Came at a bad time?
Leave?
Zhang Xuan frowned.
Rather than welcoming, this group seemed to be provoking them instead!
If they were here to escort them in, why on Earth would they ask them to leave as soon as they met?
The other master teachers on the back of other spirit beasts also came out of their rooms, curious to see what was going on.
They wanted to see who was so audacious as to speak to Hong shi in such a manner.
“Feng Yu?”
Hearing those words, Hong shi frowned.
“You’re right!”
The man on the spirit beast that was leading the entire group chuckled lightly in response.
At this moment, both sides were only several hundred meters apart, and they could already clearly see the appearance of the other. The other party was a fifty-year-old elder dressed in a long, golden robe. His gray beard drifted along with a slight breeze. From his appearance, the other party resembled an enlightened sage.
“I came under the invitation of Huanyu Empire and the Master Teacher Pavilion, and naturally, I’ve no reason to leave. If Brother Feng wishes to leave, I don’t mind sending you off!” Hong shi said.
During which, he sent a telepathic message to Zhang Xuan to explain the situation.
“This Feng Yu is the pavilion master of Fengyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion, and the both of us have never been on good terms before. While the twenty-eight powers under Hongfeng Empire were conducting the Master Teacher Tournament, they were doing the same as well…”
“Fengyuan Empire? One of the Four Great Vassal States, Hongfeng Empire?” Zhang Xuan asked.
In the one-month journey, while Zhang Xuan had devoted most of his time to cultivating, he would have occasional chats with this 5-star master teacher, and from the latter, he gained a rough understanding of Huanyu Empire.
Huanyu Empire was a Tier-2 Empire, and under it were four Vassal States: Hongfeng Empire, Fengyuan Empire, Qianfeng Empire, and Zhuyue Empire.
These four states were conferred to the four brothers who fought alongside Founding Emperor Ye Huanyu, and while they were said to be of equal standing to Huanyu Empire, their standing was slightly lower than the former.
The Four Great Vassal States had many smaller empires under them. Take for example Hongfeng Empire where Hong shi came from, it governed the twenty-eight regional powers, namely Myriad Kingdom Alliance, Fleeting Cloud Sect, and so on.
The other three Vassal States were also in the same position.
If Zhang Xuan were to use the knowledge from his previous life to classify this structure, Huanyu Empire would be the entire country while Hongfeng, Fengyuan, and the other Vassal States were provinces. The twenty-eight regional powers would be cities, Conferred Kingdoms like Xuanyuan Kingdom would be towns, and Tier-1 and Tier-2 Kingdoms would be villages.
Just like Hongfeng Empire, the other Vassal States were also conducting the Master Teacher Tournament to pick out the individuals who were qualified to enter the Cleansing Lake.
“Un. I thought that the members of Huanyu Empire’s royalty would be here to pick us up, but it seems like they managed to catch hold of the news of our arrival and intercepted the news. As Master Teacher Pavilions of equal standing, a certain degree of rivalry is unavoidable. I fear that they bear hostile intentions.”
Hong shi frowned.
Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
Considering how rude the other party was, they were unlikely to be here to have a friendly chat.
And as expected, while the duo was speaking, Master Teacher Feng Yu, who was standing opposite to them, bellowed loudly, “I tried speaking kindly to you, but you just choose not to listen! Hongfeng Empire is the furthest away from Huanyu Empire, and you came late as well, so there may be some things you are unaware of. Since that’s the case, allow me to fill you in. While the slots for the Cleansing Lake haven’t changed, Crown Prince Ye Qian of the royal family suddenly requires three more slots, and thus, we’ve had to cut our numbers. In other words… your group has already lost its opportunity to enter the Cleansing Lake! I’ll advise you to return now rather than embarrass yourself inside!”
“Requires three more slots?” Hong shi frowned.
Just like the Yin-Yang Lake, the Cleansing Lake also had a strict restriction on the number of people who could enter it. However, the slots were decided on beforehand, so how could Hongfeng Empire lose its slots just because it came late? How could a respected crown prince steal the slots of a Vassal State?
“That’s right. Why don’t you all report to Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy first, there’s no point in staying here for you anyway!”
Feng Yu smiled.
“We’ll decide for ourselves whether there’s any point in staying here or not, so Feng shi need not worry for us!”
Knowing that the other party was surely up to no good for obstructing them here, Hong shi couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath. Thus, waving his hands, he turned around and instructed, “Control your spirit beasts well, we’ll be heading straight for the Master Teacher Pavilion first.”
These aerial spirit beasts were rented from the Beast Hall and driven by its personnel.
Hualala!
Under the beast tamers’ control, the spirit beasts immediately formed a line, ready to advance at any moment.
“Hong Qian, aren’t you being a little too rude here? I came here to inform you of the matter kindly, and not only did you not reciprocate my favor, you even chose to snub me and leave. What do you mean by this?”
Feng Yu’s eyebrows shot up.
“I’ll ask teacher and His Majesty personally regarding the issue concerning the slots!”
Hong shi waved his hands.
Huala!
The aerial spirit beasts immediately spread their wings and attempted to bypass the other party by soaring to a greater altitude.
“You just want to do things the hard way. Chen Mo!”
Seeing the other party refusing to heed his advice, Feng Yu narrowed his eyes. He turned around and issued a command.
“Yes!” replied the young man behind him.
With a flick of his wrist, an ancient zither appeared in his palm, and pulling on it lightly, a melodious tune floated in the air.
Triiiing, triiiing!
The melody was constantly alternating between a high note and a low note. The tune was refined, and the melody sounded pleasant to the ear.
“What is he doing with the zither?”
“I’ve no idea…”
Not only did the zither lack the slightest hostile intentions, it was even gentle. It was extremely comfortable to the ears, and this left the Hongfeng Empire group perplexed.
Since the other party traveled all the way here to obstruct them, there was no reason for the other party to let them pass so easily. Yet, when they tried to leave, all the other party did was to have one of their members play a perfectly ordinary melody on his zither. What were they up to?
Demonic tunists did possess the ability to launch an offense on one’s soul via sound, but for them to be injured by such gentle music… Impossible!
More importantly… while their group wasn’t exceptionally powerful, every single of them was a 4-star pinnacle master teacher, and Hong shi, a 5-star master teacher, was present here as well. To influence everyone’s psyche with music here felt like an impractical move.
“Wait, this offense isn’t directed toward us, it’s directed toward the spirit beasts!”
At this moment, Hong shi finally came to a realization, and his face darkened.
“Spirit beasts?”
Taken aback, everyone quickly turned their sights to the beast tamers driving the aerial spirit beasts, only to see a livid expression on each of their faces.
“Not bad, you sure realized it swiftly. Indeed, Chen Mo’s [Void Tune of Heavens] possesses the ability to hypnotize spirit beasts and prevent them from advancing any further. In other words, as long as the music continues playing, you’ll be unable to advance even the slightest inch…”
Feng Yu chuckled softly.
“Void Tune of Heavens?”
Hong shi tried to drive the spirit beast beneath him, but it seemed as though the connection between him and the spirit beast was severed. All it was capable of at the moment was to remain afloat in midair.
It was as if someone had put a cage around the spirit beasts, preventing them from going any further.
And unable to move any further, they wouldn’t be able to enter the capital or the royal palace.
“Feng Yu, what are you up to?”
Enraged, Hong shi glanced at Feng Yu coldly.
“Nothing much. I just want you to accompany me here for a single day!”
Feng Yu smiled lightly before turning around to issue another instruction. “Chen Mo, continue playing the zither here. Don’t allow them to advance a single inch forward!”
“Yes!” the young man known as Chen Mo replied as his fingers danced around the zither, producing a beautiful melody.
“Humph, do you think that you can stop me with this?”
Not expecting the other party to resort to such forceful measures, Hong shi’s eyebrows shot up in displeasure. Emulating a sword through his finger, he flicked his forefinger lightly.
Wuuuuuu!
A piercing shrill echoed. A surge of sword qi was shot from the tip of Hong shi’s finger, headed straight for Chen Mo’s zither.
With the destruction of the zither, the melody would stop, and the bindings on the spirit beast would be dispelled.
But before the sword qi could even reach, ‘weng!’, a reverberation sounded. A huge protective barrier had appeared before Chen Mo, rendering Hong shi’s offensive ineffective.
“It’s a formation! The people on the dozen spirit beasts have coordinated with one another to set up a defensive barrier to protect Chen Mo. Given the long distance, it’ll be difficult for us to break the barrier!”
Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He had been perplexed as to why Feng Yu would bring so many people over. After all, as fellow master teachers, it was unlikely that a battle would break out. It seemed like this was where his true intentions lay.
All of these people were likely to be formation masters, and they must be carrying some object on them. Using the spirit beasts as the formation flags, they succeeded in setting up a defensive formation around Chen Mo.
If not for the distance, putting aside Hong shi, even Zhang Xuan would be able to break the barrier easily with a single punch. The distance of several hundred meters was a difficult problem to solve. From such a distance, even the long-range sword qi would be unable to deal much damage. Not to mention, the other party seemed to be well-prepared, so it was unlikely that they would get a chance at stopping Chen Mo’s zither.
This was also what made demonic tunists fearsome.
Physical barriers meant nothing to them as long as their melody could get through.
This was probably also the basis of the other party’s confidence.
“Damn it…’
Hong shi gritted his teeth tightly.
He was also able to deduce this much.
They were in a bad plight. Under the effects of the melody, they were trapped at an altitude of several thousand meters away from ground, unable to descend or leave.
“The part regarding the slots should be true, and the results are likely to be out by today. He probably intends to keep us here to stop us from vying for those slots,” Hong shi said.
“That’s very likely!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
Actually, this matter wasn’t too difficult to guess, and master teachers specialized in noticing even the most minor of details. If they couldn’t deduce this much, they might as well knock their heads onto a wall and fall dead.
“The capital might look near from here, but if we were to go proceed ahead by foot, it would take at least half a day. Besides… we’re in midair right now. Given that our spirit beasts are unable to move at all, we’re completely trapped here… What should we do?”
Hong shi began to panic.
Once he lost those slots, he wouldn’t be able to get it back even if he were to wreak havoc with the Feng Yu.
But… they were stuck in midair, and they couldn’t reach the other party’s zither either. Were they really doomed to watch as the slots for the Cleansing Lake slipped by their fingers?
“Actually, there’s a very simple way to resolve this issue!” Zhang Xuan smiled mysteriously.
“Simple? How can this matter be resolved simply?” The other party’s words left Hong shi stunned. “Our spirit beasts are immobile, and we’re too far to reach them as well. You can’t expect us to fly over to destroy the zither…”
“Fly over? That would be way too troublesome…” Zhang Xuan shook his head. Turning around, he instructed, “Everyone, block the ears of your spirit beasts.”
“Alright!”
Even though everyone had no idea what Zhang Xuan was up to, they still nodded their heads and carried out his instructions.
They had a deep trust toward this champion of the Master Teacher Tournament.
Soon, they managed to plug the ears of the spirit beasts on their side.
Now that all preparations were done, Zhang Xuan chuckled lightly as he turned to face the enemy.
“You said that there’s a simple way to resolve this matter? Despite your young age, you sure speak arrogantly. Hong shi, is this your student? Why do you seem to be regressing as time passes? Your juniors don’t seem to know the meaning of etiquette at all. It’s basic manners to remain silent while your seniors are talking…”
Hearing the words between the duo, Feng Yu sneered coldly. He was just about to reprimand the other party when the young man opposite to him opened his mouth, and a sound echoed into the surroundings.
“Moo!”
Hu! Hu! Hu! Hu!
Before they could even react, the spirit beasts beneath Feng Yu and the others began a free fall journey all the way to the ground.
“The heck, what is going on? AHHH…”
