Chapter 1422: Hu Yiwei's Doubt

Before I came, everyone was portraying Zhang Xuan as omnipotent, like a god. They said he was not only Master Yang's student but also someone even heavenly tribulation feared. So why, when I see him with my own eyes... is it completely different?

Weren't we told he could penetrate the dark clouds and make the lightning tremble?

Why... was he struck in the blink of an eye, without any ability to resist?

"He probably just hasn't adapted yet. He'll be fine in a moment..."

Recalling Master Zhang's past abilities, Zhang Xu offered a comforting remark and continued to explain.

Before he could finish, Master Zhang, who was in the air, was struck and plunged to the ground, creating a large crater. His body twitched uncontrollably.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

More and more lightning struck, and Zhang Xuan's body twitched even more vigorously.

"Perhaps... we should rescue him..."

After a while, Elder Ge could no longer stand by.

He was said to be so powerful, yet he was struck so miserably the moment he appeared. Elder Ge couldn't bear to watch.

"How can we save him?"

Master Zhan offered a bitter smile.

The lightning was so powerful that if they rushed in, it would only intensify. There was no way to save him!

"So... we just stand here and watch him get struck to death?"

Elder Ge swallowed hard.

"I don't know either..."

Master Zhan shook his head.

Although he was the acting hall master of the Saint Son Hall, this was his first time witnessing such a massive heavenly tribulation, and he had no idea how to resist it.

Everyone stood by, helpless. In the very center of the relentless lightning, Zhang Xuan's body twitched, his eyes vacant, as he repeatedly asked in his mind, "Have you found it yet?"

It wasn't that he didn't want to absorb the tribulation lightning or rush into the dark clouds. It was because... after such immense effort to gather this powerful lightning, he naturally hoped that the ruthless one could precisely locate the upper body skeleton.

Otherwise, once he started absorbing, the lightning would be scared away, and at his speed, even if he wanted to pursue it, he wouldn't catch up!

Left with no choice, he could only passively endure the strikes.

Fortunately, his physical body and soul had been tempered by lightning to an extremely high level. Although the lightning in the sky was violent, it wouldn't be easy to strike him dead in a short period.

"Master, I clearly sensed the skeleton... but I still can't pinpoint its exact location. It seems to be hidden within some kind of folded space..."

The ruthless one couldn't help but say.

Seeing his master being struck like this just to help with the search, the ruthless one was filled with anxiety. However, the more anxious it became, the harder it was to find.

It was as if it could sense the skeleton, but it wasn't in the same space as the Saint Son Hall.

"Folded space?"

Zhang Xuan paused, and then a thought suddenly struck him: "That's certainly possible... I heard that the inner courtyard of the Saint Son Hall is a folded space. Could it be located within that inner courtyard?"

The Saint Son Hall covered a limited area. Although he hadn't circled it completely, he had surveyed it from the air and found no trace of the inner courtyard, nor Luo Ruoxi. This suggested that... the inner courtyard was not visible and was highly likely, like some ruins, to be contained within a folded space.

Now, the ruthless one clearly sensed the skeleton but couldn't find it. Could it also be located within this same folded space?

"Very likely..." the ruthless one affirmed.

"Alright, I'll absorb this tribulation lightning first. Once I'm in the inner courtyard, I'll investigate thoroughly..."

Realizing that continuing the search might get him struck to death, he could no longer hold back. His body swayed, and he shot straight up from the ground, launching himself directly into the overwhelming lightning.

He had just been at the Physician Guild, originally to lecture on detoxification. However, seeing many people on the verge of breakthroughs, he couldn't resist giving them individual guidance.

Although he didn't possess cultivation methods for breaking through from Saint 7-dan to 8-dan, he could directly identify the core issues in everyone's cultivation. With the added assistance of the vines, it wasn't too difficult for them to achieve breakthroughs.

This was what led to Elder Ge nearly fainting earlier.

True to its nature, this tribulation lightning, generated by over a dozen people simultaneously, was incredibly powerful. As he plunged into it, he devoured the energy frantically. Before long, the ring-shaped space within his dantian was completely replenished, and his cultivation reached the brink of another breakthrough.

Soon, the sea of lightning reacted and fled in terror once more.

"I've reached the Half-step Domain realm..."

Although it fled quickly, this absorption allowed him to break through the shackles of the Ethereal Realm and reach the Half-step Domain level.

It seemed it was time to gather cultivation techniques for the Domain realm and push for higher levels.

After entering the tribulation lightning, he took the opportunity to change his clothes and clean the scorch marks from his body. When the lightning finally fled, he descended from the sky, only then noticing a crowd of people gathered, all staring in astonishment.

Sun Qiang was among them.

"Young Master..."

Seeing him unharmed and still so imposing, Sun Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly approached, flipping his wrist to present a jade box. "These are the top-grade spirit stones Elder Ge gave as compensation..."

"Compensation? Top-grade spirit stones?"

He had only managed to acquire one himself after great effort, and the five Zhang Chun owed him hadn't even arrived. Yet his own butler, who hadn't even reached the Saint realm, had casually acquired five...

Compensation... What would an Elder compensate *you* for?

"Are you also Master Yang's student?"

As he was about to ask for clarification, he heard a questioning voice. Zhang Xuan turned to see Hu Yiwei approaching, his brows furrowed.

"He's Feng Ziyi's butler and also Master Yang's subordinate..." Seeing Zhang Xuan's confusion, Sun Qiang introduced with a smile, "He takes orders from me now..."

"Master Yang's subordinate? Takes orders from *you*?"

Zhang Xuan's head swam, feeling a little dizzy.

The "Master Yang" he spoke of was an imposter. It was already impressive enough that Feng Ziyi harbored no suspicions. So why had Master Yang's subordinate also appeared and started taking orders from Sun Qiang?

"And you are...?"

Realizing his butler was unreliable, Zhang Xuan ignored him and turned his attention to the newcomer.

"I am Hu Yiwei, currently Master Yang's subordinate..."

After explaining, Hu Yiwei carefully examined the young man before him.

After observing him for a moment, he couldn't help but feel a surge of doubt. "Is Master Zhang perhaps a member of the Zhang Clan?"

"No!"

Seeing that this person also harbored suspicions, Zhang Xuan shook his head with a bitter smile.

"No?"

Hu Yiwei still seemed somewhat unconvinced. "Then... Master Zhang, could you extend your hand for me to examine? I'd like to confirm a hypothesis..."

"Extend my hand?"

Finding the man's request a bit odd, Zhang Xuan paused, but then extended his hand.

A finger gently rested on his wrist, seemingly conducting some kind of examination. His brows furrowed tighter and tighter. "That's not right... Could he genuinely not be from the Zhang Clan?"

"Haha, you're referring to bloodline, right? I am genuinely not a member of the Zhang Clan; I don't possess their bloodline..."

Thinking the other party was still confused, Zhang Xuan withdrew his hand. He had previously tested Zhang Jiuxiao and found no similarities, so he already knew he wasn't a descendant of the Zhang Clan.

"Then, has Master Zhang ever been afflicted by..."

He seemed to want to ask something, but the words died on his lips. Hu Yiwei stopped, unable to resist shaking his head. "Never mind, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now!"

With that, he didn't linger. His body swayed, and he instantly vanished from the spot.