“Zhang Xuan?”
“It’s actually him…”
Silence filled the area, and countless lips trembled in disbelief.
Due to someone working in the background to spread the matter between Zhang Xuan and the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s Spirit God in the Temple of Confucius, within three days, everyone on the Master Teacher Continent knew of the matter.
There was no one on the Master Teacher Continent who did not scorn him. In their eyes, he was a master teacher who had failed to shoulder his responsibilities, thus opening a window of opportunity for the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.
As such, most thought that the judgement of the Master Teacher Pavilion was fair, and they had celebrated upon hearing the verdict.
However, no one knew that the current peace and prosperity enjoyed by mankind, such that even ordinary cultivators could descend into the Subterranean Galleries, was due to the work of the individual whom they loathed.
He had given his all for mankind, only to be forced by the very mankind that he had chosen to protect to commit suicide.
Just how despaired must he have been feeling when he ended his life?
“When Zhang Xuan committed suicide, his students barged into the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters and pummeled every single 9-star master teacher present. Yet, not a single person dared to retaliate. Do you know why that’s the case?” Brother Wu questioned.
The crowd shook their heads.
“That’s because they knew that they wouldn’t enjoy the current peace without Zhang shi. If not for Zhang shi’s sacrifice, the Master Teacher Continent might already have been torn apart by war!”
“I don’t understand!” a middle-aged man amid the crowd suddenly said up. “Since the Master Teacher Pavilion knows of his contribution, why doesn’t it try to explain the matter and resolve the misunderstandings? Why did it go to the extent of forcing him to end his life?”
Hearing those words, the crowd quickly nodded in agreement.
Zhang Xuan’s immense contribution to mankind should have been enough to strike off any mistakes that he had made. Why did the Master Teacher Pavilion still go to the extent of pushing him over the edge?
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s likely due to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe pulling some strings behind the scenes. It’s said that Sovereign Chen Xing and Sovereign Chen Ling were in the Temple of Confucius back then, and they ended up escaping. Most likely, they are the ones who have been spreading the rumors!”
At that point, Brother Wu sighed deeply before continuing. “Due to the news spreading like wildfire, many master teachers were rallied to gather outside the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, and they demanded the headquarters to hand Zhang Xuan over. While Zhang Xuan had made great contributions to mankind, it’s also a fact that he had allowed the Spirit God to escape with the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn in hand. Had the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters chosen to side with Zhang Xuan, it would have caused the world to lose confidence in their judgement, and it might have sown internal discord among mankind. In order to placate the riled master teachers, Zhang Xuan chose to end his life so as to offer a satisfactory explanation to the world.”
“If that’s truly the case, he’s a true master teacher!”
“To hold onto his faith and sacrifice himself bravely, that’s the mark of a true hero…”
“By ending his life, the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe will no longer be able to exploit the matter to rally the populace against the Master Teacher Pavilion. At the same time, the Master Teacher Pavilion will be granted some breathing space to reorganize their members and weed out spies hiding on the Master Teacher Continent. There’s no doubt that his choice has helped to avert a major crisis for mankind, but… this is simply too unfair for him! He has done so much for mankind, only to be met with such a bitter end eventually!”
“We are truly indebted to him…”
…
The crowd widened their eyes in realization.
This was simply human nature. On the very grounds that Zhang Xuan was a master teacher, everyone imposed higher moral standards on him. As soon as he made a mistake, regardless of whether it was unintentional or not, it was magnified manyfold and used as a weapon to crack a hole in his reputation.
Look, even a person of such character can be a master teacher! Don’t you think that the Master Teacher Pavilion has fallen over the years?
How can someone of such character be qualified to be a master teacher?
Yet, they failed to realize that master teachers were not puppets; they were fallible humans. They could not possibly be right all of the time, and they had their selfish whims as well.
The lofty reputation of the Master Teacher Pavilion had become both its greatest asset and its greatest weakness.
It was within their expectations for a master teacher to do good deeds, so their accomplishments were often left unnoticed. However, as soon as they erred, word would spread that ‘this master teacher has finally revealed the hideous personality that he has been hiding all along’.
This was similar to how if an absolute villain occasionally carried out some good deeds, people would think that the villain’s personality was actually not as bad as it seemed.
This was the same situation that Zhang shi had faced.
To be in a relationship with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s Spirit God and allow the latter to take away the Great Codex and Spring and Autumn was an unforgivable failure for an esteemed master teacher. There was nothing that Zhang Xuan could have done that would absolve him of this crime. Had the Master Teacher Pavilion tried to protect him, they would have come under fire as well.
Cornered and left with no choice, Zhang shi could only end his life out of despair.
It might have seemed as if everything had been resolved, but this was actually a huge loss for mankind. The brightest star of mankind had truly fallen.
“Indeed. Zhang shi might have been young, but he accomplished what countless master teachers failed to achieve in their lifetime. He’s the man I respect the most in the world, and I’m willing to devote my life to pursuing him!” Brother Wu nodded in determination.
“I didn’t know about this. I thought that he betrayed mankind. Now that I know the truth, I’ll do the same as well. I won’t allow someone who sacrificed so much for mankind to have his reputation besmirched!”
“Count me in as well!”
The crowd beneath the clock tower nodded in determination.
Since he was a good person, they could not allow him to be insulted even after his death!
…
In the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, Ren Qingyuan was troubled. “Yang shi, I don’t understand. Why did Zhang shi choose this course of action? Why didn’t he at least try to explain himself?”
He was truly unable to make sense of the situation.
This was a matter that could possibly be resolved by Zhang Xuan explaining himself, so why did he have to go to the extent of committing suicide?
“I asked the Xingmeng Sword Saints about this matter as well, and they told me that Senior had assimilated the blood of Ancient Sage Hongtian!” Yang shi said.
Hearing an unexpected response, Ren Qingyuan frowned in confusion. “He’d assimilated the blood of Ancient Sage Hongtian?”
“Ancient Sage Hongtian was a Blood Reincarnation realm cultivator!” Yang shi explained.
“Blood Reincarnation realm cultivator… Assimilating Ancient Sage Hongtian’s blood… Wait a moment. Could it be that…” Ren Qingyuan narrowed his mind as a thought came to his mind.
“That’s right!” Yang shi nodded. “The reason that my senior chose to end his life at the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters is likely more than an explanation to mankind. He probably has some other motives in mind. As for the specifics, I’m afraid that I’m incapable of guessing his thoughts…”
“In other words… Zhang shi isn’t dead yet?” Ren Qingyuan clenched his fists in agitation.
He had thought that the young man had truly passed away, and he had grieved for so long. However, if the young man had truly assimilated the blood of a Blood Reincarnation realm cultivator, it was unlikely that he would die so easily.
“I’ll have to ask you to regard this matter with utmost secrecy. Do not speak of it before anyone else!” Seeing the agitated look on Ren Qingyuan’s face, Yang shi strictly warned him.
“Rest assured, I understand!” Ren Qingyuan hurriedly nodded.
“Good.” Yang shi nodded before falling silent.
Shortly after Ren Qingyuan left the room, Yang shi waved his hand, and he teleported into a unique folded space.
The flow of time in that folded space was noticeably different from that of the Master Teacher Continent. It was much slower, such that ten days in the outside world could translate into the passing of a single day within the folded space.
“You’re here…”
Upon seeing Yang shi, an Ancient Sage of the Master Teacher Pavilion awoke from his slumber and rose up.
Before long, a few other Ancient Sages flew over and gathered around him.
They were the few Ancient Sages who had survived the battle against Sovereign Chen Yong back in the Temple of Confucius. Ancient Sage Yan Qing was also among the crowd.
“You said that you had some matters you wish to inform us of. What is it?” Ancient Sage Yan Qing asked.
Back when they were in the Temple of Confucius, Yang shi had said that he had something to inform them of, but it had not been convenient for them to speak back there due to the confidentiality of the matter.
“What I want to tell you is Zhang shi’s true identity!” Yang shi bowed deeply before slowly raising his head.
“His true identity?”
The crowd frowned in bewilderment, unsure what Yang shi was driving at.
Was Zhang Xuan not a master teacher? What other identity could he possibly possess?
“That’s right!” Yang shi nodded. “To be honest with all of you, he’s not just a master teacher but also a… Celestial Master Teacher!”
A bonus chapter to kickstart the new arc
