Zhang Xuan nodded.
Thinking about it for a while, there was indeed some truth to what Wu Chen was saying.
The spatial passageway that linked the Master Teacher Continent to the Azure had been sealed by two things, namely the Temple of Confucius and the great formation in the Kunxu Domain that made use of the corpses of Kong shi’s direct disciples.
Under normal circumstances, the passageway was so tightly sealed that it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was non-existent.
However, when the Great Codex of Spring and Autumn emerged, the seal of the Temple of Confucius unraveled. That inadvertently weakened the seal in the Kunxu Domain, thus resulting in the ‘deity’ being able to force his way into the Kunxu Domain. That was also how Zhang Xuan had managed to bypass the dimension barrier and enter the Azure.
As long as he found the passageway once more, it would indeed be possible for him to return to the Master Teacher Continent.
With the resilience of his current body, the spatial turbulence of the passageway was no longer able to affect him.
“However, it probably won’t be too easy to find the entrance,” Zhang Xuan said.
Even if he knew the general location, it was likely that Kong shi had hidden it in some kind of folded space, making it incredibly difficult to find it unless he knew the exact location. After all, Kong shi’s very ability of Heavens’ Order granted him incomparable skills in manipulating space.
“It would indeed be difficult to find the entrance in the Azure, but Young Master, you should know where the entrance is from the Master Teacher Continent’s side, right?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.
“Of course.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
It was in the Kunxu Domain, where the Hundred Schools of Philosophers resided.
“Since that’s the case, we can always find a way to communicate with the current Sovereign Chen Yong and have him hold a ritual. Through the power of the summoning ritual, we’ll be able to find the entrance and return to the Master Teacher Continent,” Wu Chen said.
“Yes, you’re right!” Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
That was indeed the most feasible plan that they had at the moment.
“As for how we can communicate with the incumbent Sovereign Chen Yong, that isn’t an issue at all. Starchaser Palace should have a unique communication channel,” Wu Chen added.
So, Zhang Xuan quickly called Elder Jiang Yao and First Elder Zhao Yue over and filled them in on the details.
After understanding what Zhang Xuan wanted to achieve, First Elder Zhao Yue replied, “We do have a way to communicate with the Master Teacher Continent. However, without an altar, we’ll only be able to send messages over.”
“That’s enough. This is the message that I want to send over to the current Sovereign Chen Yong. Tell him to hold the ritual a month from now,” Zhang Xuan said as he sent a sliver of thought over.
First Elder Zhao Yue clasped her fist and said, “I’ll have it done right now!”
Starchaser Palace would often communicate with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe of the Master Teacher Continent. It was their tight coordination that had allowed Luo Ruoxin to successfully overcome the two dimension barriers one after another.
After settling this issue, Zhang Xuan beckoned Wu Chen over and said, “Let’s go!”
“Where are we going?” Wu Chen asked in confusion.
“I was in the territories of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion when I first regained consciousness after reaching the Azure, so I believe that the location of the dimension passageway is in that area. This way, we’ll be able to quickly make our way over once Sovereign Chen Yong conducts the ritual.”
Zhang Xuan was not too sure of the exact location of the dimension passageway, but the first place he was at when he regained consciousness was in the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion’s Xuanjiang City. If his guess was not wrong, the dimension passageway should be somewhere around there.
With the exception of the Serpentine Dragon and the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix, Zhang Xuan left all of his tamed beast at Starchaser Palace. This way, if Kong shi attempted to attack while he was gone, they would at least have some forces to protect themselves.
After this was done, Zhang Xuan and Wu Chen rode on the Serpentine Dragon and the Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix and quickly headed toward the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion.
The Serpentine Dragon and Nine-headed Fiery Phoenix had reached the Semi-Divinity realm, and they were beasts that specialized in speed. Thus, riding on them was much faster than traveling on their own.
Within just three days, they had already entered the territory of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion.
Zhang Xuan had originally taken almost twenty days to make his way over to Starchaser Palace, but riding on the Serpentine Dragon, he took only three days. The speed that Semi-Divinity realm beasts were able to move at was frightening.
“We have finally arrived at Xuanjiang City,” Zhang Xuan muttered.
Putting the two tamed beasts back into his tamed beast sack, Zhang Xuan and Wu Chen made sure to conceal their cultivation before strolling along the wide streets of Xuanjiang City leisurely.
A month had only passed since Zhang Xuan was last there, so there had not been many changes on the surface. After Xue Gan’s death, the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion had nominated a new person to serve as the lord of Xuanjiang City.
“Have you heard? The friend which joined the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion together with Dan Xiaotian seems to be called Zhang Xuan as well!”
“Wait a moment… Are you saying that Dan Xiaotian’s friend has become the head of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, Starchaser Palace, the Myriad Beasts Hall, and the Sevenstar Pavilion?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying! My little uncle’s second aunt’s third cousin’s uncle is a menial disciple at the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion. I met him at the Ethereal Hall just yesterday, and he told me all about it personally! He said that the current sect leader of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion is none other than Dan Xiaotian’s friend!”
“If I recall correctly, he’s only in his early twenties, right? Yet, he’s already the head of four sects? My gosh, why is Dan Xiaotian’s luck so good?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking! I heard that Dan Xiaotian has already acknowledged Zhang Xuan as his teacher! He simply saved a random man off the streets, and that man eventually turned out to be the head of four sects… Wow, I really want to go out there and start saving some people!”
“Hahaha! You know, my neighbor, Zhang Yuanwai, really did just that! Inspired by the story, he recently picked up a few severely injured people off the streets and treated them, hoping dearly that the same thing would happen to them. So far, he has saved four girls and five boys, and all of them happen to be in their late teens. I saw them when I visited their house, and hell, those girls are really gorgeous. Even the guys look valiant and dashing… I was almost convinced that they would achieve great things in the future too!”
“Oh? How’s their cultivation?”
“I don’t really know about that… I heard that they are currently very feeble due to the severity of their injuries. It has been a few days since I visited my neighbor, so I don’t know what the latest news is.”
“It’s probably impossible for them to be as talented and capable as Sect Leader Zhang Xuan, but I guess it’s still worth a try. There’s always that little chance that you might just luck out… Well, I really should start walking around the area and help out those in need!”
“Duh. If you keep yourself cooped up at home for heavens know what, you’ll never get around to achieving anything great!”
…
Such discussions could be heard in the vicinity.
Hearing these vibrant conversations around him, Zhang Xuan could not help but smile a little.
It was a wondrous feeling, returning to the leisurely pace of life after dealing with the Hall of Gods and all those troublesome issues.
That being said, news seemed to spread really fast on the Forsaken Continent. It had been less than ten days since his inauguration, but even a remote place like Xuanjiang City had already caught wind of the matter.
“Young Master, where are we heading to next?” Wu Chen asked, completely unaffected by the chatters around them.
He was already used to it. It felt like the Young Master would naturally become the center of attention no matter where he went.
It was that way on the Master Teacher Continent, and it seemed like it would be no different in the Azure.
“We’ll just wait around for the time being. I told First Elder Zhao Yue to instruct the Spirit Tribe to hold the ritual in a month, which is roughly equivalent to three days here. We should be receiving the summons soon. For the time being, let’s find a quiet place to rest,” Zhang Xuan said.
There was a 1:10 difference in the flow of time between the Azure and the Master Teacher Continent. A month on the Master Teacher Continent would roughly equate to three days here.
Wu Chen took a look around the area before pointing in a certain direction. “Why don’t we head over to the mountain over there?”
Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
Xuanjiang City was very close to nature. There was a river and a mountain range not too far away.
So, the two of them left the city and scaled the mountain.
With a wave of his hand, Zhang Xuan took out a large handful of formation flags and planted them all around.
The formation that he had set up was a Sensory Formation that he had specially designed on his way there. It was somewhat similar to the signal towers in his previous life. It served to locate and amplify the summoning energy coming from the altar on the other side so that he would be able to find his way around more easily.
After setting up the formation, Zhang Xuan took out a halberd and planted it at the direct center of the formation. Then, he tied a ribbon around it.
With a stomp of his foot, the formation whirred into action.
The red string simply drooped downward quietly, not moving in the least.
“Let’s just wait around. I reckon that the ritual hasn’t started yet,” Zhang Xuan said.
It was impossible to sustain the ritual for too long due to the staggering amount of tributes one required. Furthermore, even if they were able to sustain the ritual for three days on the Master Teacher Continent, that would only equate to roughly seven hours in the Azure.
As such, it was important for him to make preparations accordingly so that he could locate the spatial passageway as quickly as possible.
Sitting quietly on the spot, Zhang Xan continued to work on the cultivation technique that he was developing for his breakthrough to the Semi-Divinity realm.
…
Meanwhile, in a spacious residence in Xuanjiang City, a young lady with delicate features slowly opened her eyes.
“Young Miss, you are finally awake,” a maid exclaimed in relief.
“Where is this place? Where am I?” The young lady frowned slightly.
She struggled to get up as she scanned her surroundings warily.
The residence looked extremely foreign. It was unlike what she had seen before.
“You are in Xuanjiang City. Our Old Master, Zhang Yuanwai, saved you and brought you all here,” the maid replied.
“You all?” The young lady was stunned for a moment before her eyes lit up in excitement. “You found the others that were with me? Where are they?”
“There are eight people with you. They are still unconscious at the moment, so we laid them down to rest in the other rooms,” the maid replied.
“All eight of them are here?” The young lady heaved a sigh of relief. She immediately struggled out of the bed and said, “Quick, bring me to see them!”
“This…”
The maid felt that the young lady was still a little too weak to be moving around, but the young lady seemed to be very insistent on the matter. Thus, she carefully supported the young lady out of the room.
Barely after they walked out of the room, they saw that the severely injured, unconscious group of eight had all awakened, and they were currently standing in the courtyard.
“Senior…”
Upon seeing the young lady, all of them quickly clasped their fists and greeted her.
“Un, let’s take a seat over there, shall we?” the young lady said as she gestured for everyone to take a seat in the cooling gazebo.
“It’s great that we managed to survive the ordeal, but our injuries are more severe than we thought. I took a look at my internal condition earlier, and there are signs of spatial tears in my body. It’ll be hard for me to recover to full health without several years’ recuperation,” the young lady said grimly.
“It’s the same for me.”
“I guess we are all in the same plight…”
The eight of them quickly checked their conditions, and they replied with solemn voices.
“Our teacher must have sustained the same injuries when he entered the Azure a year ago. I wonder if he has recovered from his injuries yet. How should we go about looking for him?” Knowing the conditions of her body, the young lady could not help but mutter worriedly.
“Our teacher is a person of great capabilities. I believe that he’ll be fine,” another young lady in the group replied to her concerns.
“Indeed, our teacher is a person of great capabilities.” The young lady nodded in agreement.
“Wait a moment, I sense that something is amiss. There seems to be some difference between the flow of time in the Azure compared to that of the Master Teacher Continent,” one of the young men in the group suddenly said with a deep frown.
“There’s a difference in the flow of time?” The crowd was stunned by that remark.
That young man’s bloodline ability was related to time, so he had exceptional innate sensitivity toward the temporal laws of the world.
“Un. Give me a moment. I’ll do a quick calculation,” the young man said as he closed his eyes.
Roughly three minutes later, he opened his eyes once more and said, “There’s a difference of roughly ten times in the flow of time between the Azure and the Master Teacher Continent. In other words, a day in the Azure equates to ten days on the Master Teacher Continent!”
If Zhang Xuan was there, he would have surely recognized those nine people. They were the direct disciples whom he had taken in back when he was still on the Master Teacher Continent.
Zhao Ya, Liu Yang, Wang Ying, Zheng Yang, Yuan Tao, Lu Chong, Wei Ruyan, Zhang Jiuxiao, and Kong Shiyao!
It had been slightly more than a month since Zhang Xuan entered the Azure, and in the meantime, a year had already passed in the Master Teacher Continent.
Within such a long period of time, everyone had managed to cultivate up to Ancient Sage 4-dan, and they had found that they were not able to advance any further. On top of that, there was absolutely no news from their teacher, which stoked their worries. Eventually, they could not sit still.
Thus, they gathered together in the Kunxu Domain to look for Kong Shiyao, and they decided that they would enter the spatial passageway and head to the Azure.
The person whom everyone greeted as ‘Senior’ earlier was naturally Zhao Ya, and the one who had noticed the time difference between the Azure and the Master Teacher Continent was Zhang Jiuxiao.
“A difference of ten times? In other words, it has only been roughly a month since our teacher arrived in the Azure?” Zhao Ya remarked contemplatively.
“If that’s the case, it’s likely that our teacher hasn’t recovered from his injuries yet. Perhaps he might even be in Xuanjiang City at this very moment!”
