Chapter 1096: Hi

"Killed nine?""Are you kidding me?"Ji Yan and Tan Qing were dumbfounded, feeling utterly flustered.

For the past two years, they had been locked in a battle of wits and strength with King Tianye, driven to the brink of madness. They hadn't managed to harm him in the slightest, while the number of master teachers on their side had dwindled, almost to extinction.Now, a Pseudo-Saint encountered nine others with the same name as him and killed them all... Is that really true?

"Not only that, King Tianye once detached a wisp of his consciousness and hid it among us, but he nearly crippled it," Master Wu continued. "So, I believe that as long as he's careful, there shouldn't be too much danger. In fact... if you put him and King Tianye in the same room, it would certainly be King Tianye who ended up dead!"

"This..."Ji Yan and the other man were speechless for a long time. After a prolonged silence, they exchanged glances. "What kind of dean has the Master Teacher Academy truly chosen?"Before, they had always believed that Zhang Xuan was too young to serve as dean. Only after hearing so many of his exploits did they realize that Zhang Yinqiu probably paled in comparison to him.

While the crowd was still in shock, Zhang Xuan had already moved beyond the range of the arrays and entered the spacious main hall of the Conferred Saint Pavilion.

"If I go in like this, I'll definitely be discovered. It's better to use my Witch Soul," Zhang Xuan thought.He flickered, finding a secluded corner. With a thought, his physical body entered the Thousand Ant Hive, and his Witch Soul quietly ascended. If he were to proceed openly, he would easily be detected, making escape difficult. However, as a Witch Soul, the danger would be considerably reduced.

Although the opponent had reached the Ethereal Spirit realm, possessing powerful divine sense that could easily perceive everything around, this sense wasn't constantly active. Even tigers nod off sometimes. As long as he was unprepared, slipping in and stealing items should be a breeze.

His Witch Soul advanced stealthily, flying in the direction Ji Yan had previously described. Before long, a spacious grand hall appeared before him.

Like the area where Ji Yan and his companions resided, the grand hall was surrounded by various arrays, with even the lowest-ranked ones reaching level seven. Ordinary individuals caught within them would undoubtedly become disoriented and lose their way. However, Zhang Xuan was now a pinnacle 7-star Array Master, and despite their intricacy, these arrays could not evade his perception.Following the array patterns for a while, he arrived at the entrance of the hall and quietly peered inside.

The hall was spacious, emanating dense spiritual energy and filled with countless treasures, resembling a massive vault. Most of them were medicinal herbs and pills; weapons were scarce, none were even visible. There were also many books, all detailing how to break through to the Saint realm. It seemed Master Kong had invested considerable effort to enable future generations to achieve breakthroughs and successfully become Conferred Saints.

"He's not here..."Activating his Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan scanned the interior but found no trace of King Tianye, and his eyes lit up. Could it be that the fellow wasn't inside?

"Never mind that for now; it's best if he's not here!"He first guided his storage ring to fly inside, then his Witch Soul followed.

The room contained an immense number of treasures. There were hundreds of different Saint-grade medicinal herbs, all surrounded by special array seals. Although they had been stored for an unknown number of years, they had not lost their efficacy due to the nourishment of the surrounding spiritual energy; instead, their quality had become even more precious.

"No wonder King Tianye hasn't stored these items in his storage ring; it's likely very difficult to access them..."Seeing the nature of these seals, Zhang Xuan smiled faintly. These seals were similar to those in the underground caves: a Master Teacher could retrieve items from them, but it would be very difficult for an Otherworldly Demon. In other words, even though King Tianye guarded this place daily, many items were visible but untouchable for him. Otherwise, even with the suppression of the Sacred Light, his strength would undoubtedly be much greater than it currently was.

"To retrieve these medicinal herbs, I must use my physical body and possess a Master Teacher's identity..."His Witch Soul summoned, and his physical body, hidden within the Thousand Ant Hive, immediately appeared in the room. His Witch Soul returned to its vessel, and he stood up. After stretching his limbs, Zhang Xuan then turned his attention to the numerous spiritual herbs and books before him.

The books were almost all about how to break through to the Saint realm. He had already collected enough such information, and he possessed the Conferred Saint Solution, so there was no need to continue reading.

"Saint Realm Hollow Grass, Heavenly Dragon Flower, Lignum Aloes Root... Although these medicinal herbs aren't particularly high-grade, they are excellent treasures for breaking through to the Saint realm, capable of enabling a complete rebirth and causing astonishing transformations in both soul and body!"After a quick look around, Zhang Xuan nodded. Almost all the medicinal herbs here were beneficial for breaking through to the Saint realm. Master Kong must have considered every possible breakthrough, which is why he specifically collected so many of these medicines.

"Indeed, there's Continuity Grass..."Soon, a medicinal herb appeared in his sight. It was precisely the Continuity Grass he had been searching for.

This item could replenish the vitality within the human body. When combined with other medicines, it could transform one's physical body into a more potent Saint realm physique. While using it solely for breaking through to the Saint realm might be overly extravagant, it was undeniably an invaluable treasure.

"I'll take it first, then consider other things..."With a flicker of his body, he appeared before it, and his palm immediately reached for the medicinal herb within the seal.

Upon contact with the seal, he immediately felt a powerful resistance that blocked his palm, preventing him from reaching in at all. If he couldn't touch the Continuity Grass, he couldn't place it in his ring, which would make his entire trip futile.

"Hmph, I don't believe I can't touch it!"Seeing that the seal merely blocked and had no destructive power, Zhang Xuan let out a cold snort. His entire body tensed, and his strength surged.

Creak! Creak!The seal was like a deflated ball; the more it was compressed, the greater the resistance it offered.

"Strange..."He continuously applied force, his true qi circulating to its limit, yet he still couldn't reach the Continuity Grass. Zhang Xuan frowned. Just as he was about to withdraw his arm, he discovered that the seal before him was like a viscous liquid, firmly sticking to his palm, making it impossible to pull free.

"What a strange array..."Zhang Xuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Other arrays were simply dangerous, but this one was something else. His palm went in with elasticity, but when he tried to pull it back, it was stuck! It seemed he wouldn't be able to leave without taking the medicinal herb.

"Witch Soul!"Since his true qi and physical body couldn't reach the medicinal herb, Zhang Xuan's eyebrows rose, and the power of his Witch Soul was immediately activated. As this power increased, the array immediately rippled like water and flattened even further.

The true qi within Zhang Xuan's body had long reached the pinnacle of the Pseudo-Saint realm, his physical body had achieved the fifth stage of the Five Aura Golden Body, and his Witch Soul, nourished by the Lightning Elemental Pearl, had also broken through to the pinnacle of the Pseudo-Saint realm. With the combined power of all three, even a Saint Realm Triple-tier expert might not be able to withstand him.

The array before him emitted a "creak!" sound, changing from a circle to an oval, and then resembling a flat, oiled pancake.

"Get in!"His head resembled a steam furnace, true qi circulating so rapidly that it emitted hissing white steam. After a moment of stalemate, Zhang Xuan let out a shout. His palm thrust forward, and after two or three minutes of struggle, the tip of his middle finger finally touched a branch of the Continuity Grass within the seal.

He stored it in his storage ring.Whoosh!As soon as the medicinal herb entered the ring, the highly elastic array emitted a "pop" sound and vanished from sight. It seemed as if, without the medicinal herb, the seal had lost its value and spontaneously dissipated.

"It seems that while Master Kong left medicinal herbs, he also left a test. These medicines simply cannot be retrieved without sufficient strength! My guess is correct: to retrieve these medicines as I just did, one must probably be at the pinnacle of the Pseudo-Saint realm. If one's cultivation is higher, it would definitely be even more difficult. This also ensures that the medicines are used for breaking through to the Saint realm, and simultaneously tests whether the junior who needs the medicinal herb is qualified to become a Conferred Saint!"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Zhang Xuan wore a wry smile. As expected of the Teacher of Myriad Generations, his considerations were indeed thorough. If one's strength was either too high or too low, they couldn't obtain the medicines; merely seeing them was useless. Therefore, King Tianye's situation was quite tragic: he had guarded this place for two years, yet hadn't obtained a single medicinal herb. It seemed Ji Yan and the others were unaware of this, which was why they believed his progress in strength was related to these medicines.

"Although the other medicinal herbs are excellent, taking them out is too much effort. Now that I have the Continuity Grass, it's better to leave. Otherwise, if King Tianye returns, I won't be able to escape..."He exhaled a mouthful of stale air. While the medicinal herbs were indeed excellent, this place was simply too dangerous, and retrieving them would be troublesome. Once King Tianye blocked him, escaping would be difficult.

Just as he was about to leave the room, his eyes suddenly shifted, landing on a strange object. It was a mass of liquid formed by seven converging colors, slowly rotating within a seal and emitting a unique aura.

"This, this... Could this be... Seven-Colored Earthly Jade Liquid?"Zhang Xuan's breathing immediately quickened, and his entire body stiffened.

He had cultivated the Conferred Saint Solution to the pinnacle of the Pseudo-Saint realm, and to achieve a breakthrough, he only lacked one treasure: the Seven-Colored Earthly Jade Liquid. However, this item grew deep within the earth's ley lines and was rarely seen by the world. Even he had only heard its name but never seen it. The object before him emitted seven kinds of light, gave him a sense of familiarity, and was personally left by Master Kong. There was no doubt it was this item!

"With this, what difficulty is there in becoming a Conferred Saint..."His fist clenched. Zhang Xuan's body flickered, bringing him before the item. Spreading his five fingers, he immediately reached for the seal.

This item had to be obtained. As long as he refined it, he could smoothly break through from the Pseudo-Saint pinnacle, where he had been stuck for so long! It had been long enough since he reached the Pseudo-Saint pinnacle in the underground caves.

Creak! Creak!As his strength intensified, the seal flattened once again. His true qi, physical body, and soul power were all pushed to their limits from the very beginning.

"You ran quite fast, hmph, Zhang Xuan. Don't let me encounter you next time, or I'll make sure you have no place to be buried..."Just as he was exerting all his strength to reach the Seven-Colored Earthly Jade Liquid within the seal, he heard a cold snort from outside the grand hall. Immediately, a tall figure walked in. It was King Tianye.

Muttering to himself as he pushed the door open, King Tianye had just entered the room when he immediately noticed something amiss. He then saw the young man not far away, whose palm was stuck in the seal, unable to push further in or pull free.

"You..." King Tianye's face filled with rage, and he was about to make a move when he saw the other person raise his free arm and wave in greeting.