Published at 25th of March 2019 10:33 pm

Chapter 839: Return to Hongyuan City

"Folded spaces are similar to formations. As long as one finds the door, one will be able to leave it easily," Luo Ruoxin said.

"Door?" Zhang Xuan looked around his surroundings.

The area he was in wasn't too big, spanning only around several hundred meters. Anything beyond that seemed to be blocked off by some spatial barrier; no matter how he tried to pass it, he simply couldn't step past the boundary.

"It seems the exit should be somewhere in here then…"

Since it was impossible for him to pass the spatial barrier, the exit had to be somewhere within the area he could move in.

Activating his Eye of Insight, he began observing his surroundings intently. Initially, he couldn't find anything, but a thought suddenly came to mind and he turned to the area where he had arrived, and after a moment of keen observation, he finally found a clue.

He walked over to the area, and with a light step, a stone platform identical to the one he'd seen when entering this folded space gradually surfaced.

"That must be the exit. We should be able to leave by stepping on it." Luo Ruoxin smiled as she took the lead and stepped on the stone platform. With a slight flash, her figure disappeared from the spot.

"Wait a moment…"

Not expecting the other party to leave without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Xuan's heart skipped a beat.

Given that the Saint Ascension Platform had just been destroyed, the master teachers outside would surely be armed with their pitchforks, hunting down the culprit behind the mess. If he were to leave, wouldn't he be pummeled to death?

But since Luo Ruoxin had already left, he couldn't possibly leave her in the lurch. Deciding to just face whatever came his way, Zhang Xuan stepped on the stone platform as well.

Hu!

With a brilliant flash of light, the scenery changed. Blue sky and white clouds, accompanied with a light breeze, appeared before him, and a young lady stood not too far away from him.

"Hmm?" Zhang Xuan took a look at his foreign surroundings and was taken aback. "Where are we?"

From where he stood, he couldn't see the Saint Ascension Platform anywhere. It didn't seem like they were in the area anymore.

"I am not too sure either. My guess is that Kong shi knew that the destruction of the Saint Ascension Platform would cause a great deal of trouble to the one who solved his test, so he set the exit somewhere else," Luo Ruoxin said contemplatively.

"I see, that's a relief…" Seeing that he was spared from the miserable fate of being lynched, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

At this point, he had already realized that as one who had received Kong shi's acknowledgement, the other master teachers wouldn't do anything to him even if he was the culprit behind the destruction of the Saint Ascension Platform. The true problem lay in the existence of the folded space hidden in the cliff face and Kong shi's personal handwriting. If others were to learn that he carried such a treasure in his possession, others could potentially come after him out of greed.

Master teachers were respected for their righteousness and morals, but it was nigh impossible for an organization as big as the Master Teacher Pavilion to accurately assess the character of each of its members. Without a doubt, there would be a few who would succumb to their greed and go after him.

He didn't want to be assaulted day after day over a darned scroll.

After checking the surroundings once more and confirming that he was a safe distance away from the Saint Ascension Platform, Zhang Xuan's tense heart finally calmed down. He called for the Great Violetwing Beast to return to Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, and while waiting, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

Flicking his wrist, a nest around the size of a football appeared in his palm.

The Myriad Anthive Queen emerged from the nest. "Master!"

"There is a folded space here. Are you able to put it into your nest?" Zhang Xuan asked.

The Myriad Anthive Nest's interior was only around three meters from one end to the other, and it had been completely packed with just a single Byzantium Helios Beast inside. For a very long time, Zhang Xuan had been looking for some way to expand the space inside the hive.

What was before him at this very moment was a folded space of several ten thousand square meters. If there was some way to assimilate both of the spatial artifacts together, he would really be able to call forth an army of spirit beasts at a whim to decimate anyone who irked him.

The Myriad Anthive Queen took a look at the stone platform and climbed on it for a moment before returning to Zhang Xuan with an excited gleam in its eyes. "Master, I think I will be able to assimilate the folded space into the nest. However… the process will take some time!"

"How long?" Zhang Xuan asked.

Anything concerning space was filled with intricacies, and the Myriad Anthive Queen was only a Perfect Harmonization realm spirit beast. Despite possessing an inborn talent for spatial manipulation, it still wasn't an easy feat for it to conduct an assimilation.

"I will require a minimum of three days to devour it completely, and several months to assimilate it into the nest," replied the Myriad Anthive Queen.

"Alright, I will give you three days then," Zhang Xuan said.

He could still afford to spare three days.

"Yes!" Having earned its master's permission, the Myriad Anthive Queen hurriedly stepped onto the stone platform and disappeared.

On the other hand, seeing that he wouldn't even let the folded space Kong shi had left behind go, Luo Ruoxin shook her head.

Other master teachers would be worshipping anything that Kong shi had left behind as sacred relics, not daring to desecrate it in the least. But this fellow… he actually intended on having his own tamed beast devour the folded space where Kong shi had ascended to Sainthood in… Really, just what was in his mind?

…

After waiting patiently for three days, the duo finally saw the Myriad Anthive Queen climb out of the folded space with a pale face. Its head had doubled in size, and there was an uncomfortable bulge in its stomach.

After having it return into its nest to expand the space in it, Zhang Xuan, along with Luo Ruoxin, leaped onto the back of the Great Violetwing Beast before returning to the Master Teacher Academy.

This trip to the Saint Ascension Platform had been worthwhile.

Through the Soul Tempering of a Mentor's Calligraphy, his Soul Depth had reached 21.1, comparable to a 7-star master teacher. He had also obtained Kong shi's personal handwriting, and even though he had no idea what use it served, it must have some invaluable use to it considering how countless master teachers would fight over it. Last but not least, he had also found a way to expand the Myriad Anthive Nest.

Having devoured such a large folded space, the Myriad Anthive Nest would surely expand to many times its original size once the Myriad Anthive Queen successfully assimilated the folded space in it. By then, he would be able to house the Byzantium Helios Beast, Great Violetwing Beast, his clone, and even his students in it. He wouldn't have to worry about bringing them around into inconvenient places anymore.

Days flew by like the passing wind for a cultivator. Before long, three days had passed, and Hongyuan City came into sight.

In this time, the Myriad Anthive Nest had grown to be around a dozen meters wide, allowing even the massive Great Violetwing Beast to enter without a problem.

Zhang Xuan hadn't been slacking off either. With the rise in his Soul Depth, his analytical capability had been enhanced, granting him a deeper insight to his cultivation technique, thus allowing him to cultivate faster than before.

He had been intending to suppress his cultivation until he found the corresponding Heaven's Path Divine Art before making the breakthrough, but who could have known that in his sleep on the first day, he would subconsciously make the breakthrough to Ethereal Treading realm primary stage. That had left him feeling incredibly stifled within for the entire day.

He had already resolved to refine his zhenqi well and build up a truly solid foundation for the further advancement of his cultivation, but… it seemed like fate simply wouldn't allow it.

Sigh! It sure is a huge problem when one achieves breakthroughs too easily!

In any case, the breakthrough to Ethereal Treading realm had raised Zhang Xuan's fighting prowess a significant amount. The strength he could tap into from his zhenqi cultivation increased from 14,000,000 ding to 17,000,000 ding!

That was might on par with Ethereal Treading realm intermediate stage experts!

Factoring in the 11,000,000 ding from his soul cultivation and 8,000,000 ding from his physical body, he harnessed a combined strength of 36,000,000 ding, which was more than sufficient for him to destroy even a Chrysalis realm pinnacle expert in a single punch!

(Chrysalis realm pinnacle experts wield a strength of 34,000,000 ding)

Not too long after entering Hongyuan City, the Master Teacher Academy came into view. After arriving at the destination, Luo Ruoxin bade farewell and left, stepping on thin air.

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan had the Great Violetwing Beast fly back to his manor.

…

As soon as the Great Violetwing Beast entered Hongyuan City, one of the elders of the Apothecary School hurriedly rushed to Lu Feng's residence and reported to him.

"School head, Zhang Xuan and Luo shi are back!"

Slapping the table, Lu Feng stood up abruptly with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"He has returned? Good!"

He had thought that the fellow would return in a day or two, but who could have known that he would end up waiting for nearly ten days? Unforgivable!

"Continue keeping tabs on him. Remember, don't let him get away by hook or by crook!" Lu Feng instructed the elder before turning to the side. "School Head Chen and Dong Xin, let's head to the Elder Hall."

"Alright!" Chen Chengxun and Dong Xin heaved a sigh of relief as they stood up.

In order to ensure that the news didn't leak, they had been asked to remain there for the past ten days as well. Since Zhang Xuan had returned, their 'isolation' was finally over.

Not too long later, they arrived at a tightly sealed room located at the highest point of the Master Teacher Academy.

The Elder Hall!

This was where the Ten Great Master Teachers, principal, and vice principals discussed important matters concerning the academy.

Rarely were there any matters requiring all of the top brass of the Master Teacher Academy to gather together, so the doors of the Elder Hall were rarely opened. However, in just than half a month since the start of the semester that year, it had already opened twice.

The first was regarding the disappearance of Senior Byzantium Helios and the second was on a motion to expel Zhang Xuan.

Entering the room, they activated the formation inscribed in the room to ensure confidentiality before taking a seat and waiting. One by one, the remaining eight school heads stepped into the room as well.

"School Head Lu, what have you assembled all of us so anxiously for this time?" School Head Mo asked as soon as he stepped into the room.

"Indeed. If you are still hung up on the matter regarding Zhang Xuan, I will have to ask you not to waste our time. Even though most of the students of the Apothecary School have withdrawn from their lessons, I have personally made a trip to take a look at the situation after the previous conference, and over half of them have achieved a breakthrough in their pill forging proficiency… In other words, not only should Zhang shi not be punished, our academy should even reward him for his contribution!" Zhao Bingxu said.

After that day, most of the school heads had conducted a private investigation of the matter concerning the Apothecary School out of worry. Just as Lu Feng had said, most of the students of the Apothecary School had withdrawn from their lessons… But despite that, it seemed like they had found a better teacher to further their studies. There was a significant rise in the overall pill forging proficiency of those ex-students.

The vision of the academy was to groom generations of talents for mankind. Anyone, be it teacher or student, who could achieve this would be a meritorious member of the academy. Even if Zhang Xuan's matter was reported to the headquarters, there was no one who would fault him for his deeds.

Lu Feng waved his hands and spoke leisurely. "Don't be hasty, I will start once Mu shi and Pavilion Master Mo arrive!"

He might have suffered a checkmate at their hands the previous time, but he had come with concrete evidence in his hands this time around.

Let us see how you can help Zhang Xuan this time!

"Pavilion Master Mo? Why did you call him here?" Wei Ranxue questioned.

The other elders also frowned in displeasure.

While the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy and Hongyuan Master Teacher Pavilion were associated with one another, they were considered two different entities, and they rarely interfered in the matters of the other. The Elder Conference should have been something private to the academy, but Lu Feng, of his own accord, had decided to invite Pavilion Master Mo over.

Don't you find it embarrassing to involve outsiders in our affairs?

Are you inviting the Master Teacher Pavilion to have a good laugh at our own internal problems?

"You will know soon enough!" Lu Feng spoke confidently with his head tilted upward.

All of you who protected Zhang Xuan the previous time around will learn what is truly embarrassing when you learn that he is an Otherworldly Demon!

Seeing that Lu Feng was unwilling to reveal anything further, Zhao Bingxu, Mo Zhu, and the others traded doubtful glances.

Jiya! Jiya!

Not too long later, Mu shi and Pavilion Master Mo Gaoyuan arrived as well.

"Mu shi, Pavilion Master Mo!" The school heads stood up and clasped their fists.

After everyone settled down, Mu shi asked with a wave of his hand, "What is it this time?"

"Mu shi, this matter concerns both Senior Byzantium Helios and the safety of mankind, so we have to take all possible precautions to ensure that nothing we speak of here leaks out. Thus, before I begin, I beseech you to place an additional layer of protection around this room to prevent anyone from sending news out!" Lu Feng stood up and bowed.

"You want me to place an additional layer of protection?" Mu shi frowned deeply.

Zhao Bingxu's face darkened, and he bellowed furiously, "Lu Feng, what do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that we will leak the news?"

The other school heads also narrowed their eyes in displeasure.

They were the only ones in the room; Lu Feng was clearly guarding against them.

On top of that, he even clearly said that he wanted to 'prevent anyone from sending news out'. They were the Ten Great Master Teachers, the school heads of the Master Teacher Academy! Did Lu Feng think that they would leak news regarding something as important as the safety of Senior Byzantium Helios and mankind to others?

That was a clear attack on their integrity and honor!

Lu Feng's gaze swept across the room as he spoke sharply.

"Well, I do know that I won't leak any news to outsiders, but I can't say the same for the others. This matter has huge implications, and there are a few among us who have been beguiled by that scoundrel. I am only doing this as a precaution!"

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