In order to increase their chances of eventually becoming Inceptive Sages in the Sanctum of Sages, every single one of them pushed themselves to perform to the best of their abilities during the entrance examination. Just take him for example, he didn’t sleep a wink for the three days of the examination, fearing that a moment of slack could mean a loss in opportunity for him.
On the other hand, the young man was content with just enrolling into the Elite Division. Ranking and the sort didn’t mean a thing to him at all!
In fact… even when he was doubted by so many people, he didn’t even bother to speak up against them.
As tranquil as a still lake, achieving a state of perfect inner peace; this must be what true experts, true talent, and true humility truly were.
“Indeed. If not for Feng Ziyi’s challenge, I would have never known that there would be such a formidable figure in this batch of freshmen.” Fei shi remarked as well.
He was just about to continue showering praises on Zhang Xuan when a student suddenly rushed over to him and whispered a few words in his ears. His eyebrows suddenly shot up, and he quickly turned around.
“Elder Han Fu, what brings you here today?” Fei shi asked with utmost politeness.
Zhang Yu also quickly turned around, and he saw an old man with snowy white hair and beard standing before him. This old man seemed to exude a transcendental aura, similar to a deity from the heavens.
“Elder Han Fu?” Zhang Yu quickly recounted everything relating to the Sanctum of Sages he had seen in the Zhang Clan, and his face swiftly turned grim.
“The first elder of the Sanctum of Sages’ Spirit Awakener Guild, a Saint 8-dan pinnacle expert…” Zhang Yu noted in shock.
He hurriedly clasped his fist and bowed, “Zhang Clan’s Zhang Yu pays respects to Elder Han!”
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony.” Elder Han casually waved his hand before turning his gaze to the dueling ring anxiously. “When will Zhang shi be done with his battles?”
“May I know the reason why Elder Han is looking for Zhang shi? If it’s an urgent matter, I can help you stop the duel.” Fei shi said.
The other party was the strongest expert of the Sanctum of Sages’ Spirit Awakener Hall. Even if Zhang shi had become the Inceptive Sage, it still shouldn’t warrant the other party coming down here personally to look for him.
“I don’t know how I should speak of this…” Hearing Fei shi’s question, Elder Han’s face turned scarlet in embarrassment. “Actually, I just want to ask him when the guardian golem he has enchanted earlier will finish its run. Due to its increasing speed, it has already knocked down the halls of four other guilds in the vicinity of the Spirit Awakener Hall. If it doesn’t stop soon, I’m afraid that our Spirit Awakener Hall will become a public enemy in the Sanctum of Sages…”
Just by having the guardian golem walk seven steps, one would have already broken the record for the Spirit Awakener Hall for the past three thousand years. Yet, not only did the young man make the guardian golem do warm-ups, he even made it run non-stop… It had already been a few hours now, but it was still sprinting relentlessly, refusing to stop. He had tried to stop it, only to be knocked over every single time. He was completely helpless against it.
And honestly speaking, it would still be fine if the guardian golem were to obediently run its lap. Due to the unique nature of the material used to craft the golems, it was only a matter of time before it came to a halt… but the golem just had to do frog leaps, push-ups, squats, leg raises, sprints, fast sprints, front rows, back flips, and somersaults on top of that…
And that wasn’t the worst of it yet. The lap it was running was growing bigger and bigger, such that it was beginning to expand its running course through the various guilds situated in vicinity to the Spirit Awakener Hall, crashing down everything that stood in the way of its run…
If it didn’t stop soon, the other guilds might just destroy their guardian golem out of rage, and that would be truly problematic.
“The guardian golem of the Spirit Awakener Hall is running non-stop?”
“It has knocked down quite a few guilds already?”
Fei shi and Zhang Yu staggered on the spot.
“Also, when I came over, I saw that the Shrine of Seers had been reduced to rubble. According to what I have heard, it seems to be related to him too. So, I was a little worried that they might attempt to cause him trouble.” Elder Han said.
“The Shrine of Seers has been reduced to rubble?” Fei shi and Zhang Yu looked at one another with twitching lips…
What happened to being low profile?
These were matters that no low profile individual could possibly pull off!
Unable to take it any longer, they raised their gazes toward the dueling ring.
And what they saw was Feng Ziyi being pressed against the transparent glass-like barrier around the dueling ring, his face warped like a fried dough twist. Sword qi continued assaulting him relentlessly from behind, and his eyes seemed to have lost all light, as if he had lost all hope for life.
“Too powerful…”
The four barriers which Feng Ziyi had prepared in advance had all shattered, and his entire body was filled with sword slashes. At this moment, he appeared no different from a miserable beggar.
Seeing this sight, the two of them couldn’t help but gulp down a mouthful of saliva.
For the might of the sword qi to remain so powerful even after tearing down so many defensive barriers… This level of offensive power was something which not even Fei shi was capable of.
“Zhang shi, I would like to ask when will…” Seeing that the barrage of sword qi was still pushing forward relentlessly, showing no signs no stopping at all, Fei shi shouted.
However, before he could finish his words, Feng Ziyi’s furious bellows echoed in the air, “You liar! Liar! You said that you only used a sixth of your full strength, but you only used a tenth earlier!”
The direct disciple of Yang shi was already on the verge of going insane.
When the other party first said that he had only used a third of his strength, he immediately thought that it was a lie. Then, when the other party said that it was actually a sixth instead, he became even more convinced of his prior assumption, which was also the reason why he proposed coming over here to see for himself whether the other party’s words were true…
But in the end, a sixth did turn out to be a lie as well…
Because it wasn’t a sixth but a tenth!
If it’s a tenth, just say that it is a tenth! Why in the world would you say that it’s a sixth? Because of that, I didn’t put up sufficient defensive measures, and I nearly got beaten to death!
Do you know that your humility nearly cost my life?
Hong long long! Hong long long!
It was only when the zhenqi in Zhang Xuan’s body was drained of its final drop did the Sea Severing Sword finally came to an end. While gasping for air, a look of helplessness could be seen on his face.
Even if the massive increment in his zhenqi capacity to fivefold of its original amount and the recent breakthrough of his cultivation from Leaving Aperture realm primary stage to pinnacle, he was still unable to fully control the Sea Severing Sword yet. Once executed, he would have to deplete his zhenqi dry before he could stop.
In the past, due to his lacking zhenqi, the Sea Severing Sword would stop after a few breaths. This time around, however, the barrage of sword qi lasted for a whole ten minutes before finally fading to an end.
Exhaling deeply, Zhang Xuan retracted his swords from the dueling ring before raising his head. The first thing he saw was Feng Ziyi being pressed against the transparent barrier of the dueling ring in a very weird position. Nearly all of his clothes had been ripped at this point, and while he still had breath remaining in him, he had sustained severe injuries.
“I didn’t lie to you. While I was executing my sword art, new inspiration suddenly came to me, allowing me to raise its prowess by a little bit more…” Zhang Xuan quickly rushed over to help Feng Ziyi down from the protective barrier while explaining in a slightly awkward tone.
This time around, it really wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t lied to the other party at all. It was simply because he had never executed the Sea Severing Sword with such might before, so there was plenty of time for him to experiment with new things in the midst of its execution. Through trial and error, he managed to gradually refine the might of the Sea Severing Sword, thus resulting in its offensive might growing stronger and stronger.
While there were already no flaws in the Sea Severing Sword at this point, the might of his attack was still affected by how well he could coordinate his spirit and his movements together. Naturally, the more in harmony he was with his swordplay, the stronger his swordsmanship would be.
“You are able to raise the might of your sword art by such a huge proportion in the midst of its execution?” Feng Ziyi spurted blood.
It is already such a powerful sword art, and you were still able to enhance its prowess in matters of minutes… All those who called themselves swordmasters would really have to lower their heads in embarrassment before you!
It took a long while before Feng Ziyi finally recovered from his distraught state. He glared at Zhang Xuan furiously and said, “You are indeed formidable, but as master teachers, our core responsibility lies not in combat but teaching. So, I would like to challenge you to a duel of impartation!”
At this moment, Zhang Xuan had already finished instructing Elder Han Fu how he could control the guardian golem. Hearing that Feng Ziyi still wanted to continue on with the duel, he couldn’t help but say, “Why don’t we just forget it? I’m afraid that you’ll be traumatized by it.”
He had no idea why the other party was so insistent on challenging him, but if they were to really compete in the duel of impartation… there was really a good chance that the other party might just succumb to his mental trauma and go insane.
“There’s nothing for me to be traumatized over! My teacher has told me that I’ll be his only direct disciple, but all of a sudden, you appeared as well. I would like to see just how formidable of a person you are that he would make an exception and take you in as well!” Feng Ziyi harrumphed.
Make an exception? Those three words made Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.
Judging from those words, it seemed like the other party still hadn’t realized that he was a fake yet. The other party thought that Yang shi had secretly accepted another student behind his back, so he came over to confront him out of jealousy.
And of course, the other party hadn’t expected to suffer such a tragic defeat as well.
There are some formidable master teachers in the world who would leave their acceptance of students up to fate. As a result, other than he himself, not even his own students might necessarily know of each other’s existence. Having read quite a few books, Zhang Xuan was aware of some of the eccentric quirks of master teachers.
Take him for example, if he were to take in another student right now, Zhao Ya, Wang Ying, Yuan Tao, and the others would definitely be unaware of the existence of their new junior.
“It’s only out of sheer luck that I managed to win teacher’s favor.” Seeing that Feng Ziyi really wasn’t intending to expose his fake identity, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He looked at the other party with an expectant look and asked, “I haven’t met teacher for quite a long time now. May I know where he is at the moment?”
“I have lost contact with teacher two years ago, so I’m not too sure of his whereabouts at the moment either. I have tried to reach him through a Communication Jade Token, but it doesn’t seem like he’s able to receive my message.” Feng Ziyi shook his head.
“That’s a relief!” Zhang Xuan nearly leaped up in joy upon hearing those words.
All this while, his heart had been leaping in trepidation, fearing that the other party would tell on him. However, since the other party was unable to contact Yang shi, that would mean that he was at least safe for the moment.
As long as he became the sanctum head before Yang shi returned, with his newfound esteemed standing, no one would dare to challenge him even if his lie were to be exposed then.
In other words, time was vital to him at the moment. He would really have to make haste, or else everything could just blow up on him.
“That’s a relief?” Feng Ziyi’s eyebrows shot up.
Shouldn’t you be disappointed that I am unable to contact our teacher? Why are you getting so excited instead?
“Ah, I misspoke. What I meant to say is ‘That’s a bummer’…” Realizing that he had accidentally spoken his thoughts out loud, Zhang Xuan quickly changed his words.
“Your words don’t seem to match your attitude…” Feng Ziyi eyed Zhang Xuan in skepticism for a moment before asking, “So, how is it? Will you accept my challenge?”
“Junior Ziyi, you aren’t a match for me, so why don’t we just drop the matter? Since we are both Yang shi’s students, I don’t want to traumatize you unnecessarily.” Zhang Xuan waved his hand casually.
“Junior Ziyi?” Feng Ziyi nearly exploded on the spot. “I have been with teacher since I was seven, and I’m older than you too. You should be addressing me as senior instead!”
“Isn’t there the saying that it’s the proficient one who should be viewed in esteem? I’m stronger than you, so it should go without saying that I’m your senior. If you can defeat me any day, I’ll be more than happy to call you senior.” Zhang Xuan replied leisurely.
Since Feng Ziyi was unaware of his lies, he could make use of him as a shield in order to verify his identity as Yang shi’s student.
“You…” Feng Ziyi’s face turned scarlet as words choked up his throat.
Despite possessing cultivation far beneath his, it was a fact that the other party’s fighting prowess was way greater than him. Just on the sword art executed earlier, had the other party not redirected the might of the sword art elsewhere to reduce the impact on him, there was no way he would have still been alive right now.
Considering that they were both direct disciples and that their teacher hadn’t explicitly stated their seniority, the convention was to view the stronger disciple as the senior. And given that he was unable to defeat the other party, there was indeed no convincing reason why he should be the senior.
“We’ll decide that after the duel of impartation. If you can defeat me once more, I’ll willingly acknowledge you as my senior.” Feng Ziyi flung his sleeves and harrumphed coldly.
Seeing that Feng Ziyi was reluctant to give up on the idea, Zhang Xuan frowned. Just as he was about to speak up, a young man suddenly rushed into the hall with a peculiar look on his face.
“Fei shi, Elder Liao of the Corridor of Puppets is waiting outside. He says that he wishes to acknowledge Zhang Xuan as his teacher…”
“Elder Liao wishes to acknowledge… Zhang Xuan as his teacher?”
Whoosh!
Deathly silence devoured the entire hall.
