“You won’t be selling your Ten-leafed Flower?” Hearing the other party’s words, Zhang Xuan’s face turned livid.
If not for this fellow, Wei Changfeng wouldn’t have died!
And despite all that had happened, he still refused to sell his Ten-leafed Flower?
Indeed! When a master teacher acted shameless, they could be even more fearsome than the saint beasts of Cloudmist Ridge!
“That’s right!” Vice School Head You waved his hands impatiently. “I don’t have the habit of selling immature herbs. Leave!”
Knowing that Wei Ruyan’s life was at stake, Zhang Xuan forcefully suppressed the rage bubbling within him and said, “In other words, the reason you are unwilling to sell the Ten-leafed Flower to me is because it isn’t mature yet. So, if it matures, you will sell it to me?”
“That’s right!” Vice School Head You nodded. “The medicinal properties of a herb will only be drawn out upon maturity, so as a physician, how can I sell an immature herb to another? I am not intentionally picking on you. As a master teacher, you should understand the logic behind this as well!”
“I see. Since you insist that you won’t sell an immature plant, I shall make it mature this very instant then!”
Glancing at the other party coldly, Zhang Xuan walked to the Ten-leafed Flower in the herb garden, dabbed a few droplets of the Earth Vein Spirit Essence on it, and infused his Heaven’s Path zhenqi into it afterward.
Even though the Earth Vein Spirit Essence could speed up the growth of the Ten-leafed Flower as well, it would still take a day before it matured. By pairing it with his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, Zhang Xuan could further speed up the maturing process.
Indeed. With the Heaven’s Path zhenqi and Earth Vein Spirit Essence infused to the Ten-leafed Flower, the saint herb began growing at a visible pace. Within ten minutes, ten beautiful flowers had bloomed on the ten leaves of the herb, and an invigorating fragrance drifted around it.
“This…” Sun Yuan widened his eyes in shock.
As a saint herb, the Ten-leafed Flower would ordinarily require at least ten years of cultivation before it could bloom. Yet, the other party succeeded in just ten minutes… Just how did he do it?
“Vice School Head You, since the Ten-leafed Flower has matured, you should be able to sell it now, right?” Zhang Xuan stood up and said.
At that instant, Vice School Head You’s face was already completely livid.
When he said that the other party had to trade his Ten-leafed Flower for a Cloudmist Flower, the other party succeeded in bringing a Cloudmist Flower. When he said that the Cloudmist Flower had to be alive, the other party revived it. When he said that he couldn’t sell it as the Ten-leafed Flower hadn’t matured yet, the other party matured it on the spot… Was the other party actually there to slap his face?
Seeing the other party’s grave expression, Zhang Xuan asked impassively, “What? Now that the Ten-leafed Flower has matured, is Vice School You thinking of another reason to reject me?”
“Humph! I brought this Ten-leafed Flower up painstakingly. If I insist on not selling it, will you snatch it from me?” Vice School You’s eyebrows shot up.
“How could I dare to snatch the possession of a vice school head?” Zhang Xuan shook his head. With a sharp glint in his eyes, he stared at Vice School Head You Xu intently and said, “I will ask you one last time. Are you certain that you won’t sell the Ten-leafed Flower to me?”
“That’s right! I would rather my Ten-leafed Flower rot in the herb garden than sell it to someone as disrespectful and unruly as you!” Vice School Head You harrumphed.
“Very well!”
Zhang Xuan turned around decisively and left the residence.
“He left just like that?”
Vice School Head You had thought that the other party would cause a ruckus over this issue, but he simply left without saying a word. Taking this entire scene into sight, Sun Yuan couldn’t help but say, “Teacher, it’s just a Ten-leafed Flower. Since he has already gone that far, why don’t you just sell it to him? There is really no need to make things so awkward…”
“Audacious! Are you trying to preach to me?” Vice School Head You Xu frowned in displeasure.
“I dare not!” Sun Yuan clasped his fist. “I heard that that fellow has caused quite a bit of trouble in the academy. I fear that… if we offend him, it might bring trouble upon us as well!”
“What a joke! I, You Xu, a Saint realm expert and the vice head of the Physician School, should fear him? After all the things I have gone through, do you think that I would fear a mere student?” Vice School Head You sneered coldly.
“But…” Sun Yuan was still worried.
There had to be something special about that fellow for him to win the favor of Pavilion Master Mo, School Head Mo, School Head Zhao, and School Head Wei. If his teacher were to offend him, wouldn’t that mean falling out with the three school heads and the head of the Master Teacher Pavilion as well?
Vice School Head You harrumphed coldly. “No buts. If you’re truly worried, why don’t you follow that fellow then? If he dares to defame and spread malicious rumors about me before School Head Mo and the others, capture him immediately. I shall have him punished severely for slandering a higher ranked master teacher!”
“This…” Sun Yuan was a little hesitant.
“What are you waiting for? It is a huge sin for a lower ranked master teacher to comment blindly on the actions of a higher ranked master teacher. Since he’s a lower ranked master teacher, he should act like one! If he really dares to defame me before others, he’s simply courting death!” Vice School Head You waved his hands impatiently.
“Yes, Teacher!” Since his teacher had already said so, there was nothing else Sun Yuan could do. Nodding, Sun Yuan backed out of the residence.
It was indeed a crime for a lower ranked master teacher to gossip about the actions of a higher ranked master teacher without any concrete evidence. This was a rule in order to maintain order in the Master Teacher Pavilion. Considering that Zhang Xuan was only a 4-star master teacher whereas his teacher was a 6-star pinnacle master teacher, Zhang Xuan could indeed be taken away if he dared to defame his teacher.
After leaving the residence, Sun Yuan looked around and found the back silhouette of Zhang shi a short distance away. Discreetly, he followed behind the other party.
Even though he didn’t approve of his teacher’s way of dealing with this matter, he dared not defy his teacher’s orders.
Will he find School Head Mo first or School Head Zhao? Sun Yuan thought as he followed Zhang Xuan from a distance away.
He had heard quite a few rumors regarding Zhang Xuan over the past few days. School Head Zhao, School Head Mo, and School Head Wei all gave him preferential treatment. If Zhang Xuan intended to deal with his teacher, it was likely that he would seek one of them to back him.
However, given the esteemed standing of those three and the fact that they weren’t from the school, the most that they would do was serve as mediators for this conflict. In order to maintain harmony in the academy, it was unlikely that they would do anything to his teacher.
I think it is more likely for him to find School Head Zhao. After all, the Blacksmith School is the second largest school in the academy, so School Head Zhao is in a better position to exert pressure on my teacher… Sun Yuan deduced.
To his surprise, however, he suddenly saw the young man walking straight through the entrance of the Tower of Physicians.
Hmm? Why is he going to the Tower of Physicians? Sun Yuan blinked blankly in astonishment.
Shouldn’t the young man be running to the other schools to complain to the school heads and have them stand up for him? Why did he head to the Tower of Physicians instead?
I should follow him to take a look! Sun Yuan hurriedly followed him.
There was a huge crowd travelling into and out of the Tower of Physicians. Shortly after Zhang Xuan walked in, he disappeared amidst the sea of people. Sun Yuan searched the surroundings for some time but to no avail. Left with no choice, he headed right to the front reception.
It was a young lady who was manning the reception. Upon seeing Sun Yuan, she clasped her fist and bowed. “Sun laoshi…”
It was the same lady who had led Zhang Xuan to Vice School Head You’s residence that day.
“Hello. Have you seen Zhang Xuan around here?” Sun Yuan asked.
“Zhang Xuan?” The receptionist was slightly taken aback by the question.
“It’s the young man whom you brought to meet Vice School Head You that day!” Sun Yuan frowned.
“H-he… is Zhang Xuan?” The receptionist covered her mouth in shock, and her eyes twinkled with excitement, as if having seen her idol.
Over the past few days, there was probably not a single person in the academy who hadn’t heard of the name ‘Zhang Xuan’.
Seeing the excited look on the other party’s face, Sun Yuan was rendered speechless. He coughed loudly to regain the other party’s attention before asking, “Cough! So, did you see him?”
What the heck is wrong with this?
As a senior, do you really need to be admire a freshman like that?
Even if you do, the least you can do is not to express it so clearly in public!
“I did. He took an application form from me, saying that he intends to challenge the Wall of Dilemma to earn some Academic Credits!” the receptionist replied.
“He intends to earn some Academic Credits at the Wall of Dilemma?” Sun Yuan was stunned for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh.
The Wall of Dilemma was also known as the Wall of Incurable Illnesses, and it could be found in every Physician Guild.
Usually, difficult illnesses encountered which no existing physicians in a certain guild were able to treat would be listed on the wall so as to encourage the later generations to muse over the problem and solve it with their own capability. However, it was not without reason that these illnesses were known as ‘incurable’.
The success rate of the challengers was extremely slim, and only a handful of physicians in history had succeeded in resolving even one illness on the Wall of Dilemma.
In a sense, this was similar to the Blacksmith School’s Passageway of Records. There might be many people challenging it each year, but how many of them succeeded in beating the existing record?
“That’s right!” the receptionist replied.
I thought that he would head straight to the Blacksmith School to look up School Head Zhao. Who would have thought that he would challenge the Wall of Dilemma instead… What is he up to?
Just as Sun Yuan was plagued with doubts, a buzz so loud that it caused even the ground to tremor echoed throughout the Tower of Physicians.
“What is going on?”
As the center of the Physician School, the Tower of Physicians was built with the most resilient materials. Unless something major had happened, a building this stable couldn’t possibly shake.
“Hurry up, let’s go and take a look. The Wall of Dilemma has collapsed!”
“The Wall of Dilemma collapsed? But isn’t it just a communication tool with the Physician Guild headquarters? How did it collapse?”
“I heard that someone has just challenged the Wall of Dilemma, and within ten minutes, he managed to solve all of the illnesses listed on it. Due to the sheer speed he solved the problems at, the Wall of Dilemma was unable to catch up and eventually collapsed…”
“Unable to catch up?”
“Indeed! Information transfer over long distance is a very energy-consuming process. The Wall of Dilemma uses high-tier spirit stones in order to process the information written on our side and transfer it over to the headquarter. Yet, I heard that the current challenger solved several hundred illnesses written on the wall within ten minutes… Every single one of the illnesses written on the Wall of Dilemma is complex and requires a thorough treatment method. As a result, the sheer amount of information the Wall of Dilemma had to process resulted in a burden exceeding its limit, thus eventually causing its collapse…”
…
Just as Sun Yuan was perplexed by the situation before him, he heard discussions ahead of him, and the crowd abruptly began rushing toward the Wall of Dilemma to watch the commotion.
He solved the problems so quickly that the Wall of Dilemma was unable to handle it and collapsed? Sun Yuan widened his eyes, unable to believe what he had just heard.
Was that even possible?
He had attempted the problems on the Wall of Dilemma before, and every single one of them was exceedingly difficult. Even if his teacher was here today, he would find it hard to solve even a single problem without pondering over it for several days. How could there exist a person who could solve all of the questions within ten minutes?
Could that person be… Zhang Xuan?
Suddenly, Sun Yuan recalled the words of the receptionist and subconsciously turned his gaze over, only to see the latter with widened eyes.
“Is there anyone else who challenged the Wall of Dilemma today?” Sun Yuan hurriedly asked.
“No. He’s the only one…” the receptionist replied with a dazed look in her eyes, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened either.
“Is it really him?” Sun Yuan muttered under his breath as he felt his heart turning cold in apprehension. Unable to hold himself back, he instructed, “Take me over to have a look!”
Thus, the duo rushed over to the Wall of Dilemma, only to see the huge room being reduced to shambles, and smoke was currently puffing out of it.
A middle-aged man climbed out from the ruins with a face caked with dust.
Sun Yuan hurriedly walked up to ask, “Hu shi, what happened?”
Hu shi was also Vice School Head You Xu’s student, as well as Sun Yuan’s junior. He was in charge of looking after the Wall of Dilemma.
“It’s Zhang Xuan. He came here and solved all of the problems on the Wall of Dilemma… Due to accumulating too many Academic Credits, the system exceeded its limit, resulting in the entire room’s collapse!” Hu shi explained with quivering lips.
“Accumulated too many Academic Credits?” Sun Yuan was taken aback.
“Indeed. It’s not like you don’t know the situation with the Wall of Dilemma. In order to encourage students to challenge it, it’s set in a manner such that the more questions one solves in a given period of time, the more Academic Credits one will be awarded. If a person solved a question in two hours, they would earn one Academic Credits. If a person solved two questions, they would earn two Academic Credits for the second question, thus earning a total of three Academic Credits. Going by this pattern, a person who solves three questions will earn six Academic Credits, so on and so forth…” Hu shi explained.
Sun Yuan nodded.
There was indeed such a rule for the Wall of Dilemma.
The faster one solved the problems, the more Academic Credits one would earn. This system was implemented to challenge the analytical ability of students. After all, it was common for a physician to be overloaded with patients, so it was imperative for physicians to be able to formulate a treatment method using minimal time as well so that they could treat more patients.
“That Zhang Xuan managed to solve more than five hundred questions within five minutes… As a result, the Academic Credits he earned were far more than the number the entire Physician School possessed at the moment. On top of that, the system was also overclocked, thus resulting in the current state of affairs…” Hu shi explained.
“He earned more Academic Credits than the entire Physician School possesses?” Hearing those words, Sun Yuan felt his vision turning dark, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
“Are you saying that… he actually earned more than 100,000 Academic Credits?”
