From the moment he achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage, Zhang Xuan realized that he was already an existence that towered above the Master Teacher Continent’s heavens, becoming the World’s Teacher in reality.
Every word and action from him could influence the will of the heavens and even correct them.
This was the same ability that Kong shi’s descendants wielded, Word of Law.
He had thought that he had finally diverged from Kong shi’s path and was no longer affected by the latter, but who could have known that he was still walking on the latter’s footsteps? It was as if every step that he took brought him closer to becoming the next Kong shi.
Kong shi must have reached such a realm in the ancient era for him to bestow upon his descendants the ability to warp the laws of the world through their words.
Zhang Xuan sighed deeply before shaking the matter out of his mind.
It should not matter whether he was tracing Kong shi’s footsteps or not. As long as he was giving his all in everything that he did, what was the point in frustrating over such matters?
With clenched fists, Zhang Xuan began to carefully sense the changes in his body.
Even though he had only reached the Blood Reincarnation realm thus far, with his current strength, he was confident that he could crush the deity that had appeared previously in the Kunxu Domain with a single finger.
It seemed like the many times that he had suppressed his cultivation had not been in vain. The strength that he had acquired as soon as he made the breakthrough was really beyond imagination.
Kacha!
The painting that Zhang Xuan was holding tightly in his hand suddenly disintegrated into ashes.
In order to fuel his previous breakthrough, not only did he use up all of the Aeon of Ancient Sage contained in the painting, he also devoured all of the Ancient Sage blood that he had acquired from the two deities that he had killed. At that very moment, he felt like he had reverted to his usual poor self.
Wealth sure was transient!
“Farewell!”
With a tap of his finger, he imparted a modified cultivation technique into the head of the young lady before turning around and vanishing from sight.
“Farewell… Zhang Xuan!” Shen Bi Ru’s eyes reddened as her body shook nonstop.
She knew that this parting truly represented the divergence of their pathways. They would never meet one another ever again.
Meanwhile, after confirming the identity of the young man in the sky, the crowd in the town swiftly got to their knees and kneeled down.
“Paying respects to Zhang shi!”
As expected of the World’s Teacher, every action that he did was a legend in itself!
…
Flying to a private location where ordinary cultivators could no longer see him, Zhang Xuan halted his flight and cast a cursory glance around him. With a smile on his lips, he said, “Come out!”
“Teacher!”
Zhao Ya, Wang Ying, Liu Yang, Zheng Yang, Yuan Tao, Lu Chong, Wei Ruyan, Zhang Jiuxiao, and Kong Shiyao… His nine direct disciples swiftly appeared from the shadows and bowed down to him.
Over the past two years, he had accepted all nine of them as his direct disciples. Each of them had eventually climbed to the top of the Master Teacher Continent, becoming figures that stood at the very peak of the pyramid.
“Come at me all at once. I want to see how much you have grown,” Zhang Xuan said with his hands behind his back.
The nine direct disciples were stunned for a moment before they nodded simultaneously.
Huhuhu!
The nine of them immediately encircled Zhang Xuan before charging at him from all directions.
Over the past half a year, all nine of them had made significant advances in their cultivation. Even the one with the lowest cultivation in the past, Yuan Tao, had successfully reached Great Philosopher realm intermediate stage after his two Ancient Sage Ordeals. As for the others, such as Zhao Ya, Kong Shiyao, Zheng Yang, and Liu Yang, they had all reached the Blood Reincarnation realm.
With their combined prowess, they wielded the power to seal even spacetime itself. Had the deity from before come under their collaborative offense, he would have found it hard to stand his ground.
But when the target was Zhang Xuan, their seemingly devastating attacks were easily kept at bay by the mere protective layer of zhenqi shrouding his body.
In fact, as long as Zhang Xuan willed it, he could move at a speed so quick that even they would be unable to perceive his movements.
At this point, the Zhang Clan’s bloodline was completely useless to him. Time Acceleration had become an ability that he could activate with a mere thought.
The group fought for a while, and it did not take long for Zhang Xuan to ascertain how powerful he and each of his direct disciples were. Feeling that there was no point in prolonging the fight any longer, he raised his forefinger and tapped it lightly in front of him. “Break!”
Huala!
All nine of them were sent retreating simultaneously with pale faces.
It was no exaggeration to say that they were the most powerful team of cultivators on the Master Teacher Continent at the moment, but to think that they would not be able to withstand a single strike from their teacher’s finger…
“Zhao Ya and Zheng Yang, you have worked hard. I can tell that you have improved a lot over the past half a year. The rest of you too. Well done. However, Shiyao, you will have to work a little harder. Even though you aren’t the weakest at the moment, your advancement is sorely lagging behind,” Zhang Xuan pointed out.
He could tell that his students had been working extremely hard based on their improvements. In contrast, the one who had been growing the slowest turned out to be the last direct disciple that he had accepted, Kong Shiyao.
He had not really given her any pointers prior to his departure, resulting in the latter’s cultivation advancing only from Blood Reincarnation realm intermediate stage to advanced stage despite having half a year to herself. As one of Zhang Xuan’s direct disciples, such a rate of progress could be said to be abysmal.
“I…” Kong Shiyao was rendered speechless.
She was painfully aware of the fact that she was the one who had made the least progress over the past half a year.
Previously, she had thought that, with her Kong Clan bloodline, even if she was no match for Zhao Ya, Zheng Yang, and the others at the moment, she should be able to catch up with them in no time. Yet, the others were pulling further away from her instead.
This made her realize that the incredible gifts that the Kong Clan’s bloodline had bestowed upon her would only get her so far. It was sheer naivety for her to think that her talent would be enough to offset the effort put in by her seniors who were desperately climbing forward with everything they had.
If she did not desperately claw forward with everything she had, she would only end up being cast behind the others.
Not to mention that her teacher was the World’s Teacher! There was no way the disciples of the World’s Teacher would be bound by the mere limitations of talent!
“Alright, this is what I have comprehended over the past half a year. I’ll impart everything to you now. As for how much you are able to comprehend, it’s entirely up to you!” With a tap of his finger, Zhang Xuan imparted the insights that he had received during his breakthrough to Ancient Sage into the minds of the others.
At their level of cultivation, there was no longer a need to bring them around step by step anymore as if they were amateurs. Rather, all he had to do was grant them the resources and allow them to reach enlightenment on their own.
One’s cultivation lay with oneself. As a teacher, his role was just to bring them through the doorsill and point out plausible paths to them.
As for how far they could go, that was down to them. It was also for this reason that Zhang Xuan had previously encouraged them to seek out their own paths.
If not, they would not have accrued precious experiences that would allow them to grow and mature as people.
The nine direct disciples swiftly scanned through Zhang Xuan’s impartation, and excited gleams sparkled in their eyes.
With his insights, they would be able to quicken their rate of cultivation and reinforce the foundations of their cultivation further.
Zhang Xuan knew that it would take some time for his direct disciples to assimilate what they had just received, but he did not have much time to waste. Thus, he spoke up. “I’m intending to head to the formation in the Kunxu Domain. The rest of you should come along with me!”
The nine of them quickly nodded in response.
Thus, they made their way over to the Kunxu Domain, and within ten minutes, they were already on the elevated platform beneath the formation leading to the Azure.
After Zhang Xuan had repaired the formation, all of the rifts that had appeared previously had been completely mended, making this place seem almost no different from any other. The mercury-like energy that had seeped through previously had also diffused into the surroundings to harmless concentration levels.
From the looks of it, it seemed like the formation was doing its job well. Through the personnel guarding the formation, he confirmed that no deities had been able to slip through the formation in the past half a year, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
“On the other side of the formation above is the Azure, and it is filled with an extremely heavy spiritual energy. It’s highly dangerous, but I believe that it’s the key to achieving a breakthrough to the Dimension Shatterer realm. Would you like to try and see if you are able to absorb it?”
Zhang Xuan tapped his finger lightly as he spoke, and a small black hole appeared in the formation. A gush of heavy energy poured down, causing the elevated platform to creak under the weight.
Since he had achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage, it was about time for him to leave the Master Teacher Continent and take a look at the higher dimensions.
Otherwise, he would never be able to find Luo Ruoxin, and their fate would be severed thereon.
However, in order to enter the Azure, he would have to first grow accustomed to the mercury-like spiritual energy. The reason he had brought his direct disciples there as well was because he wanted them to get a taste of the mercury-like spiritual energy so that they would be wary of it.
Tzzzzz!
Hearing Zhang Xuan’s words, the nine direct disciples each took in a small bit of the mercury-like spiritual energy, and the next moment, they felt as if their meridians were going to collapse under the weight. They hurriedly drove their zhenqi to reinforce the resilience of their meridians.
This spiritual energy was simply too fearsome. Even though they had all reached Ancient Sage, it was still beyond their means to deal with.
“Teacher, I think… I am able to absorb this spiritual energy!”
Just as Zhang Xuan was sighing in disappointment, a voice suddenly sounded. He quickly turned his head over and saw Zhao Ya looking at him with a confused expression.
The mercury-like spiritual energy was slowly flowing into her body, but her body was not showing any signs of rejection.
