2073 Facing Kong shi
“Atrocious! How dare you say that I’m not Kong shi!”
Casting aside the refined disposition he had been putting on till now, Kong shi looked at Zhang Xuan with an expression warped with savagery, “Why am I not him? Why don’t you tell me just what is it that makes me so different from him?”
“Kong shi is someone who embraces the entire world with his benevolence. He would never do those things you have done,” Zhang Xuan shook his head as he replied.
He had never met Kong shi in person before, but his deeds and beliefs clearly created great ripples across the world, allowing one to fathom who he was as a person. It was indeed possible for a person to put on a persona, but it was impossible for someone to maintain a persona for so many years, especially when one had reached the peak of the world.
“Embraces the whole world with his benevolence? Hahaha, what a joke! Even if I kill you right here and right now, the whole world would still think of me as a benevolent man!” Kong shi sneered coldly.
Kong shi hastened his chants, inducing the flames on the altar to crackled furiously. It felt like Zhang Xuan was going to be swallowed whole.
However, instead of panicking, Zhang Xuan calmed down instead. With a look of pity in his eyes, he sighed, “All along, I thought that you were someone worthy of respect. I guess I was wrong…”
“Whatever library you have in you will be mine very soon. Once you lose your control over the heavens, you will suffer the backlash of the heavens and be crushed by it. Your flesh and bones will be ground to dust… Say all you want, but nothing will change the outcome anymore,” Kong shi replied with a smirk, paying no heed to what Zhang Xuan was saying at all.
Zhang Xuan was someone who cultivated the Heaven’s Path Divine Art. It was with the protection of the Library of Heaven’s Path that the heavens had been unable to do anything about this aberrance of nature. However, the moment Zhang Xuan lost his Library of Heaven’s Path, he would immediately be crushed by the rules.
There was no way he would be able to survive this.
“Is that so?” a nonchalant voice echoed in the air.
Kong shi was taken aback. He could see that the voice wasn’t coming from Zhang Xuan at all, so who could be the one speaking then?
Alarmed, he quickly turned around, only to see another Zhang Xuan standing not too far away with a disappointed look on his face.
All along, while he did not share the same reverence for Kong shi as the rest on the Master Teacher Continent, the other party was indeed someone that he had respected deeply. To think that the other party turned out to be such a person instead!
“You…”
On the other hand, Kong shi would have never expected that another Zhang Xuan would appear all of a sudden. He couldn’t help but widen his eyes in disbelief.
“The Hall of Gods has been trying to capture me all along. How could I possibly not prepare a hand before stepping in its trap? The one which you have been trying to extract the Library of Heaven’s Path has been my clone all along!” Zhang Xuan replied with a shake of his head.
Prior to entering the Hall of Gods, he swapped places with his clone, choosing to house himself temporarily inside the storage ring.
It was for this reason that he was able to remain unharmed even while Kong shi was jumping through dimensions with him.
The reason why he had his clone to go along with whatever Kong shi was doing was to uncover the true answer from him. It was just that he didn’t think that the answer he received would be so disappointing.
Very well. Very well. I would have expected nothing less than a person chosen by the heavens. Of course, it should have never been so easy. It couldn’t possibly have been so easy…” Kong shi murmured with a frenzied expression on his face. “But it doesn’t make a difference at all. Did you think that I would allow you to leave this area safely, especially now that you have appeared before me on your own accord?”
Boom!
With a light step, Kong shi walked out from the flames, and a powerful aura rippled across the entire hall. It felt like the surrounding space would cave in at any moment and collapse on them.
Kong shi had singlehandedly defeated eight Semi-Divinities back at the Hall of Gods, which meant that he was at least several times stronger than Zhang Xuan.
“Don’t you think that it goes both ways? Why would I appear before you just to run away?” Zhang Xuan scoffed. “Since everything is pretty much out now, why don’t you satisfy the final curiosity of mine? Has the Hall of Gods already fallen under your control as well?”
From Fu Chenzi to the illusory chief of the Hall of Gods, the silhouette of Kong shi could be seen all around the Hall of Gods.
“I have massacred the chief and the warriors of the Hall of Gods. They are pawns which the Firmament has dispatched here in order to suppress the Azure, so all of them deserve to die. I will create a new world in the Azure! I will lead this world to unprecedented greatness! The Hall of Gods and the Ethereal Hall are both under my control, so no matter where you run to, you will never be able to escape from me!” Kong shi laughed.
The ‘current chief of the Hall of Gods was him, and the one who kidnapped Du Qingyuan was also him.
The main reason behind that was because he wanted to steal Zhang Xuan’s Library of Heaven’s Path and make it his own.
“I don’t have any more questions,” Zhang Xuan said.
Then, he turned to his clone on the altar and shouted, “What are you fooling around for? Hurry up and get down here!” ‘Yes, yes…”
The body of the clone immediately became as flimsy as noodle strands, allowing him to slip through the metal chains that bound him and move over to Zhang Xuan’s side.
At the same time, the clone drove his zhenqi as well, causing a powerful aura to burst forth from him. Just like Kong shi, he had reached Semi-Divinity realm as well!
Hula!
After that, Zhang Xuan brought out the Blackback Tortoise, the three Shark Brothers, the Serpentine Dragon and the others, as well as all of the weapons he had in his possession.
Clap! Clap!
“Wonderful. You sure have prepared many trump cards in advance,” Kong shi nodded as he clapped his hands resoundingly. “However, it’s still far from sufficient. I am the man who was known as the World’s Teacher!”
As he spoke, he took a step forward and pressed his palm downward. The Blackback Tortoise, the three Shark Brothers, and the other beasts were immediately forced to the ground, unable to take a step at all.
There were all at Semi-Divinity realm, but these beasts were simply far too weak compared to Kong shi, such that they weren’t even worth a fight
They aren’t enough in your eyes, but in my view, you aren’t anything either!” the clone burst into laughter.
Sou!
It dashed forward and sent a punch right toward Kong shi.
Peng peng!
As the clone traded blows with Kong shi, the surrounding space immediately began shattering under the immense strain.
Even when they were at the same cultivation realm, Zhang Xuan was no match for his clone, not to mention that his clone had already reached Semi-Divinity realm. In terms of strength, his clone was nowhere weaker than that of Kong shi.
Furthermore, the clone’s indestructible body made it a huge headache to deal with. Despite Kong shi’s overwhelming strength, he actually found himself unable to do anything about the clone in the short-term.
“How can a clone like you possibly be so powerful?” Kong shi could hardly believe his eyes.
He had been paying close attention to Zhang Xuan ever since the latter ascended to the Azure. Even though the various attempts he had made to capture Zhang Xuan eventually ended in failure, he still had a rough gauge as to just how powerful Zhang Xuan was,
But he was never aware that Zhang Xuan actually had a clone, and he would have never imagined that his clone would be so powerful at that…
Having lived for several thousand years, he could be considered as a man who stood at the very peak of the Azure, making him an existence unrivaled by the others. Otherwise, there was no way he could have managed to massacre the experts of the Hall of Gods and replace all of them…
But despite so, he actually found himself unable to do anything about this clone…
Just what in the world was happening over here?
“Get him together!”
Paying no heed to Kong shi’s shock, Zhang Xuan waved his hand and undone the formation that weighed down on the beasts in the area, allowing them to return to their feet.
Hong long!
The eight Semi-Divinity realm beasts and the dozen Semi-Divinity artifacts formed a massive formation that constantly attacked Kong shi’s blind spots.
Kong shi was already fighting a close battle with the clone, so how could he cope with a bunch of disruptors eyeing him closely from the sidelines to constantly disrupt him whenever he revealed an opening?
In just a few moments, he was already struck squarely in the chest, causing him to be pushed back before crashing heavily onto the ground.
“Kill him!”
With a strike finally connecting, the clone immediately rushed forward to follow up with another punch.
The might of his strike felt strong enough to rip the space into two.
“You bastards! If not for the fact that I have been suppressed by him for several thousand years and haven’t fully recovered yet, did you think that the likes of you would have been able to injure me? Hmph! There’s no way I’ll be killed by the lot of you on my own home ground!”
Hu!
With a quick leap, Kong shi instantaneously traversed through space and disappeared from the spot.
“Quick, we need to leave!”
Along with Kong shi’s disappearance, Zhang Xuan immediately sensed that something was amiss, so he swiftly kept all of the artifacts and beasts back into his storage ring and tamed beast sack respectively before entering his own storage ring himself.
Hu!
Carrying the storage ring, his clone swiftly dashed in a certain direction.
That was where the weakest point of the Guardian Formation of the Ethereal Hall. Zhang Xuan had told his clone about it earlier through their telepathic connection.
Boom!
But before his clone could tear through the formation and leave, the entire Ethereal Hall suddenly burst apart, causing devastating infernos and powerful shockwaves to sweep into the surroundings, threatening to tear the world apart.
The clone that had yet to leave was immediately sliced into two by one of the spatial rifts rippling into the surroundings.
Hu!
The two halves of the clone quickly linked back together before continuing to rush his way out.
It was fortunate that the one who was struck was the clone. If it had been Zhang Xuan instead, that single strike would have really killed him through and through.
After escaping to safe grounds, Zhang Xuan came out of his storage ring. Looking back at the tattered space where the Ethereal Hall used to exist, Zhang Xuan felt goosebumps rising all over his body.
“That bastard actually set up so many destructive formations in his own base of operations. He’s far more vicious than I have thought!”
If not for his swift reaction, all of them could have been obliterated along with the Ethereal Hall.
“Quick, take a look around the area to see where he has gone to. We mustn’t allow him to escape!” Zhang Xuan instructed.
Nodding his head, his clone quickly searched the area.
Along with the explosion, the headquarters of the Ethereal Hall was pretty much wiped off the face of the world. It was hard to tell whether it was empty from the start, or that everyone inside had died along with the explosion.
“He has probably escaped…”
The clone had searched the area, but he was unable to find Kong shi.
As powerful as Kong shi was, he was only able to equal Zhang Xuan’s clone in prowess. If he had to face so many Semi- Divinity realm beasts and artifacts on top of that, there was a good chance that he would be the one to be defeated at the very end.
Thus, after exploding the Hall of Gods, he immediately fled the area.
This left Zhang Xuan feeling deeply helpless.
He tried scanning the area with the Eye of Insight as well, but he was unable to find any traces of Kong shi around. It was indeed very likely that the latter had managed to escape!
He had thought of many possibilities beforehand, but he didn’t think that Kong shi would actually run away from him.
That was the World’s Teacher, the strongest existence of the Master Teacher Continent. He was someone whom no one dared to disrespect for the past tens of thousands of years… He couldn’t imagine just what had happened for the other party to become like this!
In fact, if he were to send the news back to the Master Teacher Continent, it was likely that the Master Teacher Pavilion and Hundred Schools of Philosophers would view him as their greatest enemy for besmirching Kong shi!
“Your pendant…” the clone turned to look at Zhang Xuan.
Kong shi had escaped, but the pendant was still in the other party’s hands.
“That’s a fake. After finding out that Fu Chenzi was colluding with the Hall of Gods, I have been suspecting that there’s something wrong with the Ethereal Hall… Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had you substitute me before entering the Hall of Gods,” Zhang Xuan replied.
He had never spoken his thoughts aloud, but that didn’t hinder speculations from arising in his mind. Since he doubted Kong shi’s intentions, why in the world would he entrust Luo Ruoxin’s pendant to the other party’s hand?
Luo Ruoxin had instructed him sternly to not take off the pendant no matter what happened. He wasn’t so foolish as to hand it over just to bait Kong shi.
“You managed to fool Kong shi with a fake?” the clone was slightly surprised.
Even he was unaware of this matter. Zhang Xuan had kept this a secret from him as well.
In fact, Zhang Xuan had never shared any information regarding Luo Ruoxin with him before.
“I was also perplexed about that as well. My guess is that he doesn’t know where the pendant comes from and what kind of strength it wields either,” Zhang Xuan shook his head and said.
To be honest, all he did was to place his blood essence inside the fake pendant. He had fully expected Kong shi to see through it, but the latter simply took his word for it.
Most likely, unlike the Library of Heaven’s Path, the Heavens’ Order that Kong shi possessed was unable to discern the authenticity and flaws of objects.
At this moment, a voice suddenly echoed in Zhang Xuan’s mind.
“Have you not noticed it?”
The person who spoke was Vicious, who had just reached Semi-Divinity realm through cultivating on the circular platform too.
“Noticed it?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
“That fellow, he isn’t the real Kong shi!” Vicious replied.
