Chapter 1349: All Collapsed (Part 1)

After adjusting for a full three hours, as the sun rose above the eastern horizon, Zhang Xuan finally felt his depleted zhenqi was fully restored, and his spirit, energy, and essence had once again reached their peak.

Having injured Jian Qinsheng, he realized something was amiss and knew that staying there would inevitably lead to trouble. He decisively retrieved all the longswords and returned to his courtyard.

"It truly is a profound understanding of offensive sword arts; its power is immense!" Zhang Xuan exclaimed in his mind, recalling the battle.

As he recalled the battle from the previous night, excitement gleamed in Zhang Xuan's eyes. Although Jian Qinsheng had controlled his power to only one percent, his combat strength was still far superior to that of an ordinary Saint 7-dan initial stage expert. To send him flying backward and injure him with just one sword strike—didn't that prove that once this move was fully unleashed, even experts of that caliber would find it hard to resist?

Saint 7-dan, or the Embryonic Void realm, signifies a transition from tangible to void, allowing one to touch upon the mysteries of the void. At this stage, their domains become both illusory and real, unpredictable and mysterious. Normally, a Saint 6-dan Domain realm expert's domain, like a formation, would have visible mist or halos. However, upon reaching the Embryonic Void realm, the domain becomes imperceptible, like divine consciousness. When subtly deployed in combat, its power is several times greater than before.

Just like Luo Xuanqing previously, when he kicked Elder Su Bing flying, it wasn't that the latter couldn't dodge. Rather, when Luo Xuanqing made his move, he had already enveloped Elder Su Bing with his Embryonic Void realm domain, making it too late for him to escape.

To defeat such an expert with his mere Saint 5-dan initial stage Embryonic Soul realm strength would normally be impossible, but with this sword art, it had become a reality.

"It's morning; just in time to finish the Alpha Lane assessment!"

A night had passed, and the red sun rose, illuminating the surroundings. Zhang Xuan walked towards the Righteousness Hall once again.

He soon arrived at the front desk, and surprisingly, Qing Yu was still there.

"I'll continue with the Alpha Lane!" Familiar with the process, Zhang Xuan didn't waste words and directly handed over the spirit stones. He had spent the night reading books, learning sword arts, and recovering his energy. It was now the second day, so he could continue the challenge.

Seeing it was him, Qing Yu nodded and handed over the card.

Zhang Xuan turned and walked away.

"He didn't pass last night and came back as soon as it was morning," the previous service attendant, who was also present, couldn't help but comment. "In such a short time, his strength shouldn't have changed much, right? Why is he in such a hurry? Even if he wants to pass the Alpha Lane, he should accumulate enough experience before returning. Cultivation is a process of gradual accumulation, like water eroding stone; it can't be achieved overnight. What changes could possibly happen in one night?"

"I don't know either..." Qing Yu shook her head. "Perhaps... he cultivated some secret art and wants to try again!"

"Secret arts are harder than martial techniques; powerful ones take many people a lifetime to barely grasp. How much could he possibly learn in one night?" The attendant shook her head. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, but the time interval was simply too short. Alpha Lane was the most difficult challenge for Embryonic Soul realm experts; even ordinary late-stage Domain realm experts found it hard to pass. For Zhang Xuan, even if he passed the Beta Lane yesterday, attempting this challenge so soon would surely be difficult.

"Oh, right, I remember the Luo family's little princess also challenged the Alpha Lane last time," the attendant said, sighing as she recalled something. "It seems all the current records were set by her, right?"

"It was indeed her; she cleared it in three minutes..." Recalling the record left by the Luo family's princess, Qing Yu's eyes filled with admiration. Others attempting the Alpha Lane struggled immensely and often suffered severe injuries, yet this little princess passed in three minutes, and most importantly... not a speck of dust touched her clothes; she still looked like a fairy... The thought of this feat only deepened her admiration. Such a record had never been achieved since the Saint Son Hall established these assessment lanes! In other words, the record set by the Luo family's little princess was unprecedented and perhaps unbreakable for tens of thousands of years to come!

"Yes, she's amazing..." The attendant nodded. Just as she was about to continue speaking, she suddenly saw ripples appear in the tea in the cup in front of her, swirling continuously, followed by the table beginning to shake.

"What's wrong?" She abruptly stood up.

"I don't know either..." Just as Qing Yu was about to speak, she suddenly felt the ground shake violently, like an earthquake, immediately followed by a massive explosion echoing from afar.

"Oh no, it's the Alpha Lane..." Their eyebrows twitched, and the two quickly stood up from the front desk and rushed towards the source of the explosion. Before they even got close, they saw a young man approaching them with an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry," he said, "but when I made my move just now, I couldn't control my strength..."

Qing Yu's eyebrow twitched as she looked towards the Alpha Lane not far away. She saw debris scattered everywhere, with smoke continuously rising. Her divine consciousness swept over it, revealing that the puppets within were utterly pulverized, with not a single complete part remaining... a truly miserable sight.

"What... what move did you use?" Unable to hold back any longer, she hurriedly asked. She knew very well the strength of the Alpha Lane puppets; even normal late-stage Domain realm experts were no match for them. Yet this guy easily defeated them and shredded them so thoroughly... How did he do it? And most importantly... it hadn't even been three minutes since he took the card, had it? Not only did he destroy the puppets, but he also dismantled the entire Alpha Lane?

"A sword art..." Zhang Xuan said, feeling a bit embarrassed. Although he didn't use a weapon in the Alpha Lane and only utilized sword qi, when he unleashed the "One Sword Cleaves the Ocean," he still couldn't control its full power. The puppets had barely appeared before they were pulverized, and the remaining force continued its attack... leading to the current situation. He had initially thought that the reinforced seals of such assessment venues would be robust enough to withstand it... He never expected it to cause such a commotion. Fortunately, after the puppets were shattered, the mechanism determined he had passed the assessment, and the books at the end of the lane appeared, which he promptly absorbed into his mind. Otherwise, all his hard work would have been for naught, and he would have truly cried himself to death.

"A sword art?" Qing Yu and the attendant felt like crying. They had seen sword arts before, but when did they ever possess such power? Not only were the puppets destroyed, but the entire lane was reduced to ruins?

"Wait here; I can't handle this. I need to report to an elder immediately..." Qing Yu warned him and hurried away, knowing that the destruction of Alpha Lane was beyond her purview as a front desk attendant. The assessment lanes of the Righteousness Hall were Saint Son Hall property; if everyone went around destroying them, even the continent's foremost academy couldn't afford it.

"Alright!" Knowing he had damaged something and would surely have to compensate, Zhang Xuan didn't intend to leave. He found a spot, sat down, and slowly began to recover his inner strength.

Although he hadn't used a Saint artifact just now, and its power wasn't at its peak, the consumption of zhenqi was still considerable; nearly half of his zhenqi was gone!

"Before, I thought Sword Saint might not have gathered all the necessary weapons. Now it seems, even if he had, he might not have been able to unleash it..." He had cultivated the "Sealing Saint Art," and the density of his zhenqi was unmatched by anyone at his level. Even so, he almost couldn't sustain it... If Sword Saint truly created this move, unleashing it probably wouldn't have been easy for him either.

Knowing that a full recovery would require at least one or two hours of cultivation, he wasn't in a hurry. His consciousness sank into his mind to examine the books he had just collected.

Alpha Lane contained only five books in total, corresponding to the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Each book was of an extremely high level, considered among the Saint Son Hall's most profound cultivation techniques.

"Correct!" Gathering all the Embryonic Soul realm books together, he murmured softly. *Whoosh!* A new book appeared, and as he gently opened it, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up. He had finally gathered all the Heaven's Path Embryonic Soul realm cultivation techniques... The difficulties, hardships, and bitterness involved brought tears to his eyes just thinking about them.

"I wonder if Sun Qiang has inquired about the whereabouts of supreme-grade spirit stones!" After reviewing the cultivation technique and memorizing it, Zhang Xuan frowned, knowing he couldn't cultivate without spirit stones of sufficient grade. Above prime-grade spirit essence stones, there was a type of supreme-grade spirit stone, whose purity was exceptionally high. If he could acquire them, cultivating with these would definitely solve the problem of insufficient spiritual energy. Supreme-grade spirit stones were rare in places like Qingyuan Empire, but it shouldn't be difficult for the Saint Son Hall to find them.

"He's the Zhang Shi who destroyed the Alpha Lane..." As he was deep in thought, he heard voices from nearby. He looked up and saw Qing Yu approaching with an old man.

As the old man walked, he glanced towards Alpha Lane, his eyebrows twitching involuntarily.

Zhang Xuan quickly stood up.

"Zhang Shi," Qing Yu introduced as they arrived, "Elder Liao is in charge of all matters concerning the Embryonic Soul realm assessment lanes. Since you destroyed the Alpha Lane, he will be handling it..."

"Zhang Xuan greets Elder Liao!" He quickly cupped his fist, adopting a respectful posture. There was no choice; one had to bow their head when under another's roof. He still couldn't be as domineering as his brother-in-law.

"You're saying you reduced this place to such a state using only a sword art?" Elder Liao asked, barely suppressing his anger.

"Yes..." Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Give me your card!"

Zhang Xuan handed it over.

Taking the challenge card, Elder Liao examined it carefully for a moment, his brow furrowing. Alpha Lane not only had powerful puppets but also formidable formations. Normally, even a peak Domain realm expert couldn't cause such destruction, unless... there was cheating! However, the card indicated a perfect pass... meaning there was no cheating involved.

Could he really achieve such a feat with just a sword art?

"What sword art did you just use? Can you demonstrate it for me?" Curious, he couldn't help but ask.

"Demonstrate it for you? Uh..." Zhang Xuan's face showed his dilemma. "I'm not very proficient with this sword art, and I still can't fully control its power. If I unleash it, I'm afraid it might... injure you!"

"Injure me?" Elder Liao sneered. "Although I am just a low-level executive elder, my cultivation has reached Saint 7-dan Embryonic Void realm. You're only at the initial stage of the Embryonic Soul realm; injure me? What audacity!"

"Well... even if Elder won't be injured, I'm afraid the sword qi might not be contained and could damage other buildings..." Zhang Xuan was still worried.

"With my strength, you think the sword qi you release could escape? What a joke!" With a cold laugh, strong confidence gleamed in Elder Liao's eyes.