Chapter 1109: Poison Palace Headquarters

The two vice principals were practically in tears recalling the attack from the student who had been sweeping the floor just moments ago. They were simply too strong. It was as if they could see the flaws in their techniques, and no matter how the vice principals dodged, the hits landed precisely on their faces, without fail. Had their strength not reached the Primordial Spirit realm, with their robust physiques, they might not have been able to get up at all.

They had initially thought the sweeping student was an anomaly. After being defeated in a single move by that student, they randomly chose another member from the Xuanxuan Club, only to lose even more decisively. At their own cultivation level, they were simply no match for those students!

"How many lessons did they have?" Zhang Yinqiu's mouth twitched uncontrollably as he looked at the two vice principals' pitiable state, remembering the young man's words. "What exactly did Master Zhang teach them to bring about such a drastic change in these students?"

Unable to contain his curiosity, he looked down at the Purple Sun Beast he was riding and asked.

"Principal Zhang did teach these students, but… I’m not sure about the details!" The Purple Sun Beast shook its head. It spent most of its time cultivating inside the Thousand Ant Hive and therefore knew little about the academy's affairs.

"Let's go find Mi Zhu and the others!" Seeing that the beast had no further information, the three stopped asking questions and hurried towards the Elder Council. It wasn't long before they found Zhao Bingxu, Mi Zhu, and the others. After exchanging pleasantries and catching up, they finally brought up the questions that weighed on their minds.

"Oh, two groups from the Combat Master Hall came consecutively," Mi Zhu recounted. "They were all beaten so badly they lost confidence and returned, crying terribly. We even heard they were supposed to issue a challenge, but they were so frightened they fled overnight without even showing their faces…"

Mi Zhu then elaborated on the preceding events.

"Are you certain it wasn't *our* students who lost confidence?" The three principals exclaimed in unison, almost losing their minds. They had only been confined within the ruins for two years. What on earth had happened to the Master Teacher Academy during that time?

"And that’s not all," Mi Zhu continued, ignoring their astonishment. "Principal Zhang also tamed all the Saint Beasts and Spirit Beasts in Cloudmist Ridge and distributed them among all the students of the Beast Tamer Academy. Now, our academy has over 20,000 spirit beasts at or above the One-unification realm alone. Furthermore, the Principal’s public lectures have more than doubled the combat prowess of the entire academy…"

The more Mi Zhu spoke, the stiffer the three principals became. Before he even finished, they had completely turned to stone in disbelief. They had previously worried that Principal Zhang was too young to manage the academy effectively. Now they realized that their own administrative skills couldn't even begin to compare to his. Their previous doubts about him now seemed utterly ludicrous.

***

Ten days later.

Zhang Xuan stood on the deck of a massive airship, gazing forward. Inside the cabin, tens of thousands of Xuanxuan Club members sat, each brimming with excitement. Once preparations were complete, Zhang Xuan delivered five more lessons over the next ten days before leading everyone towards the Qingyuan First-tier Empire. By this time, the Master Teacher Academy’s colossal airship had also been completed, requiring dozens of Saint Beasts to lift it into the air.

For this trip to the Combat Master Hall for an exchange, Zhang Yinqiu, Ji Yan, and others remained at Hongyuan Academy to oversee its affairs. Zhang Xuan only brought Elder Mi and Hall Master Mo Gaoyuan with him. He had already planned that once they arrived at the Qingyuan Empire, he would have very little time to return to Hongyuan Academy, possibly even never, so he intended to return the principal position to Zhang Yinqiu. However, the latter vehemently refused. After all, he was still in a semi-comatose state, and for a principal of a dignified academy to appear in such a condition would undoubtedly compromise the prestige of Master Teachers. Since Zhang Yinqiu refused, Zhang Xuan had no choice but to remain the nominal principal. As for the academy's affairs, he once again became a hands-off manager, entrusting all responsibilities to the other party.

Over those ten days, Zhang Xuan also delved into numerous books on artifact forging, hoping to restore the Golden Origin Cauldron. Unfortunately, the level of artifact forging in Hongyuan City was too low. While he could forcibly re-instill sentience into it, he couldn't awaken its dormant consciousness. The Golden Origin Cauldron had fallen into this state saving them, so Zhang Xuan naturally couldn’t allow its sentience to vanish. After much deliberation, he decided to first travel to the Qingyuan Empire to learn advanced artifact forging techniques before devising a way to restore it.

Gazing at the drifting white clouds and feeling the whistling wind around him, Zhang Xuan sighed. Yesterday, the day before their departure, Luo Ruoxi sought him out. She informed him that she had other obligations and would be leaving the Hongyuan Empire, thus not accompanying them to the Qingyuan Empire. Though heartbroken, he nodded in agreement. Since he now knew her identity, he wasn't concerned about not seeing her again later. There was no need for excessive sentimentality. Master Wu and the others were indeed correct: his current strength was far from sufficient to directly contend with the Saint Clans. To truly be with her, he needed to cultivate much harder.

“Master Zhang…” A clear voice rang out as Yu Feier approached. “These are gifts from my father and Prince Huai. They were afraid you wouldn’t accept them, so they instructed me to give them to you only after we had left Hongyuan City!”

"Gifts?" Zhang Xuan took them casually, surprised by Emperor Yu Shenqing’s unexpected courtesy.

“Knowing Master Zhang’s proficiency in artifact forging and alchemy,” Yu Feier explained with a smile, “the rings contain various medicinal herbs and ores. While not exceptionally rare, they are plentiful in quantity, and Master Zhang might find them useful in the future!” As the principal of the Master Teacher Academy, Zhang Xuan had an incredibly promising future. Naturally, Emperor Yu Shenqing and others wouldn't pass up the opportunity to curry favor with such an influential figure.

“Actually, I should be thanking your father!” Knowing the sincerity behind the gesture and unable to refuse, Zhang Xuan accepted the gifts with a wry smile. Truth be told, if Yu Shenqing hadn’t given him the Bodhi tree seeds to cultivate the Saint Realm Bodhi tree, he would have found it incredibly difficult to pass through the Black Annihilation Dust. One could say that he hadn’t yet properly thanked Emperor Yu Shenqing for that matter.

"Master Zhang, I’ve encountered some issues with my cultivation. Could you perhaps offer some guidance?” Yu Feier asked, her gaze full of eagerness, steering the conversation away from the gifts.

“Of course…” Zhang Xuan nodded. After offering some guidance, Luo Qiqi, Hu Yaoyao, and others also came forward. Zhang Xuan simply recounted his latest cultivation insights. Having taken Master Kong’s advice, he hadn't rushed his cultivation in recent days, instead continuously pondering. While he hadn’t created any formidable cultivation techniques or martial arts, his reflection had significantly solidified his cultivation, making it more intuitive and proficient. Even a few casual remarks from him at this point were like invaluable golden advice for cultivators, proving immensely beneficial.

***

A month passed in the blink of an eye. The three girls made tremendous progress. Yu Feier, who was at the peak of the Cocoon Seal realm, not only broke through to Half-Saint but also reached its peak after nearly three months of cultivation! Hu Yaoyao, furthermore, reached the peak of the Conferred Saint realm! Of course, the fastest progress wasn't made by these two, but by Luo Qiqi. Just over two months prior, she, like Yu Feier, was at the peak of the Cocoon Seal realm. Now, astonishingly, she had reached the peak of Saint 1-dan, matching Zhang Xuan’s cultivation! Such rapid advancement astonished even Zhang Xuan; one could argue her progress was even faster than his own. It seemed truly gifted individuals existed. Not only did her cultivation surge, but her alchemy skills also advanced by leaps and bounds. Had her cultivation been higher, she could likely have easily refined initial-level Rank-7 pills.

While these three made swift progress, Wang Ying and Liu Yang, Zhang Xuan’s direct disciples, were not idle either. Wang Ying surged from the early Cocoon Seal realm two months prior to the peak of the Conferred Saint realm, while Liu Yang also reached the peak of the Half-Saint realm! This was due to their cultivation of the simplified version of the Conferring Sage Solution. Had they practiced ordinary cultivation techniques, they would likely have already broken through to even higher realms.

Sun Qiang’s progress, however, remained relatively slow. Although he wasn't as diligent in his cultivation, encountering Zhang Xuan meant he received targeted guidance, coupled with an abundance of resources — enough to rival a nation. While his progress was slower compared to Luo Qiqi and Wang Ying, it was still as rapid as a rocket when compared to other students. He had now reached the peak of the Void Treading realm, just a step away from the Cocoon Seal realm.

After a month of consolidation, Zhang Xuan had completely stabilized his peak Saint 1-dan strength. His cultivation had grown even more profound; while he hadn’t broken through, his true power was now invincible below the Primordial Spirit realm. Most crucially, his cultivation of the State of Mind had significantly improved. Previously, after the Master Character Heart Training, it had reached 21.1, comparable to an ordinary 7-star Master Teacher. Now, after the Conferring Sage Tribulation and the accumulation over this period, it had increased by another 2.0, reaching 23.1. The State of Mind scale, much like cultivation, becomes increasingly difficult to advance the higher it gets. Progressing from State of Mind 1.0 to 3.0 is quite simple, but moving from 21.1 to 23.1 is dozens of times harder. However, had the Heart Demon Tribulation during the Conferring Sage Tribulation not been so easy to overcome, lacking any real challenge, his State of Mind would undoubtedly have increased even further.

The journey passed mostly in quiet cultivation. After a full month of continuous flight, a massive city slowly appeared before the eyes of the group. The imperial capital of the Qingyuan Empire—Qingyuan City—had finally been reached!

As Zhang Xuan and his group arrived in the Qingyuan imperial capital, on another side, Poison Master Bai Ting and Poison Master Hai Mingjin, along with Wei Ruyan, finally reached the headquarters of the Poison Hall.