Returning to his room, Zhang Xuan finally felt exhaustion setting into his body.
It had been two days since he returned from the search for the Firefly Fruit, and he hadn’t had a single moment of rest. On top of that, becoming the master of the many spirit beasts and saint beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge had caused him to overexert his spirit as well.
Were it not for his massive soul, he would have never been able to hold on. Nevertheless, as soon as the tension left his body, he felt a splitting headache striking his mind.
Before Vicious fell into a temporary coma, he helped me tamper with the soul of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast to remove its consciousness. I can use that to heal my wounded soul. Exhaling deeply, Zhang Xuan whipped out the soul of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast before drawing his own soul out as well.
Driving the Heaven’s Path Soul Art, he began to devour the soul before his eyes.
Tzzzzz!
The pure soul of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast gushed into Zhang Xuan’s soul in the form of a warm surge of energy, healing and tempering it further.
Not too long later, Zhang Xuan’s soul was fully recovered. On top of that, it had also become slightly bigger and stronger.
As the Bluehorn Dragon Beast’s soul was lacking a portion, it couldn’t be said to be complete. Nevertheless, it was still a soul that had reached Saint realm 5-dan, so in terms of the purity of its energy, even a high-tier spirit stone would be no match for it.
It’s truly a pity that I don’t have the complete Chrysalis realm Heaven’s Path Soul Art yet… or else, I would have been able to raise my soul cultivation further!
After consuming a portion of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast’s soul and feeling his soul being filled to the brim, Zhang Xuan could only shake his head and put it back.
He only had the Transcendent Mortal 8-dan Heaven’s Path Soul Art at the moment, so there was no way for him to advance his cultivation any further.
Of course, he could choose to absorb the soul to enhance the quantity of his soul instead of the quality, but if he were to do so, it was possible that the awkward situation that had befallen him back in the Cleansing Lake might occur once more. If his soul and body were to become incompatible once more, not only would his fighting prowess not increase, it might decline instead.
It’s a pity that the Cloudmist Ridge is dominated by saint beasts, so there are no human cultivation techniques here. Otherwise, I could have tried to gather books, compile a complete Heaven’s Path Divine Art, and attempt a breakthrough to Half-Saint tonight…
There were all kinds of treasures in the Golden Beartiger Beast’s storage ring, but there was simply a certain item lacking—cultivation technique manuals.
Spirit beasts and saint beasts cultivated in a vastly different manner from humans, so the cultivation techniques of humans were useless to the Golden Beartiger Beast, thus he didn’t leave any behind.
Otherwise, given that there was still some time before daylight, he could have attempted to break through to Half-Saint realm.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan thought, Forget it. It will be the inauguration ceremony in a few hours’ time, and once I become the principal, I will be able to access all of the books in the academy freely. By then, I can easily gather all of the cultivation technique manuals that I am lacking together and form the corresponding Heaven’s Path Divine Art…
If it had been before, Zhang Xuan would surely have begun searching around to see if he could find any cultivation techniques. However, considering that he would be able to access all of the books in the academy tomorrow, there was no need for him to go through that trouble anymore.
“Teacher!” Just as Zhang Xuan was about to rest, he suddenly heard Wei Ruyan’s voice from beyond the window.
Frowning, Zhang Xuan walked over. “What’s wrong?”
Wasn’t she going to exact vengeance for her father? Did she get soft-hearted at the last moment?
“Teacher, You Xu revealed some important news regarding the Master Teacher Academy right before I was going to kill him, so I dare not make a decision by myself. Thus, I came over here to report the matter to you!” Wei Ruyan said.
“What is it?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
From the very start, Zhang Xuan had already felt that there was something amiss with You Xu, and this feeling only intensified after the incident regarding the Bodhi Saint Tree’s poisoning.
However, since You Xu was Wei Ruyan’s enemy, he still decided to leave the other party to her in the end. He really hadn’t thought that she would be able to get vital information out of him.
“It seems to be regarding the true reason behind the old principal’s death,” Wei Ruyan said with a grim expression. “However, he was unwilling to go into details regarding the matter, and he demanded to meet Teacher instead.”
“Un, noted.” Zhang Xuan nodded. Just as he was about to walk out, he hesitated for a moment before bringing the Byzantium Helios Beast out.
The Byzantium Helios Beast was the tamed beast of the old principal, and he was known to be extremely loyal to the latter as well. Since this matter concerned the death of the old principal, he had the right to listen to it as well.
Thus, the three of them headed for the residence where You Xu was.
When they entered, You Xu’s face was extremely pale, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.
“You poisoned him?” Seeing the other party’s state, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up.
As an expert on poison himself, he could instantly tell this reaction wasn’t just due to You Xu’s fear but the lethal poison coursing through his body as well.
Wei Ruyan possessed the Innate Poison Body and the Poison Soul Constitution. Killing a master teacher who had his cultivation sealed was an extremely easy feat for her.
“That’s right,” Wei Ruyan admitted.
She wasn’t very aware about her unique constitution, but she had known from a young age that her body was capable of producing lethal poison.
Since this fellow was the culprit behind her father’s death, she wasn’t willing to let him off the hook easily. She wanted him to suffer for his actions first.
Just that, she didn’t think that he would succumb so easily and reveal secrets that were beyond her imagination. Thus, she swiftly rushed out to find her teacher to deal with this matter.
Fearing that her teacher would reprimand her, Wei Ruyan said timidly, “Have I done… wrong? I won’t do it again!”
“It’s fine this time, but you aren’t to use such a method on anyone else!” Zhang Xuan said with a frown.
Wei Changfeng was the only kin that Wei Ruyan had, and he had been her mental support for over many years. Fearing that Wei Ruyan might crumble under the loss of her loved one, Zhang Xuan had chosen to leave You Xu to her so as to allow her to vent all of her unpleasant emotions and give her closure for this matter.
Nevertheless, there was still a need to instill the correct values in her, especially since she was still young.
Driving his zhenqi, Zhang Xuan began speaking with the Impartation of Heaven’s Will infused in his words. “Vice School Head You Xu, we meet once more. Since I am here, you can start speaking. What happened to the old principal?”
His current Soul Depth was at 21.1, which was on par with 7-star master teachers. On top of that, he also possessed the Heart of a Teacher. With his means, he could easily make the mentally unstable You Xu reveal everything obediently.
With his eyes glazed, You Xu began to speak. “It was truly a moment of foolishness!
“Two years ago, the old principal gathered all of the elders in the academy and revealed that he had discovered an ancient domain, and there was a high chance that a great secret was concealed within it, so it had to be explored. Thus, after some discussion, it was decided that I, along with the old principal and twenty other elders, would set forth for the ancient domain.
“But who knew that we would encounter a spatial storm not too long after entering the ancient domain, scattering our group. Out of sheer misfortune, I fell into a folded space and was captured by the Otherworldly Demons…
“They gave me a bottle of poison and forced me to feed it to the old principal and the other members of the expedition…
“I really had no intention of harming them at all, but they had placed an extremely formidable curse on me, leaving me with no choice but to obey them…” You Xu confessed as he began wailing sorrowfully.
“Is it the same poison that you used against me in the Life-and-Death Physician Duel?” Zhang Xuan asked with an awful complexion.
“That’s right!” You Xu nodded.
“You scoundrel!” With his teeth clenched so tightly that a screeching sound echoed clearly in the room, the Byzantium Helios Beast’s eyes reddened, and its massive body trembled intensely out of fury.
His old master had treated You Xu so well, but to think that the latter would be so callous as to poison him!
If not for this scoundrel before him, even if the expedition had met with some kind of danger in the ancient domain, they couldn’t possibly have been wiped out completely!
“As a master teacher, instead of protecting your own kind, you chose to side with the Otherworldly Demons and aid them in harming your own brethren. How can you find the courage to remain living in this world?” Zhang Xuan’s eyes narrowed menacingly.
He had tried the poison out himself, and if one had no means to neutralize it, even a Saint realm 1-dan expert would be killed in just a few moments.
The old principal possessed exceptional fighting prowess, but to fall under that scoundrel’s poison and be surrounded by the Otherworldly Demons shortly after, how could he possibly survive?
It could be said that You Xu was truly the scum of humanity, the shame of the master teachers!
“Are you the one behind the poisoning of the royal family’s Bodhi Saint Tree as well?” Zhang Xuan continued the interrogation.
“Yes.” You Xu nodded.
“Why?”
The Bodhi Saint Tree was only something used by the royal family to nurture their souls, and it should have had nothing to do with the Otherworldly Demons. Why would he have to go to the effort of poisoning it?
“I am not too sure about the exact reason myself either; I simply did what they ordered me to do. They said that, as long as I accomplished this mission, they would use their secret means to lengthen my lifespan by an additional fifty years,” You Xu confessed.
Under the effects of the lethal poison coursing through his body, his mind was already on the verge of collapse. As such, he was unable to put up any resistance against Zhang Xuan’s Impartation of Heaven’s Will, so he quickly revealed everything he knew.
The closer one’s life inched toward the end, the more desperately one would clutch on to life. You Xu was no exception to the rule. With the Otherworldly Demon’s promise to lengthen his lifespan, along with all of the threats they had made, he eventually gave in to them.
Deep in his heart, he knew that this was the wrong move to make, but with a precedent made, it wasn’t that difficult to take the second step. Before long, he found himself at a distance too far away to turn back.
As for information regarding the ancient domain that they had gone to, as You Xu had been captured by the Otherworldly Demons right after he entered, he couldn’t say for sure what the secrets it held were either.
The same went for poisoning the Bodhi Saint Tree. He was only a puppet used by the Otherworldly Demons, so he wasn’t qualified to learn of their true plans.
After the interrogation finally came to an end, the Byzantium Helios Beast gritted his teeth and said, “Master, can you leave this scum to me to deal with?”
Zhang Xuan waved his hands and said, “His crimes definitely warrants death, but this matter is too great for us to pass judgment on ourselves. I will have Mu shi take him back to the headquarters to investigate this matter. Don’t worry, the Master Teacher Pavilion will never be lenient with traitors. He will suffer a death far more gruesome than we can imagine!”
If You Xu had only caused Wei Changfeng’s death, given Zhang Xuan’s standing as the succeeding principal of the academy and the victor of the Life-and-Death Physician Duel, he had the right and the authority to deal with You Xu as he liked. However, given that You Xu was involved in the death of the old principal and the schemes of the Otherworldly Demons, this matter had already exceeded their jurisdiction. They couldn’t just kill him that easily anymore.
The headquarters had to be informed of this matter so that they could investigate further.
After a moment of hesitation, the Byzantium Helios Beast nodded reluctantly. “… Alright!”
He wanted to kill that fellow badly, but as the tamed beast of the old principal, he had a rough grasp of the rules of the Master Teacher Pavilion as well. In any case, death could be considered a mercy to that traitor.
Delivering him to the headquarters to be tried and punished so that he would permanently bear the shame on his name would be greatest punishment to him.
Zhang Xuan turned to Wei Ruyan. “What about you?”
“I will follow teacher’s arrangements.” Wei Ruyan nodded.
“Good.” Zhang Xuan patted Wei Ruyan’s back. “Alright, I will call Mu shi over now.”
After which, he called Sun Qiang over and issued some instructions to him.
Less than ten minutes later, Mu shi descended in the courtyard of the manor.
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan, Mu shi clasped his fist and greeted respectfully, “Senior Uncle!”
Zhang Xuan gestured to the feeble-looking old man beside him and said, “Mu shi! After some investigation, I have found that You Xu has betrayed mankind. He colluded with the Otherworldly Demons to bring about the death of the old principal and the entire expedition that went with them to the ancient domain. I hope that you can take him back to the headquarters to be tried!”
“Betrayed humanity?” Mu shi narrowed his eyes in alarm. “Senior Uncle, are you certain?”
This was an extremely grave sin to bear, especially for a master teacher. Once confirmed, it would ruin one’s life and make one the scorn of humanity.
“I am certain!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“I see. I will make preparations then!”
Knowing how grave this matter was, Mu shi waved his hand and bound You Xu with his zhenqi. Carrying the latter with his zhenqi, he said, “I will take him back to the headquarters right now. Pardon me, I don’t think that I will be able to make it to Senior Uncle’s inauguration ceremony anymore…”
Since Zhang Xuan’s role as the Master Teacher Academy’s principal was already agreed upon by him and the Ten Great Master Teachers, the inauguration ceremony could be considered nothing more than a formality. It didn’t matter whether he participated in it or not.
It was more important for him to take the traitor of humanity back to the headquarters to be judged.
“It’s fine, go ahead!” Zhang Xuan waved his hands.
Responding with a nod, Mu shi leaped up, and before long, he disappeared into the night sky.
