Chapter 78: Unmatched Master
Swift as lightning, Ouyang Hai finally arrived above Han Yuan City, not too far from the center of the lightning storm.
Even with his cultivation, he dared not get too close, fearing that he might become collateral damage.
"That should be the center..."
Focusing his gaze, he looked far into the distance and saw a mansion come into view, where a fat man and an old man stood opposite each other, seemingly in conversation.
"The one on the left should be Yue Longxiao, the head of the Wanxiang Sect's branch in Han Yuan City. It seems my guess was correct; it's very likely that those three geniuses attracted the lightning."
On his way here, he had notified Yue Longxiao through special channels, naturally also having relayed his appearance, so even though Ouyang Hai had never seen him in person, he recognized him.
After recognizing his own people, it was just unclear who the fat man opposite was and why he stood beneath the storm yet seemed completely unfazed.
His mind reached out, spreading toward him, and in an instant, the fat man's cultivation level was clear in his mind.
Spirit Soul Realm, Eightfold Realm of Source Pool.
This level of cultivation was quite decent in Han Yuan City, but in front of a great master like him, it was nothing, hardly stronger than an ant.
Shaking his head, he was just about to rush over and rescue the man when he heard the fat man's displeased voice thundering—"Scram!"
Accompanied by his wave, the terrifying lightning that even made him tremble, vanished in the blink of an eye as if it had never been there.
"This, this..."
Ouyang Hai's pupils constricted.
This lightning, with his level of cultivation, he could only barely overcome by using all his resources and might even have to sacrifice half of his life. The other casually dispersed it without even giving the former a chance to resist...what level of cultivation was this?
The most critical point was...being so close, yet feeling absolutely no energy fluctuations, which meant the other's power was incredibly focused, without a trace of leaking out!
Dispersing such a powerful lightning tribulation without any dispersion of strength...
Expert, definitely a mysteriously profound expert, far beyond himself!
And for him to appear merely like a practitioner of the Spiritual Perception realm from the outside, he knew it must be a disguise.
Immediately, Ouyang Hai made his judgement.
Why had Yue Longxiao encountered such a powerful person? Could it also be for the battle over the three geniuses? If so, that would be troublesome.
While his mind teemed with chaotic thoughts, he dared not linger too long, soon reaching the mansion and quietly knocking on the door to wait.
When facing such a powerful person, proper etiquette was crucial; otherwise, angering him could lead to being killed on the spot.
Squeak!
The courtyard door opened, and the formidable fat man, as if he knew he would come, personally came out to welcome him!
It seemed that the other party had already noticed him; otherwise, with the attitude displayed when he dispersed the lightning with a wave of his hand, why would he run all this way?
"This is Ouyang Hai..."
With an even graver expression, Ouyang Hai bowed with his fists clasped, just about to speak, when he heard the other speak.
"You are here looking for our Old Master, right? Please come inside..."
"Old Master?"
Ouyang Hai's expression grew profound.
If a mere subordinate was this formidable, how strong must the Old Master be?
He had thought that with his status, anyone he met would worship him, but now it seemed he had underestimated the situation.
"Thank you..."
Bowing with his fists clasped, Ouyang Hai dared not say more, following behind the other as they entered into the courtyard.
Upon entering the room, he saw a thousand-li horse sitting quietly making tea, the water pouring over the teaware with a rousing splash.
"This horse, its integration of body and spirit isn't complete, showing some rejection, giving a sense of both death and life, as if its body had died but was resurrected by someone using great means..."
His eyelids twitched.
This kind of heaven-defying method, even he had only heard of, never expecting to see it on a horse.
His eyes then fell on two women and a man in the room, cultivating.
The Origin qi from the sky flowed into their bodies visibly, not pausing for a second.
"This is, this is a Holy-grade Source Pool, Emperor-grade Furnace?"
The size of a Source Pool, being inherently fixed and unchangeable, the higher its tier, the greater the chances of becoming an expert. As for the Furnace, it had the opportunity to grow stronger, but the items needed to fuel it were exceedingly rare, achieving a pinnacle quality was even rarer. Yet, all three before him were Emperor-grade...
If he said there wasn't a powerful clan supporting them, he wouldn't believe it himself.
Originally, he thought that with his personal invitation, it would be easy to win them over, but now, it seemed not so simple or straightforward.
He had to admit, in just over ten minutes, such a small place as Han Yuan City had surprised him more than even the headquarters had!
"This distinguished sir, please wait a moment, I will call the Old Master now!"
Sun Qiang turned and left.
Seeing him walk away, Ouyang Hai finally felt the pressure lift off him, then turned to look towards Yue Longxiao not far away: "Yue Longxiao, I am Ouyang Hai, from the headquarters!"
"Ouyang, Elder Ouyang?"
Trembling with fright, Yue Longxiao hurriedly bowed.
An Elder from the headquarters—what level of strength was that? It had to be at least 7-star, maybe even 8-star!
"Enough, quickly tell me..."
Impatient with his dawdling, Ouyang Hai looked over urgently: "The expert who led me in, who is he, and what's the situation with the so-called Old Master he mentioned?"
"Ah?"
Yue Longxiao did not expect that the expert coming to inquire would be this person, and not the genius. After thinking a bit, he nodded and explained, "The person just now is called Sun Qiang. He is the housekeeper of Vice Hall Master Ling Buyang. These three young prodigies were brought here by them..."
He then carefully explained everything he knew.
Ouyang Hai finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Since they were willing to send out these three young talents, it was a good thing; the Wanxiang Sect would have a chance.
After asking a few more questions, his Spiritual Perception quietly followed the fat man to a room.
Knock, knock, knock!
Sun Qiang knocked on the door, "Young master, are you ready? There are more guests here to see you..."
Puzzled, Ouyang Hai couldn't help but peek into the room—empty, not a soul in sight.
No one was there. Who was he talking to?
...
Zhang Xuan did not know that his disappearance had caused Sun Qiang to blunder. At this moment, he was quietly standing within the New World, clenching his fist and gently throwing a punch.
Whoosh!
A ripple surged through the air, and as a master of a realm, he immediately sensed the strength in his body—2000 horsepower!
His cultivation was still at the Ninefold Source Pool's second realm of Travel, but his strength had not only broken through but had also doubled!
No wonder the cultivation, formed from surpassing the Heaven's Path Divine Art, immediately broke the strength shackles of the Source World.
His face brightening, he looked towards the Library of Heaven's Path.
Above the books, a thread-like flow of water shimmered faintly, emitting a soft glow. It was the Heaven-Sentiment Destiny, as tenacious as his sword art, seemingly fragile but incredibly resilient.
This thin thread connected the Mo Blade and the Flowing Light destinies. Although Mo Blade had reached the second realm, it was still childlike and non-resistant in front of the thread, daring not to retort.
"It seems that destinies also have ranks, and the Heaven-Sentiment Destiny that I've comprehended is of a higher tier..."
Zhang Xuan speculated.
The Pathos of Heaven is a secret manual that surpasses Heavenly laws to form a destiny; its tier naturally wouldn't be low—something he had anticipated and didn't find too surprising.
"Since it's a destiny... I should be able to absorb Heavenly Mandate Vitality now, right?"
With a thought, he was just about to control the book infused with Heavenly Mandate Vitality to fly over when he suddenly froze.
"Where are my 5 million strands of Heavenly Mandate Vitality?"
His vision darkened, and Zhang Xuan almost passed out.
By extorting Han Qianchou, he had gained the largest amount of yuan power since arriving in the Source World. He thought it would be enough to splurge for a while, never dreaming that... just one practice session would completely deplete it!
What was key was... the Heaven-Sentiment Destiny in the air looked extremely frail, as if it could extinguish at any moment...
What a rip-off!
This kind of yuan power consumption, even working as hard as a horse or an ox, wouldn't be enough to satiate it!
His strength had broken through, and his divine soul had become even stronger, reaching the zenith of the Travel Realm, not too far from the Dharma Form Realm.
Not only that, his body had been tempered by the Heaven-Sentiment Sword Qi, becoming even more solid and full of strength.
At this moment, without relying on battle techniques or sword art, he could probably smash Mo Qing directly with his physical body alone.
"By the looks of the Heaven-Sentiment Destiny, I should be able to replicate other destinies..."
Seeing that destinies like Mo Blade were obediently connected by the sentiment thread without any resistance, Zhang Xuan smiled slightly. He was considering whether to find another destiny to replicate and try out when he sensed something amiss. His spirit stirred, and he left the New World, immediately hearing Sun Qiang's shouts.
With a slight sway, he left the New World and reappeared in the room.
"Hmm!"
He pushed the door open and walked out, looking up to see that the lightning had indeed vanished, then sighed in relief.
Just as Ouyang Hai was wondering who this "expert" was talking to, he saw Zhang Xuan walk out.
His body stiffened again.
He had scanned the room twice with his spiritual perception and had seen no one, but now someone had suddenly appeared, indicating only one possibility—that the other party's strength far surpassed his own to avoid his detection.
No wonder the subordinates are so powerful; the so-called master is even stronger!
Uncertain in his heart, he checked again.
The "Ling Buyang" in front of him seemed to have hidden his aura, and his exact cultivation level was something even he could not discern!
Since his own cultivation level could not see through it, it only showed that the other's strength was either not less than his or even stronger...
It was a hundred percent certain now!
Sun Qiang and Ling Buyang were both one-in-a-million peerless experts.
...
While Ouyang Hai was shocked to death, Min Jiangtao, the second disciple of the Mo Blade Sect from the Zhou Yi Dynasty, had finally arrived in Han Yuan City.
He had seen the lightning too, but since it didn't concern him and had already dissipated, he didn't think much of it.
"Should I go straight to Han Qianchou, or should I talk to Ling Buyang first?"
Going directly to Han Qianchou could potentially provoke homicidal intentions, risking an ambush. Ling Buyang was his junior fellow disciple after all and should be easier to talk to.
Mo Baiye had sent Mo Qing to investigate Ling Buyang when Min Jiangtao was not present, and he did not know that this junior fellow had been suspected of being a Mandate Chaos Master.
After some inquiries, he quickly located the residence of this "junior fellow" and flew there on his Aerial Origin Beast.
As a senior fellow with his brother slain and yet indifferent, it seemed he needed to set some rules straight!