“Let’s go!”
Ignoring the guild leader and the elders who were respectfully seeing him off, as well as the young lady who was crying pitifully by the corner, Zhang Xuan gestured to Yuan Tao and Sun Qiang before walking out with wide strides.
If he had more time, he would surely return here to clear all of the books in the guild. Otherwise, he could only drop the matter.
Walking out of the Apothecary Guild and getting into a carriage, Zhang Xuan passed the jade bottle over to Yuan Tao.
“Apply a portion to your skin each time, and only after you’ve fully absorbed everything can you apply it once more… Train properly, and your cultivation will surely soar swiftly!”
“Thank you, Teacher!”
Yuan Tao took the jade bottle from Zhang Xuan’s hands in agitation.
Having followed his teacher for the entire day, he knew how valuable the medicinal solution was, and how much effort his teacher put into preparing it for him. The favor his teacher had shown him was so great that he didn’t think he could ever repay it.
“Take these spirit stones. You’ll need them when you cultivate!”
After which, he passed a few dozen middle-tier spirit stones over.
The medicinal solution could only awaken Yuan Tao’s unique constitution. He would still require a huge amount of spiritual energy to fuel his cultivation. In any case, after the incident with the Sixth Young Mistress, he didn’t lack spirit stones at the moment.
Understanding his teacher’s intentions, Yuan Tao took the stones.
“Sun Qiang, take these spirit stones with you. I might be gone for a few days when the Cleansing Lake opens, so I’ll be counting on you to distribute them to Zheng Yang, Wang Ying, and Liu Yang when they require any. Make sure that everyone, including you, has sufficient spirit stones so as to not delay your cultivation!”
Saying so, Zhang Xuan passed around two hundred spirit stones over to Sun Qiang.
Once the Cleansing Lake opened, he would have to spend several days inside to cultivate. Thus, it was best for him to make preparations in advance so as to not delay his students’ and butler’s training.
“Don’t worry, Young Master. We’ll surely train hard!” Sun Qiang hurriedly nodded his head.
Hearing Sun Qiang’s confident declaration, Zhang Xuan shook his head.
“I’m not worried about others, you are the one whom I’m the most worried about…”
Zheng Yang and the others, perhaps spurred by Zhao Ya and Lu Chong, were extremely motivated, and he need not worry about them.
The main problem was Sun Qiang. He simply slacked off way too much, and the moment no one’s eyes were not on him, he would immediately trail off. He was indeed a huge headache to deal with.
“Ah…”
Understanding the young master’s intentions, Sun Qiang scratched his head awkwardly.
“Alright, these are the items obtained from the Mystical Treasure Hall. Split them among the others, and sell everything else that you don’t need for spirit stones!”
Zhang Xuan took out the storage ring Gan Yiping gave him and passed it over.
Of everything in the Mystical Treasure Hall, Zhang Xuan only kept the ‘Glacier Rain Sword’, the Upgradable Artifact. Everything else was useless to him, so it would be best to trade them for spirit stones instead.
“Yes!” Grabbing the storage ring, Sun Qiang acknowledged Zhang Xuan’s instructions.
Knowing that there was nothing for him to worry about leaving everything to Sun Qiang, Zhang Xuan said no more.
In a rush for time, Zhang Xuan had the carriage travel at its full speed, and around an hour later, they finally returned to their living quarters.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Hong shi waiting at the entrance anxiously. Bi Jianghai and Luo Xuan were standing behind him.
There was a total of three Cleansing Lake slots for each Vassal State. For Hongfeng Empire, these slots were given to the top three rankers in the Master Teacher Tournament.
Since the banquet tonight was to determine the distribution of slots, naturally, the both of them were qualified to attend the banquet as well to witness how their fates would be decided.
“Zhang shi, you’re finally here! Did anything bad happen? If something really happened… you must tell me in advance so that I can have my teacher resolve it for you…”
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan’s return, Hong shi became so agitated that he nearly burst into tears.
Ever since returning from the confrontation with Luo Zhao and the others, he immediately returned to look for Zhang shi, but… despite waiting for eight whole hours, the other party still remained out of sight.
The fear that the other party might have caused some kind of trouble started to overwhelm him.
After all, this wasn’t the twenty-eight regional powers nor the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, where Hong shi could easily resolve any problem with his influence… It would be best for them to maintain a low profile over here, at Huanyu Empire’s capital. Otherwise, if something were to happen, they would have to ask his teacher, Pavilion Master Jiang Wei, for help.
“Don’t worry, I only went to the Apothecary Guild to have a medicinal solution concocted!”
Seeing how Hong shi was fearing that he had caused some kind of trouble, Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless.
What the heck was this… What kind of person do you take me for?
Am I someone who causes trouble wherever he goes?
No matter what, I’m still a master teacher, and I have a reputation to uphold. Under the situation that no one steps on my toes, why would I go around causing trouble? Why are you speaking as though I’m the God of Destruction, as if I cause a pandemonium no matter where I go…
If Hong shi knew of Zhang shi’s thoughts, he might have rushed forward to strangle the other party.
You said you aren’t the God of Destruction? Then what about my Ghost Domain Illusory City? What about my Celestial Chess? What about my Book of Emptied River? What about my Otherworldly Demon…
Forget it, I should stop thinking about it. Otherwise, even my heart would become a goner…
“It’s good that nothing happened. Alright, the banquet is about to start, so let’s hurry there!”
Knowing that this wasn’t the time to speak, Hong shi gestured to the others, and the four of them started walking to the Crown Prince’s residence.
Crown Prince Ye Qian’s Eastern Palace was only several hundred meters away from the living quarters. Before long, they were already at the entrance, and they passed their invitation letter to the guards.
“This way please!”
Upon seeing the invitation letter, a guard on duty stepped forward and led the way.
Following behind the guard, Hong shi asked, “This brother here, I would like to ask if Feng shi from Fengyuan Empire, Luo shi from Qianfeng Empire, and Chen shi from Zhuyue Empire are here yet?”
Naturally, Luo shi from Qianfeng Empire referred to Luo Zhao, whom he just extorted a moment ago, whereas Chen shi from Zhuyue Empire referred to the old man who was with Luo Zhao back then.
The both of them, along with Feng Yu and Hong shi, were the people in charge of the Master Teacher Pavilions of the Four Great Vassal States, as well as the hosts of the Master Teacher Tournament in their own regions.
“They already arrived an hour ago…” the guard replied.
“An hour ago?”
Hong shi’s mouth twitched.
He thought that he could take advantage of the fact that he had arrived early, but contrary to his expectations, the others had arrived an hour earlier than him.
An hour… It can’t be that the distribution of the slots had already been decided in that time!
After a moment of hesitation, Hong shi asked, slightly embarrassed, “Has the banquet… started yet? Am I late? If I’m late, it would be bad to bother the crown prince…”
“The banquet hasn’t started yet. The crown prince has gone off to invite the Sixth Princess and the others and hasn’t returned yet!”
The guard shook his head.
“The banquet hasn’t started yet? That’s a relief!”
Heaving a sigh of relief, Hong shi flicked his wrist and passed a spirit stone over. “Little brother, thank you for bringing us over!”
“You’re welcome!”
Seeing the other party giving him a generous tip of a middle-tier spirit stone, the guard’s eyes lit up. His attitude immediately became much better, and he leaned over and began speaking in a hushed voice.
“I heard that the banquet is to confirm the distribution of slots for the Cleansing Lake…”
“We don’t even know how the crown prince is going to determine the distribution the slots, needless to say, prepare ourselves for it…” Hong shi smiled bitterly as he shook his head.
“I’m not too sure about the rules as well, but… I heard that the primary aim of this banquet is to welcome the geniuses from Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, as well as to allow the talented master teacher from the various Vassal States to meet their seniors.”
“Welcome? You mean… all four guests from Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy will be present for the banquet?”
Hong shi was taken aback.
He had heard from Luo Zhao previously that the crown prince was going to take away four slots for these geniuses from Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy.
He thought that this banquet was hosted only to solve the issue regarding the distribution of slots, he didn’t think that the four guests would be invited over as well.
A thought suddenly surfaced in Hong shi’s mind.
“Could it be that… they are related to the distribution of slots as well?”
The soldier scanned his surroundings before telling Hong shi what he knew in a lowered voice.
“I’m not too sure either. But in any case, if they were to speak up, it’s unlikely that the crown prince would refute their words… As such, Luo shi and the others prepared many gifts to get on their good side. I think that you should also prepare some gifts. Anyway, there’s no harm going the extra mile…”
“Gifts?” Hong shi’s face paled.
His entire wealth had been destroyed by that fellow behind him in the Master Teacher Tournament! Even if he had wanted to present any gifts, there was nothing of value that he could offer!
After all, considering that the four of them had come from Hongyuan Empire, it was unlikely that one could win their goodwill with an ordinary present.
Oblivious to Hong shi’s expression, the guard nodded his head and continued, “Indeed. After all, there’s no one who would turn down a present. As long as one can get on good terms with them, it shouldn’t be a problem to obtain a slot at all… Alright, the banquet hall is just ahead. I’ll see you off here!”
“Thank you!”
Having been told so much information after the ‘gift’, Hong shi clasped his fist and thanked the guard.
Regardless of the time and place, money always works wonders.
At the very least, with this information, they would be prepared for what that was about to come.
Just that… with this new information came a new headache.
“A gift? What kind of gift should I prepare to win their favor? If only I still had the Book of Emptied River with me… or the Otherworldly Demon could work too…”
Rubbing his glabella, Hong shi’s face turned bitter.
If those artifacts of his hadn’t been destroyed, he was certain he could have surely made the eyes of the guests from Hongyuan Empire lit up with those. But now…
Noticing the other party’s awful complexion, Zhang Xuan walked over and asked, “Hong shi, what’s wrong?”
“I-it’s nothing!” Hong shi quickly shook his head.
Since what was done was done, it was futile for him to blame Zhang shi for it. The important thing at hand was to find a way to get on good terms with those four guests.
“Are you worried over the present?” Luo Xuan asked.
“That’s right!” Hong shi nodded.
“Present? If only I knew, I wouldn’t have passed the storage ring to Sun Qiang…”
Seeing that Hong shi was worried about this problem, Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He had just swept away everything in the Mystical Treasure Hall, and valuable artifacts worthy as a gift was truly one thing he didn’t lack right now. Just that… he had given everything to Sun Qiang already, and who knew if he could make it in time if he were to fetch the stuff now.
“Actually, there’s no need for us to worry about it now. There is an extremely high chance that the slots will be distributed based on our capability as master teachers. If gifts really work, what will become of the occupation?”
All those who were going into the Cleansing Lake were headed for the Master Teacher Academy, so the distribution of slots were likely to involve tests on one’s capability as a master teacher. In truth, the gifts could be considered as nothing more than an additional topping, so it shouldn’t be of much concern.
“I hope so!” Hong shi understood this fact as well, but lagging behind at the starting line still left him worried.
Zhang Xuan suddenly recalled the discussions they had and asked, “Right, Hong shi. When you went over to wreak havoc, did you receive any news from them?”
“Oh, I did receive some news regarding the four geniuses from the Master Teacher Academy…”
Nodding his head, Hong shi was just about to inform Zhang Xuan about the matter concerning the Sixth Princess and her companions when a pair of footsteps approached, and a voice sounded.
“Hong Qian, are these the talents you’ve chosen? They don’t look impressive at all!”
Following which, a figure walked over from the hall ahead of them. It was Master Teacher Luo Zhao from Qianfeng Empire.
