Chapter 1637: Breakthrough of the Witch Soul!

Before long, he arrived before a huge pavilion.

On the horizontal plaque at the top, three large characters shone with light... Library Pavilion!

"This is the place..."

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

Although he had secretly read books before, he hadn't done so since becoming the dean of the Master Teacher Academy and the lord of the Saint Son Hall.

Now that the Jiang family had betrayed humanity first, they couldn't blame him for disregarding rules and etiquette.

A few steps brought him to the door. With a light tap of his finger, a passage silently appeared in the seal, and he stepped inside.

Having comprehended the fourth level of the Yancheng Heaven Scripture, ordinary seals and formations were now mere decorations to him.

"Indeed, there are many books on the soul!"

Arriving at the first floor of the library, he glanced around and indeed found many books on the soul.

However, none were profound, and Zhang Xuan was too lazy to collect them, so he continued upward.

On the second floor, there were even more books on the soul. After browsing for a while, he knew they were still too low-level for him, so he continued up, passing five floors in succession before stopping on the seventh.

The books here were not as numerous as before, only a few dozen bookshelves densely packed with tens of thousands of books.

With a sweep of his gaze, he collected them all into the library, then furrowed his brow.

"Why are there so many... books on the witch soul?"

On the bookshelves before him, many books were actually about cultivation methods for the witch soul.

Witch soul techniques and soul techniques, though similar, were as different as heaven and earth.

Soul techniques were methods to temper the soul and cultivate soul martial skills, while the witch soul was a profession, involving eerie means like soulless golden men and sacrifices.

If soul techniques were compared to physicians, then the witch soul was like a poison master.

Both involved the soul, but their cultivation methods were diametrically opposed.

The former was normal tempering, combined with cultivation, gradually increasing power; the latter used eerie incantations to temper with human lives, a heretical practice.

The Jiang family, one of the three great families, had always been upright and relied upon by the Master Teacher Pavilion—how could they have... so many witch soul techniques?

"Could it be... that the ancestors of the Jiang family were witch soul masters?"

His eyelids twitched.

The extinction of witch soul masters and the disappearance of their inheritance were known to everyone on the Master Teacher Continent, yet... the seventh floor of the Jiang family had so many secret manuals on the witch soul. If there were no connection, he wouldn't believe it.

Filled with shock, he continued upward.

The eighth floor had even fewer books, but there were still many on the witch soul.

"If the Jiang family truly inherited from witch soul masters, their betrayal of humanity would indeed be possible..."

His eyes narrowed.

The reason witch soul masters were exterminated was not only their cruel cultivation but, most importantly, their betrayal of humanity!

For example, poison masters also had many inhumane aspects in their techniques, but the Master Teacher Pavilion only confined them to a corner, not wiping them out completely.

If all these guesses were true, their contact with the white-robed youth would be logical and not too surprising.

After collecting the books as well, Zhang Xuan arrived at the last floor.

There were even fewer books here, only a few.

He looked at them and absorbed them into his mind.

"Correct!"

Without much hesitation, he immediately fused the cultivation technique given by Lu Chong with the books he had just collected.

Hum!

Two books appeared in the library. With a tap of his finger, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"The techniques for the Great Sage First Level, the See God Without Injury Realm and the Golden Body Realm, have both reached the Heaven's Path level! The remaining two levels, though flawed, are not far off..."

Normal breakthrough in true qi to the Great Sage level required personal comprehension and forging one's own path, with no unified method, but the witch soul was different.

The soul body had no meridians; as long as it could be strengthened and controlled better, that was the best technique.

"First, let the witch soul break through!"

Seeing the Heaven's Path technique formed, Zhang Xuan wasted no time. He went to a corner, set up a seal, and with a flick of his body, entered the folded space.

After preparing various resources, he sat cross-legged and carefully studied the technique he had comprehended in his mind.

After an unknown time, with a thought, his witch soul leaped out from between his brows, and his hand grabbed toward the many treasures before him.

Rumble!

The treasures shattered, and countless spiritual energies spread upward, flowing into his body.

These items were all obtained from the Luo family's treasure vault. Not only were they sufficient for witch soul cultivation, but even for a breakthrough in cultivation, they were more than enough. No longer did he need to rely on absorbing lightning tribulations to replenish power as before.

Sizzle sizzle!

Under the nourishment of spiritual energy, the soul body grew stronger and stronger, and the previously stagnant shackles were instantly broken.

Hum!

In an instant, the soul body seemed to be tempered, becoming more transparent and clearer. Rays of light shone around it, as if becoming an immortal or a Buddha.

Normal witch soul masters, even if they broke through to the Great Sage level, had a murky soul body with cold yin energy.

But Zhang Xuan cultivated the Heaven's Path technique, and his soul had been tempered by lightning countless times. Its essence had long undergone a qualitative change, with no trace of yin cold energy.

Even if seen by the Master Teacher Pavilion now, they would probably only think it was a soul leaving the body, never suspecting he was a genuine witch soul master.

"Indeed, I've broken through..."

Feeling the change in his soul body, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

It seemed coming to the Jiang family was the right choice. If not for seeing these books, breaking through with the soul body would have taken who knows how long.

"Continue!"

Having broken through to the See God Without Injury Realm, Zhang Xuan knew there was still some distance to go before he could enter the ancient sage's corpse. Without any hesitation, he continued absorbing power, frantically charging toward higher realms.

Two hours later.

The absorption speed stopped, and Zhang Xuan slowly opened his eyes.

"See God Without Injury Realm, Great Perfection..."

The Great Sage had four levels: See God Without Injury, Golden Body, Heartbeat Premonition, and Immortality. Unlike the Saint Domain, each had six minor realms: Initial, Mid, Late, Peak, Perfection, and Great Perfection.

Reaching Great Perfection meant the peak of that realm.

"The Great Sage level is indeed much harder to break through than the Saint Domain. Previously, a major level in the Saint Domain took an hour at most; now it's doubled, needing two hours..."

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but sigh.

Previously, one hour was enough to cultivate a major level, with rapid increase in cultivation; now it required two...

Truly, the further one cultivates, the harder it gets.

"Cultivation is indeed not easy... Even for a genius like me, it takes two hours. For others to reach this realm, wouldn't it be even harder?"

He shook his head: "Forget it, tiring or not, I'll continue. I'll strive to cultivate the Golden Body Realm to Great Perfection before dark..."

While lamenting the slowing speed of cultivation, Zhang Xuan continued to cultivate.

Even if it became slower... to improve his strength, he had to undergo this boring cultivation; there was no other way!

Who told him to choose this path full of hardship... No matter how tired, he had to grit his teeth and persevere!