Chapter 398: Rejection of the Ancestors, Sorrowful Chimes of the Bell
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
In the conference hall of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance’s Master Teacher Pavilion.
"I believe that everyone should know of the matter. I hope that you all can try your best so that our name won’t be sullied!"
The austere elder seated on the center seat gestured grandly.
The head of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance’s Master Teacher Pavilion, 4-star pinnacle master teacher, Pavilion Master Kang Gan.
"Pavilion master, rest assured. We will do our best to find the most suitable candidate so as to not sully the name of our Myriad Kingdom Alliance!"
"I’ve been informed that Elder Su and Elder Ling heard of a genius in Xuanyuan Kingdom; they rushed there a few days ago!"
"Elder Bai and Elder Lu heard that there’s a genius who passed the master teacher examination at Chiyuan Kingdom, and they rushed there eight days ago as well!"
...
The elders in the hall hurriedly answered.
These elders were dressed in the robe specially crafted for master teachers, and an emblem sat on their chest, reflecting their ranks. There were several 4-star master teachers in the hall, and even the weakest of those present was a 2-star. The radiance that shone off their emblems was dazzling.
"Good. Make preparations in advance to welcome and groom them. In the past, our Myriad Kingdom Alliance’s ranking has always been at the very bottom. This time, we must show them that our geniuses don’t lose out to them in any way!"
The pavilion master harrumphed.
"Un..."
The crowd nodded. Just as they were about to continue discussing, a bell suddenly sounded.
It carried deep sorrow in its chiming, as though something tragic had happened.
Dong dong dong dong!
Then, innumerable bells started sounding as well.
"What’s going on?" Pavilion Master Kang abruptly stood up.
"That direction... the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall!"
Ascertaining the direction where the sound came from, a master teacher’s face suddenly distorted in shock, and he exclaimed loudly.
"Let’s go take a look!"
Pavilion Master Kang and the others immediately rushed out and headed straight for the Master Teacher pavilion. Upon pushing open the door, what welcomed them was the sight of countless ancestral tablets shaking non-stop, and sorrowful calls sounded from them, as though they had met with something tragic. At the same time, surge after surge of bizarre aura circled around those tablets, and the deep rumbling of thunder roared from their movements.
"This is... Rejection of the Ancestors, Sorrowful Chimes of the Bell"
Pavilion Master Kang’s face changed, and he nearly fell to the floor.
"Rejection of the Ancestors? What does this mean?"
Seeing Pavilion Master Kang’s loss of composure, one of the master teachers couldn’t help but ask.
"After passing the master teacher examination, one would head to the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall to pay respects to the ancestor and seek their acknowledgement. Many people take pride in being acknowledged by the ancestors." Pavilion Master Kang started explaining.
The crowd nodded.
This was common knowledge among master teachers. The greater the number of ancestors who acknowledged one when one was a lower tiered master teacher, the more likely it was for one to climb to greater heights in the future. This should be something for master teachers to take pride in.
"As master teachers, you all should know that while teachers can choose their students, students are allowed to choose their teachers as well!"
At this point, slight disbelief flashed in the eyes of Pavilion Master Kang, and he clenched his fists tightly, "The ancestors can acknowledge their descendants, but at the same time... their acknowledgement can be rejected as well!"
"Rejected? The acknowledgement of the ancestors isn’t just an honor, it also grants a unique aura that raises one’s Soul Depth. There’s actually a person who would reject it?"
Taken aback by Pavilion Master Kang’s words, the crowd widened their eyes in shock.
Putting aside the fact that the acknowledgement of the ancestors represented unparalleled honor, more importantly, it could nourish a person’s Soul Depth. Yet, for someone to reject it? Why?
"There were such cases in the past as well! Taking in the aura granted by an ancestor means having the will of the ancestor’s will imprinted within one. In other words, that ancestor will be considered as a half-teacher for one. As everyone should know, the moment one accepts the favor of another, one will establish a karmic debt with the other party. One has to eventually pay back the favor. Some of the top-notch geniuses refuse to accept this kind of favor, so they reject it outright!" Pavilion Master Kang explained.
"This..." The crowd was stunned.
Even though it would establish a karmic debt, the benefits were too great to refuse.
Everyone here dreamt of earning the acknowledgement of the ancestors, yet for someone to reject it...
"Even though there’s a sliver of the corresponding ancestor’s will sealed within each of the tablets, it contains their spirit. Being rejected by their descendant, naturally, they’ll cry in sorrow! It’s under such a situation that’ll induce the Rejection of the Ancestors, Sorrowful Chimes of the Bell! Even so, I’ve only read about all of this in books. To think that it was all... true!"
Pavilion Master Kang’s face paled, "More importantly... for so many ancestral tablets to cry sorrowfully at the same moment... It means that all of these ancestors have acknowledged a person at the same time, but all of them were... rejected!"
"Acknowledgement... by all of these ancestors?"
"H-how is this possible?"
The crowd was completely astonished. Some of them even nearly fainted on the spot.
In the past hundred years, even the most talented genius of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance for the past several hundred years, Jun Ruohuan, only obtained the acknowledgement of seven of the ancestors. Who in the world was this? To obtain the acknowledgement of all of the ancestors at once, and more importantly... to reject all of them as well?
Surely I am hearing things?
The lips of all of the master teachers quivered, and they fell into a frenzy.
"Look into it, it must have happened within the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, or else such a phenomenon wouldn’t happen here! If we can invite the genius acknowledged by all of the ancestors, we’ll surely be able to win..."
Pavilion Master Kang’s eyes shone in excitement. He was just about to continue issuing instructions when the ground suddenly shook.
Hualala!
Then, he saw Kong shi’s statue trembling violently as well, calling out sorrowfully.
"Kong shi crying out sorrowfully? Could it be that... Kong shi has been rejected as well?"
Dumbfounded.
Pavilion Master Kang’s mouth was wide open, but not a word came out from his mouth.
...
"This... Do we really need not bother about this?"
Seeing Pavilion Master Jiang walk away, Zhang Xuan glanced at the ancestral tablets and Kong shi’s statue which was lying under the ruins of the hall doubtfully.
Those were the statue of the world’s teacher and the tablets of countless great ancestors.
"Master teachers have already peered through the essence of the world, and what we value is the intent, not the form. The respect for Kong shi and the other ancestors lay deep in our hearts, not in these ancestral tablets. Otherwise, given how the falling over of the tablets should have been an extremely disrespectful action, how could we, as descendants, wait expectantly for it to happen? Don’t worry, the Master Teacher Pavilion have specialized craftsmen in charge of fixing such damages. It won’t take long for the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall to be brought back to its former glory!"
Pavilion Master Jiang explained.
"What we value is the intent, not the form?" Zhang Xuan nodded.
Zhang Xuan liked the sound of it.
The master teachers he knew, be it Liu Ling, Zhuang Xian, or Jiang Shu, never used their position as master teachers to oppress others. Instead, they interacted with others like anyone else, and upon realizing that they had erred, they weren’t hesitant to admit their mistakes as well.
Instead of their pride, they used their heart and conscience to deal with matters.
Knowing that the other party understands that he didn’t intentionally break Kong shi’s statue, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
Advancing forward, he soon arrived at the conference hall.
"Allow me to formally introduce you two to them, these two are 4-star master teachers from the Myriad Kingdom Alliance, Su shi and Ling shi!" After the group settled down, Pavilion Master Jiang introduced.
"4-star master teacher?"
Zhang Xuan and Mo Hongyi leaped in shock.
They thought that those two were 1-star master teachers who came from other kingdoms. How could have even imagined that they were 4-star master teachers...
Especially for Zhang Xuan, his face turned green in regret.
He had even criticized them earlier.
"The two of you are talented, and it’s just a matter of time before you two become 4-star master teachers, so there’s no need to feel so restrained before us!" Su shi chuckled. Then, turning to Zhang Xuan, he said, "Zhang shi, I have a presumptuous request to ask of you."
"Su shi, feel free to speak!"
Knowing that the other party was a 4-star master teacher, Zhang Xuan immediately clasped his fist respectfully.
Not only were 4-star master teachers knowledgeable, their cultivation had also reached a frightening level!
To become a 3-star master teacher, one had to possess the strength of minimum Zhizun realm. At 4-star... his cultivation must have already surpassed Zhizun.
"I heard that Yang shi is in the capital, so may I ask if Ling shi and I can pay a visit to him?" Su shi asked.
"Pay a visit... to Yang shi?" The corner of Zhang Xuan’s lip twitched, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
What Yang shi... The teacher behind him was Zhang Xuan himself!
The two 4-star master teachers were interested in meeting Yang shi, what should he do?
It had already taken him a lot of effort to fool Jiang Shu. This time, the other party were 4-star master teachers. It wouldn’t be a simple feat to fool them!
It was possible that they might even be able to see through his disguising ability.
"Why? Is it not convenient?" Su shi asked.
"That isn’t the case, just that my teacher... has always been wandering around the area. So, even I’m not too sure where he is..."
Zhang Xuan hurriedly added, "How about this, I’ll ask him of this matter as soon as he appears!"
"Un! I’ll be depending on Zhang shi then!" Su shi smiled.
Even though they were both 4-star master teachers, they didn’t have any domineering aura to them. Instead, they felt particularly amiable.
It was said that the higher ranked a master teacher was, the more they would be like that. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to earn the trust and acknowledgement of their students swiftly, and better impart their knowledge.
"Alright, now that you two are done with your examinations, I won’t beat around the bush. Actually, there are two reasons why Ling shi and I are here. Firstly, it’s because of Zhang shi’s astonishing examination results, so we came over to take a look. Other than that, we have something that we might need your help on!"
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan agree to the matter, Su shi stroked his beard and spoke of the primary reason for their arrival.
"Su shi, feel free to speak. If it’s within the abilities of Tianwu Kingdom’s Master Teacher Pavilion, we’ll definitely give it our all!" Pavilion Master Jiang said.
Putting aside the fact that the other party was his superior, the other party’s rank as a 4-star master teacher made him more than qualified to command them.