“What?”
Zhang Xuan raised his head, only to see the First Elders of the Zhang Clan and the Glacier Plain Court, Zhang Wuheng and You Ruoxin, floating in the air, gazing down on him coldly. Without a doubt, the attack that had destroyed the seal had been executed them.
The seal that Yang shi had left behind would have had no trouble withstanding the attack of Saint 9-dan cultivators, but under the devastating force of two top-notch experts who had already surpassed Saint 9-dan, there was no way it could possibly stand a chance.
“You sure know how to disguise yourself well! If not for your Otherworldly Demon aura leaking out, even I would have had trouble trying to recognize you!” Zhang Wuheng sneered coldly as he glared fixedly at the young man within the hall, seemingly fearing that the latter would disappear from his sight if he averted his gaze for a moment. “Zhang Xuan, what else do you have to say for yourself?”
As he spoke, a powerful aura burst forth from him, crushing the hall beneath so heavily that it almost seemed as if the ground would be reduced to dust. Standing right in its face, Zhang Xuan felt his body freezing in place. The surrounding air suddenly grew so heavy that it suffocated him.
Despite having achieved a breakthrough to Saint 8-dan Dimension Sundering realm, he still was not close to being a match for the First Elder.
The other party had definitely already reached the level of a Great Sage, or else he could not possibly have survived a cultivation ordeal that had already surpassed the scale of a Macrocosm Ascendancy Ordeal.
Seeing the confident looks on the faces above, he knew that the other party had seen through his disguise too.
Thus, he reverted to his original appearance and gazed upward. “I have nothing to say for myself. However, I plead for you all to just give me four more hours. I have something important that I have to finish!”
Zhao Ya was currently in a crucial phase in the reconstruction of her meridians. If he halted right now, even if she survived this ordeal, the wounds that she would sustain as a result would be irrecoverable!
In any case, after her meridians were healed up, he would be able to slowly deal with the Zhang Clan, Glacier Plain Court, and the Sanctum of Sages.
“Four hours? To give you time to escape? Do you take us for fools? Dream on!” Zhang Wuheng sneered coldly as he turned around and gestured grandly. “The rest of you can appear now. If you harbored any doubts toward my previous report, I believe that this should be more than enough to prove the authenticity of my words. The thing in front of him is emanating such concentrated killing intent… Even if it isn’t an Otherworldly Demon, it’s bound to be some kind of precious artifact of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe! Despite being a master teacher, he dares to collude with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe to conspire against mankind! Surely, I need not say more about the implications of his actions, right?”
Huala!
Right after those words were spoken, multiple bursts of wind echoed in the surroundings as fifteen master teachers flew over from all around. Each of them emanated a powerful aura that paled nowhere in comparison to that of You Ruoxin or Zhang Wuheng. As their auras weighed down on the entire Blacksmith Guild, it created a sensation that felt as if the world was collapsing on one.
“They are all 9-star master teachers?” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in horror.
Each of these master teachers had a 9-star emblem pinned on their chests, just like Elder Qu. In fact, even without their emblems, their esteemed standing was apparent just from their strength that they commanded!
For fifteen 9-star master teachers to appear in a single area simultaneously… just to apprehend him?
They sure held him in high regard!
While he had caused quite the uproar in the Zhang Clan and the Glacier Plain Court, considering how Zhang Wuheng and You Ruoxin were already around, it would be an impressive lineup with just another one or two 9-star master teachers with them. Yet, for fifteen to appear along with them…
When did 9-star master teachers become so cheap and commonplace?
It could not be that the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters had actually dispatched all of its experts to deal with him, could it?
“Are you Zhang Xuan?”
In his moment of shock, a voice suddenly sounded from above. It was from an elder in the sky who was gazing down on him with a look of incomprehension and lamentation.
Deputy Pavilion Master Ren Qingyuan!
After hearing the reports from the three powers, Ren Qingyuan had thought that the fellow who had been causing trouble all around would be some kind of formidable figure. As such, he was a little bewildered to see that the person in question was just a twenty-year-old young man with a perfectly ordinary appearance. His cultivation was only at Dimension Sundering realm primary stage, and honestly, there did not seem to be anything particularly outstanding about him.
If one really had to point out something that was extraordinary about him, it would be how calm he was able to remain despite standing in the face of all of them. In terms of mental resilience, he could already surpass some of the 9-star master teachers.
“I am indeed Zhang Xuan,” Zhang Xuan replied with a nod.
“I have looked through your records. You have successfully crashed two pavilions and conquered the Tower of Master Teachers as well. You have shown outstanding talent in many of your supporting occupations, and you also managed to foil the ploy of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s Qingtian Lineage. There is no denying that you have made outstanding contributions to mankind.
“However, as a master teacher, virtue should always come first. You wreaked havoc in the Zhang Clan, Sanctum of Sages, and the Glacier Plain Court, and that is more than enough to strike off any contribution that you have made. Why are destroying your own future?” Ren Qingyuan said.
A person as talented as the young man before him was bound to achieve great things in the future, but why did he have to ruin everything for himself?
Before Zhang Xuan could speak, Zhang Wuheng interjected with a cold sneer. “Pavilion Master Ren, why are you wasting your breath on him? You aren’t intending to cover up for him just because he’s a master teacher, are you?”
“Cover up? First Elder, I have to ask you to watch your tongue. Be it master teachers or ordinary cultivators, as long as he has sinned, he would be punished. All are equal before the law!” Ren Qingyuan said.
“Humph, that would be for the best. Zhang Xuan has wreaked havoc in the Zhang Clan, destroying countless buildings and injuring many of our elders. The sins that he has committed are more than enough to put him to death many times over. Since Pavilion Master Ren has agreed that he should be punished, I won’t stand on ceremony… Men, seal the area. Make sure that he can’t get away!” Zhang Wuheng waved his hand grandly.
Huala!
Another eight more men dressed in robes imprinted with the Zhang Clan insignia rose into the air. They were experts from the Zhang Clan, and their cultivation had all reached Saint 9-dan.
With their combined strength, they swiftly sealed the surrounding space firmly, rendering even Teleportation Formations unusable within this space.
“He destroyed our Sanctum of Sages and showed blatant disrespect to me and my elders. The Sanctum of Sages will not turn a blind eye to this matter either!” someone bellowed from the distance.
Sou sou sou!
Deputy Sanctum Head Zhan shi of the Sanctum of Sages swiftly flitted over with more than a dozen experts from the Sanctum of Sages following behind him. They took their stance above the Blacksmith Guild as well as they gazed down at Zhang Xuan with menacing eyes.
Despite being a student of the Sanctum of Sages, he had willfully destroyed the Sanctum Head Hall and its surrounding buildings. Not only so, he had even openly defied and injured Zhan shi and the others. This had gone far beyond what they could tolerate.
“Zhang Xuan, it’s one thing for you to destroy our Glacier Plain Court, but how dare you kidnap our young court chief as well! There’s no way we are going to forgive you for this!” You Ruoxin also stepped forward as an imposing aura burst forth from her.
That fellow had acted as Yang Xuan and sneaked their young court chief away, destroying countless buildings of the Glacier Plain Court in the midst of doing so… If not out of deference for Pavilion Master Ren, she would have dashed right forward to tear that fellow into pieces.
Paying no heed to Zhang Wuheng and Zhan shi, Zhang Xuan turned his gaze toward You Ruoxin and scoffed. “Kidnapped your young court chief? Are you really saying that I have kidnapped Zhao Ya? To think that the Glacier Plain Court would have a habit of spinning lies to your convenience!”
He was willing to admit that the fault was with him for what happened at the Zhang Clan and the Sanctum of Sages, but for the Glacier Plain Court to claim that he had kidnapped Zhao Ya, that was truly ridiculous!
If not for them resorting to depraved means in order to awaken their Pure Yin Body, cornering Zhao Ya to the point where she had to turn to him for help, those subsequent events would not have happened.
If they looked back to the root of the matter, the primary culprit was the Glacier Plain Court. Yet, they actually twisted the story to suit their purpose, claiming that he had kidnapped Zhao Ya instead. Preposterous!
To allow the other powers to spout such blatant lies, had the Master Teacher Pavilion really turned so lax? Or perhaps, just like what Yang shi had said, the truth mattered not to them as long as they could achieve their personal motives.
At this point, Zhang Xuan raised his head to look at the 9-star master teachers above him with wintry eyes.
“What irony. I thought that the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would be able to remain a neutral and impartial party on the Master Teacher Continent, but right now, it appears to me that it has already chosen to align itself with the Glacier Plain Court and become its spokesperson. Just how much lower can the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters fall?”