“Guest elder?” Xue Zhenyang widened his eyes in shock.
Even though guest elders might not wield as much authority as other elders in the academy, they had a higher standing than them.
This was because they were formidable figures outside who had been invited to join the academy in order to boost its prestige and reputation.
For example, the emperor of Hongyuan Empire also held the position of a guest elder in the academy. Occasionally, he would visit the academy to conduct a lesson or two for the students, imparting his comprehension of cultivation to them.
For a seventeen-year-old young lady to become a guest elder of the academy… Wasn’t that a little too exaggerated?
“That’s right. She is more than qualified for it!” Xu Changqing nodded seriously.
It wasn’t on a whim that he had made this decision. He had already considered the various complications before saying it.
The other party was able to distill profound concepts into simple and direct explanations, provoking the listeners to think deeper into them.
If such figures could become the guest elders of the Martial Arts School, they would definitely be able to attract more and more students to join them, enhancing the prowess and influence of the school.
In time, it could overtake the Physician School, Beast Tamer School, and perhaps even the Apothecary School to become the number one school of the Master Teacher Academy!
The crux of a master teacher lay in clarifying doubts and imparting knowledge. In view of that, most of them paid little regard to furthering their understanding of battle techniques. On top of that, advancing one’s mastery of battle techniques took great effort, and it was highly dependent on aptitude as well. What made things even worse was that it wasn’t a supporting occupation, making it a non-crucial aspect in raising one’s master teacher rank…
As a result, despite being an impressive school that raised the fighting prowess of its students, there were very few who opted to join it, putting it in the bottom half of the ten schools, ranking above only the less popular supporting occupations such as the Celestial Designer School, Painter School, Demonic Tunist School, and Terpsichore School.
This was truly a disheartening sight.
All along, Xu Changqing had been dreaming of making the Martial Arts School bigger, and with an opportunity standing right before him, he would have to be a fool to not grasp it!
“Alright. I think it would still be best for Teacher to bring this issue up with them personally, so I will invite them to Teacher’s room once Senior Wang’s lecture ends,” Xue Zhenyang said.
As he was the one who had invited Zheng laoshi, Senior Aunt Wang, and Senior Uncle Liu here, if the three of them could become guest elders of the school, it would reflect well on him as well.
With such backing in the academy, his standing would rise as a result as well. By then, wouldn’t it just be a walk in the park for him to teach a freshman a lesson?
“Okay.” Xu Changqing nodded before leaving the courtyard and walking to a room not too far away.
Sometime later, the door to the room opened, and Xue Zhenyang walked in with Wang Ying, Zheng Yang, and Liu Yang behind him.
“Zheng laoshi, Senior Aunt Wang, Senior Uncle Liu, this is my teacher, the head of the Martial Arts School, School Head Xu!
“Teacher, this is Zheng Yang laoshi. I am currently studying spearmanship from him. This is Senior Aunt Wang Ying, you saw her on the podium just now. And this is Senior Uncle Liu Yang!” Xue Zhenyang hurriedly introduced them to one another.
“School head?” Zheng Yang and the others glanced at one another with widened eyes.
When they heard that someone was interested in meeting them, they were still wondering who it would be. They had never expected that it would be the head of the Martial Arts School.
“There’s no need to be alarmed. The reason I have invited you here is to offer you the positions of guest elders at our Martial Arts School,” Xu Changqing said with a kind smile.
“Guest elders?” Zheng Yang and the others were taken aback by those words.
They were still students learning under Zhang laoshi themselves, and yet in the blink of an eye, they were going to become guest elders of the great Master Teacher Academy? Were they dreaming?
Wasn’t this honor far too great for them?
“Yes!” Xu Changqing nodded. “May I know if you are willing to accept the offer?”
“Of course we are!” Zheng Yang and the others immediately nodded their heads in excitement.
“That’s good. I’ll make the application right now, and I should be able to give you your identity tokens by today afternoon at the latest!” Seeing that he had their approval, Xu Changqing nodded in satisfaction.
After chatting for a moment longer, Xu Changqing took his leave.
Soon, only Zheng Yang, Wang Ying, and Liu Yang were left in the room.
The trio glanced at one another with a dazed look in their eyes, seemingly still unable to believe what had just happened.
A moment later, Wang Ying couldn’t help but ask, “This… We became elders of the academy, but Zhang laoshi is still a student here… How are we going to report this matter to him?”
“This…” Zheng Yang and Liu Yang also scratched their heads in distress.
They had been so overwhelmed by excitement upon hearing the invitation that they accepted it immediately without considering the implications.
It was only after calming down that they realized the absurdity of the situation. For them to become elders of the academy when their teacher, Zhang Xuan, was still a student himself… No matter how one looked at it, the matter just seemed ridiculous.
“This… Why don’t we hide it from him for the time being? We will just take each day as it comes…” Zheng Yang proposed after a moment of silence.
Escape is always the easiest solution in times of dilemma. Without any hesitation, Wang Ying and Liu Yang nodded. “Let’s do that!”
It wasn’t that they really wanted to hide it from Zhang Xuan, but… how were they supposed to bring up such a matter with him?
…
“What did you say? School Head Xu promoted those youngsters whom Xue Zhenyang brought over as guest elders?” Hearing the report, Dong Xin and Long Cangyue nearly fainted.
They had thought that School Head Xu would surely teach Xue Zhenyang a lesson, but who could have known that… he would actually make those youngsters into guest elders of the Martial Arts School!
How was that possible?
Was it a joke?
“It’s true! Not only that, I heard that School Head Xu went into seclusion as soon as he returned from the True Helios Faction, only appearing later in the night… According to the rumors, he gained new insight into battle techniques, and in a spar with Vice School Head Chen, he managed to defeat the latter in a single strike…” the student continued.
“Defeated Vice School Head Chen in a single strike?”
“Even though Vice School Head Chen’s strength wasn’t on par with School Head Xu, there wasn’t a large disparity between their fighting prowess. In the previous spars, it would take them several dozens of blows before the victor would emerge. Yet, a single blow…” Dong Xin’s eyes were filled in incredulity. “Are those youngsters whom Xue Zhenyang invited over really that formidable?”
“I’m not too sure, but I heard that everyone who attended the lecture has achieved a breakthrough of some kind, and the overall strength of the True Helios Faction has been raised significantly!” the student replied.
“I see…”
Long Cangyue and Dong Xin tightly clenched their fists. “It seems like we will have to be careful of the True Helios Faction!”
A similar scene was occurring in the other student factions across the academy as well, and even the teachers were alarmed by the matter.
For three youngsters who weren’t even twenty to become guest elders of the academy, this was unprecedented in the history of the Master Teacher Academy.
In an instant, the matter became a hot topic within the academy, and many freshmen also learned of the matter as well.
However, while most people in the academy learned about the new young guest elders in the Martial Arts School, very few knew the names of the guest elders or their background.
…
While a huge ruckus had broken out due to the three new guest elders, Zhang Xuan had also finally returned back to the academy.
The deadline which Vice School Head You set was two days. I should still be able to make it in time!
As soon as Zhang Xuan entered the academy, he didn’t return to his residence in the Elite Sector but headed straight to the Tower of Physicians.
Even though Wei Ruyan’s condition had stabilized after he had nourished her soul, the stable condition wouldn’t last for too long. Treatment still had to be conducted as soon as possible or else her life would be at risk once again.
Zhang Xuan had already made a promise to the deceased Wei Changfeng… Regardless of what happened, he was determined to obtain the Ten-leafed Flower.
Soon, Zhang Xuan reached the Tower of Physicians. He headed straight for Vice School Head’s residence and knocked on the door.
It was Sun Yuan who opened the door.
“You…” Upon seeing Zhang Xuan, Sun Yuan was astonished.
He knew very well how dangerous the Cloudmist Ridge was. How could he possibly still be fine after heading to such a place?
“I am here to meet Vice School Head You!” Zhang Xuan said.
Considering that Vice School Head You intentionally ordered Wei Changfeng to pick the Cloudmist Flower despite knowing the dangers there, it was obvious that he had intended to pick on him.
As furious as Zhang Xuan was, for Wei Ruyan’s sake, he decided to rein in his fury for the time being.
The Ten-leafed Flower was a rare saint herb that had the ability to heal one’s soul. In the entire Hongyuan City, it was likely that Vice School Head You would be the only one who possessed it.
Wei Changfeng had already given up his life for it, Zhang Xuan couldn’t let his perseverance and sacrifice go in vain.
Recovering from his daze after a moment, Sun Yuan nodded and gestured for Zhang Xuan to enter. “Please enter…”
Soon, he met Vice School Head You in his main hall.
“Vice School Head You, here is a Cloudmist Flower. As promised, I have brought it to you within two days!” Without even bothering with pleasantries, Zhang Xuan immediately flicked his wrist and took out a jade box containing the flower which Wei Changfeng had procured at the cost of his life.
“You obtained it?” Vice School Head was taken aback. He took he jade box over and opened it.
A mysterious mist rose from the jade box, and the flower within exuded a refreshing fragrance that left one’s cells moaning in comfort.
Even without undergoing processing, the Cloudmist Flower was still an incredible plant with therapeutic effects.
“This is indeed the Cloudmist Flower!” Vice School Head You nodded.
“Since you have confirmed it, may I trade it for the Ten-leafed Flower now?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“I would have loved to do so, but that won’t do!” Vice School You shook his head. “What I want is a living Cloudmist Flower which I can cultivate, but the one you have procured for me is already dead. You didn’t fulfill my request, so how can I trade it for the Ten-leafed Flower? If you really want it, bring me a living Cloudmist Flower!”
“A living Cloudmist Flower?” Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.
The other party didn’t say anything of that sort when they made the deal two days ago!
Yet, at this instant, he was using this kind of excuse to reject it. It was clear that he had no intention of giving the Ten-leafed Flower to them in the first place!
“Fine, if a living Cloudmist Flower is what you want, a living Cloudmist Flower is what you will get…” Even though Zhang Xuan was furious, he knew that it would do him no good to fall out with You Xu right now.
He would have to hold himself back until he obtained the Ten-leafed Flower from the other party.
Thus, he took the jade box back from Vice School Head You’s hands and infused a surge of his Heaven’s Path zhenqi into the Cloudmist Flower.
At the same time, he secretly took out a droplet of Earth Vein Spirit Essence and dripped it on its stalk.
Even though it had been a day since the Cloudmist Flower had been harvested, it still managed to retain its freshness as it was stored in the jade box.
As long as Zhang Xuan could nourish it with his Heaven’s Path zhenqi and Earth Vein Spirit Essence, it should be possible for him to revive it.
As expected, under the nurturing of his zhenqi and the Earth Vein Spirit Essence, the slightly withered Ten-leafed Flower began to recover, and it started to exude an incredible fragrance.
“The Cloudmist Flower came back to life?” Sun Yuan was stunned.
Even Vice School Head You was dumbstruck by the scene before him as well.
In the very first place, he had no intentions of selling the Ten-leafed Flower at all. He only brought up the Cloudmist Flower as an excuse to deal with Wei Changfeng and Zhang Xuan.
He had thought that he would be able to force Zhang Xuan to back off by insisting that the Cloudmist Flower had to be alive, but in the blink of an eye, that fellow actually succeeded in doing so!
“Alright. Now that the Cloudmist Flower is alive, you should be able to trade the Ten-leafed Flower for it now, right?” Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan passed the jade box back to Vice School Head You.
“Not bad. Since the Cloudmist Flower is alive, I can trade it for the Ten-leafed Flower. However… my Ten-leafed Flower isn’t mature yet, so I can’t give it to you right now!”
Vice School Head You shook his head and said, “From the current look of it, it’ll take around ten years for the Ten-leafed Flower to mature. So, I’m afraid that you will have to come back in ten years…”
“Ten years?”
Zhang Xuan’s eyes narrowed in fury. “At the very start, you said that you would trade the Ten-leafed Flower for a Cloudmist Flower as long as we brought one over within two days. When I brought one over, you suddenly insisted that it had to be alive. Now that I have revived it, you started saying that I’ll have to wait ten years for it. What if you were to come up with some other excuse after ten years?”
“Are you doubting my integrity? Humph! Someone like you who has no respect for your elders wants to buy my Ten-leafed Flower?”
Vice School Head You’s face darkened as he flung his sleeves. “Leave! I won’t be selling my Ten-leafed Flower anymore!”
