Chapter 1359: Zhang Xuan Beaten

The river was a spiritual vein, its spiritual energy so dense it was almost tangible.

The gourd hung beneath it, absorbing power and growing slowly.

"Just pick it off and take it over..."

Letting out a breath, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly.

To advance, he only needed to gather Heavenly Dao techniques and enough spirit stones. Although the Dongxu Gourd was precious, it was of little use to him; it was better to use it to build relationships. At that time, a few kind words from Luo Xuanqing would be far more effective than his own desperate efforts.

His arm stretched out, and he grabbed fiercely.

Though he still didn't use his power, his understanding of space had reached the third level of the Yanspace Heavenly Scripture. As his hand grasped, the surrounding space seemed to solidify, and the gourd, like a fish trapped in a cage, had all its escape routes sealed.

Just as his hand was about to touch the gourd, the emerald object suddenly shook as if waking from sleep.

Crack!

The sealed space instantly split, and Zhang Xuan felt a tremendous force pressing down, as if to shatter his arm into dust.

"Hmm?"

His pupils contracted. Unable to hold back, he instantly activated his internal power, and true qi surged, forming a massive barrier.

With his increased understanding of space, even using power now wouldn't provoke an attack.

Whoosh!

The gourd in front of him wiggled its bottom on the vine.

Rip!

The barrier, like torn paper, showed huge cracks. Then, like a mountain crashing down from the sky, Zhang Xuan raised his hands to meet it. He felt a sharp pain, and with a "Boom!" he was sent flying backward.

He crashed heavily to the ground, his face pale.

When he stood up again, he felt his entire arm had gone numb, and his bones were nearly shattered.

His physical body had reached the level of a half-step top-grade sacred artifact. Even a mid-grade sacred artifact striking him would feel like nothing, but this light tremor caused excruciating pain. The gourd's power was beyond imagination.

"Damn it!"

He circulated Heavenly Dao true qi to heal his injuries, then looked at the gourd not far away, his eyes reddening.

"I refuse to believe I can't catch you!"

Taking a deep breath, he flipped his wrist, and a longsword appeared in his palm. He lightly traced it, and a sword light shot out like a lotus.

Lingxu Sword!

Since this Dongxu Gourd could help one comprehend the Dongxu realm, its level was probably not low. Having suffered a great loss just now, he dared not be arrogant and directly summoned his strongest weapon.

Zzzz!

As the Lingxu Sword appeared, the surrounding space twisted, as if it might tear at any moment.

The folded space was inherently less stable than the outside world. With his understanding of space reaching the third level, even if he couldn't break the shackles here, it was easy to cause momentary distortion.

Whoosh!

"Seeing" the sword aura approach, the gourd wiggled again, like a big-bottomed thing flaunting its charm.

Zzzt!

With a light shake of its mighty power, the magnificent sword aura halted, like a piece of wood hitting steel, unable to advance an inch.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan's eyebrows jumped.

Although he hadn't used a move from the Three Lingxu Sword Techniques, this strike still employed the True Interpretation of offensive techniques, combined with the Lingxu Sword. Even an early-stage Saint Domain Seventh Layer Ruxu cultivator wouldn't dare face it head-on... Yet the gourd just twisted its body and blocked it, rendering his effort useless...

Wasn't it too powerful!

"Go!"

Holding nothing back, a hundred and eight longswords appeared before him.

Swoosh!

Sword aura crisscrossed, sword intent shattered the sea. As the true qi in his body was instantly drained, the hundred-plus swords converged into a long rainbow, shooting straight at the gourd.

Pata!

The gourd sensed the power of this move and wiggled even more joyfully. Wiggling too much, it "plopped" off the vine, turned around, and met the attack.

Boom, boom, boom!

Colliding with the sword aura, ripples appeared in the air, radiating colorful light.

One Sword Breaks the Sea, though immensely powerful, seemed ineffective against the gourd. The sword light clattered against it, leaving not even a white mark. Instead, the gourd accelerated, and in the blink of an eye, it shattered the entire sword technique.

"So strong?"

His pupils contracted, and Zhang Xuan's hair stood on end.

One Sword Breaks the Sea was currently his strongest ultimate move. When fully executed, he wouldn't fear even Yuan Xiao and the others.

But... such a powerful technique was so easily broken, leaving him utterly incredulous.

Too powerful!

However, the gourd seemed to give him no time to think. After breaking One Sword Breaks the Sea, it was instantly before him, slamming hard into his chest.

After executing the Three Lingxu Sword Techniques, his true qi was nearly depleted. Seeing the gourd so ferocious, he couldn't even dodge. Without further thought, he raised both hands to meet it, while rapidly circulating his Wu Soul to add soul power.

Previously, after exhausting his true qi, his combat power would be zero. But now, with his physical body and Wu Soul realms elevated, he still had considerable strength from these two alone.

Bang!

With a sound of bones breaking, Zhang Xuan's arms were shattered on the spot.

His body flew backward again, crashing to the ground, breaking several ribs and sternum bones.

The gourd was simply too strong. Not only did it break One Sword Breaks the Sea, but it also shook him into severe injury.

If not for the sword technique blocking some of the force, he would have been dead or close to it.

Swoosh!

Limp all over, before he could get up, he saw the detached gourd shake in the air and charge at him again.

This time it was faster, as if to break through spatial shackles, not stopping until it killed him.

His face turned pale.

At full strength, he was no match. Now, with true qi depleted and severely injured, if he let the gourd attack, he would likely be killed outright.

"Space seal, clone!"

Unaware of the outside situation, but to prevent Luo Xuanqing and the others from seeing, he flicked his finger to seal the surrounding space, blocking outside prying eyes. At the same time, he released his clone.

The clone had cultivated the Heavenly Dao Wu Soul secret technique, greatly increasing its strength. Its combat power was much stronger than his, so it should be able to hold off for a moment.

Whoosh!

The clone appeared, communicated mentally, and immediately understood the situation. It clenched its fist and met the gourd.

But though fast, it was still slower than the gourd. Before its fist could land, the gourd was already before it.

Pata!

It hit the clone right in the face, instantly flattening it into the shape of a gourd.

"Holy crap..."

The clone went berserk: "How dare you hurt me! I'll kill you!"

Every time it came out, it would mock the original and show off. This time, before it could even speak, it was flattened by a gourd. Intense rage made it nearly explode.

Roaring, it threw a punch.

Boom!

They clashed. The clone staggered, its lips trembling, and quickly turned its head: "Can't beat it, run!"

Though its combat power was stronger than Zhang Xuan's, it was still far inferior to this gourd.

"Run?"

Zhang Xuan was stunned.

He had come to take the gourd, but before even touching it, he was beaten into fleeing... That seemed a bit hard to justify!

"If you don't run, you come and hold it off. I'm not sticking around..."

After continuous attacks and blocking the gourd's strikes, the clone was also battered beyond recognition, its face no longer human. It gritted its teeth and shouted.

You hide behind and run away, while I get beaten this badly, and you still ask why run...

If you're not running, then come up and fight!

"Alright!"

His face reddened, knowing that with true qi depleted, he was no match. Zhang Xuan hesitated no longer. With a grab, he collected the clone and the many swords into his ring, then flickered and quickly retreated the way he came.

Crack!

The gourd seemed unwilling to let him go, pressing down again. Zhang Xuan blocked once more, feeling his body about to explode as he flew backward. But by then, he had reached the spot where the illusion had appeared earlier. With a flicker, he vanished from the spot.

In midair, he vaguely saw the gourd, after knocking him away, return to the vine with satisfaction, shake lightly, and hang back on it.

The vine instantly recovered, as if it had never come down.

...

Outside.

Watching the figure that had walked in not far away, Luo Xuanqing and the others were worried.

"Master Zhang... should be fine, right?"

"Master Zhang has a deep understanding of formations. Even if this isn't a formation, it's similar. He should be fine."

"Yes, as long as he can resist unsealing his cultivation, he should be fine..."

Everyone discussed, but deep down they had no confidence.

Especially Luo Xuanqing. He had brought so many people and spent such a great cost. If they couldn't even see the gourd, he wouldn't know what to do.

"Look, Master Zhang is moving forward..."

Yuan Xiao suddenly said.

Everyone quickly looked and saw that Zhang Xuan, who had been not far away, took two steps forward and abruptly vanished from the spot.

"He must have passed..."

His eyes lit up. Just as Luo Xuanqing felt excited, he saw a figure fly straight back, "Bang!" crashing not far away, spitting blood profusely.

"Master Zhang..."

Everyone was startled. They rushed over, their eyes full of worry.

"I'm fine..."

Struggling to sit up, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he had run fast. As soon as he entered the illusion space, he continued to leap backward. Otherwise, he would have died at that thing's hands.

"Did Master Zhang also release his power and get injured by the formation?"

Seeing his severe injuries, Luo Xuanqing couldn't help asking.

They had all been injured by the formation when they involuntarily released their power. This one was even worse off. Could it be the same reason?

Had he encountered something unbearable too?

"No..."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

"Then what injured you?"

Exchanging glances, Yuan Xiao was curious.

Could there be something else in this space besides the formation that could hurt people?

If so, they'd have to be careful...

"I was..."

Zhang Xuan was utterly ashamed: "Beaten by a gourd..."