Chapter 2080: Immortal Lord Realm Peak

The first time I was besieged by experts from the Temple was at Lingyun Sword Pavilion, right after entering the Hall of Divine Connection. The second time was in Bibo City, under similar circumstances.

I hadn't thought about it before, but now, seeing Futianzi colluding with the Temple, could there be a problem with the Hall of Divine Connection itself?

Teacher Kong, with his benevolent heart and unparalleled righteousness, has been admired by me for an immeasurable time, ever since the Master Teacher Continent. Given his character and virtue, it's absolutely impossible for him to side with the Temple and do anything to harm the Six Sects.

However... it's hard to say about his subordinates. After all, he hadn't appeared for thousands of years after entering the Firmament, only recently resurfacing.

It's highly possible that the Hall of Divine Connection, which has existed for thousands of years, has deteriorated and become leaderless.

Just like me, although I hold the positions of sect leader for the four major sects—Lingyun Sword Pavilion, Myriad Beasts Gate, Seven Star Tower, and Starchaser Palace—I don't meddle in worldly affairs. Many elders can't discern issues, and I wouldn't be aware if someone developed problems.

"Whether it is or isn't, we'll know by trying!"

Holding the jade token in my palm, I entered it once more.

The Hall of Divine Connection for the Immortal Monarch realm seemed quite desolate. Zhang Xuan approached the front desk and asked, "Can I purchase Sunken Silver Water here?"

"Sunken Silver Water?"

The attendant paused, then opened a book to search. A moment later, he smiled slightly and replied, "To answer you, Senior, although Sunken Silver Water is rare, the Hall of Divine Connection happens to have some! However... the price is quite high!"

"How much?"

"About five million Divine Connection Coins!"

The attendant stated.

That was indeed an extremely high price.

"I don't have Divine Connection Coins right now, but please see if this can be exchanged for a portion!" Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist, and several jade bottles appeared before him.

The attendant cautiously pulled out a stopper and immediately felt a rich surge of spiritual energy, causing his body to tremble. He was utterly incredulous: "This is... the blood of a Half-God realm expert?"

With the blood of a Half-God realm expert, whether or not I used the token bestowed by Teacher Kong was irrelevant.

After all, I would eventually have to repay it, and I didn't want to owe too much favor to others.

"Is it enough?"

"Enough, absolutely enough..." The attendant hurriedly turned around. "I'll appraise it right now!"

There were not many Half-God realm experts in the entire continent, and their essence blood was incredibly rare. Every drop contained infinite power and was extremely precious. For this person to take out three bottles at once, it would likely take decades for a Half-God realm expert to gather such an amount without harming their foundation.

Soon, the attendant returned, handing over five jade bottles.

"Senior, here is the Sunken Silver Water, five bottles in total. Their value perfectly matches the blood you provided."

"Understood!"

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

With so much Sunken Silver Water, plus the two treasures he had prepared earlier, breaking through to the Immortal Monarch pinnacle was no longer an issue. Now, he just had to see if it would attract an ambush from the Temple.

After leaving the Hall of Divine Connection, Zhang Xuan was not in a hurry to leave Starchaser Palace. Instead, he found a quiet room and took out the three treasures simultaneously.

Similarly, as the Half-God realm blood appeared, immense spiritual energy gathered like a hurricane.

He had collected the bodies of Futianzi and the middle-aged man from the Temple. On the way, he used Little Yellow Chicken's bathwater to cleanse away the decay energy. While Half-God realm blood was almost impossible for others to find, he had dozens of bottles from his previous sales, which was more than enough for his use.

As he circulated the Heaven's Path Divine Art, the power within Zhang Xuan rapidly soared.

Immortal Monarch Mid-stage, Immortal Monarch Late-stage...

Half an hour later, he reached his limit, the Immortal Monarch pinnacle!

Lacking a cultivation technique for the Half-God realm, this was the highest level he could currently reach.

"It's impossible to gather Half-God realm techniques to the Heaven's Path level. The only way is to... forge my own path and create my own technique!"

Zhang Xuan understood his problem.

The Heaven's Path Divine Art had no flaws, yet... ironically, that was its greatest flaw!

He hadn't realized it before, but after his last qi deviation, he had a sudden epiphany.

The Heavenly Dao itself is incomplete; how could a cultivation technique be flawless?

The longer one cultivated a flawless technique, the stronger the dependence would become. Eventually, without such a technique, further cultivation would be impossible, leading to an increasing sense of loss that, over time, would transform into the greatest inner demon!

Aside from anything else, he had been cultivating flawless techniques ever since the Master Teacher Continent, developing a strong reliance. If a technique didn't meet that level, he simply didn't want to cultivate it.

Since he clearly knew that a complete Half-God realm technique was impossible to assemble at this point, it would be better to research and use his intelligence to create one himself!

If others could do it, so could he!

With a thought, he entered the cultivation room of the Library.

This was left for him by Luo Ruoxi using the Spring and Autumn Codex before she departed; its time flow was ten times that of the Master Teacher Continent.

In other words, one day on the Master Teacher Continent equaled ten days inside.

It was extremely fast for cultivation.

After entering the Firmament, he had expected the time flow rate to change based on this new realm. However, it remained ten times that of the Master Teacher Continent, meaning it was a hundred times faster than the current time in the Firmament.

One day in the Firmament meant 100 days—over three months—inside.

One hour outside meant 100 hours inside, equivalent to more than eight days.

Zhang Xuan reviewed techniques like the Lingyun Sword God Art, which could enable breakthroughs to the Half-God realm, in his mind. He meticulously deliberated, basing his thoughts on the Heaven's Path Divine Art he had previously cultivated.

After an unknown period, as his true qi circulated, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood!

The first attempt failed!

Not discouraged, he tried a second time... which also failed!

He experimented over a hundred times in a row, all ending in failure.

"Breaking through to the Half-God realm truly isn't easy..."

He shook his head helplessly.

Fortunately, he had Little Yellow Chicken's bathwater, which could quickly heal injuries. Otherwise, with such repeated trials, his true qi would have long ago gone astray, leading to qi deviation.

Feeling mentally exhausted, he exited the Spring and Autumn Codex.

Looking around, less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn had passed in the outside world.

"The Library is in my mind; I can ponder anytime..." He split off a wisp of his consciousness to continue researching the technique for breaking through to the Half-God realm inside, while he himself stepped out of the quiet room.

After cultivating, his cultivation had already broken through to the Immortal Monarch pinnacle. His combat strength was no weaker, and perhaps even stronger, than an ordinary Half-God. This was a good opportunity to see if he could attract the Temple's people again and, while he was at it, procure more Half-God blood or various magical artifacts.

Without telling anyone, he quietly left the Starchaser Palace sect and arrived at an uninhabited sea area.

With a flick of his finger, a formation flag, shaped like a water droplet, fell into the ocean.

The Temple's experts were all very powerful. Although he possessed many methods now, he dared not be careless.

He sat on the sea surface, waiting for over an hour, but no one ambushed him, nor did he detect any abnormalities.

"Could it be... that the Temple didn't discover me through my entry into the Hall of Divine Connection?"

His brows furrowed.

The Temple was so powerful that if they had decided to kill him, they wouldn't fail to appear just because he had set up a formation. Having waited for so long with no one coming, it was highly probable that they still didn't know his whereabouts.

This suggested that the Temple's discovery of him wasn't through the Hall of Divine Connection... so what was it?

Recalling carefully, Zhang Xuan's body tensed. "Could it be... because of this token from Teacher Kong?"

He had been ambushed twice. Besides both times involving visits to the Hall of Divine Connection, he had also used the token. Could it be that this was how his tracks were exposed?

"Let's test it!"

With a thought, he disguised himself as someone else, ensuring no one would recognize him as Zhang Xuan or Zheng Yang. He then re-entered the Hall of Divine Connection and handed over the token given by Teacher Kong.

"I want top-grade Essence Pills. Bring me as many as you have!"

"Top-grade Essence Pills, I'll go get them right away..."

The attendant hastily left and returned half an hour later, handing over two jade bottles. "For this grade, we could only find twenty pills here. We can't procure any more than that..."

"Understood!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Twenty pills were already quite a lot. High-grade Immortal Essence Pills were extremely expensive, with each one valued at twenty thousand Divine Connection Coins. Top-grade ones were a hundred times more expensive, meaning each pill was worth two million, making twenty pills worth forty million Divine Connection Coins...

Although the Sunken Silver Water had been expensive earlier, its price paled in comparison to these few pills.

His consciousness withdrew from the Hall of Divine Connection. He took out the pills, casually uncorked a bottle, and indeed felt the rich, pure power within. Even for his current cultivation, they would be of immense benefit!

"If I can find a technique to break through to the Half-God realm, these pills could play a massive role..."

His current strength was no weaker than a Half-God realm expert, so while Half-God realm essence blood was potent, it was no longer of much use to him.

He had been worrying about not having enough spiritual energy for future breakthroughs to the Half-God realm, but now, with these twenty pills, he no longer needed to fret.

He stretched, slowly stood up, and looked around, still finding nothing. After a pause, just as Zhang Xuan was about to leave this sea area and return to Starchaser Island, he felt the surrounding space warp. The boundless sunlight seemed to be instantly stripped away, and the next moment, he had entered a place filled with stars.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

An elderly figure appeared before him.

He appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, dressed in gray-blue, standing quietly as if a ghost suspended in the darkness, instilling deep-seated dread.

"The Temple?"

Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes, clenching his fist.

The last time he entered the Hall of Divine Connection, the opponent didn't appear, but now that he had used the token bestowed by Teacher Kong, they did. This indicated that... the reason his identity was revealed was because of that token!

How could an item bestowed by Teacher Kong become a tracking device? What was going on?

Could it be that this revered teacher from the Master Teacher Continent had betrayed the Six Sects and joined the Temple?

Or... was he deceived, unaware that the jade token he bestowed contained the ability for the Temple to locate someone?

Regardless of the reason, pinpointing the source of his exposure was a relief.

This way, he no longer had to worry about being pursued by Temple members at any unexpected moment.

Relaxing, Zhang Xuan looked up at the old man before him. With just a glance, his eyebrows involuntarily shot up, and the Immortal energy within him rapidly circulated.