Zhao Ya, Wei Ruyan, and Luo Qiqi had entered the Prime Hall with him, but due to them failing the trial, they had been teleported outside. Even though Zhang Xuan had not known where they went, he had been confident that they would not face any danger, so he did not worry too much about them.
As for Zheng Yang, he had not seen the young man ever since he entered the Temple of Confucius. However, based on what Zhao Ya had said, it seemed like he had stumbled upon some kind of fortuitous encounter.
The foreign surroundings around him and the fact that they were all gathered together likely meant that they had already left the Temple of Confucius and were currently somewhere else.
Wang Ying stepped forward and worriedly explained, “Un. We returned to the Master Teacher Pavilion with the other master teachers. Teacher, you have been unconscious for three days now…”
“Three days?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
He suddenly recalled his hazy conversation with Luo Ruoxin during this long sleep, and he quickly brought his consciousness into the Library of Heaven’s Path. To his surprise, however, he found that its massive doors had closed upon him. He tried pushing on the doors, but they would not budge at all.
It’s probably in the midst of an upgrade… Zhang Xuan thought calmly.
He had also been knocked out the previous time that the Library of Heaven’s Path underwent an upgrade, so he was not too worried.
The previous time, the upgrade had finished before he awoke, so he had been able to access it as soon as he was up. However, it seemed like he had roused from his sleep prematurely, so he probably would not be able to access it till the upgrades were finally complete.
Knowing that it would likely take a while longer, Zhang Xuan decided not to bother with it for the time being. Instead, he began to assess the crowd before him.
“Not bad. It seems like all of you have grown quite a bit in the journey through the Temple of Confucius,” Zhang Xuan complimented.
All of his students had reached Great Sage 4-dan Sempiternal realm consummation. Overwhelming energy surged through their bodies, and it seemed like they were ready to achieve a breakthrough at any moment.
So, in the very end, Zhang Xuan was back to being the weakest among them all.
Just thinking about the matter left him feeling rather stifled.
Sighing deeply, he turned his gaze toward his parents, and soon, his eyes lit up.
He had reserved two Bodhi Fruits for their consumption so that they would be able to push for a breakthrough in their Soul Depth, but it seemed like the two of them had encountered some kind of fortuitous encounter yet again and successfully made a breakthrough in their Soul Depth!
At their current level, it did not seem that they were far away from reaching Ancient Sage.
“I have a collaborative sword art here that the two of you should try practicing. I believe that it will be of some help to you in overcoming your current bottleneck!” Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment before tapping his finger lightly.
A cultivation technique manual was imprinted right into the minds of the Xingmeng Sword Saints.
He had browsed through innumerable books back on the mountain of books, thus granting him the knowledge required to further improve the Xingmeng Sword Saints’ collaborative swordsmanship. While it was still a distance away from surpassing the heavens, it would indubitably bring the Xingmeng Sword Saint a step closer toward a breakthrough.
As long as they cultivated it diligently, they would gradually become stronger and stronger. Eventually, a day would come when they finally stepped across the boundary to become full-fledged Ancient Sages, granting them the strength to imposingly lord over the entire world.
“Zheng Yang and Wang Ying, I’ll give these two Bodhi Fruits to you together with this heart tempering cultivation technique. Cultivate it well!” Zhang Xuan turned to his students and entrusted the last two Bodhi Fruits to them.
His Soul Depth had already surpassed the threshold required for an Ancient Sage, so the Bodhi Fruits were no longer of any use to him. Rather than hoarding them, they would be put to better use with his students.
“This tree root is one of the cruxes of the six outer dimensions of the Temple of Confucius, and it possesses incredible spirit enchantment capabilities. Wang Ying, I want you to try to tame it. It’ll be of immense use to you in furthering your abilities as a spirit awakener.
“Zheng Yang, I acquired this spear from one of the experts of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. While it’s inferior to my Dragonbone Divine Spear, it’s still a Great Sage pinnacle artifact. It should boost your fighting prowess significantly…”
As Zhang Xuan had already tamed the cruxes of the six outer dimensions, it would be impossible for any other cultivators to claim possession of them. As soon as he left the Prime Hall, all of them had quickly left the area in pursuit of him and entered his storage ring.
“Lu Chong, I don’t want you to think that I’m biased. Due to your powerful soul, you are able to raise your Soul Depth quickly, so the Bodhi Fruit isn’t of much use to you. Instead, I’ll give you the Seal of Souls. It’s able to devour the souls of others and transform them into concentrated soul energy to nourish your body. I trust that you won’t exploit its abilities for malicious purposes. While Yuan Tao was the first one to undergo the Ancient Sage Ordeal, I believe that you are still the one most likely to first reach Ancient Sage!”
Zhang Xuan passed the Seal of Souls, which served as the mark of authority for the leader of the Soul Oracle Guild, over to Lu Chong.
If used well, the Seal of Souls could provide Lu Chong with an endless supply of concentrated soul energy. There was definitely no treasure better than this to a soul oracle.
As for the icy crystal, while it no longer harnessed any ice energy, it was still compatible with Zhao Ya’s Pure Yin Body, so Zhang Xuan gave it to her.
Similarly, the koi fish was given to Wei Ruyan, and the Five Monarchs were given to Yuan Tao.
…
After distributing his loot from the Temple of Confucius, Zhang Xuan entered the Canvas of Four Seasons. Not too long later, he returned with a slightly pale face.
“I have just sealed a portion Aeon of Ancient Sage into each of these paintings using my spatial art. Take one each,” he said as he distributed his paintings among the crowd.
Kong shi had been able to sever a portion of the world and seal it within a painting, sustaining it for tens of thousands of years without the slightest wear and tear. After reading countless books regarding painting back on the mountain of books, his comprehension of painting had also reached a similar level to Kong shi. With his current mastery, it was not too difficult for him to further sever the space within the Canvas of Four Seasons and distribute it.
With those paintings, even if he was not by their side, his parents and students would still be able to push for a breakthrough to Ancient Sage.
“Xuan-er, is there something wrong? I don’t know if I’m thinking too much, but it feels like something is weighing on your mind.”
Seeing her son unhesitatingly giving out the treasures that he had acquired with great difficulty back in the Temple of Confucius, Sword Saint Meng could not help but voice her concern.
It might just have been her imagination, but she vaguely felt that there was something amiss. Yet, she was unable to clearly put a finger on the matter.
It was true that the Zhang Clan had lost their final Ancient Sage, but Yang shi had already put the word out that anyone who dared to trouble the Zhang Clan would have to face his wrath.
Furthermore, her son’s weapon had also achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage. At the same time, Yuan Tao wielded strength comparable to nascent Ancient Sages.
In terms of fighting prowess, the Zhang Clan could be said to be even stronger than it had been before.
Of course, the loss of Zhang Hongtian, an Ancient Sage 3-dan Blood Reincarnation realm, was a huge blow to the Zhang Clan, but Yang shi and the Infernal Blacksaber were Ancient Sages who did not have to go into hibernation and could move freely. Naturally, they were much more powerful deterrents than Zhang Hongtian despite their lower cultivation realms.
Without a doubt, the Zhang Clan was the greatest winner in the Temple of Confucius expedition, and it was pretty much guaranteed a bright future. Despite that, it felt like her son was in a rush to give out his possessions, as if he was running out of time…
“It’s nothing,” Zhang Xuan replied with a smile. He stood up and stretched his back lazily as he asked, “Did anyone from the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters come over in the last three days?”
“Pavilion Master Ren from the Master Teacher Pavilion said for you to look for him after you awoke from your slumber,” Sword Saint Xing said.
“I see… I’ll leave the rest of you to cultivate. Work hard and try to push for a breakthrough to Ancient Sage as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I’ll head over to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters,” Zhang Xuan said with a casual wave of his hand as he walked out of his room.
“Teacher, we’ll go with you,” Zhao Ya said.
For some reason, she felt a little unnerved as well, as if something bad was going to happen.
“None of you are to follow me!” Zhang Xuan instructed sternly. “No matter what happens, I want you to follow the directives of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters. Under no circumstances are you allowed to cause any trouble!”
“What’s going on?”
The crowd stared at one another in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what was going on. They could only watch in a daze as the young man’s silhouette vanished into a spatial passageway.
When Luo Ruoxin snatched the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn and was revealed to be the Spirit God, they had already left the premises of the Prime Hall. After that, they had been so worried about Zhang Xuan that they had hardly heard anything that was happening outside.
Just as they were wondering what was going on, a resounding voice echoed in the air, reverberating across the entire Master Teacher Continent.
“The head of the Zhang Clan, Zhang Xuan, has been found guilty of leading the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s Spirit God into the Prime Hall to steal the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn. While it was an unintentional lapse in judgement on his part, his actions have indubitably placed mankind in a perilous position. Out of sheer guilt, he chose to end his life at the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters. May all master teachers and humans take this as a lesson to never be blinded by complacency. All it takes it a single error to plunge the whole of mankind into peril…”
“Teacher!”
“Xuan-er!”
Only at that instant did the crowd realize what was going on. Unable to believe what they were hearing, they dashed out of the room.
—
Whew, that’s finally another arc done. I’m thinking of having an AMA this weekend since we are already so many chapters in but haven’t really gotten to know one another yet. Anyway, I’ll post the details later on!
Author’s Note: The 12th arc,
However, the effect of that is that the conclusion turned out to be much less impactful.
The next arc,
