It’s indeed Ruoxin! Zhang Xuan exclaimed inwardly.
Who else other than his girlfriend could have the ability to create a record that even Zhan shi was still shocked by and become an 8-star master teacher at seventeen years old?
However, as proud of Luo Ruoxin as he was, this matter also increased the pressure on him. His girlfriend had already been an 8-star master teacher for a couple of years, but he was only taking the examination now.
It seemed like he was really lagging behind. He would have to work much harder to make up for it.
Seeing that Zhang Xuan had fallen into contemplation after hearing of the various records concerning the Tower of Master Teacher, Zhan shi could not help but ask, “Does Zhang shi want to challenge the Tower of Master Teacher, too?”
“I do intend to.” Zhang Xuan nodded. “But before that, I would like to browse through some books first so as to refresh my knowledge and prepare myself for the trial.”
Not expecting Zhang Xuan to raise such a simple request, Zhan shi replied with a smile. “You wish to browse through some books? What books do you want to browse through?”
Putting aside the fact that the young man before him was Yang shi’s direct disciple, just his ability to neutralize the lightning tribulation made him a person worth befriending.
Be it his friends or family, there were bound to be important people in his life who would have to face cultivation ordeals in the future. If he could just engage the help of this young man, he would be able to guarantee their safety, and there was nothing more valuable than that!
Knowing that Zhan shi was trying to express his goodwill toward him, Zhang Xuan requested, “Apothecary, painter, celestial designer, terpsichore, beast tamer, and appraiser; if it isn’t too much trouble, I would like to visit the respective libraries of these occupations!”
He did not like to be indebted to others, but he could not afford to waste time anymore.
“Oh? You wish to look through the books concerning your supporting occupations?” Zhan shi was slightly surprised for a moment before nodding. He had expected Zhang Xuan to request for permission to access part of the confidential book collection in the Sanctum of Sages. “That isn’t a problem. If you simply wish to access the books of those supporting occupations, I can lend you my token for a while. This way, even if you haven’t achieved an 8-star proficiency in those supporting occupations, you’ll still be able to access the 8-star books. However, there will be a time limit on how long you can access those books for. For each supporting occupation, you will only have half a day, and I fear that even I cannot grant you any more time than that!”
Even as the deputy sanctum head, Zhan shi’s authority in the Sanctum of Sages was still rather limited. It was already the limit of his authority to grant Zhang Xuan half a day of unrestricted access in each of the supporting occupations’ libraries.
“Half a day? That’s more than enough!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up in excitement.
To others, half a day was only barely enough to grant one an extremely rough overview of the entire occupation, but to him, that was plenty of time!
With so much time, he would definitely be able to transfer all of the books within a library into the Library of Heaven’s Path
“That’s a relief. Alright, here is my token!” With a smile, Zhan shi passed his token over.
“Thank you, Sanctum Head Zhan!” Zhang Xuan clasped his fist and uttered his words of gratitude.
Due to Zhan shi’s help, he would be able to master the various supporting occupations in the shortest time possible and push for a breakthrough to 8-star master teacher!
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking my leave.” With the token in his possession, Zhang Xuan hurriedly headed in the direction of the Hall of Erudition.
The first place he headed to after reaching the Hall of Erudition was the Apothecary Guild.
The token that Zhan shi had provided him truly worked wonders. It did not take too long for him to successfully access the library.
Four hours later, he was done browsing through all of the 8-star books. After spending roughly two hours more reinforcing his knowledge, he stood up and set forth for the Painter Guild.
Just like that, Zhang Xuan spent an entire day traveling between the various guilds. He would only spend a maximum of six hours in each guild, and just like that, in little more than a day, he managed to raise his proficiency in all of his supporting occupations, with the exception of poison master and soul oracle, to 8-star.
…
While Zhang Xuan was busy mastering his supporting occupations, Luo Xuanqing was finally done reinforcing his cultivation. In the depths of his eyes, one could vaguely see the intricacies of space twinkling brightly, reminiscent of a starry sky.
As a member of the Luo Clan, his comprehension of spatial laws was far deeper and more profound than that of other Saint 8-dan Dimension Sundering realm cultivators.
He closed his eyes slowly and focused his senses on perceiving the spatial energy coursing through his body. Some time later, a deep frown suddenly formed between his eyebrows, and he turned in a certain direction and roared, “Who is it?”
The space where his gaze fell was completely empty; there was not a single person to be seen. Even when scanning the area with one’s Spiritual Perception, there was nothing to be found.
But the next moment, bizarre folds began rippling from that empty space, and an elder slowly materialized.
“It seems like the Young Master’s bloodline has been completely awakened upon reaching the Dimension Sundering realm… Congratulations!” The elder clasped his fist while giving his congratulations.
Upon getting a closer sight of the elder’s figure, Luo Xuanqing heaved a sigh of relief before asking, “Elder Qi, what are you doing here?”
“The First Elder wishes to meet you!” Elder Qi reported.
“First Elder?” Luo Xuanqing subconsciously clenched his fists tightly as he asked, “Where’s my younger sister?”
“Young Master, you can rest assured that the little princess is doing perfectly fine. It’s just that she is under temporary confinement and is unable to communicate with the outside world at the moment. However, you can be certain that she isn’t injured at all. Besides, given her strength, not even the First Elder would be able to hurt her,” Elder Qi replied.
“Humph, that had better be the case!” Luo Xuanqing harrumphed coldly as the apprehension he felt within alleviated slightly.
In terms of cultivation, his younger sister was far from the very peak of the Master Teacher Continent, but when equipped with the Dimension Silencer, it was doubtful if even Zhang Xuan’s teacher, Yang Xuan, would be a match for her!
Naturally, the First Elder of the Luo Clan stood even less of a chance.
Knowing that his younger sister was safe, Luo Xuanqing turned to Elder Qi and instructed, “Bring me to the First Elder!”
With a nod of his head, Elder Qi flicked his hand lightly.
Tz la!
A unique energy began shrouding the space between the both of them, isolating them from the rest of the world. Following which, Elder Qi tapped his finger forward, and a light barrier appeared right before them. A ripple diffused across the light barrier, and the silhouette of an elder gradually grew more and more clear.
It was the golden-robed elder who had witnessed Zhang Xuan standing against the lightning tribulation back then!
“Not bad, not bad!” Upon seeing Luo Xuanqing, the First Elder nodded in approval. “Your improvement is faster than I anticipated!”
“First Elder…” Luo Xuanqing spoke up anxiously, but before he could finish his words, the other party interjected.
“Alright, I know what you are going to ask, but now isn’t the time. I have two missions for you that you will have to accomplish as soon as possible!” The First Elder looked at Luo Xuanqing with such intent eyes that it almost seemed as if he would materialize through the light barrier and arrive right before them.
“First Elder, feel free to ask anything of me!” Luo Xuanqing took a deep breath before clasping his fist.
As an offspring of the Luo Clan, he was indebted to the Luo Clan for grooming him. Naturally, he was duty-bound to accomplish the missions that the Luo Clan assigned to him.
“Firstly, I want you to get on close terms with that young man who had helped you pass your cultivation ordeal,” the First Elder instructed.
“The young man who had helped me tide across my cultivation ordeal? Are you referring to Zhang Xuan? I can do that.” Luo Xuanqing nodded.
After everything Zhang Xuan had done for him, he already considered him a friend. Even without the First Elder’s instruction, he definitely would have gotten on close terms with him.
“Secondly… in the Qingyuan Empire, there’s a place known as the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. I want you to head there to conduct an investigation as soon as you get time. Based on what we have found, your younger sister went under a pseudonym during the period she was gone.”
At this point, a sharp glint flashed through the First Elder’s eyes as he continued. “If my intuition is right, the person she likes is there as well. I want you to root that man out and kill him silently!”
“You want me to kill him?” Luo Xuanqing’s body froze upon hearing those words. He hurriedly lifted his gaze and anxiously said, “But my younger sister has feelings for him! She will be devastated if we kill him!”
He knew his younger sister’s temperament very well. She was an extremely obstinate person, and once she had decided upon something, she would never change her mind even till death. If that man whom his younger sister loved were to die, she would definitely go berserk!
“There’s nothing that time cannot heal. I have seen plenty of cultivators who thought that their feelings for one another would last an eternity, but time makes everything fade. She’ll eventually get over it. Furthermore, even if she doesn’t understand, you should know how important the engagement with the Zhang Clan is!”
The First Elder paused for a brief moment before continuing. “The Zhang Clan was enraged to hear of the matter, and we anticipate that they will attempt to bring the marriage ceremony forward. There’s a good chance that the ceremony will be held before the end of the year, so we need to make sure to kill that man before then to sever any thought of her getting together with him.
“Otherwise, neither you nor I will be able to shoulder the consequences! Even if your younger sister manages to get together with that man, she will still have to pay the price for her actions and live an entire life of misery! I trust that you don’t wish to see your younger sister becoming an outcast of the Luo Clan and a sinner to all mankind!”
“I…” Luo Xuanqing clenched his fists tightly.
