Library of Heaven’s Path

“I have come here with Conferred God King Ao Feng in order to obtain the Condensed Earth Essence, and I didn’t have any intention of taking it for myself. It was an accident that led to this.”

With Ao Feng, who was lying on the floor, looking his way as well, Zhang Xuan awkwardly explained himself.

He had thought about it for a while, but he still felt a little embarrassed talking about it.

After all, the fault was on him.

Seeing the young man admit to it, Hu Xiao burst into laughter. “It looks like I have really struck gold this time!”

With cold eyes carrying unquestionable authority, Hu Xiao demanded, “Hand the Condensed Earth Essence over right now, and I can spare you from death!”

“I can’t,” Zhang Xuan replied nonchalantly.

He had already absorbed it into his body, so how could he present it to the other party? If he could, he would have already returned it to Ao Feng!

“Look here, the reason I am still talking to you right now is because I am in a good mood. If you keep pushing your luck, I can just loot the Condensed Earth Essence from you after killing you.”

Despite Hu Xiao’s threat, Zhang Xuan maintained the same nonchalant look on his face.

This truly angered Hu Xiao, such that he raised his palm and struck down on Zhang Xuan, creating a massive palm print in the sky.

Kacha!

A burst of force swept all over the surroundings as the palm print swiftly descended upon Zhang Xuan.

Seeing how Hu Xiao had made his move, the God King who had just offered himself to serve as Hu Xiao’s subordinate raised his head with a smug look on his face.

“You should learn your place. Do you think that we are still in the Firmament, where everyone has to follow rules?”

They were in the Flooding Sea, a place known to be the graveyard of God Kings and Conferred God Kings. Yet, the young man still dared to act so conceited… Such actions were no different from courting death!

Facing Hu Xiao’s attack, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly and lamented, “Is there a need for us to do this?”

These God Kings were just strangers whom he had met, so he did not feel any obligation to protect them.

I can turn a blind eye to you robbing them, but don’t you think it’s too much for you to rob and make a move on me?

Zhang Xuan raised his hand and flicked his finger.

Huala!

The massive palm print in the sky shattered like glass, and before Hu Xiao could even react, he was already struck square on his glabella, and he flew dozens of meters before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Huge mouthfuls of blood coughed out from his mouth.

“Conferred God King Hu Xiao’s attack was undone with a single flick, and he was even sent flying on top of that?”

“Am I seeing things?”

The God Kings in the area shuddered in fright at what they had just witnessed.

Even Ao Feng’s bell-like eyes were widened in shock. His body was trembling so much that he looked more like a gutless python than a massive dragon from afar.

From how the young man was able to travel among the phantasmagoric spirits and break open the light barrier, he knew that the young man was not an ordinary individual… But who could have known that he was so powerful!

He would have difficulty subduing Hu Xiao even if he was at his peak, but such a formidable opponent turned out to be nothing more than an ant in the eyes of the young man.

Was he not just a God King?

Hu Xiao struggled to his feet as he glared sharply at Zhang Xuan with bloodshot eyes.

How could he, as a Conferred God King, be severely injured with a single strike from an ordinary God King? He could not have imagined such a thing in the past!

Even though he did not put his full strength behind the earlier attack, the fact that the young man was able to overpower his palm strike so easily meant that he was stronger than most Conferred God Kings that he knew of.

“Damn you!”

Cursing loudly, Hu Xiao morphed his palm into a claw and swiped down at Zhang Xuan, exerting a might comparable to the weight of the mountains.

Seeing that Hu Xiao was still persistently coming after him, Zhang Xuan shook his head before placing his hands behind his back.

Hu!

Before the swipe could even land, the force was suddenly dispersed in midair. Following that, a cold harrumph sounded. “This is the last time I’ll let you off for daring to raise your hands against me.”

A series of spatial ripples swiftly appeared in the air, and Hu Xiao, who had still been striking ferociously a moment ago, had already fled into the distance.

As soon as his strike was dispersed, he had realized that he was no match for the young man. So, without any hesitation, he had turned tail and fled.

In the Flood of Spiritual Energy, the ones who were able to obtain treasures and walk out with their lives intact were the true victors. As for his reputation and the like, that was of secondary importance.

After all, given Hu Xiao’s standing in the Firmament, who would dare talk cr*p about him?

Besides, who would believe such words?

“Zhang shi…” Luo Qiqi called out.

She knew that Zhang Xuan could have stopped Hu Xiao from fleeing, so she was perplexed as to why he did not stop him.

“It matters not. None of us were injured anyway,” Zhang Xuan said with a wave of his hand.

His current priority should be to raise his cultivation and push for a breakthrough to the God Monarch realm. Conferred God Kings no longer meant anything to him anymore, and they were not worth his time.

“But… he stole Ao Feng’s treasures. If you retrieved them for him, you would have been able to even out the debt from the Condensed Earth Essence,” Luo Qiqi replied.

Having been together for quite some time, she had come to understand Zhang Xuan’s character.

He was not a person who liked to owe a debt to others. If he felt that he owed someone a debt, he would try to repay that person in his own way.

That was also why he had felt so awkward earlier when he was asked if he was the one who had taken the Condensed Earth Essence.

Given what had just happened, this was indeed an ideal opportunity to repay the debt he owed to Ao Feng. If he could exact vengeance on Ao Feng’s behalf while getting his stuff back, he would be able to even the scales.

This way, he would not have to feel awkward around Ao Feng.

And those words made Zhang Xuan’s eyes light up.

He had been so caught up in trying to figure out how to stop Ao Feng from fainting from happiness when he offered to take the latter in as his student that he completely failed to consider such a possibility. If he resolved the issue in such a manner, he would not have to take the other party in as his student anymore…

What a relief!

With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan glanced in the direction that Hu Xiao had escaped in, only to see that he had completely disappeared from sight.

“It’s already too late. He’s gotten away,” Luo Qiqi said with a bitter smile.

While Conferred God Kings were incapable of teleportation, the speed of their movements was almost as good as that. Hu Xiao had already run away for seven to eight breaths, so it would be nigh impossible to track and catch up with him anymore.

“It’s not too late yet,” Zhang Xuan replied with a smile.

He raised his hand and reached forward.

At the same time, the space in front of him began distorting. As if layers of paper had been compressed together, a distance of several hundred li was suddenly pressed together, allowing Zhang Xuan’s arm to stretch over this long distance to grab his target.

“W-what? How is this possible?”

With a cry of agony, Hu Xiao was pulled over to where Zhang Xuan and the others were before being slammed heavily onto the ground.

Seeing such a sight, Ao Feng’s mouth fell open.

Compressing space in order to capture someone… this was supposed to be a feat that only God Monarchs were able to pull off!

Was the young man before him actually a God Monarch in disguise?

Hu Xiao was also on the verge of losing his mind.

He had thought that he should be safe after flying so far away, but who could have known that the other party would be able to grab him so easily?

Even grabbing a fly would have been harder than this!

“I just remembered that you haven’t returned what you stole from them. Take out everything you have,” Zhang Xuan said as he glanced down at Hu Xiao with an impassive look on his face.

Having received the World Conferment and absorbed a great deal of spirit essence earlier, his soul was already strong enough to manipulate the spatial laws of the Firmament.

Even though Hu Xiao had escaped beyond his line of sight, it was still within the range of his Spiritual Perception’s detection. All it took was a mere thought for him to identify where Hu Xiao was and grab him.

It was nothing at all.

“Yes…” Hu Xiao nodded vehemently as he retrieved everything that he had taken away from them.

Against an opponent who could grab him so easily, he knew that he did not stand a chance.

After placing everything on the ground, Hu Xiao turned to Zhang Xuan and lowered his head subserviently. “Elder, may I leave now?”

He no longer pulled his weight before the young man.

“I said take out everything that you have, didn’t I? Where are your own possessions?” Zhang Xuan asked.

Since he was already doing this, he might as well take away everything that Hu Xiao had.

He did not feel any pangs of guilt taking stuff away from a guy who went around robbing others anyway.