“Wait a moment…”
Right after issuing the previous command, Ren Qingyuan suddenly thought of something, and he hurriedly raised his hand and clenched his fist.
Huala!
The surrounding space immediately solidified to form an isolation barrier.
The Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters were protected by a powerful formation, making it difficult for any outsiders to listen in on what was happening within. Yet, despite the defensive measures, Ren Qingyuan was still prompted to form an isolation barrier to further ensure the confidentiality of the matter, which went to show how seriously he took this matter.
“The Celestial Master Teacher concerns the ultimate fate of mankind, so this matter must be kept absolutely confidential. I suspect that the sudden arrival of that person in the Master Teacher Continent might be tied to this matter; he might have noticed something, which prompted him to make this move. That fellow has always been skilled in disguise, so our scouts haven’t been able to find any traces of him yet. If news concerning the emergence of a Celestial Master Teacher reaches his ears, and he manages to find the Celestial Master Teacher ahead of us, things could really get troublesome!” Ren Qingyuan said with a grim look on his face.
“So, I want all of you to head out under the pretext of looking for Zhang Xuan. Make sure to put on a sufficiently convincing act to show the Zhang Clan and the Glacier Plain Court that we are determined to bring them justice. At the same time, however, you are to discreetly search for the Celestial Master Teacher, and once you find him, don’t rush into acknowledging him. Instead, protect him from the shadows. While he might be the Celestial Master Teacher, it is unlikely for him to have grown to Kong shi’s level yet, or else we would have already heard of him!”
Celestial Master Teacher only represented an individual who had received the acknowledgement of the heavens. It was a symbol of character and talent rather than a gauge of one’s absolute strength.
Even Kong shi had not been born strong; he had advanced a step at a time before maturing to become the great man he had been.
If the Celestial Master Teacher had already matured into a formidable expert, he would have already made a name for himself in the world, and there was no way that Ren Qingyuan, as the deputy pavilion master, would not have heard of him.
“We understand!” The master teachers nodded in acknowledgement.
“Un, I’ll repeat it once more. The most important thing now is finding the Celestial Master Teacher and protecting him!” Ren Qingyuan emphasized with a wave of his hand. “Also, regarding the matter concerning the Celestial Master Teacher, I want all of you to maintain a silent restraint on it. Don’t even mention it in passing among yourselves! I won’t hesitate to strip you of your master teacher license and banish you to the Subterranean Gallery for life should you dare contravene this silent restraint!”
“We understand, Pavilion Master Ren!” the master teachers replied resoundingly.
Hula!
After the orders had been relayed, the master teachers swiftly scattered into the surroundings from the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall, leaving only Ren Qingyuan behind.
Ren Qingyuan hesitated for a moment before flicking his wrist, and a couple of puppets appeared before him. These puppets were of short stature, and they did not wield too much strength. However, their extraordinary long arms and their ten-fingered hands were particularly eye-catching.
As soon as the puppets materialized, without the slightest word of delay, they immediately scattered around the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall and got to work. In less than an hour, the collapsed rubble was restored to its original glory. Even the ancestral tablets had been placed neatly back onto their respective positions, as if nothing had happened at all.
After collecting all of his puppets, Ren Qingyuan gazed into the distance with a deep look in his eyes. Some time later, he exhaled deeply and muttered, “Celestial Master Teacher… it seems like the heavens are looking after us!”
…
This time, the unique surge of energy lingered around Zhang Xuan for a longer time than before.
Zhao Ya knew that a sudden epiphany must have struck her teacher, so she chose not to interrupt him. She took a seat not too far away and looked at him silently.
During that period, Zhang Xuan remained completely motionless on the spot.
Unlike previous times, he did not pass out, and there was not any peculiar phenomenon either. He felt as if he was swimming in the ocean of time, unable to accurately discern the flow of time around him.
Under the tempering of the unique aura, his Soul Depth soared furiously. His advancement this time around was far greater than any of the previous times, surging from the initial 25.1 to 29.1.
For master teachers, Soul Depth was usually separated in intervals of three. With a Soul Depth of 29.1, Zhang Xuan was already at the level of the most pinnacle 9-star master teacher!
With the rise in his Soul Depth, his analytical capabilities were further enhanced, allowing him to peer deeper into an issue and look further ahead.
Many things that he had been unable to make sense of or unable to draw connections with suddenly cleared up in his mind. At the same time, his analysis of the many cultivation techniques and battle techniques in his mind also became much more thorough, as if he was suddenly able to look right into their crux.
Even though I have never cultivated any Saint 8-dan Dimension Sundering realm cultivation techniques before, I was still able to roughly figure my way forward from the cultivation techniques I have gathered in the past. Furthermore, Zhao Ya is my student, and her energy stems from the same origin as mine, so I was able to gather the momentum required for a breakthrough under her infusion of energy, thus reaching my current level.
Previously, Zhang Xuan had still been a little perplexed as to how he was able to abruptly push for a breakthrough back when he was still at the Glacier Plain Court. Back then, he did not think too much into it, and the impetus to breakthrough simply came perfectly naturally to him. However, with the rise in his Soul Depth, the veil on this mystery was finally removed.
Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed. It’s a pity that I’m still unable to think of a feasible way to reconstruct Zhao Ya’s meridians.
Even though he had managed to form mental connections between the many fields of knowledge that he had learned, he was still completely clueless as to how he could help Zhao Ya reconstruct her meridians.
From the looks of it, he only had his current plan to rely on—heading to the Blacksmith Guild and seeing if there was any suitable material that could be used to replace her meridians.
Hu!
Exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, Zhang Xuan opened his eyes.
“Teacher, are you done cultivating?” Zhao Ya asked with a hint of doubt in her voice.
She had thought that her teacher’s cultivation would surge after this round of cultivation, but nothing had happened at all. There was not the slightest change in his cultivation that she could perceive. If she had to point out something that was different about him, it would be that he appeared more spirited than before, and his eyes had grown deeper and more unreadable.
“Yes.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“I see!” Zhao Ya heaved a sigh of relief.
“We’ll be heading back to the Empire Alliance City. This time, we’re going to resolve the problem concerning your meridians!” said Zhang Xuan as he stood up.
“Teacher, the entire continent is looking to capture you. It’s too dangerous, so let’s not head there anymore…” Zhao Ya spoke up worriedly.
It had not been easy for them to leave the Empire Alliance City, yet her teacher actually wanted to head back there.
“Don’t worry, even 9-star pinnacle master teachers would have trouble seeing through my disguise. I won’t be in any danger,” Zhang Xuan reassured with a smile.
With his fifth acknowledgement of Celestial Master Teacher, his Soul Depth had surged from 25.1 to 29.1, putting him amid the top even among 9-star pinnacle master teachers. Even if an expert of Elder Qu’s caliber came over, the other party would still be unable to find the slightest discrepancy in his disguise, let alone figure out his true identity!
“However, your disguise is still a little lacking at the moment. Alright, I’ll impart a physical body cultivation technique to you!”
While Zhang Xuan was able to disguise himself even from the discerning eyes of 9-star master teachers, due to Zhao Ya’s lack of cultivation, while her disguise might still be able to fool the eyes of ordinary cultivators, the same could not be said about high-rank master teachers.
Due to the awakening of her Pure Yin Body, her appearance was simply too striking. Once her disguise was seen through, it would not be too difficult for others to figure out their true identity.
“Physical body cultivation technique? Teacher, my meridians have collapsed completely. Will I… still be able to practice it?” Zhao Ya asked apprehensively.
Despite the term, physical body cultivation technique usually required the infusion of zhenqi in order to temper one’s body into a state that no ordinary mortal would be able to achieve. Given that Zhao Ya had already lost all of her meridians, she did not think that she would be able to practice a physical body cultivation technique.
“I have altered the cultivation technique so that you will be able to practice it even without using your meridians. However, you’ll have to practice it in accompaniment with my silver needles… Here is the cultivation technique manual!” Zhang Xuan raised his finger and tapped it lightly on Zhao Ya’s head, and knowledge swiftly surged into the latter’s mind.
Zhao Ya spent roughly two hours looking through the cultivation technique manual before she was finally able to grasp it, and her eyes lit up in excitement.
Her teacher’s physical body cultivation technique was truly formidable. Compared to that, all of the Glacier Plain Court’s physical body cultivation techniques seemed like trash picked right off the street.
“Alright, let’s begin!” Seeing that Zhao Ya was done going through the manual, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist, and innumerable silver needles flew out from his hands, piercing all over Zhao Ya’s body.
The surges of Heaven’s Path zhenqi infused in each of the silver needles nourished her body, enhancing her strength.
…
While Zhang Xuan was in the midst of helping Zhao Ya cultivate the Heaven’s Path Golden Art, at the entrance of a sealed chamber of the Combat Master Hall, a large group of anxious-looking combat masters were gathered.
Today was the very day that the Progeny of Combat would finally come out of seclusion!
