Chapter 1250: Boil, Spirituality

“I don’t care who your master is! A prince who breaks the law is treated the same as a commoner! Take him away!”

With a wave of his hand, Master Song gave him no chance to retort.

Sun Qiang wanted to say more, but his cultivation was sealed by a powerful force, rendering him speechless. Immediately, two master teachers stepped forward and escorted him away.

“Ugh…” Sun Qiang was fuming, almost exploding with rage, but there was nothing he could do.

He was his master’s butler, yet a mere quasi-8-star master teacher dared to treat him this way. It was outrageous!

“Bring all those poison masters who released the poison to me. Guard them strictly; they must not be allowed to escape…”

Ignoring the furious man, Master Song continued to give orders.

Soon, the entire Master Teacher Pavilion mobilized. Half a day later, Elder Xu and the others were once again imprisoned.

Following this, the search continued, but even after scouring the entire Qingyuan City, there was no trace of Liu Yang. He seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Zhang Xuan was unaware of what was happening there. Instead, he was gazing at the enormous human face before him.

“Getting Chu Tianxing to invite Liu Yang and then imprisoning him to threaten me is indeed a good plan… But I still don’t understand why Chu Tianxing, a dignified emperor, would pledge allegiance to you?”

In truth, not only Zhang Xuan but also many of the master teachers present were puzzled by this.

Chu Tianxing was the emperor of a nation, holding a revered position with everything at his disposal. Why would he betray the Master Teacher Pavilion and humanity to conspire with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe?

One must know that if this matter were exposed, he would undoubtedly be executed on the spot without mercy.

“Why?” The ruthless man sneered, “You should ask your Master Teacher Pavilion that!”

Zhang Xuan frowned.

“He is an emperor of a nation; logically, he should command the world, and none would dare disobey… But with your Master Teacher Pavilion around, what is he? Everything he does must be approved by you. To be frank, he was long fed up!”

The ruthless man scoffed, “With such a heart demon, and me further manipulating him, do you think it was difficult to win him over and make him serve me?”

“This…” Zhang Xuan stood stunned, unable to speak.

The opponent was right.

To become the ruler of a nation, one must possess great ambition and strategic vision… Such a person, when performing any action, would be restricted by the Master Teacher Pavilion, as if a long sword hung over their neck, ready to strike at any moment… Anyone in that position would surely feel resentment.

Though he was an emperor, he had to obey others’ commands… Dissatisfaction grew, eventually becoming uncontrollable.

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Chu Tianxing only saw his power being suppressed. Had he ever considered that without the Master Teacher Pavilion, the Qingyuan Empire would have long been carved up by other empires or annihilated by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe? If the skin is gone, where can the hair attach? Without the Master Teacher Pavilion, how could an empire possibly thrive?

However, while the opponent’s explanation was simple, Zhang Xuan knew the truth must be far more complex… For Chu Tianxing to have taken such an extreme path, he must have experienced something that eventually formed a heart demon, which he couldn’t dispel. Only then was he exploited by Emperor Qingtian and the ruthless man, leading to this grave mistake.

“Enough. My patience is limited. Give me your answer quickly, or not only your students and relatives will die, but everyone here, including you, will perish!”

Disinclined to say more, the ruthless man’s booming voice resounded again.

A violent surge of air swept down, sending everyone staggering, leaving them with no strength to resist.

“Although I dote on my students, using them as leverage to make me submit to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe… you still think too simply of me!”

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan’s voice grew louder and clearer: “As a Master Teacher, one must lead by example and teach through action! If I were to surrender, how could I better educate my students? How could I be a better role model? I have taught them what I should… If, even after all this, they cannot discern right from wrong and fall prey, it only shows their lack of skill! Even if they are killed, there is nothing that can be done…”

Although he didn’t want anything to happen to his students, as a teacher, he was even less willing to set a bad example and lead them astray.

If that were the case, what would be the difference between living and dying?

A person acts in certain ways and refrains from acting in others!

Otherwise, what distinguishes us from animals?

This was his conviction, and the conviction every Master Teacher should possess!

“Very well. In that case, you shall all die!”

Seeing that threatening him with his students had no effect, and realizing his resolve was firm, making his submission almost impossible, the ruthless man wasted no more words and roared.

*Boom!* An immense force surged forth. Master Wu and Hall Master Xing, who were deploying energy shields to resist the pressure, flushed red and all spat out blood.

The opponent’s strength was far too great; they couldn’t resist at all.

“Master Zhang, hurry and leave…”

Gritting his teeth and desperately holding on, Master Wu shouted loudly.

“No need to leave. He is stalling for time, and so am I…”

Zhang Xuan smiled and looked at the enormous human face again: “Do you think you’ve already won?”

“What do you mean?”

Seeing no trace of worry or fear in the other’s expression, but instead strong confidence, the ruthless man’s eyebrow twitched, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

“Nothing much. You are saying all this to me in order to gain complete control of the island, and I am doing the same to stall for time…”

Zhang Xuan’s voice was calm.

If it weren’t to buy time, even with doubts in his heart, there would have been no need to talk so much to the opponent!

“Stall for time? What’s the point of you stalling? Stop bluffing here…”

The ruthless man raised an eyebrow.

This head was jointly crafted by Emperor Qingtian, with countless artificers and artifact refiners, at an unknown cost, and he had gained complete control over it. Although it was only at the pinnacle of the Spirit Severing realm, even ordinary Domain realm experts would find it difficult to contend with!

These fellows were only at the early or middle stages of the Spirit Severing realm. What good would more time do them?

It would still only lead to their deaths!

“Of course, it’s useful… Alright, I’m done wasting time with you… It’s been long enough, why aren’t you showing yourself yet?”

Disinclined to continue the banter, Zhang Xuan’s voice, imbued with a special captivating power, resonated all around.

As he spoke, everyone anxiously looked around, only to find the sky full of stars, with not a soul in sight.

“I thought you actually had help; turns out it was just a bluff…”

The ruthless man sneered.

This fellow had used this trick before, causing Emperor Qingtian to be impaled by a sword. Now he was trying to bluff again!

If there truly was help, it would have arrived already. Why would it wait until now?

“Die!”

He snorted coldly again, and a ferocious power poured down.

However, before it could descend, everyone saw the enormous head in the sky involuntarily shake.

Immediately after, the island began to tremble uncontrollably.

“What’s happening? You… what did you do?”

His pupils contracted, and the ruthless man shrieked.

“Nothing much, just… awakened the spirit of this island!”

Zhang Xuan replied with a faint smile.

When he was with his clone on the lowest level of the island, he had used the Library to inspect the surrounding walls.

He was astonished to discover that the entire island was a single entity.

Knowing this, and then mentally mapping out all the paths he had taken, he understood exactly what was going on.

So, he spent an hour secretly awakening the spirit of this artificer-crafted object.

His actions were very discreet. At the time, the ruthless man’s consciousness was still trapped by the altar, so he didn’t notice.

Later, when the ruthless man was released, his consciousness was using the delay to spread throughout the island and gain control of the head!

Zhang Xuan was naturally pleased with the opponent’s stalling, because the more he merged with the island, the more he merged with the awakened spirit…

By then, they would be intertwined, just like Hall Master Xing and Zhang Jiuxiao once were, making it difficult to separate them again.

“Awaken the spirit? Awaken the spirit of such a massive island?”

The ruthless man shrieked as if he had seen a ghost, unable to believe it.

He knew the occupation of Spirit Awakener. Even a 9-star Spirit Awakener could at most awaken the spirit of longswords, cauldrons, and similar items. Moreover, each awakening was extremely draining, requiring long periods of rest…

This puppet, crafted by artificers, was two to three kilometers in diameter… Awakening its spirit… how many times would one need to ignite the flame?

How could anyone possibly do that?

“It seems Emperor Qingtian didn’t tell you about me awakening the spirit of the entire Spirit Awakener Guild…”

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had previously been worried that the opponent, knowing he had once awakened the spirit of an entire guild, would take precautions in advance. Now it seemed he had overthought it!

Emperor Qingtian and this ruthless man before him were seemingly united but secretly at odds. It would be strange if such crucial information were shared!

This was good, for without precautions, success could be achieved in one fell swoop.

Otherwise, success would not have been so easy.

“Even if you awakened its spirit, I can still kill you…”

With a roar, as the ruthless man bellowed, the head suspended in the air struggled, trying to fly back and slay the young man before him. But then, Zhang Xuan shook his head, extended his palm, and sharply raised it.

“Boil forth… Spirit!”

*Boom!* As he spoke, the human-faced island immediately transformed as if it were spring. In the blink of an eye, countless plants sprouted.

Cacti, foxtail grass, various flowers… they were densely packed and too numerous to count.

“Ah…”

Disrupted by the spirit, the ruthless man’s consciousness began to fall into chaos, as if suffering from a split personality, and he could no longer control his power.

“This…”

Looking on again, Master Wu, Hall Master Xing, and the others all swallowed hard.

Spirit Awakeners had always been synonymous with low combat power, considered the auxiliary among auxiliary professions… No one had ever imagined they could be used this way!

This Otherworldly Demonic Tribe member before them, under normal circumstances, would surely have been unconquerable and would have slain them. Yet, by the Spirit Awakener’s methods, he was now mentally confused and on the verge of collapse.

“Do you think these spirits can assimilate me? They are merely ordinary spirits. Once I eliminate them, I can still kill you…”

The head in the sky roared again.

No matter how powerful the opponent’s spirit-awakening ability was, these were just ordinary spirits. At most, they could prevent him from controlling the island and cause temporary confusion. Over time, with his ruthless power, he could completely eradicate them.

“Eradicate them? You can certainly do that, but…”

Zhang Xuan shook his head: “You won’t have the chance…”

A book appeared in his palm, faintly depicting a finger and a heart.