Chapter 1106: Kong Shi's Advice

A figure wearing a high crown and long robes was reflected in the crystal, giving him a sense of resonance with a Saint's body. It seemed identical to him, both being Saints recognized by heaven and earth and renowned master teachers. Historically, only one person had experienced this; without a doubt, it was Master Teacher Kong.

As this thought emerged, he felt a tremendous pulling force before him. His consciousness immediately left his physical body, and the next moment, he appeared inside the crystal.

He looked around and found it was still a folded space, but its scope was small, only a few dozen square meters. It was empty and devoid of any objects, a vast expanse of white that appeared very crude.

"Master Teacher Kong, why do you..."

He glanced around, then looked at the figure before him again. Zhang Xuan frowned, his eyes full of surprise.

The last time he had visited the Conferral Platform, he had seen Master Teacher Kong's spiritual manifestation, which was young and handsome, exuding a gentle aura. But this one... his face was slightly swollen, and his long robes were somewhat disheveled and dirty. He looked quite messy, as if he had been beaten.

Beat Master Teacher Kong? What a joke! Even if someone could beat him, which was unlikely given his strength, no one would dare lay a hand on him.

"Perhaps he left this manifestation immediately after his Conferral of Sainthood..." His heart stirred, and he secretly speculated.

He had just completed his Conferral of Sainthood and undergone a bodily tribulation. Although he had recovered, the bloodstains on his clothes could not be washed off quickly, leaving him just as disheveled as the figure, or perhaps even more so. The Master Teacher Kong before him must have been the same; even though it was just a spiritual manifestation, it did not look clean or tidy. Perhaps it was to let future generations know the harshness of Conferring Sainthood.

"I don't have much time here..." Master Teacher Kong waved his hand, not offering an explanation, but instead wearing a grave expression.

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"If I'm not mistaken, you also have congenital fetal poison, right?" Master Teacher Kong's gaze was like lightning.

"Yes!" Hearing him mention this, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up with excitement. He hurriedly looked over and asked, "How can it be resolved? I beg Master Teacher Kong for your compassion, please show me the way..."

The last time he had wanted to ask, the fellow had simply said, "My path is not lonely," and vanished. Now that he had brought it up himself, Zhang Xuan hoped to find a solution. As long as this matter could be resolved, it would be one less burden on his mind, and he would no longer have to worry needlessly.

"We'll talk about that in a moment..." Master Teacher Kong shook his head and looked over. "Your successful Conferral of Sainthood indicates that our destinies are similar. You will certainly encounter immense trouble in the future. I give you a piece of advice: if you wish to go further and escape fate, you must forge your own path. Blindly inheriting the wisdom of your predecessors, while accelerating your progress, will also shackle your direction and motivation to advance!"

"Forge my own path?" Zhang Xuan was slightly taken aback, as he hadn't expected Master Teacher Kong to avoid the topic of congenital fetal poison and instead say something so perplexing first.

"Indeed!" Master Teacher Kong nodded and continued, "I have a Spring and Autumn Codex; you must have heard of it, right?"

Zhang Xuan affirmed. The Spring and Autumn Codex was said to be Master Teacher Kong's unparalleled artifact. With it, he had suppressed the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, leaving them unable to resist. However, this artifact had long vanished with Master Teacher Kong, losing its trace and becoming unfindable.

"The Spring and Autumn Codex concerns the fate of humanity. Since you are like me, you might be able to activate it. You absolutely must not let it fall into the hands of others, remember this well! Also, you must guard against..."

His tone was urgent, as if there was something pressing he needed to do. Master Teacher Kong slowly raised his palm, but before he could finish speaking, Zhang Xuan heard an anxious voice ring in his ear: "Zhang Xuan, are you alright?"

His body jolted as his consciousness returned to his physical form. He opened his eyes and saw Luo Ruoxi, who had appeared before him at some point, her beautiful eyes filled with concern. She must have seen his consciousness leave his body and feared something might go wrong, which was why she had hurried over.

"I'm fine..." Reaching out, he squeezed the girl's hand and smiled. He was already aware of her protecting him during the battle with Heavenly Leaf King. Even though she was powerful and her identity unknown, he knew that no matter how difficult things became, he would never give up on her.

"It's good that you're alright..." The girl sighed in relief and smiled softly.

"Wait a moment, let me check this thing again..." Ignoring her, Zhang Xuan looked at the crystal again. A moment later, he was filled with helplessness. Master Teacher Kong's spiritual manifestation had vanished in that brief moment, leaving no trace. The previous scene was like a dream, and he could not recover it.

"Master Teacher Kong founded the Master Teacher profession and is revered and worshipped by so many master teachers. I thought he would be more reliable in his actions... Unexpectedly, he's just as unreliable as my clone..." He scratched his head, feeling helpless and a bit frustrated.

He only wanted to ask about the congenital fetal poison. Yet, he had met the manifestation twice, and it had said a lot of nonsense but nothing useful at all. The thought of it made him depressed. It gave him advice and mentioned the Spring and Autumn Codex... He didn't even know where that artifact was, so what was he supposed to guard against?

"Look at Ancient Sage Qiu Wu," he thought. "Even though he was distraught, he still finished what he had to say and lingered for a long time... The dignified Master Teacher of Ten Thousand Generations is a bit too weak."

"When he left his manifestation, Master Teacher Kong had just successfully conferred Sainthood, and his strength was far inferior to Ancient Sage Qiu Wu. But to last such a short time... it's just ridiculous!" He shook his head, his expression grim. He had finally gotten another chance to meet Master Teacher Kong and properly ask about the congenital fetal poison. But once again, he missed the opportunity because Master Teacher Kong's manifestation lasted too short a time.

"Forget it..." He knew that being depressed was useless. Master Teacher Kong at that time only had Saint 1-dan strength, and for his manifestation to survive tens of thousands of years and speak to him was already quite remarkable. He couldn't ask for too much.

"It seems I can only rely on myself for the congenital fetal poison," he thought. "Relying on anyone else is useless..." He rubbed his glabella. He had thought that as long as he found Master Teacher Kong, he would find a solution. Now it seemed he had thought too much! Everything depended on himself.

"First, I'll refine this thing!" Not dwelling on the matter, he looked at the crystal before him again. The crystal had now perfectly merged with the map, like a globe, its surface covered with various terrains, just as he had seen before. His spirit extended inward, giving him a sense of vastness, as if by refining this object, he would completely control the entire Qiu Wu Palace and wield astonishing power.

"Refine!"

The method of refinement emerged in his mind. He touched it with his palm, and his True Qi slowly flowed into it. Instantly, Zhang Xuan felt his consciousness extend as if to cover the entire Qiu Wu Palace from above. The Boundless Realm, the Black Annihilation Desert, the suspended Celestial Palace... The places he had previously experienced now appeared clearly before his eyes, every detail clearer than he had ever seen before. Moreover, with a single thought, he could easily alter the formation of the entire palace, making it more ferocious or more stable.

"As expected, refining this object grants control over the entire Qiu Wu Palace..." Zhang Xuan understood. The crystal merging with the map meant he had complete control over this folded space and could put it away with a single thought. In other words, as long as he took the crystal, he would take the entire Qiu Wu Palace with him and could enter it whenever he wished in the future.

Realizing this, Zhang Xuan's eyes gleamed, and he quietly clenched his fists. Ancient Sage Qiu Wu's spiritual manifestation had vanished, and although the legacy was gone, if he could take this place with him and study it thoroughly, his understanding of space would definitely take a huge leap forward! It would also greatly aid his future increase in strength.

His True Qi continuously poured into it, meticulously refining every part of the crystal. After an unknown period of time, his eyes suddenly opened. With a slight movement of his hand, he put the crystal into his storage ring. The core item controlling Qiu Wu Palace had been successfully refined.

As soon as he put the crystal away, he immediately felt his entire body's aura rapidly weaken. The power bestowed by the Conferral Platform completely vanished, and he returned to his peak Saint 1-dan strength.

He turned his head to look and saw the Conferral Platform, which had previously glowed with holy light, looked as if its energy had been completely drained. It had split open from the middle and was no longer magical as before. "Even if I threw this thing out, I doubt anyone would believe that Master Teacher Kong and I both successfully conferred Sainthood on it..." Seeing the sacred object before him now no different from an ordinary stone platform, Zhang Xuan shook his head. The Conferral Platform had completed its mission and no longer had any value in existing.

Casting aside the wild thoughts in his mind, he turned to look at the others and saw Master Teacher Wu was still refining pills. Although there were many errors in his technique, with his current half-step Spirit Severing realm strength, it wouldn't be difficult for him to successfully refine a Continuation Pill. President Han and the others were consolidating their cultivation, recovering from the great battle.

"I just saw Master Teacher Kong..." Knowing he wasn't needed, Zhang Xuan no longer paid attention to them and looked at the girl not far away.

Luo Ruoxi nodded slightly and smiled faintly. "This is where he truly conferred Sainthood, so it's quite normal for a manifestation to be left behind!"

"Yes, he told me not to blindly inherit the wisdom of my predecessors, but to forge my own path..." He hadn't fully processed it earlier, but now thinking about it carefully, what the other party said made sense. Since he began cultivating, he had always relied on the Library of Heaven's Path to compile Heaven's Path cultivation techniques, without any innovation of his own. Indeed, he had blindly inherited the wisdom of his predecessors.

"Cultivation requires forging one's own path; Master Teacher Kong is absolutely right!" Luo Ruoxi nodded.

"It seems my cultivation methods can't be the same as before..." As the Master Teacher of Ten Thousand Generations and the founder of the Master Teacher profession, for Master Teacher Kong to say this so solemnly, he must have seen something important, and it was not to be taken lightly.

"I know this will be difficult," Luo Ruoxi said with a smile, "However, to become a true powerhouse, one indeed cannot lack something of their own! There's no need to rush; your current cultivation speed is already very fast. As long as you continue cultivating, you will definitely find it!"

"Indeed!" Zhang Xuan nodded. Successfully conferring Sainthood had solved his biggest problem, causing both his strength and confidence to surge many times over. Even if the path ahead was difficult, he believed he could definitely reach the end and truly stand at the pinnacle of the Master Teacher Continent!

"Ruoxi, don't worry," he said. "No matter how great the difficulties, I will stay by your side!" He squeezed the girl's hand again, his gaze resolute.