“Why?”
Upon seeing their stupefied expressions, Zhang Xuan immediately lowered his head to take a look. With a single glance, he froze as well.
Vivid numbers appeared on the jade: 5.1.
“5.1?”
Zhang Xuan finally understood the trauma the three master teachers were going through. Even he was feeling lightheaded with shock at this moment.
He had tested it many times yesterday, and the highest he had ever reached was 0.1. Why did it suddenly soar to 5.1?
Could it be…
“That golden page has raised my Soul Depth by… 5.0?”
Zhang Xuan’s mouth twitched.
His eyeballs were about to pop out onto the ground.
He knew that the Book of Heaven’s Path was incredible, but he couldn’t have dreamt that it would be this amazing!
What Soul Depth cultivation technique or Enlightenment Jade? They were all useless before it.
Raising a person’s Soul Depth by 5.0 in an instant….
Anyone who heard of it would die from shock.
“Having a Soul Depth of 3 qualifies you to take the 1-star master teacher examination. When it reaches 6, you can take the 2-star master teacher examination…. To possess a Soul Depth of 5.1 the moment you reach Heart of Tranquil Water, with a good Soul Depth cultivation technique, you will be eligible to take the 2-star master teacher examination in just a few years!”
Recovering from their shock, the faces of Liu Ling and the others flushed in agitation.
When they had just reached Heart of Tranquil Water, their Soul Depth was only 1.5. Yet this fellow before their eyes had a staggering 5.1 Soul Depth. With his talent, as long as he cultivated diligently, he would surpass them in just a few years’ time. In fact, it was highly likely he would be able to become a 2-star master teacher before them.
Indeed, ordinary mortals shouldn’t try comparing themselves to geniuses.
“Teacher!”
All of the sudden, Lu Xun walked through the crowd and up to them.
He didn’t attend Zhang Xuan’s lecture previously because he was on the verge of achieving a breakthrough and had to focus all of his attention into the matter.
“How are things?”
Upon seeing his appearance, Liu Ling and the others immediately turned their attention to him.
“Teacher told me yesterday that my competitive nature and excessive concern over climbing out of my father’s shadow has impeded me from reaching Heart of Tranquil Water. After contemplation, I came to a realization and made up with my father. After that, my State of Mind started to rise slowly, and eventually… I managed to achieve a breakthrough!”
Lu Xun seemed to have recovered his confidence.
All along, his State of Mind had been stuck in a bottleneck, and for some reason unknown to him, he wasn’t able to reach Heart of Tranquil Water no matter how hard he tried. Initially, he attributed it to his lack of experience, but after Liu shi’s guidance, he realized that it was due to his obstinacy.
He couldn’t have imagined that it was his stiff relationship with his father that had stopped him from reaching higher heights.
Reaching Heart of Tranquil Water in his twenties… He probably broke the record of Tianxuan Kingdom!
All along the way, he was firmly restrained by Zhang Xuan on all aspects, be it his cultivation, Way of Tea, or painting. Now that he had beat him in achieving Heart of Tranquil Water first, he finally felt his confidence returning to him!
Standing ramrod straight, Lu Xun wore a gentle smile.
“Have you checked it yet? What’s your Soul Depth?” Hearing that he had achieved a breakthrough, Liu Ling was delighted and hurriedly asked him on that matter.
“I’ve already checked it!” Lu Xun chuckled softly. The exhilaration in his eyes was hard to conceal. “Teacher said that if one achieves a Soul Depth exceeding that of 1.0 upon reaching Heart of Tranquil Water, there is a 50% chance of him becoming a master teacher in the future. If it reaches 1.5, there is a 70% chance of him becoming a master teacher. My Soul Depth is…”
After pausing for a moment, he scanned their faces before revealing, “1.8!”
Placing his hands behind his back, Lu Xun excitedly waited for the astonished looks on the three master teachers’ faces. After all, his Soul Depth was higher than the three master teachers when they were younger.
Yet, contrary to their expectations, they only replied with an “oh!” and turned their attention back to Zhang Xuan. Excitement could clearly be seen on their faces as they gazed at him intently.
Upon seeing him being sidelined despite his outstanding results, Lu Xun felt dismayed.
Logically speaking, shouldn’t they rush up excitedly to gather around him upon hearing of his achievement and compliment him profusely?
Why were they gathering around Zhang laoshi instead?
Perplexed, he turned to look at Zhang Xuan and saw the Stone of Insight in his hand. With a single glance, he froze.
“5.1?”
Upon seeing the number, Lu Xun convulsed violently and tears spilled forth from his eyes.
The heck, aren’t I embarrassing myself by coming to brag in front of you….
To think that I was gleeful for so long over this matter….
…
Xuanluo Mountain Range was a vast mountainous region. Countless trees towered and savage beasts roamed freely amid them. Without sufficient strength, it was hard to travel through the mountain range.
“I’ve been on this road once and it’s well hidden. If you miss the turn and get lost, it will be difficult for you to find your way out of the forest!” Shen Bi Ru said with a smile as she led the way.
Zhang Xuan followed closely behind her.
After Zhang Xuan was done with the public lecture, he entrusted Zhao Ya and the others to the three master teachers and requested that they help him take them to Tianwu Royal City. Then, without much hesitation, he entered the Xuanluo Mountain Range along with Shen Bi Ru to look for the Beast Hall.
Savage beasts ran wild here; flora and fauna covered the paths. If not for Shen Bi Ru, Zhang Xuan thought that he would probably have lost his way and ended up wandering around the mountains.
After three days of traveling, the two of them felt slightly drained.
“Isn’t the Beast Hall hidden too deep in the mountain range? How do they survive like that?” Zhang Xuan asked curiously.
Humans have many needs, such as socializing, food, medicine, and many other kinds of resources. Given how deep into the wilderness the Beast Hall was, it was inconvenient for them to purchase anything!
“There are aerial savage beasts in the Beast Hall. They could easily travel the distance we covered in three days in just an hour on their beast mounts.” Shen Bi Ru shook her head.
When she first followed someone else to the Beast Hall, the same question appeared in her head as well. Only after her arrival did she realize how ridiculous her concerns were.
“Besides, when you reach the Beast Hall, you will realize that it isn’t too far from Beiwu Kingdom and Hanwu Kingdom. There are many people who travel to and from the Beast Hall every day, so they never suffer a shortage of resources,” Shen Bi Ru continued.
In the past few days, Zhang Xuan had studied the maps of Tianxuan Kingdom and the other surrounding kingdoms in the atlas from the Kingdom’s Book Collection Vault, and he realized that they weren’t too far from one another. If not for the presence of the Xuanluo Mountain Range serving as a natural blockade, Tianxuan Kingdom would have long descended into chaos.
“Given the numerous savage beasts in Xuanluo Mountain, why don’t the cultivators just tame one or two of them? Why do they have to go to the Beast Hall?”
There were numerous savage beasts in the mountain range and the two of them had already met with several waves in the past three days. It was fortunate that Zhang Xuan was a Tongxuan realm pinnacle expert, allowing him to defeat them easily.
Since there were so many savage beasts in the mountains, the cultivators could just tame one or two for their own usage. Why did they have to go through the trouble of heading to the Beast Hall?
“I thought the same as well. Putting aside how the wild nature of the savage beasts make it hard to tame them, we haven’t met a single aerial savage beast that could transport a human throughout our journey!” Shen Bi Ru chuckled lightly.
Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment before nodding his head.
For an aerial savage beast to transport a human, it had to be significantly larger than a human. Although they had met with numerous savage beasts in the past three days of their journey, they were mostly land-bound. As for the aerial savage beasts they chanced by, all of them were small in stature.
“Putting aside how rare these aerial savage beasts are, they are capable of escaping into the air if they find themselves at a disadvantage. As such, it isn’t easy to catch hold of them! Of course, this isn’t the most important factor. If you use strength to force it to submit, it is possible for it to feign obedience and sabotage you while you are riding it in the air. If so, aren’t you putting yourself at risk?” Shen Bi Ru explained.
“This…”
Zhang Xuan cowered.
If an aerial savage beast pretended to submit to a human and allow the person to ride it, it could simply flip in midair and the person would be a goner.
“The reason why beast tamers are respected and why the occupation ranks among the top of the Upper Nine Paths is because they can ensure guaranteed obedience from a savage beast, preventing such a situation from occurring. Otherwise, if a savage beast reneged on its words, it could prove dangerous.”
Even a Zongshi realm expert would be doomed if it fell from a high altitude.
As a result, if one didn’t possess the handling of a beast tamer, it was best for one to avoid taming an aerial savage beast. Even if one were to successfully tame one, if it intended to harm said person, that person would be doomed.
“Just like master teachers, there are different tiers to a beast tamer. The higher the rank of a beast tamer, the stronger the savage beasts they can tame. Also, before becoming an official beast tamer, one has to be an apprentice beast tamer first.” Shen Bi Ru explained, seeing Zhang Xuan’s lack of knowledge in the field.
“Actually, Han Qiong is an apprentice beast tamer, that’s why she has some connections with the Beast Hall. The last time I came here was actually with her.”
“Mhm!” Zhang Xuan replied.
There wasn’t much information on the Beast Hall in the kingdom’s Book Collection Vault, but general knowledge was still in there.
Actually, an apprentice beast tamer was similar to an apprentice apothecary in the sense that the latter had to study the medicinal properties of various herbs whereas the former had to study the various types of savage beasts that existed in the world, their offensive abilities, habits….
Only after obtaining an in-depth knowledge about the savage beasts would one have an opportunity to tame one.
Otherwise, one might just die from underestimating the strength of a savage beast, let alone taming it.
Most of the aggressive savage beasts tended to view humans with hostility.
“Let’s hurry. We’re just a day’s journey away from the Beast Hall!”
After exchanging a few lines, Shen Bi Ru giggled and the two proceeded onward. Before they could walk far, they heard the rustling of bushes in front of them.
Taking a closer look, it was a group of humans.
There were roughly seven or eight people squatted in a circle, seemingly discussing something. Most of them were Pixue realm, and only a twenty-seven-year-old or so young man was at Dingli realm pinnacle.
Despite being the weakest of the group, he seemed to be their leader. Every single movement of his felt grand.
“Who’s there?”
Since Zhang Xuan and Shen Bi Ru didn’t try to hide their presence at all, the other party also noticed them as well. Bellowing, they immediately drew their weapons.
Now that they were close to the Beast Hall, it wasn’t surprising for them to meet other travelers. As a result, Shen Bi Ru didn’t panic. Stepping forward, she said, “We came from Tianxuan Kingdom and we’re on our way to the Beast Hall. We just happened to pass by this area.”
“You two are going to the Beast Hall?”
Upon seeing the beautiful Shen Bi Ru, the young man’s eyes immediately lit up.
Given Shen Bi Ru’s reputation as the number one beauty of Hongtian Academy, her looks were nothing to complain about. Even though spending the past three days in the wild had made her look slightly unkempt, her beauty still shone through.
“We are also going to return to the Beast Hall soon after dealing with a problem. As long as you don’t bother us, we can bring you two along with us!”
The young man extended his invitation.
“There’s no need for that. We can head there by ourselves!”
Shen Bi Ru shook her head and proceeded forward along with Zhang Xuan.
“Hold it right there! You two can’t walk through here!”
They had barely walked two steps forward when the others bellowed in unison at them. Hualala, the clanging of weapons being drawn resounded in the air.
