Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
“Wait for me!”
Before Zhang Xuan could reach the passageway, he suddenly heard a shout below. Following which, a figure darted in his direction and grabbed onto his robe.
“Hu Yaoyao?” Zhang Xuan wondered speechlessly.
The person who had grabbed him was none other than the familiar face among the crowd, Hu Yaoyao!
“This friend over here, it’s extremely dangerous to proceed any further than this. It would be best for you to remain behind!” Zhang Xuan said as he raised his palm, intending to send the young lady back to the ground.
Through his communication with the elder earlier, he had heard that there were not just Sempiternal realm Otherworldly Demons in the exteriors of the Temple of Confucius—it was very likely that there were Ancient Sages as well! It was an extremely treacherous place where he could not even guarantee his own safety. Considering how Hu Yaoyao was only a Saint 9-dan cultivator at the moment, it was practically suicide for her to enter as well!
In any case, he had disguised himself as someone else, so it was not as if Hu Yaoyao knew that it was him.
Just as Zhang Xuan was about to make the move, he heard a voice speaking telepathically in his mind, “Zhang Xuan, if you dare throw me down, I’ll run straight to your Zhang Clan and claim that you molested me and demand that you take responsibility for me!”
“Pu!” Zhang Xuan nearly fainted upon hearing those words. “How did you know it’s me?”
He dared not claim that his disguise was flawless, but he was confident that even Ancient Sages would have difficulties trying to see through his disguise. Considering how Hu Yaoyao was only at Saint 9-dan pinnacle, how did she recognize him?
More importantly… she even threatened to wreak havoc at the Zhang Clan!
A similar conflict had happened back when they were still at the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, just that he was the one who claimed that he had been violated back then. This lass sure was vindictive, even remembering this matter after so long!
But considering Hu Yaoyao’s personality… she was really capable of something like that!
Of course, it was not as if anyone would believe it, but just thinking of how embarrassing it would be for the head of the Three Premier Clans and the Sanctum of Sages, as well as a 9-star master teacher, to have a young lady running to his home and claiming that he had molested her… Even if no one would take it for real, his dignified reputation would be ripped apart!
More importantly, what if Luo Ruoxin heard of the matter?
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan shook his head and replied telepathically, “It’s dangerous on the other side. Think it over carefully…”
“I want to go!” Hu Yaoyao insisted resolutely.
“Very well then!” Seeing that Hu Yaoyao was adamant, Zhang Xuan knew that he would not be able to shake her off.
Thus, he grabbed her and dashed into the spatial passageway.
Huala!
The two of them warped into two streaks of light as they dashed right through the spatial passageway. Barely an instant after they disappeared from sight, the spatial passageway dissipated, and the spatial restriction swiftly reformed itself.
Watching as everything reverted back to normal, the crowd of ex-captives stood back up.
They had thought that they were doomed, but before they knew it, the Otherworldly Demons had already been killed, and their benefactor had left through the spatial passageway, leaving them dazed on the spot.
“Elder, what should we do?”
The crowd turned to the elder whom Zhang Xuan had communicated with earlier.
He was the strongest cultivator among them, so it was inevitable that the crowd would think highly of his input.
The elder pondered for a moment before replying. “Since the Otherworldly Demons have been killed, we should be out of danger for the time being. Why don’t we focus our attention on cultivating? Once the Temple of Confucius closes, we won’t have such a chance anymore.”
To be honest, even if someone inflated his guts tenfold, he would not dare to head to the exteriors of the Temple of Confucius. He valued his life far too much to put himself at such risk. Since that was the case, he might as well cultivate where he was and try to push for a breakthrough as soon as possible.
“You’re right!”
The crowd nodded in agreement.
Having just come to close to death’s jaws, their appetite for risk was at an all-time low. Knowing that being too ambitious would only come back to bite them, they did not think that it was wise to test the limits of their capabilities.
“Xuan Zhang…” Looking at the sky where the duo had vanished into, the elder remarked deeply, “Who could have thought that there would be such a formidable young man in the Master Teacher Continent? His capabilities can be said to nearly be on par with the great Zhang Xuan…”
However, before he could finish his words, his body suddenly froze on the spot. “Xuan Zhang, Zhang Xuan… Could it be…”
As such a realization struck him, a bitter smile surfaced on his lips.
It seemed like it was true that real experts paid no heed to petty details.
Could he have been any more perfunctory with the name that he made up for himself?
Anyone would have been able to connect the dots once they had some time to think over it after the matter.
Are you sure you are trying to hide your identity from the world and not proclaiming yourself to everyone you come by?
Well, I guess this means that I’m indebted to him. I’ll have to make sure to repay this debt to the Zhang Clan in the future…
A debt of a life was not something that he could shrug off. Since he knew the other party’s identity, he would have to find some way to return the favor to the Zhang Clan in the future.
…
Hu!
Traveling across the spatial seal, Zhang Xuan and Hu Yaoyao fell to the ground at the same time.
In the foreground, one could vaguely see a massive structure floating in the air.
“Have we arrived?” Hu Yaoyao shook her head in an attempt to expel the dizziness as she got to her feet.
“It seems so!” Zhang Xuan replied.
The spatial laws in the dimension that he had just entered were far stricter than the forest dimension, the desert dimension, and the snow dimension. Even with his prowess, he could not even fly at all.
In the previous locations, he could at least still fly at a low altitude. In this dimension, he could only obediently travel on foot, just like an ordinary mortal.
Hu Yaoyao pointed at the massive structure in the distance and asked as she tidied her clothes, “Is that the Temple of Confucius?”
Zhang Xuan nodded in response.
It seemed like the elder was right. Traveling through the spatial seal would bring him to the exterior of the Temple of Confucius. However, it might not be a good decision to rush right over. Considering the dangers that could be lurking around the area, it was best for him to clarify the situation before heading over.
This was even more so given that it was a passageway opened by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. If there was an Otherworldly Demon Ancient Sage lying ahead, they would really die indignantly!
Hula!
With a flick of his wrist, the bound Bei Hong appeared before him.
“Soul Search!”
Knowing that Bei Hong would not speak no matter how he interrogated him, Zhang Xuan could not be bothered to waste his effort questioning to the other party. Without any hesitation, he executed Soul Search on the other party right away.
Hu!
Information swiftly surged into Zhang Xuan’s head.
Just as he had heard from the elder earlier, the outer perimeter of the Temple of Confucius was made up of six dimensions. The exits and entrances were linked to one another, so if one traveled from one exit to another, one would only be moving around in circles.
This was intelligence that Bei Hong had received from Sovereign Chen Yong.
As for how Bei Hong was able to receive the information from Sovereign Chen Yong when he was unable to use his Communication Jade Token, the secret lay in the altar.
The Spirit God that the Otherworldly Demon Tribe revered was simply so powerful that even though the Temple of Confucius was created by Kong shi himself, it did not wield sufficient strength to stop that powerful figure beyond those doors.
If Sovereign Chen Yong was able to send information in here, it’s likely that he has entered the Temple of Confucius as well! Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up in worry.
Previously, he had heard that the most powerful Otherworldly Demon Emperor had discreetly entered the Master Teacher Continent. From the looks of it, it was likely that the person was Sovereign Chen Yong!
No one in the Master Teacher Pavilion had met Sovereign Chen Yong before, but it was definite that he was an Ancient Sage expert. It left Zhang Xuan feeling a little unnerved to know that there was such a powerful expert lying around him.
However, why would Sovereign Chen Yong command Bei Hong not to kill master teachers?
There was another peculiar command that Bei Hong had received that left Zhang Xuan feeling a little perplexed.
During the trip that he had made to the Subterranean Gallery, he had learned that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was divided into three factions.
Based on the information that he had gathered so far, Sovereign Chen Yong was a conservative leader who opposed a full-blown war against the humans.
On the other hand, Sovereign Chen Ling was more belligerent, supporting aggression against mankind in order to bring as many benefits to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe as possible.
As for Sovereign Chen Xing, he seemed to be sitting on the fence. There was a period of time when he had allied himself with Sovereign Chen Yong, but currently, it seemed like he had switched sides to support Sovereign Chen Ling instead.
Since Sovereign Chen Yong was a conservative leader, he probably had his concerns for passing a non-aggression order against the master teachers. Perhaps, he was unwilling to further sour the relations with mankind.
Very soon, Zhang Xuan finished browsing through all of the useful information that he had acquired from Bei Hong.
All in all, Bei Hong had only received orders to lead the other Otherworldly Demons to open up a passageway using the altar to enter the Temple of Confucius. There were no other orders aside from that.
As for further intelligence regarding the Temple of Confucius, it was hard to tell whether Sovereign Chen Yong was withholding information from his subordinate or that he had not scouted that far yet, but there was nothing at all.
After conducting the Soul Search, Zhang Xuan placed his palm lightly on Bei Hong’s head and killed him.
In the end, he still could not bring himself to believe in the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.
Whether Sovereign Chen Yong was expressing goodwill to them or not, it was too much of a luxury for mankind to simply believe in the goodwill of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. That would be no different from betting the fate of mankind on the enemy’s kindness, and that was utter foolishness!
Furthermore, it was just a few days ago that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe had attempted to launch a major invasion on mankind!
In the end, it was still better to be safe than sorry.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan raised his head to scan his surroundings for danger when his eyebrows suddenly shot up. He flicked his wrist, and a jade token appeared on his palm. A line of words surfaced on it.
“Xuan-er, when you see this message, hurry over to where we are. We have just caught sight of Zhao Ya…”
