Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
“Do you feel that I shouldn’t have released King Zhongqing?” Taking Wu shi’s expression into sight, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.
“Emperor Chu Tianxing’s offer might be alluring, but I don’t think that it’s a good idea to accede to his request.” Wu shi nodded. “Master teachers mustn’t be sullied. This isn’t a matter about compensation but pride. If a precedent were to be set, it might send out a wrong message about the Master Teacher Pavilion’s stand, and others might begin to emulate King Zhongqing’s actions…”
After the affairs that they had gone through together in the Qiu Wu Palace, he had come to know the young man before him as an extremely wise and discerning individual. As such, while he didn’t agree with the latter’s decision, he didn’t interject during the discussion earlier on because he knew that the latter would surely have his considerations for making his decision. However, with Emperor Chu Tianxing’s departure, he couldn’t hold back his intrigue any longer.
“I’ll explain the matter to you, but before that, I would like to ask Wu shi a single question… Will you speak of the matter concerning Celestial Master teacher to any other master teachers in your Master Teacher Pavilion?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Upon hearing those words, Wu shi’s face immediately turned grim. He quickly set up an isolation barrier around him before assessing his surroundings to confirm that there was no one around. Only then did he respond with a soft voice, “Principal Zhang, you must be absolutely careful when you speak of this matter! To respond to your question, due to the huge implications regarding the matter concerning Celestial Master Teacher, there’s an absolute need to maintain a silence restraint on the matter. If word were to be leaked to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, it could result in a disastrous outcome. Therefore, even if it’s to the headquarters, I would choose to maintain my silence.”
He knew that the young man before him was a Celestial Master Teacher.
However, this matter mustn’t be spoken of lightly to others. If news were to fall into the wrong hands, it might cause the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe to send its forces frenziedly after the other party. Putting aside the devastating destruction that would occur as a result of that, more importantly, it might result in the premature downfall of the master teacher before him.
If that were to happen, he would become a sinner of history.
“I share the same thoughts as you. However… Vice Pavilion Master Tian revealed the existence of a Celestial Master Teacher right before me.”
Back when Vice Pavilion Master Tian was interrogating him at King Zhongqing Manor, the other party had once said these words: “From what I know, even a Celestial Master Teacher has recently appeared in the world, so I don’t think that the revival of the founder of the Poison Hall is something too absurd to believe…”
Back then, he had already realized that something was amiss.
There was no master teacher who didn’t understand the significance of those three words. It was the first time that Vice Pavilion Master Tian was meeting him, and yet, the other party actually revealed such an important news to him… This was a clear breach of the silence restraint.
That was also the main reason why he didn’t hesitate in dealing with Vice Pavilion Master Tian.
“You are saying that Vice Pavilion Master Tian knows that… you are Celestial Master Teacher?” Wu shi’s face darkened.
“From the looks of it, that doesn’t seem to be the case. If anything, he seems to be trying to sound me out instead.” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
Judging from the other party’s tone, it didn’t seem like the other party knew of the matter yet. However, the fact that the other party raised the term ‘Celestial Master Teacher’ before him showed that the other party harbored some doubts regarding his identity. However, given how calmly he was able to respond to the other party, not showing the slightest bit of fluster, he should have been able to dispel the doubts in the other party’s mind.
“That’s a relief. However, Principal Zhang, you must be careful. Next time, no matter where you head to, you must make sure to bring either me or Hall Master Xing with you for your own safety!” Wu shi advised gravely.
As long as the news hadn’t leaked, Principal Zhang would only be seen as an incredible prodigy in the eyes of others. An uncommon existence, yes, but there were still a handful of others just like him in the world as well.
However, if others were to learn that he was a Celestial Master Teacher… that would truly be a catastrophe.
“For the time being, there’s no need to resort to such measures yet. Such extreme actions would be as good as confirming the suspicions of others.” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
If he were to utilize all of the means he had in his hands, he was confident that he would be able to fare much better than with the protection of the duo. On the other hand, if the duo were going to be tagging around him, it wouldn’t be convenient for him to utilize those means, and it would place him in a more dangerous position than before.
“This…” Wu shi hesitated.
Indeed. If he and Hall Master Xing were to follow the other party day in and day out, even those who hadn’t doubted the matter previously would start getting suspicious. That would be as good as giving themselves away!
“There’s something wrong with Pavilion Master Tian, and King Zhongqing has colluded with the Poison Hall to concoct huge quantities of poison—I have a feeling that those two matters are related. Also, there is something amiss about Emperor Chu Tianxing paying a visit to you personally and paying such a heavy price just to bail King Zhongqing… I don’t believe that he would go so far just to repay the latter for saving his life!” Zhang Xuan analyzed grimly.
Hearing those words, Wu shi suddenly widened his eyes in realization.
The royal palace was a cold-blooded place where blood brothers would murder one another for authority. For the most esteemed man in there, the emperor, to risk offending the Master Teacher Pavilion and pay such a heavy price just to save a mere official… that was indeed something worth looking deeper into.
“Since we know that there’s something wrong with them, instead of stifling ourselves over here to figure out what they are up to, why don’t we just release them temporarily and have them untie the dead knot for us before deciding on our next move?”
They might have captured King Zhongqing, but their clue effectively ended right there. However, if they were to let King Zhongqing go, it might just lead them to something unexpected.
“You’re right, that’s indeed a good solution…” Coming to a realization, Wu shi nodded his head in admiration.
As expected of Principal Zhang! While he was still engrossed by the situation before him, the other party had already thought many steps ahead!
At the current moment, their investigation had already hit a bottleneck. There was no more clue for them to look into, and even if they were to interrogate King Zhongqing and the others, there was no way the other party would reveal their plan to them. However… if they were to release their grasp and allow the other party to do as they pleased, it was likely that the other party would attempt something and give themselves away in the midst of doing so.
“Un. Alright, I’ll leave the rest to you. There’s still some time before night time, and if it’s convenient, I would like to pay a visit to the Master Teacher Pavilion’s library to take a look.”
It would suffice to have Wu shi deal with the investigation, it made no difference whether he participated in it or not.
For the time being, his priority was to compile the Saint 3-dan Heaven’s Path Divine Art and raise his cultivation up to the required level, so that he could surpass that Zhang Jiuxiao and successfully claim the nomination slot to enter the Sanctum of Sages.
“Alright, I’ll bring you over then!” Knowing that Principal Zhang liked to read books, Wu shi stood up with a smile to lead the way. At that moment, however, anxious knocking suddenly sounded on the door.
“Come in!” Wu shi said with a frown.
The master teacher who had just left a moment ago rushed into the room with a panicked look.
“What’s wrong?” Wu shi asked.
For a 6-star master teacher to lose his bearings, there was no doubt that something huge must have happened.
“Teacher, bad news! Chen Zhe… he has died!” the master teacher gulped down a mouthful of saliva and said.
“Chen Zhe has died?” Wu shi narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
Chen Zhe was the master teacher who had duped Zhang Yinqiu of the details concerning the ancient domain back then and leaked it to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. He was the key to uncovering the other traitors within the Master Teacher Pavilion, and he had been locked in the most secure prison in the Master Teacher Pavilion, such that even his cultivation had been sealed. So, how could he suddenly pass away all of a sudden?
“I’m not too sure about the reason behind his death either. When I checked on him earlier in the morning, he was still perfectly fine. However, when I took another look at him while releasing King Zhongqing earlier, I realized that he has already breathed his last…” the master teacher exclaimed anxiously.
Chen Zhe was Vice Pavilion Master Tian’s direct disciple, a 7-star low-tier master teacher. His abrupt death was no joking matter.
“Let’s head over to take a look!” Wu shi said grimly. He turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, “Principal Zhang, will you follow me to take a look as well?”
The eyes of the young man before him was far more discerning than his own. The other party could very well notice something that he had missed out.
“Alright.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
He also found the matter perplexing as well.
In the Master Teacher Pavilion’s prison, putting aside killing any prisoner, even suicide should have been impossible, so how did Chen Zhe possibly lose his life there? This was truly eerie.
Following behind the 6-star master teacher, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at a cold chamber. In there, they saw a middle-aged man lying motionlessly on the ground, his body frigid cold. He had already breathed his last.
Instead of walking over to assess the corpse, Zhang Xuan first examined the surroundings instead.
An airtight formation had been set up around the room, preventing one’s Spiritual Perception from reaching in. As such, it was impossible to send any information in or out. It would be impossible for those within the chamber to communicate with those outside it.
After which, Zhang Xuan walked up to the corpse and activated his Eye of Insight.
“He doesn’t have any physical wounds, but his soul has already dissipated entirely.” Zhang Xuan’s eyes narrowed in astonishment.
The cause of the other party’s death was no other than the dissipation of his soul!
“His soul has dissipated entirely?” Taken aback, Wu shi quickly placed his hand on the other party’s corpse to extend his consciousness into the other party’s body. A moment later, his face turned livid.
Clearly, he had come to the same conclusion as well.
“Could it be the same soul nabbing technique as before?” Frowning, a thought came into Zhang Xuan’s mind.
Previously, Cang Xu of the Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadows had attempted to use a soul nabbing technique to kill him, but the Spirit Awakener Guild’s building had crushed him to death at that very moment, thus resulting in his failure.
He had analyzed the soul nabbing technique carefully after gaining possession of the other party’s memory via Soul Search, and it bore striking resemblance to the means of the soul oracles. It aimed to draw a cultivator’s soul out of his body and confine it, thus rendering him completely powerless to one’s whims…
Once the technique were to succeed, the body, left without a soul, would slowly wither away and die.
Could Chen Zhe have been killed using such a method?
“Could it be that Vicious has imparted this technique to someone else other than Cang Xu?” Zhang Xuan contemplated doubtfully.
However, even if that was the case, why would the practitioner of the technique want to go through the trouble of killing Chen Zhe? Or could it be that Chen Zhe had something to do with Vicious and the soul oracle as well?
“Let’s bring his corpse over to Division Head Qiu of the Combat Master Hall and have him help us analyze the situation.” After examining the corpse for a while longer, Wu shi was still unable to make sense of the situation, so he stood up and said.
“Alright!” the 6-star master teacher replied.
Division Head Qiu was the head of the Soul Division, and he possessed deep knowledge in the study of souls. While Wu shi might not be able to determine anything from the corpse, perhaps Division Head Qiu might be able to see something that they couldn’t in it.
“There’s no need for that.” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
The soul within the corpse had already vanished, so there was no point in finding Division Head Qiu anymore.
“Principal Zhang…” Wu shi looked at Zhang Xuan anxiously and said. “Chen Zhe’s death effectively means that we have lost our evidence to deal with Vice Pavilion Master Tian. Even though Vice Pavilion Master Tian has made a move on you, the evidence we have at the moment isn’t sufficient to indict him for attempting to frame you. In other words, we don’t have any reason to imprison him any longer!”
No matter what, Vice Pavilion Master Tian was a 7-star pinnacle master teacher, the vice head of the Master Teacher Pavilion. Previously, it was due to his direct disciple leaking critical intelligence to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe that he was implicated and imprisoned for the matter. However, with Chen Zhe’s death, there was no longer anyone who could possibly point Vice Pavilion Master Tian to be the culprit of the matter, so naturally… they would have no reason why keep the other party imprisoned any longer.
As for the crime of slandering and accusing Zhang Xuan, he could dump it all onto King Zhongqing, and the remaining could be overlooked just on his prestigious identity in itself!
“Since we no longer have any right to imprison him, just let him go then.” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
If not for the fact that he had discovered that there was a fatal flaw in Vice Pavilion Master Tian’s Primordial Spirit through his Library of Heaven’s Path, which would hinder him from effectively executing any soul art, he would have truly doubted if Vice Pavilion Master Tian had killed his own student.
“Let him go?” Wu shi was taken aback. “But Principal Zhang, the humiliation that you have suffered because of him…”
“There’s no need to be bothered about that matter. In view of Vice Pavilion Master Tian’s standing, it won’t do us any good to keep him imprisoned for an extended period of time, especially when we don’t have sufficient evidence on hand. Furthermore, it hasn’t been long since you have been promoted to a vice pavilion master yourself, so you can’t afford to forcefully make a move against Vice Pavilion Master Tian yet.” Zhang Xuan shook his head and said.
At the current moment, it was imperative for them that Wu shi remained in power. Otherwise, there would be powerless to stand against Vice Pavilion Master Tian.
“Alright then.” Seeing that there was some sense in what Zhang Xuan said, Wu shi could only reluctantly nod in agreement. “Then… what should we do next?”
“What do you think that we should do?” Zhang Xuan returned the question with a smile.
“I think that we should announce Chen Zhe’s crimes publicly and turn everyone against Vice Pavilion Master Tian. This would put Vice Pavilion Master Tian in a disadvantageous position, and we would be in a better position to make a move against him.” Wu shi contemplated for a moment before saying.
The news regarding Chen Zhe’s betrayal was currently known by only a very small group. If they could pin a crime on Chen Zhe at this moment, Vice Pavilion Master Tian, as Chen Zhe’s teacher, would be placed in a precarious position as well.
Otherwise, Vice Pavilion Master Tian would truly be getting away scot-free from the entire matter.
“Wrong! That course of action won’t work!” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
“It won’t work? What should we do then?” Wu shi was taken aback.
“Simple. We should have Chen Zhe buried with the grandest of master teacher ceremonies. On top of that, we will compensate his family and accord them with the highest compliments. We shall dub him as a true master teacher, the role model whom everyone should learn from!” Zhang Xuan replied with a mysterious smile.
“Ah? What kind of solution is that?” Wu shi was stunned by Zhang Xuan’s unexpected suggestion.
