Hong long long!
Shortly after Yu Shenqing left, the zhenqi propping the ceiling up disappeared, and the room collapsed entirely. Debris flew randomly in the area, and a cloud of dust rose in the air.
The young talents swiftly rushed out of the room. Glancing at the rubble and the emperor who was busy running as he shouted “Misunderstanding!”, they found themselves completely stupefied.
“What has happened… to His Majesty?” Liu Quan muttered in a daze.
It was just moments ago that he had domineeringly commanded for the other party to leave the royal palace and never return, but in the blink of an eye, he was suddenly chasing the other party, claiming that it was all just a misunderstanding…
Could anyone have a change of mind faster than him?
“How would I know?” Shen Jun was bewildered by the bizarre turn of events as well.
When he’d seen Yu Shenqing lashing out at Zhang Xuan, he had stood up to berate the other party as well. However, with Yu Shenqing abruptly changing his mind, his actions suddenly became a joke. Placed in an awkward position, he had no idea whether he should stay or just leave.
“So… are we still going to teach that fellow a lesson?” Liu Quan asked hesitantly.
Even the emperor had chased the other party, screaming that it was a misunderstanding… Was it really fine for them to teach the other party a lesson?
“Of course! However, just in case, we shall find a few outsiders to do the job for us. As long as they can’t trace the matter back to us, it will do!” Shen Jun said with a glint in his eyes.
If Yu Shenqing had maintained his hostility toward Zhang Xuan, he wouldn’t have viewed the latter as a threat to him.
Ultimately, as a princess of Hongyuan Empire, Yu Fei-er’s marriage was still dictated by her father. As long as her father opposed it, there was no way she could get together with Zhang Xuan, no matter how close the two of them were.
However, Yu Shenqing had suddenly changed his attitude and run out to pursue Zhang Xuan, seemingly seeking reconciliation with the latter. In that instant, he felt the weight on his shoulders intensifying.
Since that was the case, he would have to make sure to pummel the thought of marrying Yu Fei-er out of Zhang Xuan first.
…
While the duo was discussing how they should deal with Zhang Xuan, Yu Shenqing had already reached the entrance of the royal palace. There, he only saw Yu Fei-er and Luo Qiqi standing in the vicinity, and Zhang Xuan was nowhere to be seen.
Yu Shenqing rushed forward to ask, “Where is Zhang shi?”
He might be the emperor of Hongyuan Empire, but Zhang Xuan, as the principal of the Master Teacher Academy, possessed far greater influence than him.
If he were to really offend Zhang Xuan, all the other party had to do was declare that the Master Teacher Academy would no longer protect the royal family, and the era of the Yu Clan would come to an end in less than half a month.
The main reason the Yu Clan had been able to retain control over Hongyuan Empire for so many years wasn’t due to its strength but in deference to the Master Teacher Academy. Under the watchful gaze of the Master Teacher Academy, there was no one who would dare to brazenly initiate a coup d’état!
On top of that, while the presence of the Master Teacher Academy had raised the national power of Hongyuan Empire, it had also made Hongyuan Empire reliant on it. Out of a hundred officials possessing a cultivation level at the Ethereal Treading realm or above in the royal court, ninety-nine would be indebted to the Master Teacher Academy in one way or another. If a falling out were to occur between the Master Teacher Academy and the royal family, most would choose to side with the former!
As such, even though he, as the emperor, possessed an unparalleled standing in Hongyuan Empire, he still dared not cross the principal of the Master Teacher Academy.
This was reality!
He had thought that Zhang Xuan was only an insignificant figure in the Master Teacher Academy. Even if the latter had won the admiration of several school heads, there was still no need to fear him as his standing was equivalent to the Ten Great Master Teachers… But who could have known that he would be the succeeding principal!
Furthermore, he was nominated unanimously by the Ten Great Master Teachers and Mu shi!
Realizing what he had just done, Yu Shenqing immediately rushed out to seek reconciliation with Zhang Xuan.
“Teacher said that he has matters to attend to, so he left first…” Luo Qiqi said.
“He has left?” Yu Shenqing was stunned.
“Father, Zhang shi is my benefactor. Just how did he offend you that you had to send Musician Bai after him?” Yu Fei-er questioned her father angrily, unable to stand it any longer.
The others in the room might not be aware of what had happened, but as a talented soul cultivator, she was able to tell that it was Musician Bai who had made the first move, and Zhang shi had only retaliated out of rage.
It was clear that her father was behind this matter, otherwise there was no way that Musician Bai would dare make a move on a guest!
“I…” Yu Shenqing had no idea how he should explain this matter to his daughter.
After a moment of silence, he decided to come clean. “Before the start of the banquet, someone cleared our Thousand Tempering Soul Passageway at an unprecedented speed, devoured all of the spiritual energy within the Soul Tempering Hall, and destroyed our ancestral statues. I suspect that it was Zhang shi’s doing…”
“Impossible! Ever since arriving at the royal palace, Teacher has been with me, so how could he have caused destruction in the Soul Tempering Hall?” Luo Qiqi shook her head.
“I suspect that the culprit behind the destruction in the Soul Tempering Hall is a soul. Didn’t Zhang shi fall into a daze earlier on?” Yu Shenqing asked.
“The reason he was in a daze was because he had just found out that today is my birthday, and he was creating a soul cultivation technique for me…” interjected Yu Fei-er upon hearing her father’s words. Upon recalling this matter, her eyes couldn’t help but redden.
As she hadn’t informed Zhang shi that it was her birthday, the latter had probably only learned of it after arriving at the main hall. Yet, he still devoted his effort to creating a cultivation technique for her as a gift. But… he was still misunderstood like this!
In fact, he had even been assaulted in the midst of the banquet…
Wouldn’t his heart break from indignation?
“Creating a cultivation technique?” Yu Shenqing was surprised to hear those words.
“That’s right. Let me write down the cultivation technique for you so that you can see for yourself whether or not a person who created such a cultivation technique within a few hours could still have the time to wreak havoc in the Soul Tempering Hall!”
Gritting her teeth, Yu Fei-er took out a brush and a book and swiftly wrote down the set of cultivation techniques that Zhang shi had imparted to her.
Taking the book, Yu Shenqing had barely read half a page when his body suddenly stiffened. Embarrassment flooded his face in the form of a crimson glow.
The set of soul cultivation techniques detailed in the book was extremely formidable, even more powerful than their Thousand Tempering Soul Refinement Art!
Even for a master teacher of Mu shi’s caliber, it would take at least several decades to compile a technique like that. To create it on the spur of the moment, the other party must have put a lot of effort into it…
And yet, he had actually suspected the other party of destroying the Soul Tempering Hall!
In that instant, he felt as if he was an ingrate.
“This cultivation technique is tailored perfectly for the constitution of our Yu Clan…” After browsing through the entire book, Yu Shenqing felt so ashamed of himself that he was tempted to dive into a burrow.
The cultivation technique was built upon the special constitution that the members of the Yu Clan possessed, so outsiders were incapable of cultivating it. Thus, it was not even a possibility that this set of cultivation techniques had been taken from elsewhere.
If the members of their clan were to cultivate such a profound cultivation technique, the overall prowess of the Yu Clan would be raised by at least thirty percent!
Putting aside a Soul Tempering Hall, the value of this cultivation technique was worth at least a half of the entire royal palace!
In order to create such a profound cultivation technique, it was inevitable that the other party would have to fall into deep thought… Yet, he doubted the other party and had someone test him out, even demanding that he leave eventually…
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he had gone overboard.
Yu Shenqing turned around and commanded, “Luo Fu, didn’t Zhang shi’s manor collapse? Send the best craftsmen in the empire to fix it immediately. Before daybreak, I want to see a manor that is even grander than the royal palace!”
“Yes!” The old eunuch hurriedly left to have the matter done.
A huge manor like Zhang Xuan’s would surely cost a bomb to repair and refurbish, but so what?
As long as they could repair their relationship with Zhang Xuan, it would be worth the expense!
…
Oblivious to Yu Shenqing’s intentions, Zhang Xuan finally reached Leiyuan Peak.
The mountain peak was covered in a thick layer of snow, creating a chilling atmosphere.
He entered the straw cottage where he first met the Byzantium Helios Beast and sat down.
It was still some time before the Zi hour1, and Hu Yaoyao and the others hadn’t arrived yet. He could make use of this time to impart the Ethereal Treading realm Heaven’s Path Soul Art to his clone to allow him to raise his cultivation as well.
The clone appeared in the room and called out, “Main body!”
“What happened back then when you were disguising as Yang shi? How did the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall collapse as well?” Zhang Xuan asked.
The last time Zhang Xuan had met his clone was when the latter had appeared as Yang shi. As everything had happened too quickly, he didn’t have time to process everything his clone had done before the latter was returned to the Myriad Anthive Nest, thus breaking the telepathic connection between them.
As such, there were still certain aspects of the incident back then that he was unsure of.
“It was an effect created by Vicious through the use of Kong shi’s writing,” the clone responded.
In that instant, Zhang Xuan seemed to see everything fall into place.
His deduction hadn’t been too far off. Through utilizing Kong shi’s handwriting, Vicious had not only strengthened his aura, he had also managed to conceal the killing intent in his aura, converting it into a more orthodox and righteous form.
It was through borrowing Vicious’ strength that his clone suddenly became so formidable, suppressing Mu shi and the Ten Great Master Teachers to the point that they dared not utter a word.
With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out of the Book of Heaven’s Path, where Vicious was sealed, and Kong shi’s writings.
“I performed well, didn’t I? See, I wasn’t lying when I said that I would definitely be of great help to you if you were to let me devour Kong shi’s writings…” As soon as Vicious saw Zhang Xuan, he immediately began claiming credit for his accomplishment.
“Devour Kong shi’s writings? Dream on…”
Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan opened up the scroll containing Kong shi’s writings when he abruptly froze. Astonished, he exclaimed, “What is this?”
In the bamboo scroll, several hundred words of the initial three thousand had gone missing, leaving behind a smooth surface in their place. It was as if those words had never existed at all.
But he had definitely seen those words before, even undergoing the Soul Tempering of a Mentor’s Calligraphy due to them…
“If you didn’t let me devour those words, how could I possibly have produced such a powerful aura capable of destroying even formations and buildings?” Vicious replied.
“Devour… You devoured those words?” Zhang Xuan felt the world spinning around him.
He had known that his clone was not a person he could rely on, but who knew that the other party would allow Vicious to do something like that?
That is Kong shi’s personal handwriting! On top of that, a cultivation technique is hidden within it… With a portion of it devoured by this fool, how am I going to uncover the secret hidden within it?
“That’s right!” Vicious nodded blankly, not understanding why Zhang Xuan was making such a huge fuss.
On the other hand, hearing Vicious admit to the matter, Zhang Xuan was on the verge of tears.
There was no master teacher who wouldn’t treasure Kong shi’s handwriting as if it was their life and pass it down to their descendants as a family heirloom. Yet, Vicious had actually devoured it… How was he supposed to face Kong shi if he were to meet the other party again in the future?
Just what was with this matter?
But what was done was done. There was no use blaming those two anymore.
Furthermore, the situation he had been facing then was extremely tricky, and there was no guarantee that he would have been able to get out of it without Yang shi’s appearance.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan turned his gaze back to the bamboo scroll. Around a third of the words had disappeared, which meant that he could recreate the effect back in the Elder Hall another two times!
Forget it, it shouldn’t matter anyway… Zhang Xuan shook his head as he consoled himself.
Kong shi’s cultivation technique might be formidable, but as the cultivator of the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, it didn’t matter whether he obtained it or not.
Stowing the bamboo scroll and Vicious back into his storage ring, Zhang Xuan imparted the Ethereal Treading realm cultivation technique to his clone before leaving his clone to cultivate using the Earth Vein Spirit Essence.
Once this was done, Zhang Xuan found himself with some additional time on hand, so he decided to take a look at his current strength.
At the moment, his soul cultivation had already reached Ethereal Treading realm pinnacle, granting him a might of 20,000,000 ding. Factoring in the 17,000,000 ding from his zhenqi and 8,000,000 ding from his physical body, he wielded a total might of 45,000,000 ding.
In other words, his strength was on par with a Half-Saint primary stage cultivator!
For an Ethereal Treading realm primary stage to be able to rival a cultivator two realms stronger than him, probably not even the famed combat masters were capable of such a feat!
While checking on his body, he also noticed that his soul, with the recent breakthrough, was getting a little too powerful for his body, so he would have to slow down his soul cultivation for the time being.
After waiting a moment longer, Zhang Xuan heard the sound of aerial spirit beasts outside. Knowing that Hu Yaoyao and the others had arrived, he quickly hid his clone in the Myriad Anthive Nest and left the Byzantium Helios Beast at the back of the straw cottage before heading to the entrance to meet the others.
