Chapter 2115: Zhang Xuan Teaches Again

Zhang Xuan had always considered his cultivation speed to be quite fast. Yet, it took him over half a month to advance from Ancient Sage 4-dan to Immortal Monarch, an arduous process whose immense difficulty and effort were beyond the comprehension of outsiders.

It was truly a painstaking journey, step by step.

Even with the simplified Heaven's Path cultivation techniques and an abundance of energy pills, these eleven disciples had progressed from True Immortal to peak Immortal Monarch in such a short time.

A few hours?

Half a day?

This speed was simply unbelievable!

"It's not fast anymore," Zhao Ya replied. "After you left, Teacher, it took us nearly a month of cultivation to reach this level."

"A month?"

Zhang Xuan frowned. "It hasn't been that long..."

The time flow in the Divine Temple was ten times slower than that of the Forsaken Continent. One month (thirty days, or 360 hours) there would equate to 36 hours in the Divine Temple.

He had calculated his own time spent: no more than an hour in the Divine Temple itself, and no more than two hours in the Transcendent Divine Palace. Even adding the two-plus hours spent climbing the pillars, the total was only about five hours.

This was still far short of 36 hours!

"Unless..."

A thought flashed through his mind: "The time flow in the Divine Temple is one-tenth of the Transcendent Divine Palace, which means it's one-hundredth of the Firmament!"

If the Divine Temple's time flow was indeed much slower, one-hundredth of the Firmament, then it would make sense.

One hour in the Divine Temple plus two hours climbing the pillars would equate to over 300 hours in the Firmament. Two hours in the Transcendent Divine Palace would be equivalent to twenty hours.

Calculating this, it added up to over 320 hours, which was indeed close to a month.

"So, the true Divine Temple's time flow is one-hundredth of the Firmament... Does this mean the true God Realm's time flow is also this slow?"

If that were true, it would be terrifying.

The faster time flows, the less profound it becomes; conversely, the slower it flows, the more stable it is. Think of skipping stones: a faster stone stays afloat longer on the water, whereas a slow one quickly sinks. This dynamic, however, changes in an incredibly dense medium, like mercury.

Space-time, the very fabric of reality, consists of inseparable time and space.

If the God Realm's time flow were one-hundredth of the Firmament, then its spatial solidity would likely be a hundred times greater.

In the microscopic world, if life could exist on an atom and perceive time, their experience would undoubtedly be vastly different from human perception. What we consider a single second might, in their eyes, span a century or even longer, enough time for an entire civilization to rise and fall.

Therefore, the slower time passes, the more stable space becomes, and the more powerful the lifeforms living within it.

This concept gave rise to the saying, "One day in Heaven is one year on Earth!"

A difference of 365 times.

If the God Realm is indeed like this, then Gods are likely far more formidable than imagined. This implies that if Master Kong successfully breaks through, his power will be even greater and more challenging to confront than anticipated.

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan dismissed these thoughts and looked back at the disciples before him.

With nearly a month of cultivation, simplified Heaven's Path techniques, and sufficient resources—combined with Zhao Ya and the others already possessing special physiques or solid foundations—advancing from True Immortal to peak Immortal Monarch, a significant leap, was indeed achievable with relative ease.

"Everyone, sit down," Zhang Xuan instructed. "I will explain the Pseudo-God realm and the Intent of God to you."

Zhang Xuan paused before continuing.

In the current situation, peak Immortal Monarchs would not be of much help; only Pseudo-Gods could assist him.

Since they were already close to that level, he would give them a push!

In the Divine Temple, he had comprehended six Intents of God, plus the Intent of the God Sword, making a total of seven. If these disciples could grasp the essence of any one, breaking through to Pseudo-God would become significantly easier for them.

"Yes!"

Hearing that their teacher was about to lecture, the disciples eagerly took their seats.

Han Jianqiu and the others had initially intended to leave, but seeing the disciples' eagerness, they also found seats to the side.

"To break through to Pseudo-God," he began, "you must first understand the essence of 'God.' Supreme and unsurpassed—that is a God! Clear in mind, transcending nature—that is a God! Pure and detached, moving with the wind—that is a God... To take this step, you must first ascertain your inner self, transforming into God through the divine essence..."

His calm voice slowly resonated.

Han Jianqiu and the others, already Pseudo-Gods themselves, initially paid little attention. However, after listening for a while, they quickly became engrossed.

Although they had successfully broken through to Pseudo-God, they only understood how to wield their power, not its origin or underlying principles.

It was akin to knowing how to operate an airplane without understanding the principles of flight.

Their own breakthrough had occurred on the Heaven-Connecting Bridge, where they leveraged the special spiritual energy on the circular platform to shatter their internal shackles, a method that was not replicable.

Consequently, they couldn't impart this realm to others; they could only use their own power to govern a sect.

Now, however, it was different. The teacher's explanation was both detailed and remarkably simple, making it easy to comprehend. Upon understanding, the immortal energy within their dantian instinctively began to circulate.

*Boom!*

In less than an hour of the lecture, the auras of everyone present surged skyward. Zhao Ya and the others, who had previously been stuck at the peak of the Immortal Monarch realm, simultaneously achieved breakthroughs.

Zhang Xuan had previously left them with the special aura from the circular platform. Now, having comprehended the crucial elements for breakthrough, they each advanced to a higher realm.

As for Han Jianqiu and the others, they all reached the peak of the Pseudo-God realm, their power becoming even purer and their combat ability significantly enhanced.

After a period of adjustment, Han Jianqiu and the others ceased their cultivation and looked at Zhang Xuan. "Teacher, what is the situation at the Divine Temple?"

They had been so focused on cultivating that they hadn't thoroughly inquired about the situation after the teleportation.

"It's like this..."

Zhang Xuan briefly explained the situation in the Divine Temple.

"Teacher, do you mean... Hall Master Kong has taken the Divine Aura and is highly likely to break through to become a true God?"

Han Jianqiu's pupils contracted as he spoke.

Zhang Xuan nodded. "Once he succeeds, we will undoubtedly be annihilated, with no chance of survival."

Based on his past actions, he would certainly come to seize it. Once he made his move, even with over twenty Pseudo-Gods across the four sects, they would still be unable to resist him!

Not to mention anything else, Han Jianqiu and the others combined were no match for Zhang Xuan himself, let alone Master Kong, who had already ascended to true Godhood!

Regardless of the truth behind it, his combat power was undeniably real and formidable.

"So, what should we do now?" Elder Kui Xiao asked, stepping forward.

Zhang Xuan replied, "There are only two paths we can take. The first is to find Hall Master Kong and reclaim the Divine Aura he seized. Regardless of the outcome, as long as we can prevent him from breaking through, we will have succeeded..."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

As long as their opponent didn't break through, they could still contend with him using their current strength. Presumably, he wouldn't dare make any rash moves.

However...

Having obtained the Divine Aura, he must have hidden in a place where no one could find him to cultivate. How could they possibly find any trace?

Not only them, but even his most trusted subordinates likely couldn't contact him now.

Zhang Xuan continued, "The second path is for us to possess sufficient power to contend with a true God. Only then can we truly withstand the danger..."

If they couldn't find Master Kong or retrieve the Divine Aura, and there were truly no other options, then they would have to prepare their defenses.

As long as they could establish a formation impenetrable even to a true God, or... if his Heaven's Path Tome could crush him to death, then the supposed danger would automatically dissipate and become insignificant.

However...

Could the Heaven's Path Tome truly crush a God to death?

He doubted it could succeed.

While the Heaven's Path Tome was indeed formidable and had consistently demonstrated invincible power, its efficacy was directly tied to the strength of the Heaven's Path in the world it currently occupied.

For instance, the Heaven's Path of the Master Teacher Continent would certainly be incapable of killing him now.

At most, it could repel him; otherwise, it would be helpless.

Currently, what he had integrated was the Heaven's Path of the Firmament, which could easily eradicate Pseudo-God experts. However, obliterating a true God... that would likely be a much harder task.

In the past, he could easily kill Immortal Envoys because they were merely at Ancient Sage 4-dan, the highest realm permitted by the Master Teacher Continent's Heaven's Path. Any higher level would certainly have been beyond its capabilities.

Of course, this was merely his speculation. If the Tome could truly crush a God upon its appearance, that would undoubtedly be the ideal outcome.

However, he couldn't place all his hopes on it. If it proved unreliable, he would have no choice but to resign himself to death.

Most critically, Master Kong, who even knew about the Heaven's Path's incompleteness, would certainly be aware of Zhang Xuan's trump cards. What if he was already prepared, using the Grand Profound Mirror to traverse space or dispatching a shadow? Even the strongest Heaven's Path Tome would be rendered helpless.

If it weren't for this reason, he would have simply crushed him with a single book outside the Divine Temple earlier, instead of prolonging the situation until now.

"Possess sufficient power? That makes sense," Han Jianqiu mused. "As long as Teacher can break through to become a true God... defeating him shouldn't be difficult!"

Zhang Xuan offered a bitter smile.

Aside from not having the Divine Aura, his cultivation technique wasn't even prepared yet.

He had only just comprehended the master-servant bond and broken through to Pseudo-God a little over a day ago. Breaking through again would not be so simple.

"Teacher," Elder Qin Yuan suddenly interjected, "didn't you say you rescued Palace Master Du? Why haven't we seen her? She knows a lot about Gods; perhaps she might have a better solution!"

"Ah!"

With a thought, Zhang Xuan brought Du Qingyuan forth, and she appeared before everyone.

He had been so focused on helping Zhao Ya and the others improve their strength that he hadn't yet released her from the folded space.

"Greetings, Palace Master Du..."

The two parties exchanged greetings.

Han Jianqiu explained their current predicament and asked, "Palace Master Du, do you know of any other way to achieve godhood, besides using the Divine Aura?"

"No," Du Qingyuan shook her head. "If we knew, our Starlight Palace would have produced true Gods long ago..."

Hearing her definitive answer, everyone's expressions turned awkward.

Indeed, if becoming a God were so easy, the Starlight Palace would undoubtedly have produced exceptionally talented individuals who achieved it long ago. It wouldn't be like other sects, with only Pseudo-God experts presiding, or worse, have its members captured by Hall Master Kong without any recourse.

"Are we truly limited to such passive defense?"

Han Jianqiu's eyes reddened with frustration.