Chapter 892: Requirements for the 6-star Master Teacher Examination
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
While these empires didn't have any say in deciding the succeeding principal of the Master Teacher Academy, they did have a vote of confidence. If it was found that there was an overwhelming lack of trust in the succeeding principal, they could launch a formal petition to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters to look into this matter.
After all, the operation of the Master Teacher Academy was largely financed by the surrounding Tier-1 Empires.
The surrounding empires would often donate large sums of money to the Master Teacher Academy each year for their operations, and in exchange, the Master Teacher Academy would nurture their master teachers, thus bringing their national power to greater heights. An incapable principal could render their investment futile, and this was something that they weren't willing to see.
If there was widespread distrust in the capability of the principal, even the headquarters would have no choice but to reconsider the matter.
As the saying goes, 'the higher one stands, the greater the fall'. As powerful as the Master Teacher Pavilion was, they still had to maintain friendly ties with the surrounding nations. Otherwise, if it were to lose the support of the people, it would fall into decline, and the moment it showed a sign of vulnerability, the others would rush to push it over.
...
A similar sight was occurring in the Hongyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion as well.
Facing a large group of displeased pavilion masters, Mo Gaoyuan rubbed his glabella in frustration, not knowing how he should deal with the situation.
Since even the emperors of Hongchi, Yuanjiang, Baituo, and Chiyao had arrived, their corresponding Master Teacher Pavilion branches had also dispatched representatives.
Three pavilion masters and one vice pavilion master!
Upon hearing that the Master Teacher Academy would be inaugurating a 4-star master teacher as its principal, a huge commotion broke out amid the crowd.
As representatives of the Master Teacher Pavilions of Tier-1 Empires, their standing was equivalent to Mo Gaoyuan and the Ten Great Master Teachers, so they were qualified to question their judgement.
"Regardless of how capable the newly-appointed principal is, I object to this decision! Just watch how I make things difficult for him in the 'Question Symposium'!"
"How arrogant must a mere 4-star master teacher be to dream of becoming the principal of the Master Teacher Academy? He sure is taking all of us lightly!"
"Hah, if it was so easy to become the principal, the seat wouldn't have been empty for a whole two years!"
...
The several pavilion masters spoke with a cold glint in their eyes.
As esteemed master teachers themselves, they would be lying if they said that they harbored no intentions of becoming the principal themselves. If it had been a respected and capable master teacher who rose to the position, they would be nothing they could say about it. But a mere twenty-year-old 4-star master teacher... How could they possibly not oppose it?
...
In the Master Teacher Academy, many wounded students were gathered together with their faces livid with rage.
Peng!
Amongst them, a Grade-4 student abruptly slammed his palm forcefully on a table.
"How could the Master Teacher Academy actually admit defeat to a bunch of beasts? This is a huge humiliation to us as master teachers!"
"I heard that the elders just want to settle the conflict ahead of the inauguration ceremony, or else it might reflect badly on them."
"Preposterous! Are we going to toss aside the pride of mankind just for the pride of the new principal?"
"This is truly a huge disgrace to all master teachers! I would rather have died on the battlefield than attend this shameful inauguration ceremony!"
"As master teachers, we shoulder the fate of mankind. Yet, for the sake of their own pride, they actually chose to negotiate with those beasts. This is truly reprehensible!"
...
Rage was burning in the hearts of each and every student gathered there.
Busy with the inauguration ceremony, the school heads had chosen to conceal this matter from the students for the time being until everything settled down. As such, most of the students involved in the battle were unaware that the saint beasts and spirit beasts had already submitted to Zhang Xuan. They thought that the school heads had decided to surrender so that the inauguration ceremony could proceed smoothly.
Otherwise, considering how furiously the spirit beasts had bared their fangs at them, seemingly unwilling to rest until they had torn every human in sight into shreds, how could they willingly retreat from the battlefield?
"Right, do you know who the next principal is?" someone amid the crowd asked.
A couple of students shook their heads and replied, "I am not too sure!"
The Master Teacher Academy had kept a tight lid on this information, so not even they, as students, were unaware of the identity of the succeeding principal.
"Who cares who the next principal is? This is very first time that the academy has lowered its head to mere beasts since its establishment. A person like him is unworthy of respect! Why don't we start a protest at the inauguration ceremony tomorrow to force the succeeding principal to confess what kind of humiliating terms he had to agree to?" one person proposed.
"That's a good idea! It's settled then! I also want to know what kind of benefits he has promised those beasts for them to obediently return to the Cloudmist Ridge!"
Even though the students had no idea whom the next principal was, they were devoid of the slightest goodwill toward him due to this incident.
...
Oblivious to the fact that he had just won himself the hostility of countless men, at this very moment, Zhang Xuan was teaching Wei Ruyan suitable cultivation techniques for her constitution. By the time that was done, a new day had already set in.
Stretching lazily, Zhang Xuan was just about to have his breakfast when School Head Mo suddenly arrived at his manor.
"Principal Zhang, this is the flow of events for the inauguration ceremony later on. Take a look at it and familiarize yourself with it," School Head Mo said as he passed Zhang Xuan a jade token filled with words.
Taking a look at it, Zhang Xuan's eyebrows shot up.
The inauguration ceremony was indeed not as easy as he had thought. He would first be challenged by all of the teachers and students in the Question Symposium, and after which, he would have to pay respects to the many predecessors of the academy and seek their acknowledgement, and only then would he be able to gather the will of the teachers and students of the academy to form the Principal's Seal and become the true principal of the academy.
Last but not least, he would have to conduct a public lecture.
Each of these events was extremely troublesome, and the inauguration ceremony would take half a day at the very least.
But of course, considering that he was going to become the principal of the Master Teacher Academy that protected the surrounding dozen Tier-1 Empires, if he didn't go through this much, it would be hard for him to win the support of the masses.
Noting Principal Zhang's silence, School Head Mo feared that he might be unfamiliar with some of the procedures, so he began explaining them. "The Question Symposium is a challenge from the academy's teachers and students to the succeeding principal. As long as you perform well, you should be able to increase your recognition level. Typically speaking, the questions will be posed by a representative of the students, a representative of the teachers, and a representative by the other Master Teacher Pavilions, and they will be concerning cultivation or supporting occupations. Considering the deep knowledge that Zhang shi possesses, it shouldn't pose a problem at all!"
Given how even Principal Zhang's students were able to conduct a lecture that could leave all listeners in a trance, little had to be said about the teacher's capability.
In truth, the Question Symposium served as a platform for the new principal to showcase his capability and win the support of the masses.
"As for paying respects to the predecessors, considering Principal Zhang's astounding talent, even though you aren't a 6-star master teacher yet, you already have six 6-star supporting occupations, so it is only a matter of time before you clear the examination. Thus, it shouldn't be a problem for you to win their acknowledgement.
"Last but not least, gathering the wills of the teachers and students in order to form the Principal's Seal is, on the contrary, the most difficult aspect of the entire ceremony. No matter how formidable a master teacher is, it is impossible to obtain everyone's recognition. It is inevitable that there would be those who object to your inauguration as the principal. Despite the incredible prestige that the old principal wielded prior to his inauguration, he still only managed to form the Golden Principal's Seal."
"Golden Principal's Seal?" Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.
"Un. The more teachers and students who recognize you as their principal, the more wills you will be able to gather, and the higher the tier of the Principal's Seal formed from them will be. Typically speaking, it can be divided into four tiers, Platinum, Golden, Copper, and Iron!" School Head Mo explained.
"To form the Copper Principal's Seal, one will require the earnest recognition from half of the entire academy's populace. As for the Golden Principal's Seal, one will require sixty percent recognition level, and the Platinum Principal's Seal will require seventy percent. Ever since the founding of the Master Teacher Academy more than ten thousand years ago, only two principals have managed to form the Platinum Principal's Seal!
"One of them was the founder of our Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, Mu Kai! Mu shi was an earnest man who viewed every student as his own child. Back then, when a devastating war broke out, he charged to the frontlines and led the students bravely, suffering more than 130 deep cuts in that battle. After which, he even emptied out his entire fortune to treat the students wounded in the battle... It was such a sincere heart that won him the recognition of most students in the academy!"
"The other one to achieve that feat was Principal Mo Liuzhen four thousand years ago. Principal Mo was truly an incredible talent who dominated his era, and the accomplishments he had achieved back in his time don't even pale in comparison to yours!" Upon speaking about Principal Mo Liuzhen, a hint of admiration couldn't help but surface in the depths of School Head Mo's eyes.
"Oh?" Zhang Xuan remarked in curiosity.
He had thought that he was one-of-a-kind to get into huge incidents one after another from the moment of he arrived in the Master Teacher Academy... Could Principal Mo be one of his kind too?
"Principal Mo isn't as big of a troublemaker as you..." Seemingly seeing through Zhang Xuan's thoughts, School Head Mo replied reflexively before turning red after realizing what he had said.
As an elder of the academy, it was extremely disrespectful of him to call the principal a troublemaker.
However, seeing that the other party didn't fly into a rage, he heaved a sigh of relief inside. "From the moment Principal Mo arrived in the academy, he broke records all around. To date, the academy's Mountain of Records is still filled with his accomplishments. Even after four thousand years, there has still not been anyone who could surpass his feats..."
"Mountain of Records?" Zhang Xuan was surprised by the foreign term.
Despite having been in the academy for so long, he had never heard of such a place.
"It is normal that Zhang shi is unaware of it. The Mountain of Records is the place where the 6-star master teacher examination is conducted. No one has challenged the 6-star master teacher examination this semester, so it has been closed the whole time," School Head Mo replied.
"The previous time it opened was half a year ago when Hu Yaoyao and the others challenged it!"
"Hu Yaoyao?"
School Head Mo nodded. "Indeed. According to the rules of the Master Teacher Pavilion, one has to be a Half-Saint at minimum to qualify as a 6-star master teacher. Otherwise, one can only be considered a half 6-star. However, the couple of them still managed to receive their 6-star emblems, and this is because they have reached the third stage in the Mountain of Records!
"The Mountain of Records serves as a platform to examine a master teacher's cultivation and fighting prowess. To be able to reach the third stage means that their fighting prowess is already nearly on par with a Half-Saint. On top of that, they had also passed all of the preceding examinations, so they were given the 6-star master teacher emblem!"
"I see!" Zhang Xuan nodded, and after contemplating for a moment, he asked, "Other than six 6-star supporting occupations, what else is required to take the 6-star master teacher examination?"
Currently, Zhang Xuan had already fulfilled the requirement of six 6-star supporting occupations, and two of them were even at 7-star.
However, there could still be some prerequisites which he might be unaware of.
"Supporting occupations, Soul Depth, and cultivation, these are the three fundamental requirements for one's qualification to take the master teacher examination!" School Head Mo said.
"You have already met the requirement for supporting occupations. As for Soul Depth, the requirement for a 6-star master teacher is 18.0, and considering that you were able to beguile You Xu easily with the Impartation of Heaven's Will, that means that your Soul Depth is not a problem.
"And as for cultivation, the minimal requirement for a 6-star master teacher is Chrysalis realm pinnacle. Considering that you are only at Chrysalis realm primary stage, you are still lacking a little. However, if you can clear the third stage in the Mountain of Records as well, you should be able to earn the qualifications to take the examination!
"After meeting these three fundamental requirements, what remains is the test to evaluate your accomplishments as a master teacher. This test can come in many forms, and the more common ones are through evaluating one's students, conducting a lecture, and offering pointers on the spot to a stranger!"
School Head Mo hesitated for a moment before saying, "However, I fear that the difficulty for you will be higher than others. After all, given your identity, there will be many who will keep an eye on your actions. If you choose the easier routes, I fear that others might doubt your capability... Most likely, you will be pressured into taking on the most difficult test of all—Empire Building!"
"Empire Building?" Zhang Xuan frowned in incomprehension.