Chapter 1032: Lo Ruoxi's Request

The sun was high in the sky, and a warm breeze blew.

After ten days of continuous flight on the Violetgale Beast, the colossal outline of Hongyuan City slowly appeared in sight. Over these ten days, Zhang Xuan had thoroughly integrated the knowledge he learned in the Poison Hall with his current strength. His cultivation of the Saint Ascension Technique had also reached the peak of the Half-Saint realm, just a step away from the Saint realm.

It was a pity he didn't know where to find the Seven-Colored Earth-Jade Liquid; otherwise, he would have surely broken through by now.

"I should have Sun Qiang inquire about it..."

He wasn't as good as Sun Qiang at gathering information, so he felt completely at ease entrusting this task to him. As long as he could find the Seven-Colored Earth-Jade Liquid, he would be able to perfectly break through to the Saint realm, and his combat power would increase once more. At that time, even if the ruins posed a danger, he would certainly be able to handle it with ease.

Not long after, the Violetgale Beast landed at the mansion, and Sun Qiang came up to him, saying, "Young Master, Young Master Zheng Yang has been taken away..."

"Taken away? By whom?" Zhang Xuan frowned and looked at him.

"It was Battle Master Liao from the Combat Master Hall," Sun Qiang replied. "He said that Zheng Yang needed to go participate in the Combat Progeny selection, otherwise he might be delayed for a year..."

"Combat Progeny selection?" Zhang Xuan was startled.

"Yes, this is the letter Young Master Zheng Yang left for you..." With that, Sun Qiang handed him a letter.

Filled with questions, he opened the envelope, which was filled with writing. He quickly finished reading it and sighed.

Battle Master Liao Chong had reported Zheng Yang's specific situation to the headquarters and received a reply, instructing him to absolutely bring Zheng Yang for the Combat Progeny selection. If successful, Zheng Yang could potentially inherit the position of the Combat Master Hall Master and receive the most powerful Combat God's legacy.

The founder of the Combat Master Hall was a direct disciple of Master Kong, incredibly powerful in combat, and known as the Combat God! As long as one could pass the selection, they could potentially receive the legacy and become one of the peak experts of the Master Teacher Pavilion and even the entire continent.

"He has found his own path..."

In just over ten days, he had successively sent away two students. Although Zhang Xuan felt a little lost, he was also extremely happy deep down. They couldn't be his students forever; they had to have their own goals and careers to strive for. If Zheng Yang could truly become the Hall Master of the Combat Master Hall, a Combat God of his generation, then his efforts in educating him would not have been in vain. As a teacher, Zhang Xuan would also feel honored.

"Never mind," he mused. "After dealing with the ruins, I'll take the members of the Xuanxuan Society to the Qingyuan Empire's Combat Master Hall for an exchange. I should be able to hear a lot about him there..." He smiled, casting aside the sense of loss in his heart. He and Liao Chong had agreed that once the matter of the Huoyuan City ruins was settled, they would go to the Qingyuan Empire's Master Teacher Pavilion for an exchange. Although this was also just a branch, it wouldn't be difficult to inquire about Zheng Yang here.

"Any other news?"

"Also," Sun Qiang continued, "the Dean of the Formation Academy and Elder Zhao each took ten thousand students from the Formation Academy and ten thousand students from the Artifact Forging Academy to Huoyuan City for a trial. They departed five days ago!"

"Huoyuan City trial?" Zhang Xuan frowned. There was nothing wrong with them leaving early. The crucial point was that the matter of the Huoyuan City ruins involved secrets known only to a few of them. Now, twenty thousand students had been directly mobilized... Could something have changed? However, he also knew that Sun Qiang's status wasn't high enough for such matters, and even if he inquired, he wouldn't find anything out. Furthermore, many of the students who went only knew they were participating in a trial and were unaware of anything else.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

"And... Master Luo Ruoxin has visited twice," Sun Qiang continued, looking at him with a peculiar expression. "It seems she had something important to discuss..."

Having been with the Young Master for so long, he had seen many stunningly beautiful women, but he had never seen the Young Master treat any other girl differently, except for her! Speaking of which, Master Luo was also strange. Any cultivator would want to hear the Young Master's lectures, yet she showed no interest at all, treating him like an ordinary person. It made one wonder just thinking about it.

"Came to see me?" Zhang Xuan was surprised. Master Luo was the only woman who had ever truly captivated him. Although he had been too busy with one matter after another recently and hadn't had time to see her, he still felt a unique emotion in his heart when he thought of her. It was completely different from how he felt about Yu Feier and the others.

"Yes. Since she's a friend of the Young Master, and she didn't say anything, it wasn't convenient for me to ask too many questions," Sun Qiang nodded.

"No worries, I'll go ask her myself later!"

He smiled, then asked a few more questions. Finding no other matters, he soared into the air and flew straight towards the academy. Soon, he arrived at Luo Ruoxin's courtyard and landed. He tidied his clothes, took out a mirror to check himself, and finding that he looked quite handsome, he then approached the door, satisfied.

"Master Luo, Zhang Xuan requests an audience!" He condensed his true energy and sent his voice in.

"Come in!" came the voice.

Stepping into the courtyard, he saw Luo Ruoxin standing quietly not far away. As before, she was serene and composed, like a painting. Standing not far from her was someone else—it was Master Mu. Master Mu Yuan had left with Master Wu earlier, agreeing to meet in Huoyuan City. Zhang Xuan didn't expect to see him here.

"Martial Uncle, you've arrived just in time!" Master Mu exclaimed. "Please help me persuade Master Luo; she also wants to go to Huoyuan City..."

"You're going too?" Zhang Xuan was surprised, looking at the girl not far away.

"Yes!" Luo Ruoxin smiled faintly. "Since this ruin is said to be so mysterious, as a Master Teacher, I naturally have to see it for myself!"

"But... we know nothing about this ruin," Master Mu said, his face filled with worry. "Even Master Wu couldn't guarantee its safety..."

The Qingyuan Master Teacher Pavilion knew nothing about this ruin in Huoyuan City. When the old dean of Hongyuan Academy and others entered it back then, they never returned. No one knew how dangerous it truly was. What's more, according to recent news, the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe would also be involved... It could be said that it was a path of extreme danger. Master Luo had a noble status, and if anything happened to her, he definitely couldn't bear the responsibility.

As he spoke, Master Mu kept looking at Zhang Xuan, blinking repeatedly. The meaning was simple: he wanted Zhang Xuan to help dissuade her. After blinking a few times, confident that his Martial Uncle had received the signal, he heard the other party's excited voice ring out.

"Excellent!" Zhang Xuan exclaimed. "Then let's go together! It's been a long time since I've seen you..." He was just looking for an opportunity to spend time alone with Master Luo, and then he heard this news. It was like a pie falling from the sky!

"Martial Uncle..." His vision went black, and Master Mu almost stumbled. "I asked you to help dissuade her," he thought. "To say something like that directly, how shameless! Even if you like Master Luo, couldn't you be a bit more subtle, instead of being so obvious...? Could you pay some attention to your identity?"

"It's fine. As a Master Teacher, how can one grow if they fear danger?" Zhang Xuan waved his hand, his face full of pride. "Besides, with me protecting her, nothing will go wrong!"

"..." Master Mu's face was covered in dark lines. "It's precisely because of you that I'm worried..." Master Mu thought, exasperated. "Look at the mess you've caused at the Master Teacher Academy, causing chaos wherever you go... If it were anyone else, I'd actually be relieved!"

Just as he was about to say something, he saw Luo Ruoxin wave her hand. "What Master Zhang said is right," she stated. "There's no need to dissuade me..."

"Yes..." Stung by her words, Master Mu's face was filled with helplessness.

"Since you're back, let's depart as soon as possible!" Luo Ruoxin said.

Zhang Xuan replied, "No time to delay, let's leave now!" There were no urgent matters at the academy; if there were, Elder Mi and the others could handle them. Besides, only seven or eight days remained until the one-month deadline they had previously discussed. If they didn't go to Huoyuan City soon, it might be too late.

As he often traveled, his belongings were all in his storage ring, so there was nothing to prepare. Master Mu summoned his flying Saint Beast, and the three of them flew straight towards Huoyuan City.

Inside the wooden cabin on the back of the Saint Beast, Zhang Xuan looked at Master Mu, who was not far away. "I heard that Elder Zhao Bingxu and others have already taken many people there. Has something happened?"

Sun Qiang couldn't find out about this matter, but Master Mu, as one of the participants, surely knew a great deal.

"Indeed, there have been some complications." Master Mu's expression was grave. "The seal has undergone some changes and become unstable. It could collapse at any time. Dean Zhao Bingxu brought people there to stabilize the formation and buy as much time as possible for the seal to open smoothly!"

"How could this happen?" Zhang Xuan wondered. This ruin had appeared two years ago, and the Master Teacher Pavilion had sent people to investigate it. There had always been no issues, so how could it suddenly become unstable now?

"I'm not entirely sure of the specifics," Master Mu said, "but it might be related to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe!" He frowned and hesitated before adding, "According to reports from the Master Teachers stationed there, it seems an Otherworldly Demonic Tribe member visited the place with some kind of artifact, but after circling around, they left. After that, the entire seal became unstable."

"Artifact? Could it be a book?" The book that King Tianye stole from the Poison Hall was reportedly leaked from this very seal. Could the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe's actions, which caused the seal to fluctuate, be related to this? It seemed quite possible when he thought about it. King Tianye was a Saint realm fifth-layer expert with extremely fast flying speed. It took Zhang Xuan ten days to travel from Jingyuan City to the Master Teacher Academy, but if King Tianye went directly from the Poison Hall to Huoyuan City, it might not even take five days. Moreover, through his conversation with King Ziye, Zhang Xuan learned that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe possessed a spatial power, just like the altars found on King Qingye and King Jinye. These altars could completely teleport books or other valuable items to distant places through sacrifice.

"A book?" Master Mu was surprised by the question. He chuckled faintly, "How is that possible? How could a book have the power to disturb a seal!" In his opinion, books were merely for learning knowledge. For a seal that even they couldn't do anything about to become unstable, the artifact must be extraordinary. How could it be something like a book?

Seeing that the other party didn't believe him, Zhang Xuan said no more. He was only guessing. As for the specific situation, he could only investigate it in detail once they arrived.

"Oh, right, Martial Uncle," Master Mu suddenly recalled. "This time, Master Wu is not in charge of entering the ruins. Instead, a peak seven-star grandmaster of formations, Han Xu, has been assigned! The Master Teacher Pavilion instructed that after entering the ruins, everyone must follow his orders and not act rashly to avoid unnecessary trouble!"