Chapter 1396: The Deputy Sanctum Head Appears
"This..."
The lower jaw of both Elder Ge and the young man fell to the ground, completely flabbergasted by what they were seeing.
The situation had far exceeded their imagination.
If Yang shi's blessing was imprinted within Sun Qiang's body, all of the predecessors whose strength was beneath Yang shi's when they left behind their will would fall down as a sign of respect to him.
And based off what they knew of Yang shi's strength, there were definitely not too many predecessors in the Sanctum of Sages who would be a match for him. If Sun Qiang was truly Yang shi's butler, they estimated that roughly half of tablets would fall, leaving behind just a few incredible experts and the sanctum heads.
But instead of falling, they ended up exploding. What the heck was going on?
Elder Ge anxiously looked at the altar of tablets before him, but as if meeting with some kind of supernatural occurrence, they were exploding one after another with increasing frequency. In just a few breaths, they had all already been reduced to wooden shavings with none surviving the ordeal.
"It's fortunate that the sculptures of the sanctum heads are still intact..." Elder Ge heaved a sigh of relief.
It was already bad enough for the tablets to be destroyed under his watch, so if anything had happened to Sage Kui and other sculpture as well, he really would have been in deep trouble.
But before he could finish his words, cracks began creeping across the sculpture of the Ninth Sanctum Head, growing more and more numerous.
Kacha! Kacha!
A second later, it was nothing more than a pile of rubble on the ground.
And as if a contagious disease, the same symptoms struck the Eighth Sanctum Head, followed by the Seventh Sanctum Head, then the Sixth...
Even Ancient Sage Bo Shang was not spared from this mysterious malady and split in two, leaving behind Kong shi standing silently on the spot.
At this point, Elder Ge and the young man's minds had gone completely blank.
The sanctum head of each generation was an astounding genius, be it in terms of their fighting prowess or eye of discernment. They would not pale in comparison even against the grand elders of the Master Teacher Pavilion!
This was even more so for Ancient Sage Bo Shang. As one of Kong shi's direct disciple, he had achieved a level of cultivation that not a single generation of deputy pavilion masters of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters were able to match up to. So why would they shatter all of a sudden while in the midst of recognizing Yang shi?
Just when in the world did Yang shi reach such a level of power?
If that was the case, as an elder of the Sanctum of Sages, Elder Ge should have heard of the joyous news by now!
Those two were not the only ones who were taken aback by the happenings. Even the perpetrator of the entire affair, Sun Qiang, was completely dumbstruck as well.
He had thought that he would be exposed this time around, but who could have known that this would happen instead?
While the Old Master had never imprinted a blessing on him, the Young Master did infuse several surges of zhenqi into his body before, saying that it would protect him in times of danger. It was out of a moment of desperation that he tried driving them earlier, but who would have thought that it would lead to the tablets exploding instead?
It was as if they had met a being whom they dared not oppose. The whole debacle was too bizarre!
"You..." Just as Sun Qiang was deep in thought, he saw Elder Ge looking at him with a speechless expression on his face.
"Do you believe that I am Yang shi's butler now?" Seeing that he was finally out of danger, Sun Qiang heaved a sigh of relief on the inside while glancing down on Elder Ge imposingly, as if everything had been under his control all this while.
"This..." Elder Ge was just about to nod when a resounding creak filled the room, and the next instant, Kong shi's sculpture placed his hands together and bowed deeply, seemingly greeting a peer.
Huala!
Following which, cracks began surfaced on Kong shi's sculpture as well, and it took just a few moments for it to explode into smithereens. And just as everyone thought that the worst was over, the entire Teacher Acknowledgement Hall suddenly began shaking non-stop, and the roof began plummeting down on them one chunk at a time.
Hong long long!
In less than two breaths, the majestic building collapsed inward, becoming nothing more than a pile of rubble.
"Just what in the world is going on?" Elder Ge and the young man looked at one another with frenzied expressions on their faces.
They had been planning to bring that fellow over to verify if that fellow really had Yang shi's blessing imprinted on him or not, but who could have known that the entire Teacher Acknowledgement Hall would end up collapsing instead?
The Teacher Acknowledgement Hall was a place where the wills of the predecessors were stored. Even if the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe managed to destroy every single hall of the Sanctum of Sages, it would still be nigh impossible for them to tear down the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall. Yet, the impregnable fortress was actually reduced to such a state.
Are you an envoy sent by the God of Destruction to bring ruination upon us!
"What happened?"
Barely after diving out of the rubble, they swiftly heard a voice in the sky. Looking up, they saw various silhouettes rushing over in their direction. The one taking the lead was an old man, and upon seeing the current state of the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall, his lips began twitching uncontrollably, seemingly unable to believe what he was seeing.
He was the incumbent deputy sanctum head of the Sanctum of Sages, Zhan Tiancheng.
"Zhan shi..." Seeing that the deputy sanctum head had come down personally, Elder Ge hurriedly clasped his fist and explained everything that had happened in detail.
"While verifying for the presence of a blessing, the tablets all shattered, and Kong shi placed his hands together and bowed deeply?"
Upon hearing the story from Elder Ge, Zhan shi and the other elders in the sky looked at one another with unbelievable expressions on their faces.
For Kong shi to actually bow to another man as his peer... What a joke!
Who in the world could possibly be worthy of having the World's Teacher bow down to them as a peer?
"What I'm saying is the absolute truth! If you don't believe me, you can have him try it again once the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall is fixed!" Elder Ge exclaimed in agitation, seeing the doubt in the others' eyes.
"The Teacher Acknowledgement Hall harnesses the will of many predecessors. It'll take at least half a year in order to restore it to its previous state." Zhan shi shook his head and frowned. "Why don't we do this instead? We shall temporarily seal our cultivation and use our own perceiving methods to examine Butler Sun's condition so as to determine what's going on."
Their strength was already no weaker than the predecessors, so they could use the same means to determine if there was truly a blessing in Sun Qiang or not. At the same time, they would be able to find out what had happened earlier as well.
"Sounds good." Elder Ge nodded.
"Let's begin then!" Zhan shi instructed.
The various elders quickly surrounded Sun Qiang, and with a flick of their wrist, a ray of light burst forth from their hands.
Hong long!
Just like before, the light congregated on Sun Qiang, forming a sphere of light around him.
They really won't learn, will they? Seeing that the crowd was still insisting on examining him, Sun Qiang shook his head helplessly.
He drove the zhenqi that the Young Master had infused into his body before turning to look at one of the elders.
Padah!
A slight jolt sounded, and the elder abruptly plummeted from the sky before lying in a daze on the ground, as if having encountered something terrifying.
Then, Sun Qiang turned his gaze to another one of the elders.
Paji!
That elder plummeted from the sky, too.
This... Scratching his head, Sun Qiang turned to the third elder.
Hu hu hu!
Wherever Sun Qiang's eyes fell, the elders in that direction would suddenly lose control of their strength and plummet to the ground. In just the blink of an eye, only Zhan shi was left in the sky.
"You..." Watching as Sun Qiang slowly turned his head around, Zhan shi could not help but shudder in fear.
Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw a towering figure appearing right before his eyes. That figure was so big that he seemed to cover the entire world, or perhaps, he was the world itself, a manifestation of the authority of the heavens.
Padah!
A jolt struck Zhan shi's heart, and he suddenly found his zhenqi slowing to a halt. Just like that, he plummeted from the sky as well and struck the ground headfirst, dyeing his hair with dirt.
Watching as the deputy sanctum head and other elders fell from the sky, Elder Ge's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. His teeth clattered together in fear as he looked at the fat silhouette before him with a hint of apprehension in his eyes.
"The Young Master's zhenqi is actually so useful?"
While the crowd was overwhelmed by shock and fear, Sun Qiang was reveling in his newfound ability. He excitedly drove the zhenqi that the Young Master had infused into his body and swept his gaze across the crowd once more.
In response to that, Zhan shi and the others convulsed on the spot. Another sweeping gaze, and they convulsed on the spot once more. Sun Qiang could not help but find the situation deeply interesting.