Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
“Y-you…” Chen Leyao was at a loss for words.
She viewed her strength to be roughly on the same level as Zhang Qian, so Zhang Qian’s defeat meant that she wouldn’t have been able to withstand even a second blow from the young man as well!
If they were to really get into a battle, she would only be humiliated!
Wasn’t he just a Primordial Spirit realm pinnacle cultivator?
How could he be so formidable?
Cold sweat trickled down Chen Leyao’s back. It was fortunate that Zhang Qian had stood in earlier, or else the one who would be crushed on the ground like a toad would have been her… If that were to really happen to her, she would never be able to hold her head high before others anymore!
“Just who in the world are you?” With tightly clenched fists, Chen Leyao asked.
It shouldn’t be possible for someone who wielded such strength to be a nobody. So, how could she have never heard of the young man before?
More importantly, judging from the young man’s overwhelming strength and how he was able to qualify for the final selection in the Sanctum of Sages, he should have a powerful background. Since that was the case, it was irrational to think that someone of the young man’s caliber to stoop down to provoke them.
Building on that argument, could that mean that he was really acquainted with their young court chief? Or perhaps, was he… one of their young court chief’s pursuers?
“I am a 7-star master teacher from Qingyuan Empire, so I doubt that you would have heard of my name. Don’t worry, I don’t mean you any ill-will. I’m just asking out of concern.” Zhang Xuan replied.
As famous as Zhang Xuan might be in Qingyuan Empire and Hongyuan Empire, it was unlikely that his reputation would travel so far for even those of the Sanctum of Sages to have heard of him.
“Qingyuan Empire?” Chen Leyao pondered for a moment before shaking her head.
There was indeed no notable figure she knew of that originated from Qingyuan Empire.
Due to a war two decades ago, the Qingyuan Empire had become the weakest of the Eight Conferred Empires. Who could have thought that such a talented master teacher would emerge from their ranks at this point in time?
“Are you… really acquainted with our young court chief?” Chen Leyao asked hesitantly.
According to what she knew, their young court chief seemed to have come from Qingyuan Empire as well. Could the both of them really be acquainted with one another?
“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded affirmatively.
Zhao Ya was one of his direct disciples, and together, they had forged their way out of Tianxuan Kingdom to the greater world out there. Their relationship couldn’t be just covered with the word ‘acquainted’.
“I have been a bit worried about how she has been doing ever since your Elder Liu Xuan took her to the Glacier Plain Court, so I thought that I would ask you since you are from the Glacier Plain Court as well. I really don’t intend anything aside of that.” Zhang Xuan explained earnestly.
“I see. If that’s the case, I guess it would be fine to speak of her affairs to you…” Chen Leyao looked at Zhang Xuan’s earnest eyes for a moment before nodding slowly. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know much about our young court chief either. I know that she’s extremely diligent in her cultivation, and her cultivation has been growing swiftly as well… While it hasn’t been long since she arrived in the Glacier Plain Court, her strength already far surpasses ours, reaching a level unfathomable to us. As for the details, I’m afraid that I am not too clear about them myself either…”
Speaking up to this point, Chen Leyao’s face couldn’t help but redden.
While she did possess considerable talent as well, which made her a relatively famous figure in the Glacier Plain Court, she was still a long distance away from matching up to the young court chief.
As the young court chief had devoted all of her time to her cultivation, she hadn’t been able to find an opportunity to interact with the other party over the past half a year since the other party’s arrival. In fact, if not for the couple of times she had seen the young court chief from afar, she would have doubted if there was truly such a figure in their Glacier Plain Court at all. As a result of that, she knew next to nothing about the other party.
Zhao Ya’s strength far surpasses theirs? Zhang Xuan was startled for a moment before nodding slowly.
As one who possessed the Pure Yin Body, her cultivation would surge forward once she awakened her unique constitution. On top of that, there was no doubt that the Glacier Plain Court would devote all of their resources into grooming her as well, so it was indeed not difficult for her to surpass Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle in half a year.
It seems like I really have to work harder… Zhang Xuan thought with a bitter smile.
It would really be embarrassing if he turned out to be the weakest amongst his students the next time they met.
“Thank you for your information. Pardon me for having imposed on you. Farewell.” Seeing that Chen Leyao really didn’t know much about Zhao Ya, Zhang Xuan decided to take his leave.
In any case, the fact that Zhao Ya had been recognized as the young court chief by the members of the Glacier Plain Court, and that her cultivation had risen beyond Leaving Aperture realm showed that the Glacier Plain Court hadn’t been mistreating her. Since that was the case, he would be able to rest his heart easy.
His students would have their own lives to live too, he couldn’t possibly keep an eye on them all the way. He would just have to be content with knowing that they were doing well.
With a wave of his hand, Zhang Xuan released the weight on Zhang Qian. Then, with a polite bow, he returned back to where he was standing.
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony…” Seeing Zhang Xuan leaving without saying anything else, not even sparing her an additional glance, Chen Leyao’s face reddened in embarrassment.
Previously, she thought that the other party was intentionally saying those words to chat her up, or perhaps, to build a relationship with the Glacier Plain Court. However, from the looks of it now… that was clearly not the case!
The young man had really only approached her just to ask a question.
If she had known it in advance, she wouldn’t have been so self-assuming and implicate Zhang Qian in the matter…
As this thought came to her mind, she quickly turned her head over to look at the released Zhang Qian. The latter struggled to his feet with rage and mania written on his face.
“Damn it!” Zhang Qian spat indignantly.
He thought that this was an opportunity for him to perform before the beauties and get close with them, only to find himself crushed to the floor in a single move. The great humiliation he had gone through left him feeling so frustrated that he could go mad on the spot.
However, that encounter had also made him realize that the young man was someone whom the current him was no match for. As furious as he may be, he knew that he would only be embarrassing himself further if he were to rush up to the young man and confront him.
“Are you fine?” While Zhang Qian was at the peak of his rage, he suddenly saw Chen Leyao looking over with a concerned look.
“I… I’m fine!” With a reddened face, Zhang Qian quickly tried to regain his poise.
He attempted to flick open the foldable fan in his hand to block his face, only to find that half of the fan had been destroyed in the previous clash. Even though their battle was ended in a single blow, the shockwave that was released as a result of the blow was not one which ordinary fans could withstand. As a result, it ended up being reduced to an unseemly state.
“It’s good that you’re fine. Zhang shi, thank you for making a stand for me earlier. However, it seems like the friend from before means no ill-will, so I hope that you won’t take this matter to heart.” Chen Leyao said.
It was while trying to stand up for her that Zhang Qian ended up landing himself in such a state. Even though he ended up contributing nothing at all, she was still rather grateful to him for offering his help.
This entire incident had originated from her misunderstanding, and she felt deeply ashamed by her rashness as well. Thus, she felt that it was necessary for her to mediate between the both of them, and hopefully, they might be able to put aside their differences.
“No ill-will? Just on the very fact that he had belittled our Zhang Clan, there’s no way I’ll be able to make peace with him!” Hearing that Chen Leyao was even speaking on that young man’s behalf now, Zhang Qian’s rage intensified.
“Fairy Leyao, you need not say anything more. This thing has nothing to do with you anymore. That brat has insulted our Zhang Clan and even made a move on me. I’ll have to return this favor to him, or else what dignity would I have in the Sanctum of Sages?”
As an offspring of the Zhang Clan, he was utterly crushed right before the faces of so many geniuses before they could even take the final selection. Without a doubt, this incident would be one of the darkest spots in his records. If he couldn’t get even with the other party, he would be mocked for this matter for many years to come!
“This…” Chen Leyao had no idea what she could say at this point.
Indeed. With how far things had come, it was no longer just a personal conflict between her and that young man anymore.
“Zhang Yu, I want you to look into the background of that brat and find out why Zhang Jiuxiao is helping him!” While Zhang Qian might be arrogant, he wasn’t a reckless individual. After a moment of thought, he turned to the side and instructed.
On the other hand, the young man known as Zhang Yu before him nodded in response before disappearing amidst the crowd.
Inner clan members like him tended to have some personal attendants, who would be in charge of taking care of their daily necessities and attending to miscellaneous matters.
Not too long later, Zhang Yu returned. He clasped his fist and reported, “Young Master, I have managed to dig up some things on that fellow. He’s a master teacher from Qingyuan Empire, serving as the principal of Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. He has once succeeded in crashing the Qingyuan Empire, which goes to say that he possesses talent and strength far beyond ordinary master teachers!”
Most of the affairs surrounding Zhang Xuan were recorded in the Master Teacher Pavilion, so it was actually not too difficult for those who knew where to look to acquire information on him.
“Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy? Not even worth a mention!” Zhang Qian scoffed derisively before a frown emerged between his brows. “However, the fact that he succeeded in crashing the QIngyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion does make him quite a troublesome figure to deal with!”
In his view, being a principal of a Master Teacher Academy in somewhere as small as Hongyuan Empire was no different from being the chief of some a remote village, an insignificant figure. However, if the young man had successfully crashed a Master Teacher Pavilion before… things wouldn’t be that simple anymore.
There were certain restrictions imposed on pavilion crashing. For one, a master teacher’s rank must not exceed that of the tier of the Master Teacher Pavilion he was crashing, and he must be a local in the region as well.
It was due to these two restrictions that only a small number of people had succeeded in pavilion crashing over the past several dozen millenniums. The very fact that the young man had successfully crashed a Master Teacher Pavilion was enough to show that he wielded extraordinary talent.
“But no matter how formidable he might be, he’s still nothing more than a countryside bumpkin. Young Master, if you had used the power of your bloodline earlier, there was no way he would have been a match for you!” Zhang Yu said.
What that made Sage Clans extremely frightening wasn’t their talent but their bloodline.
“Indeed, it won’t be too difficult for me to defeat him if I were to tap into my bloodline. However, using that ability will drain me greatly, and I won’t be able to recover in the short-run either. Given that the final selection is coming up, I can’t afford to deplete myself at this point in time…” Zhang Qian shook his head.
It was not that he didn’t want to use the power of his bloodline but he dared not to.
The power of his bloodline would exhaust his strength by far too much, such that even if he managed to teach that young man a lesson, his performance in the final selection would be impeded as a result… If so, he would be severely punished when he returned to the Zhang Clan.
The Zhang Clan also valued the slots for the Sanctum of Sages greatly as well.
“What do we do then?” Zhang Yu asked.
“There’s no need to worry.” Zhang Qian harrumphed as he narrowed his eyes menacingly. “Let him immerse himself in his glee for a couple of days. Once I get into the Elite Division of the Sanctum of Sages, he would be nothing more than a helpless bug in my grasp!”
“That’s true…” Zhang Yu nodded in realization.
Naturally, students of differing degree of talent and strength had to be groomed under different environment and conditions. For this reason, the students of the Sanctum of Sages were allocated to one of the two divisions based on the results of the final selection, namely the Elite Division and the Ordinary Division.
The Elite Division was where most geniuses were gathered. They were groomed to be future Sages, and they stood a far better chance at entering the Inner Sanctum in the future.
Comparatively, the conditions for those in the Ordinary Division were considerably poorer.
Zhang Qian’s goal wasn’t just to clear the final selection; he wanted to get into the Elite Division as well, becoming one of the top existences amongst the students!
“With the greater degree of authority I would wield as a member of the Elite Division, I would be able to make his life in the Sanctum of Sages a living hell! After I have my fun with him, I shall have him expelled from the Sanctum of Sages so as to carve it deep in his mind that the Zhang Clan isn’t an existence whom he can offend!” Zhang Qian sneered as his eyes turned completely cold.
At this moment, he suddenly recalled something, and he turned his head over, “Right, what’s that fellow called?”
After all that had been said and done, Zhang Qian suddenly realized that he didn’t even know what the young man was called.
“He goes by the surname of Zhang as well, but he isn’t from our Zhang Clan. His name is Zhang Xuan!” Zhang Yu replied.
“Zhang Xuan? You said that the young man earlier is called Zhang Xuan?” Before Zhang Qian could even speak, Chen Leyao had already abruptly interjected in with an anxious look on her face.
“Yes, his name is Zhang Xuan. He’s just a lowly figure who walked out of Tianxuan Kingdom, and he still has the cheek to adopt the same surname as us…” Zhang Yu harrumphed coldly.
However, before he could finish his words, Zhang Yu’s body suddenly stiffened. A surge of chilling energy had abruptly gripped his body.
Following which, a palm suddenly flew for his face.
Pah!
With a resounding echo, Zhang Yu was sent flying out before crashing heavily into the ground. His shattered teeth scattered all over the floor, and blood spurted out of his mouth endlessly.
Seeing this, Zhang Qian stepped forward and asked with a livid expression, “Fairy Leyao, what do you mean by this?”
The person who had just made a move earlier was Chen Leyao, but why would she suddenly turn on them all of a sudden?
“Zhang Qian, you better keep the mouth of your subordinate in check. And you as well, if I were to find out that you have been disrespectful to Zhang Xuan, Zhang shi… Let it be known that our Glacier Plain Court won’t sit idly!”
Placing her hands coldly behind her back, Chen Leyao spoke with unquestionable conviction.
