Chapter 974: Wu shi's Embarrassment
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Witnessing that, Wu shi's eyebrows shot up. "This..."
For a Nascent Saint master teacher to defeat a Saint 2-dan combat master barehanded... this was way too fearsome!
On top of that, just a moment ago, he had mocked the other party's strength! Who could have thought that the other party would defeat Combat Master Zhuo the very next moment? This was a direct slap to his face!
"Based on the intelligence we have so far, there are many Otherworldly Demonic Tribe experts in the ancient domain. Even a 6-star pinnacle master teacher like You Xu was unable to stand his ground against them! What makes you so confident that you will be able to stand against them?" Wu shi placed his hands behind his back and gazed at Zhang Xuan coldly. With a challenging tone, he questioned, "Have you fought an Otherworldly Demon before? Do you know how fearsome they are? Have you even seen an Otherworldly Demon before?"
"I..." Zhang Xuan was just about to respond, but the 7-star master teacher before them waved his hands again.
"In my lifetime, I have personally fought and killed 52 of them. Not only are they powerful and capable of challenging opponents stronger than them, more importantly, they exude a heavy killing intent that renders it difficult for anyone to stand against them!
"Against such enemies, possessing some combat prowess isn't enough. More importantly, you must have tremendous mental fortitude and determination. If you don't have those, you should just remain here."
While Wu shi was indeed picking on Zhang Xuan, his concerns weren't entirely illogical.
Even if Zhang Xuan possessed strong fighting prowess and had the guidance of a formidable teacher, he was ultimately still a twenty-year-old young man. There were many geniuses who had lost themselves under the overwhelming pressure emanated by the fearsome Otherworldly Demons, resulting in unexpected situations.
A mistake made by one wouldn't just affect the individual but the entire team. The expedition to the ancient domain was already dangerous as it was, and it would be unwise to bring in another unstable factor.
Zhang Xuan could tell that Wu shi wasn't a bad person at heart. The other party had just been in a lofty position for too long, which made him obstinate about his views. Shaking his head, he began to explain, "Regarding the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe..."
Halfway through his explanation, however, an elder abruptly rushed into the room.
"Principal Zhang!" The elder rushed forward and clasped his fist.
Noticing the peculiar expression on the other party's face, Zhang Xuan frowned. "Did something happen?"
That elder hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Principal Zhang, School Head Lu... Lu shi seeks an audience!"
Due to Lu Feng's conflict with Principal Zhang, he had almost had his license revoked. It was only known among a couple of people, but as an elder of the Master Teacher Academy, he had heard a thing or two about it. Without a doubt, there was bound to be some bad blood between the two of them. As such, he felt a little conflicted reporting Lu Feng's arrival to Principal Zhang.
"Lu Feng?" Unaware of the elder's thoughts, Zhang Xuan was taken aback for a moment he chuckled softly.
After leaving the seal, he had tried to look for them but to no avail. From the looks of it, they had managed to get out of the Subterranean Gallery safely.
"Invite him in!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand.
"Yes..." Seeing that Principal Zhang didn't get displeased over this matter, the elder heaved a sigh of relief before hurriedly leaving.
Not too long later, the elder returned with an old man walking behind him. Who else could it be other than Lu Feng?
The current Lu Feng no longer commanded a sharp disposition about him. There was clarity in his eyes, and he felt more mature and reliable than before.
It seemed like the happenings in the Subterranean Gallery had evoked a significant change in his mental state.
"Principal Zhang, you are fine! That's good..." Seeing the young man sitting safe and sound in the middle of the hall, Lu Feng heaved a sigh of relief.
While he had guessed that the other party would be fine after seeing the many corpses of the Otherworldly Demons, it was still a huge relief to see it with his own eyes.
The other party had put himself in great danger to save them. If not for him, their entire team would have died.
"Of course, I am fine. What about you? Have you all recovered from your wounds yet?" Zhang Xuan replied with a kind smile.
"Thank you for your concern, we have recovered fully from our wounds. Principal Zhang, it was only through your courageous efforts that we were to survive that ordeal and avert a potential calamity. Please accept my gratitude..." After saying those words, Lu Feng prepared to kneel to the ground.
"Lu shi, there is no need to stand on ceremony." Zhang Xuan hurriedly rushed forward to help him up.
On the other hand, seeing the two men whom they had thought had great enmity between them speaking so amicably to one another, School Head Mo and School Head Zhao glanced at one another in bewilderment.
Unable to stand it any longer, School Head Jiang Qingqin asked, "What happened?"
"Oh, it is like that!" Upon hearing the question, Lu Feng began to explain.
"Five days ago, Principal Zhang went down to the Subterranean Gallery and saved all forty of us 6-star master teachers who were stationed there. At the same time, he personally slew more than two hundred Saint realm Otherworldly Demons, including two Saint 4-dan Kings. I have already reported this matter to the headquarters, and I just received a response from them. I was intending to report this matter to the Master Teacher Academy so as to not allow Principal Zhang's contribution to go unnoticed, but I didn't expect Principal Zhang to have already returned..."
"Principal Zhang went down to the Subterranean Gallery?"
"Saved forty 6-star master teachers?"
"Slew more than two hundred Saint realm Otherworldly Demons, and this included their Kings as well?"
...
Hearing those words, the surroundings immediately fell silent.
Wu shi, who had just been authoritatively voicing his doubts about Zhang Xuan's capability, widened his eyes and nearly fainted on the spot.
He had just said that the other party hadn't even seen an Otherworldly Demon before, and this Lu Feng arrived a moment later to say that the other party had killed more than two hundred of them. Was this for real?
One must know that even he, a Saint 4-dan expert, hadn't killed that many yet!
And most importantly of all, there were two Kings among them!
It went without saying that each of the Otherworldly Demon Kings possessed fearsome might. Even a Saint 4-dan master teacher like him would be no match for an Otherworldly Demon King. Yet, based on what Lu Feng was saying, it seemed like Principal Zhang had not only survived an encounter with them, but he had even killed two of them.
Just the notion of it left his mind completely blank.
Wu shi turned to Lu Feng and asked grimly, "Is what you are saying true?"
"It is the utmost truth; I can guarantee it with my life!" Lu Feng nodded. "Furthermore, the headquarters have already investigated and confirmed the matter after we reported to them, and they have already converted Principal Zhang's contribution into Contribution Points. The reason I am here today is to hand them over to Principal Zhang."
After saying those words, Lu Feng flicked his wrist, took out a jade token with a faint yellow hue, and presented it to Zhang Xuan.
"Principal Zhang, you faced great danger to slay so many Otherworldly Demons and save us. We can't allow your deeds to go unnoticed. The headquarters made an evaluation based on the situation then and awarded you with 1211 Contribution Points."
"O-one thousand points?" Wu shi's body trembled, and he nearly spurted blood.
He had slain his first Otherworldly Demon when he was sixteen, and it had been several hundred years since then. He had never slacked in his effort of hunting down Otherworldly Demons, but the Contribution Points he had accrued over so many years only added up to 22 points.
This should have been a record that any master teacher would feel proud of, and countless would gasp in wonderment at. So, he had used it to mock Principal Zhang, but who could have known that, in the blink of an eye, the other party would suddenly be awarded more than a thousand points?
Could there be anything more exaggerated than that?
Even if the other party had slain more than two hundred Saint realm Otherworldly Demons and two Kings, it shouldn't have added up to that much!
Wu shi wasn't the only one who harbored such doubts. The others in the room thought the same as well.
As if having seen through their thoughts, Lu Feng explained, "These Otherworldly Demons entered the Subterranean Gallery through paying a heavy price to breach the seal between both worlds. They shouldered an important mission, and had they succeeded, Hongyuan Empire could very well have faced extinction. Principal Zhang's act of slaying them has effectively foiled their ploy, preventing them from carrying out a devastating massacre. This is a huge merit, and even a thousand Contribution Points can hardly match up to what he has done."
"This..." Everyone pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Indeed, slaying a few hundred Otherworldly Demons couldn't exactly be considered a huge merit, but if one had foiled their ploy by doing so and saved countless lives, that would be a different matter.
Paying no heed to the crowd's shock, Lu Feng continued. "There is also one more matter that the headquarters have yet to confirm for the time being. However, they are already checking on it, and once it is confirmed, it could very well earn Principal Zhang tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand Contribution Points."
"Tens of thousands or a hundred thousand Contribution Points? Just what kind of huge merit can earn one so many Contribution Points?" Mu shi asked in agitation.
Even slaying a Saint realm Otherworldly Demon might not even earn one a single point. Through this, it could easily be seen how difficult it was to earn Contribution Points.
To earn a thousand Contribution Points out of the blue was already inconceivable. Just what could it be that could allow Principal Zhang to earn tens of thousands or a hundred thousand Contribution Points after confirmation?
Mu shi wasn't the only one who was shocked by the matter. Wu shi, School Head Mo, and the others also had confused looks on their faces, unable to make heads or tails of the situation.
"It is like this. We entered the Subterranean Gallery earlier and found that the seal severing the space to the otherworldly battlefield had been repaired. If I am not mistaken, that must be Principal Zhang's doing, right?" Lu Feng raised his gaze and looked at Zhang Xuan.
"As long as the seal remained damaged, the Otherworldly Demon would have been able to continue their invasion. Thus, I spent a few days to fix the seal using a secret art that my teacher once imparted to me." Zhang Xuan nodded.
"As I thought." Lu Feng's eyes lit up.
Having stayed in the Subterranean Gallery for three months, he had already learned about the damage suffered by the seal. Knowing that this invasion wasn't an exception and there would be many more to come, he had prepared himself to spend his entire life fighting in the Subterranean Gallery to protect mankind. Yet, who could have known that when he took another look at it, it was already completely repaired.
Their group of master teachers had been together throughout the entire duration, and there was no way the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe would shoot themselves in the foot. Thus, the only one who could have done it was Principal Zhang.
Furthermore, the seal had a complex structure that even had the laws of space tied into it. None of them had the ability to repair the seal either. However, if it was the miracle workshop, Principal Zhang, who had done it, then it would all make sense.
That was why he was rather certain about the matter.
Repairing the seal meant eliminating the possibility of an assault by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe through the Subterranean Gallery once and for all. This was an immensely large merit.
Even a hundred thousand Contribution Points seemed meager in comparison.
As for what the outcome would be, the headquarters would come to a decision after they were done surveying the situation.
"Doesn't the seal involve the laws of space as well? Principal Zhang was actually able to fix it?"
"If it is really true, Principal Zhang really has contributed greatly to mankind this time."
"How did he do it?"
Hearing the conversation of the duo, the crowd was stunned.
The haughty and authoritative Wu shi from a moment ago looked as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.
"Right. Principal Zhang, did you just return from the Subterranean Gallery? I have been keeping a close eye on the seal, and it was still damaged the previous time I was there," Lu Feng suddenly asked out of curiosity.
He had gone to the seal to search for Zhang Xuan at one point, and it had still been damaged then. However, when he checked on it just a moment ago, it had already been completely repaired.
"Un. I only left the Subterranean Gallery an hour ago," Zhang Xuan replied with a bitter smile. "Look, I haven't even had a chance to change out of my clothes yet.
"Shortly after I returned from the Subterranean Gallery after braving through danger to slay a few hundred Otherworldly Demons and save Hongyuan Empire, the Assembly Bell chimed, so I had to rush over without any time to clean up or rest. Yet, I was actually accused of showing a lack of respect. Don't you think that is very absurd?"
Hearing those words, Wu shi's face turned completely red, and in that moment, he desperately wished that he could find a hole in the ground to hide in.