Chapter 144: Chapter 8: One Hundred Thousand Heavenly Mandate Vitality
“Stop!”
Just as Sun Qiang’s hammer was about to strike again, a white-bearded elder rushed over and stood in front of the stone wall.
“If you want to destroy the Xuanlong Palm stone wall, step over my dead body!”
“Very well!”
Taking the hammer from Sun Qiang’s hand, Zhang Xuan swung it single-handedly and smashed fiercely towards the elder.
Before he even reached him, a great oppressive force surged forward, as if to tear him apart.
“Zhang laoshi…” Lu Mingrong’s face changed.
This was a Pavilion Elder from the Han Yuan Dynasty, notorious for his foul and firm temperament, known for his blunt words. After retiring from worldly affairs to live out his days here, he came to this place daily upon learning of this palm art—not to fully grasp it but merely to pass the time. Should anything go wrong, the whole Baiyan Academy would surely be plunged into crisis.
“You…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the “Pavilion Elder” felt that the man in front of him really dared to strike and, scared, his legs weakened, he no longer dared to block the way and quickly dodged to the side.
Bang!
The hammer struck the stone wall.
If he hadn’t dodged, it would have surely hit his chest.
Although with his cultivation, he wouldn’t have been killed on the spot, he would have definitely been severely injured and incapacitated for a short period.
Where did this madman come from, to even dare to attack him?
The Pavilion Elder, so furious that his face turned red, dared not utter another word of nonsense.
It takes a villain to subdue a villain. Faced with such impolite behavior, one can not afford to be courteous with them, or else who knows how long they would dally.
Ignoring the other party, Zhang Xuan’s faced carried a slight smile.
The Library of Heaven’s Path had already marked the method to break it: only strength surpassing 99 horsepower could shatter it, Sun Qiang definitely could not succeed, letting him strike was just to see everyone’s reactions.
Indeed, some tried to intervene while others just watched the excitement.
But, he cared not for any of that, a Heaven-Sentiment Sword Qi burrowed into the hammer; in the blink of an eye, the originally heavy and cumbersome iron turned exceedingly sharp and pierced right into a specific spot.
Crash!
The sturdy stone wall immediately shook, revealing a series of ferocious cracks, and then with a “boom!”, they spread densely around.
“It’s all over, completely over!”
The Pavilion Elder, who had dodged to the side earlier, watched as the stone wall he had studied for many years was smashed to pieces, his spirit devastated, as if in mourning.
“Why? This is a cultivation method that has been passed down for hundreds of years, just destroyed like this!”
“Even if it’s hard to comprehend, as long as we persevere, someone will eventually succeed, why do this…”
Not only he, but everyone present was also in a daze.
Having invested so much to decipher this palm art, watching it being smashed by the man in front of them was more than anyone could bear.
“Let’s not rush to grieve, everyone look quickly…”
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted out, everyone hurriedly looked up, immediately seeing behind the broken stone wall, a smaller Risegreen Rock was exposed.
Lu Mingrong was stunned for a moment, quickly approached, placed his arm on the cracked rock, and gently pressed down, his strength bursting forth, his aura like a rainbow.
Crash!
The broken stone flew about, revealing a Risegreen Rock about ten feet tall, the series of characters on it, similar to the outside yet even more complete and coherent. If the tombstone outside had incomplete cultivation methods, this was likely the detailed version.
“Is this… the real Xuanlong Palm?”
After just one glance, Lu Mingrong realized, his pupils sharply contracting: “Hidden within the tombstone? No wonder no one could comprehend it…”
Zhang Xuan nodded and also looked over.
Numerous characters once again transformed into a series of dragons, evolving into a brilliant palm art. This time there were no changes, it became fixed, allowing one to follow and practice.
“Hmm? What is that?”
After examining all the characters and memorizing them, Zhang Xuan’s eyes fell on the exact spot where the hammer had struck; all of a sudden, his whole body trembled as he instantly felt a gloomy strength directly entering his body, rushing towards his mind.
“Could it be that…”
Zhang Xuan’s face changed.
He had not expected that by damaging the Fate Lock on the stone tablet, it would trigger the precautions left on it, transferring the thing that locks a person’s destiny directly into his body!
Although his understanding of it was limited to just Lu Mingrong’s explanation, he knew without guesswork that once affected, it would definitely lock part of his destiny, making it impossible to escape.
And destiny, being intangible and elusive—even if not successful, is hard to detect, only after decades or even centuries can one realize, by then it would be too late to react.
“Let’s see if this thing is stronger, or if I am stronger!”
Harnessing the Pathos of Heaven sword art within his body, intending to annihilate it, the Library of Heaven’s Path in his mind suddenly trembled lightly.
Crash!
An object resembling a golden lock appeared within it, quietly floating in mid-air.
“Has it been confined by the library?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.
He had thought that this object would put him in a passive position, but he never expected the Library of Heaven’s Path to be so defiant, swallowing it directly…
“No, why does this thing feel so familiar?”
Curiosity rising uncontrollably, he glanced at the golden lock before him, and the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.
This was not a physical lock but an item formed by the condensation of some special aura. Familiar streams of aura flowed over the body of the lock, occasionally leaking one or two streams, forming a book that emitted fluorescence and floated down into the bookshelf.
“Are these all… Heavenly Mandate Vitality?”
His eyes widened, filled with disbelief.
This Fate Lock was indeed formed from the gathering of Heavenly Mandate Vitality and was clearly richer and more abundant than the Yuan Power in the Destiny Plate.
If one Destiny Plate could hold up to Ten Thousand Paths at its limit, this object before him contained at least a hundred thousand paths, if not more!
The only difference was that the Heavenly Mandate Vitality in it seemed to contain special intent, moving left and right, trying to break free from the restrictions of the Library of Heaven’s Path.
If the Yuan Power in the Destiny Plate belonged to no one, then the Fate Lock had an owner and was under someone else’s control.
“Come out!”
With a thought, the Library of Heaven’s Path began to shake, and the next moment, the intent contained within the Fate Lock was forcibly extracted, slowly appearing before him.
It was a middle-aged man with a sullen face.
“Who are you? How could you possibly extract my intent from the Fate Lock?”
The man was full of disbelief.
“The fact that I can do this means I could kill you as easily as turning my hand. If you don’t want to die, then cut the crap…” Zhang Xuan spoke indifferently.
Now, this Library of Heaven’s Path belonged to a new world, and thus, as long as he was here, he was the true master, his power and abilities endless. Not only could he extract intent, but killing the other party was also just a thought away!
“Dreaming of extracting information from me…” the middle-aged man scoffed coldly.
“Enough! I shouldn’t have given you the chance to talk nonsense!”
Seeing that he was unwilling to talk, Zhang Xuan was too lazy to waste words, pointed his finger forward, and with the blink of an eye, the man’s memories were extracted and fell into his mind.
After viewing the memories, Zhang Xuan’s eyes filled with confusion.
This middle-aged man, named Wang Chang, was a Life Master from hundreds of years ago. The Xuanlong Palm was originally created by him. His disciples, relying on the powerful palm art, committed evils everywhere, even harming his daughter. In grief and anger, he personally cleaned up his household, but was severely injured in the process.
After killing the perpetrators, not wanting the secret manual he had crafted so painstakingly to disappear, he carved it into this tombstone, yet not wanting others to learn it and commit evils… Thus, he condensed all his strength into this Fate Lock, sealing the practice method of the Xuanlong Palm, ensuring that no one could successfully practice it…
“Humans truly are contradictory creatures!”
Zhang Xuan shook his head.
Wanting to leave the cultivation method for remembrance, yet fearing others would learn it… This guy was really quite extreme.
“The Fate Lock contains a Life Master’s intent, and as long as the intent is not destroyed, the destiny will not change…”
At this moment, Zhang Xuan’s understanding of the Fate Lock had also become much clearer: “This object is woven from Heavenly Mandate Vitality combined with soul energy, and can lock the destiny of cultivators or any being with destiny…”
From the man’s memories, it was apparent that the Fate Lock was indeed very difficult to refine, and those who could successfully do so were at least masters of the Establish-Fate Realm.
Seeking Fate, Resignation, Knowing One’s Fate, Establish-Fate…
These were the realms of a Four-Star Fate Master.
No wonder many Fate Masters from the Heaven Mandate Hall of the Han Yuan Dynasty did not notice anything unusual. A Four-Star Fate Master, in such a remote place like the Han Yuan Dynasty, simply did not exist.
“Destroy!”
After examining the memory, the persistent intent before him was no longer of use to him, and Zhang Xuan, too lazy to waste words, snapped his fingers.
“No…”
Accompanied by a scream, the intent of Wang Chang instantly turned into a myriad of stars and disappeared before him.
Approaching the Fate Lock, Zhang Xuan thoughtfully activated it, and the Heavenly Mandate Vitality contained within rapidly dispersed, turning into streams of thick strength, forming book after book in the sky…
In a short while, it was completely dispersed, forming as many as a hundred thousand books!
That meant, the small Fate Lock just now was indeed gathered from a hundred thousand paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality! Truly fitting for a Four-Star Fate Master, possessing so many paths of intent, incredibly wealthy…
Having just lost ten thousand paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality to study this thing, he thought it was a loss, but it turned out to be a huge profit.
With a face full of joy, Zhang Xuan slowly opened his eyes.
“It turns out we’ve been practicing all wrong…”
“After all this fuss, there are three more characters after this character, and I’ve always taken it as an acupoint, truly embarrassing to the extreme!”
“Me too, I took that line as the summary of practice, and after all this fuss, it turned out to be an insignificant phrase, no wonder I could never practice successfully!”
…
As consciousness returned, he immediately heard a succession of murmuring sounds around him. The people who had been practicing intensely, after realizing that the direction of their research was always wrong, all had embarrassed faces.
Especially the Pavilion Elder who had just obstructed, his face now turned even redder, not knowing whether to stay or go.
Clearly, he was the one who knew nothing, yet he still obstructed…
Ignoring the expressions and thoughts of the people around him, Zhang Xuan turned to School Head Lu, his expression slightly excited: “School Head Lu, are there more cultivation methods like this in our academy? I’d like to try more…”