The pillar might have collapsed, but as the hall had been fortified by numerous formations, it was still holding steady for the time being.
“What happened?”
“How was Musician Bai injured?”
“What happened?”
In the very brief period of time since their clash started, Musician Bai had been severely injured, crashing into a pillar and causing the entire hall to shake. Due to the huge disturbance, the crowd awakened from their trance and stared at one another with dazed expressions, confused by the situation before them.
There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with Musician Bai’s playing, so why would she abruptly spurt blood and break a pillar?
She had always been famed for her good-tempered and gentle nature; did a screw fall from her head today?
What happened? Taken aback, Yu Shenqing swiftly turned his gaze to Zhang Xuan.
As the one behind the matter, he knew that Musician Bai’s bizarre actions definitely had something to do with the young man’s use of chopsticks to tap on cups and plates.
Are they fighting with one another? Yu Shenqing frowned doubtfully.
Didn’t I instruct Musician Bai to check if Zhang Xuan possesses any exceptional means to do with souls?
Why did they suddenly start fighting with one another instead?
Wait a minute… Could it be that Zhang Xuan is a demonic tunist as well?
As the only ones who knew that Zhang Xuan had taken the demonic tunist examinations were the student worker at the Demonic Tunist Aula, School Head Jiang, and Vice School Head Ning, this piece of news was missing from the intelligence Yu Shenqing had received from his men.
However, with Zhang Xuan knocking on the table and the plates, the truth couldn’t be any more apparent to him.
Yu Fei-er turned to Yu Shenqing and said anxiously, “Father, Zhang Xuan is my guest. If anything happens to him, it will reflect badly on the royal family…”
Even though she had no idea why Musician Bai would make a move against Zhang Xuan, she knew that her father was definitely involved in this matter.
“Un.” Knowing that his daughter’s words rang true, Yu Shenqing nodded grimly. Turning to Musician Bai, he said, “Musician Bai Xuan, please stop!”
Yu Shenqing was unaware of the dangers involved in the clash of demonic tunes, so he thought that Bai Xuan was still carrying out his orders, oblivious to the fact that she was in a desperate situation herself.
“I…” Hearing Yu Shenqing’s words, Bai Xuan was just about to explain the situation to him when the sound of Zhang Xuan’s tapping sounds assaulted her once again.
Under the furious onslaught, she had to put her everything into playing her zither just to fend off Zhang Xuan’s offense, leaving her with no additional energy to speak.
Deng deng deng deng!
The immense pressure she was placed under left her retreating uncontrollably, and every step that she took left a half chi1 deep footprint in the ground.
Peng!
Eventually, she found herself backed against the wall of the main hall. The Fortification Formation behind her glowed, obstructing her path, and her footsteps came to a halt.
“Hmm?”
Feeling the support behind her, Bai Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. In that instant, an idea suddenly came to mind.
With her back pressed against the wall, a smile emerged on her face as her crimson lips parted.
“His blue robe flutters in the wind; my heart wanders into the distance. Even if fate permits me not to be with you, is silence the only word you offer me?”
It was a song filled with remembrance. Even though it was filled with nostalgia, leaving one in a pensive trance, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up, and he abruptly got to his feet.
The other party was already on the verge of collapsing to his demonic tunes, but with the support of the Fortification Formation cast on the room, the other party had actually managed to neutralize his offense.
To put it simply, formations could be defined as the gathering of spiritual energy in specific positions in order to produce unique effects such as calling forth sword qi to attack one’s opponents or a mysterious fog to beguile others.
The essence of Fortification Formations lay not in making an infrastructure stronger but by neutralizing the attacks conducted on it, similar to a sponge.
Once the force was neutralized, naturally, the object fortified wouldn’t suffer any damage.
By hiding within the Fortification Formation, Zhang Xuan’s offense would be weakened by it, which gave the other party room to counterattack!
As the saying goes, ‘the sorrow of fond remembrances breaks the soul.’
If Zhang Xuan couldn’t counter the other party’s singing, he could lose his life!
In just a short moment, by utilizing the Fortification Formation, the other party had managed to turn the tables on him, and he fell into an extremely disadvantageous position.
Indeed, there is no occupation that should be underestimated!
But even though Zhang Xuan was in a disadvantageous position, there wasn’t the slightest trace of anxiety or nervousness to be seen from him. Instead, with a light chuckle, he smacked the table, and the cup filled with wine flew up.
“A fine song indeed! Allow me to propose a toast to Musician Bai!”
His voice was also infused with the power of a demonic tune, instantly neutralizing the other party’s singing. The next instant, he flicked the wine cup with his finger.
The direction the wine cup was heading toward wasn’t Musician Bai but the wall beside her.
Dang lang!
Upon coming into contact with the wall, the wine cup immediately burst apart, shattering into numerous pieces before falling down. However, what was astonishing was that instead of falling to the ground, the broken shards suddenly stopped in midair.
Weng!
In the next instant, as if someone had stopped them at their cores, the Fortification Formations in the main hall suddenly came to a halt.
When Zhang Xuan had first arrived in the room, he had already taken a look at the various formations using his Eye of Insight, so he knew where the weaknesses of the formations were.
The wine cup he had flicked over was infused with his zhenqi, and even though it might seem as if the broken shards had parted in random directions, it was actually all under his control. Through manipulating the shards precisely, he managed to stop all of the Fortification Formations simultaneously.
It followed the same principles as his Formation Destroying Kick.
The formation has been halted? This is bad… Noticing the changes in the room, Yu Shenqing was alarmed.
He had been waiting for Musician Bai to stop when the latter abruptly started singing. Before he could process what was going on, Zhang shi had already stood up and thrown the wine cup, and the formations had come to a sudden stop right after.
As if a déjà vu had struck him, he immediately stood up to intervene in the matter. But again, before he could do anything, Musician Bai, with the loss of the support from the Fortification Formation, succumbed to Zhang Xuan’s assault, and with a frenzied spurt of blood, she was sent flying backward once more.
Hong long!
This time, without the additional protection from the formation, how could the wall behind her endure such immense force? In the blink of an eye, it had already collapsed into a pile of rubble.
Jiyaya!
The main hall was only supported by four pillars. It had lost one just a moment ago, and with another wall face collapsing, the entire room’s support became extremely unstable. With a loud rumbling, the ceiling came crashing down.
Damn it! Yu Shenqing felt as if he was losing his mind.
That fellow was really a God of Destruction, collapsing everything that he came into contact with…
He had gone to the extent of inviting formation masters to heavily fortify the main hall, but it eventually still met with such an outcome!
Are you here to attend Yu Fei-er’s birthday banquet or to demolish our buildings?
But knowing that this wasn’t the time for that, he exerted his powerful zhenqi to hold up the collapsing ceiling so as to protect those in the room.
As a Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle expert, even if he was unable to undo the damage done to the building, he could at least break the fall of the collapsing rubble.
No matter what, it was his daughter’s birthday. The main hall might have collapsed, but he couldn’t allow any of those young talents to be injured due to it. Otherwise, what would this say about the royal family?
“Pardon me!”
After knocking Musician Bai out, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief and clasped his fist elegantly.
If the other party had fought with him as a cultivator, he might have suffered a tragic loss. But to challenge him to a battle of demonic tunes… that was pure foolishness!
After that, Zhang Xuan turned to Yu Shenqing and said with a righteous aura, “Your Majesty, I am a master teacher recognized by the Master Teacher Pavilion, and yet, Musician Bai over here secretly attacked me during her playing. It is clear that she is up to no good. I suspect that she is involved with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe! I ask of Your Majesty to apprehend and interrogate her for the safety of the citizens of Hongyuan City!”
Otherworldly Demonic Tribe? Hearing those words, Yu Shenqing nearly keeled over.
I am the one who asked her to test you, how did the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe get into the picture?
Furthermore, I haven’t settled the grudge with you for messing up my daughter’s birthday banquet, how can you be so shameless as to dare speak up in such a righteous tone?
“If Your Majesty doubts my word, I beseech you to allow me to invite Pavilion Master Mo over to look into the matter!” Seeing Yu Shenqing’s silence, Zhang Xuan thought that the other party might be doubting his words due to his long years of friendship with Musician Bai, so he made another suggestion.
On the other hand, hearing that Zhang Xuan was going to involve even the Master Teacher Pavilion in this matter, Yu Shenqing nearly erupted in rage.
Musician Bai was only testing you to see if you are a soul oracle by my order. Not only did you knock her out, you even destroyed my building, so how can you still speak so boldly?
Flinging his sleeves furiously, Yu Shenqing harrumphed coldly. “Today is my daughter’s birthday banquet, but you messed up this joyous occasion with your antics. Regardless of whether Musician Bai attacked you or not, the royal palace welcomes you no more. Leave!”
Even though Yu Shenqing was so angry that he could kill, in the face of the crowd before him, he still had to uphold his bearings as an emperor. Furthermore, the other party was a master teacher, so he dared not go overboard.
“You are asking me to leave?” Not expecting the other party to not interrogate the culprit who had attacked him and instead order him to leave, Zhang Xuan frowned in displeasure.
“That’s right! From today on, I prohibit you, Zhang Xuan, from stepping onto the grounds of the Hongyuan royal palace. You are no guest of our royal family!” Yu Shenqing bellowed authoritatively.
If he could, he would have issued an even harsher punishment. However, Zhang Xuan had a close relationship with several school heads of the Master Teacher Academy, so he dared not go too far.
“Father…” Not expecting such a situation to evolve out of her birthday banquet, Yu Fei-er hurriedly turned to her father to plead with him.
“Speak no more. I have made up my mind!” Yu Shenqing waved his hands decisively.
“What are you waiting for? Did you not hear His Majesty’s words?”
Seeing that Zhang Xuan had incurred the emperor’s anger, Shen Jun almost burst into laughter. He swiftly stood up and bellowed at Zhang Xuan, making use of this opportunity to vent his anger.
“… Fine!” To think that he would be asked to leave like that, Zhang Xuan had no other words to say.
He would have already left had it not been Yu Fei-er’s birthday banquet. Shaking his head, he turned around and walked out.
“Teacher, wait for me!” After shooting a glance at Yu Fei-er, Luo Qiqi quickly followed behind Zhang Xuan.
“Zhang shi…” Not expecting an unpleasant event like this to happen at her birthday banquet, Yu Fei-er’s complexion turned awful. Clenching her jaw, she rushed forward to Zhang Xuan’s side as well.
“Fei-er!” Seeing his daughter leave with Zhang Xuan, Yu Shenqing’s expression turned so livid that it seemed as if one could squeeze ink from it.
Rage clouded his mind, and just as he was about to command his subordinates to capture Yu Fei-er and bring her back, the old eunuch standing by the side of the room, Luo Fu, suddenly flicked his wrist and took out a jade token. Taking a look at it, his face suddenly warped in astonishment.
Luo Fu immediately rushed up to Shen Yuqing and called for him with lips quivering in fright. “Your Majesty…”
“What’s wrong?” Yu Shenqing asked impatiently.
“We have just received news regarding the identity of the succeeding principal of the Master Teacher Academy…” Luo Fu told Yu Shenqing telepathically, not daring to speak aloud.
“Who is it? Lu Feng? Or is it Zhao Bingxu?” Yu Shenqing asked anxiously in response.
Yu Fei-er’s matter might be important, but getting on good terms with the succeeding principal was even more so. After all, the latter concerned the future of the Yu Clan, whether it would rise to greater heights or fall into decline.
“Your Majesty, it is neither of them! The succeeding principal is Zh… Zhang Xuan!” Luo Fu’s voice was shaking in fear.
“Zhang Xuan? The man who has just walked out… Zhang Xuan?” Yu Shenqing suddenly felt as if the sky had collapsed on him.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Luo Fu hurriedly nodded.
Without any hesitation, Yu Shenqing got his feet and rushed out of the room. “Zhang shi, don’t leave! I think there is some kind of misunderstanding between us…”
“…” Shen Jun.
“…” The crowd.
