Chapter 1179: 保释

"Sigh," Zhang Xuan lamented as he left the Heart Tempering Bridge, "I thought there would be some challenge..."

He had expected the bridge to be as difficult to traverse as others claimed, a severe test for one's mental state. Yet, after crossing it, he realized it was nothing of the sort; he felt absolutely nothing, not even the slightest ripple in his spirit. He couldn't even temper his state of mind: the heart devils wouldn't appear in the Heart Devil Passage, and he felt nothing on the Heart Tempering Bridge. "How lonely, how isolated!" he thought.

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan, full of regret, walked to the room where Master Wu had just spoken, knocked, and entered. Upon entering, he saw Master Wu sitting in the center, his face ashen and looking quite displeased.

"What happened?" Zhang Xuan asked, puzzled. When they parted ways, Master Wu had seemed happy. How could he look like this in such a short time?

Hearing the question, Master Wu rubbed his forehead: "Those two just now were from Qingyuan Empire. They claimed to be acting on His Majesty's orders and wanted to take King Zhongqing away. I just kicked them out!"

"Take King Zhongqing away?" Zhang Xuan frowned: "Doesn't this Emperor know the crime of framing a Master Teacher?" Although he wasn't a Master Teacher from the Qingyuan Empire and hadn't yet reached the seventh star, he was still the principal of the Master Teacher Academy, with over a hundred thousand Master Teachers supporting him. To frame him, arrest him, and then demand his release without even a trial—this Emperor certainly thought highly of himself! If they allowed him to be taken away so easily, where would the Master Teacher Pavilion's dignity stand?

"As soon as King Zhongqing was arrested, I sent someone to explain the situation!" Master Wu said. King Zhongqing was the Qingyuan Empire's First Prince. The Master Teacher Pavilion had gone all out to arrest him, and a lack of proper notification would inevitably cause repercussions.

"Even after everything was made clear, this Emperor still came to demand his man back. Isn't he a bit too bold?" Zhang Xuan was puzzled. A mere prince sought out a Deputy Head of the Poison Hall to cause trouble for him, and now even the Emperor himself, knowing it would offend the Master Teacher Pavilion, still comes to demand a person. What are the powerful figures in Qingyuan Empire thinking? Don't they know that even the imperial family of a Conferred Empire would be instantly destroyed if they lost the Master Teacher Pavilion's protection?

"I'm not entirely sure either, but I believe the root cause must lie with Deputy Pavilion Master Tian..." Master Wu also found it strange and shook his head. For a Deputy Pavilion Master, who holds significant power in the Master Teacher Pavilion, to conspire with a prince to frame a Master Teacher before a thorough investigation was clearly unwise. To be honest, even Master Wu felt it was a foolish move. Of course, the only reason nothing happened was because they arrived in time. Otherwise, once arrested, he would have been like a fish on a chopping board. If the other party had used their methods, it would likely have been impossible to clear his name. They had seen many such cases. Clearing one's name was difficult, but fabricating charges was easy, especially when two of the most powerful people in Qingyuan Empire joined forces.

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan nodded. Just as he was about to voice his own speculation, he heard a knock on the door, and then a Master Teacher entered.

"Teacher, Chu Tianxing, the Emperor of Qingyuan Empire, is here to request an audience!"

"He's here so soon? Let him in!" Frowning, Master Wu waved his hand. They had just driven away the envoy less than five minutes ago, and now the Emperor himself came to visit. It seemed he had been waiting outside beforehand.

The Master Teacher withdrew. Soon after, a middle-aged man in a yellow robe strode in. This middle-aged man's cultivation was also at the Half-Step Ethereal Treading realm, just like Master Wu. His eyes held the imposing aura of a dragon or a tiger, clearly indicating the unique presence cultivated from years in a high position.

"Master Wu!" As soon as he entered, he clasped his fists respectfully. Although he was the ruler of Qingyuan Empire, his status was still somewhat lower compared to Master Wu, a Deputy Pavilion Master of the Master Teacher Pavilion.

"Mm, sit down!" Master Wu nodded, his gaze calm as he looked over: "Your Majesty, if you're still here to take King Zhongqing away, please save your breath! Framing a Master Teacher is a heinous crime. I've already reported this matter to headquarters. Not only him, but likely the entire Qingyuan Empire will be subject to scrutiny. Please reconsider!" His words weren't harsh, but they conveyed an extreme coldness and a strictly business-like attitude. With a single opening statement, he preemptively blocked anything the other party might want to say.

"It truly pains me that King Zhongqing has done such a thing, but... Master Wu knows that without him, I might have died long ago. Therefore, no matter how grave his mistake, I am willing to offer compensation! I hope the Master Teacher Pavilion can grant him a chance. I will personally apologize to Master Zhang, the victim, shortly and beg for his forgiveness..." Chu Tianxing did not sit down. Instead, he clasped his fists, his face full of sincerity.

"Apology? If apologies were effective, what would be the purpose of our Master Teacher Pavilion?" Master Wu waved his hand: "See him out!"

"Yes!" The Master Teacher who had escorted the Emperor in nodded and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, please!"

"This..." Chu Tianxing's expression turned awkward. He wanted to say something, but seeing that the other party gave him no chance to reply, he could only sigh. Just as he was about to leave the room, a faint voice spoke up.

"Master Wu, don't rush to send him away. Didn't he want to offer compensation? Let me hear how much he's willing to pay for King Zhongqing!"

Turning his head, he saw that the speaker was a young man of about twenty, dressed in six-star Master Teacher attire, sitting in a guest seat not far from Master Wu. It was Zhang Xuan.

"Master Zhang..." Master Wu looked at him with surprise, not expecting him to say that, but eventually nodded: "Since Master Zhang has spoken, then tell us how you intend to compensate!"

"Master Zhang?" Chu Tianxing immediately understood. He stepped forward and bowed: "King Zhongqing offended Master Zhang, he was truly blind. If Master Zhang can forgive him, I am willing to construct a new residence for the many students of the Master Teacher Academy and unconditionally provide 100 years of cultivation resources! Furthermore, from now on, any student from Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy who comes to Qingyuan City can receive a cultivation technique and a gift, ensuring they do not leave empty-handed."

Knowing that the person before him was Principal Zhang, Chu Tianxing immediately stated his conditions. He was indeed worthy of being an Emperor, knowing what conditions the other party could not refuse. Since he was a principal, he would certainly consider his students. This condition was quite generous. With the strong support of a Conferred Empire, it was only a matter of time before Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy became the foremost among the four academies.

"Not enough!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

"This..." Chu Tianxing paused, then said, "Master Zhang, please name your price. As long as our imperial family can afford it, we won't even bat an eyelid!"

"Very simple: add 100 high-grade pure essence spirit stones to the previous conditions! Then you can take King Zhongqing directly!" Zhang Xuan looked over. He was currently short on cultivation resources. If he could obtain them from the other party, it would certainly be much better than detaining a prince. Anyway, killing this fellow was just a matter of an instant; it was nothing.

"100 pieces?" Chu Tianxing was stunned, then forced a bitter smile: "Master Zhang must be joking. Our imperial family couldn't produce that many spirit stones even if we sold everything we own..." High-grade pure essence spirit stones were inherently rare. Even the Combat Master Hall, a place not lacking in resources, only had around ten. The Qingyuan imperial family, no matter how powerful, couldn't possibly produce more than ten times that amount in one go.

"Alright then, I'll give you some leeway: 50 pieces! Bring them, and you can take King Zhongqing. If you can't, please leave!" Zhang Xuan waved his hand. He knew that the other party certainly couldn't produce a hundred pieces; it was merely a tactic of demanding a high price to settle for less.

"This..." Chu Tianxing's mouth twitched. Fifty high-grade pure essence spirit stones were still beyond what he could afford.

"Master Zhang, to be honest with you, our Qingyuan imperial family, after tens of thousands of years of accumulation, only possesses 17 high-grade pure essence spirit stones... We originally had more, but they were all bestowed upon imperial princes or meritorious officials... I will give you all 17 of these, and then we can substitute the rest with rare medicinal herbs and ores, how about that?" After a moment's hesitation, Chu Tianxing said, gritting his teeth. Fifty high-grade pure essence spirit stones were definitely impossible to produce, but... if the other party was willing, he could certainly produce a good number of substitute items.

"Alright, here's a list of the ores and herbs I need. If you can find all of them, the 17 high-grade pure essence spirit stones will suffice. Additionally, I want all cultivation techniques for Saint 3-dan and Saint 4-dan, the more the better. Copy every single one from your imperial library for me!" Taking out a brush, Zhang Xuan casually wrote a list. He was planning to find an opportunity to help the Golden Origin Cauldron and the Icefall Sword upgrade. He had the main materials but was still missing many auxiliary items. Relying on himself to find them would take who knows how long, so if this person could help, it would be perfect.

"Alright..." He took the list and glanced at it. Although some items were obscure, with the power of their Conferred Empire, they should be able to gather them within a short time. Chu Tianxing nodded, then with a flick of his wrist, he handed over the high-grade pure essence spirit stones first.

"These are the 17 high-grade pure essence spirit stones. Please inspect them, Master Zhang!" With a sweep of his spiritual perception, Zhang Xuan knew that the other party wasn't lying. He nodded and casually put them into his ring.

"For the rest, please wait a moment, Master Zhang and Master Wu!" Having said that, Chu Tianxing turned and gave an order.

As expected of the Qingyuan Empire's Emperor, his actions were incredibly swift. In less than two hours, all the ores and medicinal herbs Zhang Xuan requested were fully gathered. Even the books he wanted were all copied. Many that couldn't be copied in time had their original copies brought over. All together, there were hundreds of thousands of Saint 3-dan books and tens of thousands of Saint 4-dan books.

Collecting all these items into his storage ring, Zhang Xuan finally nodded with satisfaction: "Alright, you can take King Zhongqing away now!"

"Thank you, Master Zhang!" Relieved, Chu Tianxing quickly looked at Master Wu. Seeing him nod and agree with Master Zhang's words, he then followed a Master Teacher towards the place where King Zhongqing was held.

"Master Zhang..." As soon as the other party left, Master Wu looked over, full of doubt, unsure of Zhang Xuan's intentions.