Library of Heaven’s Path

“You bunch of buffoons! Have you forgotten the things that I have taught you over the past year?”

Glaring down at the row of kneeling students before him, Zhang Xuan bellowed wrathfully. Just looking at their faces sent his rage flying over the roof.

If one wanted to advance further in Ancient Sage, one had to continuously temper one’s cultivation, energy, and temperament. The continuous process of tempering would induce greater harmony within one’s body, and only then would there be a sliver of hope for one to reach Dimension Shatterer realm and advance to a higher dimension.

Yet, this bunch of fellows actually allowed their cultivation to surge on ahead without trying to suppress it in the least… And that wasn’t the worst yet.

How could the six of them nearly lose to Liu Yang despite collaborating with one another? This was utterly ridiculous! Just what in the world had they learned over the past year of tutelage?

Could that even be called a collaboration at all?

Even a bunch of pigs would do better than this under my tutelage!

“Teacher, you have taught us that we should value the cultivation of our character above everything else…” Zheng Yang muttered softly, but his words were cut short by Zhang Xuan’s dagger-like glare.

“Don’t you bring that bunch of nonsense up now! We are talking about your studies here! Your heads sure have ballooned to the skies just because you have reached Ancient Sage!” Zhang Xuan roared furiously.

He turned to Lu Chong and instructed, “You have the highest cultivation of them all. Use your strongest attack on me!”

“Me?” Lu Chong was taken aback. “But teacher, you are only at Sempiternal realm consummation…”

He was already at Blood Reincarnation realm whereas his teacher was still at Sempiternal realm consummation. If he were to fail to control his strength and accidentally injure his teacher…

“Why? Are you underestimating your teacher now that you have gotten a little stronger?” Zhang Xuan snapped at Lu Chong with an impatient tone.

“No, that’s not what I mean…” Lu Chong shook his head frantically in response.

“That would be for the best. Cut the crap and make your move!” Zhang Xuan berated.

“Y-yes!” Gritting his teeth, Lu Chong drew his soul out from his glabella and charged at Zhang Xuan.

Just the soul energy that was seeping from him in the surroundings was enough to raise a rampaging storm in the area.

Zhao Ya and the others stared at the scene intently as they readied themselves to step in should it appear that their teacher was in a dangerous position.

There was no questioning their teacher’s capabilities and talents, but the gap between Sempiternal realm and Blood Reincarnation realm was simply too big. If their teacher were to get injured due to their carelessness, they would really be heinous sinners.

Just as everyone was worrying over Zhang Xuan, the person-in-question suddenly raised his arm and flicked it casually without sparing a glance over.

Padah!

Before Lu Chong could even react, his massive soul had already plummeted right into the ground. As if a massive boulder was weighing down on him, he found himself unable to move at all.

“Is this the might of a Blood Reincarnation realm cultivator which you are so proud of?” Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows.

“I…” Lu Chong’s face reddened as he found himself unable to speak a word at all.

The others also widened their eyes in disbelief upon seeing that sight as well.

They were well aware of the strength that Lu Chong wielded. He was the strongest amongst them, but even he was unable to withstand a casual slap from their teacher…

Was their teacher really at Sempiternal ream consummation?

“Let’s not waste time. All of you should just come at me together. Use the moves which you have intended to execute in order to curb the new Sovereign Chen Yong against me!” Zhang Xuan released the pressure on Lu Chong and harrumphed.

“Yes…”

Zhao Ya, Zheng Yang, and the others glanced at one another before nodding in unison.

If they were still worried about their teacher’s safety previously, after seeing the latter rendering Lu Chong completely powerless in a single move, all of the doubts were dispelled from their minds.

Despite having come so far, it was as if nothing had changed between them and their teacher. He was still berating them and lecturing them on their cultivation. Seeing this constant in their life left them with a mysterious but warm and fuzzy feeling within them.

The six of them gathered swiftly aligned their auras together, causing the surrounding air to billow like rapid tides of the ocean.

Hula!

Zhao Ya was the first one to make a move. Sword qi ravaged the area, sweeping across the surroundings with the ferocious might of a hurricane. At the same time, the other five also made their move as well in coordination with one another, making sure to seal off all blind spots and augmenting her attack to make it much sharper and more frightening.

Standing in the midst of the storm, Zhang Xuan appeared like a lone lighthouse standing in the midst of the stormy seas, on the verge of being swallowed by the furious currents at any moment.

From the viewpoint of an outsider, this wasn’t a fair duel at all.

With a nonchalant look on his face, Zhang Xuan suddenly took a step forward.

Boom!

It was as if the enormous waves had been tamed; the currents whipping across the air suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Zhao Ya, Zheng Yang, and the others retreated several steps as they felt a severe jolt in their internal zhenqi, causing their faces to turn pale.

“This is your very first flaw!” Zhang Xuan remarked as he continued walked forward slowly. “Continue!”

Zhao Ya and the others glanced at one another before encircling Zhang Xuan once more again. But before their collaboration could even fully form, Zhang Xuan snapped his fingers, and they were sent staggering back again.

This time, they seemed to have sustained even more severe injuries from before.

“Continue!”

Everyone was already on the verge of reaching their limits, but hearing the boiling rage behind their teacher’s voice, they could only grit their teeth and carry on.

Peng peng peng!

Each and every single time, they would be knocked back with ease within two breaths. Injuries swiftly piled up on them, leaving them feeling as if they would collapse soon.

It was several dozen rounds later before Zhang Xuan finally halted the sparring session. With a wave of his hand, he shot surges of Heaven’s Path zhenqi from his fingertips into the bodies of his students. At the same time, he tossed a jade bottle into the sky and divided the blood essence within it amongst his students.

Boom!

Absorbing the Blood Reincarnation realm Ancient Sage blood allowed the students to swiftly recover their strength as their wounds quickly mended up and vanished. Under normal circumstances, their cultivation should surge forward as well, but for some reason, instead of increasing, it was starting to decline even.

Within less than ten minutes, Zheng Yang’s Ancient Sage 2-dan Great Philosopher realm primary stage cultivation had fallen back to Ancient Sage 1-dan Bloodline Continuance realm consummation, and it was still continuing to plummet.

Zhao Ya’s cultivation also fell from Bloodline Continuance realm consummation down to completion…

What was bewildering was that even though their cultivation had fallen, they found that their fighting prowess had advanced instead.

This was especially so for Lu Chong. He had already reached Blood Reincarnation realm primary stage previously, but it had regressed back to Great Philosopher realm after his teacher’s tempering. Despite so, he felt that his soul energy had grown much more compact, allowing him to exert even more devastating might in battle.

Not only so, his soul was showing signs of assuming a corporeal form even. If he were to reveal himself, even a Blood Reincarnation realm cultivator would find it hard to believe that it was just a soul standing before him.

“The crux of cultivation lies neither in the speed of your cultivation or the strength you are able to exert. If you fail to build your foundation well, there’s no way that you will get far. You would only be building sandcastles in the air.” Seeing that his students had vaguely understood what he was trying to do, Zhang Xuan placed his hands behind his back and remarked deeply.

Education was about guiding a person down a path that was most suited to him. His students were no longer fledglings who needed to be assisted every step of the way, but they were still prone to steer off the path once they were out of his tutelage..

As such, he chose not to lecture them on their cultivation or force them to walk the same path as him. Instead, what he wanted to pound into them was the fact that cultivation was not something that one could rush within a short period of time.

Patience was the key.

This was similar to how despite being stuck at Sempiternal realm consummation for nearly a month, he didn’t rush to achieve a breakthrough. Instead, he waited patiently for an impetus.

“My expectations for you don’t just stop at just Ancient Sage. I want you to reach even greater heights!” Zhang Xuan said solemnly.

“If you are unable to even reach Dimension Shatterer realm, there’s no need for you to continue following me anymore. Lu Chong, I have given you so much soul energy that would allow you to build up a firm foundation, but you chose to devote all of it to furthering your cultivation. As a result, your soul energy became incredibly loose. Is this what I have taught you? In your current state, if you were to attempt to overcome your bottleneck after reaching Blood Reincarnation realm, you will be reduced by ashes by the lightning tribulation!”

Everyone hung their faces in shame.

They thought that they would be complimented for the swift advancements in their cultivation, but who could have thought that it would actually be their failing instead?

Nevertheless, this matter showed them how much their teacher cared for them, and it left their noses feeling a little sour.

At this moment, something new began to blossom in their state of mind.