1998 Achieving a Breakthrough to True Immortal

Spatial manipulation?

A hint of horror flickered across Zhang Xuan’s eyes as goosebumps rose all over his body.

If it was anyone else in the Azure standing before such a phenomenon, even if they were a High Immortal, they might not have managed to recognize what it truly was. However, having mastered spatial prowess in the Master Teacher Continent, he knew the reason for the happenings before him.

Someone had sealed his surroundings spatially!

In other words, he had been brought into a folded space, and no matter how big a fuss he made, no one in the external world would notice it at all!

If it was the Master Teacher Continent, even Saint 9-dan cultivators were able to control space to some extent… but in the Azure, not even the High Immortals would necessarily be able to pull spatial manipulation off.

If so, did it mean that the people who had captured him were…

Zhang Xuan quickly turned his sights to the figures before him, and there were four of them in total. They were all dressed in black robes, and they emanated a chilling air that left one feeling as if they had come from the depths of hell.

Three Heavenly True Immortals and one Heavenly High Immortal? Zhang Xuan frowned.

The opponents were weaker than he had expected, which was a huge blessing, but it was still beyond his means to deal with.

He was only at the Heavenly Pseudo Immortal realm. Even if the invincible Heaven’s Path Divine Art was able to deal with Heavenly True Immortals… subduing three of them together with a Heavenly High Immortal would be pushing the limits!

Just who the hell were these people? Why were they coming for him?

Making sure to maintain a look of calmness, Zhang Xuan asked with a nonchalant voice, “Are you here to kill me?”

The killing intent that those people emanated was so overwhelming that even ordinary cultivators would have easily noticed it, let alone Zhang Xuan.

Without even turning to look at Zhang Xuan, the Heavenly High Immortal glanced at one of the black-robed Heavenly True Immortal experts and said, “I’ll leave it to you. Remember what our master said!”

Yes!”

Hearing the command, the chosen black-robed expert charged forward and thrust his palm down upon Zhang Xuan. Boom!

A destructive force swept across the area like a tornado. Before the palm could land, Zhang Xuan could already feel a stifling sensation suffocating his chest.

“He’s formidable!” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.

He had never truly fought with a True Immortal before, but his swordsmanship duels with the others in the Elder Council had given him a rough gauge of how powerful an average True Immortal was.

Even though Zhang Xuan was only at the Heavenly Pseudo Immortal realm, with the various means that he possessed, he would still be more than a match for Heavenly True Immortal cultivators.

However, the might that the other party emanated actually left his chest feeling a little constricted!

There was no doubt that the person before him was far stronger than ordinary True Immortals, such that he might even be able to stand on equal ground with an average Heavenly High Immortal!

“Retreat!” Knowing that there was no time for him to think, the first thing Zhang Xuan did was dodge the other party’s offense by leaping backward.

At the same time, he tapped his finger forward.

Huala!

A surge of sword qi immediately materialized and dissipated the other party’s offense, charging right toward the other party’s glabella.

Since the other party was bent on killing him, he decided to go all out in this attack. He did not infuse the Gods’ Sword Intent into the attack, but it harnessed his deep understanding of swordsmanship as well.

Given how abruptly the attack be launched, he should have been able to defeat this Heavenly True Immortal before him with ease. Then, before the others had a chance to encircle him, he would find a way to break this spatial seal and flee!

You do have some capabilities. It seems like this mission won’t be too boring!”

Just as the sword qi was able to pierce through the other party’s forehead, the black-robed expert chuckled softly as he stretched his hand out and swiftly grabbed the incoming sword qi between his fingers. No matter how the sword qi struggled, it was unable to break free of his grasp.

Seeing this, Zhang Xuan’s face turned completely livid.

With the might that he had put into the earlier attack, even the core disciples of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion would be caught off guard and killed within that single strike.

Yet, the Heavenly True Immortal was able to grab it so easily, as if he was just picking up a bug.

Just how powerful could he be?

“Go!”

Amid Zhang Xuan’s bewilderment, the black-robed expert reversed the direction of the sword qi that he was holding and shot it back toward Zhang Xuan.

Hu!

This abrupt attack caught Zhang Xuan off guard. He immediately backed away.

Puhe!

But still, the sword qi still struck his shoulder, causing fresh blood to ooze out.

To think that the day would come when someone would be able to use his own sword qi against him!

“Not too bad. I was aiming for your throat.” The black-robed expert smiled in approval when he saw that he had failed to kill Zhang Xuan with the counterattack.

Suppressing his astonishment, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and willed, Flaws!

The other party was simply too weird. He would have to rely on the Library of Heaven’s Path in order to overcome the current situation.

Weng!

The Library of Heaven’s Path trembled, but no book appeared.

“What?” Zhang Xuan’s body stiffened.

The fact that no book was compiled in the Library of Heaven’s Path meant that the other party had either reached a level that surpassed the heavens of the Azure, or they were using some kind of technique that concealed them from the heavens.

Is it the effect of this folded space? Zhang Xuan thought.

He had encountered such situations in the Master Teacher Continent as well, and there was a good chance that the other party was using a similar method.

With the heavens sealed off, the Library of Heaven’s Path would not be able to work its wonders! But this then led to another question—why would the other party do so?

Could it be that they knew about his Library of Heaven’s Path as well, and that was why they had chosen to set up such a trap against him?

That should be impossible… Most likely, they are just afraid of the means of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion. After all, those elders are bound to be keeping an eye on me in case I run into any danger, so they might be using this to stall for time…

He was certain that there was no one in the world other than Luo Ruoxin who knew about the Library of Heaven’s Path, so that could not possibly be the reason. Most likely, it was just to ward off the experts of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion.

“I heard that you specialize in the Way of the Sword. Won’t you show me how powerful your swordsmanship is?”

While Zhang Xuan’s mind was still trying to make sense of the situation, the black-robed expert before him launched a follow-up attack with a flick of his finger.

Wuwuwuwuwu!

Five surges of sword qi shot forth from his five fingers, and they bolted toward Zhang Xuan with frightening speed. Zhang Xuan immediately pushed his feet against the ground and flitted to the side.

Heaven’s Path Movement Art!

But despite his swift evasive maneuver, the five surges of sword qi reacted equally fast. No matter where he maneuvered himself to, the five surges of sword qi would swiftly return to his trail. He was unable to get away at all!

“His moves are truly impressive,” Zhang Xuan murmured.

He knew that he had met the real deal this time around.

There was no way the other party could have controlled his sword qi manually to catch up with his Heaven’s Path Movement Art. What the other party had done instead was lock his sword qi onto him through his Sword Intent.

As such, no matter where he ran off to, the sword qi would simply follow him!

Zhang Xuan was also capable of this move, but it was an advanced move that he would have to rely on his Gods’ Sword Intent to pull off. He would have never thought that the other party would be this powerful.

The Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion was known to be the place where the strongest sword practitioners resided, but not even the strongest core disciples whom he had seen in the core disciples’ Ethereal Hall yesterday would be capable of pulling this feat off!

This really got Zhang Xuan thinking. Just what was the background of the people standing before him? Why would they want to kill him?

A thought swiftly arose in his head, and he widened his eyes in astonishment. “Are you from the Hall of Gods?’

Sect Leader Han Jianqiu had told him that he must make sure to keep his true identity a secret, or else the Hall of Gods might set their eyes on him and make an attempt on his life.

Back then, he had thought that with how low profile he was, it would be a long time before trouble came knocking on his door.

But in less than a day, the enemies had already tracked him down!

It seemed like he might have been taking the Hall of Gods too lightly. Just the fact that they were able to confirm his identity and track him down within a single day meant that their means far exceeded his imagination.

Hu!

Instead of answering Zhang Xuan’s questions, the black-robed expert flicked his fingers once more and sent several more surges of sword qi on Zhang Xuan’s pursuit.

These few surges of sword qi swiftly merged together with the earlier ones, causing their strength and speed to be enhanced significantly. At this rate, it seemed like they were going to catch up with him and impale his body.

“Break!”

Zhang Xuan hurriedly channeled his zhenqi within the tip of his finger and shot it out at the sword qi behind him.

The two surges collided with one another with a resounding explosion.

I can’t wait any longer! Zhang Xuan thought as he took the opportunity to create some distance between him and his opponent.

In order to dodge the other party’s sword qi, he had to forcefully compress his zhenqi to the extremities and expel it swiftly. Just carrying out this move had inflicted minor internal injuries within him.

On the other hand, his opponent seemed to be in a leisurely state, clearly having yet to be pushed to his limits. This made Zhang Xuan realize that he would surely die at this rate. Thus, he took a deep breath and swallowed a Superior Immortal Pill.

Gugugugu!

A tremendous amount of energy immediately poured into his body.

“What?”

Noticing Zhang Xuan’s peculiar actions, the black-robed expert was stunned for a moment. He could feel Zhang Xuan’s zhenqi swiftly rising to a new peak before abruptly bursting apart.

Boom!

Thunderous rumbling echoed from Zhang Xuan’s body as his cultivation began surging upward.

His cultivation was already at the Heavenly Pseudo Immortal realm, but usually, some preparations would be required before pushing for a breakthrough. However, given how critical the situation was, he decided to force his way through.

“Pushing a breakthrough on the spot? Interesting!” The black-robed expert was surprised, but he was not too shocked by the matter.

Without wasting any time, he proceeded on to launch another new wave of attacks.

If he could not even kill a Pseudo Immortal realm lad, there was no way his master would assign any other missions to him in the future.

Hong long!

The offense this time around was clearly much stronger than before. Even without a weapon in hand, the black-robed expert’s sword qi was incredibly sharp and swift. In just a few moments, it was already right before Zhang Xuan.

Hu!

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan stood motionlessly on the spot as he exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. His breakthrough to the True Immortal realm had raised his fighting prowess significantly.

To make an analogy, the energy a Pseudo Immortal wielded was similar to snow. As long as it piled up, it would be able to crush anything beneath it.

But upon reaching True Immortal realm, the snow would have melted to form a flowing river. While it was lacking in decisive might, it made up for it through its relentless nature. Even the toughest of materials would give way under this relentless torrent.

Furthermore, this breakthrough did not just bring about a qualitative enhancement in his zhenqi. His soul and physical body had been tempered as well, allowing him to think faster and react swifter.

Just as the sword qi launched by the black-robed expert was about to pierce through his chest, Zhang Xuan lightly tilted his body and easily dodged the attack. After which, he quickly launched a counterattack with a flick of his finger.

Huala!

Sword qi of roughly the width of a human’s arm darted straight toward the black-robed expert. It was the same move as earlier, but the might and speed it harnessed were much stronger than before!

“Humph!” the black-robed expert harrumphed coldly as he lifted his palm and struck at the incoming sword qi.

A massive dust storm rose in the air, obscuring one’s sight. Under the sheer might of the palm strike, the incoming sword qi dissipated inch after inch.

Even though Zhang Xuan had managed to advance his cultivation to True Immortal, his strength as a Lesser True Immortal was still lacking to the black-robed expert’s Heavenly True Immortal.

“It’s about time to end the battle!”

Having finished testing the limits of Zhang Xuan’s strength, the edges of the black-robed expert’s lips curled up into a cold sneer as he charged right through the dust storm to launch the decisive move to conclude the battle.

But all of a sudden, goosebumps rose all over his body as warning bells rang desperately in his mind. His instincts were screaming at him that he was in grave danger.

He quickly looked upward, and only then did he realize that a real sword was concealed within the earlier burst of sword qi… and at that very moment, it was pointed right in front of his chest!

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