Chapter 1109: Huge Trouble
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Hall Master Xing was stunned. For a moment, he thought that he had misheard.
"What did you say? Pummel what?"
Division Head Liao took another look at the words on his Communication Jade Token, and he replied with an indescribable expression on his face, "Pummel their guild..."
"Guild? What guild?" Hall Master Xing widened his eyes in bewilderment. "Did Guild Leader Ruan offend some other guild?"
"That’s not it. They are watching someone pummel their own guild... It seems like someone has succeeded in enchanting the Spirit Awakener Guild’s building, and the building has come to life!" Division Head Liao explained.
"Someone enchanted the Spirit Awakener Guild’s building?" Hall Master Xing’s lower jaw nearly fell to the ground.
Even though he was not a spirit awakener, he also understood that the larger an object was, the harder it would be to enchant it. Considering how large the guild building was, it was bound to be far more difficult to enchant it compared to normal artifacts. For someone to actually successfully enchant it... just which incredible spirit awakener could it be?
"It seems to be the deed of a foreign spirit awakener who goes by the name of Sun Qiang," said Division Head Liao.
"Sun Qiang?" Hall Master Xing frowned.
Not knowing much about the Spirit Awakener Guild, the name did not ring a bell to him.
A thought suddenly flashed through Hall Master Xing’s mind, and he spoke with an excited gleam in his eyes. "Right! If that Sun Qiang person is able to enchant even the entire guild building, he will surely be more than capable of nourishing and stabilizing my Primordial Spirit, right?"
"You’re right!" Division Head Liao nodded in agreement.
He knew full well that even with Guild Leader Ruan and the other vice guild leaders’ proficiency in spirit enchantment, they were still incapable of enchanting something as large as the guild building. Given that Sun Qiang was able to do it, it could only mean that his proficiency in spirit enchantment was far greater than theirs.
If they could acquire his assistance, perhaps Hall Master Xing would really be able to clear the Trial of Inner Demons and obtain the heritage, thus resolving the crisis they were in!
"Let’s head over to take a look!" Agitated, the duo hastened their footsteps.
It did not take too long for them to arrive at the Spirit Awakener Guild. There, they saw a young man wagging his finger furiously at the massive building while bellowing angrily.
Meanwhile, the guild building’s long neck was lowered miserably. From time to time, it would nick the young man’s robe, seemingly trying to appease him.
"This..."
Even though they had heard that someone had successfully enchanted the Spirit Awakener Guild’s building, it was still shocking to see it with their own eyes.
Such a huge building was moving its body ceaselessly, and the paint and dust on it were tearing off layer after layer, causing a cloak of dust to rise in the area. It was a truly fantastical sight.
More importantly... that massive figure was actually fawning over the young man, trying its best to express its goodwill toward him. Hall Master Xing and Division Head Liao could not help but feel as if their perception of the world had just collapsed altogether.
"Guild Leader Ruan, Vice Guild Leader Chen, Vice Guild Leader Xu!" Stepping forward, Division Head Liao greeted the three ladies as he introduced his companion. "This is the head of the Combat Master Hall, Hall Master Xing!"
"It’s pleasure to meet you. I have long heard of your name..."
The three top brass of the Spirit Awakener Guild quickly greeted Hall Master Xing politely.
"Pardon me. As fellow residents of Qingyuan City, I should have come over long ago to greet you all." After trading a few pleasantries, Hall Master Xing turned his gaze toward the young man before the guild building and remarked, "I don’t think that I have seen Spirit Awakener Sun Qiang around before..."
"He has just arrived at Qingyuan City not too long ago, and his proficiency of spirit enchantment is one that leaves even me deeply impressed. Hall Master Xing, if you truly hope to have your Primordial Spirit enchanted, it would be best for you to seek his assistance!" Guild Leader Ruan replied.
Honestly speaking, the cultivation of Hall Master Xing was a little too high for her spirit enchantment to work well on his Primordial Spirit.
"I’ll have to trouble Guild Leader Ruan to introduce me to him then." Hall Master Xing quickly bowed.
"I also only just got to know him a while ago, so I’m afraid that there’s nothing I can do if he refuses to help," Guild Leader Ruan said.
At this moment, Division Head Liao could not help but ask, "Guild Leader Ruan, if I may just ask, why is Spirit Awakener Sun Qiang beating up the guild building all of a sudden?"
This matter had left him deeply perplexed.
Since the other party had successfully enchanted the guild building, why was he pummeling it now?
"As the guild building has just been enchanted, it is still lacking in its judgmental ability. Earlier, it crushed two people to death, and that has caused Spirit Awakener Sun Qiang to fly into a rage!"
"It crushed two people to death?" Hall Master Xing and Division Head Liao were taken aback.
"Un. It crushed the Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadow, Cang Xu and Dao Kou, to death earlier on..." Guild Leader Ruan swiftly filled Hall Master Xing and Division Head Liao in on the matter.
"The Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadows have killed innumerable people in their time. Who would have thought that they would lose their lives here?" After hearing those words, the two combat masters were startled for a moment before shaking their heads at the capriciousness of the world.
The Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadows were notorious within the Qingyuan Conferred Empire. If not for the fact that they were often hidden amid the marshlands, they would have long been hunted down by others.
Previously, the Qingyuan Empire’s emperor had dispatched a force to have them eliminated, but the both of them still managed to get away. Eventually, they could only drop the matter.
Who knew that the both of them were brazen enough to step into Qingyuan City... and who would have thought that their lives would be ended beneath the feet of a mere building? Perhaps this was karma working its way around them.
While their minds were still dwelling on the matter, they suddenly heard the bellow of the young man ahead of them.
"Alright, stop acting pitifully here. Hurry up and seal the contract with Guild Leader Ruan!"
Zhang Xuan was truly angry.
As the saying goes, ’an untrimmed tree grows bent; an undisciplined man turns crooked!’
It was indeed true that the spirit of the guild building had just awoken, so it might not have understood much of the world. However, if it were to go undisciplined, wouldn’t it go around killing others?
Zhang Xuan had always avoided causing trouble wherever he went, so why would a spirit he enchanted turn out to be so undependable?
How disappointing!
Seeing that Zhang Xuan was angry, the guild building dared not utter the slightest word of complaint. It indignantly stretched its slender neck toward Guild Leader Ruan.
Very soon, the contract was sealed.
"Thank you, Sun shi!" Having finally tamed the guild building, Guild Leader Ruan heaved a sigh of relief and clasped her fist toward the young man.
"There’s no need to stand on ceremony..." Zhang Xuan waved his hand casually. "This fellow seems to have a bad temper, killing people on a whim. You have to keep a tight watch over it in the future!"
"The Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadows don’t have too good of a reputation. In a sense, they deserved their fate. Rest assured, our Spirit Awakener Guild will deal with the matter, so Sun shi need not worry about it," Guild Leader Ruan said with a smile.
The abrupt deaths of two Primordial Spirit realm experts could cause pandemonium, but this might just work out to be a blessing in disguise for the Spirit Awakener Guild.
Even though most would not dare act against the Spirit Awakener Guild on the surface out of fear for its connections, its low fighting prowess paired with its wealth still made it an attractive target for most, and there were those who operated in the shadows against it. However, if others were to learn that its guild building had just stomped two powerful Primordial Spirit realm experts to death, many would be deterred from the idea of laying their hands on the guild.
Such a matter could only be beneficial to them.
Zhang Xuan shook his head and said, "No matter what, they did die as a result of my doings. Here are two hundred high-tier spirit stones. If an opportunity arises, please hand it over to their offspring or kin!"
Even though the Twin Bandits of the Northern Meadows had committed many evil deeds and deserved to die, it should not have been by his hands. After all, they had not done much to him yet. Thus, he could not help but feel a little guilty about having killed them.
It had not been his intention to cause trouble.
All he wanted to do was to remain the pretty boy he was in the background, but trouble just had to keep knocking on his door.
Guild Leader Ruan hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Zhang Xuan had made up his mind, she eventually took the spirit stones from him and nodded. "This... Very well, we will handle this matter for you..."
At that moment, she could not help but feel a tinge of admiration for the young man.
He could have easily stood on the moral high ground and justified his actions through the immoral actions of the Twin Bandits, but he chose to acknowledge the portion of his sins in the matter as well. To stand up for what he did instead of making excuses, this was a true master teacher.
Putting everything aside, Kong shi had also caused a fair bit of trouble back then. However, it was how he resolved those problems that won him the admiration of all, thus allowing him to eventually become respected as the World’s Teacher.
"I’ll be troubling you then..." Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. At this point, he suddenly remembered something and added, "I prefer to keep a low profile, so I don’t want too many people to learn of this news. Thus, I hope that Guild Leader Ruan can help me keep a lid on the matter."
"Low profile?" Guild Leader Ruan’s face twitched uncontrollably.
You enchanted the guild building, bringing it to life, shortly after you arrived and even killed two Primordial Spirit realm experts afterwards...
Is this your definition of low profile?
Surely there is not a single person who is more high profile than you!
However, since the other party had made such a request of her, Guild Leader Ruan still nodded and said, "Sun shi, rest assured. We will warn those in the area to keep silent about this matter."
It was also to their benefit for this matter to remain an enigma to the public. It might cause others to mistakenly assume that the Spirit Awakener Guild had a powerful expert in their midst, and this would further ensure their security.
"Sun shi, allow me to introduce you!" After chatting for a while longer, Guild Leader Ruan gestured Zhang Xuan over to two men standing not too far away. "These two men are the head of the Combat Master Hall, Xing Tianming, and the head of the Heart Division, Liao Bujin."
"Head of the Combat Master Hall?" Zhang Xuan was stunned.
One of the main reasons he came to the Qingyuan Conferred Empire was to lead the Xuanxuan Faction to an exchange with the Combat Master Hall. The date that they had agreed on was three days from now, so he had not really expected to see the other party there.
"That’s right. Hall Master Xing and Division Head Liao, this is Spirit Awakener Sun Qiang. He is a master teacher as well," Guild Leader Ruan said.
"Master teacher?" Hall Master Xing looked at Zhang Xuan with a frown. For some reason, he found the young man before him weirdly familiar. "May I know which Master Teacher Pavilion Sun shi is from?"
"I..." Zhang Xuan was just about to say that he was from Hongyuan Empire, but he quickly stopped himself before he could say those words.
If he were to reveal that he was from Hongyuan Empire, it would not take long for Hall Master Xing to connect the dots and uncover his true identity. If so, he would risk being exposed publicly that he had used a fake alias, and that would make the situation even more awkward.
"I have been wandering around with my teacher ever since I was young, so I haven’t joined any Master Teacher Pavilion branches yet. I only took my master teacher examination in a Tier-1 Empire Master Teacher Pavilion..." Zhang Xuan quickly changed his words.
In the strictest sense, that could not be considered lying.
He had not joined any Master Teacher Pavilions, and he had indeed been wandering around the area.
"I see..." Hall Master Xing nodded.
There were indeed quite a few itinerant master teachers who chose not to join a Master Teacher Pavilion, so it wasn’t particularly shocking.
However, considering the fact that the other party had not joined a Master Teacher Pavilion and yet could still wield such capability at his age, surpassing even Guild Leader Ruan and the others in the field of spirit enchantment, his teacher was bound to be no ordinary figure!
After trading some pleasantries, Hall Master Xing finally popped the request with a look of anticipation. "I heard that Sun shi’s has a deep grasp over spirit enchantment, so I came here hoping for you to enchant my Primordial Spirit..."
"Me?" Zhang Xuan was stunned.
In his studies, he did learn that spirit awakeners had the ability to nourish souls and Primordial Spirits, making them more wholesome. However, he had not thought that his first client would turn out to be... the head of the Combat Master Hall!
"Yes. I’ll be truly grateful if Sun shi accedes to my request," Hall Master Xing quickly replied politely.
"That isn’t a problem. However... I have one artifact whose spirit is currently in a dormant state, and I need to wake it up first. If Hall Master Xing does not mind, may I ask you to wait for a moment while I treat it?" Zhang Xuan asked.
Considering how the head of the Combat Master Hall had come over and earnestly made this request of him, he had no reason to turn him down. Besides, with the Heaven’s Path Spirit Enchantment Art, reinforcing the other party’s Primordial Spirit was not a particularly difficult task for him.
However, the Golden Origin Cauldron took priority over that.
"This..." Hall Master Xing and Division Head Liao frowned upon hearing those words, and they shot a glance at one another.
Based on what they had heard, waking a dormant spirit was a particularly difficult feat to pull off even for a spirit awakener. More importantly, it was highly depleting on the spirit awakener’s soul energy as well. It was very likely that the other party would not be able to conduct a spirit enchantment for many days after that, and their matter couldn’t afford to be delayed.
Hall Master Xing hesitated for a brief moment before asking, "Sun shi, may I speak with you privately?"
Hearing those words, Guild Leader Ruan knew that they needed some space to discuss private matters, so she clasped her fist with a smile. "I have just sealed the contract with the spirit of the guild building, so I still have to familiarize myself with it. I’ll be taking my leave first..."
Vice Guild Leader Chen and Vice Guild Leader Xu followed closely behind her.
Seeing that the head of the Combat Master Hall wanted to speak privately with him, Zhang Xuan waved his hand and created an isolation barrier around him before turning his gaze back to the other party. "May I know what matter it is that you wish to speak of?"
Hall Master Xing gritted his teeth and said, "To be honest with you, our Combat Master Hall has been facing some huge problems recently. To deal with the threat at hand, I need to temper my Primordial Spirit as soon as possible so that I can clear the Trial of Inner Demons and raise my fighting prowess... or else, the consequences will be unimaginable! Thus... I hope to that Sun shi will enchant my Primordial Spirit first. For that, our Combat Master Hall is willing to fulfill any request that you have!"
"Huge problems?" Zhang Xuan was startled.
What kind of problem or enemy was the Combat Master Hall facing that left its head scrambling to raise his fighting prowess?
It was unimaginable that there was an enemy that even the Combat Master Hall was unable deal with. Just what kind of prodigious figure were they up against?
In that moment, Zhang Xuan could not help but feel a little apprehensive. It seemed like Qingyuan City was far more dangerous than he had thought!