It seemed like the rules written on the jade token were not to be taken exactly.
It was detailed on the jade token that one would be welcomed by the teachers upon arriving at the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism, at which point, one would have a chance to choose among them. However, all that was there to welcome him upon his arrival was a mere copper gong and nothing else.
“Did I come so quickly that no one was able to react in time?” Zhang Xuan muttered under his breath.
In any case, he had no intention of waiting there for them, so he proceeded ahead without any hesitation.
This was his first time entering the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism, and he was so overwhelmed by the changes in the spatial laws and the concentration in the spiritual energy that he failed to notice the crowd crushed beneath the copper gong. Besides, he had not exerted too much strength in the earlier stomp, so he did not expect that anyone would end up injured as a result of that.
Thus, he had completely failed to notice the bunch of Scholastic Masters.
It was just like how an elephant would not feel an ant struggling beneath it when stepping on it!
Sou!
Shortly after Zhang Xuan disappeared, Zhong Qing appeared before the copper gong. He scanned the surroundings with a confused look in his eyes for a moment before his eyebrows shot up in horror.
He quickly grabbed the copper gong and tugged, and it took him a while before he was finally able to lug it away.
A bunch of Scholastic Masters were imprinted messily in the ground. Their faces were ghastly pale, and fresh blood was oozing out from the corners of their mouths.
Seeing that everyone was almost on their last breath, Zhong Qing exclaimed, “Mi Xuan, what in the world happened here?”
Those Scholastic Masters were the strongest experts of the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism. They should have been the ones demonstrating their abilities to attract new students to come under their wing, but why would they end up lying beneath the copper gong like a bunch of dead fish?
“Did someone just decipher the seal and enter the premises?” Mi Xuan asked with a tearful look on his face.
“Yes, Fan Xiaoxu from Ancient Sage Zi Chi’s lineage!” Zhong Qing replied before realization struck him, and he widened his eyes in shock. “Are you saying that… he was the one who caused this? Wait a moment… Tell me what happened here!”
With an awkward look on his face, Mi Xuan began explaining. “I took out my copper gong, hoping to find someone who can survive ten breaths against it and bring him under my wing. So, when I saw that someone was entering the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism, I swiftly brought it out to block his way. However, I didn’t think that the other party would stomp down on it so forcefully. In order to prevent it from damaging the buildings around, everyone offered their strength to stop it, but… well, you can see the results for yourself!”
“He sent the copper gong flying… Even with so many of you around, none of you were able to stop him?” Zhong Qing shook his head in incredulity. “But how could that be? Fan Xiaoxu is a Saint 9-dan pinnacle cultivator!”
Putting aside the fact that the copper gong was a Great Sage artifact, it appeared that a stomp from Fan Xiaoxu was already more powerful than a dozen Scholastic Masters. A Saint 9-dan pinnacle cultivator being stronger than so many Great Sage experts? How could that be possible?
“There’s no way Saint 9-dan cultivators could wield such strength,” Mi Xuan remarked deeply. “In fact, not even Great Sages would be able to pull something like this off. Such strength can only be wielded by an Ancient Sage…”
Ancient Sages were extremely dense in weight, such that their body seemed to harness a world in itself. With how swiftly Fan Xiaoxu had been moving earlier, if his body carried the weight of an Ancient Sage, he would have been able to pull something like that off with a simple stomp. Perhaps, he might not even have been aware of how powerful his stomp was.
In any case, one thing was for sure—there was no way a Saint 9-dan cultivator could draw forth such strength.
Hearing those words, Zhong Qing frowned. “But I checked Fan Xiaoxu earlier, and he is indeed a member from Ancient Sage Zi Chi’s lineage. Fan Xiaofeng and the others can testify for him too, so it seems unlikely that he would be an impersonator. Furthermore, if an Ancient Sage barged into the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism, the great formation would surely activate, and the hibernating Ancient Sages would swiftly regain consciousness. However, nothing is happening at all…”
Similar to the Ancient Sages of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, the Ancient Sages of the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism spent most of their time hibernating. It was only in the presence of those who wielded strength equal to them would they be forcefully woken up from their long sleep.
The fact that the surroundings were completely silent was more than enough to prove that there were no Ancient Sages who had breached the barrier and barged into the area.
But… if that was not the case, how were they to make sense about what had happened?
“No matter who Fan Xiaoxu truly is, let’s find him before deciding our next move!” Knowing that they would only be able to resolve the problem with the person in question present, Mi Xuan quickly stowed his copper gong before flying over to the cluster of buildings.
Zhong Qing and the others followed tightly behind.
It did not take long before they saw a silhouette standing in the square, scratching his head in confusion.
It was none other than Fan Xiaoxu.
Huala!
Everyone swiftly descended to the ground and surrounded Fan Xiaoxu tightly.
“You are…” Fan Xiaoxu had a confused look on his face that seemed to say, ‘What am I doing here?’
“You are currently at the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism. You cleared the examination with ease, deciphered the formation within a breath, and overpowered all of us simultaneously shortly after entering the premises…” A Scholastic Master among the crowd could not take it anymore. “Tell me, just who in the world are you?”
“I am at the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism? Cleared the examination… I have already cleared the examination?” Fan Xiaoxu was taken aback as the information plunged him deeper into confusion. “Furthermore, I overpowered all of you? What does that mean?”
Seeing how Fan Xiaoxu was acting as if he had lost his memory, another Scholastic Master sneered coldly. “Don’t bother playing the fool. We’ll know your true strength with a simple look!”
With a tap of his finger, a book materialized in the air. It swiftly flipped open before a ray of light descended from it.
It was one of the treasures of the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism, the Book of Veracity.
It was able to gauge a person’s true cultivation and bloodline, and there was no way to possibly deceive it. It had been created through the principles of Ancient Sage Bo Shang’s Eye of Insight, and the book possessed the ability to dispel all falsehood.
Weng!
Shrouded with a ray of light, the flow of Fan Xiaoxu’s zhenqi, the strength of his meridians, and everything else about him was clearly displayed. Even the color of his bloodline and his cultivation was visible to the eye.
“He’s indeed from the lineage of Ancient Sage Zi Chi, and there’s no doubt that he’s a Saint 9-dan pinnacle cultivator!”
Hearing those words, the crowd grew even more confused.
Under the inspection of the Book of Veracity, it turned out that there was no mistake about the identity of the young man before them. He was Fan Xiaoxu through and through!
But… could a Saint 9-dan pinnacle cultivator really overpower all of them so thoroughly that they were unable to retaliate? Could a Saint 9-dan cultivator decipher the formation and get in there within a single breath? Could a Saint 9-dan cultivator teach his peers and grant them the power to eliminate over a thousand examinees in an intense examination?
“Allow me to test your strength!”
While everyone was still trying to figure out what was going on, Zhong Qing took a step forward. This time, he suppressed his cultivation down to Great Sage 1-dan Introspective Convalescence realm instead of Saint 9-dan.
Even Fan Xiaofeng and Fan Xiaoxing had been able to defeat him earlier. Considering that Fan Xiaoxu was their mentor, raising his cultivation higher than a realm would instead allow him to better control his strength and thus prevent anyone from getting hurt.
Hong long!
Not giving Fan Xiaoxu any time to react, Zhong Qing smacked his palm down with the might of a falling comet and the raging tides of a river. Even though he had suppressed his cultivation to the Introspective Convalescence realm, the power that he displayed still made everyone’s breathing hastened in alarm as they subconsciously backed away.
Fan Xiaoxu’s face paled in fright before this tremendous might, such that his body trembled uncontrollably.
His memory only went to the point where he was still at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the examination to begin. Then… when he suddenly came to again, he was already standing in this square. To make matters worse, a Scholastic Master even made a move against him without any hesitation. What the heck was going on?
Knowing that there was no time to think in this situation, he hurriedly backed away.
He could tell in an instant that the strength wielded by the other party was not something that he could possibly stand up against. If he did not dodge, there was a good chance that he would be smashed into a meat biscuit.
Sou!
However, before he could even process what was going on, his body had already flown back. It was just an instant, but his body had already flown back eight hundred meters, almost as if he had teleported away.
Boom!
Zhong Qing’s attack landed on the ground, creating a depression in the middle of the square.
Not expecting that he would be able to move with such swiftness, Fan Xiaoxu was stunned. “W-what is going on?”
He staggered weakly on the spot, and a moment of imbalance caused him to fall on his bottom onto the ground.
He had been thinking of simply retreating a single step, and under normal circumstances, it would already have been a formidable feat if he was able to retreat ten meters away. Yet, he had actually covered eight hundred meters in a single step… How in the world did he do it?
Where am I? Who am I?
Fan Xiaoxu fell into confusion once more.
