He followed the path that he had seen in his Soul Search and flitted ahead.
Other than the Semi-Divinity realm cultivators, there was no one else in the headquarters of the Ethereal Hall. Zhang Xuan had killed all of them earlier, so there should be no more danger lurking in the area. As for the formations that were set up around the area, all of them posed no threat to a formation master of Zhang Xuan’s caliber.
“Here it is,” Zhang Xuan said with a smile after confirming the location.
He swung the Tongshang Sword lightly.
Kacha!
The door was knocked open, revealing a folded space.
Treasures of all kinds filled the entire folded space. They were at a quantity that was beyond even Zhang Xuan’s means to count.
Huala!
As soon as Zhang Xuan walked into the folded space, he was assaulted by innumerable surges of sword qi, saber qi, and all kinds of different forces.
Knowing that those attacks came from the weapon spirits of the artifacts stored in the room, Zhang Xuan nimbly dodged all of the attacks coming his way.
Ding ding ding ding!
Ten minutes later, Zhang Xuan looked at the huge array of weapons before him with glowing eyes.
As expected of the treasure vault of the Ethereal Hall headquarters, there were more than thirty Semi-Divinity artifacts and over two hundred Heavenly High Immortal-tier artifacts!
Even if one gathered every last weapon on the Forsaken Continent, it was unlikely that their value would surpass what he had right before him.
It was hard to tell whether this was the inventory that the Ethereal Hall had managed to accumulate over the years or what they had stolen from the Hall of Gods. Well, regardless of where they came from, the only thing that mattered was that they had all become his.
With a grand wave of his hands, he stowed all of them into his storage ring.
Then, he turned his attention to the jade bottles by the side. All kinds of pills were flying around the room like a bunch of chirpy canaries.
They were all Heavenly High Immortal-tier pills, and they were effective even on Semi-Divinity realm cultivators. What caught Zhang Xuan’s attention more though were the thousand or so Premier Immortal Pills placed atop the shelves.
Stowing away everything around him, Zhang Xuan needed three whole storage rings before he was able to collect everything in the treasure vault.
First and foremost, I should raise my cultivation to Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm!
Instead of hurrying out of the treasure vault, he took a seat in the middle of the room. He got out the Premier Immortal Pills and stuffed them into his mouth as he immersed his consciousness into his Great Codex of Spring and Autumn.
The feeling of not having to worry about having insufficient cultivation resources was truly an exhilarating experience for Zhang Xuan. He felt like he had never been so extravagant before. Was this how it felt to be loaded?
A few breaths later, he stood back up.
As of that moment, he had managed to raise his cultivation to Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm and reinforced it. With this, he could be considered to have reached the very peak of the Forsaken Continent.
As long as Kong shi had not reached the level of the gods yet, he was confident that he could fight on equal footing with the other party.
After he was done, he left the treasure vault and returned to where Du Qingyuan was.
Du Qingyuan had not recovered from the earlier shock yet. There was a dazed look on her face that made it look as if she was daydreaming.
“Palace Master Du, do you know how we can return to Starchaser Palace from here?” Zhang Xuan snapped Du Qingyuan out of her daze.
He had previously gone there through the Azure Bridge, and he had only managed to leave through the ability of Kong shi’s Evanescent Boots.
In other words, he had no idea how he could return to the Forsaken Continent from there without the Azure Bridge.
However, there was a good chance that Du Qingyuan might have an idea in mind. After all, she had been taken there before the Azure Bridge descended.
“My cultivation was sealed when Hall Master Kong brought me here, so I wasn’t able to move around freely. However, I was still able to deduce his technique.” Palace Master Du quickly gathered her thoughts before continuing. “If I’m not mistaken, he traveled here through the Ethereal Token.”
“Ethereal Token?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
He knew that it was possible for the Ethereal Token to transport one’s consciousness to enter the Ethereal Hall, but did it really wield the ability to teleport a person’s entire body?
“That’s right. Don’t underestimate the prowess of the Ethereal Token. It might be small, but its functions are rather remarkable. Just its ability to teleport items you have bought in the Ethereal Hall already makes it an amazing artifact,” Du Qingyuan said.
Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
It was easy to take the Ethereal Token for granted, but if one thought about it, it was actually a pretty incredible artifact. The act of teleporting items around was already one usage of Spatial Teleportation.
“My guess is that he used it together with the Blackmirror Citadel’s Paragon Blackmirror. The Paragon Blackmirror has the ability to pull one’s soul into a mirror, and it’s also capable of materializing what that is stored within the mirror. Usually, we can only access the Ethereal Hall with our consciousness, but through the Paragon Blackmirror, it might be possible to enter the illusory Ethereal Hall with one’s real body,” Du Qingyuan deduced.
While the Ethereal Hall that cultivators immersed their consciousness into was often described as ‘illusory’, it was very much existent in the world. The fact that it was possible for individuals to interact with the environment and one another was enough to prove its existence.
It was just that it existed on another dimensional plane, making it impossible for living cultivators to enter it with their physical bodies. The differences in the spatial structures of the two dimensional planes made it impossible for a living person to even survive the journey into the Ethereal Hall. As such, even though it was possible to take items in and out of the Ethereal Hall, no cultivator had managed to step into the Ethereal Hall with their physical body before.
However, through reflecting the ‘illusory’ Ethereal Hall on the Paragon Blackmirror, one would be able to bind it to the mirror’s dimensional plane. Then, using the Paragon Blackmirror as a gateway, it might be possible to physically enter the ‘illusory’ Ethereal Hall safely.
“If he used the Paragon Blackmirror to reflect the illusory Ethereal Hall before using the mirror to reflect himself, it’s likely that he’s able to freely move around the branches of the Ethereal Hall…”
Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in astonishment.
That explained why Kong shi had wanted to obtain the Evanescent Boots, the Paragon Blackmirror, and the altar… Those three wielded exceptional abilities!
If one could enter the illusory Ethereal Hall with one’s real body, through the connections between the illusory Ethereal Hall and all the Ethereal Tokens, it would technically be possible to teleport one to wherever an Ethereal Token existed.
Basically, it worked in a similar manner to how one retrieved purchased items from the Ethereal Hall.
Who could have thought that the Ethereal Token and Paragon Blackmirror could actually be used in such a manner? Unbelievable!
Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before pointing out the main problem. “But we don’t have the Paragon Blackmirror with us…”
Even if they had figured out how Kong shi managed to move around, it would make no difference if they did not have the Paragon Blackmirror with them.
“No, wait… Even though we don’t have the Paragon Blackmirror with us, we can still create a folded space that we can enter and teleport through the Ethereal Token!” Zhang Xuan smacked his forehead.
Why did he not think about it earlier?
“That does sound feasible, but I don’t think it’s that easy to create a folded space stable enough to carry life while traveling into the illusory Ethereal Hall,” Du Qingyuan replied with a frown.
It was the kind of thing that sounded theoretically feasible but might not work in practice.
For one, creating a folded space was no easy feat on the Forsaken Continent.
If so, the Six Sects would have long uncovered such a transportation technique, and they would not have to spend days on end sitting atop aerial immortal beasts to move around.
More importantly, it could be extremely dangerous. This medium of transportation was under the control of the Ethereal Hall, and if anything went wrong, they might fall into the cracks of space and be unable to return.
“It might be difficult to do it anywhere else, but in here… Well, just wait here for a moment,” Zhang Xuan said before disappearing.
He could easily create stable folded spaces back on the Master Teacher Continent, but it was not as easy to do so there.
However, while he was still unable to do it, it did not mean that others would be unable to do so. In fact, there was one nearby waiting for his picking.
The treasure vault earlier was one perfect example of a stable folded space that could carry life.
With a grasp of his hand, Zhang Xuan compressed the folded space in the treasure vault until it fitted nicely in his palm.
Boom!
With his cultivation reaching Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm, his current strength was definitely on par with Kong shi’s previously. While he did not possess the Heavens’ Order, which granted one superior powers over spacetime, he was at least still able to manipulate a folded space like that.
Hu!
He took out a storage ring and placed the sealed folded space into it.
“Palace Master Du, please enter the folded space.”
Du Qingyuan nodded as she lowered her guard.
In the next moment, she vanished from the spot.
After pulling Du Qingyuan into the folded space, Zhang Xuan took out an Ethereal Token and infused his consciousness into it.
Even though he was in a place impossible to access from the Forsaken Continent, considering how he was in the Ethereal Hall headquarters, he should still be able to access the illusory Ethereal Hall without any trouble and contact the others.
Soon enough, Han Jianqiu appeared before him, and upon seeing Zhang Xuan in the Ethereal Hall, he heaved a sigh of relief.
“Sect Leader Zhang, how are you faring over there? Are you still doing fine?”
Shortly after Zhang Xuan entered the portal, the altar on the other side had been destroyed, causing the portal to dissipate. That had left all of them at Starchaser Palace panicking. They had feared that something had happened to Zhang Xuan.
Only when he saw the young man before him once more was he finally able to calm his heart.
“I’m fine. I’ll place a storage ring on the auction later. Buy it and take it out in Starchaser Palace’s Ethereal Hall right after, understood?” Zhang Xuan instructed.
“Yes.” Han Jianqiu nodded even though he did not know what Zhang Xuan was up to.
After instructing Han Jianqiu, he quickly backed out of the Ethereal Hall and placed the storage ring on the Ethereal Hall’s auction. Following that, he brought the Serpentine Dragon out.
“Here is a blank Ethereal Token. I need you to remain here and guard it. Make sure to appear immediately as soon as I call for you, understood?” Zhang Xuan said.
With the recent breakthrough to the Semi-Divinity realm, the Serpentine Dragon’s soul had grown strong enough for it to enter the Ethereal Hall with its consciousness.
Zhang Xuan wanted to return to the Forsaken Continent to look for Kong shi, but there was a chance that he might have to visit the Hall of Gods once more in the future. Thus, he had to prepare in advance.
If he could really return to the Forsaken Continent through this method, he should be able to go back there by liaising with the Serpentine Dragon.
Knowing what its master was trying to do, the Serpentine Dragon nodded. “I understand.”
“Also, make sure to hide well. Don’t let anyone find you. There’s a chance that Hall Master Kong might come back here,” Zhang Xuan instructed sternly.
The Serpentine Dragon nodded before shrinking itself to roughly the size of a thumb.
Its real body, which was several hundred meters long, was simply too conspicuous. It was too easy for someone to spot him even from a distance away. However, if he shrunk himself to the size of a thumb, it would be hard for someone to find him amid the vast hall.
After handling the Serpentine Dragon, Zhang Xuan entered the folded space in the storage ring as well. Following that, the Serpentine Dragon tapped the Ethereal Token lightly, and the storage ring disappeared from view.
On the Forsaken Continent, an Ethereal Token lit up brilliantly as a storage ring materialized from a Teleportation Formation.
Hu!
Zhang Xuan came out from the folded space in the storage ring. When he saw Han Jianqiu and the others, he heaved a deep sigh of relief. “It really worked!”
Even though the plan had sounded feasible in theory, there were many complications that could have happened when putting it into practice. In fact, his heart had been beating worriedly throughout the entire process.
If someone on either side of the Ethereal Token had betrayed him or the Ethereal Hall had noticed what they were up to, they might have ended up banished into the cracks of space.
In any case, it was a huge relief that everything had worked out well. It also appeared that the Ethereal Hall had not noticed what they had done yet.
After all, such trades were held often enough for the Ethereal Hall not to pay close attention to every transaction. “Teacher…”
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan, the eyes of Zhao Ya and the others lit up in agitation.
Zhang Xuan was just about to call them when he noticed something that sent his eyebrows shooting upward. “All of you… have managed to reach the Heavenly High Immortal realm?”
Prior to his departure, Zhao Ya and the others had still been at the True Immortal realm. Yet, at that very moment, all of them had reached the Heavenly High Immortal realm, and it looked as if they were ready to achieve a breakthrough at any moment!
But he had barely been gone for a few hours…
Had his students always been so talented?
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He followed the path that he had seen in his Soul Search and flitted ahead.
Other than the Semi-Divinity realm cultivators, there was no one else in the headquarters of the Ethereal Hall. Zhang Xuan had killed all of them earlier, so there should be no more danger lurking in the area. As for the formations that were set up around the area, all of them posed no threat to a formation master of Zhang Xuan’s caliber.
“Here it is,” Zhang Xuan said with a smile after confirming the location.
He swung the Tongshang Sword lightly.
Kacha!
The door was knocked open, revealing a folded space.
Treasures of all kinds filled the entire folded space. They were at a quantity that was beyond even Zhang Xuan’s means to count.
Huala!
As soon as Zhang Xuan walked into the folded space, he was assaulted by innumerable surges of sword qi, saber qi, and all kinds of different forces.
Knowing that those attacks came from the weapon spirits of the artifacts stored in the room, Zhang Xuan nimbly dodged all of the attacks coming his way.
Ding ding ding ding!
Ten minutes later, Zhang Xuan looked at the huge array of weapons before him with glowing eyes.
As expected of the treasure vault of the Ethereal Hall headquarters, there were more than thirty Semi-Divinity artifacts and over two hundred Heavenly High Immortal-tier artifacts!
Even if one gathered every last weapon on the Forsaken Continent, it was unlikely that their value would surpass what he had right before him.
It was hard to tell whether this was the inventory that the Ethereal Hall had managed to accumulate over the years or what they had stolen from the Hall of Gods. Well, regardless of where they came from, the only thing that mattered was that they had all become his.
With a grand wave of his hands, he stowed all of them into his storage ring.
Then, he turned his attention to the jade bottles by the side. All kinds of pills were flying around the room like a bunch of chirpy canaries.
They were all Heavenly High Immortal-tier pills, and they were effective even on Semi-Divinity realm cultivators. What caught Zhang Xuan’s attention more though were the thousand or so Premier Immortal Pills placed atop the shelves.
Stowing away everything around him, Zhang Xuan needed three whole storage rings before he was able to collect everything in the treasure vault.
First and foremost, I should raise my cultivation to Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm!
Instead of hurrying out of the treasure vault, he took a seat in the middle of the room. He got out the Premier Immortal Pills and stuffed them into his mouth as he immersed his consciousness into his Great Codex of Spring and Autumn.
The feeling of not having to worry about having insufficient cultivation resources was truly an exhilarating experience for Zhang Xuan. He felt like he had never been so extravagant before. Was this how it felt to be loaded?
A few breaths later, he stood back up.
As of that moment, he had managed to raise his cultivation to Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm and reinforced it. With this, he could be considered to have reached the very peak of the Forsaken Continent.
As long as Kong shi had not reached the level of the gods yet, he was confident that he could fight on equal footing with the other party.
After he was done, he left the treasure vault and returned to where Du Qingyuan was.
Du Qingyuan had not recovered from the earlier shock yet. There was a dazed look on her face that made it look as if she was daydreaming.
“Palace Master Du, do you know how we can return to Starchaser Palace from here?” Zhang Xuan snapped Du Qingyuan out of her daze.
He had previously gone there through the Azure Bridge, and he had only managed to leave through the ability of Kong shi’s Evanescent Boots.
In other words, he had no idea how he could return to the Forsaken Continent from there without the Azure Bridge.
However, there was a good chance that Du Qingyuan might have an idea in mind. After all, she had been taken there before the Azure Bridge descended.
“My cultivation was sealed when Hall Master Kong brought me here, so I wasn’t able to move around freely. However, I was still able to deduce his technique.” Palace Master Du quickly gathered her thoughts before continuing. “If I’m not mistaken, he traveled here through the Ethereal Token.”
“Ethereal Token?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
He knew that it was possible for the Ethereal Token to transport one’s consciousness to enter the Ethereal Hall, but did it really wield the ability to teleport a person’s entire body?
“That’s right. Don’t underestimate the prowess of the Ethereal Token. It might be small, but its functions are rather remarkable. Just its ability to teleport items you have bought in the Ethereal Hall already makes it an amazing artifact,” Du Qingyuan said.
Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
It was easy to take the Ethereal Token for granted, but if one thought about it, it was actually a pretty incredible artifact. The act of teleporting items around was already one usage of Spatial Teleportation.
“My guess is that he used it together with the Blackmirror Citadel’s Paragon Blackmirror. The Paragon Blackmirror has the ability to pull one’s soul into a mirror, and it’s also capable of materializing what that is stored within the mirror. Usually, we can only access the Ethereal Hall with our consciousness, but through the Paragon Blackmirror, it might be possible to enter the illusory Ethereal Hall with one’s real body,” Du Qingyuan deduced.
While the Ethereal Hall that cultivators immersed their consciousness into was often described as ‘illusory’, it was very much existent in the world. The fact that it was possible for individuals to interact with the environment and one another was enough to prove its existence.
It was just that it existed on another dimensional plane, making it impossible for living cultivators to enter it with their physical bodies. The differences in the spatial structures of the two dimensional planes made it impossible for a living person to even survive the journey into the Ethereal Hall. As such, even though it was possible to take items in and out of the Ethereal Hall, no cultivator had managed to step into the Ethereal Hall with their physical body before.
However, through reflecting the ‘illusory’ Ethereal Hall on the Paragon Blackmirror, one would be able to bind it to the mirror’s dimensional plane. Then, using the Paragon Blackmirror as a gateway, it might be possible to physically enter the ‘illusory’ Ethereal Hall safely.
“If he used the Paragon Blackmirror to reflect the illusory Ethereal Hall before using the mirror to reflect himself, it’s likely that he’s able to freely move around the branches of the Ethereal Hall…”
Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in astonishment.
That explained why Kong shi had wanted to obtain the Evanescent Boots, the Paragon Blackmirror, and the altar… Those three wielded exceptional abilities!
If one could enter the illusory Ethereal Hall with one’s real body, through the connections between the illusory Ethereal Hall and all the Ethereal Tokens, it would technically be possible to teleport one to wherever an Ethereal Token existed.
Basically, it worked in a similar manner to how one retrieved purchased items from the Ethereal Hall.
Who could have thought that the Ethereal Token and Paragon Blackmirror could actually be used in such a manner? Unbelievable!
Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before pointing out the main problem. “But we don’t have the Paragon Blackmirror with us…”
Even if they had figured out how Kong shi managed to move around, it would make no difference if they did not have the Paragon Blackmirror with them.
“No, wait… Even though we don’t have the Paragon Blackmirror with us, we can still create a folded space that we can enter and teleport through the Ethereal Token!” Zhang Xuan smacked his forehead.
Why did he not think about it earlier?
“That does sound feasible, but I don’t think it’s that easy to create a folded space stable enough to carry life while traveling into the illusory Ethereal Hall,” Du Qingyuan replied with a frown.
It was the kind of thing that sounded theoretically feasible but might not work in practice.
For one, creating a folded space was no easy feat on the Forsaken Continent.
If so, the Six Sects would have long uncovered such a transportation technique, and they would not have to spend days on end sitting atop aerial immortal beasts to move around.
More importantly, it could be extremely dangerous. This medium of transportation was under the control of the Ethereal Hall, and if anything went wrong, they might fall into the cracks of space and be unable to return.
“It might be difficult to do it anywhere else, but in here… Well, just wait here for a moment,” Zhang Xuan said before disappearing.
He could easily create stable folded spaces back on the Master Teacher Continent, but it was not as easy to do so there.
However, while he was still unable to do it, it did not mean that others would be unable to do so. In fact, there was one nearby waiting for his picking.
The treasure vault earlier was one perfect example of a stable folded space that could carry life.
With a grasp of his hand, Zhang Xuan compressed the folded space in the treasure vault until it fitted nicely in his palm.
Boom!
With his cultivation reaching Heavenly Semi-Divinity realm, his current strength was definitely on par with Kong shi’s previously. While he did not possess the Heavens’ Order, which granted one superior powers over spacetime, he was at least still able to manipulate a folded space like that.
Hu!
He took out a storage ring and placed the sealed folded space into it.
“Palace Master Du, please enter the folded space.”
Du Qingyuan nodded as she lowered her guard.
In the next moment, she vanished from the spot.
After pulling Du Qingyuan into the folded space, Zhang Xuan took out an Ethereal Token and infused his consciousness into it.
Even though he was in a place impossible to access from the Forsaken Continent, considering how he was in the Ethereal Hall headquarters, he should still be able to access the illusory Ethereal Hall without any trouble and contact the others.
Soon enough, Han Jianqiu appeared before him, and upon seeing Zhang Xuan in the Ethereal Hall, he heaved a sigh of relief.
“Sect Leader Zhang, how are you faring over there? Are you still doing fine?”
Shortly after Zhang Xuan entered the portal, the altar on the other side had been destroyed, causing the portal to dissipate. That had left all of them at Starchaser Palace panicking. They had feared that something had happened to Zhang Xuan.
Only when he saw the young man before him once more was he finally able to calm his heart.
“I’m fine. I’ll place a storage ring on the auction later. Buy it and take it out in Starchaser Palace’s Ethereal Hall right after, understood?” Zhang Xuan instructed.
“Yes.” Han Jianqiu nodded even though he did not know what Zhang Xuan was up to.
After instructing Han Jianqiu, he quickly backed out of the Ethereal Hall and placed the storage ring on the Ethereal Hall’s auction. Following that, he brought the Serpentine Dragon out.
“Here is a blank Ethereal Token. I need you to remain here and guard it. Make sure to appear immediately as soon as I call for you, understood?” Zhang Xuan said.
With the recent breakthrough to the Semi-Divinity realm, the Serpentine Dragon’s soul had grown strong enough for it to enter the Ethereal Hall with its consciousness.
Zhang Xuan wanted to return to the Forsaken Continent to look for Kong shi, but there was a chance that he might have to visit the Hall of Gods once more in the future. Thus, he had to prepare in advance.
If he could really return to the Forsaken Continent through this method, he should be able to go back there by liaising with the Serpentine Dragon.
Knowing what its master was trying to do, the Serpentine Dragon nodded. “I understand.”
“Also, make sure to hide well. Don’t let anyone find you. There’s a chance that Hall Master Kong might come back here,” Zhang Xuan instructed sternly.
The Serpentine Dragon nodded before shrinking itself to roughly the size of a thumb.
Its real body, which was several hundred meters long, was simply too conspicuous. It was too easy for someone to spot him even from a distance away. However, if he shrunk himself to the size of a thumb, it would be hard for someone to find him amid the vast hall.
After handling the Serpentine Dragon, Zhang Xuan entered the folded space in the storage ring as well. Following that, the Serpentine Dragon tapped the Ethereal Token lightly, and the storage ring disappeared from view.
On the Forsaken Continent, an Ethereal Token lit up brilliantly as a storage ring materialized from a Teleportation Formation.
Hu!
Zhang Xuan came out from the folded space in the storage ring. When he saw Han Jianqiu and the others, he heaved a deep sigh of relief. “It really worked!”
Even though the plan had sounded feasible in theory, there were many complications that could have happened when putting it into practice. In fact, his heart had been beating worriedly throughout the entire process.
If someone on either side of the Ethereal Token had betrayed him or the Ethereal Hall had noticed what they were up to, they might have ended up banished into the cracks of space.
In any case, it was a huge relief that everything had worked out well. It also appeared that the Ethereal Hall had not noticed what they had done yet.
After all, such trades were held often enough for the Ethereal Hall not to pay close attention to every transaction. “Teacher…”
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan, the eyes of Zhao Ya and the others lit up in agitation.
Zhang Xuan was just about to call them when he noticed something that sent his eyebrows shooting upward. “All of you… have managed to reach the Heavenly High Immortal realm?”
Prior to his departure, Zhao Ya and the others had still been at the True Immortal realm. Yet, at that very moment, all of them had reached the Heavenly High Immortal realm, and it looked as if they were ready to achieve a breakthrough at any moment!
But he had barely been gone for a few hours…
Had his students always been so talented?
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