Chapter 925: Zhang Xuan Returns

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

The formalities for the inauguration ceremonies of the Four Great Master Teacher Academies were rather similar.

It was not arrogance or complacency, but their ability to impart knowledge and manage their respective Master Teacher Academies could be considered top-notch even when compared to the preceding principals in the history of their academies.

Yet, even with capabilities like theirs, they had only received 45% and 37% of their predecessors' recognition. This fully reflected the difficulty of the formality.

Even if a fellow in his early twenties were to start studying from his mother's womb, how capable could he possibly be?

Could he really be more capable than them and have received an even higher recognition from the predecessors?

"Surpassed? It is more like there is no basis for comparison at all!"

Seeing their expressions, how could Wu Ran be unaware of the thoughts going through the minds of his two old friends? He couldn't help but shake his head.

"No basis of comparison? It can't be that... he has received a recognition rate exceeding 50%?" Shen Pingchao asked with a frown.

Even at the limits of his imagination, he couldn't think of anyone achieving anything much more than that.

Those who were chosen to become the principals of a Master Teacher Academy were the geniuses among geniuses, individuals who had contributed greatly to the academy in many ways. In the first place, it was already unthinkable to have a student who had only just enrolled into the academy become the principal. Yet, could that student really have obtained more than half of the predecessors' recognition?

If that was the case, wouldn't the predecessors... be far too lacking in their judgement?

"Exceeding 50%?" Wu Ran shook his head.

Noting Wu Ran's response, Wo Tianqiong thought that the other party was denying the matter and heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Just as I thought, how could a recognition rate of 50% be achieved that easily..."

However, before Wo Tianqiong could finish his words, the other party spoke. "If it was only that much, I wouldn't have made such a fuss. The recognition rate that the new principal has achieved is... 100%!"

"100%?"

The two principals nearly spurted blood.

You must be joking with us!

Every individual had their own thoughts and preferences, and satisfying everyone, not to mention more than a hundred top-notch geniuses throughout history, was definitely impossible!

This was the reason why over the years, despite the emergence of many outstanding principals, never had there been a person who had achieved a 100% recognition rate.

Yet, a newly enrolled student who was barely in his early twenties had actually won the recognition of the hundred predecessors?

"I know that the both of you won't believe it. However, this is the truth. There is no faking it." Wu Ran sighed deeply.

When he first heard the news, his reaction had been just like the other two. His lower jaw had nearly dropped straight to the ground from shock.

Had it not been for the hundred thousand witnesses present on the scene who could verify the matter, he would have definitely thought that it was a lie!

"Since you are so certain of the matter, there should be no doubt." Knowing that his old friend wouldn't lie to him over such an important matter, Wo Tianqiong turned to look at him with a perplexed expression. "After inviting the predecessors to the ceremonial ground, we are only granted three sentences to speak. What did the new principal say in order to win the recognition of all of the preceding principals?"

With his lips twitching uncontrollably, Wu Ran replied, "He didn't say anything much... Instead, he pummeled the wills of the predecessors instead!"

"P-pu-pummeled?" Shen Pingchao and Wo Tianqiong staggered weakly.

They had heard of principals uttering words to fawn on their predecessors, and they had also heard of principals bragging about their achievements in the hope of aweing them, but none had managed to achieve such outstanding results before. For pummeling to be so effective... When did the wills of the predecessors become so lacking in guts that they would submit to force?

"Not only so, the new principal has also obtained the complete recognition of every single teacher and student in the Master Teacher Academy, thus successfully forging the Impeccable Principal's Seal. On top of that, during his public lecture, he induced the phenomenon of countless animals, regardless of species, be it donkeys, roosters, dogs, or cats, achieving a breakthrough to become savage beasts."

Fearing that the two principals would suffer a mental breakdown, Wu Ran swiftly went through everything before they could properly muse over the implications of the matter, hoping to lessen the blow.

"Impeccable Principal's Seal..."

"Countless animals achieving a breakthrough to become savage beasts..."

Nevertheless, the blow still left the two principals dumbstruck for a very long time before they could regain their sanity. "Have you met the new principal?"

"Not yet." Wu Ran shook his head. "When I arrived, I heard that he left around two months ago for his 6-star master teacher examination, Empire Building."

"Two months? It seems like we won't have an opportunity to meet him then."

"Indeed. Considering the difficulty involved in Empire Building, even if he is a truly talented individual, it will still take him a minimum of several years to succeed."

Hearing that the new principal was in the midst of taking the most difficult assessment for his 6-star master teacher examination, Shen Pingchao and Wo Tianqiong shook their heads in disappointment.

"Several years? There is no need for that! Based on the latest news I have received... he has already cleared the test!" Wu Ran said.

"Didn't you say that... he only left two months ago for the examination?" Wo Tianqiong's mouth twitched in astonishment.

"Indeed. He cleared the test within two months, advancing a Conferred Kingdom into an Unranked Empire," Wu Ran replied with a nod.

"..." The two principals.

Just before heading there, they had still been discussing about how the students were lacking worldly experience, and they should allow the students to interact with one another more so as to learn that there was a taller mountain, a person greater than themselves. However, after hearing all those words, they suddenly had a feeling that the ones who were lacking worldly experience were them!

It had been five hundred years since they had taken over as the principals of their respective Master Teacher Academies, and in the period of time, they had seen many different kinds of geniuses. However, they had never met one who could match that Principal Zhang's caliber!

"In the Combat Master Selection, the ones who will be assessed are the students, not the principals. The Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy might have found an outstanding principal, but from what I know, the strength of their students is still not up to par. I guess we will see the true prowess of the new principal personally then!"

"Indeed. While it is important for a principal to be a capable individually in order to win the respect of others, what is more important is his ability to bring the academy forward to greater heights. If he can't achieve that, then no matter how many predecessors recognize him or how advanced a Principal's Seal he was able to form, they would merely be for show."

Being the principal of the Master Teacher Academy wasn't a one-man show to display the extent of one's capability. Rather, it was a responsibility to manage the academy effectively so as to maximize the potential of the students. If the students were unable to meet the benchmark, the principal would have failed their job regardless of how capable they were or how great a reputation they had accrued.

Utilizing all resources available at hand to maximize the strength of the students, that was the core responsibility that a principal had.

The Four Great Master Teacher Academies had always been in a state of rivalry, and they would be lying if they said that the emergence of such an outstanding principal in the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy didn't leave them feeling pressured.

At that moment, they had all made up their minds. They would have their students perform spectacularly in the Combat Master Selection so that everyone would learn that the pride of a principal lay not in their own strength but the strength of their students.

...

While an air of rivalry was brewing within Hongyuan City, Zhang Xuan was seated atop the Byzantium Helios Beast, on his journey back to the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy.

Empire Building was indeed worthy of its title as the most difficult 6-star master teacher examination test. Even with the means he had at hand, he had still found himself overwhelmed by the many things he had to do.

Fortunately, his efforts hadn't been in vain. He had finally accomplished the task at hand.

Within the two months, using the five hundred high-tier spirit stones he had obtained from the Shen Clan and Liu Clan, he had also advanced his cultivation to Half-Saint pinnacle.

The strength he could draw from his zhenqi cultivation had also increased from the initial 60,000,000 ding to 84,000,000 ding, granting him might superior to even the 75,000,000 ding that the average Nascent Saint pinnacle cultivator wielded.

With the rise in his strength, ordinarily speaking, taking into account the 20,000,000 ding and 32,000,000 ding from his soul cultivation and physical body cultivation respectively, the maximum strength he could harness should have been 136,000,000 ding, greater than a Saint realm 1-dan cultivator.

However, things didn't go as planned.

No matter how he cultivated, his strength just wouldn't break the 100,000,000 ding bottleneck, stopping right at 99,999,999 ding.

It was as if the 100,000,000 ding was the manifestation of the difference between a Saint and a Transcendent Mortal. As long as he didn't achieve Sainthood, it would remain an unbreachable barrier.

A ding of difference demarcated the gap between a deity and a mortal.

However, even though Zhang Xuan was unable to wield strength exceeding 100,000,000 ding, the strong cultivation foundation that he had built up allowed him to crush even an ordinary Saint realm 1-dan intermediate stage cultivator easily.

More importantly, after the two months of cultivation, the zhenqi reserve he had in his body was so great that it would astound any cultivator.

Using an analogy, if the zhenqi reserve of an ordinary Half-Saint cultivator was a small pond, his would be a massive lake, at least several dozen times greater than the former.

In other words, if he were to release his zhenqi all at once, it would be comparable to that of dozens of Half-Saint pinnacle experts. Just the notion of it in itself was fearsome.

Naturally, he wasn't the only one to have achieved a breakthrough in the past two months. Luo Qiqi and Yu Fei-er had successfully advanced to Chrysalis realm pinnacle too.

Dong Xin and Hu Yaoyao had also managed to match him, becoming Half-Saint pinnacle experts themselves.

To anyone else, this rate of cultivation was inconceivable and only existed in one's dream. However, after tagging along with Zhang Xuan for so long, the four of them seemed to think of it as something perfectly normal, and they even felt that they might have been cultivating a little too slow.

In fact, were it not to reinforce their cultivation, they might have already achieved a breakthrough to Nascent Saint, swiftly approaching Saint realm!

Under his guidance, Zhao Feiwu and Mo Yu had also reached Transcendent Mortal 5-dan.

The Byzantium Helios Beast, which had been tagging along with them, through consuming the many inner cores stored in the Golden Beartiger Beast's storage ring, had also significantly advanced its cultivation, reaching Saint realm 2-dan advanced stage.

The nine kings of the Cloudmist Ridge had also achieved breakthroughs as well, reaching Spiritual Perception realm.

Two months was nothing to a cultivator, passing by with just the snap of a finger. However, it was within this seemingly short period of time that everyone around Zhang Xuan, be it beast or human, had made frightening advancements in their cultivation.

At the same time, after three months of work, the Myriad Anthive Queen had expanded the Myriad Anthive Nest to around five hundred meters in diameter. The space had also become more stable, similar to a mini world.

Many buildings had been constructed within, making it feasible to house several hundred or even a thousand men within.

The nine kings of the Cloudmist Ridge and the Byzantium Helios Beast usually lived in harmony in the nest, not interfering with one another.

Zhang Xuan's clone had also been cultivating its soul under the Bodhi Tree all along, and it had recently managed to achieve a breakthrough to Chrysalis realm.

Speaking of which, Zhang Xuan, confident in his newfound strength, had challenged his clone to yet another battle, hoping to wash away the many humiliating defeats he had suffered at the latter's hand. However, as soon as the battle started... just like the many times before, he was viciously pummeled into submission.

For some reason, even though his clone's soul cultivation hadn't increased by much within this period of time, the other party's strength had still grown by an even greater amount than his.

Because of this matter, Zhang Xuan had been frustrated for a very long time before coming to a realization.

Perhaps, from the very start, his clone hadn't been able to utilize the full extent of the unbelievable strength contained within the Nine Hearts Lotus. However, over time, as the compatibility between his clone's soul and the Nine Hearts Lotus increased, his clone would be able to draw more strength from the Nine Hearts Lotus, thus enhancing his fighting prowess.

In other words, even if his clone didn't cultivate and spent its days sleeping idly, he would still display a fighting prowess beyond one's imagination once the compatibility of his soul and the Nine Hearts Lotus became perfect!

Of course, this realization sent Zhang Xuan into another downward spiral of unhappiness.

Eventually, he could only sigh and accept it. It couldn't be helped. Since he was lacking in innate talent, he could only make up for it through diligence.

...

While Zhang Xuan was cultivating, Luo Qiqi suddenly entered the room and said, "Teacher, we have arrived at Hongyuan City. Shall we head straight to the Master Teacher Academy or..."

"We have arrived?" Zhang Xuan stood up and took a look outside before saying, "Let's head to the manor first!"

With School Head Mo and School Head Zhao in the Master Teacher Academy, there was no need for Zhang Xuan to worry about the matters there. For the time being, he was more interested to see how far Wang Ying and the others had progressed during his absence.

He hadn't brought them to Xuanyuan Kingdom alongside him for two reasons.

One, he had already taught them all they needed to know, so there was no need for them to tag along.

Two, he wanted them to learn how to become independent. In a sense, this served as a test for them. He wanted to see how far they could cultivate on their own in his absence.

In the end, they were the only ones who could dictate the route they wanted to take. He had been by their side, supporting them, ever since the start of their journey from Tianxuan Kingdom, and it was about time for them to learn how to advance on their own.

"Alright!" Luo Qiqi nodded.

Before long, the Byzantium Helios Beast began making its descend toward a resplendent manor in the middle of Hongyuan City.