Chapter 1080: I Want to Become a Celestial Saint!
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Due to the huge commotion outside, everyone thought that the Skyleaf King had noticed Zhang Xuan and a battle had broken out among them.
Yet, when they headed out, they found two monsters running in their direction instead. What was going on?
Weren’t they the only ones in the Saint Ascension Hall?
"Wait... No, those are not monsters. Take a closer look, the charred man behind is Principal Zhang!" Guild Leader Han suddenly noticed something, and he gulped subconsciously. "Look at his clothes, they are identical with Principal Zhang’s. It’s just that... he seems to have been struck by lightning?"
"You’re right, he’s Principal Zhang! But if that’s the case... who’s the flat-faced fellow in front?" Wu shi asked in bewilderment.
The fellow with the flattened face in front was dressed in the same clothes as Principal Zhang, and their figures were identical as well. But... surely a person whose face had been crushed flat should have died, so how could he still be running about?
Not to mention, the speed he was running at was astounding at that! Even Principal Zhang was unable to keep up with him...
"I will kill you all..."
Just as Guild Leader Han and Wu shi were perplexed by the bizarre situation, a towering Primordial Spirit suddenly appeared around the bend behind the duo. While chasing the duo, the Primordial Spirit was launching attack after attack, causing huge palm prints to appear on the ground amid intense tremors.
"That’s the Skyleaf King? He has drawn out his Primordial Spirit? This is really bad; we must quickly move to save them!"
Upon seeing this sight, Wu shi and the others did not have the luxury of time to slowly figure out who the duo was anymore. They quickly drew their weapons and rushed forward to save them.
Huala!
"Rise!"
Along with Wu shi’s bellow, the swords in everyone’s hand gathered together to form a grand rain of swords directed toward the Skyleaf King.
"How dare you hinder my path? Scram, or else I’ll claim your lives!" Roaring frenziedly, the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit burst forth to deflect the rain of swords with a powerful slap.
Deng deng deng deng!
The incredible might of the Skyleaf King’s slap caused Wu shi and the others to retreat eight steps. That single strike had left their zhenqi running in disarray, and their faces paled from the impact.
Even before the Skyleaf King had drawn out his soul, they were already no match for him. Given that the Skyleaf King had gone on a rampage, drawing out his Primordial Spirit to face them, they stood even less of a chance.
Nevertheless, even though their attack did nothing to injure the Skyleaf King, they did succeed in slowing down the Skyleaf King’s advancement, thus buying Zhang Xuan and his clone sufficient time to reach them.
"Quick, get back into the formation..." Knowing that the crowd could very well lose their lives if they were to clash with the Skyleaf King, Zhang Xuan hurriedly shouted as he continued rushing toward the formation.
The crowd also knew that they did not stand a chance against the Skyleaf King with their current strength either, so they hurriedly stepped back into the formation.
The moment Zhang Xuan managed to reach the formation, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. Turning his gaze to the figure with a flattened face not too far away, his eyebrows shot up in displeasure.
If not for the fact that he did not stand a chance against his clone, he would have taught the latter a lesson.
In the first place, his clone was the one who had acted recklessly and landed both of them in trouble. Despite that, not only did his clone not offer himself to save him, the main body, he even fled faster than him.
"You should return back to the Anthive Nest first; I will settle this with you later..." Knowing that this was not the time to be fussing over such matters, Zhang Xuan waved his hand and had his clone return to the Myriad Anthive Nest.
Weng!
Right after he did that, a light buzz sounded. Vice Principal Ji Yan had already successfully activated the formation, and a brilliant light shrouded the area.
They had set up this formation in order to fend off the Skyleaf King’s assault, and after numerous uses over the past two years, they were already very familiar with it. As such, they were able to activate it instantaneously.
Being blocked outside the formation, the Skyleaf King furiously roared, "Damn you! Damn all of you..."
Shortly after, the crowd heard a loud thud on the formation. An intense force reverberated through the formation, threatening to shatter it apart.
"We won’t last long at this rate."
After several strikes from the Skyleaf King, the face of the one driving the formation, Vice Principal Ji Yan, blanched, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
It was not like the Skyleaf King had never attempted to breach the defenses of their formation before, but this was the first time he had launched such frenzied attacks. If it continued, it was just a matter of time before the formation broke apart.
"There are only the few of us around here, so originally, the Skyleaf King wouldn’t kill us before finding a path to escape. After all, the chances of finding a plausible escape path are greater if there are more of us around. For him to suddenly go into a rampage... Zhang shi, just what did you do?" Vice Principal Tan Qing frowned as he turned his gaze toward the charred young man not too far away.
Just how in the world did he manage to provoke the Skyleaf King into drawing out his Primordial Soul and rushing at them as if he had gone berserk?
"I... All I did was destroy his body," Zhang Xuan replied awkwardly.
His clone could hide back in the Myriad Anthive Nest after causing so much trouble, but he couldn’t do the same. In the end, he was the one who had to clean up the mess made by the other party. The more he thought about it, the more exasperated he felt.
"Destroy his body?"
’You mean... you killed his physical body?"
Everyone was stunned.
They were still thinking that it was ridiculous for the Skyleaf King to go so far as to chase Zhang Xuan in his Primordial Spirit just because he had stolen a stalk of Grand Intermittence Grass from him. But who would have thought that Zhang Xuan actually destroyed the other party’s physical body!
Leaving Aperture realm cultivators were capable of surviving as Primordial Spirits, but they would still have to take good care of their own body as it was the resting place for their Primordial Spirits, and it was also the foundation for them to further their cultivation. Given so, there was no one who wouldn’t go into a frenzy after having their body destroyed!
"I also didn’t notice it. It was an accident, really!" Seeing the horrified expressions on the faces around him, Zhang Xuan quickly explained himself.
If he had managed to stop his clone from acting so recklessly back then, they would not have been placed in such a desperate situation.
"Accident..."
Everyone’s face reddened in frustration, and if they could, they would have really liked to give the fellow before them a good pummeling.
In the first place, it is already tough enough for a Nascent Saint cultivator like him to destroy the body of a Saint 5-dan expert... and he was saying that it was all an accident?
If that was the result of an accident, wouldn’t the world be destroyed if he acted intentionally?
Taking a few deep breaths, Guild Leader Han suppressed the vexed emotions in his heart and spoke grimly. "Forget it, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that. We have to find some way to stabilize the formation quickly, or else we might all lose our lives here..."
He was the head of the Qingyuan Conferred Empire Formation Master Guild, and his comprehension of formations was extremely deep. He could tell that while the formation was still managing to keep the Skyleaf King at bay temporarily, the situation wouldn’t last for too long at the current rate. To prevent that, all of them would have to devote their strength to reinforcing the formation together.
"Alright!" Knowing the urgency of the situation, the others quickly nodded.
"Wu shi, head to the Qian position and stand guard there. Luo shi, head to the Zhen position..." Guild Leader Han quickly distributed various roles among the group.
He had been studying the formation ever since he arrived at the room, so he had an idea of where the weaknesses of the formation were located. Noting that there was nothing wrong with Guild Leader Han’s deployment, Zhang Xuan decided to just follow his instructions.
Hong long!
As everyone infused their zhenqi into the formation simultaneously, the formation seemed to have stabilized significantly, alleviating the tremors.
"Damn it..." Noting the changes in the formation, the Skyleaf King quickly realized that he wouldn’t be able to breach the formation even if he exerted his full strength. Trembling with rage, he roared, "Since you wish to coop in your hole like tortoises, I will crush that statue!"
Hu!
Shortly after those words were shouted, everyone felt the immense pressure acting on them disappearing. It seemed the Skyleaf King had left.
"He has gone to deal with Principal Zhang Yinqiu! What do we do?" Stepping out of the formation, the group realized that the Skyleaf King had indeed left. Realizing what the other party was going to do next, Vice Principals Ji Yan and Tan Qing could not help but panic.
Clearly, the statue referred to the old principal beside the Saint Ascension Platform.
The old principal’s soul was currently sealed within the statue, so he could not flee even if he wanted to. Faced with the Skyleaf King, the only plausible fate for him was death!
Even though the old principal was currently trapped within a statue, he had consciousness and was capable of speaking. Surely they couldn’t watch idly as their close comrade was killed by the Skyleaf King?
"What else can we do? We can only save him!" Wu shi replied gravely.
"But... there’s no way we will be able to stop the Skyleaf King!" Vice Principal Tan Qing said worriedly.
The Skyleaf King was simply too powerful. Even with their might combined, they were still no match for the other party. If they were to rush over recklessly, not only would they be unable to save the old principal, their team might even be wiped out at that.
"I’m sorry, but I can’t simply watch idly as a comrade dies right before my eyes. Even at the expense of my life, I want to at least try to save him. Master teachers never abandon their own brethren!" Wu shi clenched his fists in agitation.
"It goes without saying that we share the same feeling as well, but... what can we do?" Vice Principal Tan Qing shook his head and sighed deeply. "It was in order to save me that Principal Zhang Yinqiu landed himself in such a state. If we charge in recklessly and lose our life in the midst of saving him, we will only be undermining the sacrifice he made for us! He would surely blame us for acting foolishly!"
Having followed Zhang Yinqiu for many years, Vice Principal Tan Qing had a clear grasp of the other party’s temperament and character.
Unmarried, Zhang Yinqiu had devoted his entirety to the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy and his responsibilities as a master teacher. Even if they were to succeed in saving Zhang Yinqiu at the expense of their own lives, they would only make the other party guilt-ridden for being a liability to the team.
"Is there any way we will be able to defeat the Skyleaf King?" Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.
"There is a way. As long as someone achieves a breakthrough on the Saint Ascension Platform, we will be able to call forth the energy within it and enter a temporary state of invincibility. With the temporary state of invincibility, we will be able to overwhelm the Skyleaf King easily!" Vice Principal Ji Yan said.
"Temporary state of invincibility?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"Indeed. We have been studying the stone tablets on the first floor over the past two years, and according to the records left behind by Kong shi, if a cultivator successfully becomes a Celestial Saint, a burst of sacred light will descend from the sky. At the same time, the energy harnessed within the Saint Ascension Platform will be infused into the cultivator’s body. As the energy harnesses the authority of the world, not even 9-star master teachers will be able to stand their ground before it!" Vice Principal Ji Yan replied.
In the two years that they were trapped in the area, other than pitting their strength and wits against the Skyleaf King, they had also been looking into how they could escape from the Saint Ascension Hall as well. As such, they had been looking around the area whenever they had chance to do so, and they had managed to find quite a few records that were related to the Saint Ascension Platform.
At this point, it seemed like there were only two solutions to escape from the Saint Ascension Hall. Firstly, obtain the heritage of Ancient Sage Qiu Wu. Secondly, be conferred as a Celestial Saint on the Saint Ascension Platform.
The first solution was no longer feasible. The fragmented soul of Ancient Sage Qiu Wu had already dissipated from being excessively traumatized, so there was no way they could obtain the heritage anymore. In other words, their only hope lay in the second solution.
"That’s as good as not saying anything at all... Celestial Saint? How could it be that easy!" Wu shi shook his head.
Shortly after hearing those words, the young man stepped up, and with determination in his eyes, he said, "How about this? Let’s head to the Saint Ascension Platform, and the rest of you will try to find ways to stall the Skyleaf King so as to prevent him from laying his hands on the old principal. In the meantime, I will attempt to achieve a breakthrough to Celestial Saint on the Saint Ascension Platform!"
Since he had already obtained the Seven-colored Earth Jade Essence, he was ready for a breakthrough to Saint realm!
With his powerful accumulation and deep comprehension of the Saint Ascension Decipher, there was at least an 80% chance that he could become a Celestial Saint!
At this moment, it seemed to be the only plausible way to stop the Skyleaf King and save the remaining soul of the old principal!
"Becoming a Celestial Saint is not as easy as you think it is. You really should drop the idea..." Seeing how the other party raised the topic once more, Vice Principal Ji Yan frowned in displeasure.
He had already told the other party about the matter previously, and it was only out of politeness that he had not hurled criticisms at him. And yet, the other party was going on about it once more.
Do you think that Celestial Saints are like cabbages in the market, available upon demand?
Stop overestimating yourself!
The displeased Vice Principal Ji Yan was just about to continue when the presence of the young man before him abruptly changed, and an inviolable aura abruptly burst forth from him.
Hong long!
That aura created a warm glow around the young man, portraying him as a deity.
"This... This is... Celestial Master Teacher?"
Upon sensing the aura, Vice Principal Ji Yan’s criticisms were stifled in his throat. His eyes narrowed, and his body stiffened.