Chapter 23: Someone Causing Trouble

Tianxuan City is the imperial capital of the Tianxuan Kingdom, and the Wang family's strength is clearly evident from its status as one of the city's four great families.

For such a powerful family, one to whom even the dean of Hongtian Academy showed deference, and who could easily find any teacher they desired, to accept someone with a zero score on the teacher assessment as an instructor was an utter humiliation!

A monumental humiliation!

As a senior student at the academy, he knew Zhang Xuan's history very well, even if others didn't. Zhang Xuan's former student had suffered a cultivation deviation, which had utterly disgraced him as a teacher. This person had been a common topic of ridicule for him and his friends during their conversations. He never dreamed that his own sister would actually take him as her teacher!

If other students found out about this, wouldn't he become a laughingstock?

The more Wang Tao thought about it, the angrier he became. He took a few steps to the classroom door, where he saw Yao Han, wrapped up like a mummy.

"So it's Young Master Wang Tao!"

As the butler of White Jade City, Yao Han had dealt with many influential groups. He had met Wang Tao before, as Wang Tao was a genius and the son of the Wang family patriarch.

"You are..." Wang Tao's eyebrows rose as he glanced at him.

Yao Han had been beaten so severely that his face was completely disfigured. Even Zhao Ya had trouble recognizing him, let alone Wang Tao.

"I am Yao Han of White Jade City!" Yao Han replied.

"Oh, so it's Butler Yao. How did you..." Wang Tao was stunned.

"I accidentally injured myself during cultivation..." Yao Han awkwardly explained, then quickly changed the subject. "May I ask what Young Master Wang Tao is doing here?"

"My sister actually took this Zhang Xuan as her teacher!" Wang Tao declared, making no attempt to conceal his fury. "I'm going to drag her back right now, and then I'll teach this arrogant teacher a good lesson!"

"What? Your sister? Are you talking about Miss Wang Ying?"

Yao Han had just entered the room but had been driven out. His attention had been focused entirely on Zhang Xuan, so he hadn't noticed Wang Ying was also there.

Wang Tao nodded.

"I've heard that Miss Wang Ying's talent is in no way inferior to yours," Yao Han said, full of surprise. "Why would she choose him?"

"My sister has never left home and is always naive," Wang Tao fumed. "That fellow has a silver tongue and must have spouted some nonsense, and my sister actually believed him!" The thought of what Elder Liu had told him made Wang Tao even angrier.

"Damn it! This fellow is simply a menace, a disgrace to teachers!" Yao Han gritted his teeth in anger, remembering that his own young lady had also been deceived. "Young Master Wang Tao, you absolutely must teach this fellow a good lesson!"

"Hmm!" Wang Tao responded, then looked over with a puzzled expression. "By the way, Butler Yao, why are you here?"

"Don't even mention it; the more I talk about it, the angrier I get," Yao Han snorted. "My young lady was also deceived by this Zhang Xuan with some kind of words and took him as her teacher!"

"Are you talking about Miss Zhao Ya?" Wang Tao was stunned.

"Yes!" Yao Han nodded.

"Then... why aren't you going in to expose this hypocritical fellow?" Wang Tao wondered. "Instead, you're waiting at the door?"

"I tried to expose this fellow, but my young lady got upset with me," Yao Han explained. "I couldn't do anything, so I had to wait outside. It's perfect that you've arrived, Young Master Wang Tao. You can go in and teach that shameless fellow a lesson, expose his ugly true face in front of everyone, and let my young lady see his true nature clearly!"

"Don't worry," Wang Tao said. "I'll go in and expose him right now, making this shameless fellow reveal his ugly true face!"

Wang Tao gritted his teeth, nodded, kicked the door open, and strode inside.

***

Meanwhile, Zhang Xuan had finally finished explaining the situation of all five students. Zheng Yang's spear technique had some flaws, and Zhang Xuan's detailed explanation immediately delighted Zheng Yang, causing his strength to surge once more. As for Yuan Tao, who hadn't cultivated any systematic cultivation methods or martial arts, Zhang Xuan took out the first level of the academy's most basic cultivation method, the Hongtian Nine-Layered Art. He slightly modified some of its flaws and handed it to him. Although not many modifications were made, and it was still far from the Heaven's Path cultivation method Zhang Xuan practiced, it was many times more advanced than the original Hongtian Nine-Layered Art. Yuan Tao took one look and was so excited he nearly jumped, overjoyed to realize he had encountered a true master.

"Alright," Zhang Xuan said, gathering the five students back in the classroom, "I've basically explained each of your issues individually. Cultivation requires perseverance..." Just then, he heard the classroom door burst open with a "boom!" followed by an angry roar: "Zhang Xuan, cancel my sister's and Miss Zhao Ya's classes right now, or I'll make you regret it today!"

Immediately, Wang Tao stormed in, standing furiously before Zhang Xuan, his eyes bloodshot as if he wanted to kill.

"Brother..."

Seeing her brother's appearance, Wang Ying was startled and quickly stepped forward.

"Stay out of this!" He pulled his sister behind him with a flick of his hand, then coldly looked at Zhang Xuan. With an air of superiority, he declared, "Zhang Xuan, misleading others with your nonsense is one thing, but deceiving my sister is simply courting death! I'll count to ten. Cancel my sister's and Miss Zhao Ya's classes immediately, and I'll let it go. Otherwise, even if you are a teacher, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"

Boom!

With a cold snort, Wang Tao unleashed his full power, revealing a formidable aura. He was actually a Martial Artist Stage Four, Pigu realm cultivator! No wonder he could become an Elder-ranked student; his strength was at least as strong as, if not stronger than, that of an average teacher.

"I'm holding a class. Get out!" Zhang Xuan said, looking over calmly.

"Class? With your meager abilities, what kind of class could you possibly teach?!" Wang Tao sneered. "Get out? You want *me* to get out? What are you? Calling you a teacher is merely a sign of respect, but don't you know your own character? You're just a lowly, low-level teacher, only at the True Qi realm. Don't act so arrogant in front of me! Even if I beat you up today, at most the Elders will reprimand me a few times. What do you think you can do to me?"

He wasn't wrong. Some Elder-ranked students in the academy were stronger than the teachers and held extremely respected positions. Even if they had a genuine conflict with a teacher, they would at most be reprimanded a few times, without any severe punishment.

"Brother..." Wang Ying's face turned pale.

She knew perfectly well whether this teacher truly had ability. He had effortlessly solved problems that all the master healers in the entire Tianxuan Kingdom couldn't, and he could even perform acupuncture without touching the needles. How could such a person be unskilled?

Just as she was about to restrain her reckless brother, she saw the teacher not far away frown, his eyes narrowing.

"Scram!"

"You want *me* to scram..." Wang Tao never expected this useless teacher to actually dare tell him to scram. Just as he was about to speak, he met Zhang Xuan's indifferent gaze.

Seeing that gaze, he involuntarily trembled, like a white rabbit targeted by a fierce tiger. Under the powerful pressure of that aura, he couldn't help but retreat a few steps, his legs trembling. He had only ever encountered this kind of sharp aura on his own master. How could it come from a fellow who was the academy's worst teacher, only at Martial Artist Stage Three, True Qi realm?

A moment later, he snapped out of it. Wang Tao's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, his eyes bloodshot. In his eyes, Zhang Xuan was a useless person, despite being a teacher. Yet, this very same useless person had made him retreat in fear with just a shout. If this got out, how could he face anyone again? Where would his prestige be?

"You're courting death!"

Feeling intense humiliation, Wang Tao let out a roar, and with a flick of his wrist, he drew a long sword from his waist.

*Whoosh!*

The sword light was sharp and fierce; he had already thrust it forward.

*Whirring! Whirring! Whirring!*

A Martial Artist Stage Four, Pigu realm cultivator whose strength exceeded five hundred kilograms, the sword produced continuous whirring sounds in the air even before it reached him, giving one a feeling of irresistible power.

"Teacher Zhang..."

Seeing her brother attack directly and so quickly, Wang Ying's pretty face turned deathly pale. Although she greatly admired Teacher Zhang's recent guidance, she also knew that he was only at Martial Artist Stage Three and was far from being a match for her brother! With this attack, he wouldn't be able to dodge and was certain to be injured!

With a scream, she was so frightened she couldn't help but close her eyes.

"This... how is this possible?"

Just as she thought that Teacher Zhang, who had just helped her solve her problem, would be cut down by the sword, she heard the incredulous gasps of Zhao Ya and others nearby. She quickly opened her eyes to look, and what she saw made her eyes nearly pop out, freezing her on the spot.

She saw her brother's incredibly fierce and powerful sword strike stopped in mid-air, blocked by none other than Teacher Zhang Xuan's two seemingly powerless fingers.

Such a fierce sword strike was actually... caught by him with two fingers!