The river was a spirit vein, and the spiritual energy within it was so concentrated that it felt as if it had materialized.
The Dongxu Gourd was hanging right below it, absorbing the energy within it and slowly growing.
"I should just pluck it and bring it over …"
Exhaling deeply, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.
In order to advance his cultivation, all he had to do was gather sufficient Heaven's Path Divine Art and gather sufficient spirit stones. The Dongxu Gourd was valuable, but it wasn't of much use to him. Thus, he might as well use it to forge a good relationship with Luo Xuanqing.
Zhang Xuan stretched out his arm and grabbed the Dongxu Gourd.
Even though he hadn't used his full strength yet, his comprehension of space had already reached the third level of the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel. With a simple grab, the space around the Dongxu Gourd seemed to have solidified. Like a fish trapped in a cage, all paths of escape were sealed.
Just as Zhang Xuan's hand was about to land on the Dongxu Gourd, the jade-green object suddenly jolted awake.
Kacha!
The sealed space immediately cracked open, and Zhang Xuan felt a powerful force crushing down on him, threatening to pulverize his arm.
"Hmm?"
Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes. Unable to hold himself back any longer, he immediately drove his zhenqi to form a massive barrier.
With the increase in his comprehension of space, even if he were to use his full strength at this moment, he wouldn't be attacked.
Hu!
The Dongxu Gourd shook its bottom on the vines.
Si la!
As if a piece of paper being torn apart, a massive crack appeared on the barrier. Following which, the Dongxu Gourd smashed into the barrier with the weight of a mountain. Zhang Xuan raised his hands to block the attack, but he only felt a sharp pain before he was sent flying.
He crashed heavily onto the ground, and his face paled.
When he stood up once more, he realized that he had lost all feeling in his arm, and his bones were on the verge of shattering.
His current physical body had already reached the level of a half-Saint high-tier artifact. Even a Saint intermediate-tier artifact wouldn't pose much of a threat to him. Yet, just a slight jolt from the Dongxu Gourd was enough to make him feel excruciating pain.
"Damn it!"
Driving his Heaven's Path zhenqi, Zhang Xuan swiftly recovered from his injuries. He turned to look at the Dongxu Gourd once more with reddened eyes.
"I don't believe that I won't be able to capture you!"
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and whipped out a sword. With a light flick of his wrist, the sword qi morphed into a lotus and shot forth.
Lingxu Sword!
Since the Dongxu Gourd was able to help one achieve a breakthrough to the Dimension Sundering realm, it was likely to be of decent quality. After suffering a huge loss earlier, he dared not to put on airs anymore. Thus, he decided to bring out his strongest weapon.
Sizzle!
As soon as the Lingxu Sword appeared, the surrounding space twisted as if it would be torn apart at any time.
Folded spaces weren't as stable as the outside world, and with his comprehension of space at the third-tier, even if he couldn't break through the shackles here, he could still easily distort it.
Whoosh!
"Seeing" the sword qi coming at it, the gourd wriggled again, like a guy with a big butt trying to show off.
Sizzle!
With a slight jolt, the incomparably brilliant sword qi came to a halt. It was as if a wooden block had struck a steel plate, unable to advance any further.
"This …"
Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows.
Even though Zhang Xuan hadn't used the Three Swords of Lingxu, he had still harnessed the offensive Sword Quintessence in his attack. Paired with the Lingxu Sword, even a Saint 7-dan Phantasmal Space realm primary stage cultivator wouldn't dare face his attack head-on. Yet, the other party was able to withstand his attack with just a slight twist of his body, rendering his attack futile.
Isn't this a little too powerful?
"Go!"
Not holding back at all, Zhang Xuan summoned his 108 swords.
Sou!
Sword Intent tore through the sea, and as the zhenqi in Zhang Xuan's body was sapped dry, the hundred swords converged together to form a streak of light that shot straight toward the gourd.
Padah!
Sensing the might of the attack, the gourd wriggled even more vigorously. Puhe! It fell off the vine with a loud 'puhe' sound, and it swiftly changed its direction to face the attack.
Boom boom boom!
As the gourd clashed with the sword qi, ripples appeared in the air, releasing a burst of rainbow-colored light.
As powerful as the Sea Severing Sword was, it didn't seem to have any effect on the gourd at all. The sword qi struck the gourd, but it didn't leave the slightest mark on it. On the contrary, the gourd began moving faster and faster, and in the blink of an eye, it had already nullified the attack.
"It's that powerful?"
Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
The Sea Severing Sword was his strongest move at the moment. If he were to use it at full strength, he wouldn't have to fear even Yuan Xiao and the others.
But … for such a powerful move to be nullified so easily, he couldn't help but feel a little incredulous.
That was way too powerful!
However, the gourd didn't seem to give him any time to think. After nullifying the Sea Severing Sword, it appeared right before him and charged right at his chest.
After executing the Three Swords of Lingxu, Zhang Xuan's zhenqi was nearly depleted. Seeing how powerful the gourd was, he didn't even have the time to dodge. Without any hesitation, he raised his palms to meet the gourd's attack head-on. At the same time, he swiftly drove his soul energy to reinforce it.
Previously, when he had depleted his zhenqi, his fighting prowess had been reduced to zero. However, with the enhancement of his physical body and soul cultivation, he was no longer weak.
Peng!
The sound of bones shattering echoed in the air. Zhang Xuan's arm was shattered on the spot.
His body was sent flying once more before crashing heavily onto the ground. A few of his ribs and sternum had been fractured as well.
The gourd was simply too powerful. Not only did it nullify the Sea Severing Sword, it still managed to inflict severe injuries on him.
If not for his previous swordsmanship blocking a portion of the gourd's strength, he would have been dead by now.
Sou!
Before he could even get up from the ground, the gourd that had freed itself from the vine suddenly swayed in midair before charging right at him once more.
This time, the gourd's speed was even faster than before, as if it was determined to break through the shackles of space.
Zhang Xuan's face paled.
Even though he had the upper hand in terms of strength, he still wasn't a match for the gourd. On top of that, his zhenqi had been depleted, and he was severely injured as well. If he allowed the gourd to continue attacking him, he could very well be killed on the spot.
"Spatial Seal, clone!"
Zhang Xuan had no idea what was going on outside, but in order to prevent Luo Xuanqing and the others from seeing what was going on outside, he still sealed the surrounding space with a flick of his finger. At the same time, he released his clone.
After cultivating the Heaven's Path Soul Art, his clone's strength had been raised significantly. As such, he should be able to withstand the gourd for some time.
Hu!
Through a telepathic communication, he immediately understood what was going on. Clenching his fist tightly, he charged right toward the gourd.
However, as fast as he was, he was still a little slower than the gourd. Before his fist could land on the gourd, the latter had already appeared before him.
Padah!
The gourd landed squarely on his face, flattening his face in an instant.
"The heck …"
Zhang Xuan's clone bellowed furiously, "How dare you injure me? I'll kill you!"
Every time he came out, he would mock his main body and brag to his heart's content. But this time, before he could say anything, he was already flattened by a gourd.
Roaring furiously, he raised his fist to meet the gourd's attack.
Boom!
The two fists collided, and the clone's body staggered. With trembling lips, he hurriedly turned around and said, "I can't defeat him. Hurry up and run!"
Even though his fighting prowess was higher than Zhang Xuan's, he was still far from matching up to the gourd before him.
"Run?"
Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
He had come here to collect the gourd, but before he could even touch the gourd, he was already forced to flee … Wasn't this a little too much?
"I won't run. Come and face me, I won't be accompanying you!"
Zhang Xuan bellowed furiously as he blocked the gourd's attacks. His clone had also been pummeled beyond recognition.
You ran to the back to hide, and you still have the cheek to ask me why I'm running?
If you aren't running, why don't you charge at me?
"Alright then!"
Zhang Xuan's face reddened. Knowing that he had exhausted all of his zhenqi, he knew that he wouldn't be a match for the gourd. Without any hesitation, he collected his clone and the swords into his storage ring before swiftly retreating.
Kacha!
It seemed like the gourd wasn't going to let him off so easily. It charged right at him once more. Zhang Xuan continued to block the attack, but once again, he felt as if his body was going to explode, and he was sent flying. However, by this time, he had already retreated to the area where the illusion had appeared, and he vanished from the spot.
While in midair, he could vaguely see the gourd returning to the vine with a satisfied look on its face after sending him flying. With a light flick, it hung on the vine once more.
In the blink of an eye, the vine returned to normal, as if it had never been there at all.
…
Outside.
Luo Xuanqing and the others looked at the figure walking in worriedly.
"Zhang Shi … should be fine, right?"
"Zhang Shi's comprehension of formations is extremely high. Even if this isn't a formation, it shouldn't be too far from it. He should be fine!"
"Indeed. As long as he can resist the urge to unseal his cultivation, he should be fine …"
The crowd discussed fervently among themselves. Even so, they still couldn't help but feel uncertain.
This was especially so for Luo Xuanqing. He had brought so many people here and paid such a huge price. If he couldn't even see the gourd, he really didn't know what to do.
"Look, Zhang Shi is walking ahead!"
Yuan Xiao suddenly exclaimed.
Everyone hurriedly turned their gazes over and saw Zhang Xuan, who had been standing not too far away a moment ago, taking two steps forward before vanishing from the spot.
"He must have passed …"
Luo Xuanqing's eyes lit up in agitation when he suddenly saw a figure flying out of the formation. Peng! He crashed heavily into the ground not too far away, spurting huge mouthfuls of blood.
"Zhang Shi …"
Everyone jumped in fright. They hurriedly rushed over, their eyes filled with worry.
"I'm fine …"
Struggling to sit up, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he had run fast enough. As soon as he entered the illusionary space, he continued to jump back out. Otherwise, he would have died in that guy's hands.
"Zhang Shi was injured by the formation after releasing his strength as well?"
Luo Xuanqing couldn't help but ask.
They had all been injured by the formation due to releasing their strength, but the young man before them was in a worse state than them. Could this be the reason as well?
Could it be that he had encountered something that he couldn't tolerate?
"That's not it …"
Zhang Xuan shook his head.
"What did you get injured by then?"
Yuan Xiao glanced at Zhang Xuan curiously.
Could it be that there was something else in this space other than the formation that could harm others?
If that was the case, they would really have to be careful …
"I was …"
Zhang Xuan replied in embarrassment, "I was beaten up by a gourd …"
(Our dear Zhang Xuan was beaten up by a gourd. Shouldn't we celebrate and give him a few monthly tickets? To be honest, I've been wanting to beat him up for a long time now!)
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