Chapter 703: The Complete Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

"Trading a cultivation technique manual for two Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast inner cores?"

"If we really make that trade, we will be rich!"

"Indeed! Furthermore, he is only taking a look. I'll copy some of my sect's Cosmos Bridge realm cultivation technique manuals tonight and bring them over tomorrow!"

"I'll go as well!"

…

After hearing Zhang Xuan's promise, everyone's eyes immediately lit up with zeal. Some of the more excited ones even approached the two fortunate winners to study the type of cultivation techniques that Zhang s.h.i.+ had chosen.

"Let's go!"

Ignoring the excited crowd, Zhang Xuan glanced at Hong s.h.i.+, and the both of them leaped up onto the back of the Great Violetwing Beast once more and flew back to their residence.

Seeing how Zhang Xuan departed on a mighty beast whereas they could only humbly return on a boat, they couldn't help but feel a little envious inside.

There was indeed a huge difference between people!

On the other hand, Senior Feng and the young man were on the verge of tears.

They had come to the bazaar in hopes of selling some of their possession. However, everyone's attention ended up being attracted by Zhang s.h.i.+, resulting in no one sparing even a glance at the items they had laid out.

They felt so frustrated that they could spurt blood.

But there was nothing they could do. After Zhang Xuan and Hong s.h.i.+ left, they gloomily returned back to their residence as well and shut themselves in, not daring to head out anymore.

The heck! They had suffered so many traumas in just the past few hours… If this were to continue, they might just end up banging their heads on a pillar to end it once and for all…

…

Returning back to his room, Zhang Xuan compiled the Consonant Spirit realm's Heaven's Path Divine Art and cultivated it. With this, his zhenqi became even purer and more stable. After which, he organized the cultivation techniques so as to prepare a suitable simplified version to impart to his students.

Just as Zhang Xuan was done, w.a.n.g Ying also finally woke up from her breakthrough. With a clear demarcation between the clarity and the turbidity in her body now, she was overflowing with strength.

Seeing that w.a.n.g Ying was taking the lead yet again, Zheng Yang and Liu Yang immediately dove back into their cultivation, anxious to catch up with her.

Their teacher had a total of six direct disciples. Of the six, Zhao Ya had gone to the Glacier Plain Court whereas Lu Chong was currently seeking out the Ancient Domain of Soul Oracles. Now, even Yuan Tao was heading to the powerful Yuan Clan to inherit its heritage. If they didn't work hard now, they would end up lagging far behind the others!

Understanding the emotions they felt, Zhang Xuan patiently pointed out their flaws and how they could further improve.

By the time he was done, it was already late at night.

After a good night's rest, Zhang Xuan headed back to the bazaar the next day. There was already a huge crowd by the time he arrived, and they had collected an ample amount of Cosmos Bridge realm cultivation techniques to trade with him.

Just like yesterday, Zhang Xuan randomly picked out a book and gave away two Transcendent Mortal 8-dan inner cores while rejecting the rest. Of course, he didn't forget to collect all of those books in his Library of Heaven's Path either.

In less than two days, he had already collected around seven hundred books. Even though it was still insufficient to form a complete Heaven's Path Divine Art, he wasn't too far from it.

After busying himself for the entire day, he left behind another promise to exchange the cultivation technique manual for three Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast inner cores before departing, thus hyping up the crowd once more.

But even though the reward Zhang Xuan had offered was alluring, the amount of Cosmos Bridge realm cultivation technique manuals offered to him was decreasing swiftly.

As most of the freshmen were still at the Consonant Spirit realm, they didn't have too many Cosmos Bridge realm cultivation technique manuals on them. Not to mention, most of those at the bazaar had come from Tier-2 Empires, where Cosmos Bridge realm experts and cultivation technique manuals were relatively rare.

Thus, in the third day, Zhang Xuan only managed to gather two hundred books.

Nevertheless, with around nine hundred books at the moment, he wasn't too far away from his goal of one thousand.

In truth, one thousand was a just rough estimation. If the cultivation technique manuals he gathered were sufficiently advanced to cover all of the flaws present, he could still compile the Heaven's Path Divine Art regardless of whether he had a thousand books or not. Just as Zhang Xuan was about to give it a try, he suddenly heard an expectant voice.

"I don't have any cultivation technique manual, but I do have a battle technique manual… Can you take a look to see if it'll do or not?"

Raising his gaze, Zhang Xuan saw a young man looking at him expectantly. "I am truly in need of a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast inner core, so I would be grateful to you if you can make this exception…"

"Battle technique?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback. "What kind of battle technique is it? Allow me take a look!"

"Alright!"

The young man flicked his wrist, and an ancient bamboo scroll appeared in his hands.

"This is a movement technique, but it is… incomplete…" the young man said embarra.s.sedly.

He had received this ancient bamboo scroll coincidentally while he was undergoing a training session in the past. Initially, he'd thought that he had stumbled upon an invaluable treasure, but he swiftly realized that a huge chunk of the movement technique recorded in the scroll had been torn away or was illegible due to substantial damage, thus making it impossible to cultivate the technique.

Since he urgently required a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast inner core to concoct a medicine at the moment, he decided to take it out in hopes that he might be able to interest the other party in the trade.

"A movement technique?"

Hearing that it was an incomplete battle technique, Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before reaching his fingers out toward it.

Weng!

An equivalent ancient bamboo scroll immediately appeared in the Library of Heaven's Path.

After looking through the contents swiftly, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but shake his head.

This battle technique recorded was extremely high tiered, making it an invaluable battle technique. However, just as the other party had said, the battle technique was terribly incomplete. Not even the Library of Heaven's Path was able to fill up the holes to restore it, thus making it impossible to learn.

In other words… it was a useless scroll!

'You want to trade a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast inner core with this? Surely you must be dreaming!'

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan was just about to turn down the other party's offer when a thought came to mind.

'It seems that this Cloud Treading Movement Technique bears quite some resemblance to the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps. I wonder if I can compile the both of them together…'

The Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps was a secret manual that he had obtained coincidentally from an elder in the Appraiser Hall back then. After compiling it with numerous movement technique manuals, he had gained the ability of flight despite not having reached Saint realm yet. However, there was a huge flaw in the technique—it consumed way too much zhenqi. If not for Zhang Xuan's incredibly pure Heaven's Path zhenqi, he might not have been able to even last for a short moment in the sky.

All along, Zhang Xuan had been trying to find a suitable battle technique to complement the final three flaws of the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps, but the manuals he had access to were simply far too low tiered. Maybe… this incomplete manual just might be the key to it!

The more Zhang Xuan thought about it, the more convinced he became. Thus, he summoned the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps manual over as well.

'Compile!'

With a silent mutter, light burst into the surroundings, and a new book appeared—the enhanced version of Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps.

"There are no more flaws?"

After checking the content, Zhang Xuan's eyes glowed in agitation.

After compiling the incomplete Cloud Treading Movement Technique along with the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps, the three remaining flaws of the latter technique had finally vanished!

With the enhanced Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps, he would be able to remain afloat for several hours without worrying about falling down!

In other words, his flight ability was already comparable to a Saint's. At the very least, he would be able to avoid the awkward situation of abruptly plummeting from the sky like many times before.

'This is wonderful!'

Zhang Xuan clenched his fists in elation.

This was a huge trump card. It would allow him to easily escape from anyone who hadn't reached Saint realm.

'It seems that even the incomplete manuals that others don't need can become useful to me as well. I can use them to complement the flaws of my compiled techniques. I should try to collect such items in the future too,' Zhang Xuan thought excitedly.

These ancient manuals were incomplete, making it unfeasible to cultivate them. However, through the Library of Heaven's Path, Zhang Xuan could extract the correct verses from these manuals to complement the missing gaps in his techniques, thus perfecting them.

"As fellow master teachers, it is only right for us to help one another. Your book might be useless to me, but since you urgently require a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast inner core, I will give one to you!"

In a good mood, Zhang Xuan placed the ancient bamboo scroll in his storage ring and pa.s.sed a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan spirit beast inner core over in exchange.

Just the fact that this ancient bamboo scroll could make up the flaws of the Parallel Heaven Scroll of the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps meant that it was well worth an inner core!

"Thank you…"

In truth, the young man didn't harbor great expectation in this matter, and he was just trying his luck. After all, he knew that the ancient bamboo scroll was incomplete and useless. Thus, upon hearing Zhang Xuan's words, his face immediately flushed agitatedly.

"Incomplete manuals work as well? I have two of them here…"

"I have an incomplete cultivation technique manual here…"

…

Seeing that Zhang s.h.i.+ was accepting even incomplete scrolls at a hefty price, a wave of enthusiasm washed through the crowd once more.

With many years of heritage, every single power possessed numerous incomplete cultivation technique and battle technique manuals. As these items were of no use to normal cultivators, they were often left untouched. To think that this fellow would actually trade inner cores for them… wasn't he a little too dumb?

In an instant, a mountain of incomplete manuals was stacked up before Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan swiftly brushed his fingers through them, and a moment later, he shook his head.

While incomplete scrolls could indeed complement the missing gaps in the Heaven's Path Divine Art, it had to have some substance to it first. If the manual only contained superficial content, then it would be useless no matter how many of such manuals he collected.

A moment later, after gathering a few more cultivation technique manuals, Zhang Xuan realized that he wasn't much progress, so he decided to call it a day.

Heading toward a private chamber prepared in the residence, he instructed for others not to interrupt him before going into seclusion.

'I wonder if I can form the Cosmos Bridge realm Heaven's Path Divine Art…' Zhang Xuan thought as he sat down in the chamber.

He had gathered nearly a thousand Cosmos Bridge realm cultivation technique manuals already, and he had obtained quite a few incomplete manuals on top of that. Perhaps, he might be able to form a complete Transcendent Mortal 6-dan Heaven's Path Divine Art.

Thus, diving into the Library of Heaven's Path, he muttered "Compile!", and a moment later, a book was floating in front of him.

"The Cosmos Bridge realm Heaven's Path Divine Art… is flawless!"

Swiftly flipping through the book, Zhang Xuan burst out laughing from joy.

He'd thought that he would have to spend some time earning academic credits in the academy before he could compile a complete version of the Cosmos Bridge realm Heaven's Path Divine Art, but the bazaar allowed him to accomplish this in advance.

With this, he would be able to successfully cultivate to Cosmos Bridge realm cultivator and boost his fighting prowess significantly!

'I should cultivate the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps first!'

Putting the Cosmos Bridge realm Heaven's Path Divine Art aside for the moment, Zhang Xuan turned his gaze to the flawless Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps.

Having cultivated this technique once, it wasn't too difficult for him to master the complete version.

As Zhang Xuan circulated his zhenqi through his meridians, he felt his body grow significantly lighter and freer.

Boom!

After a period of time, as if a shackle tying down his body previously had been blasted open, Zhang Xuan felt his body becoming as light as a feather.

Hu!

The cross-legged Zhang Xuan slowly floated in the air, and he began drifting all around the room.

"As expected of the flawless Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps. The zhenqi consumption is indeed much lower than before…"

Sensing the zhenqi consumption from the utilization of the technique, Zhang Xuan's eyes gleamed in excitement.

In the past, zhenqi would gush out of Zhang Xuan's body as if a burst dam as soon as he utilized this technique. Despite possessing the incredibly pure Heaven's Path zhenqi, the zhenqi consumption from the execution of this technique was still extremely frightening to him. But at this moment, Zhang Xuan's zhenqi was flowing slowly as though a small stream by a village. At the current rate of consumption, he could easily maintain his flight for several hours.

Not only so, the speed of his flight had increased considerably as well. Even though he was still far from a match for the Great Violetwing Beast, he had the confidence to catch up to Transcendent Mortal 6-dan aerial spirit beasts.

And more importantly, the flight speed would continue to increase along with the rise in his cultivation!

Just as Zhang Xuan was slowly returning to the ground to rest, an idea abruptly surfaced in his mind.

'I wonder if I can fuse the Heaven's Path Movement Art together with the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps…'

Since both the Heaven's Path Movement Art and Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps were both movement techniques, could they be fused together?

And if they could, what would be the result of it?

Curious, Zhang Xuan decided to give it a try!

Immersing his concentration in the Library of Heaven's Path, Zhang Xuan placed the two books side by side.

"Compile!"

A new book appeared before Zhang Xuan's eyes.

"This…"

Taking a look at the contents, Zhang Xuan's eyes widened in astonishment.