Chapter 758: Returning to the Academy
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
When Wei Changfeng had executed a battle technique against him, Zhang Xuan had already compiled a book on him via the Library of Heaven’s Path.
Initially, he harbored great disdain for the other party for the vile deeds he had done, but after learning of the reason behind his actions, he couldn’t help but feel a little pity for him.
It wasn’t that Wei Changfeng was a person with insatiable greed, but that he needed those to save a life.
"Regardless of how I know, I can tell you this. As long as you serve me well, I will help you save her. Even if it is beyond my means, I will do my best to find someone who possesses the ability to do so!" Zhang Xuan said.
"Y-you..." Wei Changfeng’s body trembled.
The other party was right. The reason he had opened the Spirit Emporium and gathered all kinds of artifacts in it despite risking making a lot of enemies was all so to treat his severely ill daughter.
His daughter’s vitals had been wounded when she was still a fetus, resulting in her innate frailty from birth. He had sought many famous physicians, but there were none who could offer him a solution. In the end, it was a 6-star pinnacle physician who had given him a prescription and told him that he could lengthen the lifespan of his daughter by feeding her the spirit contained within artifacts.
It was through this matter that his daughter had lasted the past few years.
However, this only alleviated her condition temporary, and its effectiveness was wearing thin. If a cure couldn’t be found soon, she wouldn’t have long to live.
However, this issue was only known amongst the Saints in Hongyuan City. How did he learn of it?
"If the young master can really save my daughter, I will do anything to repay the favor, even if it means braving through hell!" Recalling the various incredible means of the young man before him, Wei Changfeng couldn’t help but have his hopes lifted. He immediately kneeled to the floor and bowed.
"I don’t need you to brave through hell for me. As long as you serve me well, you will be well rewarded!" Zhang Xuan said as he took out a wine gourd and passed it over. "Drink it!"
"Yes!" Even though Wei Changfeng was surprised by the abrupt gesture, he didn’t dare to disobey the other party’s words. Thus, he pried open the lid and gulped down the wine.
Gugugugu!
As the fine wine entered his body, he immediately felt a warm surge of energy flowing through his veins. At a pace visible to the eye, the injuries he had sustained from the puppets healed, and before long, he had already made a full recovery.
"This is... Saint recovery medicine?" Wei Changfeng narrowed his eyes.
Despite being a Saint realm expert and the head of the Spirit Emporium, he had never seen a Saint recovery medicine with effects as pronounced as this.
For his wounds to heal immediately after drinking it... Perhaps, the young master might just be able to save his daughter’s life!
"Let’s clear up this mess first!" Zhang Xuan said.
If he wanted to win the absolute loyalty of his subordinates, he would have to strike a balance between the carrot and stick. After forcing the other party in submission, it was only right to give him some benefits so as to give him some expectations for the future.
Otherwise, even if Zhang Xuan held his soul hostage, if the other party’s heart wasn’t with him, that would be no different from carrying a ticking time bomb around with him.
"Yes!" Knowing that it was impossible for the young master to save his daughter considering that he had yet to achieve anything for the other party, Wei Changfeng didn’t pursue the matter.
Jiya!
The mechanisms rumbled, the wall isolating the duo slowly vanished, and Sun Qiang and the others came into sight.
"Boss!"
The guards rushed forward anxiously, but upon seeing that Zhang Xuan was still alive and kicking, the guards encircled him and drew their weapons.
"Insolent!" Wei Changfeng leaped in fright upon seeing that sight. "From today onward, he shall be my young master, so you must address him as young master as well. You must treat him with even more respect with me, and anyone who defies this order will be killed. There will be no chances given!"
"Young master?" The guards were taken aback.
Did the boss hit his head somewhere?
The other party had just wreaked havoc in his territory, and he was ordering them to address the culprit as ’young master’?
But despite their bewilderment, they knew that the boss wasn’t kidding given the grim expression on his face. Thus, they lowered their heads and clasped their fists. "Paying respect to the young master!"
"This..."
The cultivators watching the spectacle from the side were stunned speechless.
They’d thought that it was incredible of that young man to make all of those artifacts and even the Spirit Emporium acknowledge him as their master... But to think that he would even tame the Saint realm boss of the Spirit Emporium!
Could there be anything more exaggerated than this?
"Young Master..." Sun Qiang’s lips twitched.
He was still worried that some mishap would befall on the young master... But from the looks of it now, his worries were unfounded.
To tame a Saint realm cultivator despite being at Cosmos Bridge realm, the young master was just a step away from shattering the atmosphere!
"As expected of the old master’s student, he does have the old master’s flair in him!" Sun Qiang remarked in awe.
After organizing the guards, Wei Changfeng turned to the crowd and clasped his fist.
"Everyone, I ask of you not to speak a word of what happened here today outside. You will have my gratitude for that."
Even though these men hadn’t seen the battle for themselves, it did seem that the young master intended to keep a low profile, so it would be ideal for him to limit any rumors as far as he could.
In any case, the young master hadn’t revealed his name at any point, so these men would be unlikely to point him out anyway.
"Don’t worry, Boss. Our lips are sealed!"
"Confidentiality has always been my strong suit..."
The cultivators hurriedly nodded.
Considering that a master teacher and the boss of the Spirit Emporium were involved in this conflict, they would not dare gossip about it for fear of losing their heads.
And more importantly... even if they were to talk about the affairs that had happened today, others would simply take them as lunatics!
After all, they wouldn’t have believed such a thing to be possible either if they hadn’t witnessed it themselves.
Hearing the voices of agreement, Wei Changfeng turned to the attendants and instructed, "Men, give these guests a gift package each as compensation for the trauma they have suffered from this incident!"
To be able to build a business empire from scratch and sustain it for so many years in Hongyuan Empire wasn’t an easy feat. Wei Changfeng was also quite a capable person himself.
With a suitable use of threat and reward, those men should understand that it wouldn’t be to their advantage to talk.
"Good!" Seeing how Xiao Feng dealt with the incident promptly, Zhang Xuan nodded in commendation.
In truth, the Spirit Emporium didn’t have as many fakes as he’d claimed. Most of it was due to his framing.
Even though the appraiser did exaggerate about the grade-6 pill, it wasn’t so extreme that it could be considered poison. In truth, the so-called poison was a surge of zhenqi which he slipped into the pill while holding the jade box.
After learning the Heaven’s Path Poison Art, he could turn his Heaven’s Path zhenqi into lethal poison on a whim.
With that, poisoning a Sample Pill Beast to death was not a difficult feat at all.
If someone had realized what was going on and waited for a moment longer with the pill, the zhenqi he had hidden inside would have dissipated and lost its effect.
As for the Bronze Gong, as a soul oracle, it was exceedingly easy for him to nullify its soul attack.
Most of the subsequent fakes that he had pointed out were also tampered by him one way in another. He had identified their flaws via the Library of Heaven’s Path and framed his cases accordingly. As easy as that, everything in the room had soon turned into a fake.
As for the acknowledgement by the artifacts, just as Sun Qiang had thought, Zhang Xuan had already made them submit to him while introducing the various ’fakes’ to the crowd. If the other party had chosen to compensate him, he would have left without doing anything. Otherwise, he’d planned to tear apart the other party’s nest with their own artifacts.
"Let’s return!"
Since Wei Changfeng had sent his men after Sun Qiang, it was natural that he would know where their residence was. With his soul shackled, he would surely come to them after finishing up whatever he had to do at the Spirit Emporium.
With his goal achieved, there was no need for Zhang Xuan to remain in the Spirit Emporium any longer. Thus, he and Sun Qiang leaped onto the back of the Great Violetwing Beast and soared into the sky, disappearing from everyone’s sight.
Back at the residence...
"Young master, these are the high-tier spirit stones that the boss of the Spirit Emporium gave us earlier on!"
Sun Qiang passed over the ten high-tier spirit stones which he had taken from Wei Changfeng earlier on.
"Alright!"
Grabbing hold of them, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction. After which, he instructed, "You need not worry about money any longer. Go ahead and find a larger residence for us."
With the boss of the Spirit Emporium as his subordinate, money was no longer an issue to them. Naturally, it was about time for them to find a more fitting residence. Honestly speaking, this place was a little too small for his liking. There wasn’t even enough space for him to interrogate the Byzantium Helios Beast.
"Yes!" Sun Qiang nodded.
"For the time being, you all won’t require high-tier spirit stones for your cultivation. Here are some artifacts and pills, deal with them as you deem fit. If it is of any use to your cultivation, go ahead and use it!"
Flicking his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out the various items which he had taken from the Spirit Emporium earlier.
Sun Qiang stored the items in his storage ring and nodded.
With these items, Zheng Yang and the others would be able to advance their cultivation by leaps and bounds.
Sun Qiang suddenly recalled a matter and reported, "Young Master, when I was out earlier today, I saw a residence that fits our criteria. Not only is it in close proximity to the Master Teacher Academy, it also has all of the amenities we require. However... it seemed like someone has just purchased it!"
"It can’t be helped if someone has already taken it. Hongyuan City is very big; it shouldn’t be too difficult for us to find another larger residence,’ Zhang Xuan replied.
Since the residence was only purchased recently, it was unlikely that the owner would be willing to sell it for the time being. Since that was the case, they might have better luck searching for another residence in the city. Besides, they weren’t in a rush either.
"Alright. I will be in the Master Teacher Academy the next few days. If there is anything urgent, contact me through the Great Violetwing Beast. If that fails, go ahead and liaise with Xiao Feng!" Zhang Xuan instructed.
After Zhang Xuan was done with the arrangements, he leaped onto the back of the Great Violetwing Beast and flew for the academy.
With this matter resolved, it was about time for him to head to the Terpsichore School and Demonic Tunist School to browse through their books.
He had to deal with the Innate Fetal Poison in his soul as soon as possible so as to avoid any unexpected circumstances.
Zhang Xuan had the Great Violetwing Beast land at the Elite Sector before sending it back to Sun Qiang’s side. Just as he was about to ask around where the Demonic Tunist School and Terpsichore School were, he suddenly heard knocking on his door.
Opening his door, he saw Ruohuan gongzi, Luo Xuan, Song Chao, and a few others standing at the doorway.
After the entrance examination, they had been settled into their dormitories by Bai shi and the other seniors. Upon hearing that Zhang shi had taken up a residence in the Elite Sector, they came over to pay their greetings.
After trading a few pleasantries, Ruohuan gongzi dived into the main topic at hand and asked, "Brother Zhang, there is an event for students to find their teachers today. Are you going to participate in it?"
"I will pass." Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He had no intentions of finding a teacher. With the Library of Heaven’s Path, all he needed was an ample number of books.
"Actually, the reason we came to look for you today is to seek Brother Zhang opinion on which teacher we should acknowledge in the academy!" Ruohuan gongzi said sheepishly.
In terms of age, he and Luo Xuan could be considered as Zhang Xuan’s senior. However, in the Master Teacher Continent, seniority was determined by one’s capability. In a sense, addressing Zhang Xuan as a fellow peer could be considered as a sign of respect to him.
"This... I am not too familiar with the teachers of the academy." Zhang Xuan shook his head.
How could he know which teacher would be the best in the academy? He wasn’t going to seek a teacher in the first place!
"You aren’t familiar with the teachers of the academy? How can that be! We have already heard the rumors, and it seemed like you even rejected School Head Mo’s offer to become his direct disciple..." Luo Xuan exclaimed in disbelief.
Zhang shi had performed outstandingly in the entrance examination, winning over School Head Mo’s admiration. As such, the latter had offered to take the other in as his direct disciple, only to be flatly rejected.
This matter had already spread like wildfire across the entire academy.
Since you rejected even School Head Mo’s offer, doesn’t that mean that you have a better candidate in mind?
"I haven’t thought that far yet. Speaking of which, since you are here, does it mean that you already have a person in mind? Why don’t you tell me? I will help you ask around!" Zhang Xuan smiled.
Since they were asking for his opinion, they must have already taken a look around and had a candidate in mind, just that they were still feeling a little uncertain about their choices.
Most freshmen lacked connections with the seniors to enquire about the various teachers in the academy. However, Zhang Xuan was acquainted with Luo Qiqi and Yu Fei-er, as well as several school heads in the academy.
If those didn’t work, he could also ask the students in the Elite Sector; surely at least one of them would be willing to share some insights.
Even though it had only been two days since Zhang Xuan had cleared the entrance examination, he had already forged several connections which allowed him to maneuver around the academy easily.