Chapter 609: Hong shi’s Conditions
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Severely injured...
Severely your head!
Could that battle between you and Feng shi even be called a battle?
More like a one-sided pummeling! Not a single droplet of sweat was produced in that fight, and yet you said that you were severely injured and can’t fight for the next ten years?
The one who is severely injured is Feng shi, alright?
Look at him... His eyes are even rolling up now...
On the other hand, you look perfectly energized after the duel, and the bright smile on your face is about to extend to your ears...
The more he thought about it, the angrier he felt. Master Teacher Luo Zhao bellowed furiously, "The both of us know very well whether you are injured or not. Why don’t you just say that you dare not accept my duel?"
"If you can really forsake your morals and dignity as a master teacher and take advantage of my weakness, then yes, I can accept your duel. But if that’s the case, I’ll decide the rules of the duel!"
Hong shi glanced at the other party calmly and continued, "We’ll both ride on an aerial spirit beast each and fight a thousand meters high in the air. Do you... dare accept my proposal?"
"You..."
Luo Zhao felt his head spin.
An aerial battle?
The sight that he had seen from the Record Crystal a moment ago was still engraved into his eyes. If he were to really fight with that fellow in midair, he would probably fall out of the sky just like Feng shi... and perhaps even suffer yet another round of beating afterward...
Putting aside teaching the other party a lesson, he might not even be able to survive the ordeal.
"You don’t dare?" Hong shi glanced at the other party with clear contempt in his eyes. "If you are that cowardly, don’t waste my time. You challenged an injured person, and yet, you dare not accept my proposal. How embarrassing!"
"..."
Luo Zhao’s face immediately turned crimson, and he nearly spurted a mouthful of blood.
The Hong shi he remembered should have been an honest and upright person, when did he become so shameless?
Harrumphing coldly, Hong shi continued, "Alright. Since you dare not challenge me, let’s get to the main topic at hand. You obstructed my passage in midair, foiling the fairness of our competition. I demand an explanation for this matter!"
The purpose of his visit was to demand an explanation. Now that he was done beating up Feng Yu, his anger had already subsided mostly... But he was still reluctant to let things end here.
Initially, he was going to stomp here right after settling everyone in, but Zhang shi stopped him and offered him some advice.
And it seemed like the advice did work out as well.
Otherwise, if Hong shi had acted as he originally planned to-barging in here and criticizing the group-not only would the other party simply forget it after a night’s rest, his own anger wouldn’t be quenched either.
In fact, if the three of them were to gang up on him, he might even be put in a disadvantageous position.
But now, having gotten back at Feng shi through the Master Teacher Confrontation and silencing the others by proposing an aerial duel, the momentum was with him.
"Explanation? You still want an explanation?"
Luo Zhao and the other master teacher stared at one another, and they nearly exploded from anger.
You came here and pummeled Feng shi to the point that he is teetering on the brink of death already, and yet you still demand an explanation?
"Simple. Since you used an underhanded method to stop us, I want a compensation! How about this, I won’t go too far-500 middle-tier spirit stones and we’ll call it quits. I won’t report this matter to teacher or His Majesty. Otherwise, I’ll cause a huge fuss and see who’s at fault here!"
Hong shi waved his hands.
In truth, he had little fear even when facing another three master teachers of equivalent standing as him. No matter what, Zhang shi was a person whom even Pavilion Master Mo of Hongyuan Master Teacher Pavilion was willing to offer a high-tier spirit stone to get acquainted with. If this matter were to blow up, these three fellows would surely be the ones suffering in the end.
"500... middle-tier spirit stones?"
The bodies of the duo shuddered.
They might be 5-star master teachers, but they didn’t have too many middle-tier spirit stones in their hands either. One to two hundred middle-tier spirit stones were already a huge amount of wealth to them. To demand 500 in a single breath... this was no different from daylight robbery!
But it was true that they were at fault in this matter.
Going by their original plan, after this fellow lost his three slots, he would surely be too ashamed to face anyone, and thus, he would leave silently. On top of that, even if he were to protest, it would only reflect his own weakness...
Yet, not only did this fellow end up fine, he even came here, and standing on the moral high ground, they couldn’t even rebut at all.
The stifled feeling squeezing them made them feel extremely uncomfortable.
"I admit that we did act inappropriately in this incident, but Hong Qian, I advise you not to go too far. In any case, aren’t you perfectly fine in the end? There’s no need for you to go so far and create an irreconcilable grudge among us!"
Luo Zhao flung his sleeves.
"We’re all proud 5-star master teachers here. You’ve already got your revenge, what else do you want? Do you really want to make an enemy out of all of us?" the second old man replied with a flushed face.
"Why? Are you unwilling to pay? Or do you not have the money to do so?" Hong shi said with his hands behind his back.
"Humph, middle-tier spirit stones are precious even to 5-star master teachers like us. Can you even take five hundred middle-tier spirit stones out at once?"
Luo Zhao harrumphed.
"Fine. I heard that the crown prince is going to hold a banquet tonight to discuss the matter regarding the three slots. Since you all arrived early, surely you must have heard something! As long as you tell me how this matter is going to be resolved, I can drop this!" Hong shi replied.
Even a 5-star master teacher would find it hard to fork out 500 middle-tier spirit stones!
The urgent matter at hand was actually to figure out how the matter regarding the three slots was going to be resolved so that he could make some preparations beforehand.
"This..."
Luo Zhao and the other old man stared at one another for a moment before eventually shaking their heads.
"The crown prince didn’t reveal how he intends to resolve this matter, so we have no idea as well..."
"If we knew how it was going to be resolved beforehand, we wouldn’t have to resort to such a risky plan."
While the crown prince was their junior, he was also a talented student of Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. They didn’t dare to pull their weight before him.
"You don’t know?" Hong shi frowned.
"That’s right!" Luo Zhao answered
Hearing their answer, Hong shi could only shake his head helplessly.
The other party’s words sounded logical. If they had known what was going to happen, they would have simply prepared beforehand instead of risking themselves and going to such lengths to stop him.
Luo Zhao hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
"How about this? Even though we don’t know what the crown prince is going to do later on, I can tell you about the matter regarding Princess Fei-er and the other three slots. This is a matter that took us a lot of investigation before successfully uncovering."
"Alright then. As long as you tell me all that you know, we’ll strike off everything that has happened!" Hong shi nodded in agreement.
It was just a matter of time before Zhang shi and the others would head to Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. Since Princess Fei-er was a student of the academy as well, knowing her background could potentially help them in the future.
"Un. Princess Fei-er is the sixth princess of Hongyuan Empire. Even though she’s still young, she has shown outstanding talent as a master teacher. Despite being only twenty-four this year, she has already received her 5-star master teacher emblem!" Luo Zhao revealed.
"A twenty-four-year-old... 5-star master teacher?"
Hong shi narrowed his eyes.
As a 5-star master teacher himself, he knew how hard it was to reach this rank. On top of outstanding talent, one had to reach astounding proficiency in five different supporting occupations as well, reaching the rank of 5-star in each of them.
He had spent a hundred and sixty years before succeeding, and yet, the other party actually accomplished it by twenty-four...
It was hard for him to believe it.
"Even Zhang shi would find it hard to rival such genius!" Hong shi smiled bitterly.
True geniuses are indeed fearsome.
"Yes. It’s precisely due to this that Crown Prince Ye Qian wishes to get on good terms with her and asked His Majesty for four slots!" Luo Zhao nodded.
When he learnt of this news, he was also astounded. If not for his strong mental fortitude, he might have collapsed from shock then.
A twenty-four-year-old 5-star master teacher... He would have never been able to imagine this to be true in the past.
"But why would Princess Fei-er require four slots?" Hong shi asked in bewilderment.
He had posed this question to Zhuang Qin as well, but perhaps due to his lower standing, he was unable to obtain certain classified information. Since Luo Zhao knew what was going on, it would be best to clarify the situation with him.
"Tagging along with the princess are her friend and two other fellow peers of the academy. It seems like they are carrying out some kind of mission at Verdant Mountain, so the crown prince invited them over here as well. Otherwise, there’s no reason for the princess of Hongyuan Empire to make her way here just for the Cleansing Lake," Luo Zhao replied.
Hong shi nodded in realization.
Hongyuan Tier-1 Empire could be considered as a sizeable power even throughout the Master Teacher Continent. There were at least hundreds of Tier-2 Empires like Huanyu under its command, and if not for some compelling situation, there was no reason for her to specially make the trip here.
While the Cleansing Lake had mystical effects, this was mainly limited to only Consonant Spirit and Cosmos Bridge realm experts. On top of that, even though it was considered as a treasure in Huanyu Empire, there were many artifacts in a Tier-1 Empire that could easily replace it. There was no need for them to make such a long journey here just for this purpose.
"Do you know the identity and names of the others?" Hong shi asked.
"Princess Fei-er’s friend is known as Luo Qiqi. According to what I heard, it seems like she’s a princess of a certain Tier-1 Empire as well. As for the details, given how the royal family seems to be keeping it confidential, we also dare not look into it. However, it seems like her ranking as a master teacher doesn’t pale to Princess Fei-er at all, and her cultivation even surpasses the latter. Based on my estimates, even the four of us combined might not even be a match for her!" Luo Zhao said grimly.
He had only met Luo Qiqi once, but he could tell that the latter’s cultivation had reached an astounding level.
At the very least, he knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance against her.
"As for the remaining two, they are both fellow classmates of the princess. They’re both males, and their cultivation realm is comparable to the princess as well. More importantly, they carry a noble disposition, so I guess that they have a powerful background as well. As for their names..."
Luo Zhao pondered for a moment before continuing, "One seems to be called Xing Yuan while the other one is called Wu Zhen... Just as with Luo Qiqi, the specific details on them elude me as well!"
"Luo Qiqi, Xing Yuan, and Wu Zhen?"
Hong shi nodded.
Since all of them came from the Master Teacher Academy, they had to be master teachers. Also, considering they were classmates of Princess Fei-er, they must be 5-star master teachers as well.
Considering their capability despite their young age, they would surely achieve great things in the future.
Naturally, Huanyu Empire wouldn’t miss out on an opportunity to get acquainted with them.
It was no wonder why Crown Prince Ye Qian went to the extent of offering the slots for the Cleansing Lake.
Recalling another matter, Luo Zhao anxiously informed him, "Right, I also heard that Princess Fei-er has a bad temper, and Luo Qiqi has an extremely cold disposition. If you meet them, it would be advisable for you to not to offend them. Otherwise, Huanyu Empire wouldn’t survive their wrath!"
"Offend them? Don’t worry, even if we were to meet, it’s impossible for us to offend them!"
Hong shi chuckled earnestly, "After all, we’re all honest men!"