Library of Heaven’s Path

Earlier, while they were still in the valley, the Phosphor Armored Beast had traded blows with Zhang Xuan. Even though the latter’s physical body was powerful, his zhenqi cultivation and soul cultivation were pathetically weak.

Yet, in less than a minute, not only did the latter manage to advance his cultivation considerably, more importantly, he had even managed to harmonize the three perfectly together, achieving a balance that it had never been able to attain despite having cultivated for more than a hundred years.

The Phosphor Armored Beast subconsciously turned its sights to Sun Qiang, expecting to see the latter equally shocked. However, what it saw instead was an ‘as expected’ expression on the latter’s face.

It was almost as if the butler did not think that there was anything weird about what had just happened!

Did this mean that they expected Zhang Xuan to be able to achieve breakthroughs within such short periods of time?

Just what kind of people had it gotten itself involved with?

Just as the Phosphor Armored Beast felt utterly bewildered, a tint of yellow suddenly appeared in its peripheral vision. A frail-looking little yellow chick had suddenly appeared on Zhang Xuan’s shoulder.

“Did you just wake up?” Zhang Xuan asked with a hint of relief in his voice.

“Un. You managed to get your hands on quite a few God Essence Pills, right? I’m starving…” the little yellow chick muttered with a dazed look in its eyes, reminiscent of a person who was still groggy from waking up.

Seeing this sight, the Phosphor Armored Beast flew to a rage and bellowed, “Audacious! As a tamed beast, how can you demand things from the Young Master? This is inappropriate!”

It had no idea why Zhang Xuan was rearing a chick, but tamed beasts should have some realization of the positions they were in. How could a tamed beast ask its master for food? If all the tamed beasts in the world acted in such a manner, what would become of the master’s dignity?

“Who are you?” The little yellow chick turned its gaze over and assessed the transmogrified Phosphor Armored Beast from head to toe. Then, its mouth curled up as it muttered, “It’s a Phosphor Armored Beast. It shouldn’t taste too bad…’

Hu!

Before the Phosphor Armored Beast could even react, the little yellow chick had already opened its mouth wide and swallowed it whole.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and spit it out! It’s a tamed beast that I took in not too long ago!” Zhang Xuan exclaimed in shock, and he hurriedly smacked the little yellow chick’s head.

He did not expect the latter to start causing trouble shortly after it regained consciousness.

It had not even been a minute since the little yellow chick reappeared, but he was already starting to miss his peaceful life in its absence…

Ah… Just thinking about all the trouble that the little yellow chick would put him in was enough to make him feel exhausted.

On the other hand, after hearing Zhang Xuan’s words, the little yellow chick looked at Zhang Xuan with an indignant pout, as if protesting against his command. However, Zhang Xuan’s gaze remained resolute.

So, with a reluctant harrumph, it spat out the Phosphor Armored Beast.

Pu!

By this point, the Phosphor Armored Beast had already reverted to its original appearance. Just recalling how it was gobbled up by a mere low-tier God chick was enough to send its fury through the roof.

You brat, how dare you eat me? I’ll tear you apart!”

With a ferocious roar, the Phosphor Armored Beast charged at the little yellow chick furiously.

Zhang Xuan was going to stop the Phosphor Armored Beast, but the conceited little yellow chick shook its bottom gleefully and taunted it further. “Quick, come and tear me apart! Rip me into a thousand pieces! Otherwise, how can a big and mighty beast like you possibly have the courage to continue living in this world after having been gobbled up by a cute little chick like me? Heh!”

You…” The Phosphor Armored Beast was frenzied.

The heck! What does a little chick like you have to brag about?

Peng!

A powerful claw struck down and slammed the little yellow chick into the ground. But when the Phosphor Armored beast lifted its claw to take a look, it realized that not only was the little yellow chick not dead, it was even crossing its legs with a relaxed look on its face. “Harder! Have you not eaten yet?”

The Phosphor Armored Beast was frenzied.

It slammed its claw into the ground several more times, creating tremors so powerful that some of the walls in the surroundings crumbled. But at the end of everything, the little yellow chick was remained completely unharmed, and it was even looking at him with a bored look on its face

No matter how foolish the Phosphor Armored Beast was, it was apparent that the little yellow chick was no ordinary low-tier God. It quickly reverted to its human form before looking at Zhang Xuan anxiously. “Master!”

“Alright, stop messing around! Little Chick, if you want to die, I’ll take you over to City Lord Manor later on to see if there are any ways to do it,” Zhang Xuan said.

After being nearly torched to death twice, the little yellow chick had figured out that the way for its cultivation to grow was to have near-death experiences. As such, it was getting more and more fearless of death.

On the other hand, seeing that the Phosphor Armored Beast had finally stopped, the little yellow chick patted off the dust from its body before fluttering its small wings to return to Zhang Xuan’s shoulder.

Having been through the spatial turbulence, while its cultivation had not grown too much, its defense had become much stronger than before. Even the Celestial God Phosphor Armored Beast would not be able to kill it too easily.

Little Chick looked at the Phosphor Armored Beast smugly and said, “Alright, there’s no need for you to get too depressed. I am a legendary beast who used to rule the lands, so it’s only normal for you to be unable to kill me. Work hard, and I’ll consider taking you in as my little brother!”

“You want me to be your little brother?” the Phosphor Armored Beast sneered coldly. “It’s true that I’m unable to kill you, but you aren’t able to do anything about me either. There’s no way I’ll be your little brother, so you suggest you stop daydreaming!”

“Daydreaming?” The little yellow chick burst into laughter.

Then, it abruptly widened its beady eyes, and a powerful aura burst forth from its body.

Padah!

The Phosphor Armored Beast immediately kneeled to the ground and bowed deeply. “Big Brother!”

“That’s more like it!” The little yellow chick nodded in satisfaction.

On the other hand, the Phosphor Armored Beast wiped off the cold sweat on its face.

It had thought that the other party was just another ordinary divine beast, but as soon as the other party released the prowess of its bloodline, it felt as if the entire world was being tom to shreds. Its bloodline that it had always been so proud of was nowhere close to matching the other party!

Just what kind of divine beast could that little yellow chick possibly be?

The Phosphor Armored Beast had gone through so many shocks in one day that it could practically see its own common sense falling part.

To be honest, it felt that it was beneath a Celestial God like it to acknowledge a mere God as its master, but with everything that had happened, it looked as if it was the one who had benefitted instead!

“The Celestial Mountain is very far away from Twilight City, and it’s shrouded by a seal left behind by a God Monarch. It would be impossible to get there through conventional means. The only route is through the Teleportation Formation within the city!”

Paying no heed to the Phosphor Armored Beast and the little yellow chick, Zhang Xuan listened carefully to Sun Qiang’s explanation.

Even though he had heard about the Celestial Mountain, he had no idea where it was and where one could acquire the Aura of Divinity from.

“Each city is allocated a set number of slots each year, and those who have obtained a slot are teleported right into the midst of the Celestial Mountain. From there, they have to find ways to locate the Aura of Divinity lingering on the mountain, absorb it, and push for a breakthrough. However, it appears that it isn’t as easy as it seems though. There are quite a few people who have been to the Celestial Mountain a number of times, and they still haven’t succeeded…” Sun Qiang swiftly revealed the news that he had heard.

“Let’s head there to take a look. I don’t think that it’ll be too hard for Zhao Ya and the others to succeed,” Zhang Xuan replied calmly.

He was not worried about Zhao Ya, his parents, and the others at all… Well, maybe except for Sun Qiang.

Even though they were only at the Semi-Divinity realm, their experiences on the Master Teacher Continent and the Azure far surpassed the indigenous candidates from the Firmament. It might have been possible for others to fail, but when it came to them, he could not even imagine it at all.

To put it harshly, they would not be qualified to be his students if they really failed!

“Make sure to follow close behind them. Try to make use of this opportunity to reach godhood as well, or else you’ll just lag behind the others,” Zhang Xuan instructed.

“I understand.” Sun Qiang nodded.

By this point, everyone was already packed up and ready to set off. So, they began making their way over to City Lord Manor.

The location where the candidates would be teleported to the Celestial Mountain was the square right in front of the City Lord Manor. It took them less than two hours to arrive at their destination, and by then, the entire place was already flooding with people.

Twilight City was not considered to be a major city within the Firmament, but nevertheless, it still had 1,200 slots. Furthermore, most of the candidates were accompanied by their family members and friends. As a result, the vast square ended up being completely packed with people.

“Young Master Zhang Xuan, this way please!”

Before the group could even enter the square, the old man from before, Ying Fei, quickly walked up to them and ushered them in with a respectful smile.

Under Ying Fei’s lead, they were brought into a room.

Wu Fangqing was already sitting inside when they arrived.

Upon seeing them, he quickly rose to his feet and smiled. “Young Master Zhang Xuan, have a seat.”

Zhang Xuan responded with a nod as he took a look around the room.

There were roughly twenty other people inside, and a few of them were seated beside Wu Fangqing.

Judging from the auras that they were emanating, it was not too hard to deduce that they were the group of the most powerful and influential people in Twilight City.

Without any hesitation, he walked over to the seat right beside Wu Fangqing and sat down.

But barely after his bottom touched the chair, a middle-aged man sitting along the row looked over questioningly. “City Lord Wu, aren’t you going to introduce this friend of yours to us?”

The others also quickly turned their gazes as well.

They were curious about Zhang Xuan’s identity.

Etiquette was exceptionally important within the upper echelons as it was a symbol of power, respect, and authority, especially toward someone higher up in the hierarchy.

The seat that Zhang Xuan had been given was one that was higher in standing than them. If he was a distinguished elder within the city, they might have considered letting it slide.

However, he looked too young to have any considerable achievements, and his cultivation did not stand out compared to the rest of them.

“Ah, he is Brother Zhang Xuan. He has brought his students here to challenge the Celestial Mountain,” Wu Fangqing said as he gestured to Zhao Ya and the others.

“Students?”

It made the crowd even more curious to hear that someone as young as Zhang Xuan was actually a teacher. So, they turned to look at Zhao Ya and the others, and deep frowns swiftly formed between their eyebrows.

From their point of view, the fact that Zhao Ya and the others had not reached godhood despite being eighteen to nineteen this year meant that they were sorely lacking in talent!

“City Lord Wu, I understand that you have your own reasoning for ordering the seating in such a manner, but with so many people looking, I feel that there’s still a need to ensure equity as a sign of respect to all of us here. If Brother Zhang Xuan or his students displayed exceptional skills, I would have silently acknowledged it… but I honestly don’t see how they are worthy of such high honor. I can’t help but feel that this is a major faux pas,” the middle-aged man said.either

“We have spent a great deal of money in order to get in here, and I don’t recall seeing Brother Zhang Xuan in the auction back then. I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to arrange for his seating to be in front of us. Not to mention, he has so many people with him!” another middle-aged man said.

“Seating?” Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had only come over to take a seat at the invitation of the city lord. He did not think that the order of the seating would hold such great significance as well.

With a perplexed look, he turned to look at Wu Fangqing, only to hear the latter sending a telepathic message over. ‘Young Master Zhang Xuan, my apologies for not informing you in advance. It’s like this… The closer one’s starting point is to the mountain peak, the higher the chances of obtaining the Aura of Divinity. In comparison, one’s chances are much lower if one starts at the foot of the mountain.

“As you know, the Celestial Mountain only opens once every six months, and all of the Semi-Divinities of the Firmament try to get in. As such, it’s extremely inefficient for the Teleportation Formation to simply teleport them to the foot of the mountain. Furthermore, that could lead to conflicts.

“For this reason, a group of people are teleported straight to the midpoint or even the peak of the mountain. Naturally, these people receive a much greater chance of obtaining the Aura of Divinity.

“However, due to the slot restrictions in each city, in order to maintain fairness, the City Lord Manor auctions the slots to the mountain peak, and everyone that is here has acquired their slot through the auction!”

Hearing these words, Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.

Given that the entire Twilight City only had 1,200 slots, it was understandable that the slots leading straight to the mountain peak or the midpoint were in short supply. It was a given that the others would be displeased if he cut right in and used up fourteen of them just like that.

“My apologies. If your candidates aren’t able to get into the midpoint of the mountain, I’ll refund what you paid.” Wu Fangqing clasped his fist and apologized.

It would be one thing if Zhang Xuan was an ordinary human, but he was someone who could very well be the offspring of a God Monarch. No matter how conceited Wu Fangqing might be, he knew better than to offend a person of such standing.

Thus, he could only find a way to satisfy the other party.

This isn’t a matter of money but rules!” the middle-aged man who had spoken up earlier snapped.

“Why don’t we do this then? If his students can defeat our candidates, I’ll turn a blind eye to this matter. However, if he is unable to do so, I hope that he can apologize to us and scram to the back of the line!”

Furrowing his brows, Wu Fangqing was just about to reason with the middle-aged man when Zhang Xuan suddenly spoke up. “Sounds fine by me.”

After that, he turned to Zhao Ya and the others and asked, “Who wants to give it a try?”

Sun Qiang stepped forward and placed his arms on his hips. “I’ll do it!”