?

Did she not head to the Zhang Clan together with Zhang Xuan to guard the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery?

“Could she be an Otherworldly Demon?” Luo Ganzhen’s eyebrows shot up as an air of hostility burst forth from him.

Even though he had already acknowledged Zhang Xuan as the new head of the Luo Clan, he still could not bring himself to forgive Luo Ruoxin for intruding on the engagement ceremony back then and injuring the elders of the Luo Clan.

He had attempted to investigate Luo Ruoxin’s background afterward, but it seemed as though the latter had appeared out of nowhere. Even the Luo Clan’s formidable intelligence network was not able to gather any information on Luo Ruoxin at all!

For someone as powerful as Luo Ruoxin to suddenly appear without any prior signs… it was really hard not to doubt her identity!

Hearing those words, the two of them turned their gazes over and saw Luo Ruoxin. There were no peculiar emotions on her face as she looked upon the heaps of corpses strewn across the area. Instead, she was looking around, seemingly trying to find something.

“If that’s truly the case,” Ren Qingyuan remarked with a frown, “I doubt that she would have been able to remain so calm after seeing the deaths of so many of her tribesmen…”

That was a hundred thousand Otherworldly Demons they were talking about! The death of so many elites was already enough to shake the foundations of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe!

If Luo Ruoxin was truly an Otherworldly Demon, she should have shown some kind of reaction to the slaughter that had happened. The fact that she was able to remain impassive despite such huge losses likely suggested that she was not affiliated with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.

“Ren shi, Clan Head Luo, and Clan Head Jiang, have you seen Zhang Xuan?”

While the three of them were discussing the matter telepathically, Luo Ruoxin had also noticed them, and she clasped her fist.

“Zhang Xuan? Is Zhang shi here as well?” Ren Qingyuan was taken aback by that question.

After they parted from one another the day before, Zhang shi had immediately rushed back to the Zhang Clan. It did not seem logical for Luo Ruoxin to be looking for him here in the otherworldly battlefield.

“Un. Yesterday, Zhang Xuan singlehandedly resolved the crisis in the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery before entering the otherworldly battlefield. I had to search for quite a while before tracking him here,” Luo Ruoxin explained.

“I heard about the situation at the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery. If I’m not mistaken, there are ten thousand Otherworldly Demons stationed there, right? What do you mean by… Zhang shi singlehandedly resolved the crisis?” Jiang Fangyou asked doubtfully.

The members of the Jiang Clan had been dispatched to reinforce the Zhang Clan’s Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery and the Luo Clan’s Starcluster Subterranean Gallery.

As one of the six largest Subterranean Galleries on the Master Teacher Continent, the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery was one of the major targets of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. Given the scale of the invasion this time around, its security could be said to be shaky even when it was guarded by the powerful Zhang Clan. Yet, Zhang Xuan had actually resolved the crisis singlehandedly—how was that possible?

“Yes, there were ten thousand Otherworldly Demons stationed then. Yesterday, Zhang Xuan said that he would head over to scout the situation, but he ended up killing them all. By the time we noticed it, he had already entered the otherworldly battlefield,” Luo Ruoxin explained.

“He ended up killing ten thousand Otherworldly Demons while trying to scout the situation?”

“Are you sure you aren’t pulling our legs?”

The trio felt their hair standing on end.

Having clashed with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe many times, they were well aware of the fighting prowess and capabilities of the Otherworldly Demons. Even an average Ancient Sage would have trouble dealing with ten thousand Otherworldly Demon soldiers! Yet, to actually wipe such an army out while scouting…

Was that for real?

“Indeed. In fact, the hundred thousand Otherworldly Demons here were likely killed by him. Just that… where is he? The three of you arrived earlier. Did you notice anything?” Luo Ruoxin asked.

She had been together with Zhang Xuan for the past few days, so she was well aware of the means he possessed. She had seen the corpses that Ren Qingyuan had pointed out earlier, and she recognized them to be the doing of the Golden Origin Cauldron and the Dragonbone Divine Spear.

The only problem was that Zhang Xuan was nowhere to be seen. Since the three of them had arrived earlier, could they have found anything?

“You are saying that Zhang Xuan… singlehandedly wiped out an army of a hundred thousand Otherworldly Demons?”

“No, that’s not right. If we count the Otherworldly Demons from the Dracotiger Mountain Subterranean Gallery, that would be 110,000 Otherworldly Demons!”

“In other words, he resolved the major threat to the Master Teacher Continent by himself?”

The trio felt their heads spinning dizzily around them. All they had just heard was simply so inconceivable that it threatened to tear down everything that they had known about the world.

Was this for real?

110,000 Otherworldly Demons of Saint 3-dan and above was a force that even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would struggle to face! Even if the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters successfully rallied all of the forces at its disposal, it would have only ended in a narrow victory on their side.

Yet, the other party had actually resolved the crisis singlehandedly.

How in the world did he do it?

Not even Kong shi had achieved such spectacular accomplishments in his time!

Ren Qingyuan took a deep breath and calm his shock before replying Luo Ruoxin’s question. “Luo shi, we arrived moments before you, and we didn’t see Zhang shi anywhere…”

Before he could finish his piece, the air above suddenly turned turbulent. He hurriedly raised his head and saw large swathes of ominous clouds swiftly congregating together.

“It’s a cultivation ordeal,” Ren Qingyuan exclaimed in astonishment.

Unknowingly, a figure suddenly appeared in the sky, floating quietly beneath the congregation of ominous clouds.

Pitch-black flames rumbled amid the clouds above him, turning the surrounding air incredibly dry. The temperature swiftly surged with a momentum that felt as though it would melt the entire sky.

“It’s the heavenly flame tribulation…”

Luo Ganzhen and Jiang Fangyou gulped.

A day earlier, when they met with Zhang shi, he had still been at Saint 9-dan pinnacle. Yet, within such a short span of time, not only had he achieved a breakthrough to Great Sage 1-dan Introspective Convalescence realm, he was even fast on his way to advancing toward the Aureate Body realm.

How in the world did he cultivate so quickly?

Any other cultivator would require several years of effort before they were ready to push for a major breakthrough in their cultivation, but to the fellow in the sky, it seemed like nothing more than child’s play.

More importantly, he even had the spare time to kill 110,000 Otherworldly Demons and many Sempiternal realm commanders.

“You are all here!”

While the crowd was overwhelmed with utter shock, Zhang Xuan also caught sight of them and flashed them a smile. “Give me a moment. Let’s talk after I overcome the heavenly flame tribulation!”

After saying those words, he dived right into the congregation of ominous clouds.

“Is he going to use the same tactic for the heavenly flame tribulation?” Luo Ganzhen’s body staggered a little upon seeing that sight.

He had heard stories about how Zhang Xuan overcame his lightning tribulation, but there was a huge difference between lightning tribulations and heavenly flame tribulations! To dive right into the source of flames… was he not afraid of being reduced to cinders?

More importantly, what was with that relaxed expression on his face?

Are you that confident that you will be able to get through such a powerful tribulation safely?

“This…” Catching sight of Luo Ganzhen’s astonishment, Ren Qingyuan shook his head and explained, “Zhang shi should be fine. He overcame the heavenly flame tribulation back in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters yesterday!”

“He has already overcome it?” Luo Ganzhen exclaimed in bewilderment upon hearing those words. “Each cultivator will only face the heavenly flame tribulation once in their life at most, right? Why is he facing it a second time?”

The heavenly flame tribulation was a cultivation ordeal that one had to overcome when achieving a breakthrough to the Aureate Body realm. Each Great Sage would only face it once in their cultivation journey. It was unthinkable for anyone to have to face it twice!

“I’m not too sure what’s going on either. In any case, it’s a fact that he did face the heavenly flame tribulation in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters just a day ago, and he survived the ordeal by diving right into the clouds as well. I don’t think he will face any problems now,” Ren Qingyuan replied.

“That’s not right. Ren shi, Zhang shi came to our Jiang Clan two days ago and underwent the heavenly flame tribulation then as well… But you are saying that he has faced the heavenly flame tribulation at the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters as well?” Jiang Fangyou asked doubtfully.

“You are telling me that it’s his third time facing the heavenly flame tribulation?” Luo Ganzhen nearly fainted on the spot.

That was the heavenly flame tribulation, a force that no cultivator would not fear!

To face it again and again… it was as if the heavenly flame tribulation was a sparring partner that he could challenge as and when he liked!