Snow drifted quietly at the northernmost border of the Master Teacher Continent.
A decrepit clock tower stood in desolation in those snowy lands. Countless adventurers were gathered beneath that decrepit clock tower.
It was where one of the Six Major Subterranean Galleries, the Icysea Subterranean Gallery, was located. There would rarely be anyone around there, but after the Otherworldly Demons retreated from the Subterranean Gallery, the area had swiftly turned into a major trading post. Many experts would pass by the area on a daily basis.
Just like the other Subterranean Galleries, the Icysea Subterranean Gallery was suffused with concentrated killing intent due to the crimson moon that hung high in the sky, corroding all lifeforms that loitered in the area. However, many resilient plants that did not exist on the Master Teacher Continent still took root and germinated on that land despite the extreme conditions. Those plants served as valuable medicine, and they were also ideal catalysts for smithing top-tier weapons, making them incredibly valuable.
In order to find those plants, many adventurers were willing to risk their lives to venture into the Icysea Subterranean Gallery.
Due to the frequent skirmishes with the Otherworldly Demons in the past, the Master Teacher Pavilion had locked down the Subterranean Galleries, allowing only master teachers to enter the area.
However, with the retreat of the Otherworldly Demons, some of the stronger cultivators had begun venturing into those treacherous lands, hoping to scout the lands for rare resources. It did not take long for them to realize that the Subterranean Galleries were practically treasure troves. As valuable commodities were brought out one after another, more and more adventurers began descending into the Subterranean Galleries in search of great fortune.
At that very moment, those who were standing beneath the decrepit clock tower were the cultivators who wanted to try their luck.
“The snowstorm is getting heavier and heavier. It’s times like this that the Icysea Subterranean Gallery automatically closes itself, making it impossible to enter the area. All we can do at a time like this is wait here till the sky clears!”
“It can’t be helped. The Icysea Subterranean Gallery is located in the midst of a snowy mountain, and it happens to be the coldest time of year. It’s simply too dangerous to travel around at a time like this.”
“Isn’t it boring to be sitting around here doing nothing? Why don’t we share interesting things that have happened recently so that we can open our eyes?”
“Brother Wu, you’ve just come here from the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, right? Is there any fascinating news?”
Upon hearing the name ‘Brother Wu’, the gazes of the crowd swiftly gathered on the middle-aged man seated at the very center.
That middle-aged man was dressed in the long robe of a master teacher, and the seven stars on his emblem gleamed conspicuously. His cultivation had reached Saint 4-dan Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle, putting him at the forefront of 7-star master teachers.
Noticing the gazes on him, Brother Wu allowed his gaze to wander across the crowd in a suspenseful manner before asking, “Do you know who the most talented master teacher of the current era is?”
“The most talented master teacher of the current era? It should be Feng Ziyi, right? I heard that his teacher recently achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage, and his cultivation has been surging ahead. He’s already a figure whom we can only look up to!”
“I think it should be Zhao Moxuan. I met him once, and he’s truly a prodigious individual. He’s able to comprehend and master anything swiftly, such that it doesn’t seem like there’s anything in this world that could possibly stump him!”
“I’ll put my vote on Jiang Feifei. Not only is she beautiful, her mastery as a celestial designer has also reached an unbelievable level…”
“What I heard is that…”
The question immediately provoked an intense debate among the crowd.
Those were figures whose names resounded far and wide on the Master Teacher Continent, and there were countless cultivators who looked up to them and viewed them as their goal.
Suddenly, someone amid the crowd added, “Have you forgotten… Zhang Xuan?”
“Zhang Xuan?”
That name caused the fervent discussion to wither into silence.
“I don’t deny that he’s the most talented master teacher in the past tens of thousands of years. Perhaps, the only person who could match him is Kong shi… However, he conspired with the Spirit God of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe to steal the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn, thus placing mankind in a dangerous position. That in itself is enough to disqualify him as a master teacher!”
“We can’t allow such a black sheep to sully the reputation of the Master Teacher Pavilion!”
“The story that I heard is rather different though. He didn’t conspire with the Spirit God. Instead, he was unaware of the other party’s identity and was duped into doing her bidding!”
“A teacher has to be held to the highest standards in terms of values, principles, and behaviors. Even if he didn’t know the true identity of the Spirit God before, he should have severed his feelings for her and stopped her after learning the truth. Yet, he remained completely idle, not even attempting to snatch the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn back. That’s more than enough to deem him as a traitor of mankind!”
“There’s no point talking about that unworthy fellow!”
…
An uproar broke out amid the crowd, and the discussions were getting more and more heated by the moment.
“Hahaha!”
At this moment, a cold sneer suddenly echoed across the crowd, causing the decrepit clock tower to tremble intensely. It almost seemed as if the clock tower was about to collapse upon the crowd.
This abrupt occurrence swiftly caught everyone’s attention as eyes darted toward the source of the sneer.
Surprisingly, the person who had just sneered was none other than the 7-star master teacher amid the crowd, Brother Wu!
At this moment, Brother Wu’s eyes were filled with ice, and the smile on his lips had vanished without a trace. He rose to his feet and gazed down upon the crowd imposingly as he said, “Did you just say that Zhang shi isn’t qualified to be a master teacher? Who gave you the guts to utter such nonsense?”
A middle-aged man with a glaring scar on his face harrumphed in response. “A man who has let down the whole of mankind and ended his life before the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters to repay his sins—do you really think that such a person is qualified to bear the name of a master teacher?”
It had been ten days since Zhang Xuan had ended his life at the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, and news had already spread all over the Master Teacher Continent.
“You’re asking if he’s qualified?” Brother Wu narrowed his eyes. “Let me ask you, do you know why we are able to enter the Icysea Subterranean Gallery at this very moment?”
“Isn’t it because the forces of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe retreated from the Subterranean Galleries?” the scar-faced middle-aged man asked.
The others nodded in agreement as well.
It was due to the Otherworldly Demons retreating that they dared to enter the area. Otherwise, they would probably lose their lives within moments after entering the premises. Even with treasures scattered all over the Subterranean Galleries, no one would be so foolish as to place themselves in a certain-death situation.
“Retreat? Hah!” Brother Wu sneered coldly. “In the past tens of thousands of years, the Otherworldly Demons have been driven back several hundred times, but the ordinary populace has never been allowed to approach this area before. What makes this time so different?”
“This…” The scar-faced middle-aged man was rendered speechless by that question.
In the battle over the years, due to supply issues and heavy death toll, both sides had retreated from the Subterranean Galleries at some point in time. However, the Master Teacher Pavilion had never allowed people into the premises. Could there be something different about the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s retreat this time?
“Brother Wu, do you know something about this matter?” one of the cultivators amid the crowd asked.
“A month ago, I happened to receive an order to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters to handle some matters, and I overheard this rumor!” Brother Wu seemed to descend into memory lane. “It’s true that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe has retreated, but they were gathering their soldiers together in preparation to launch a decisive attack. All in all, there were more than a hundred thousand soldiers!”
“A decisive attack consisting of over a hundred thousand soldiers?” The crowd was astonished.
They were all aware of the tremendous might that the Otherworldly Demons wielded. If they were to face so many enemies at once, it was very likely that they would face unimaginable damage. It was questionable whether the Master Teacher Continent would be able to sustain such damage or not.
“Wait… That’s not right. If they have truly gathered that much military power, why is there no movement from their side at all?”
Finding those words logical, the crowd quickly turned their gazes back to Brother Wu, wanting to see what he had to say.
Considering how treacherous the situation had been back then, it was unthinkable for them not to have heard of it at all.
“Of course, there are no movements! That’s because a master teacher single-handedly charged into the group of a hundred thousand and killed them all!” Brother Wu spoke with a respectful gleam in eyes.
“That person is the one who foiled the ploys of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, forcing them to lie low and dare not invade. He’s the one who fixed the seals and turned the Subterranean Gallery from the netherworld into new lands that we can explore!”
“A person single-handedly killed over a hundred thousand Otherworldly Demons?”
“I heard that even the weakest of the Otherworldly Demons was at Saint 3-dan…”
Unable to take it any longer, someone in the crowd asked, “How did he manage to do it? Brother Wu, who in the world is that fellow?”
“It’s the person whom you said is unqualified to become a master teacher…” Brother Wu clenched his fists tightly together. “Zhang Xuan!”
