Chapter 1252: Returning to Qingyuan City

Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Such a massive island could even accommodate the Book of Heaven's Path. It truly lived up to the Library's reputation; the quality was beyond doubt.

Putting the book away, Zhang Xuan flew back.

Although this trip to Jibei Marsh was incredibly perilous, the gains were substantial. Not only would the formidable entity's strength undoubtedly increase after fusion, but the hundred-plus Soul Parting Realm intermediate-stage puppets alone would constitute a significant combat force.

Once thoroughly tamed and released, even experts at the early stage of Saint 6-dan would likely be thoroughly beaten and rendered helpless.

Most importantly, these puppets differed from the Spirit Clan puppets he had previously subdued. They were artifacts of heaven's craft, devoid of any Spirit Clan aura, meaning they could be freely used even within the Master Teacher Pavilion without any concerns.

"Master Zhang... what about that island?"

Returning to the others, Master Wu and the rest looked at him with confusion.

"This matter is highly complex; it's better not to ask..." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Deceiving them and telling lies would eventually lead to exposure. Rather than that, it was better to say nothing.

"Understood!" The others nodded.

Despite their curiosity, the thought of his identity as a Celestial Master Teacher made them all hold back.

"Master Zhang, should we report this incident to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters?"

As they walked out, Master Wu couldn't help but look at him.

After an unknown period of commotion, dawn had broken. It had been a night of terror, but fortunately, everyone was unharmed.

"Let's not..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Involving the formidable entity would inevitably involve the Book of Heaven's Path, making explanations incredibly troublesome.

"This..." Master Wu paused. "If we don't report it, the deaths of Hall Master Gou and Vice Hall Master Tian Qing will be inexplicable, which might cause even more trouble..."

With two Hall Masters and so many 7-star master teachers from the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion dead, if the matter simply ended inconclusively, the headquarters would surely send people for a detailed investigation, leading to even more complications.

"Is that so..."

Zhang Xuan rubbed his forehead.

In his mind, it would be best to quietly take the benefits and for everyone to pretend ignorance... However, with so many incidents, it would be difficult to keep a low profile.

"If we report proactively, we can decide what to conceal, which could save us a lot of trouble..."

Master Wu understood his concerns and said.

Although Master Zhang was young, his character was remarkably steady. To have kept the significant matter of being a Celestial Master Teacher a secret until now, his discretion was exemplary.

Such a discreet person naturally wouldn't want to cause a huge stir!

However, the matter was too significant to not report. Speaking in advance would allow them to filter the information selectively, benefiting everyone.

"Understood!" After a moment's thought, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist, and two corpses appeared before them. "These are the corpses of Emperor Qingtian. Report to the headquarters that he was responsible for everything, and he has now been eliminated!"

"Emperor Qingtian's corpse?"

Master Wu was filled with surprise.

Hadn't he already died? How did another one appear?

Seeing his confusion, Zhang Xuan carefully explained the situation. Only then did Master Wu understand, his shock beyond measure.

As expected of an emperor who had lived for an unknown number of years, his clones appeared one after another, like unkillable cockroaches!

If not for this young man, they would likely have been killed long ago, deceased for who knows how long.

"Slaying the Qingtian lineage's emperor and the Ten Kings is a monumental achievement. I will report to the headquarters now and await their decision..."

Understanding the situation, Master Wu knew his concerns and no longer mentioned the island transforming into a human head.

"Good!" Seeing that Master Wu understood his meaning, Zhang Xuan nodded.

As long as the matter concerning the formidable entity was kept quiet, it would be fine.

Emperor Qingtian was just an emperor; his death was not a major issue.

This corpse could conveniently be used to explain the numerous strange occurrences in the Qingyuan Empire.

"Let's report this to our Master Teacher Pavilion. We can request a video transmission, which would make the information more accurate and direct!"

Ji Tianxiong interjected.

"That would be best!"

Master Wu's eyes lit up. He then turned to Zhang Xuan, wanting to hear his opinion.

The Master Teacher Pavilion possessed items that could directly transmit video to the headquarters. Given the significant implications of Emperor Qingtian's corpse, it was naturally necessary to transmit it upstairs.

"Alright, Master Wu, you all go to Master Ji's place to explain to the headquarters. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll return to Qingyuan City first!"

Zhang Xuan said after a moment of hesitation.

Although the formidable entity had threatened him with Liu Yang, and he had feigned calmness, in reality, he had long wanted to go back and see how things were.

Liu Yang, despite having no particularly outstanding personality traits and appearing quite ordinary, was still a student he had brought from Tianxuan Kingdom. Having guided him step by step to this point, over nearly a year, a deep bond had formed between them.

"That... works too!" Knowing what he was worried about, Master Wu nodded.

Having concluded their discussion, they said no more. Around noon, they finally emerged from the marsh. Riding a Saint Beast, they arrived above Jibei City. Master Wu and the others flew down, while Zhang Xuan continued flying towards Qingyuan City.

As soon as the others left, Zhang Xuan, without hesitation, swayed his body and entered the Thousand Ant Nest.

"I'm going to kill you..."

As soon as he entered, he heard an angry roar.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

This was followed by the sound of a beating. Approaching, he saw his clone relentlessly pummeling Emperor Qingtian's wuhun, which was sucked onto the altar, giving him no chance to recover.

At this moment, Emperor Qingtian's wuhun was so thin it could collapse at any moment, yet his face was still contorted with a savage expression, wishing he could dismember both Zhang Xuan and his clone a thousand times over.

"Alright, stop struggling. Stay still obediently and let me perform a soul search..." Zhang Xuan comforted him, then placed his palm on the emperor's head. With a mental command, his massive soul body flew out from between his eyebrows.

Zzzzzzt!

Before Emperor Qingtian's terrified eyes, a thin line extended into his sea of consciousness.

An hour later, Zhang Xuan's wuhun returned. He rubbed his forehead and exhaled a mouthful of stale air.

By now, Emperor Qingtian's consciousness had collapsed and was on the verge of disappearing.

"The formidable entity has gone to sleep. You can refine and devour this fellow..."

He waved his hand at the clone.

The formidable entity's consciousness had fallen into a deep slumber even before they left the marsh, preventing him from asking anything he wanted.

With the formidable entity asleep, keeping Emperor Qingtian's soul was useless. It would be better for the clone to devour it, which might significantly increase its strength.

"Okay!"

The clone, filled with excitement, dragged the despairing Emperor Qingtian towards a room. Before long, agonizing screams echoed out.

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan ignored the screams and sifted through the memories he had just obtained from the soul search.

The information about the formidable entity was similar to what he had heard before.

Emperor Qingtian's loyalty to the formidable entity was indeed to obtain his legacy and become stronger, while the formidable entity wanted to take him as a disciple to leverage his power to find other parts of himself and recover his vitality.

In any case, both had ulterior motives.

"The formidable entity only transmitted the first five stages of the Wuhun cultivation technique to him..."

Through the soul search, he found the Wuhun cultivation technique the formidable entity had given Emperor Qingtian, but it only covered Saint 1-dan to 5-dan.

"Indeed, transforming a Wuhun into a Primordial Spirit is not easy..."

After studying the cultivation technique, Zhang Xuan sighed.

A Primordial Spirit is formed when the soul converges into a nascent embryo, which then gradually grows into a fetal infant, composed of both true qi and soul. Thus, it can survive outside the body and possesses true qi power.

A Wuhun is different; it's a pure soul cultivation, refined through various secret arts to possess combat power comparable to a physical body.

The former, infused with true qi, carries a righteous aura, while the latter is intensely cold, fearing sunlight and lightning, fundamentally differing.

Because it is purely a soul, like muscle without a skeleton, the difficulty of transforming it into a Primordial Spirit is immense.

The Soul Parting Tribulation is the greatest hurdle.

Therefore, while the Wuhun Master profession offers significant benefits, many reach their peak at the Soul Parting Tribulation, finding it difficult to advance further.

Among ten thousand people, fewer than one can pass the lightning tribulation.

Emperor Qingtian, who managed to cultivate to the late stage of the Soul Parting Realm, could be considered a genius among geniuses.

"However, I cultivate the Heaven's Path Wuhun, which is inherently Yang-aligned. After fusing with the fetal infant, it becomes even more powerful, so this problem shouldn't apply to me!"

From the very beginning, Zhang Xuan had cultivated the Heaven's Path Wuhun, which lacked Yin-cold attributes and had been tempered by lightning. Although he was only at the Fetal Infant Realm, it shared similarities with a Primordial Spirit.

The common problem faced by Wuhun Masters was not a major issue for him.

"Having integrated the secret manuals on soul cultivation from the Awe-inspiring Master and Spirit Awakener guilds, I now have the Heaven's Path Wuhun cultivation technique from Saint 1-dan to 4-dan. The first two stages can be cultivated directly, but the latter two require high-grade essence spirit stones, which I will have to continue searching for!"

Integrating these five stages of cultivation techniques with the numerous books he had studied in the Qingyuan Empire, he quickly compiled the Heaven's Path Wuhun cultivation method for the first four stages of the Saint realm.

The first two stages could be cultivated with ordinary high-grade spirit stones, and he completed them in less than two hours!

However, the latter two stages required high-grade essence spirit stones, and he didn't have a single one on hand. He would have to wait until he reached Qingyuan Empire.

This trip had taken over ten days; he presumed the Combat Master Hall's rewards should also have arrived by now.

After dealing with Emperor Qingtian's primordial spirit, Zhang Xuan released the puppets he had collected.

He let the Inner Demons leave one by one, then used the Heaven's Path Impartation of Master's Will to tame them. In less than three days, all of these beings swore allegiance to him, becoming loyal subordinates.

There was still some time before he reached Qingyuan City, so Zhang Xuan was in no hurry. He carefully examined Emperor Qingtian's storage ring.

There were many treasures, but no high-grade essence spirit stones.

It seemed this fellow was a Soul Parting Realm expert; even if he had any, he would have surely used them himself.

Shaking his head, his face full of helplessness, Zhang Xuan simply used the remaining time to read and cultivate, not wasting a single second.

While Zhang Xuan was rushing back to Qingyuan Empire, Master Wu and the others had arrived at the Jibei City Master Teacher Pavilion. After a series of ceremonies, Ji Tianxiong gently tapped his palm, and a powerful aura surged forth, followed by the slow appearance of an elder's spectral image before them.

It was He Xuan, the Hall Master of the Empire Alliance Master Teacher Pavilion, an 8-star master teacher!

"What has happened that requires a video transmission to me?"

The voice washed over them, carrying a strong sense of pressure.