Chapter 2178: Battle Against the God King (Part 1)

Someone was ambushing!

Looking down, below was a dense forest, and the massive buildings of the Nether Soul Imperial City were less than five li behind him.

In other words, he had just left the imperial city when someone couldn't hold back and made a move against him!

He had used the Great Teleportation Formation to leave without telling anyone. The only ones who knew were Sun Qiang, Qi Ling'er, and the others. Yet even so, they had managed to set up an ambush in advance. It seemed that every move he made was under surveillance. The Beauty Pill truly drove people mad.

His body fell faster and faster. Zhang Xuan looked up and saw six flying divine beasts swooping down from the sky, each bearing a black-clad figure holding a long spear, pursuing closely.

The flying divine beast beneath him had been killed by the ambushers.

In the Divine Realm, without reaching the God King realm, one could not fly independently. Although Zhang Xuan was now at the peak of the Upper Grade God, invincible below God Kings, he still could not hover in the sky without a flying divine beast.

"It seems I must learn to fly before finishing my study of swordsmanship..."

With his strength and experience from the Master Teacher Continent and the Firmament, learning to fly should not be difficult. But after reaching the peak of Upper Grade God and taking the medical examination, he had been busy and had no time.

Now that his flying divine beast had fallen, if he didn't learn to fly, falling from such a height would either kill him or severely reduce his combat power. Then, facing a siege, winning would not be easy.

Boom!

The six figures in the air thrust simultaneously, spear light howling, cold air rushing toward him.

They were six super experts at the peak of Upper Grade God!

And they struck with full force from the start.

Six streaks of spear light, combined with the speed of the flying divine beasts and the force of his fall—if he didn't block, he couldn't dodge; if he blocked, he would fall even faster.

Although his body had recovered significantly after tempering, he dared not take risks in a critical moment.

If he failed to block, he would really die here.

"No choice, I have to do this..."

Seeing the spear light and the ground both approaching, Zhang Xuan closed his eyes.

"???"

Seeing his action, the six attackers all had question marks over their heads.

Giving up just like that?

At least fight back!

All our preparations are useless... This is awkward!

Ignoring their expressions, Zhang Xuan immersed his mind in the Spring and Autumn Canon within the library.

Though time was tight, he still had at least two seconds before hitting the ground. Converted to time in the Spring and Autumn Canon, that was twenty thousand seconds, five and a half hours!

Enough for him to comprehend flight techniques, perhaps even learn to fly.

His confidence came from a martial technique he had learned on the Master Teacher Continent—the Dusty Heaven Treading Step!

This technique had allowed him to fly easily at the first level of Mortal Transformation. Now at the peak of Upper Grade God, with abundant power comparable to an ordinary God King, if he could modify it to suit his current physique, flying should not be difficult.

With a thought, the technique of the Dusty Heaven Treading Step flew out in the library.

"Correct!"

All the techniques and scriptures he had seen in the Divine Realm merged with it.

A brand new secret technique appeared in his palm.

He tapped it with his finger, and knowledge flowed into his mind.

"It seems the techniques of the Divine Realm and the Master Teacher Continent cannot be conflated..."

He had thought this would form a Heavenly Dao technique, saving him the trouble of research. Now it seemed he had been too naive.

The Heavenly Dao of the two worlds differed, and the bodies and meridians of cultivators were entirely different concepts, incompatible.

He could only modify this technique according to his current physique.

Letting the essence of the technique flow through his mind, he deliberated over and over. After an unknown time, a new formula emerged in his mind.

The Dusty Heaven Treading Step used the power within the body to counter the ground's gravity. It sounded simple, but the operation was extremely complex, allowing no errors or omissions.

Ordinarily, even if it suited his body, flying smoothly would not be easy. But Zhang Xuan had practiced it before, and his understanding of the formula was ingrained in his bones. Using it again felt as natural as before.

Power circulated through his body once, and indeed, the surrounding air seemed to be under control. He suddenly opened his eyes.

At that moment, he was less than ten meters from the ground!

Seeing that the spears above were still pursuing relentlessly, not stopping even as he was about to hit the ground, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly, raised his eyebrows, and revealed a powerful divine might in his eyes. At the same time, a cry came from his throat.

"Hum, moo..."

Dragon Eight Sounds!

The true dragon sound of the dragon race, though not as effective on other beast races as on those with dragon blood, would still shake their minds and make them dare not resist.

Although it didn't last long, they were now very close to the ground, and any slight negligence would be irreparable!

After doing this, he activated the Dust-Stomping Heaven-Stepping Step, stepping on his left foot with his right, and with a sudden push, he slipped out like a loach, skimming the ground, escaping from the spear light of the six, and the next moment, hovering in the sky not far away.

He eliminated the force of the fall and flew up, but the six experts and their divine beasts, who were in hot pursuit, were not so lucky. Just as they were dizzy from the Eight Dragon Sounds and barely awake, they found themselves less than a meter from the ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Six dull thuds, and the six experts along with the six divine beasts crashed heavily onto the ground, smashing one pit after another.

Zhang Xuan had controlled the flying divine beast at an altitude of over two thousand meters. Under gravity, they already had tremendous speed, and with them driving their divine beasts to chase, they were even faster. In an instant, they all fell, dazed and disoriented, some unable to hold on.

Especially the six divine beasts, their internal organs ruptured; without timely treatment, they were practically finished.

"Now is the time!"

With a cold snort, Zhang Xuan's body flickered, and he appeared before one of the youths.

Bringing his fingers together like a sword, he pointed through the air.

Puchi!

Sword qi pierced through the opponent's brow, and before he could even make a sound, his breath ceased.

Both were at the peak of Upper Grade Heavenly God, but originally, his strength was no match for Zhang Xuan, and now, dizzy from the fall, how could he resist?

His figure flickered, and in less than a breath, all six attackers had sword wounds between their brows, their breaths ceased.

Having slain them, Zhang Xuan reached out with his hand, and the storage rings on their bodies and the long spears in their hands all fell into his palm.

These spears were all Upper Grade Heavenly God Artifacts, still of great use to him. As for the storage rings, after a quick scan, there was plenty of money, but no more powerful weapons.

After looting everything, he was about to pick an injured divine beast, heal it, and continue his journey, when suddenly a strong sense of crisis arose in his heart, and he instinctively dodged to the side.

Swish!

A sword light landed exactly where he had been standing, and the ground instantly split open, forming a huge chasm spanning hundreds of meters.

The hard rock below was as weak and fragile as tofu under the attack of the sword light.

It was foreseeable that even with his current formidable body, if hit, he would be injured immediately.

His face dark, he quickly looked toward the direction from which the sword light came, and saw a middle-aged man flying over step by step.

"Able to fly... a Divine King?"

His pupils contracted, and Zhang Xuan clenched his fists.

After killing six Heavenly God peak experts, the one who wanted the Beauty Pill formula finally revealed himself—a Divine King level expert!

Such experts, each standing at the pinnacle of the divine realm, revered by countless people, yet now he ambushed him as soon as he left the imperial city, disregarding all dignity!

"Able to fly without reaching the Divine King realm, effortlessly killing six of my subordinates in one breath, and even refining such heaven-defying pills as the Barrier-Breaking Pill and Beauty Pill... it seems you are far more formidable than I imagined!"

The middle-aged man stopped, only thirty or forty meters away from Zhang Xuan.

He had thought that an alchemist would be easy prey, not requiring his personal intervention, but he didn't expect such strength, killing all his subordinates in the blink of an eye.

"Who are you? Why ambush me? Aren't you afraid of offending the Qi family?"

Zhang Xuan squinted.

He had long known from Qi Ling'er that the Qi family was protecting him. Was this man not afraid of them, charging at him openly?

"The Qi family? I am very afraid, but I only want the formula, not to kill you, and... they don't know I'm here!"

The middle-aged man smiled faintly.

The Qi family had a Sealed Divine King, the strongest below the Divine Lord; even as a Divine King, he would be worried, but as long as he wasn't discovered, it was fine!

Since he was going after this person, how could he not consider the forces behind him?

Zhang Xuan was startled and quickly looked around, his face immediately darkening.

Around this forest, a special formation had been set up, perfectly concealing the aura of battle, making it undetectable. He had been too focused on cultivation earlier and hadn't noticed that the flying divine beast had brought him in!

It was even possible that the other party had used some special method to lure the divine beast he was riding.

"You want the formulas for the Barrier-Breaking Pill and the Beauty Pill?"

Letting out a breath, Zhang Xuan looked over.

"Talking to a smart man saves effort!" The middle-aged man laughed. "Don't think you can escape. Though your strength is considerable, compared to a Divine King, you are still far behind!"

"What if I don't give them?"

Zhang Xuan said.

"Then I'll kill you! Since I know you have the Qi family behind you, do you think I would let you leave alive if you don't speak?"

The middle-aged man smiled faintly.

Knowing that the other party had a Sealed Divine King backing him, this ambush was both the first and the last. Whether successful or not, he couldn't let the other party leave, or he would face utter disaster.

"So you think you have me cornered?"

Zhang Xuan was not flustered but shook his head: "But... what if I don't give them to you?"