Chapter 767: I Saw Zhang Xuan
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
"How many?"
Looking at the look of disbelief on the other party’s face, Dong Xin couldn’t help but feel a little curious at how well the freshmen did. "Since he is a freshman, his cultivation should probably be at Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle. Even if he were to make the breakthrough to Cosmos Bridge realm, it would already be an incredible feat for him to kill three Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle spirit beasts within a single day. Three of them would give him 120 points... Could his score have exceeded a thousand?"
A Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle spirit beast was worth 40 points. It was already rather formidable for one to slay three spirit beasts of the same cultivation realm as one in a single day. Even if one were to multiply that by ten, that would only be 1200 points.
Scoring 1200 points was indeed an incredible feat for a freshman, but surely it wouldn’t produce such a look of disbelief on the face of the leader of the Ashen Moon Faction?
Hearing those words, Long Cangyue scoffed. "A thousand points? If it was only that much, would I need to be so shocked?"
"Let me tell you this straight, he obtained a grand total of 43,724 points..."
"H-how many did you say? 43,000 points?" Hearing those words, Dong Xin nearly fainted on the spot.
She had participated in the capture of those spirit beasts, so she knew how difficult it was to locate and hunt them down.
On top of that, they had targeted the aggressive spirit beasts who had a record of hurting others, and they were far more difficult to deal with than the spirit beasts enclosed in a cage. Every single of them was incredibly cunning, and a lapse in one’s concentration could easily lead to one’s death. Yet, a freshman had actually obtained more than 40,000 points in such an examination... Wasn’t this joke a little too much?
How many spirit beasts must he have killed to obtain such a result?
Could he have single-handedly slaughtered every last spirit beast in the mountain?
"That’s not all. The points he obtained weren’t from killing the spirit beasts, but by... taming them!" Long Cangyue added.
"Taming them?" Dong Xin exclaimed sharply.
Taming a spirit beast was far more difficult than killing one. Even her, a renowned genius of the Beast Tamer School, would have to spend several months or even years in order to achieve the required intimacy to tame one. Yet, to tame multiple spirit beasts in a day... Not to mention, enough of them to obtain 40,000 points... Just how many spirit beasts in the world did he tame!
Seeing Dong Xin’s expression, Long Cangyue could tell what she was thinking, so he said, "He tamed more than four hundred spirit beasts... Furthermore, according to the accounts from the dozens of eye-witnesses in the area, he did it within just two hours!"
"Two hours..." Dong Xin couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
Even she didn’t have the ability to do the same.
"It’s this incredible feat that won him School Head Mo’s favor, and School Head Mo offered to take him in as his disciple!" Long Cangyue said.
"Take him in as his disciple? School Head Mo?" Dong Xin was stunned.
All along, she had been working hard in the hope that her effort could catch School Head Mo’s eye. However, School Head Mo never seemed to notice her.
As a result, she’d thought that School Head Mo had no intention of accepting any disciple at all. Who knew that he would end up favoring a freshman over her?
"That’s right. However, what is the most unbelievable thing about this matter is that... the fellow actually rejected the offer!" Long Cangyue’s eyes flew around the place.
The first time he heard of that news, he had also been rendered dumbfounded.
To actually reject School Head Mo, one of the Ten Great Master Teachers... He sure was gutsy!
At this moment, Dong Xin felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
Countless students in the academy were vying to become School Head Mo’s student, and yet that fellow actually rejected the offer? Did he have a screw loose somewhere?
"That’s not all, there is still more to come. After that fellow heard many people had failed the examination, he gave away his points away to them so that they could all clear the examination!" Long Cangyue said.
"Gave away his points?"
Dong Xin widened her eyes in astonishment as her body swayed weakly from side to side. "The points one obtains in the entrance examination can be used to trade for Academic Credits... Given his accomplishment in the examination, he could easily have received ten Academic Credits! Even if he has no interest in Academic Credits, he could easily apply for twenty high-tier spirit stones from the academy with his score... And yet, he gave them away?"
The points could be traded for Academic Credits and high-tier spirit stone? Upon hearing those words, Zhang Xuan nearly spewed blood from his mouth.
If he’d known that those points could be traded for Academic Credits and high-tier spirit stones, he would have never idled around in the entrance examination! He would have surely rushed around the mountain, taming, and killing as many spirit beasts as he could!
At the very least, he would have strived for a million points!
Or if it came down to it, he could even have handed the Byzantium Helios Beast over...
Consonant Spirit realm spirit beasts were worth 10 points, Cosmos Bridge realm spirit beasts were worth 100 points, Perfect Harmonization realm spirit beasts were worth 1,000 points, Ethereal Treading realm spirit beasts were worth 10,000 points, Chrysalis realm spirit beasts were worth 100,000 points, Half-Saint beasts were worth 1,000,000 points, Nascent Saint beasts were worth 10,000,000 points... Then a Saint beast should be worth at least 100,000,000 points, right?
Furthermore, that fellow was at Saint 1-dan pinnacle, which meant... 400,000,000 points!
Calculating by proportion, wouldn’t that mean that he could receive 100,000 Academic Credits or 200,000 high-tier spirit stones from the academy?
Regret dyed Zhang Xuan’s guts green. 1
If he had that many Academic Credits and high-tier spirit stones, would there be anywhere that he couldn’t go?
He would be able to make his round through all of the libraries in the academy, and perhaps, he might already be on his way to a Conferred Empire now!
I will look for Elder Mo later... Perhaps, I might still be able to exchange the Byzantium Helios Beast for some Academic Credits...
Zhang Xuan thought about the matter for an instant before eventually shaking his head. But putting aside the fact that the entrance examination is already over, which means that the academy has the right to refuse to give me the corresponding Academic Credits and high-tier spirit stones, even if I am able to do so, I won’t be able to explain to them how I managed to capture the Byzantium Helios Beast. On top of that, it would reveal my possession of the Otherworldly Demon puppets...
It would be impossible for him to explain the presence of the Otherworldly Demon puppets at the moment, and even if he could, they were currently his greatest trump card, so it would be unwise for him to reveal their existence as well. Thus, even though it was a huge shame, Zhang Xuan still decided to drop the matter in the end.
"To be honest, even I can’t help but be in awe of how generous that fellow is!" Long Cangyue continued.
"But that still isn’t all. When you hear what he did afterward, you will surely go mad!"
"Oh?" Suppressing her shock, Dong Xin turned to look at Long Cangyue.
On the other hand, Hu Yaoyao and Xue Zhenyang were listening to the conversation between the duo silently. Judging from the looks of helplessness on their faces, it was likely that they had long heard of it.
"Shortly after clearing the entrance examination, that fellow headed to the Blacksmith School, and god knows what he did, but he destroyed the entire Passageway of Records along with half of the Blacksmith Guild..." Long Cangyue revealed.
"Passageway of Records?" Blacksmith Guild?" Dong Xin gasped in shock. "Vice School Head Yuan didn’t kill him for that?"
As one of the senior students of the academy, she was aware of Vice School Head’s austere and fiery temper. He expected students to abide by the rules strictly, and he tolerated zero nonsense from others.
To destroy the Passageway of Records along with half of the entire Blacksmith Guild... He should be glad that Vice School Head Yuan didn’t strangle him to death on the spot!
"Kill him? I also thought that would be the case as well when I heard about it... But not only did Vice School Head spare Zhang Xuan, he even treated him with the utmost politeness and led him to the Ocean of Weapons personally to take the blacksmith examination! And that fellow, within four hours within the Ocean of Weapons, progressed from a mere apprentice to become... a 6-star blacksmith!" Long Cangyue said.
"W-what did you say? Within four hours... he took the 1-star examination all the way to the 6-star examination?" Dong Xin’s mouth slowly widened in shock.
No words could explain what she was feeling at the moment.
That fellow’s previous deeds were incredible, but it was at least remotely possible. The world was huge, and there were all kinds of incredible geniuses out there. They weren’t so arrogant as to think that they would be the top of the world. But what the heck was with clearing the 1-star to 6-star examination within 4 hours?
More importantly, the prerequisite to taking the 6-star examination was for one’s cultivation to reach Transcendent Mortal 9-dan Chrysalis realm. This wasn’t just a condition imposed by the Blacksmith Guild, but that it was fundamentally impossible for a cultivator beneath that cultivation realm to clear the examination.
For one, the purity and quantity of their zhenqi would be insufficient to evoke the heat in the flames, making it impossible for them to melt most ores that 6-star blacksmiths were expected to process.
Are you sure you aren’t messing with me?
"That matter alarmed School Head Zhao, and he insisted on taking that fellow in as his teacher’s student, or in other words, his junior... But that fellow rejected it yet again!"
Long Cangyue could clearly perceive the disbelief in Dong Xin’s eyes, but it was all the truth.
Many had witnessed Zhang Xuan’s deeds in the Blacksmith School, and as the leaders of the largest student factions in the academy, it wouldn’t be too difficult for them to verify the authenticity of the news.
"School Head Mo offered to take him in as his disciple, and School Head Zhao offered to acknowledge him as his junior... but they were rejected?"
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Dong Xin fell into deep thought for a few moments before lifting her gaze to ask, "That freshman is indeed a formidable figure, but... what does he have to do with the issue regarding the finances of the student factions?"
Thinking about it now, they had been talking about the lack of money in their student factions just a moment ago when the topic had suddenly shifted to that fellow. Could that freshman be responsible for the student faction’s business failure?
"As you know, the main source of income of student factions during the start of the term is from the sales of the ’Teacher Information Documentation’ to the incoming freshmen, but somehow, that fellow managed to obtain an even more accurate and detailed version of it and gave it away for free... With that, who else would buy ours? Not only so, our reputations were even dragged down into the gutters. Quite a few freshmen who were intending to join our factions ended up backing out due to that scandal!" Long Cangyue explained with a hint of fury in his voice.
That matter had caused significant losses to his Ashen Moon Faction, so he’d ordered an investigation into the culprit of the affair, Zhang Xuan. Who could have known that the results of the investigation would be so baffling?
If it had been any other freshmen, he would have stomped right up to them and given them a good pummeling so as to beat the rules into their bones. But this fellow... how could he dare to touch a person whom School Head Mo and School Head Zhao favored?
"..." Not expecting such a situation, Dong Xin was at a loss for words.
But indeed, if there was a free and better version, who would want to waste a hundred middle-tier spirit stones on their document?
"Then... don’t any of you have a way to deal with him?"
"What can we possibly do against that fellow? His cultivation might not be too high, but he has the backing of two of the Ten Great Master Teachers. Unless you wish to offend those two, there is hardly anything we can do about him... Since all of us are gathered here today, let’s discuss that matter as well." Long Cangyue sighed deeply as he turned his gaze to the group.
"Not only did he spoil our market, his actions also sullied our reputations as well. We have to punish him or else we might risk losing our authority amongst the student populace!"
"Indeed, we can’t let him go that easily!" Xue Zhenyang narrowed his eyes and harrumphed.
"So, do you two have any ideas yet?" Dong Xin asked.
"This..." Long Cangyue and Xue Zhenyang glanced at one another and smiled bitterly.
School Head Mo and School Head Zhao were two gigantic barriers standing in the way of their vengeance, and there was hardly any way they could circumvent them. If they really had an idea in mind, they would have long carried it out. Would they still allow Zhang Xuan to get off scot-free even to this day?
At this moment, Hu Yaoyao suddenly spoke up with a soft chuckle. "Speaking of that fellow, I met him today!"
"You met him?" The others immediately turned their sights to Hu Yaoyao.
Even though they had nearly died from shock due to the many rumors they had heard regarding Zhang Xuan, none of them had been fortunate enough to meet him yet.
The other party had caused a huge storm right from the moment he’d enrolled at the academy, so they hadn’t had the chance to see his appearance for themselves yet.
"Yes. I believe you all should know the genius of the Grade-2 students, Luo Qiqi, right?" asked Hu Yaoyao as she glanced at them.
"Of course!" Dong Xin replied.
Luo Qiqi had been enrolled at the academy for barely a year, but she had already advanced from 4-star pinnacle to 5-star low-tier. Such speed was astounding even when taking into consideration the innumerable geniuses that had come before her in the academy.
Possessing both looks and talent, it was inevitable that they would be aware of her.
"I saw her together with Zhang Xuan earlier, and she had addressed him as her teacher!" Hu Yaoyao said.
"Teacher?"
"Luo Qiqi addressed him as her teacher? You... Are you sure you aren’t pulling our legs?"
"Luo Qiqi has a mysterious background, and it is rumored that she is the princess from some empire. I have tried looking into her background myself, but I wasn’t able to uncover anything substantial about her either... A person like that actually acknowledged a freshman as her teacher?"
Long Cangyue, Xue Zhenyang, and the others could hardly believe their ears.