“Looked at you?” The crowd frowned in bewilderment.
What does that mean?
When we asked you how you lost, what we wanted to know was which move or ability of the opponent did you lose to. It is one thing for you to refuse to reply to our question, but why are you suddenly so poetic for?
Furthermore, ‘he looked at you’? Are you going to follow up with how he will never be able to forget your bewitching looks?1
We are asking you a serious question here! As a puppet, you should be answering our question properly instead of playing with lyrics…
School Head Mo and the others shook their heads.
“I…” Seeing everyone’s expression, the puppet nearly burst into tears. “What I am saying is that he took a look at me… and I lost!”
“He took a look at you, and you lost?” Everyone was stunned.
They had heard about how others could defeat their opponent in a single blow with an exquisite move, a powerful palm strike, or a profound sword art… But never had they heard of anyone defeating an opponent with just a look!
Confused, Xu Changqing asked, “What you mean is that the challenger who came yesterday didn’t even lay his hand on you. With just a gaze from him, you were already forced to admit defeat?”
“That’s right…” Upon seeing that someone understood what it was saying, the puppet was so touched that it nearly cried tears of joy.
“That’s right?” School Head Zhao, School Head Mo, and the others glanced at one another in bewilderment.
As a puppet, you are supposed to stand guard and test the challengers of the Mountain of Records. Yet, to admit defeat with just a look from the new principal? Even if you wish to fawn over him, surely you need not do it so obviously!
If that is going to be the case, how can anyone trust in the credibility of this trial in the future?
On the other hand, Xu Changqing seemed to have a different view of the matter, and he asked, “Can you recount the battle for me clearly?”
“Yes!” The puppet hurriedly nodded and went through its encounter with Zhang Xuan the previous day without any hesitation.
…
Back then, as soon as Zhang Xuan entered, it immediately began its attack. However, just as its fist was about to reach the other party, the young man chuckled softly, and a brilliant glint flashed through his eyes.
In that instant, deep fear abruptly assaulted it, and its instincts sent it swiftly retreating in fear. However, due to the sudden change in momentum, its body was put under immense pressure, and before the other party could even make a move, it had already sustained significant damage.
…
While the other school heads were still bewildered by the puppet’s words, the head of the Celestial Designer School suddenly began trembling in agitation as his face paled in disbelief.
“Could it be… the flaws in the internal structure of the puppet?”
Even though the puppets seemed to bear some resemblance to humans in terms of physical appearance, they were ultimately products created by celestial designers, and their internal structure was vastly different as well.
If his guess wasn’t wrong, it was likely that Principal Zhang had managed to see through the greatest flaw in the internal structure of the puppet. As long as he were to strike that location precisely, he could immediately cripple the puppet, rendering it powerless.
Perhaps, even reparations might be impossible!
In other words, at that moment that the puppet attacked, not only did Principal Zhang manage to find the flaw in the other party’s attack, he had even managed to identify the core weakness behind the puppet’s internal structure!
That look that he shot the puppet served as a warning to the latter that, if it didn’t back down, utter destruction was the outcome that it would face…
The puppet might not have understood the true intent behind that gaze, but its instincts had subconsciously told it that it would face grave danger if it continued charging forward, thus triggering an instantaneous reaction within it to retreat. However, such a reaction caused its momentum forward to be abruptly halted, resulting in an immense force crushing down on its body, severely damaging it before the young man before it had even made a move…
As simple as this sounded, it was easier said than done.
The puppets in the Mountain of Records were specially crafted by the predecessors, and infused into them were the fighting experience of many veteran master teachers.
An average master teacher would stand no chance against them at all.
Furthermore, just as each leaf on a tree was unique, the same puppets created by the same celestial designer using the same materials might also have their weaknesses appearing in vastly different places.
Despite so, to be able to see through its flaws with just a single glance… Just what kind of eye of discernment and battle sense did he possess?
“This works, too?”
“I heard of talented master teachers clearing the puppet in the first level with a single blow, but never have I heard of anyone defeating it with just a look…” Upon understanding what was going on, the school heads clutched their hair in a frenzy.
As the Ten Great Master Teachers of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, they possessed a far wider outlook than most master teachers. In the past five hundred years of their life, they had seen many seemingly inconceivable feats in their life.
They had seen how a weaker cultivator incapacitated a stronger cultivator with a single move, or how a powerful individual devastated an entire army with a single crushing move… But never had they heard of anyone severely injuring their enemy with just a look!
Yet, the facts were lying right before them!
They had long known that their principal would surely accomplish something astounding when they heard that he had challenged the Mountain of Records, but they had thought that the most he could do was clear the trial faster than the talented Principal Mo Liuzhen… But from the looks of it now, they had been limited by their imagination…
The other party had managed to clear the level without making a single move, subduing his opponent with just a single look… In the entire Master Teacher Continent, was there anyone who could top that feat?
“Let’s head to the second level…” Suppressing the shock in their minds and casting aside the many doubts they harbored, Zhao Bingxu and the others rushed to the next level.
Similar to the sight they had seen on the first floor, the guardian of the second level sat on the floor with a blank look in his eyes, reminiscent of a defeated rooster.
“He… took two looks at me, and I was already severely injured…” the puppet explained.
The lips of the crowd twitched, and they hurried to the third level.
“He took three looks at me…” the guardian of the third level cried tearfully.
“A Chrysalis realm primary stage cultivator fighting against a Half-Saint puppet—that is the difference of an entire realm in terms of cultivation—and all it took was just three looks?”
Everyone’s body trembled in disbelief.
They had all guessed that Zhang shi’s strength would be extraordinary, and they knew that it would be a walk in the park for him to clear the test. But never had they thought that he would be able to clear even the third level with just a few looks, utterly crushing the confidence of all of the puppets he had defeated!
Didn’t he clear the levels a bit too easily?
Back then, when they challenged the Mountain of Records, they were pummeled to the point that they felt as if they already had a foot into the grave. Yet, Principal Zhang was able to destroy the confidence of those powerful puppets with just a look, or two, or three… Was there really a need for the world to be so unfair?
Sensing the gloomy atmosphere drifting among them, School Head Mo spoke up in consolation. “The guardian of the fourth level will be a Half-Saint advanced stage puppet. Anything that is involved with the word ‘Saint’, be it Half-Saint or Nascent Saint, will be anything but ordinary. From this point onward, it is unlikely that Principal Zhang will be able to get past the puppets with just a few looks…”
And in truth, the crowd also shared the same thoughts as well, but none of them dared to speak up.
As the most powerful elders in the Master Teacher Academy, their eye of discernment, strength, and worldly view could be considered to be at the very peak of the Tier-1 Empires. Yet, for some reason, not once had their predictions on Principal Zhang ever been accurate. It was truly inexplicable.
“Let’s head up to take a look…”
Shaking their heads, the school heads knew that it was pointless for them to overthink this matter. Thus, they began making their way toward the fourth level of the Mountain of Records.
The room on the fourth level was significantly larger than the one on the third level. In the corner, a large puppet was lying unmoving on the ground. Its head was bent at an unnatural angle, and its eyes were glazed over, seemingly despairing over life.
Xu Changqing stepped forward and asked with a quivering voice, “It can’t be that… you were left in such a state after Principal Zhang took four looks at you?”
Considering how this fellow was in the same state as those that came before it, could it be that he had been defeated in the same manner?
“Four looks?” Struggling to its feet, the puppet shook its head. Lowering its head in embarrassment, seemingly desiring to bury himself in the ground, it muttered softly, “He didn’t look at me that much… All he did was to shoot me a glance and say, ‘lie down’, and I was already left in this state…”
“Shot you a glance and said, ‘lie down’?” The crowd glanced at one another in confusion.
In the previous levels, Principal Zhang had eyed the puppets’ flaws, leaving them deeply unnerved and frightened, thus causing them to instinctively admit defeat… Even though it was inconceivable, it was still an explanation they could barely accept.
But this… just because the other party told you to lie down, you lay down on the ground… Aren’t you being too obedient?
“Wait a minute…” While the others were confused, a thought struck Jiang Qingqin’s mind, and his eyes narrowed. “Could Principal Zhang’s words have been infused with demonic tune?”
To make a Half-Saint advanced stage puppet lie on the ground with mere words, he could think of no other means capable of this feat other than demonic tunes.
“It was indeed a demonic tune, and he focused his power on my vitals as well… I wasn’t even able to retaliate at all!” the puppet cried in lamentation.
The young man it faced wasn’t strong at all—on the contrary, the other party to be rather weak as compared to it—but for some reason, under the other party’s gaze and command, its body seemed to move on its own and lay down on the floor obediently… Just the thought of it left him deeply submerged in despair.
“Focused his power on your vitals? I thought the strength of a demonic tunist lay in attacking souls? Given that you are puppet devoid of a soul, how did he manage to attack you?” Xu Changqing frowned in incomprehension.
The other school heads carried the same doubts in their minds as well.
The reason demonic tunists were widely feared was due to their ability to bypass physical defenses to attack their enemy’s soul directly… While spirit did share some similar properties with souls, they were ultimately two different things fundamentally. Considering how the puppet didn’t possess a soul, even a 7-star demonic tunist like Jiang Qingqin wouldn’t have been able to harm it with his zither tunes. Since that was the case, how did Principal Zhang manage to make the other party lie down obediently with just his words?
“His demonic tune wasn’t aimed at my soul but my physical body. His voice produced a resonance within my body that threatened to reduce it to dust should I continue to attack him…” the puppet said with deference and horror reflected in its eyes.
“Resonance?” The school heads widened their eyes in astonishment.
There was indeed such a method of offense known among demonic tunists, and it was extremely effective against puppets too. However, it wasn’t easy to do so… For one, one must have a deep understanding of the properties of every single material used in the forging of the puppet, as well as the resulting product after tempering and putting them together so as to determine the resonant frequencies.
Otherwise, no matter how loud one’s demonic tune was, it would be nothing but futile.
To be able to determine the materials used in the creation of the puppet, deduce its resonance frequencies, and determine the type of demonic tune to use against it with just a glance… Was this really happening?
Principal Zhang, are you sure you are here to challenge the Mountain of Records and not to play around and subdue a few puppets while you are at it?
After confirming the happenings in this room, Zhao Bingxu sighed deeply and said, “The puppet of the next level is at Half-Saint pinnacle, and it specializes in battle techniques. Given the same cultivation realm, even I would have difficulties defeating it… Perhaps, things will get difficult for Principal Zhang from now on…”
“Let’s take a look then!”
Knowing that it was futile to be making guesses over there, the crowd moved on, heading to the fifth level.
Just like in the fourth level, a puppet was lying unmoving on the ground, and unlike the one from before, this one was convulsing every now and then.
Rushing forward, School Head Feng of the Celestial Designer School took some time to look at it and repair it before asking anxiously, “What happened?”
“That man… he told me to lie down twice. The first time, I stood my ground and resisted it. However, on the second command, I was left in such a state,” the puppet said gloomily.
“He issued two commands?”
“It seems like this level was indeed not as easy as the previous one for Principal Zhang. It took him two whole commands before he was able to subdue the puppet…”
“The next stage is a puppet that possesses the strength of a Nascent Saint cultivator. Considering that Principal Zhang is only at Chrysalis realm primary stage, surely he wouldn’t be able to subdue his opponent with just three commands… right?”
“Why not? You have seen the previous few levels, too. Don’t tell me that you are still harboring doubts regarding our principal?”
“This…”
…
After hearing the words of the puppets, the lips of the school heads twitched uncontrollably, and they hurriedly rushed for the sixth level.
