Library of Heaven’s Path 2: Eternal Destiny

Vol 2 Ch 46: Diamond Amulet

The carriage traveled swiftly, and an hour later, it stopped at the gates of a residence.

Li Yue'an said, "Lord Ling, the place where Elder Feng and I agreed to meet is here."

Zhang Xuan glanced ahead.

It was a modest estate, with its gates firmly closed. The courtyard within was silent, devoid of any signs of life.

“So, my guess was correct—this is your residence, isn’t it?” Zhang Xuan remarked.

“Yes,” Li Yue'an nodded.

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly and refrained from commenting further. Instead, he turned to the young woman beside him. “Are you going in?”

“Of course!” Fu Yingying replied without hesitation. Since she was already here, waiting outside wasn’t an option.

The yard was small but meticulously maintained, free of weeds. Li Yue'an scanned the surroundings, then hurried forward a few steps. Seeing that Zhang Xuan and Fu Yingying weren’t paying attention, he covertly pressed his palm against a stone pillar and struck it sharply.

Buzz!

With a whirring sound, mist rose from the courtyard, and a powerful wave of energy enveloped the entire area.

“There’s a formation—this is bad!” Fu Yingying’s expression shifted.

While the formation wasn’t strong enough to harm a true Divine Soul realm expert, it could create significant interference. In battles between experts, even the slightest hindrance could be fatal.

“Too late to realize that now... Elder Feng, I’ve brought Ling Buyang as agreed. Our deal is fulfilled; the rest is up to you,” Li Yue'an said coldly, his earlier subservience replaced with a sharp, ruthless demeanor. Reaching his current cultivation level as a rogue cultivator wasn’t something a simple-minded person could achieve.

Buzz!

As if in response to his betrayal, streams of Heaven’s Fate Energy flowed into Li Yue'an. Though minimal, they slightly restored his previously crippled strength.

“Well done! As per our agreement, all the rewards will be yours after he’s dead... though you’ll have to bear the infamy of killing him,” a voice echoed as the gates swung open.

Over a dozen figures emerged from all directions. Leading them was an elder with a cold, unfeeling gaze—Elder Feng Zhaoting, the one competing with Ling Buyang for the position of vice hall master.

The remaining individuals were no weaklings either; the weakest among them was at the peak of the Jade Bone Realm, with several others, like Fu Yingying, at the peak of the Divine Soul Realm.

These must have been forces secretly cultivated by Elder Feng, all now deployed to eliminate Ling Buyang.

“Good!” Li Yue'an sneered. “After you kill him, leave the body to me. I’ll chop him up to feed the fish!”

“Rest assured,” Feng Zhaoting replied with a nod.

Li Yue'an added, “Elder Feng, be careful. His strength isn’t what you described; I couldn’t even match him.”

“So what if it’s different? With this formation and our numbers, he’s doomed today!” Feng Zhaoting sneered at Zhang Xuan, exuding a powerful aura. Behind him, a towering shadow materialized, solid as a mountain.

“Dharma Aspect?” Fu Yingying’s pupils contracted.

This man had also broken through!

Initially, she had been confident in Ling Buyang’s ability to handle the situation. Now, her confidence wavered. Even among Dharma Aspect cultivators, those with formal teachings like Feng Zhaoting far surpassed rogue cultivators like Li Yue'an.

“You didn’t expect it, did you? Even after you stole half my pills, I still broke through!” Feng Zhaoting mocked, revealing his Dharma Aspect.

“Didn’t expect it, but it doesn’t matter,” Zhang Xuan replied casually.

Feng Zhaoting’s face darkened at the dismissive response. “Doesn’t matter? Arrogant fool! Let’s see how long you can keep up that attitude when you’re facing death!”

Then, turning to Fu Yingying, he offered, “Miss Fu, I didn’t expect you to be with him. I’ll give you a choice—help us kill him, and I’ll reward you with a million coins’ worth of black-market goods. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“You’re saying if I don’t agree, you’ll kill me too?” Fu Yingying’s face turned livid.

She had assumed that with Ling Buyang and Mo Xiaosheng present, taking down Li Yue'an would be a simple task, one that could even enhance her reputation. She hadn’t anticipated this betrayal, nor being surrounded by Feng Zhaoting’s forces.

Even retreating was no longer an option.

Feng Zhaoting laughed. “Miss Fu, you misunderstand. It’s Ling Buyang and Li Yue'an who will kill you first before turning on each other, leaving only one survivor for us to deal with. I, meanwhile, will be seen by everyone as meditating in the Destiny Hall.”

Fu Yingying clenched her fists. Joining forces with them would mean marking herself as one of their allies. Refusing would undoubtedly provoke their wrath.

Turning to Ling Buyang, she saw that he was entirely calm, even smiling.

“You decide. Stay with me, and you might die. Join them, and you might survive,” he said nonchalantly.

After a moment of hesitation, Fu Yingying suddenly remembered something and looked at him sharply. “At the door earlier, when you asked if I wanted to go in—did you already know it was dangerous?”

Zhang Xuan nodded. “What else did you think?”

“In that case, I’ll stay with you! My strength may not match yours, but I have plenty of good items. Breaking the formation and escaping is possible,” she declared, pulling out several talismans.

“You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!” Feng Zhaoting’s face turned grim. “Attack!”

With his command, the surrounding group charged forward. Leading them was none other than Azhu, now an emotionless killing machine under the Thousand Threads Heaven’s Fate technique.

Buzz!

The formation activated, surging with source power. In an instant, the overwhelming force enveloped both Zhang Xuan and Fu Yingying.

Fu Yingying swiftly ignited a talisman, creating a circular shield around them. Within the shield’s protection, the formation’s effects vanished entirely.

These talismans, drawn by Dharma Aspect masters, were incredibly valuable. Most would hesitate to use them, but Fu Yingying didn’t bat an eye. The sheer resources at her disposal as a black market leader far outstripped even someone like Ling Buyang, a Destiny Hall elder.

“A Vajra Shield Talisman? Not bad, but let’s see how long you can last!” Feng Zhaoting sneered, his fingers flicking. Dozens of threads shot forth, dragging ten more figures into the fray.

These figures were just like Azhu—soulless killing machines.

“Yu Fei, Xiao Ying?” Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.

Among the group were familiar faces—two individuals who had already been killed and buried, their corpses now puppets under Feng Zhaoting’s Thousand Threads technique. Even Xiao Zhuo, a three-year-old child, had been turned into one of these monstrosities.

Rage erupted within Zhang Xuan. His mind flashed back to the scene when he had first encountered the trio.

“You did nothing wrong—your only fault was being born into this world. Don’t worry; I’ve taken your money, and I will avenge you. Feng Yizhou was just the beginning. Feng Zhaoting and his Yunshan Hall will fall entirely!”

His gaze sharpened with murderous intent.

With his killing intent surging, Zhang Xuan stepped forward, his fists clenched tightly. Meanwhile, the relentless assaults from the puppets were beginning to wear down the Vajra Shield Talisman’s protection. The glowing shield was growing increasingly thin, on the verge of shattering.

“We don’t need this anymore,” Zhang Xuan said calmly, taking another step forward.

As he moved, the shield flickered and collapsed, exposing them fully to the formation's pressure. Fu Yingying’s face turned pale with alarm. “Be careful—!”

Before she could finish her warning, Zhang Xuan acted. In the blink of an eye, he was upon one of the puppets. A single punch obliterated it, sending its remains flying and turning it into a splatter of flesh and bone mid-air.

Not pausing for even a moment, Zhang Xuan spun, driving his elbow into another puppet, while his knee shot out at a third. Each strike was precise and devastating, leaving no chance for counterattacks. A sharp swipe of his hand followed, and a blade-like aura surged forth, bisecting a fourth puppet in an instant.

The sheer ferocity of Zhang Xuan’s attacks was staggering. With every strike, more Heaven’s Fate Energy surged into him, deepening his mastery of the Dao Li Water Stream saber technique. Each motion was imbued with profound blade intent, so convincing it seemed the weapon itself had become a part of him.

Within moments, Zhang Xuan had neutralized a half-dozen puppets. The last three, including Yu Fei and Xiao Ying, were pinned to the ground with a casual press of his hand, unable to move further.

“This...” Fu Yingying was stunned. She had believed joining him was a risk, but now it was clear that betraying him would have been a death sentence.

“That’s the power that took down Feng Yizhou in broad daylight…” she murmured, sweat beading on her forehead.

Not far away, Feng Zhaoting’s face darkened further. He had expected Zhang Xuan to be strong, but this level of skill and power was far beyond his calculations.

“Impressive,” Feng Zhaoting admitted coldly, “but how long can you keep it up? Every strike drains your strength, and your foundation is only Fifth Grade Source Pool. You won’t last forever.”

Feng Zhaoting sneered, gesturing to the shadows. More figures, puppets under his Thousand Threads control, emerged—dozens of them. He had spent years building this army, and now Zhang Xuan would face its full might.

Author's Note