Chapter 1395: You Imposter!
"Yang Xuan? You are... Yang shi's butler?" Elder Ge was stunned for an instant before his face abruptly warped in shock.
As the number one grand elder in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, it went without saying that he had heard rumors about the other party. But who would have thought that this fatty standing before him would actually be that legendary man's butler?
It was no wonder the other party was so arrogant and haughty! If he was truly the butler of the man who stood at the very peak of the Master Teacher Continent, then he definitely had the right to speak in such a manner to him!
"Indeed!" A hint of majesty could be seen on Sun Qiang's plump face as he took another step forward.
After the initial shock, Elder Ge grimly questioned, "Yang shi's whereabouts have been a mystery to even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters. You claim that you are his butler, but do you have any evidence to prove that?"
Even if he was willing to believe the fatty's words, it simply did not make sense for Yang Xuan to take in such a weak butler!
A powerful general had no feeble soldiers under his command. For a person who was not even at Saint realm to claim that he was Yang Xuan's butler, this was simply too much of a stretch to be true!
Ancient Sage Qiu Wu was Kong shi's servant as well, but he still managed to reach an unparalleled level of strength in the world!
To take in such a person as his butler... it would be like a smudge on Yang shi's name!
After all, if Yang shi really wanted a butler, not even 9-star master teachers would turn him down. Why would he choose a weakling who had not even reached Saint realm yet?
Not to mention, just by what he had seen so far, the other party was a dim-witted and crude individual!
However, he could sense that the other party meant the words that he said. All of his vitals showed that he was not lying, and this was exactly what left Elder Ge feeling rather perplexed.
"Audacious!" With a livid face, Sun Qiang bellowed furiously. "Are you doubting my words, or are you doubting my Old Master's judgement?"
"I wouldn't dare to doubt Yang shi's judgement." Elder Ge shook his head. "However, as the butler of a 9-star master teacher, he should have imprinted his blessing within you. If it's convenient for you, I hope that you would allow me a look. Once I verify your blessing, I'll have my student apologize to you immediately.
"Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to hold you liable for impersonating the butler of a 9-star master teacher and publicly humiliating the head of the Hall of Integrity, and the severity of these two sentences warrants the death penalty."
Considering that the Sanctum of Sages was a subsidiary power to the Master Teacher Pavilion, naturally, Elder Ge dared not doubt the judgement of a grand elder from the headquarters. But so far, they had only heard empty claims from the fatty before him, so naturally, he held some reservations toward the matter.
For a fellow whom even he would snub to be taken in as Yang shi's butler... this simply sounded too ridiculous to be true!
"Blessing?" Sun Qiang was slightly startled to hear that word.
He had met the Old Master on many occasions, but he had never heard of such a thing before!
"Just a surge of zhenqi from someone of Yang shi's prowess can bring unimaginable benefits and strength to an individual. If you are truly his butler, he will have left a will or something similar within you. Otherwise, you could be killed very easily by enemies given your cultivation realm, and that would make it extremely difficult for you to work for him, don't you agree?" Elder Ge explained.
Since the butler was working for the master teacher, it was only natural for the master teacher to offer some degree of protection to the butler. Under normal circumstances, the subordinates of high-ranking master teachers would have some kind of blessing infused into them so as to ensure that their lives would not be threatened when facing an enemy. If the fatty before him was truly Yang shi's butler, he was bound to have a blessing or something similar within him.
Otherwise, it would reflect poorly on Yang shi if his butler was killed.
"I... Of course my Old Master has bestowed upon me his blessing!" Sun Qiang was trembling fearfully on the inside, but on the surface, he continued putting up a brave front and harrumphed furiously. "Just that, how can I possibly show his blessing to anyone else so easily? What if I scare you out of your wits?"
As far as he knew, the Old Master had not imprinted a blessing on him before, but... it was already too late for him to back down at this point. Thus, he could only thicken his skin and push his way forward.
In any case, as long as he refused to take out the blessing, the other party should not be able to do anything about it.
"Don't worry, it'll be all good as long as you have Yang shi's blessing. There's no need for you to take it out," Elder Ge replied with a smile. "A master teacher of Yang shi's caliber is able to instill instinctive deference from other ordinary master teachers. As long as you follow me to the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall, we'll be able to discern if your words are true via the reflection of a unique formation."
"Teacher Acknowledgement Hall?" Sun Qiang's face twitched slightly upon hearing those words.
Even though he was not a master teacher, he had been to all kinds of Master Teacher Pavilions in his time with Zhang Xuan. He knew the significance of the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall to master teachers and that the will of countless predecessors resided in there. There was no trickery nor falsehood that would be able to escape their eyes.
The fact that he did not have the Old Master's blessing would be exposed in an instant if they headed there.
"Don't you think it's deeply disrespectful to trouble the wills of the predecessors over something as trivial as this? My Old Master has always preached that a person should always rely on himself as far as possible so as to not trouble others unnecessarily!" Sun Qiang replied haughtily without the slightest tinge of redness in his face.
The days he had spent as a realtor back in the Tianxuan Kingdom had allowed him to refine his art of lying.
"It's not a trivial matter at all. This matter concerns the honor of a 9-star master teacher, so it's imperative that we take it with utmost seriousness. Otherwise, I will have to report this matter to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters and have them send an envoy to verify the matter. That truly would be troubling others," Elder Ge replied earnestly.
The other party's firm confidence had left him a little doubtful earlier, but with the other party insistently refusing to verify his identity, he was starting to be more and more convinced that the other party was a fake.
Without bothering to give Sun Qiang any opportunity to argue, Elder Ge turned around and instructed, "Escort Yang shi's butler to the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall!"
"Yes!" the young man replied.
He stepped forward, and a burst of energy surged from his palm and wrapped around Sun Qiang like iron chains, rendering the latter completely immobile.
As one who had not even reached the Saint realm yet, his strength was nothing compared to the Saint 5-dan young man.
"Butler Sun, this way please!" the young man gestured forward with a smile.
"I..." Not expecting to be treated in such a manner, Sun Qiang's face reddened in rage. "How dare you bind the butler of a grand elder of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters? Will any of you be able to bear the consequences once my Old Master learns of the matter?"
"Bind? We would not dare bind a person as esteemed as you. All we are doing is inviting you over to the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall to verify your identity. As Yang shi's butler, you should be well aware of how important lineages are to master teachers, so even if Yang shi does learn of this matter, he will agree with our actions," Elder Ge said as he walked out of the room.
The young man quickly followed behind while dragging Sun Qiang along with him. Not too long later, they arrived before a vast hall.
Within the hall was a massive altar filled with innumerable tablets. These had been left behind by the generations of outstanding predecessors of the Sanctum of Sages. Erected at the very center of the room was Kong shi's sculpture, and he was looking at the sky with eyes filled with compassion for the entire world.
By the side of the hall, there was a row of smaller sculptures. The sculpture at the very forefront of the row was an old man whose eyes were tightly shut. He was the founder of the Sanctum of Sages, Ancient Sage Bo Shang. To the right of him was Sage Kui.
After which was the Second Sanctum Head, the Third Sanctum Head, and so on.
The sculptures of these sanctum heads were significantly shorter than Kong shi, and it seemed as if they were listening to his teaching, comprehending the true nature of the world.
"We have arrived at the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall. If you really do possess the blessing of Yang shi, we should be able to tell easily here," Elder Ge said with a smile before waving his hand grandly.
Huala!
Many rays of light shot forth from the tablets and the sculptures and fell upon Sun Qiang, embracing his body. It seemed like they were trying to detect the presence of any blessing within him.
Hu!
A moment later, the light shrouding Sun Qiang dissipated into the surroundings.
"You have no blessing imprinted on you at all! As expected, you have been lying all this time!" the young man bellowed in agitation.
"Preposterous! How can you even think of impersonating Yang shi's butler? You must really be tired of..." Elder Ge glanced at Sun Qiang with eyes that looked ready to kill.
Kacha!
But before Elder Ge could finish his words, a resounding explosion suddenly echoed in the hall—one of the tablets had exploded. Following which, the other tablets swiftly followed suit, as if fearing that it would be considered an act of disrespect if they were to detonate themselves late.
In just the blink of an eye, the room was filled with wooden shavings all around.