novelThe Use of the Altar
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2074 The Use of the Altar
Those words made Zhang Xuan frown.
"Their soul auras are identical, and his comprehension of battle techniques has reached the same level as Heaven's Path battle techniques too."
Zhang Xuan didn't want to believe the other party was the World's Teacher from the depths of his heart as well, but no matter how he looked at it, they were indeed the same person!
It might be possible for someone to copy Kong shi's soul aura, but surely there should be no way for one to copy the latter's comprehension of battle techniques as well?
If not for his clone's breakthrough and the aid of so many Semi-Divinity realm beasts and artifacts, victory might not have been theirs to claim.
To put it in other words, the other party was no weaker than him, who had cultivated the Heaven's Path Divine Art.
If the other party wasn't the real Kong shi... honestly, Zhang Xuan could think of no one else who could be so powerful.
Furthermore, he was unable to peer through the other party's real identity through the Library of Heaven's Path as well. Other than someone who possessed the Heavens' Order, who else could possibly conceal themselves before the Library of Heaven's Path?
"I have crossed hands with Kong shi many times in my lifetime, so I know very well just what kind of person he is. Even though the person whom you have encountered earlier appears to be identical to Kong shi, I am certain that that fellow isn't him! If he was really Kong shi, there's no way your clones and tamed beasts would have been able to defeat him so easily!" Vicious said.
Those words immediately sent Zhang Xuan deep in thought.
"Back then, I captured a disciple of his quietly in order to lure him into a trap. He could have simply feigned ignorance so as to not put himself in danger, but he still charged right into my trap without any hesitation... Despite knowing that there was a real threat of death, he was still willing to charge forward bravely. He has been my nemesis for my entire lifetime, but at the same time, I respect him deeply for his character. There's no way he would have did earlier!" Vicious said.
"Furthermore, if what that fellow said is true, there's no way he would try to take your Heavens' Imperfections when he already has the Heavens' Order. He would be digging his own grave if he tries to acquire two fragments of the heavens at once!"
Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
Even the threat from a single fragment of the heavens was enough to put one in great danger. If Kong shi were to acquire the Heavens' Imperfections on top of that, there was a good chance that he would end up being assimilated by the heavens.
But if the other party wasn't Kong shi, who else could he possibly be?
"There's no point thinking so deeply into it. For the time being, I should focus on saving Du Qingyuan. She should know a little more about the matter..."
The altar had been taken away by Kong shi, so there was no reason for him to linger in the area anymore. Zhang Xuan quickly found the exit to the folded space and left this so-called headquarters of the Ethereal Hall, returning back to the Forsaken Continent.
When he finally stepped through the passageway, he found that his surroundings were surprisingly familiar. He was floating in the midst of the ocean, and roughly two hundred li away, there was a towering pillar—the Heaven Anchoring Boulder!
Who could have thought that the headquarters of the elusive Ethereal Hall would actually be located so close to Heaven Anchoring Boulder? It was probably because none of the Six Sects had thought that such a thing would be possible that they had never tried checking the vicinity.
Zhang Xuan quickly made his way over to the Heaven Anchoring Boulder and scaled to its peak. Just as he had expected, the Azure Bridge had already vanished, and the faraway Hall of Gods had disappeared into the depths of the dark sky,
"Sect Leader Zhang, you are fine?"
Seeing that Zhang Xuan had returned alive, Han Jianqiu, Kui Xiao, and the others were slightly stunned for a moment before heaving a deep sigh of relief.
By the time the Azure Bridge retracted, Elder Hong Wu and the others, who had successfully advanced to Semi- Divinity realm, had already returned back to the Heaven Anchoring Boulder. However, no matter how they waited, Zhang Xuan simply didn't appear. They thought that the young man had encountered some kind of danger and was gone for good, but who could have thought that he would appear from the bottom of the Heaven Anchoring Boulder instead of from the Azure Bridge?
"It's a long story. Where is Bai Xuansheng and Gu Zhuiyun?" Zhang Xuan scanned the area and asked.
Those two heads, who had defected to the Ethereal Hall, were nowhere to be seen on the Heaven Anchoring Boulder.
"They left hurriedly not too long after you have gotten onto the Azure Bridge. They didn't specify the details of where they are heading to, so we aren't too sure either..." Han Jianqiu replied.
"They left shortly after we got onto the Azure Bridge?"
From the looks of it, it seemed like those two, one way or another, found out that he had managed to kill the geniuses of their sects, so they made sure to escape in advance.
Given that more than twenty hours had passed since then, it would be impossible to find them again now.
"Do you know what other ways there are to enter the Hall of Gods other than through the Azure Bridge?" Zhang Xuan asked.
The others shook their heads in response.
If they knew, they wouldn't have to resort to waiting a hundred years for each opportunity.
There must be other paths to the Hall of Gods other than the Azure Bridge, Zhang Xuan thought deeply.
The fact that Kong shi was able to enter the Hall of Gods and massacre the Hall of Gods showed that he had a way of entering the Hall of Gods without going through the Azure Bridge.
Just the fact that he appeared earlier to save him was an anomaly in itself. The Azure Bridge shouldn't allow anyone whose cultivation had reached Semi-Divinity realm and was over a hundred years of age to step onto it!
But in any case, since the Azure Bridge had disappeared, there was no longer any point in remaining in the area. So, Zhang Xuan and the others quickly flew down the Heaven Anchoring Boulder.
Before they could return back to the sea level, Wu Chen suddenly approached them.
In order not to reveal his strength, he didn't scale to the top of the Heaven Anchoring Boulder together with the others. Instead, he had been standing guard here.
Seeing Wu Chen, a thought suddenly surfaced in Zhang Xuan's mind, and he asked, "Wu Chen, has Palace Master Du ever mentioned any other ways into the Hall of Gods other than the Azure Bridge?"
Han JIanqiu and the others might be unaware of the other possible routes, but Du Qingyuan might just have a clue."She has never mentioned anything like that before, " Wu Chen shook his head.
Zhang Xuan could only sigh helplessly.
It seemed like he was pinning his hopes too much on Du Qingyuan.
If the latter really knew that much, the Starchaser Palace should have long risen to an existence above the Six Sects. At the same time, it wouldn't have been so helpless when the Hall of Gods attacked it as well.
Then... other than the Evanescent Boots, do you know any ways one could traverse through space?" Zhang Xuan turned to Han Jianqiu and the others and asked.
Now that he thought about it, Kong shi was wearing the Evanescent Boots when he traveled from the Hall of Gods back to the Ethereal Hall's headquarters. Perhaps, the key to getting through the barrier left behind the gods and entering the Hall of Gods lay in it.
Traversing through space?"
"It's said to be a feat which only gods are able to pull off."
Han Jianqiu and the others replied.
"A feat that only gods are able to pull off?" Zhang Xuan sighed deeply once more.
If it was possible to reach the level of gods on the Azure, that Kong shi would have surely long achieved it. He wouldn't have to bother resorting to stealing his Library of Heaven's Path.
After been through the Azure Bridge, he realized that reaching the level of the gods didn't just bank on one's talents. Most likely, this world was lacking in a certain quality that was required for one to make the final breakthrough.
Without that quality, Semi-Divinity realm would be the invisible ceiling. No matter how much one cultivated, it would be impossible to overcome this limitation.
Just as Zhang Xuan was still helpless as to how he could return back to the Hall of Gods and save Du Qingyuan, a voice suddenly sounded in the air, "Actually, I think I know of a plausible solution to do it..."
The one who had spoken was no other than Wu Chen.
Zhang Xuan immediately turned his gaze over and said, "Tell me about it."
Wu Chen began speaking, "Under normal circumstances, it's indeed impossible to traverse through space. However, if you were to tap into the mysterious powers of a ritual, it might be possible to pull it off. That was also how Milady managed to overcome two dimension barriers simultaneously back then!"
That answer made Zhang Xuan slap his own face.
How could he possibly have overlooked it when the answer had been right in front of him all along?
In terms of overcoming dimension barriers, what could possibly be more efficient than the rituals of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe?
Even Luo Ruoxin, as the Spirit God, resorted to using such a method in order to traverse through the dimension barriers of the Azure and the Master Teacher Continent. Considering how he was using it to traverse through space in the same world, the difficulty should be much lower.
Wu Chen pondered for a moment before adding on, "However, such a method would require an altar on both sides.
The trick is basically to establish a connection link between the two altars so as to send a person from the location of one altar to the other."
Back when Zhang Xuan was on the Master Teacher Continent, while he was dealing with the copper-masked Qingtian Emperor, he used this trick in order to send people from one altar to the other.
"If that's the case, it might really be possible to pull it off... It could be possible for us to enter the Hall of Gods even without the Azure Bridge!" Zhang Xuan said excitedly.
He had no idea where Kong shi would escape to, but out of safety considerations, there was a good chance that he would return back to the safe Hall of Gods.
If so, Zhang Xuan would be able to create a direct route to teleport him right over there. No matter what, it would be too dangerous to keep that Kong shi alive. Who could predict when the latter would make his next move against him?
"Let's head to the Starchaser Palace!" Zhang Xuan instructed without any hesitation.
Before long, Zhang Xuan was already in the Starchaser Palace, and Elder Jiang Yao was standing right before him.
"This is the altar I used in order to impersonate our palace master, " Elder Jiang Yao said as she took out the altar, as well as the various offerings required to hold a ritual.
As a close aide of Du Qingyuan, she knew a lot about the rituals of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. It didn't take long for the offerings to burn up, and a unique aura drifted forth from the altar.
Zhang Xuan quickly made his way to the top of the altar, waiting for the moment that he would be teleported to the Hall of Gods.
However, even as all of the offerings were burned to cinders, he still remained standing on the same spot.
The ritual didn't work.
Elder Jiang Yao quickly tested it another time, but it didn't work out either.
In the end, she shook her head and said, "It seems like only our Guardian Artifact is capable of pulling off teleportation. The other altars can still be used for conducting minor rituals, but the more major rituals are beyond its capability..."
The altar that Kong shi had taken away was the Guardian Artifact of the Starchaser Palace. It went without saying that it wielded unique abilities.
Considering how their goal was to transport a Heavenly High Immortal across a barrier created by the gods, they would definitely require something more than an ordinary altar.
"That won't work. It's very likely that the altar is in the Hall of Gods right now, " Zhang Xuan's posture slumped a little from disappointment.
If that was the case, it would mean that their plan of getting to the Hall of Gods through a ritual wouldn't work out.
"Young Master, I know where we can find an altar that could be used to hold the ritual. If we return to the Master Teacher Continent and bring the altar used by the Spirit Tribe over, I believe that we should be able to conduct the ritual fine, " Wu Chen suddenly interjected.
"You are referring to the altar that you used to summon Palace Master Du back then?" Zhang Xuan was stunned. Indeed.
Given that the altar was able to bring Luo Ruoxin from the Azure to the Master Teacher Continent, even if it was not up to par to the Guardian Artifact of the Starchaser Palace, its effects should still be spectacular.
If they could bring it over to the Azure to hold the ritual, it might just be possible to teleport him into the Hall of Gods!
It was just that...
The altar was still in the Master Teacher Continent, so how was he supposed to get it?
Back then, Luo Ruoxin only managed to descend to the Master Teacher Continent through a ritual summoning her. Furthermore, despite being a god, her cultivation still plunged all the way to Saint realm as she fell to the Master Teacher Continent... Considering how he was only at Heavenly High Immortal realm at the moment, even if he knew that it was possible to use that altar, there was no way he could head down to the Master Teacher Continent.
"That's right. And in fact... it might not be that difficult to return back to the Master Teacher Continent anymore too, " Wu Chen said.
Zhang Xuan immediately looked toward Wu Chen.
"When Milady first descended to the Master Teacher Continent, the pathway between the Azure and the Master Teacher Continent was sealed. There was no route for her to get to the Master Teacher Continent, so she had no choice to barge her way through the dimension barrier.
"However, after the emergence of the Temple of Confucius, the spatial seal that blocked the passageway between the two worlds began eroding. In fact, when you were making your way over to the Azure, the passageway has already been re-established. As long as you return via the pathway you used to come here, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to head back down to the Master Teacher Continent..."
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