The reason Zhang Xuan had chosen to cast himself aside and tour the world was due to the confusion in his heart. He had found himself lost, and he needed some directions.
He had looked at Kong shi’s records, but their lives had been vastly different. As two completely different people, he could not hope to experience the same things as Kong shi even if he forced himself to retrace Kong shi’s footsteps.
He knew that becoming the World’s Teacher was the way for him to become an Ancient Sage, but how could he do it? The world was such a huge place, and it was governed by its own laws. It was not as if his words could reach the heavens, so how could he become the World’s Teacher?
Unable to make sense out of this, he had found himself falling into a stalemate. No matter how he struggled, he had been unable to advance any further at all.
Of course, he knew that this confusion was something that all cultivators had to eventually face in their lifetime, but this was a hurdle that he had no idea where he could begin to work on.
All along, he had been reliant on the Library of Heaven’s Path for his cultivation. He would collect books and compile them together, and if required, he would edit them accordingly. All in all, none of what he had practiced so far could be said to be his own creation. While he had been able to advance swiftly through this manner, it had also become his limitation.
He was able to modify any cultivation technique until he had ensured that it was completely flawless, but the reliance on this ability had made him unable to cultivate without any cultivation technique to refer to.
This was his greatest flaw, and he was suffering as a result of it.
Even the heavens were flawed, so there was nothing in this world that came without compromise.
Thus, he had set out on his journey to see the world. He did not know how long it would take, and it did not know where it would lead him to, but it was all he could do.
This journey had been an eye-opener. It had allowed him to understand many aspects of the world that he had never noticed before. However, when he heard Shen Bi Ru’s words, it made him realize something.
The answer that he had been searching for over the past half a year was not something that he could find anywhere else in the world. It existed only in himself.
All he had to do was be the best him. Why should he be so bothered with the experiences of others?
Everyone in the world had their own path to tread on, so there was no need for him to conform to others. What he had to do was stay loyal to his own heart and continue paving his path forward. That would be enough.
Even if there was no perfect cultivation technique for him to cultivate and he could not truly become the World’s Teacher, he would just have to ensure that he remained the perfect him, and that was enough!
“Thank you, Shen Bi Ru!”
Feeling the changes in his body, Zhang Xuan smiled. He had found his own answer, and he was finally ready to achieve a breakthrough to Ancient Sage.
The surroundings fell silent.
Zhang Xuan’s words were not particularly loud, but they attracted the attention of the crowd in an instant.
Hearing that voice, Shen Bi Ru turned her gaze over, and her eyes widened in astonishment. “Zhang laoshi! What are you doing here?”
If Zhang Xuan did not want others to recognize him, not even his closest students would see through his disguise.
But out of gratitude for Shen Bi Ru, he did not want to conceal his identity to her. As such, the young lady was able to tell that he was the despised and scorned teacher who had been on the verge of being expelled from Hongtian Academy two years ago, Zhang Xuan!
His appearance did not seem to have changed by too much over the past two years, other than his taller profile, his smoother skin, and his deeper eyes.
“It has been a very long time since we last met,” Zhang Xuan replied with a warm smile as he slowly made his way up to the stage.
“Yes, it has been a long time…” Shen Bi Ru nodded as her body trembled in agitation.
She had thought that with the difference in their standings, there was no way that they would ever meet again. Who could have known that their reunion would come so abruptly?
The young man was just the same as ever. His posture was without airs, and his smile was still so innocent.
“Zhang shi?”
“She mentioned earlier that she was colleagues with Zhang shi, and now, she’s acting so shocked all of a sudden… Is she trying to say that the fellow over there is the World’s Teacher, Zhang shi?”
“It’s one thing for her to feed us with so much cr*p earlier, but to make such a bold claim… is she trying to insult our intelligence?”
“She really is trying to grind our tolerance down to the very last bit, isn’t she? If he really is Zhang shi, I am the head of the Master Teacher Pavilion!”
“How could a lofty figure like Zhang shi possibly come to a remote town like ours? This woman might be pretty, but she sure has a devious heart…”
…
The two of them did not try to conceal their words, and their exchange caused the crowd below to explode as if someone had thrown gunpowder in the midst of burning flames.
While Zhang shi was a figure whom all of them respected, they also understood that the other party was a figure extremely far away from them. It had never crossed their minds that they would ever be able to meet Zhang shi in person.
Yet, that young lady had actually called out ‘Zhang laoshi’ so abruptly after making such a speech… Was she trying to say that this humble-looking fellow was actually Zhang Xuan?
You must be trying to make a monkey out of us!
We can accept your bragging, but to sully Zhang shi’s honor… Unforgivable!
“Don’t you know that passing yourself off as Zhang shi is a taboo of the Master Teacher Pavilion? You must be punished for your insolence, or else how can the Master Teacher Pavilion establish its credibility in the world?” a master teacher amid the crowd cried out in fury.
“Indeed! Catch those two despicable scoundrels! Catch them and skin…” another person amid the crowd shouted.
But before he could finish his words, a quivering voice suddenly echoed in the air. “Shut up! What’s going on over there…”
The infuriated crowd looked at the stage, and what they saw nearly blew their minds.
The young man passing off as ‘Zhang shi’, with a gentle smile on his face, was slowly rising into the air.
It was a common fact that flight was an ability exclusive to cultivators who had reached the Saint realm. Could the impostor before them actually be a Saint expert?
But before they could figure out what was going on, a loud rumbling echoed in the air as countless ominous clouds gushed over.
The span of the ominous clouds was massive. It swiftly covered the entire town, but it still continued to grow relentlessly into the distance. It did not take long for it to extend all the way to the horizon, plunging everywhere into darkness.
“This is… a cultivation ordeal?”
“How could there be such a massive cultivation ordeal?”
“It’s rumored that even the most formidable Ancient Sage Ordeal only covers up to a hundred thousand mu1, but this is at least a million mu, right?”
The crowd below was completely stunned.
“To be able to summon such a huge cultivation ordeal… Could that young man really be Zhang shi?”
As this doubt was raised, the crowd swiftly fell silent.
Indeed. Other than Zhang shi, who could cause such a spectacular uproar in the world?
…
At the Glacier Plain Court…
“Mother, rest assured. I’ll take care of my body, and I’ll make sure not to act recklessly!” a young lady with features reminiscent of a delicate ice sculpture reassured a middle-aged lady with a gentle smile.
She was the court chief of the Glacier Plain Court, Zhao Ya.
The middle-aged lady before her was the Holy Maiden of the previous generation, her mother.
Back then, after the conflict between her teacher and the other major powers was resolved in Empire Alliance City, she had quickly returned to the Glacier Plain Court to release her mother. She had brought her mother back to the Tianxuan Kingdom to reunite with her father for a while before taking them all to the Glacier Plain Court.
“You keep going into seclusion to cultivate, neither eating nor drinking…” A middle-aged man walked over as he shook his head disapprovingly. “Your mother and I are afraid that you are pushing yourself too much!”
He was Zhao Ya’s father, the lord of Tianxuan Kingdom’s Baiyu City, Zhao Feng!
After Zhang shi disappeared, their daughter had gone around the world searching for him desperately. When she was unable to find him even after some time, she had finally decided to return to the Glacier Plain Court.
But as soon as she returned, she had devoted her time to cultivating, neglecting to sleep and everything else… It pained his heart to see his daughter living in such a manner.
While their daughter had reached a level far beyond what they could imagine, their daughter’s attitude of recklessly plunging into any danger as long as it could raise her cultivation was a cause for concern. They felt that she would eventually come to harm as a result of this.
“I’m fine. I just wish to be able to stand before my teacher proudly when he finally returns so that he won’t be disappointed in me,” Zhao Ya replied with a smile.
The memories that she shared with her teacher flashed through her head and filled her with strength once more. She was just about to placate her parents before returning to her cultivation when her eyebrows suddenly shot up.
She hurriedly raised her head, only to see that the distant sky had already been covered by large swathes of ominous clouds, and it was swiftly creeping toward the Glacier Plain Court.
