Chapter 1789: Library Upgrade Complete

Like the Maple Leaf Wolf King, it was a holy beast at the fifth level of the Saint Domain, with blood-red eyes that held an eerie light, its body covered in flat, iron-hard feathers that hung like a mid-grade holy artifact. Ordinary attacks could not even break through its defense, let alone kill it.

"It's a Blood-Eyed Vulture!"

"We're finished this time..."

Having just escaped the encirclement of the wolf king, they now encountered this. Wu Kuang and the others had no time to trouble Zhang Xuan and Wu Chen; their faces were pale with despair.

The Blood-Eyed Vulture was even more infamous than the Maple Leaf Wolf King, not because it was stronger, but because it did not kill directly—it tortured its prey to death.

In other words, even though it could kill with a single blow, it would instead inflict wound after wound until the victim died from blood loss. It was exceptionally cruel.

Because of this, and because it could fly and move like the wind, everyone would rather face ten wolf kings than one of these creatures.

Under the wolf king's encirclement, with luck, one might escape, but before this creature, fleeing was impossible—even taking a single step was difficult!

"Fight to the death!"

Clenching his fists, Wu Kuang gritted his teeth.

What an unlucky start. Others who entered had narrow escapes but returned满载而归, yet they never dreamed that within less than an hour of entering, they would encounter two waves of powerful holy beasts.

"Mm!"

The others once again drew their weapons in unison, each on high alert.

The Blood-Eyed Vulture seemed to sense their tension, a hint of mockery flashing in its crimson eyes. It flapped its massive wings, and the ground seemed to whip up a gale, sending countless stones flying like cannonballs.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Under the impact of the stones, everyone felt their hands go numb, their longswords nearly flying out of their grip.

They stumbled back several steps, despair filling their eyes.

A casual flap of its wings carried such power that it was difficult to withstand. If it actually charged at them, they would surely be no match and would die without a doubt.

"It seems we really can't escape this calamity..."

Wu Kuang was filled with gloom.

Last time, a senior had saved their lives, but this time, they certainly wouldn't be so lucky. The other party couldn't possibly be idle enough to keep following them.

"Better to self-destruct than to be humiliated by it..."

Knowing that the Blood-Eyed Vulture enjoyed making its victims suffer before death, Wu Kuang took a deep breath and was about to self-destruct to preserve his dignity, when he saw the two who had been slacking off earlier step out from the crowd.

The ferocious vulture, seeing them, was about to attack in anger, but the young man who stepped forward blurred and appeared before it, kicking it in the face.

Bang!

The vulture's head slammed into the ground, carving a deep trench in the earth.

Crackle!

Pressing his advantage, the young man rained down punches and kicks.

After a moment, the vulture stood up again, its blood-red eyes now devoid of ferocity, replaced by docility.

When dealing with the Maple Leaf Wolf King, his cultivation had only recovered to the third level of the Saint Domain, and he might not have been a match, so he had to rely on soul power to scare it away. But now, having recovered to the fourth level of the Saint Domain, it was much easier to act.

"Let's go."

With a light snort, the young man said no more. He and the sickly-looking boy landed on the beast's back, then turned to the others: "We have matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave here. Farewell, if fate allows!"

As his words ended, the Blood-Eyed Vulture flapped its wings, slowly rose into the air, and vanished over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

"..."

"He's that strong?"

"And I was just about to drive him away..."

Everyone's throats went dry, their eyes filled with shock.

They had always thought these two were dead weight, never dreaming they possessed such formidable strength!

A holy beast at the fifth level of the Saint Domain, beaten into submission with a single thrashing—such ability was simply astounding.

"The one who drove away the wolf king earlier... must have been them."

Wu Kuang suddenly spoke.

The others were speechless.

In truth, they had figured it out the moment the young man acted.

Who else could it be?

He had saved their lives, yet they had been ungrateful and even tried to drive him away... How utterly thankless.

In an instant, they were filled with regret.

...

"You steer; I'll continue cultivating."

Ignoring the thoughts of the others, Zhang Xuan sat cross-legged on the beast's back and gave the order.

The priority was to restore his strength.

Wu Chen nodded, guided the vulture in the right direction, and flew swiftly.

Ten days later.

The vulture collapsed from exhaustion on the ground. Zhang Xuan tamed another holy beast at the ninth level of the Saint Domain and continued onward.

Five days later, he tamed a holy beast at the second level of the Great Saint.

"Finally fully recovered..."

Five days after that, feeling the surging power within him, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

It had been a month since he had severed himself from the Master Teacher Pavilion. With the support of countless treasures and the Heavenly Way cultivation technique, he had finally returned to his peak, and his power even seemed slightly stronger.

"The Library of Heaven's Path still hasn't opened. What's going on?"

Focusing his mind, he sent his spiritual sense to the library and found its doors still tightly shut. He couldn't help frowning.

The library had upgraded before, but it had never taken more than three days. This time, over a month had passed and it still wouldn't open—it was baffling.

"Forget it for now. Since the library is closed, I might as well take the opportunity to break through to the third level of the Great Saint, the Heart's Surge realm."

After studying it for a while and failing to understand what was happening, Zhang Xuan stopped thinking about it and his eyes flickered.

His accumulation had long been sufficient, but the library, as the Heavenly Way, had forbidden him from冲击 the Heart's Surge realm. Now that the doors were closed, he could give it a try.

Closing his eyes, he flipped his wrist and took out a drop of ancient saint blood.

His accumulation was now too profound; ordinary medicines had little effect on improving his strength. Only this could help him advance quickly.

This time, he took out blood from the first level of the Ancient Saint, the Bloodline Continuation realm. With a flick of his finger, the blood energy flowed through his acupoints into his body, transforming into pure power. Taking a deep breath, he hesitated no longer.

Boom!

The power of the Golden Body realm's great perfection immediately surged, and his majestic true qi rushed toward a higher realm.

Although there was no corresponding cultivation technique for the Great Saint level, having experienced the Book Mountain and Sea of Learning, his understanding of cultivation was deeply ingrained. He had deduced the Heart's Surge realm countless times, so it was familiar and routine.

Everything fell into place naturally. In less than ten minutes, he felt his dantian explode and expand again, breaking through the Golden Body realm and reaching the Heart's Surge realm.

Entering this realm made him more sensitive to his surroundings and gave him an awareness of the obscure heavenly secrets.

Knowing that carefully sensing heavenly secrets would trigger the library's backlash, Zhang Xuan dared not try too much. He took out another drop of ancient saint blood and continued to consume it.

Heart's Surge Initial Stage!

Heart's Surge Mid Stage!

Heart's Surge Late Stage!

...

Two hours later, he reached the Heart's Surge Great Perfection!

"Let me adjust a bit. I should try to break through to the fourth level of the Great Saint, the Immortal Realm, as soon as possible."

Zhang Xuan's eyes shone. Just as he was about to take out more ancient saint blood and continue cultivating, he suddenly felt a tremor in his mind. The previously closed Library of Heaven's Path slowly opened a crack.

The library, which had been closed for over a month, had finally completed its upgrade just as he broke through to the Heart's Surge Great Perfection!