Chapter 2129 The Gifts of the City Lord
Turning away from the frenzied Phosphor Armored Beast, Zhang Xuan took a closer look and swiftly identified the young lady kneeling on the floor to be no other than the young lady he had met back at the Grand Spirit Mountain, Wu Xiaoxiao!
However, this young lady seemed to have just undergone a transformative change. Her facial features appeared to be the same as before, but perhaps due to the difference in her disposition, she emanated a more graceful and feminine charm that made her appear different from before.
Due to that, Zhang Xuan actually failed to draw the link at first glance.
“Did she eat the pill I made?” Zhang Xuan quickly came to a realization.
Vaguely, he could sense the presence of his Heaven’s Path zhenqi within Wu Xiaoxiao’s body.
Once the divine beast got close enough to the ground, Zhang Xuan leaped off its body and landed within the courtyard. Upon noticing Zhang Xuan’s return, Sun Qiang quickly walked over to greet him.
“What’s wrong?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Young Master, that man over there claims to be the city of Twilight City, and he says that he’s here to ask for your forgiveness!” Sun Qiang said as he quickly went through everything that had happened a while ago.
After hearing the full story, Zhang Xuan finally turned his assessing gaze toward Wu Fangqing.
The latter was a middle-aged man in his mid-forties. What particularly stood out about him was how deep his eyes were, almost reminiscent of the boundless ocean. He didn’t appear to be an easy figure to deal with.
Not only so, his presence was quiet but imposing. Just like what the Phosphor Armored Beast had said, he seemed to be quite a powerful cultivator.
“City Lord Wu, you are too courteous. It’s all just a misunderstanding,” Zhang Xuan said with a smile.
While Zhang Xuan was assessing him from head to toe, Wu Fangqing was doing the same as well.
There was no doubt that the young man before him was indeed a low-tier God. There was nothing at all that really stood out about him, such that it was easy to overlook him amid other cultivators.
If he hadn’t known that the young man possessed the bloodline of a God Monarch beforehand, it was questionable whether he would have even paid this young man a second glance.
“Even though it’s a misunderstanding, it’s still a huge oversight on my part to allow such a thing to happen. This is a token of sincerity from the City Lord Manor, and I hope that Young Master Zhang Xuan could accept this gift so as to assuage my guilt,” Wu Fangqing said as he passed a storage ring over.
Zhang Xuan felt that it was dubious how the city lord was acting out of character, but nevertheless, he still responded to Sun Qiang’s questioning gaze with a nod.
It would be rude for him to turn down a person’s goodwill, not to mention that the other party was the city lord. It would be terrible if the city lord thought that he was looking down on him by rejecting his gift.
Receiving Zhang Xuan’s signal, Sun Qiang immediately stepped forward to accept the storage ring on his behalf.
“This way please!”
After helping up the kneeling Wu Xiaoxiao and Ying Fei, they proceeded to the main hall and took their seats. Once everyone was settled in, Zhang Xuan looked at Wu Fangqing quietly for a moment before asking, “Pardon my candidness, but I am no more than an ordinary low-tier God who has just arrived in Twilight City. I feel a little unnerved by how polite you are, City Lord Wu.”
There was bound to be something wrong if someone was acting out of character.
He had made sure to stay out of the limelight over the past day since he arrived at Twilight City, but why would the city lord personally pay him a visit, even preparing such a huge gift?
“I have heard about Young Master Zhang Xuan’s affairs from my daughter. You have saved her life, so it’s only right for me so express my gratitude to you,” Wu Fangqing quickly replied.
The fact that he, despite being the city lord, had received no news about the arrival of an individual possessing the bloodline of a God Monarch meant that the other party was likely traveling incognito.
Given that the other party was hiding his identity, it would be unwise if he were to step forward and attempt to expose the other party. He would just be landing himself in trouble if he were to do so, so it might be better for him to feign ignorance.
Zhang Xuan proceeded on to ask Wu Fangqing a few more questions, but he sensed that the latter wasn’t being completely honest. So, he eventually stopped asking altogether.
And after chatting for a while, Wu Fangqing bade his farewell.
With a wave of his hand, Zhang Xuan beckoned for Sun Qiang to pass the storage ring from Wu Fangqing over in order to examine the contents within. With just a glance, he couldn’t help but be impressed at how rich the City Lord Manor was.
Wu Fangqing actually gave him 10,000 Divine Coins, a high-tier God sword, and innumerable medicinal herbs!
If it was regarding the matter concerning Wu Xiaoxiao, there was definitely no need for the other party to give him so much.
However, since the city lord was interested in getting on good terms with him, Zhang Xuan couldn’t be bothered to question his motive either. He had Sun Qiang pass over the stuff that Qi Ling-er had brought over, and through a unique method he had devised, he swiftly forged the Mayang Beast Blood and Greenbeast Ancient Grass together.
Then, returning to his room, he set up an isolation barrier around before drawing out his soul to absorb the energy harnessed within those two medicinal herbs.
Since he had acquired everything he needed, it went without saying that he should raise his cultivation right away. Once he had absolute strength, nothing else mattered at all anymore.
Tzzzzz!
His soul swiftly devoured the spiritual energy harnessed by the two medicinal herbs, allowing him to grow at a visible pace. Tapping into the time difference between the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn, on the surface, his growth appeared to be terrifyingly swift.
Some time later, a crisp cracking sound reminiscent of a broken egg echoed in the air. Following that, the Greenbeast Ancient Grass and the Mayang Beast Blood suddenly burned into cinders simultaneously, terminating his source of spiritual energy.
“What a pity!” Zhang Xuan sighed deeply as his soul returned back into his body.
While he knew it was unlikely, he was still secretly hoping that he would be able to raise his soul cultivation all the way to Celestial God realm. Unfortunately, his hopes fell flat.
As he rose through the ranks, his soul had been tempered by lightning, heavenly flames, and all sorts of natural forces, resulting in its vastly superior resilience. Due to that, it was much harder for him to make a breakthrough as compared to other cultivators.
As potent as the Mayang Beast Blood and Greenbeast Ancient Grass might be, they would only suffice for him to raise his cultivation to high-tier God. He was still a fair distance away from reaching Celestial God realm.
That being said, with his physical body and soul cultivation having achieved breakthroughs, he was finally able to raise his zhenqi cultivation as well.
So, Zhang Xuan took some time to reinforce his soul cultivation before taking out bottles of God Essence Pills. He devoured them without any hesitation and channeled the spiritual energy through the unique circulation pathways of the Pathos of Heavens.
Just like that, it didn’t take him too long to overcome his current bottleneck.
He had ample God Essence Pills with him at the moment anyway, so there was no need to be worried about wasting them. So, he continued gobbling them down, providing him with the momentum for his cultivation to surge.
Hong long!
Barely a few seconds had passed in the outside world, but his aura had already undergone an unbelievable change. His cultivation had risen from low-tier God to high-tier God realm.
At this point, the spiritual energy harnessed within the low-tier God Essence Pills was already not of much use to him anymore. If not for that, he would have been able to push all the way to high-tier God pinnacle.
Nevertheless, he was still contented with his improvements.
With his high-tier God physical body and soul, he would be able to put up a fight even against a low-tier Celestial God. Perhaps, he might even stand a chance against Zhang Jia too!
It had been less than a day since he had arrived in Twilight City, but he had already reached the pinnacle of the city.
I have managed to raise my cultivation, but I don’t really have an appropriate sword art to go along with it. Let me see if I’m able to create one… Zhang Xuan thought as he reinforced his cultivation.
A Heart of Intertwined Threads’ was still fairly powerful at the moment, but it was starting to lag behind his current cultivation.
More importantly, it was a sword art designed to confine one’s opponent, resulting in its limited offensive prowess. If he were to be faced with a powerful opponent whom he was unable to trap, he would find himself completely at a loss as to what to do.
So, Zhang Xuan quickly went through all sorts of sword maneuvers in his head and began trying to piece them together. But some time later, he let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
It was not that easy to create a sword art that surpassed the heavens. Even when he created ‘A Heart of Intertwining Threads’, he was facing great pressure from the soul imprint Kong shi had left behind in the Hall of Gods. It was in the whim of a moment that he came up with it and created it.
At this very moment, he could sense a sword art at the tip of his finger, waiting to be completed. Yet, for some reason, even though he couldn’t put his finger on it, he felt that something was simply missing from the sword art.
Until he finally uncovered what it was, this sword art would remain incomplete.
“I might need another battle that pushes me to my limits in order to do it…”
Knowing that the problem he was facing wasn’t one where he could resolve just by dwelling on it, he shook his head and left the room.
From the start of his seclusion to the end, as he had used the prowess of the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn, all in all, it had only been twenty seconds in the outside world. However, his cultivation had already undergone a transformative change.
He was at least several times more powerful than before.
“The Celestial Mountain is going to open very soon, so why is the Young Master going into seclusion at a time like this?”
Outside the room, Sun Qiang paced around anxiously as he complained to Zhang Jia, who was guarding Zhang Xuan outside.
In order to make it in time for the opening of the Celestial Mountain, they would have to head to the City Lord Manor right now. Yet, the Young Master actually chose to go into seclusion when time was already tight for them!
At this rate, the slots they had acquired with great difficulty… Alright, maybe ‘great difficulty’ was an overstatement, but it would still be a huge waste if they missed this opportunity!
“Stop buzzing around here. If you have anything to say to him, wait till he comes out of his seclusion,” Zhang Jia replied in irritation.
“Did the Young Master say when he’s coming out? Zhao Ya and the others are going to be late if they don’t leave right now. Does the Young Master not intend to follow them to the Celestial Mountain?”
Sun Qiang was still unable to calm his nerves.
Entering the Celestial Mountain and searching for the Aura of Divinity came with a certain degree of danger. Was the Young Master really going to leave them be? Were there no words of advice or anything he had to offer them?
“The Young Master didn’t say mention how long he’s going to seclusion for, but no matter how fast he is, it’ll still take at least a few hours. In the past, the duration of my seclusions is usually in terms of months. I would just eat fruits when I’m starving and drink some spring water when I’m thirsty… What’s the point of going into seclusion without at least going that far?”
The very purpose of going into seclusion was to toss aside all distractions and focus entirely on one’s cultivation. During this period of time, one would pay no heed to whatever that was happening in the outside world. Through this enhanced level of focus, one would be able to improve much faster than usual.
“This…” Sun Qiang clenched his fists in distress before finally exhaling deeply. “Forget it, we’ll just head there ourselves then. I think we would have all already become gods by the time the Young Master comes out of his seclusion…”
Jiya!
Just as Sun Qiang was about to turn around and leave, the doors in front suddenly opened up. Zhang Xuan walked out and said, “Let’s go together. How can I be absent for your trip to the Celestial Mountain?”
Young Master, aren’t you going into seclusion?” Sun Qiang was slightly bewildered.
“I just did,” Zhang Xuan replied.
“You are done cultivating?” Zhang Jia was perplexed too.
It hadn’t even been a minute since Zhang Xuan went into his room, so what kind of seclusion could possibly be so fast? When did going into seclusion become something so trivial?
Baffled by how ridiculous the situation was, Zhang Jia took a closer look at Zhang Xuan, and what it saw left its cheek quivering ceaselessly. It nearly fainted from shock in that instant!
Young Master, you have already reached high-tier God?”
As Zhang Xuan didn’t intentionally conceal his cultivation as well, Zhang Jia was able to tell that he had already m抓aged to raise his cultivation from low-tier God to high_tier God within the few seconds he had spent in his roo
“Indeed. Hit me. I would like to try out my strength after my breakthrough,” Zhang Xuan said with a hint of excitement in his voice.
Considering that the Phosphor Armored Beast was a Celestial God, he thought that it might just be able to pressure him enough to make a breakthrough.
“This… Alright then!”
While baffled by how ridiculously fast Zhang Xuan was growing stronger at, Zhang Jia raised its fist and hammered it down upon the young man.
Hong long!
The ground tremored, and a shockwave gushed into the surroundings.
Zhang Jia had used its full strength as a Celestial God for this attack, and the might he exerted was indeed extraordinary. It felt like the entire residence would collapse under its strength.
“Heh!”
With a light chuckle, Zhang Xuan calmly stepped forward to tapped lightly on Zhang Jia’s fist.
Weng!
Zhang Jia’s fist immediately stopped in midair, unable to push forward at all. It was as if he had been sealed in place.
“This…” Knowing that it wouldn’t be able to hurt Zhang Xuan even if it were to attempt to force its wah through, Zhang Jia retracted his fist and remarked in disbelief, “Young Master, on top of raising your zhenqi cultivation, your soul cultivation has reached high-tier God realm as well…”
“I had ample time on hand, so I made a breakthrough for that as well,” Zhang Xuan replied. “Ample time?”
A shudder ran through Zhang Jia’s body.
Are you trying to provoke me over here?
A seclusion that didn’t even last for a minute, and you are telling me that you had ample time? In other words, the months I have spent in seclusion has been spent in vain, is it?
What the heck…
Zhang Jia felt like the boundaries of its common sense were being challenged.
