“I don’t know how to explain the situation to you… Third Elder, follow me! You’ll know once you see it for yourself!” Elder Wuzhen struggled internally to find a way to describe what he had just seen, and eventually, he chose to simply bring the other party to the disaster instead.
Swiftly dashing forward, the two of them soon arrived at the guest rooms.
As the number one Sage Clan of the Master Teacher Continent, the Zhang Clan would welcome many challengers and visitors alike every year into their city. The so-called guest rooms were actually an entire district covering a huge area, allowing them to accommodate many guests concurrently.
Right after arriving in the square just outside the guest rooms, Zhang Wuchen could not help but notice something that was simply too visibly different from before. He halted in his footsteps and pointed in a certain direction.
“Where did the sculptures go?”
What should have been erected in the square was a row of sculptures of the notable ancestors of the Zhang Clan. Every single one of them had achieved incredible feats in their lifetime, making great contributions to mankind. As such, sculptures had been created of them so that generation after generation of the Zhang Clan’s offspring would honor their deeds.
The reason the sculptures had been placed in the square near the guest rooms was to show off the massive contributions that the Zhang Clan had made to mankind, and that they had played a huge role in ensuring the continued peace of the Master Teacher Pavilion throughout the many years.
Strength was not the only reason the Zhang Clan had been able to rise to become the number one Sage Clan. More importantly, it was their willingness to charge into the depths of danger and sacrifice themselves for the sake of mankind that had enabled them to rise to their current standing.
The deference that the guests had toward the Zhang Clan was not just due to their strength; it was due to their accomplishments and contributions too.
And yet, all of the sculptures that represented that had actually vanished without a trace, leaving behind a massive hole in the ground. What in the world had happened?
“This is the very matter that I wanted to tell you…” With a face that was twisted like a bitter gourd, Elder Wuzhen looked as if there were a million words that he wanted to say but did not know where to start. After a long moment of contemplation, he eventually gestured forward and said, “Forget it, I think you should just take a look for yourself!”
Seeing Elder Wuzhen’s reaction, Zhang Wuchen felt even more perplexed. He quickly walked forward, and a short distance away from the square, he heard a hoarse and rather rigid voice.
This voice did not sound as if it had come from a human. Rather, it seemed like it was produced by some kind of mechanical system, and it felt extremely unnatural.
“Books and plays sway the heart—settle on the road that paves straight ahead. Kindness and evil come in circles—alas, the path to virtue remains tough indeed!”
The hoarse voice continued. “I am Zhang Lingran, the 157th generation of offspring of the Zhang Clan. I lived in the era more than twenty thousand years ago, and my greatest achievement was charging into the Subterranean Gallery alone to slay three Otherworldly Demon Emperors, thus foiling their plan to invade the Master Teacher Continent. I have also slain four Saint 9-dan beasts with a single slash of my sword and fought with the Malevolent Eminence for seven days straight before eventually defeating him. Since everyone is interested to hear, why don’t I share those incidents in greater detail with you?”
“Zhang Lingran? Ancestor Lingran?” Hearing that voice, Zhang Wuchen’s lips immediately twitched in astonishment.
He quickly walked over, and at the bend, he saw a bunch of guests surrounding a sculpture.
As if someone had breathed life into it, the sculpture began sharing the various ups and downs in his life, and his lively expression had the crowd around him completely captivated. From time to time, thunderous applause would echo from them.
“This…” Zhang Wuchen’s eyebrows leaped around the place, and he nearly fell to the ground.
The reason there was a plaque placed next to each of the sculptures was to inform the onlookers of the outstanding contributions that they had made in their lifetime. But to think that they would actually come to life and recite those contributions themselves!
Suppressing the urge to go on a frenzy, Zhang Wuchen stared intently at the sculpture of Ancestor Lingran.
The latter’s hands and legs were flying around the place, gesturing desperately like a storyteller as if he was afraid that the crowd would not be able to understand his descriptions. Unfortunately, this also meant that the lofty aura he had assumed just a moment ago had vanished without a trace.
“I am Zhang Xiaosuo, the 212th generation of offspring of the Zhang Clan. I was once the deputy clan head of the Zhang Clan, and the battle techniques I have created have spread far and wide across the Master Teacher Continent, practiced by countless cultivators even to this day…”
“I am Zhang Mofeng, the 225th generation of offspring of the Zhang Clan. I left many astounding records in the Sanctum of Sa… Hey, don’t run away! You’d better stop right now and listen to my story, or else I’m going to beat you up…”
Moving ahead, Zhang Wuchen saw two more sculptures. One of them was explaining his affairs to the audience around him, just as Ancestor Lingran was doing, whereas the other one was chasing a guest furiously, just a short step away from tearing the other party’s ears to force him to listen to him.
“What the heck is going on?” Zhang Wuchen scratched his head in complete bewilderment.
Proceeding ahead, he saw one of the ancestral sculptures sitting on one of the guests, reciting his story with a ferocious look on his face. Unable to stand it any longer, he turned around and demanded an explanation from Elder Wuzhen.
These ancestral sculptures were physical representations of the outstanding accomplishments and contributions achieved by the Zhang Clan over the years, and they formed the basis of the Zhang Clan’s prestige and reputation. It was one thing for them to come to life, but to be bragging about their own accomplishments…
Not to mention, they were even pummeling those who were unwilling to listen to their story.
“E-earlier, I brought Zhang shi here to i-introduce the various glorious accomplishments achieved by our a-ancestors,” Elder Wuzhen said with a pale face. Perhaps out of astonishment, he was stuttering a little. “T-then… this just somehow happened!”
“How could this just happen somehow?” Zhang Wuchen bellowed furiously. “I want you to recount everything that happened earlier to me thoroughly. Don’t even leave the slightest detail out!”
“Y-yes! After I introduced him to the sculptures, I suddenly recalled some matters and lamented at how our heritage is slowly fading away. None of those of the younger generation are interested in learning about the affairs of the ancestors, and they have barely any respect or admiration for them,” Elder Wuzhen explained slowly.
Those of the younger generation were much more impetuous than their predecessors. He had brought many guests to visit the sculptures, but very few of them would choose to stop by the sculptures and patiently read the various accomplishments achieved by the Zhang Clan’s ancestors. Most of them felt that there was no purpose in listening to the deeds of the dead.
This had left Elder Wuzhen deeply displeased for a very long period of time, which eventually led to him complaining about the matter to Zhang Xuan.
“After saying those words, Zhang shi said that he had a way to reverse such a situation, so… he began touching each of the sculptures in order to enchant them,” Elder Wuzhen said with a deeply stifled face.
Looking back, it seemed like he was the trigger behind this incident. If not for his lamentation, the other party would not have made such a move.
It truly was a calamity. After those sculptures were enchanted, they had begun stopping the guests to explain their deeds to them… and what was worse was that the guests were forced to listen! The entire area had descended into chaos.
“This…” Zhang Wuchen nearly spurted blood.
The sculptures had been left here in order to let the guests know of the various accomplishments and sacrifices that the Zhang Clan had made for mankind, but for them to be pulling the ears of others and reciting their tales gleefully… how was that different from boasting?
“Wait a moment… There should be quite a number of sculptures in the square, right? Do you mean to tell me that he enchanted all of them in a single breath?” Zhang Wuchen suddenly realized that, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
There had to be at least a hundred predecessors who had their sculptures, names, and accomplishments left in the square, so it would have been impossible for even a 9-star spirit awakener to enchant all of them. Yet, it seemed like he had succeeded in enchanting all of them. To make things even more exaggerated, every single one of them was actually capable of independent thought!
“Indeed, and that’s not all…” Elder Wuzhen suddenly recalled a certain matter, and a shudder ran through his body.
“That’s not all?” Zhang Wuchen felt as if his mind was going to explode from the sheer scale of trouble this was.
He quickly followed behind Elder Wuzhen to a certain area, and the latter suddenly stopped and gestured in front. “Regarding that… it’s right ahead. I simply don’t dare to comment too lightly on this matter, so you should take a look for yourself.”
With eyes filled with doubt, Zhang Wuchen walked forward, and shortly after passing by a bend, before he could even scan his surroundings, a deep and heavy voice suddenly sounded in the air.
“Greetings, I am Kong shi…”
Putong!
Zhang Wuchen fell onto the floor.
