Chapter 841: Byzantium Helios Beast’s Breakthrough
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
This feeling resonated not only within Lu Feng but with the others in the room as well.
Sure enough, there were several school heads among the group who were impressed by Zhang Xuan’s capability, but in view of their own standing, they had still held themselves back.
School Head Mo had tried to take him in as his direct disciple, Zhao Bingxu had offered to take him in as his teacher’s student, and even Wei Ranxue had only viewed him as a fellow peer that she could consult with... Yet, this fellow had actually gone beyond that and acknowledged him as his teacher!
The standing of a teacher was inherently higher than a student’s.
Considering that we are all peers, if you have acknowledged him as your teacher, doesn’t that mean that we are all his juniors?
"That’s right!" School Head Jiang harrumphed coldly. "If this is the matter you wish to confer on today, I don’t think there is any need for me to listen any further!"
After saying those words, he turned to the door to leave.
That Lu Feng had painted such a grim picture, but in the end, he was just making use of this opportunity to insult his teacher and exact vengeance for the previous humiliation he had suffered. Since that was the case, there was no point in him remaining in this conference!
Lu Feng’s face darkened, and he bellowed furiously, "You can’t leave!"
After all the measures he had taken to ensure absolute secrecy, if Jiang Qingqin were to leave to reveal the news to Zhang Xuan, the latter could very well make preparations in advance and flee!
"Oh? Are you going to attack me if I insist on leaving?" Jiang Qingqin’s eyebrows shot up as he turned around to assess Lu Feng with a frosty gaze.
"That’s right! No one shall leave until this matter is resolved! I won’t go easy on anyone who attempts to do so..." Lu Feng uttered coldly with eyes narrowed menacingly.
Without any hesitation, he raised his palm and executed the Great Inarticulate Palm once more. A massive palm print flew toward School Head Jiang with astounding momentum.
The strength of a Half-Spiritual Perception realm expert complemented with a Spirit pinnacle battle technique was nothing to scoff at. Under the immense force of the palm technique, the air was compressed to such a degree that a deafening sonic boom erupted, threatening to rupture one’s ears.
"Others might fear you, but not me!"
Seeing that Lu Feng had truly launched an attack against him, Jiang Qingqin swiftly flicked his wrist, and a massive zither appeared before him, floating in the air quietly. With light and agile movements from his ten fingers, a sharp melody pervaded the room.
Tingg tanggg! Tinggg tangggg!
A torrent of sound waves gushed forward.
Boom!
As soon as the sound wave came into contact with the palm print, Lu Feng abruptly exerted more force to overcome the other party’s sound wave in a single push. However, to his horror, even when he had exerted his full strength, he couldn’t withstand the might of the sound wave at all.
Under the onslaught of the music wave, his face reddened instantaneously as he was pushed back several steps, and blood spewed from his mouth!
"7-star demonic tunist?" Lu Feng widened his eyes in shock.
The other party’s cultivation might not be on par with his, but his comprehension of demonic tunes had reached 7-star. With his current fighting prowess, not even a Saint 2-dan cultivator would necessarily be a match for him!
In just a momentary clash, his soul had been already severely wounded.
"Indeed. Under teacher’s guidance, I managed to achieve a breakthrough!" Jiang Qingqin said proudly.
If not for Zhang laoshi, he might very well have been stuck at 6-star for his entire life... As such, how could he allow anyone to insult his teacher like that?
"Mu shi..."
Lu Feng had thought that with his recent breakthrough, he would have been the number one expert of the Ten Great Master Teachers. He had never thought that he would be defeated by Jiang Qingqin in a single blow. Indignant, he could only turn to Mu shi for help.
"Alright, let’s end this here. School Head Jiang, you calm down as well. Since Dong Xin has vowed on this matter in her name as a master teacher, this matter is indeed worth looking into!"
Mu shi waved his hand and said, "Since things have already gotten to this point, why don’t we invite Zhang shi over to explain himself? If this truly is a misunderstanding, he will surely be able to come up with a logical explanation to convince us. Otherwise, if he truly is an Otherworldly Demon... we mustn’t allow him to get away!"
"This..." Seeing that even Mu shi had spoken up, Jiang Qingqin hesitated for a moment before returning to his seat. "Alright, I will listen to Mu shi’s arrangements. However, I hope for Zhang laoshi to be invited over in his capacity as a master teacher and not as a suspect. I don’t want to see anyone doing anything disrespectful to my teacher!"
"Fair enough!" Mu shi nodded.
Even though Dong Xin had vowed on the matter using her name as a master teacher, it would be unfair to treat Zhang Xuan as a criminal just based on her story alone. On top of that, Zhang Xuan was an incredibly talented master teacher possessing the Eye of Insight as well. If they were to capture him and eventually find out that everything was just a misunderstanding, this could create a rift between him and the Master Teacher Academy.
Besides, if the other party really was an Otherworldly Demon, if they were to send their forces out to apprehend him, he might notice that something was wrong and escape. That could potentially lead to a disaster.
"Alright then. I have no more objections!" Jiang Qingqin relented.
"Lu Feng, you heard it. Dispatch someone to invite Zhang Xuan over to have his testimony cross-examined with Dong Xin’s. Let’s hope that he can explain himself well, or else... I will have him eliminated personally!" Mu shi said.
"Yes!"
Nodding, Lu Feng walked out of the Elder Hall to send his men to invite Zhang Xuan over before returning back to his seat and waiting patiently.
While a huge commotion was going on there, Zhang Xuan had ridden the Great Violetwing Beast all the way to his manor and landed.
As soon as he walked into the main hall, he was welcomed by the Byzantium Helios Beast and Sun Qiang.
"Master!"
At that very moment, the Byzantium Helios Beast commanded an aura overflowing with vitality and power, reminiscent of a dragon. Over the past few days, it had grown many times stronger than before, and its eyes reflected a wise and composed gleam.
"You have achieved a breakthrough?" Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.
Saint 2-dan Spiritual Perception realm. While the strength growth one would experience from a breakthrough to this realm wasn’t as exaggerated that when advancing from Nascent Saint to Saint realm, it did induce an immense growth in one’s fighting prowess.
This was due to the awakening of one’s spiritual perception. Through the spiritual perception, one could view one’s surroundings with greater clarity than before. Even the slightest movement wouldn’t escape one’s notice. This wasn’t something that one’s physical eye could possibly compare to.
There were even many that said that Saint 2-dan was the first step to comprehending the many secrets arts that Saints wielded, and it was only after awakening one’s Incipient Eye could one be considered a true Saint.
The Byzantium Helios Beast nodded. "That’s right!"
From the beginning, it hadn’t been far from making a breakthrough. Through assimilating the Ancient Ape’s inner core, which shared many common properties with it, it had managed to find the impetus to overcome its bottleneck and reach Saint 2-dan.
"Good!" Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and passed a huge gourd over. "This is Earth Vein Spirit Essence; you will find it useful in helping to reinforce your cultivation!"
It was not without reason that so many saint beasts in the Cloudmist Ridge had guarded the Earth Vein Spirit Essence so tightly. It had exceptional effects on saint beasts.
"Thank you, master!"
Uncorking the cap, the Byzantium Helios Beast immediately felt the condensed spiritual energy harnessed within the gourd, and it shuddered in agitation.
With his instincts, it could instantaneously tell that the spirit essence contained within the gourd was worth more than dozens of high-tier spirit stones.
To hand something as valuable as that to it so easily, this reflected the deep trust that Zhang Xuan had in it.
Zhang Xuan turned to Sun Qiang and asked, "Un. Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Nothing much, just that..." At which, Sun Qiang frowned. "Hu Yaoyao sent a message several days ago saying that our manor seems to be under surveillance..."
"Under surveillance?" Zhang Xuan frowned.
Hu Yaoyao was the leader of the Bewitching Devil Faction, controlling a huge pack of experts. Since she had sent word of it, the news was likely to be authentic.
"Have you found out who those people are?"
"I tried looking into the matter several times, but the other party was too strong. They managed to escape my detection each time..." Sun Qiang’s face reddened in embarrassment.
His current cultivation realm hadn’t even reached Consonant Spirit realm yet. While his strength could be considered fairly powerful in a Tier-2 Empire, it was still lacking in the capital of a Tier-1 Empire like Hongyuan City.
"Master, I know of this matter. Those men keeping watch on the manor are the elders from the Master Teacher Academy!" the Byzantium Helios Beast said.
Having achieved a breakthrough to Spiritual Perception realm, he could easily perceive the happenings in his surroundings.
Sun Qiang might not have been able to find those creeping around the manor, but there was no way they could have escaped the Byzantium Helios Beast’s notice.
"Elders of the Master Teacher Academy? Why are they keeping watch on me?" Zhang Xuan was bewildered.
Even though he did cripple a couple of schools, wasn’t sending the esteemed elders on the academy to keep tabs on him a little, no, way too excessive?
"When I achieved the breakthrough to Saint 2-dan and awakened by spiritual perception, I happened to overhear their conversation, and it seems like... that lad, Lu Feng, intends to call for an Elder Conference to have you judged. I am not too sure about the details as well as they didn’t say too much, but I think you should remain on your guard for the next few days," the Byzantium Helios Beast said.
"Lu Feng wants to have me judged?" Zhang Xuan was astonished.
After he had made his round in the Apothecary School, Lu Feng had once assembled the Ten Great Master Teachers to push forward a motion to have his master teacher license revoked, but his plan had fallen through eventually.
School Head Jiang had already told him of this matter when he was at the Demonic Tunist School. Could that fellow be up to something again?
But if he didn’t succeed the first time, surely the second time would be nothing to worry about too...
"From the looks of it, I think they might have found some important evidence to use against you," the Byzantium Helios Beast said.
"Based on what I heard, not only did they invite Pavilion Master Mo Gaoyuan over, they even called forth the Saint-tier artifact, ’Golden Origin Cauldron’!"
The surveilling elders didn’t seem to know too much of the matter either. Thus, even though the Byzantium Helios Beast had been eavesdropping on their conversation, he only knew fragments of the story.
"Golden Origin Cauldron?"
"That is the Guardian Saint Artifact of the Master Teacher Academy. It is usually under the control of the principal, and it wields the power to destroy even Saint realm 3-dan experts!"
The Byzantium Helios Beast frowned. "However, after my master died, the Golden Origin Cauldron fell into a deep sleep, and no one has been able to command it since then. This would likely remain the case unless... an invasion of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe occurs!"
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows knitted together.
If what the Byzantium Helios Beast said was true, this was indeed a huge matter!
But... what did sending elders to surveil him have to do with an invasion of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe? Could it be that... news regarding his Otherworldly Demon puppets and Vicious had leaked?
If that was the case, he was indeed in deep trouble.
Putting aside how it would be ludicrous to most for a master teacher to have successfully taken in one of the top brass of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe as his subordinate, just the fact that he had so many Otherworldly Demon puppets in his possession was already something he couldn’t possibly hope to explain well.
Just as Zhang Xuan was deep in thought, attempting to figure out what Lu Feng was up to, Zheng Yang suddenly rushed into the room.
"Teacher..."
Zhang Xuan turned to him and asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Teacher, Vice School Head Zhou and Vice School Head Wei from the Apothecary School are here. They said that they are here to invite you to the academy to discuss an important matter," Zheng Yang said.
"Invite?" Zhang Xuan’s frown deepened. "How are their attitudes?"
"Their attitudes? Amicable and polite, I guess... They are currently waiting in the guest lounge!" Zheng Yang replied.
In truth, he had also felt that something was off about this matter. After the mess that his teacher had caused at the Apothecary School, the relationship between the two had been like fire and water, incapable of coexisting simultaneously. For the latter to suddenly pay their manor a visit and extend an invitation to the Master Teacher Academy... there was truly something bizarre about the situation.
Their attitudes are amicable and polite? And yet, they still sent men to surveil me? Looks like they did manage to grasp hold of some kind of handle over me, and they are afraid that I might flee after learning of it...
A sharp glint flashed through Zhang Xuan’s eyes.
After sending elders to surveil him and calling forth the trump card of the Master Teacher Academy, they abruptly sent vice school heads to invite him over to the academy politely... Their incongruous actions hinted at treacherous currents hidden beneath the calm exterior.
On top of that, he had come into contact with Lu Feng before. He was certain that the latter wasn’t one who could let go of his grudges easily.
Something was definitely amiss!
After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Xuan said, "Byzantium Helios, for the time being, I need you to get into the Myriad Anthive Nest. I might require your presence later on!"
"Yes!" the Byzantium Helios Beast nodded before entering the Myriad Anthive Nest.
At this moment, the Anthive Nest was already more than a dozen meters wide, so while there wasn’t sufficient space for him to move about, it was, at the very least, not cramped.
After this was done, Zhang Xuan was just about to head out to meet the vice school heads when he abruptly halted. He gestured for Sun Qiang and Zheng Yang to head to the guest lounge, and after confirming that there was no one around, he brought his clone out and passed his storage ring to him.
Vicious and the newly-acquired scroll containing Kong shi’s personal handwriting were in the storage ring.
Wherever the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was concerned, master teachers would tend to act by the adage, ’better safe than sorry’. On the off chance that he found himself cornered... it would be better to leave a hand.
His clone and he shared the same soul, so as long as his clone wasn’t kept in the storage ring, they could communicate remotely with one another.