Chapter 2097: Master Kong Escapes

"Of course it is!"

Gone was his previous refined demeanor. Master Kong looked over, his expression fierce and aggressive: "Why wouldn't it be? Tell me, in what way am I not?"

"Master Kong embodies all creation; how could he do something like this?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Although he had never truly met Master Kong, he had heard of his deeds, experienced his power firsthand while progressing through the Master Teacher Pavilion, and knew that while a temporary disguise was possible, no one could maintain a disguise for an entire lifetime! Even Jiang Biehe couldn't do that!

"Embodies all creation? Haha, after I kill you, everyone will still believe I embody all creation!"

Master Kong gave a cold laugh and stopped wasting words. The incantation he was chanting sped up, and the flames on the altar seemed poised to completely engulf Zhang Xuan.

"I always thought you were an idol worthy of my lifelong respect. I never imagined that upon truly meeting you, you would be so despicable..."

Zhang Xuan, engulfed by the burning flames, showed no panic. Instead, he shook his head, a look of regret on his face.

"Your Library of Heaven's Path will soon be mine, and without control over the Heaven's Path, you'll be crushed by it, reduced to dust... This must be your last lament!"

Master Kong said, unconcerned. The other party cultivated the Heaven's Path Divine Art, which protected him from harm. But once the Library was gone, he would immediately be crushed by the rules. How could he survive?

"The last time? That's not necessarily true..."

A voice sighed.

Master Kong was stunned. He clearly saw that Zhang Xuan in the flames hadn't spoken. Where did that voice come from? He quickly looked over, then saw another Zhang Xuan appear not far away, bearing a profound look of disappointment. For a long time, he had looked up to Master Kong as his goal and idol. He never expected that upon meeting the real person, his character and personality would be like this!

"You... you..."

Master Kong was filled with disbelief, completely unprepared for another Zhang Xuan to appear.

"The Temple has always wanted to capture me. How could I enter without preparing beforehand? That was just my clone..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head. Before crossing the Heaven-Connecting Bridge to find the Temple, he had hidden his true body in a spatial ring and released his clone. This was why, when Master Kong had compressed him while traversing space, he could be flattened yet remain unharmed. As for using the Library earlier and the increase of gray energy within his body, that was merely the power of his true body's soul being borrowed! He had disguised himself and followed the other party's arrangements, only wanting to find the truth. But when the real answer emerged, it caused him immense pain.

"Very good, very good. As expected of someone chosen by the Heaven's Path! You're not so simple; it seems I underestimated you..." Master Kong understood. "However, since your true body has appeared, don't even think of leaving. Do you really believe you can escape smoothly now?"

Boom!

With a light step, Master Kong emerged from the flames. A powerful aura surged through the hall, as if space itself couldn't bear it and would collapse at any moment. In the Temple, he had single-handedly fended off eight Pseudo-God realm experts in one move, demonstrating power more than twice that of Zhang Xuan!

"Since I dared to come out, I naturally didn't expect to leave so quickly..." Zhang Xuan shook his head and said, "Since we're about to fight anyway, finally, I want to ask... has the Temple already fallen under your control?"

From the Drifting Child to the previous illusory Temple Master, this person's shadow was everywhere.

"The Temple Master and the former Temple warriors have all been thoroughly eliminated by me. They were the executioners suppressing the Azure, and they deserved to die! I am merely seeking a way out for the Azure; I am not wrong, I have never been wrong! Now, both the Temple and the Ascendant Temple are under my control... even if you weren't here, you wouldn't escape my pursuit!"

Master Kong gnashed his teeth. The so-called illusory Temple Master was him, and he was also the one who captured Du Qingyuan. His purpose was to seize Zhang Xuan's [Library of Heaven's Path], making it his own.

"I have no other questions..."

Zhang Xuan said no more, turning to look at his clone trapped on the altar: "Aren't you coming out quickly!"

"Understood!"

The clone gently swayed, becoming as soft as noodles. The next moment, it slipped out of the binding iron chains and landed in front of Zhang Xuan. At the same time, its inner power was unleashed, all its acupoints resonating like whistling winds. It had actually reached the Pseudo-God realm, just like Master Kong opposite him!

Whoosh!

Immediately afterward, the Blackback Tortoise, the three Jiao Shark brothers, the Flood Dragon, and other four celestial beasts, as well as numerous weapons in his possession, all flew out and hovered in the air.

"Very good, you certainly have many trump cards..."

Master Kong smiled faintly. "However, they're still not enough against me!" As he spoke, he stepped forward, flipped his palm, and pressed down. The Blackback Tortoise, the three Jiao Shark brothers, the Flood Dragon, and the other beasts were instantly pinned to the ground, unable to move. Although also Pseudo-Gods, these beast pets were far too inferior compared to him.

"In your eyes, they might not be enough, but in my eyes, you're nothing special either!"

The clone sneered, then *whooshed* forward, raising its fist and striking directly. *Bang bang!* As it fought Master Kong, the surrounding space continuously shattered. At the same level, Zhang Xuan couldn't even defeat his clone. Now that the clone had advanced to the Pseudo-God realm, it was surprisingly not inferior to Master Kong, and with its immortal body, even if Master Kong was incomparably powerful, he couldn't do anything to it in a short period.

"You're just a clone, how can you be so strong?"

After several exchanges, Master Kong was in disbelief. He had been observing the other party since he entered the Azure. Although several attempts to ambush him had failed, he knew his true strength very well. When did such a powerful clone appear... and so strong? He had lived for thousands of years and had long stood at the peak of the Azure, unmatched. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to slaughter the Temple's experts and replace them himself... Yet, even so, he couldn't defeat this clone... What exactly was going on?

"Attack together!"

Disregarding his shock, with a flick of his finger, the clone released the formation's suppression on the surrounding Pseudo-God realm celestial beasts, allowing them to stand up again. *Boom!* Eight Pseudo-God realm celestial beasts and more than ten Pseudo-God realm weapons formed a grand formation, launching a simultaneous attack. Master Kong was already locked in a fierce struggle with the clone; how could he possibly withstand the assault of so many powerful entities at once? In an instant, he was struck in the chest, sent flying backward, and fell heavily to the ground.

"Kill him..."

Having succeeded in one move, the clone charged forward again, launching another punch. Its power was profound, as if it could shatter space itself.

"If I hadn't been suppressed by him for thousands of years and hadn't fully recovered, plus having to expend power to unseal the Temple, do you think you could have hurt me? Hmph, even so, this is my territory. If you want to kill me, there's no way..."

With a slight flicker of his body, Master Kong instantly tore through space and vanished from the spot. The hall became empty, with no trace of him remaining.

"Quick, go!"

Seeing him disappear, Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted. With a wave of his hand, all the weapons and celestial beasts filling the sky vanished. The next moment, he too disappeared from his spot, entering the clone's storage ring. The clone then dashed in one direction.

This was the weak point of the entire hall's formation, as his true body had just informed him through a mental link. No sooner had the clone reached the spot, still not completely out, than the hall exploded. An immense force surged outward, threatening to tear apart heaven and earth. The clone, which hadn't yet fully exited, was directly sliced in half by a dark spatial rift. Once the explosion ended, the two halves of the clone reconnected and continued flying forward. It was fortunate that it was the clone; if it had been Zhang Xuan himself, he wouldn't have been able to withstand that blow and would have died instantly.

"To have set up such a powerful destruction formation in his own lair, he's truly ruthless..."

Zhang Xuan appeared in front of his clone, looking at the now-ruined space before him, his scalp tingling. If he hadn't reacted quickly enough earlier and entered the storage ring, he might have been annihilated along with the space before them.

"Search and see where he went! We absolutely cannot let him escape..."

He commanded. The clone nodded and looked around. With the explosion of the main hall, the headquarters of the Ascendant Temple was mostly destroyed. The surroundings were empty; it was unclear whether no one had been there before or if everyone had died.

"He's probably already escaped..."

After a round of searching, the clone couldn't find Master Kong and reported to Zhang Xuan. Master Kong's strength was indeed formidable, but with a clone that was almost his equal, combined with so many Pseudo-God realm celestial beasts and weapons, it would indeed be very difficult for him to win. Therefore, after detonating the hall, he had actually fled directly.

Zhang Xuan was filled with helplessness. He also couldn't detect the opponent's aura, so it must be as the clone said: he truly escaped! However... Master Kong fleeing—in the past, it would have been unimaginable! This was the Master of Ten Thousand Generations, the true foremost expert of the Master Teacher Continent, a figure whose existence spanning tens of thousands of years no one dared to deny or erase... Yet, upon meeting him in person, he had become corrupted, and in such a state! In the past, it would have been inconceivable! Furthermore, if this news were to spread back, the Master Teacher Pavilion and the Hundred Schools of Philosophers would likely immediately brand him as their greatest enemy, accusing him of slander!

"Your pendant..."

The clone looked over. Master Kong had escaped, but the pendant was still in his hand...

"That was fake! In fact, ever since Drifting Child appeared, I suspected there was something wrong with the Ascendant Temple... Otherwise, I wouldn't have let you go to the Temple in my place!"

Zhang Xuan smiled. He had suspected Master Kong ever since the Drifting Child incident. Although he didn't dare voice it, he had a strong guess. Given that, how could he possibly give the real pendant to the other party? When Luo Ruoxi gave him this item, she repeatedly warned him not to take it off. He wasn't so foolish as to actually give it away just to trick the other party.

"Fake? You managed to fool Master Kong?"

The clone was stunned. He hadn't known about this, nor had his true body communicated it to him. It seemed... that whenever Luo Ruoxi was involved, his true body didn't share information with him.

"I'm also quite surprised... It seems he simply didn't know where this pendant came from or what its true power was!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head. To be honest, this fake pendant contained his essence blood. He had thought it wouldn't fool anyone, but unexpectedly, the other party didn't see through it. It appeared that the Heaven's Path of Order controlled by the other party couldn't discern the authenticity or flaws of items like the Library of Heaven's Path could.

As he pondered this, a voice rang in his ear.

"Didn't you notice?"

The speaker was the Ruthless Man, who had just broken through to the Pseudo-God realm by utilizing the aura of the round platform.

"What?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

"He... is not the true Master Kong!" the Ruthless Man said.