Chapter 2204: Confronting the God King (Part 1)

An ambush!

Looking down, he saw a dense forest below. The massive buildings of the Netherworld Imperial City were less than five *li* behind him. This meant that immediately after leaving the Imperial City, someone couldn't hold back and made a move on him!

He had used a Great Teleportation Array to depart and told no one. The only people who knew were Sun Qiang, Qi Ling'er, and a few others. The fact that they could still set up an ambush meant his every move was being monitored. The Beauty Pill truly drove people to madness.

His body was falling faster and faster. Zhang Xuan looked up and immediately saw six flying divine beasts whistling down from the sky. Each carried a black-clad figure wielding a long spear, hot on his heels. The flying divine beast he had been riding was precisely what his attackers had ambushed and killed.

In the Divine Realm, one couldn't fly independently without reaching the God King realm. Although Zhang Xuan was currently at the peak of High-tier Deity, making him practically invincible below the God King realm, he still couldn't hover freely in the sky without a flying divine beast.

"It seems I must learn to fly before finishing my sword technique research..."

With his current strength and experience from the Master Teacher Continent and the Azure, learning to fly shouldn't be difficult. However, after reaching the peak of High-tier Heavenly Deity, he immediately underwent the medical examination, and not long after that, he arrived here, leaving him no time. Now that his flying divine beast was dead, if he didn't learn to fly, falling from such a height, even if he didn't die, he would lose more than half his fighting strength. Then, facing a siege, victory would likely not be so easy.

Boom!

The six figures in the air simultaneously thrust their spears. Spear glows whistled, and a chilling aura surged forward. They were six super experts, all at the peak of High-tier Heavenly Deity! Moreover, they attacked with their full strength right from the start. The six spear glows, combined with the speed of the flying divine beasts and his own falling momentum, left him with no good options. If he didn't block, he wouldn't be able to dodge in time. If he did block head-on, the impact would only accelerate his fall.

Although his physical recovery ability had significantly improved after body tempering, he dared not take risks in such a critical moment. If he failed to block, he would truly be finished here.

"No other way. This is my only option..."

Seeing the spear glows and the ground drawing ever closer, Zhang Xuan closed his eyes. Upon seeing his action, the six attackers were utterly bewildered.

"He's just giving up?"

"Why doesn't he fight back?"

"Our carefully prepared strategy is completely useless... This is going to be awkward!"

Ignoring their expressions, Zhang Xuan's mind sank into the Spring and Autumn Codex within the Library of Heaven's Path. Though time was tight, he still had at least two seconds before hitting the ground. Converted to the time within the Spring and Autumn Codex, that was twenty thousand seconds—five and a half hours! Enough time for him to comprehend flying techniques and perhaps even achieve flight.

His confidence stemmed from a martial art he had learned back on the Master Teacher Continent: the 'Red Dust Sky-Treading Steps'! This martial art had allowed him to fly effortlessly even when he was at Mortal Transcension realm. Now, at the peak of High-tier Heavenly Deity, with abundant power no weaker than an ordinary God King's, it shouldn't be difficult to fly as long as he modified the technique to suit his current physique.

With a thought, the cultivation method for the Red Dust Sky-Treading Steps flew out within the library. "Correct!" All the cultivation arts and secret manuals he had observed in the Divine Realm merged with it. A brand new secret technique appeared in his palm. With a tap of his finger, the knowledge flowed into his mind.

"It seems the cultivation methods of the Divine Realm and the Master Teacher Continent cannot be treated as the same thing..." He had thought this might lead to the formation of a Heaven's Path cultivation art, saving him the trouble of researching. But now it seemed he had been too naive. The Heavenly Daos of the two worlds were different, and the cultivators' bodies and meridians were entirely different concepts, fundamentally incompatible. He could only modify this cultivation method to fit his current physique.

The profound principles of the cultivation method continuously flowed through his mind, refined again and again. After an unknown amount of time, a new set of incantations emerged in his thoughts. The Red Dust Sky-Treading Steps involved using internal power to counteract gravity. While it sounded simple, its execution was extremely complex, allowing no room for error or oversight. Normally, even if it fit his body, learning to fly properly wouldn't be easy. However, Zhang Xuan had cultivated this technique before, and his comprehension of its incantations was ingrained. Using it again felt as natural as before.

As power circulated through his body once, the surrounding air seemed to come under his control. He abruptly opened his eyes. At this moment, he was less than ten meters from the ground!

Seeing the spears from above still relentlessly pursuing him, not ceasing their attack even as he was about to hit the ground, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly. He raised his eyebrows, a formidable divine might appearing in his eyes. At the same moment, a cry emerged from his throat.

"Hmph, Moo..."

The Heavenly Dragon Eight Tones! The true dragon's roar of the dragon race, while not as potent on other beast races as it was on those with dragon bloodline, would still agitate their minds and make them hesitant to resist. Though its duration was short, he was now very close to the ground. Any slight oversight would be irrecoverable!

Having done all this, he activated the Red Dust Sky-Treading Steps. His left foot stepped onto his right instep, and he pushed off fiercely. He immediately moved like a loach, hugging the ground and escaping through the six spear glows. The next moment, he was hovering in the sky not far away.

He had eliminated the force of his fall and taken flight, but the six pursuing experts and their divine beasts weren't so lucky. Still dazed from the Heavenly Dragon Eight Tones, they had barely regained consciousness when they realized their bodies were less than a meter from the ground.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

With six dull thuds, the six experts and their six divine beasts crashed heavily to the ground, creating one large crater after another. The height at which Zhang Xuan's divine beast had been flying was over two thousand meters. Under gravity, they already possessed extreme speed, and combined with their divine beasts' pursuit, their speed was even greater. With just one impact, they were all left dizzy and disoriented, some barely able to hold on. The six divine beasts, in particular, suffered ruptured internal organs. Without timely treatment, they would be utterly crippled.

"Now's the time!"

With a cold snort, Zhang Xuan's body flickered, and he appeared before one of the young men. He formed his fingers into a sword and pointed it through the air.

Pfft!

Sword qi pierced through the man's glabella. He didn't even have time to utter a sound before his breath ceased. Both were at the peak of High-tier Heavenly Deity, but the man's strength was originally no match for Zhang Xuan's. Now, dizzy and disoriented from the fall, how could he possibly resist?

His figure flickered. In less than a single breath, all six attackers had been struck through the glabella by sword qi, their breathing ceased.

After slaying the group, Zhang Xuan extended his hand, and their storage rings and the long spears they held all fell into his palm. These spears were all High-tier Heavenly Divine Artifacts, still very useful to him. As for the storage rings, a quick scan revealed a considerable amount of money, but no more powerful weapons.

After plundering their belongings, he was about to choose one of the injured divine beasts to help it recover and continue his journey. Suddenly, a strong sense of danger surged in his heart again, and his body instinctively dodged to the side.

Whoosh!

A sword gleam landed precisely where he had been standing, instantly carving a massive gully hundreds of meters long across the ground. The hard rock beneath was as fragile as tofu under the sword gleam's attack, utterly vulnerable. It was clear that even with his current unparalleled physical strength, a direct hit would instantly injure him.

His face turned grim. He hurriedly looked in the direction the sword gleam had come from and saw a middle-aged man flying towards him, step by step, through the air.

"Able to fly... A God King?"

His pupils contracted, and Zhang Xuan clenched his fists. After slaying the six peak Heavenly Deity experts, the person who truly desired the Beauty Pill formula finally revealed himself—it was a God King level expert! Such experts, each standing at the pinnacle of the Divine Realm and revered by countless people, actually ambushed him the moment he left the Imperial City. It seemed they no longer cared about their status!

"You can fly without reaching the God King realm, effortlessly slay six of my subordinates, and even refine Heaven-defying pills like the Obstruction-Breaking Pill and the Beauty Pill... It seems you are much more formidable than I imagined!" The middle-aged man stopped, only thirty to forty meters from Zhang Xuan. He had thought a mere alchemist would be easy to capture, not requiring his personal intervention. He hadn't expected such formidable strength; in the blink of an eye, all his subordinates were killed.

"Who are you? Why are you ambushing me? Aren't you afraid of offending the Qi Clan?" Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes. He had already known from Qi Ling'er that the Qi Clan was protecting him. Yet, this person was openly attacking him. Wasn't he afraid of the Qi Clan?

"The Qi Clan? I am indeed afraid. However, I only want the pill formulas, not to kill you. Moreover... they don't know I'm here!" The middle-aged man smiled faintly. The Qi Clan possessed a Conferred God King, the strongest existence below an Emperor. Even he, a God King, would be wary. But... as long as they didn't find out, it would be fine! Since he was already making a move on this person, how could he not have considered the forces behind him?

Zhang Xuan was startled. He hurriedly looked around, and his expression immediately darkened. Special formations had been set up around this forest, perfectly concealing the aura of battle, making it impossible for anyone to detect. He had been so engrossed in his cultivation earlier that he hadn't noticed the flying divine beast had brought him directly into it! It was even possible that the other party had used some special method to attract his divine beast here.

"You want the formulas for the Obstruction-Breaking Pill and the Beauty Pill?" Zhang Xuan exhaled and looked at him.

"It's always easier to talk to intelligent people!" The middle-aged man chuckled. "Don't delude yourself into thinking you can escape. Though your strength is impressive, compared to a God King, you're still a long way off!"

"What if I don't give them to you?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Then I'll kill you! Given that I know the Qi Clan is backing you, do you think I'd let you leave alive if you refused to speak?" The middle-aged man smiled faintly. He already knew that the other party had a Conferred God King backing him. This ambush was both the first and the last. Regardless of success or failure, he couldn't let the opponent leave, or else he would face utter annihilation.

"So, you're confident you have me cornered?" Zhang Xuan, however, showed no panic. Instead, he shook his head. "But... what if I don't let myself be taken?"