Library of Heaven's Path

A moment later, he arrived before an imposing building.

There was a plaque at the entrance of the building with three massive words gleaming on it⁠—Jiang Clan Repository!

This should be it, Zhang Xuan thought.

While he had often snuck around to collect books in the past, ever since he became the head of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, he had resolved himself to stop doing so.

However, since the Jiang Clan had already chosen to betray mankind, there was no need to uphold principles and values toward them.

Zhang Xuan walked up to the gates and tapped them lightly, opening a small passageway in the formation protecting the building. Without any hesitation, he walked in.

After mastering the 4-dan Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, most seals and formations had become nothing more than ornaments to him.

"There is indeed quite a large collection of manuals relating to souls here," Zhang Xuan muttered delightedly beneath his breath as he quickly scanned through the books on the first level.

However, most of the books on the first level were not too profound, so Zhang Xuan could not be bothered to collect them. Thus, he quickly made his way to the next level.

The soul manuals on the second level were of a higher tier. Nevertheless, with a quick look through, he found that they were still too elementary for his current soul cultivation level. As such, he moved up five levels at once, stopping only at the seventh level.

The number of books on the seventh level was considerably smaller. All in all, there were only several dozen bookshelves filled with tens of thousands of books.

With a quick sweep, Zhang Xuan collected all of the books into his Library of Heaven's Path before swiftly browsing through them.

A crease emerged between his brows. Why are there so many books relating to soul oracles?

To his bewilderment, he found that most of the books actually detailed soul cultivation techniques that should have been unique to soul oracles.

There was a fundamental difference between the soul cultivation techniques practiced by soul oracles and modern soul cultivation techniques practiced by cultivators nowadays.

The modern soul cultivation techniques that most cultivators practiced served to temper one's soul. On the other hand, the soul cultivation techniques of the soul oracle formed a full heritage that was intricately linked with the Soulless Metal Humanoids, soul rituals, and the like.

To make an analogy, if modern soul cultivation techniques corresponded to physicians, the techniques of the soul oracles corresponded to poison masters.

While there was no doubt that both sets of cultivation techniques were targeted at the soul, their cultivation methods differed vastly from one another!

As one of the Three Premier Clans, the Jiang Clan had always been held in high regards by the world. Why would they have so many soul oracle cultivation techniques?

Could it be that… the founder of the Jiang Clan was a successor of the soul oracles? Zhang Xuan's eyelids twitched as this notion surfaced in his mind.

The soul oracles had been annihilated, and their heritage had been erased from the world—this was a known fact throughout the entire Master Teacher Continent. Yet, the Jiang Clan had actually retained so many manuals regarding the heritage of the soul oracles… It was truly hard to believe that there were no ties between the two!

With many doubts in his mind, Zhang Xuan moved on to the next floor.

There were even fewer books on the eighth level, but most of them still stemmed from the heritage of the soul oracles.

If the Jiang Clan has its roots from the soul oracle, that could explain why they would choose to betray mankind… Zhang Xuan thought with narrowed eyes.

The vicious means of the soul oracles formed only a part of the reason that the Master Teacher Pavilion had decided to annihilate them. More importantly, it was because they had chosen to betray mankind to collude with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe!

There were also many inhumane aspects in the heritage of the poison masters, but the Master Teacher Pavilion had only chosen to isolate them instead of going all out to massacre their forces.

If there was no mistake in his deduction, it explained why the Jiang Clan had ties with the scholarly young man as well.

After collecting the books, Zhang Xuan proceeded on to the final floor of the Jiang Clan Repository.

There were even fewer books there, just a small handful.

With a quick glance, he collected them into the Library of Heaven's Path.

Compile!

Without much hesitation, he quickly compiled the books that he had collected with the cultivation technique that Lu Chong had passed on to him.

Weng!

Two books materialized before him in the Library of Heaven's Path. Tapping lightly on the two books, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up in excitement.

I have managed to perfect the soul cultivation techniques for Great Sage 1-dan Introspective Convalescence realm and Great Sage 2-dan Aureate Body realm! There are still some flaws in the two remaining realms, but at the very least, I have managed to resolve most of the issues with them…

There was a difference in achieving a breakthrough to Great Sage 1-dan for one's zhenqi cultivation and soul cultivation. For zhenqi cultivation, there was no standard formula that a cultivator could follow to make a breakthrough to Great Sage 1-dan. As such, one had to slowly figure out a feasible method of doing so.

On the other hand, there were no meridians or the like within one's soul. As such, a breakthrough to Great Sage 1-dan for soul cultivation only required the cultivator to strengthen their soul and enhance their control over their soul energy.

I'll push for a breakthrough in my soul cultivation! Zhang Xuan thought.

He quickly set up a barrier in the corner of the room before entering the Myriad Anthive Nest.

After swiftly finding an empty clearing, he laid out his cultivation resources around the area. Following which, he took a seat on the ground before studying the newly compiled Great Sage 1-dan Heaven's Path Soul Art in his mind.

Some time later, he drew his Primordial Spirit out from his glabella. With a grasp of his hand, the cultivation resources flew over to him.

Hong long!

The cultivation resources shattered simultaneously, and concentrated spiritual energy gushed into the surroundings. Zhang Xuan quickly absorbed the spiritual energy into his Primordial Spirit.

He had obtained these cultivation resources from the Luo Clan's treasure vault. Putting aside using them to advance his soul cultivation, they would suffice even for a breakthrough in his zhenqi cultivation to Great Sage 1-dan.

Gone were the days when he had to rely miserably on lightning tribulations to gather the energy required for his breakthrough!

Tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

With the nourishment of the rich influx of spiritual energy, his Primordial Spirit grew stronger and stronger. It swiftly overcame its bottleneck and advanced into uncharted territories.

Weng!

As he tempered his Primordial Spirit with the spiritual energy that he had absorbed, it slowly took on a crystalline appearance, becoming much clearer than before. A brilliant luminescence of many colors glimmered around him, creating an image reminiscent of an enlightened immortal.

The soul of a typical soul oracle would still remain turbid and chilling even after making a breakthrough to Great Sage, but the soul cultivation technique that Zhang Xuan practiced was the Heaven's Path Soul Art.

Furthermore, his soul had been tempered by lightning innumerable times, causing a qualitative metamorphosis in his soul. At this moment, his soul was already devoid of the usual chilling yin aura that a soul oracle would possess.

Even if the 9-star master teachers from the Master Teacher Pavilion witnessed this sight, none of them would associate his Primordial Spirit with those of the soul oracles.

Feeling the changes in his Primordial Spirit, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up in excitement.

Finally, Great Sage 1-dan Introspective Convalescence realm!

His visit to the Jiang Clan had truly paid off. If not for those books that he had browsed through, who knew how long it would have taken him to make a breakthrough in his soul cultivation?

Continue!

Even after achieving a breakthrough in his soul cultivation to the Introspective Convalescence realm, he could still vaguely sense that his Primordial Spirit was not strong enough to enter the corpse of the Otherworldly Demon Ancient Sage yet.

Without much hesitation, he continued absorbing the spiritual energy around him and pushed determinedly for the next realm.

Four hours later…

Zhang Xuan's rate of absorption came to a halt, and he slowly opened his eyes.

I have reached Introspective Convalescence realm consummation…

Unlike for Saint, each realm in Great Sage was divided into six cultivation stages, namely primary, intermediate, advanced, pinnacle, perfection, and consummation.

Reaching consummation meant that he had reached the very peak of this realm.

It's indeed much more difficult to push for a breakthrough in Great Sage as compared to Saint. Back then, two hours would suffice for me to advance a cultivation realm, but it's taking me two times longer now…

He had never thought that the day would come when he would require four hours just to advance his cultivation by an entire realm… and it seemed like it would only become more and more arduous the higher he climbed.

He shuddered to imagine that a day would come where he would require an entire day to advance a cultivation realm… How terrifying!

Cultivation sure isn't easy… If even a prodigy like me requires four hours to advance this far, how much longer would it take other cultivators? Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed. Forget it! No matter how exhausting it'll be, I should get this over and done with. I should at least try to reach Aureate Body realm consummation before the sun sets…

While lamenting how it was getting harder and harder to advance his cultivation, he carried on cultivating.

No matter how long it would take him, in order to raise his fighting prowess, he had no choice but to carry on with this incredibly tedious and monotonous task.

Who asked him to embark on this arduous path? No matter how exhausted he was, he could only grit his teeth and hang on!