Of the numerous treasures and ores in the Cloudmist Ridge, the most valuable one had to be the Cloudmist Flower.
It was a rare commodity that only grew in the Cloudmist Ridge, and even the Hongyuan royal family didn’t have much of it. Thirty huge chests of high-grade Cloudmist Flowers… Without any doubt, the profits that one could derive from selling them would be nothing short of astronomical.
Truthfully, gaining the rights to sell these items in place of Principal Zhang was highly beneficial to the businesses of the two clans as well. Firstly, it would give an impression of a close relationship between the Shen Clan and the Liu Clan with the new principal, and this would further enhance their prestige. Secondly, these valuable goods could help more people learn of their name, allowing them to expand their markets further.
Even if they didn’t receive a single spirit stone from the sale of the items, it was still a winning deal for them.
Naturally, Zhang Xuan was also aware of these benefits as well.
Nodding, he clasped his fist and said, “I will be counting on you then.”
After chatting for a while to confirm the details regarding the sales of the goods, the four of them got up and bade farewell.
Shortly after the few of them left, School Head Mo entered the room.
“Principal Zhang, I have just finished making the arrangements. If you wish to take the 6-star master teacher examination, you just have to select a Conferred Kingdom and raise it into an empire within ten years to successfully clear the examination!’
“Within ten years?” Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan shook his head with a smile.
He wasn’t intending to spend so long on the 6-star master teacher examination.
“Regarding the Conferred Kingdom… I’ll choose Xuanyuan Conferred Kingdom!” Zhang Xuan said.
So far, the Xuanyuan Conferred Kingdom was the only one he had been to. Back then, he had eradicated the royal family ruling the country and installed Mo Yu as its new empress. It had been half a year since then, and he was curious about how things were going there. This was a good opportunity to head over to take a look.
“Alright!” School Head Mo nodded. “I will send a message to the headquarters now to have them dispatch a representative to Xuanyuan Kingdom!”
Zhang Xuan nodded in response.
After reading the books in the Cultivation Compendium, he had gained a thorough understanding of the Empire Building test.
While the Master Teacher Academy had the right to invigilate 6-star master teacher examinations and bestow the 6-star master teacher emblem to those who cleared the examination, it didn’t have the authority to overlook a major examination like Empire Building. This was also the reason School Head Mo had to liaise with the headquarters to have them dispatch a representative.
The representative would first assess the Conferred Kingdom to confirm its existing rank and determine its eligibility to be used as the grounds for the test before the examinee was sent over to begin the test. Once the examinee felt that they had met the required criteria, the headquarters would dispatch another representative to confirm the results.
This served to eliminate the possibility of cheating.
“All in all, it should take around ten days for the representative to arrive at Xuanyuan Kingdom and inspect the area,” said School Head Mo after calculating for a moment. “I think it should be fine for Principal Zhang to begin heading in ten days’ time.”
“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
In any case, he still had many Heaven’s Path techniques that he hadn’t taken a look at. On top of that, there were also the libraries of many supporting occupations in the Master Teacher Academy he hadn’t browsed through, so he could make good use of the ten days to go through them.
Thus, over the following few days, Zhang Xuan paid a visit to the libraries of the other schools whenever he found the time to do so.
Very soon, the Beast Tamer School, Celestial Designer School, Painter School… He went through all of the libraries he hadn’t been to before and collected their books in the Library of Heaven’s Path.
When he wasn’t collecting books, he would be spending his time going through and digesting the compiled books. By the ninth day, he finally managed to finish looking through all of them.
His comprehension of swordsmanship, spearmanship, fist arts, movement arts, and many other battle techniques had deepened considerably.
Even though his cultivation had remained stagnant within this period, his fighting prowess had been raised immensely.
If he were to meet Mu shi’s puppet once more, he could easily defeat him just by utilizing a single finger.
For a Half-Saint primary stage to defeat a Saint realm 1-dan primary stage so easily, it would definitely scare many out of their wits!
After accomplishing all of that, on the very last day, Zhang Xuan gathered Wang Ying, Zheng Yang, Liu Yang, and Wei Ruyan together and began lecturing them.
The four of them had a very deep understanding of the fields they each specialized in, and their fighting prowess was outstanding among their peers. However, in Zhang Xuan’s view, they were still far too weak.
He swiftly imparted the battle techniques he had just comprehended to them and instructed them to study hard during his absence. After which, he leaped onto the back of the Byzantium Helios Beast and began making his way toward Xuanyuan Conferred Kingdom.
As he was going to be taking an examination, he didn’t think that he should take his students along, especially since it would hinder their training.
…
A light breeze blew amid the drifting white clouds.
The Byzantium Helios Beast was flying straight toward Xuanyuan Kingdom whereas Zhang Xuan was currently standing within the Myriad Anthive Nest.
The cultivation of the Myriad Anthive Queen had swiftly advanced to Saint realm 3-dan over just a few short days after consuming the blood essence it was given, thus becoming even stronger than the Byzantium Helios Beast.
With its current strength, as well as a steady supply of spirit stones and various resources going to it, the diameter of the nest had already expanded to three hundred meters, giving it space similar to that of a massive stadium.
As the space in the Myriad Anthive Nest continued to expand, Zhang Xuan decided to put in the nine saint beasts that he had tamed at the Cloudmist Ridge as well. At the same time, he asked for some building materials from Yu Shenqing and had the nine of them work together to construct a residence.
Even though it wasn’t as exquisite as the manor he had in Hongyuan City, it was still pleasing to the eye and comfortable to stay in.
However, the reason Zhang Xuan had entered the Myriad Anthive Nest wasn’t to rest in the residence. Instead, he walked to the center courtyard and examined the verdant seedling that had sprouted from the ground.
The Bodhi Seed!
Zhang Xuan had planted it within the Myriad Anthive Nest on the day he received it, but to the current day, it had only barely begun to sprout.
Let me see if I can speed up its growth…
It was only a seed previously, so Zhang Xuan’s means wouldn’t work on it. However, now that a seedling had sprouted, he could finally start working on it!
Zhang Xuan placed his finger on the seedling and began pumping Heaven’s Path zhenqi into it. At the same time, he also sprinkled a few droplets of Earth Vein Spirit Essence on it intermittently.
Tzzzzzzz!
The seedling absorbed the spirit essence and zhenqi swiftly, and it began to grow at a pace visible to the eye.
The combination of Earth Vein Spirit Essence and Heaven’s Path zhenqi was not only effective on spirit herbs but saint herbs as well.
In less than an hour, it had already grown to around three-meters tall, and its trunk had widened to around the width of a human arm, too.
While it was still significantly smaller than the Bodhi Saint Tree in the royal palace, Zhang Xuan had no doubt that it wouldn’t take long before it surpassed the latter under his infusion of spirit essence and zhenqi.
Retracting his zhenqi, Zhang Xuan took another look at his work and smiled in satisfaction.
His soul had yet to reach Transcendent Mortal 9-dan, but with the aid of the Bodhi Tree and the Bluehorn Dragon Beast, he might be able to achieve a breakthrough very soon.
Just as Zhang Xuan was about to draw his soul out to cultivate, he suddenly heard the Myriad Anthive Queen’s voice echoing within the area.
“Master, the Byzantium Helios Beast has suddenly stopped in midair. It seems like someone has blocked our passage!”
“Blocked our passage?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
He swiftly left the Myriad Anthive Nest to take a look.
The Myriad Anthive Nest was a folded space, and with his current capability, he was still unable to perceive the happenings outside from within. However, as the creator of the folded space, the Myriad Anthive Queen was able to keep tabs on the surroundings of the nest and report any anomalies to him.
Walking to window, Zhang Xuan saw Luo Qiqi, Yu Fei-er, Hu Yaoyao, and Dong Xin outside.
“Zhang shi, we hope to follow you to Xuanyuan Conferred Kingdom to lend you a hand…”
“How did you manage to catch up with me?” Zhang Xuan asked curiously.
It had been an hour since the Byzantium Helios Beast set off from Hongyuan City, and given its speed, there was no way the aerial spirit beasts that the others were riding on could catch up with him. Since that was the case, how had they gotten ahead of him?
“We learned that Principal Zhang is going to take the Empire Building test in Xuanyuan Conferred Kingdom, so we decided to wait for you here so that you won’t be able to chase us away!” Hu Yaoyao replied with a smile.
With her influence as the leader of the Bewitching Devil Faction, it wasn’t too difficult for her to dig up this piece of information, especially since Zhang Xuan hadn’t bothered to conceal the news.
“Ah… Alright then.” Seeing that the group before him was determined to tag along, Zhang Xuan eventually nodded.
As the Empire Building test was his 6-star examination, he wasn’t supposed to engage the help of other master teachers. However, as long as it was nothing significant that would affect the whole situation, the others could still assist in miscellaneous matters.
With their assistance, he should be able to clear the test faster than he had anticipated.
“Let’s go together then.” Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan beckoned for the others to come over, and Luo Qiqi and the others leaped onto the back of the Byzantium Helios Beast with delighted smiles.
Before long, the group was on their way to Xuanyuan Kingdom once more.
The four intruders, Luo Qiqi, Yu Fei-er, Hu Yaoyao, and Dong Xin, were top beauties of the Master Teacher Academy, and their presence felt as if spring had fallen within the stuffy room. As if flowers had bloomed in the area, a light fragrance drifted in the air, sending one’s heart beating in excitement. However, it was a pity that Zhang Xuan was a blockhead, and his eyes saw nothing but cultivation and more cultivation.
All that he spoke of with those ladies was regarding only cultivation as well.
This left them extremely frustrated and helpless.
But while the interactions were boring, Zhang Xuan’s knowledge and means were indeed far beyond them. Within just three short days of flight, all of them had managed to achieve a breakthrough.
This was especially so for Luo Qiqi and Yu Fei-er. The rate at which they had advanced their cultivation was indeed astonishing, having reached Chrysalis realm primary stage.
Zhang Xuan had focused his effort more on Hu Yaoyao, so the latter had made substantial improvements too. Even though she was still at Half-Saint primary stage, her comprehension of cultivation and battle techniques had deepened significantly, enhancing her fighting prowess by at least twofold!
With her current strength, it was doubtful whether Xue Zhenyang, Long Cangyue, and Dong Xin combined would be a match for her.
In fact, Zhang Xuan was confident that she could even stand her ground against the Half-Saint Lu Cheng too.
Of course, if she wished to defeat the latter, she would still have to first fully digest what she had learned over the past few days and reinforce her cultivation further. Nevertheless, it was already unbelievable to her that she had gained such strength within just a few days.
As for Dong Xin, Zhang Xuan had also offered her some pointers for her cultivation. While her improvement wasn’t as substantial as Hu Yaoyao’s, her fighting prowess had also been raised considerably.
In truth, the four of them had tagged along, thinking of this as a leisure trip to Xuanyuan Kingdom. They hadn’t expected to receive such a benefit on top of that, and they couldn’t help but be excited by their new gains.
While offering the others some guidance on their cultivation, Zhang Xuan had also spent his spare time reinforcing his Half-Saint cultivation further.
As his cultivation usually came with a huge commotion and was quite an eye-catching, he didn’t attempt to make any breakthroughs during the journey. Instead, he spent his time studying the books regarding painting, mechanisms, and battle techniques, and unknowingly, his state of mind seemed to have undergone an evolution too.
It was commonly said that painting would help to expand one’s mind, bringing one enlightenment and calmness.
At this very moment, Zhang Xuan had already achieved a proficiency comparable to a 7-star painter.
What did that mean?
As long as he had sufficient zhenqi in his body, with just a brush in hand, he could produce millions of spirit beasts and soldiers that could easily devastate a Conferred Kingdom.
That was the fearsome might that a 7-star painter wielded!
Beyond 6-star, all supporting occupations, regardless of which, would be able to draw astonishing power that would be unwise for anyone to underestimate.
…
Half a month later…
Standing by the windows, Luo Qiqi took a glance beneath and said, “The Myriad Kingdom Alliance is right ahead. Zhang shi, do you want to take a look?”
“Myriad Kingdom Alliance?” Zhang Xuan smiled. “Sure. Let’s descend to take a look!”
It had been four months since he had departed from the Myriad Kingdom Alliance. Since he was passing by, he should naturally head down to take a look.
After all, it was through the Master Teacher Tournament held here that he had gained the qualification to enter the Master Teacher Academy and become the esteemed person he was today.
