Library of Heaven's Path

Knowing that it would be dangerous to leave the situation be, Jiang Fangyou swiftly turned to the dozens of elders surrounding them and instructed, "Elders, heed my orders. Take down that thief!"

Hong long!

The dozens of elders charged forward simultaneously, driving their zhenqi and soul energy in unison to launch a devastating attack toward the thief at the center. Their prowess swiftly converged together like a domineering dragon, tearing countless dimension rifts around the area.

"This isn't good…"

Trapped at the very center, Zhang Xuan's face turned livid.

He had thought that as long as he could flee from the encirclement of the Jiang Clan, he would be able to buy enough time to teleport away using the Dragonbone Divine Spear. He did not think that these elders would suddenly make a decisive move on him simultaneously.

Due to violent energies permeating the surroundings, the space around the Jiang Clan had become incredibly unstable. If he forced a teleportation right now, there was a chance that he would fall into spatial turbulence, thus plunging him in more danger than he was in now.

In other words, he could not rely on his spatial arts to get him out of there.

What the heck was this! Had he known earlier, he would not have been so eager to take the Seal of Souls. Perhaps, he might even have been out of the Jiang Clan by now!

Boom!

However, it was clear that the elders around him would not give him the time to lament on his lapse in judgement. Their might was swiftly pushing closer with unstoppable momentum.

Judging from the scale of the attack, even the Sempiternal realm Yang shi would have trouble coping with this.

Knowing that he would be reduced to a heap of meat if he confronted the combined prowess of the elders with his current strength, Zhang Xuan raised his palm and bellowed, "Hold them off!"

Hu!

The Clan Head Token of the Jiang Clan, which he had tamed just moments ago, floated up from his palm. Under the command of the token, the Guardian Formation swiftly formed a transparent barrier around him.

Boom boom boom!

The attacks of the elders fell on the barrier, causing devastating energy to ripple all over it. Fortunately, even their combined strength was unable to breach the barrier.

"It worked…" Zhang Xuan stared at the scene before him in trepidation before heaving a sigh of relief.

He had recalled his experiences with the Guardian Formations of the Zhang Clan and Luo Clan, so he had quickly whipped out the Jiang Clan's Clan Head Token in a bid to control their Guardian Formation. It was truly fortunate that everything had worked out according to plan.

The Clan Head Token was the key to controlling the Guardian Formation. Taming it would mean that he had all of the formations of the Jiang Clan at his disposal. In other words, the greatest trump card of the Jiang Clan that instilled fear in its enemies had already become his safety amulet.

"Y-you…"

Jiang Fangyou knew that the thief had tamed the Clan Head Token, but he did not think that the other party would successfully manipulate their formations on the first try. In fact, the reason he had ordered the elders take down the thief swiftly was so as to retrieve the Clan Head Token before the thief could figure out how to use it.

Yet, at that moment, he felt as if he was going insane.

It was not that he had never seen his fair share of experts before. In fact, the scholarly young man who had paid him a visit earlier likely wielded strength that surpassed even Yang shi… but it did not seem like the scholarly young man would be capable of pulling this off either.

"Continue the attack!" Jiang Fangyou bellowed.

Hearing the commands of the clan head, the elders persisted with their attacks.

Knowing that he was protected by the Guardian Formation, Zhang Xuan was no longer flustered anymore.

"Hold it right there!"

With a light chuckle, he tapped his finger on the space before him.

Huala!

An overwhelming outburst of spiritual energy exploded into the surroundings, sealing the movements of the elders in the area. They could neither attack nor escape.

Taken aback by the happenings, the elders glanced at one another in confusion.

Unable to take it any longer, one of the elders bellowed, "Clan head, what's going on?"

"Why is the Clan Head Token in his hand? Why is he able to control our Guardian Formation?"

"Who in the world is that fellow?"

Questions flooded out from the bewildered elders.

"What's going on? Who is he?" Jiang Fangyou clutched his hair frenziedly. That's something I would like to know as well! I darn well want to know who he is and what in the world is happening, too!

Knowing that the urgent matter at hand was to apprehend the thief, Jiang Fangyou growled coldly, "That scoundrel snuck into our treasure vault and emptied out all of our possessions…"

However, before he could finish his words, the thief shouted out as well, "Elders, heed my words! That man is an Otherworldly Demon Emperor. He has disguised himself as me and stolen all of the treasures of our Jiang Clan. You mustn't let him get away!"

That voice echoed resoundingly in the air, piercing through the heavens.

Taken aback by those words, Jiang Fangyou quickly turned his gaze toward the thief standing at the very center. The other party had already given up on escaping, and he slowly turned his body over to reveal a face identical to his!

The similarity did not just stop at appearances. The other party's posture, demeanor, voice, and even soul aura were completely indistinguishable from his!

It was almost as if he was looking into a mirror!

"You…" Jiang Fangyou's body stiffened, taken aback by what he was seeing.

He had seen others disguising themselves before, and he had done it quite often in the past too… However, no matter how a cultivator disguised themself, the most they could do was alter their appearance and demeanor. It was completely unthinkable for a cultivator to disguise their soul aura and make it completely identical to the person that they was impersonating!

The elders were equally stunned by what they were seeing.

All of a sudden, they found two clan heads standing before them… and they were speaking completely opposing words.

Who should they believe?

Seeing that the elders had started to waver, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. "The Clan Head Token only obeys the commands of the clan head. As elders of the Jiang Clan, surely you can't be oblivious to this fact?"

With a wave of his hand, the Clan Head Token released a magnificent glow.

Following which, the elders felt the energy binding their body vanishing into thin air, granting them control over their bodies again.

"The Clan Head Token can only be tamed by the clan head. That person over there must be the real clan head!"

"How can a person who can control our Guardian Formation possibly be a fake?"

…

The ability to control the Guardian Formation was a distinctive ability of the clan head. With such persuasive evidence before them, it did not take long for the elders to be convinced by Zhang Xuan's words. One by one, they directed hostile gazes toward the real Jiang Fangyou.

"…"

Jiang Fangyou did not expect the thief to turn the tables on him like that.

He could still tolerate the thief possessing the Time, Spatial, and Soul Quintessences, and he could accept the fact that the other party possessed the abilities of a soul oracle…

But to disguise as him and impersonate the clan head, even convincing all of the Jiang Clan's elders to turn against him… Unforgivable!

"Everyone, don't believe his words. I am the real Jiang Fangyou! Earlier, I used the Guardian Formation to attack him! He's the one who stole the Clan Head Token…" Jiang Fangyou quickly explained himself in the hope of salvaging the situation.

"Audacious! Do you think that the Clan Head Token can be tamed by just anyone? Even if it was stolen and tamed by another person, do you think that our Jiang Clan's Guardian Formation is that easy to control?" Zhang Xuan harrumphed coldly. "You should at least try to come up with something more convincing than that!"

After berating Jiang Fangyou, he turned his gaze to the elders around him and asked, "Isn't that right, elders?"

"Our Jiang Clan's Guardian Formation has been refined and reinforced by the hands of countless predecessors, to the point that it has become a unique entity in itself. Without inheriting the heritage of our Jiang Clan, not even the head of the Formation Master Guild headquarters would be able to control our Guardian Formation!"

"Indeed! Given how smoothly he was able to manipulate the Guardian Formation with the Clan Head Token, there's no doubt that he's the real clan head!"

"I heard that the Otherworldly Demon Emperors are able to disguise themselves as humans, such that even 9-star master teachers would find it difficult to discern the differences… Could the fake clan head really be a disguised Otherworldly Demon Emperor?"

"I'm not too sure… To be honest, I'm still rather confused by the situation…"

The crowd fell into deep thought.

Putting aside the impossibility of taming the Clan Head Token within such a short period of time, even if the enemy had succeeded in doing so, there was no way he could control the massive and intricate Guardian Formation so quickly, right?

Without many years of effort, it would be impossible to achieve such a refined level of control over the formation!

"Who are you? Are you an Otherworldly Demon?" one of the elders bellowed at Jiang Fangyou.

"Otherworldly Demon your head! I am Jiang Fangyou! Jiang Fangping, don't tell me that you can't even recognize me? I have known you ever since we were seven! When you were eight years old, you were unable to master the Heart Turmoil Art and looked to me for some guidance. Out of gratitude for my help, you gave me a Jadecrimson Fruit as compensation. However, I didn't know that those with low cultivation mustn't consume the Jadecrimson Fruit, and I nearly died from my energy running amok… Surely you should still remember this matter, right?" Jiang Fangyou bellowed furiously.