“Please calm down. It was not me but Elder Mo who decided Zhang shi’s lodging…” The student known as Huang Xing hurriedly explained the situation.
“Elder Mo?” The trio was taken aback by the revelation.
Why would the esteemed Elder Mo, one of the Ten Great Master Teachers, direct a mere Grade 1 student here?
They glanced at one another hesitantly for a moment before a gleam of determination flashed across the eyes of the first young man, and he gritted his teeth and said, “Regardless of whether it’s an instruction from Elder Mo or not, to stay in the first residence, you must first possess strength surpassing us. This is a rule established by the Master Teacher Academy. Flout it, and it won’t be just us but the entire Grade 1 cohort who will object to this! This young man over here, do you dare to compete with me?”
In order to further motivate the students, the residence placings in the Elite Sector were determined by one’s strength and capability. This was a long-established tradition of the Master Teacher Academy, so even an esteemed elder like Elder Mo would have to think twice before flouting it.
“Zhang shi, this young man here is Wu Chan. He possesses a cultivation of Cosmos Bridge realm pinnacle, and with his superior strength, he managed to clinch the second place in the Annual Tournament among the Grade 1 students. It is only due to his lacking Soul Depth that he hasn’t been promoted to a 5-star master teacher yet…” One of the seniors who had led Zhang Xuan here sent him a telepathic message discreetly, explaining the background of the three students before him.
“Annual Tournament?” Zhang Xuan asked curiously.
Back when he was still in Tianxuan Kingdom as a teacher, there was something of this sort in Hongtian Academy as well. To this date, he could still recall how much trouble he had gone through for his students for it. Was he going to have to undergo it as a student now that he was in Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy?
Furthermore, this Annual Tournament was likely going to be very different from the one he had in Hongtian Academy.
After all, Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy was built not for cultivators but master teachers.
“Yes. Every year, there would be an inter-grade tournament where students would clash with one another with their capabilities as master teachers. Only the one who emerges as the champion of the tournament is qualified to stay in this residence…” Seeing the confusion on Zhang Xuan’s face, the senior explained.
According to the other party’s words, it seemed like the Annual Tournament should be somewhat alike to the Master Teacher Tournament.
Every year, the students would be put against one another, and they would be ranked according to how they perform. Rewards would be offered to those who had performed spectacularly to further motivate them the students to work harder.
Judging from the attitude of these three students before him, it seemed like they had qualms regarding him taking the first residence.
However, that was to be expected. How embarrassing it would be if it were to be made known that the first residence which they had fought over for so long had been taken by a freshman! They wouldn’t be able to face other students in the academy!
Realizing this fact, Zhang Xuan turned to Wu Chan and smiled, “Sure. What do you want to compete with me on?”
As much as Zhang Xuan wanted to keep a low profile, that didn’t mean that he was afraid of trouble.
If he couldn’t establish a clear dominance over the other students, he would soon find a steady stream of challengers queuing up before his residence, wanting to defeat him and claim the residence for themselves. If that was going to be the case, he would rather settle it once and for all.
“By right, as students of the Master Teacher Academy, we should be competing on our capabilities as master teachers. However, that will be both lengthy and troublesome. Thus, I propose that we settle it through a physical duel!” Wu Chan said with a confident smile.
There were simply too many aspects of a master teacher that one could be evaluated on, so competing on them one by one would be inconvenient and time-consuming. As such, settling it with their fists was a more viable option in this case.
“A physical duel?”
“That’s right. We might be master teachers, but there should be little doubt that our cultivation forms the very foundation of our capabilities. As long as you are able to defeat me in a physical duel, I won’t utter a word of complaint regarding your stay here!” Wu Chan replied.
“I see!” Zhang Xuan nodded. After which, he turned to the other two and asked, “What about you two? What do you want to compete on?”
“Me? I want to compete with you on the execution of Impartation of Heaven’s Will!” the female student replied.
Perhaps the female student had tailored her master teacher robe, but it was extremely fitting on her. It shaped out her slim and elegant figure beautifully.
Even though her charm could hardly match up to Luo Qiqi’s and Yu Fei-er—those two were existences who were touched by the Goddess of Beauty after all—she still commanded an elegance that would easily put her in the center of gazes.
“She’s the second runner up of the Annual Tournament, Ran Xiaoxiao,” the senior informed Zhang Xuan telepathically. “As for the last guy, he’s the third runner up, Xiao Nan!”
Noting down what the senior said, Zhang Xuan turned to Xiao Nan and asked, “What about you?”
“I’ll compete with you in a physical duel as well!” Xiao Nan replied.
“Alright!” Seeing that the two men wanted a physical duel while the lady wanted to compete of Impartation of Heaven’s Will, Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella. Turning to the female master teacher, Ran Xiaoxiao, he said, “I won’t take advantage of you. You’re Ran Xiaoxiao, right? You shall fight in my stead and teach the both of them a lesson!”
“Ah? I shall fight in your stead?” Ran Xiaoxiao froze upon hearing Zhang Xuan’s words.
Is this fellow a lunatic?
The three of them had come here to teach him a lesson, and yet he wanted her to fight the others on his behalf? Isn’t it a little too early to be dreaming?
Wu Chan and Xiao Nan were startled by Zhang Xuan’s words, and they turned to look at him as if he was a fool.
They thought a man who was directed here by Elder Mo would possess some kind of extraordinary talents, but to think that that talent would be boasting!
Ran Xiaoxiao had come together with them to challenge him, so how could she possibly make a move against them.
“That’s right. If I’m not mistaken, it seems like it has been three months since your Ziwei and Yingtai acupoints are sealed, causing the zhenqi in your body to start flowing in the opposite direction. Do you feel an intense itch across your entire body?” Zhang Xuan asked with a light chuckle.
Even though Ran Xiaoxiao hadn’t executed any battle technique, her current cultivation realm was only at Cosmos Bridge realm, so the Eye of Insight was effective against her.
“Y-you…” Ran Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened in astonishment.
It was true that it had been three months since her Ziwei and Yingtai acupoints had been sealed, resulting in a stalemate in her cultivation. As zhenqi began to accumulate, an intense itch gradually consumed her, leaving her in great agony.
“If you were to do as I say, you will be able to resolve that issue easily!” Ignoring her astonishment, Zhang Xuan spoke nonchalantly.
“The reason why your two acupoints were sealed is due to your incorrect zhenqi circulation technique. Direct your zhenqi to your Huihai acupoint and…” Just like this, Zhang Xuan swiftly listed a dozen more acupoints.
Ran Xiaoxiao was still hesitant whether she should give it a try after hearing those acupoints when she suddenly felt her zhenqi surging uncontrollably through her body.
“This is… Impartation of Heaven’s Will? Crap…”
Upon realizing what was going on, Ran Xiaoxiao’s face paled, and she nearly burst into tears.
She had just said that she would compete with the other party on Impartation of Heaven’s Will when the other party started even before she was ready. Wasn’t this cheating!
She immediately tried to forcefully terminate her zhenqi’s circulation so as to dispel the effects of the Impartation of Heaven’s Will when she suddenly felt the seal on her Ziwei and Yingtai acupoints loosening. It seemed as if they would open up at any moment now.
“This…” Ran Xiaoxiao blinked her eyes blankly, dumbstruck.
Could it be that… the other party’s method was right? Circulating her zhenqi in such a pathway would resolve the bottleneck which had trapped her for three months?
With such thoughts in mind, she abandoned the notion of terminating her zhenqi’s circulation, allowing her zhenqi to flow freely under the effects of the Impartation of Heaven’s Will.
Hong long!
In just a short instant, she felt her bottleneck dissipating under the flow of zhenqi, and a feeling of lightness abruptly embraced her body. Her aura also became much more refined and sharper.
“Alright, you should go and duel with them now!” Zhang Xuan waved his hands.
“Yes!”
Under the effects of the Impartation of Heaven’s Will, Zhang Xuan’s words were absolute, leaving her no room for objections. With a faint smile, she turned around and charged at Wu Chan and Xiao Nan.
“What the freaking hell!”
“Screw this bullshit!”
Seeing Ran Xiaoxiao charging at them with furious momentum, how could the duo remain oblivious to what was going on?
They had been waiting for Zhang shi to duel with them, but the comrade whom they marched here with ended up turning against them instead. The abrupt twist in the situation left them feeling light-headed, and curses spilled out of their mouths.
In a normal duel between master teachers, one would typically test the capability of one’s opponent before making any move. Yet, the first thing the fellow did was to beguile one of their own to side with him.
Nevertheless, one thing was for sure. Given that Ran Xiaoxiao had chosen to challenge him to an Impartation of Heaven’s Will duel, it could only mean that she had reached incredible heights in her Soul Depth. But even so, she ended up falling prey to the other party’s words. This goes to say that he did possess exceptional means despite being a freshman.
It would be unwise to underestimate the young man before them.
“Hmph! If you think that you can win against us just by beguiling Ran Xiaoxiao, you are being way too naive! As rivals, we have clashed dozens of times over the years. We are well aware of her cultivation techniques, battle techniques, and the maneuvers she usually utilizes in battle…” Wu Chan harrumphed coldly as he easily dodged Ran Xiaoxiao’s consecutive punches with movements as swift as lightning.
As the second, third, and fourth rankers in the Annual Tournament, it was inevitable that they would view one another as rivals. They had clashed with one another frequently, granting them a thorough understanding of each other’s moves. If that fellow thought that he could defeat the both of them through beguiling one of them through Impartation of Heaven’s Will, he was dreaming!
“Wu Chan, I’ll deal with Ran Xiaoxiao. You should go and teach that fellow a lesson…” Xiao Nan harrumphed.
“Alright!” Wu Chan nodded.
However, just as he was about to advance for the young man, the latter’s nonchalant voice suddenly sounded in the air, “Coalescence of the Night Rain, Drifting Snow of the Glacier Mountain, Frosted Leaves Crimson Blossoms…”
The words were neither fast nor slow, paced pleasantly to the ear.
Those phrases were the maneuvers of the battle techniques they specialized in.
However, under normal circumstances, these maneuvers couldn’t be executed back-to-back with one another. However, for some reason, he suddenly felt a nearly uncontrollable urge to execute them.
“No! I mustn’t fall for his tricks!” Knowing that if he were to really do so, he would fall under the other party’s control like Ran Xiaoxiao, becoming a tool under his Impartation of Heaven’s Will, Wu Chan bit his tongue in determination.
Under the excruciating pain, he felt his head clearing up. Following which, he heard a series of pah pah pah pah, and by the time he turned his head, Xiao Nan’s face was already swollen as if a pig’s head.
“This…” Astonished by the sight before him, Wu Chan’s eyeballs nearly popped from their sockets.
Even if Xiao Nan possessed strength beneath Ran Xiaoxiao, it should be impossible for him to be defeated in just a few moves!
For this to happen, Wu Chan could only think of one possibility… that was if those maneuvers the other party were put together, not only was it possible to execute it, it would even display an astounding prowess!
Otherwise, considering how Ran Xiaoxiao and Xiao Nan were nearly equally matched, it didn’t make sense how the latter could be bashed so badly in just a few breaths!
“I don’t believe it…”
The more he thought about it, the more Wu Chan felt doubtful and apprehensive about the matter. Gritting his teeth, he charged right at Ran Xiaoxiao.
As a practitioner of the same battle technique, he was very familiar with these maneuvers as well. Upon seeing the other party execute them, he immediately knew how he should move to evade those attacks. But for some reason, the other party’s moves seemed to be much more difficult to deal with than usual.
After barely avoiding a few blows by a hair’s breadth, he was already sweating profusely.
Clearly, Ran Xiaoxiao’s cultivation had advanced significantly under that fellow’s guidance, to the point where even he could hardly match up to her!
Could an Impartation of Heaven’s Will advance Ran Xiaoxiao’s cultivation by so much?
Or was the combination of those few maneuvers that powerful?
“Screw it! I should just give it a try myself…”
Wu Chan took a step back to leap out of the battle before executing the moves in the order which the young man had said earlier.
Puuu!!
But by the time he reached the third blow, he suddenly felt his zhenqi running amok as it abruptly ran in the opposite direction. His face paled, and crimson blood spewed from his mouth.
Pah pah pah!
At the same moment, Ran Xiaoxiao had already rushed up to him and slammed him onto the ground with a slap.
“This…” Zhang Xuan scratched his head in bewilderment, uncomprehending of the situation before him.
“Ran Xiaoxiao has just opened her Ziwei and Yingtai acupoints, and she has the constitution of a female as well, so it’s fine for her to use these moves in succession. But what is this fellow doing? Does he know that using moves so haphazardly can make his cultivation go berserk easily…”
