Chapter 2050: Contempt from the Clone

"It's the Temple people!"

In an instant, Zhang Xuan realized.

Having dealt with Temple experts twice before, he knew their methods and strength. The sneak-attacking sword technique was sharp and ruthless, the sword aura measured as if by a ruler, aimed precisely at positions he had to defend, without the slightest error.

Most crucially, their coordination in angle, position, and timing was perfect to the peak, making it difficult even for a demigod-level expert to evade.

"Immortal Lord peak..."

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

His attackers were only two Immortal Lord peak Temple warriors. Ten days ago, he would have been helpless against such a level, but now it was nothing.

However, with these two in the open, whether the middle-aged demigod was also present was uncertain.

With a thought, he communicated with the four divine beasts, ordering them to stand ready. Meanwhile, he summoned the Tongchang Sword into his palm, and his divine sword intent spread, sealing the surrounding space.

"Divine sword intent? Are you Zhang Xuan, the new sect master of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion?"

The attacker above exclaimed in surprise, then, disregarding the fight, turned to flee.

If this divine sword intent user were only a True Immortal, they would have fought with all their might. But since he had already reached Immortal Lord, and the previous two Temple ambushes had failed, even a fool would realize that this person was not someone they could contend with.

The urgent task was to quickly relay the message back and let the leader act!

Capturing him would surely yield greater merit than obtaining the altar of the Star Chasing Palace!

"Too late!"

Zhang Xuan's long sword pressed down like a breeze, seeming slow yet sealing all escape routes, making it impossible to leave.

Pfft!

A bloodstain appeared on the forehead of this Immortal Lord peak Temple warrior, and his soul was already extinguished.

Whoosh!

The corpse fell from the air and was collected into a storage ring.

From the ambush to the kill, less than a breath had passed, and the sword aura of the attacker below had just arrived.

Ding!

Just as it was about to pierce Zhang Xuan's chest, a gourd suddenly appeared, blocking the sword tip.

"Break!"

Clenching his teeth, the attacker poured all his strength into the sword, intending to pierce through, but found the gourd before him as solid as a city wall. Even with all his power, he could not penetrate it.

"Could it be... a demigod-level weapon?"

His heart turned cold.

He was an Immortal Lord peak expert, and his sword was of the same level. With such strength, even a weapon of the same level could not withstand him, and even a half-step demigod would not dare to contend easily.

A gourd not only blocked him but also prevented him from advancing a single inch. He dared not imagine how high its level was!

"Flee!"

Knowing that the ambush was impossible, he did not hesitate and turned to escape. But before he could turn, his vision went dark.

Another gourd came slapping toward his face.

This time, it was the concave side of the gourd. With one strike, his head was trapped inside, turning into a gourd shape. His eyes filled with unwillingness as he fell.

A dignified Temple warrior, a top expert renowned on the continent, never dreamed he would be killed by a gourd.

Whoosh!

After collecting the other's body, Zhang Xuan was not excited but instead looked around warily.

After waiting a few breaths and sensing nothing unusual, he finally relaxed.

"It seems... only these two were lying in ambush here."

He had thought that the several Temple members he had seen earlier were all lying in ambush here, but since they had not appeared now, there should be no one else.

Otherwise, during the fight would have been the perfect time for an ambush; missing it, finding another chance would not be so easy.

"They must have sensed someone following and left these two to cover the retreat while the others continued chasing Fushenzi. After all, Palace Master Du and the altar are more important..."

With a thought, he understood.

As expected of Temple experts, they were indeed vigilant. If it had been an ordinary demigod instead of him, they might have fallen under the ambush.

"Before I killed these two, I sealed the space and acted very quickly. No information or energy fluctuations leaked... The other party should not have noticed yet."

Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

Whoosh!

An identical figure appeared before him.

The clone!

After taming the four demigod-level divine beasts, Zhang Xuan had specially given the demigod blood to the clone and the ruthless man. The original body lacked the Heavenly Dao technique and could not cultivate, but the latter two had no such issue. Thus, their cultivation had long reached Immortal Lord peak.

Even stronger than the original body.

"You take one, I'll take one..."

Zhang Xuan said.

"Alright!" The clone nodded, and with a thought, his appearance changed into that of the gourd-headed warrior.

Although the clone did not have a disguise talisman, the Nine Heavens Lotus Fetus was like liquid and could transform into any form. Back in the Qiuxuan Palace, it had even been beaten into a flat cake.

Now, disguised as the gourd-headed warrior, wearing the other's clothes, he suppressed his soul fluctuations to a minimum.

Zhang Xuan transformed into the other warrior, and at the same time, the two weapons of the opponents appeared in his palms. With a gentle tap, in less than two breaths, the two long swords were successfully bound to him.

His disguise would have no flaws, not even fearing blood tests, but the clone still had some loopholes—their soul auras were not the same.

However, combined with the refined long swords, this flaw could be compensated.

Weapons at the Immortal Lord peak already contained their own sword intent. As long as the power within was activated, outsiders probing would only detect the sword intent and not realize that the person had been replaced.

After finishing, and finding no more loopholes, Zhang Xuan nodded and flew ahead.

The clone followed closely.

To ensure that these two Immortal Lord peak warriors could catch up after eliminating the threat, the middle-aged demigod who had left earlier had left marks along the way, making it easy to track.

Flying swiftly, they soon arrived at the ancient city they had seen before.

Within the old city walls, a thick aura of decay emanated, giving a sense of oppression that made breathing uncomfortable for those entering.

Even someone of Zhang Xuan's strength felt his power suppressed, unable to exert his full combat ability.

With a thought, a sword light flickered at his fingertip. He gently shook it and cut a gash on his arm.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle!

As soon as the wound appeared, the decay aura immediately spread over, continuously corroding the injury, making it difficult to heal.

Heavenly Dao true qi circulated rapidly, but after a moment, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Such a small wound, previously, with a single rotation of Heavenly Dao true qi, would have healed completely in less than a breath. Now, it could not recover even in several minutes. This place was indeed eerie.

No wonder Elder Bai Ye earlier could not recover from his injuries and could only wait for death. It was likely closely related to this decay aura.

Taking out a jade bottle, he poured a bit of Little Yellow Chicken's bathwater onto the wound. A wisp of black smoke rose.

The wound quickly healed.

"This place is indeed strange..."

Seeing that it matched his guess, Zhang Xuan's expression turned serious.

Unlike him, others did not have Little Yellow Chicken. That meant that once injured or invaded by the decay aura here, they would be like Elder Bai Ye, unable to hold on and would sit and wait for death.

"Here's a bottle for you, just in case."

He took out a bottle and tossed it to the clone.

The clone was his trump card. If Heavenly Dao true qi was useless, and he got injured, it would be disastrous.

Catching the jade bottle, the clone gave him a cold, proud look. Instead of putting it away, a sword light suddenly emerged from his fingertip and slashed at his arm.

Pfft!

A gruesome wound appeared on his arm, over three inches long, with blood gushing out.

Zhang Xuan frowned, wondering what this fool was up to, when he saw the clone lift his head, look at him with a proud expression, and then circulate his internal energy.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle!

A black aura was immediately expelled, and the wound healed as if nothing had happened.

"..."

Zhang Xuan's eyebrow twitched.

"I don't need this."

Hands behind his back, the clone looked at him with contempt: "Weakling!"

"..." Zhang Xuan.

He had made a small cut on his hand, and the clone had made a large wound on his arm. He needed Little Yellow Chicken's bathwater, but the clone did not... This series of actions was clearly meant to show off deliberately.

Can't you die without showing off?

Fuming inwardly, he ignored the clone and continued walking forward.

Although the ancient city was filled with decay aura, many green plants grew in the ruins, giving a sense of spring returning to withered trees.

New within old, old within new, as if demonstrating a heavenly way of the cycle of old and new.

"These medicinal herbs growing in decay have potent effects and come in many varieties. No wonder countless experts, knowing the danger, still come here..."

The ruins seemed to provide the greatest nourishment for the newly grown herbs. The plants here were diverse and powerful, far superior to those outside for refining pills.

Following the trail of the Temple group, he advanced while collecting herbs, killing two birds with one stone.

Whoosh!

After advancing a short distance, a cluster of ruined buildings came into view.

This place was completely different from what they had seen before.

What they had seen earlier was dilapidated and old, clearly having collapsed for countless years. But this place showed fresh marks in many spots, giving the impression of having just been destroyed.

"Someone fought here..."

Zhang Xuan's expression turned grave.

With his eyesight, he could tell at a glance that a battle had taken place here not long ago, less than half an hour. Otherwise, under the cover of the decay aura, new traces would have become old again and become undetectable.

"Could it be... the Temple people caught up with Fushenzi? Or... have they already found Palace Master Du?"

Tracking the Temple and Fushenzi here, his goal was to find Palace Master Du Qingyuan.

With traces of battle here, someone must have met!

Stopping, he was about to carefully observe if there was any useful information left, when suddenly his hairs stood on end, and a powerful force descended abruptly.

His body curled up and leaped into the air, while at the same time, six long swords whistled with sword aura, forming a protective circle around him.

Ding ding ding ding!

A series of sounds like raindrops rang out in succession. Looking down, he saw that on the originally quiet ground, a large patch of black shadows had emerged from somewhere, like strange ghosts.