The very heart of the Saint Ascension Platform lay in the insight inscribed into the cliff face at the very top.
As this was something that Kong shi had left behind, there was no master teacher who didn’t view it as a sacred relic. None dared to speak loudly before it for fear of desecrating it.
Yet, you actually reduced it to smithereens shortly after your arrival. In its current state, even restoration is no longer a feasible option…
It is one thing for you to mess around in the academy. After all, in consideration of its own reputation, the academy will try to suppress the matters that happen within its grounds.
But this…
Do you have a deep-seated grudge against all infrastructures, or were you simply born with the innate potential to become the God of Destruction?
Does the word ‘careful’ not exist in your dictionary?
To dare destroy even the sacred lands where Kong shi ascended to Sainthood… Can’t you at least pick a less prominent target than that? You are slapping the entire Master Teacher Pavilion in its face!
Without a doubt, you can’t even dream of leaving the mountain anymore. Any moment now, countless master teachers will be pouncing on you, grinding you into meat paste.
Speechless, Luo Ruoxin hurriedly rushed up to Zhang Xuan, grabbed his sleeve, and pulled him away to flee.
She was the one who had taken Zhang Xuan there, so she felt that she had to take responsibility for him.
No matter what, it couldn’t be wrong for them to flee at that very instant. Otherwise, once everyone came to, they would be goners!
“Hmm?”
Luo Ruoxin had thought that Zhang Xuan, knowing that he was in deep trouble, would flee with the lightest tug, but to her surprise, the latter was completely motionless. It was as if he was rooted to the spot.
“Hurry up and leave!” Luo Ruoxin exclaimed anxiously.
“Just wait a moment!” Zhang Xuan grabbed Luo Ruoxin’s sleeve and halted her instead. With his other hand, he pointed to the rubble and said, “Take a look at this.”
“Take a look at what?” Hearing that Zhang Xuan was still in the mood to look at the rubble, Luo Ruoxin frowned.
However, what she saw next left her eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
What was within the rubble wasn’t just dust or debris but a meter square stone platform with a peculiar light halo circling above it as well. A holy and majestic aura flowed from it, reminiscent of an object from the heavens.
“Could this be… the place where Kong shi ascended to Sainthood?” Luo Ruoxin’s body trembled in agitation.
That was the main reason she was there. After going around the peak and finding nothing at all, she had thought that perhaps it had already disappeared along with the ages, never to be found again. Who could have known that it would be hidden in the cliff face instead!
That explained why the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe had been unable to find anything despite ransacking the place.
Back then, what they had destroyed was only the words on the wall, but the cliff face had survived their rampage.
In the midst of her shock, Luo Ruoxin felt someone tugging at her sleeves.
“Let’s head over there to take a look!” Zhang Xuan said as he pulled her to the stone platform.
Without any hesitation, Luo Ruoxin swiftly followed behind him.
The light halo was barely visible amid the cloak of dust drifting in the area. Walking up to it, Zhang Xuan’s hand stretched for it and touched it lightly.
Hu!
The light halo immediately expanded, enveloping their bodies. The next instant, Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxin suddenly felt an intense falling sensation as the world flew past them, disappearing in a flash.
When the brilliant flash of light finally dissipated, Zhang Xuan, Luo Ruoxin, and the stone platform disappeared from sight, as if they had never been there in the first place.
…
“So that is indeed the truth behind the insight! I never would have thought that my years of research were actually in vain…”
It was only after the disappearance of the duo that Wu shi and the others finally began to move once more, as if having just recovered from their shock.
After the appearance of the nine words from Kong shi’s acknowledgement, they had been sent into a momentary trance. It was only a short while after that they finally returned to reality.
Recalling the mystical sight they had just seen, their faces flushed scarlet in agitation.
Wasn’t the goal of the Saint Ascension Circle to uncover the real meaning behind Kong shi’s words?
Even though the one who had done it was just a Perfect Harmonization realm lad, it was a fact that they had finally uncovered what they had sought for innumerable years!
“Where is the esteemed elder who deciphered Kong shi’s insight?”
The crowd hurriedly turned to the location where Zhang Xuan had been standing a moment ago, but the ground was completely empty. There was not a person to be seen.
At the same time, their address had also turned from ‘brat’ to ‘elder’ as a form of respect.
“He isn’t here anymore. He was standing right there just a moment ago…” Wang shi muttered in astonishment.
In their perception, barely a second had passed since the appearance of the nine words from Kong shi, but that was only a false impression they had due to the momentary trance. They bore no recollection of Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxin stepping into the cloud of dust and disappearing in a flash of light, as though everything that had just occurred was a dream.
“To be able to decipher Kong shi’s intentions and earn his acknowledgement, that young man is anything but simple… It’s a pity that we know nothing about him!” Wu shi shook his head in embarrassment.
Just a moment ago, he had been accusing the other party of feigning knowledge in the face of ignorance. However, it couldn’t be clearer to him at this moment that the other party was far more knowledgeable than him.
He felt like a clown prancing around a true expert to flaunt his half-baked knowledge. His actions were truly embarrassing.
Nevertheless, a 7-star master teacher should have the magnanimity worthy of one. He had indeed wronged the other party, and if given a chance to meet that elder once more, he would surely apologize to the other party sincerely.
“Wu shi, the cliff face has collapsed…” Sun shi remarked in worry.
Each year, countless cultivators would visit the Saint Ascension Platform in hopes of achieving a breakthrough. For such a thing to happen, how were they supposed to explain this to the Master Teacher Pavilion?
“The Saint Ascension Platform is a valuable asset, but the writing on the wall was not Kong shi’s personal writing but an imitation. Besides, even though it has collapsed, we have perfected the insight instead. Thus, not only is there no loss to the Master Teacher Pavilion, it’s also a huge merit! I will contact the Painter Guild right now and have them send someone to conduct restoration works. This time, we shall inscribe the correct version onto it!” Wu shi said with glowing eyes.
Kong shi’s words had already reflected his acknowledgement and acceptance of this matter. Since even Kong shi wasn’t angry, who were they to be furious in his stead?
Not to mention, with the perfected insight, they would surely be able to attract more people to the Saint Ascension Platform, thus furthering Kong shi’s teachings!
“Wang shi, help me calm everyone down here. Sun shi, follow me to comb the surroundings to see if we can find the young man. If we could have him lecture here on Kong shi’s writing, we will surely benefit greatly from his teachings!” Wu shi said.
“Alright!” Sun shi and Wang shi nodded.
After making arrangements, Wu shi and Sun shi hurriedly headed down the mountain to pursue the young man. With their nimble footsteps, it didn’t take long for them to reach the bottom of the mountain. Yet, it was as if the young man had just vanished from the face of the world.
That young man might have caused the collapse of the cliff face, but he had correctly interpreted Kong shi’s intentions and won his acknowledgement. Despite being 7-star master teachers, they were only glad that they could see such a grand sight with their own eyes.
“It’s such a pity…”
Unable to find the young man, the duo sighed deeply in lamentation.
…
After disappearing from the spot, Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxin suddenly found themselves standing in a completely different place from where they had been previously.
Before them was a lush field of grass and flowers. Not too far away, there was a simple straw cottage.
“Where… is this?” Zhang Xuan was dazed by this abrupt change in surroundings.
It was just a moment ago that he had been standing at the peak of a mountain, but in the blink of an eye, he had suddenly appeared in a field.
Recalling that he was still grabbing the other party’s sleeves, he quickly turned around, only to see Luo Ruoxin’s reddened face as she hurriedly tugged her sleeves out of his grip.
A moment later, after she had recovered from the embarrassment, Luo Ruoxin took a look at the surroundings and said, “If I am not mistaken, this should be… a folded space!”
“Folded space?” Zhang Xuan asked doubtfully.
“Un. A folded space refers to a region where space is pressed together to create vast lands in a very small area. Storage rings are a use of folded space, too. However, the conditions in storage rings are too extreme to contain humans whereas folded space such as this can,” Luo Ruoxin replied.
Zhang Xuan nodded. “Sounds like the Myriad Anthive Nest…”
“That’s right, it is fundamentally similar to the Myriad Anthive Nest, but folded spaces are typically much larger.”
Luo Ruoxin nodded. “It isn’t too difficult to determine whether the place you are in is a folded space or not. As folded spaces are usually artificial and less stable, the space within it shakes easily with sufficient force.”
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath and abruptly punched forward.
Hong long long!
An immense shock wave burst into the surroundings, and the surrounding space seemed to shake slightly.
“It does seem to be rather unstable,” Zhang Xuan remarked.
This verified that the area they were in was indeed a folded space.
However, to be able to compress such a huge space into just a small area, this capability was far more powerful than that possessed by the Anthive Myriad Queen. Just how fearsome must the one who constructed it be?
Having guessed Zhang Xuan’s thoughts, Luo Ruoxin said, “Unless one possesses some kind of exceptional means, only 9-star master teachers are capable of utilizing this ability!”
“9-star master teachers?” Zhang Xuan was astonished.
That was an existence that stood at the very top of the continent. Even with the Library of Heaven’s Path, Zhang Xuan wouldn’t dare to speak loudly before such an existence.
There was simply too huge a disparity between their standing and strength that not even his disguise could make up for.
“Could this have been left behind by Kong shi?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Just by touching a light halo hidden within the cliff face on the Saint Ascension Platform, he had been transported here. As such, it was likely that this was Kong shi’s design.
By exposing the flaws publicly, Zhang Xuan might have triggered some kind of mechanism that Kong shi had left behind on the cliff face.
“That’s very possible, but… it’s still too early to say for sure. Let’s head to the straw cottage to take a look first. Perhaps, we might find something conclusive there!” Luo Ruoxin said.
“Alright!” Zhang Xuan replied.
The straw cottage looked rather shabby, similar to that which he had seen on Leiyuan Peak. The door was unlocked, and pushing on it lightly, ‘jiya!’, the duo entered the cottage.
The room was around twenty to thirty square meters large. There was a square table at the center of the room, and an ancient scroll was placed on it.
Zhang Xuan exchanged glances with Luo Ruoxin before reaching for the scroll and opening it gently.
Words were written on the scroll, and the content was identical with what was inscribed on the cliff face outside.
These words weren’t as fanciful as those outside, but as simple and inelegant as they were, they seemed to strike a chord deep within one’s heart.
“This is… Kong shi’s handwriting!” Zhang Xuan’s eyes narrowed.
The next instant, his blood flow hastened as if triggered by something, and he subconsciously began releasing the authoritative aura of a Celestial Master Teacher.
Soon, he fell into a trance.
“Soul Tempering of a Mentor’s Calligraphy?” Luo Ruoxin frowned.
Without a doubt, what was left on the scroll was definitely Kong shi’s personal writing.
Only the World’s Teacher had the capability to draw one into a unique state of mind just by his words alone.
Once triggered, the Soul Tempering of a Mentor’s Calligraphy tempered one’s state of mind, raising one’s Soul Depth. It was an encounter that happened only by chance and was desired by all master teachers.
Knowing that she mustn’t interrupt Zhang Xuan at this crucial moment, Luo Ruoxin left him to be. She took a swift look around the cottage, but other than the scroll, there was nothing else to be found. Shaking her head slowly, she left the cottage.
She took a walk around the fields surrounding the cottage, and the frown on her face slowly deepened. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, but the slightly expectant gleam in her eyes seemed to have dimmed in disappointment.
