Chapter 570: Shy Zhang Xuan

With a powerful push of his foot against the ground, Hall Master Kang shot forward like a leopard. As his arms flexed, the *zhenqi* within him surged like a wild wind, causing his speed to explode once more.

Spirit-tier, Middle-grade martial art—Eagle Soaring to the Heavens!

This was a movement technique, if not the strongest in Myriad Kingdom City, then certainly among the top. Once unleashed, his speed soared, making it difficult even for powerful figures like Alliance Master Zhao to catch up.

Concerned for his students' safety and having unleashed his ultimate technique, Hall Master Kang called out, "Teacher Zhang, I'll go ahead and check; you just follow... Hmm? Where is he? Oh no!"

As he moved forward, he turned his head to address Teacher Zhang. His words were cut short, however, as his body suddenly stiffened, nearly causing his *zhenqi* to falter and him to fall from the air.

Behind him, there was no one. Directly ahead, a figure was sprinting so rapidly it had already become a tiny black dot, on the verge of disappearing.

"No... Was that Teacher Zhang?!"

He had been running at his absolute fastest, assuming Teacher Zhang, only at Spirit Awakened 2-dan primary stage, would find it nearly impossible to keep up. That was why he had offered the friendly advice, but who would have thought... before he finished speaking, the person was gone!

The speed was more than double his own!

He was a Spirit Awakened 4-dan peak stage expert, and he had even used his strongest movement technique... yet he barely saw the other person's shadow.

What he saw with his own eyes made him wonder if he was hallucinating or going crazy.

Was this really Spirit Awakened 2-dan?

Even a Spirit Awakened 5-dan wouldn't possess this kind of speed...

"Wait, he wasn't at the primary stage of Spirit Awakened 2-dan? He was... at the late stage?"

His brow furrowed.

Teacher Zhang's full-speed sprint caused his *zhenqi* to leak out without reservation, revealing his true cultivation... It wasn't Spirit Awakened 2-dan primary stage at all, but... late stage!

How was this possible?

During the master teacher selection, the other party had broken through on the spot. He had seen it clearly; there was no faking it. How could he have... in just half a month, advanced three minor stages to reach Spirit Awakened 2-dan late stage?

This was Spirit Awakened 2-dan... to go from primary to late stage in such a short time, and it seemed his cultivation was solid, ready to break through at any moment...

How exactly did he do it?

This was truly unbelievable!

Furthermore, even if Zhang were at the late stage of Elemental Qi, he would still be two major realms below Hall Master Kang's peak Impurity Cleansing cultivation, so how could he possibly be faster? And at such a high speed, his turns and leaps were nimble and agile, far more sophisticated than even his own Spirit-tier, Middle-grade martial art, Eagle Soaring to the Heavens!

"Could it be... he cultivated a Spirit-tier, High-grade, or even a Pinnacle-grade martial art?"

A thought struck him, startling him.

Martial arts of this caliber could only be possessed by empires. Even as the Hall Master of the Master Teacher Pavilion in Myriad Kingdom City, he couldn't learn or even acquire them.

A Teacher Zhang who came from an insignificant kingdom... actually cultivating a martial art of this level, his background must be incredibly powerful...

"Su Fan and Ling Hengyu, those two guys, definitely didn't tell the whole truth," he thought. "I'm afraid... Teacher Zhang's true origins are not simple! I must question them thoroughly when I return!"

A thought popped into his mind.

A person's abilities couldn't come from nowhere. This Teacher Zhang was so formidable, how could his teacher be simple? And what about his family background?

Teacher Su and Teacher Ling, those two guys, must have known something but simply didn't say.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have desperately recommended him and gone all out.

"Teacher Zhang... wait for me!"

Suppressing the shock in his heart, he looked up, only to see Teacher Zhang's figure had already vanished. Hall Master Kang hurriedly gave chase.

The Ice Palace wasn't large, and the aura erupted by Palace Master Wu was only a few hundred meters away. After a few turns, he arrived. By this time, Teacher Zhang had already arrived, standing in a spacious hall.

Palace Master Wu, Young Master Ruohuan, and Zhao Ya were also present, along with several female disciples in fiery red and white robes, trembling incessantly.

In front of them was a massive pool, about twenty meters in diameter. The water in the pool was divided into two sections, with *lingqi* swirling, countless spirit stones seemingly embedded within it, making it resemble a pool of pure spiritual liquid.

"Could this... be the Yin-Yang Pool?"

He had long heard of the Yin-Yang Pool, but even he had never seen it before. This was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.

"Wait... I heard the Yin-Yang Pool was divided into Yin and Yang, one side scorching like fire, the other cold as ice. But this one, while rich in *lingqi*, had no sensation of heat or cold..."

His brow furrowed.

The Yin-Yang Pool was famous throughout the world because it was divided into Yin and Yang, one side piercingly cold, the other unbearably hot, with Yin and Yang intertwined, creating a duality of ice and fire.

Cultivating within it, with alternating cold and heat and the tempering of Yin and Yang energies, allowed *zhenqi* to solidify further and cultivation to progress faster.

Although the pool before them appeared divided into two parts, it only had ordinary *lingqi* fluctuations, with no sensation of cold or heat. Could it be... it wasn't the so-called Yin-Yang Pool after all?

"Palace Master Wu, what happened?"

Seeing that his students were unharmed, Hall Master Kang sighed in relief, while looking over with a face full of confusion.

What happened that could make Palace Master Wu, a Spirit Awakened 5-dan expert, so furious, emitting such terrifying rage?

"There's an issue with the Yin-Yang Pool..."

Palace Master Wu explained briefly, then looked at the few female disciples in front of her. "Tell me what you just said, again!"

"Yes..."

The first female disciple stepped forward, her voice trembling slightly. "Just now, we went to tend to... the mother water, as usual, but we discovered that... the Yin-Yang power in the mother water had completely vanished, not a trace left. It's exactly... like this pool water..."

"The mother water is buried deep underground," Palace Master Wu insisted, "its Yin-Yang power formed by connecting to the earth's meridians and the ice plain. How could it possibly disappear?" She refused to believe it.

"Reporting to Palace Master..." the disciple replied, "This is what we just brought up from below, look..."

The female disciple flipped her wrist, and a bucket appeared before them, containing a clear pool of water with *lingqi* swirling. It gave a sensation of highly active *lingqi*, but... it was just ordinary *lingqi*, without the slightest coldness or heat.

"So the Yin-Yang properties are truly gone? What exactly happened?"

Palace Master Wu's eyes reddened.

The Yin-Yang Pool was tied to the very existence of the entire Ice Palace branch. Once it was destroyed, her branch would effectively be rendered useless.

As she was going crazy, Teacher Zhang, who had been the first to rush over, felt his mouth twitch.

At first, he hadn't known what "mother water" the others were talking about, but seeing the contents of the female disciple's bucket, he instantly shivered.

This stuff... wasn't it what he had just absorbed underground?

Could it be related to the Yin-Yang Pool?

Seeing Palace Master Wu's state, a premonition of ill omen arose in his heart, and Hall Master Kang couldn't help but step forward. "Palace Master Wu, what is this mother water you're speaking of? What exactly happened? If there's something difficult to say, you might as well tell us; perhaps we can help resolve it..."

"This involves the greatest secret of the Ice Palace," Palace Master Wu said hesitantly. "I originally didn't want to tell you, but under the current circumstances, if it can't be resolved, it probably can't be kept secret anymore!"

Seeing his inquiry, Palace Master Wu hesitated for a moment but couldn't help but nod.

Although these people before her were outsiders, they were all master teachers. She had no choice; perhaps they would have a solution.

"This is the Yin-Yang Pool!"

Pointing at the massive pool before them, Palace Master Wu said, "Aren't you curious that it's not like the legends, where the pool is divided into Yin and Yang, with clashing cold and heat?"

Everyone nodded.

Especially Hall Master Kang, who had noticed it as soon as he arrived and was filled with even more curiosity.

"The *lingqi* in the Yin-Yang Pool is gathered from spirit stones, you can probably tell that," she continued, "but the Yin-Yang energy within it is... brought by the mother water!

"The mother water is formed by the Ice Palace using a special method, combining the scorching heat of the earth's meridians with the extreme cold of the ice plain. Normally, it's buried deep beneath the mountains. Only when in use is the spiritual liquid taken from it and poured into this pool..."

Palace Master Wu explained.

Although it was just the simplest introduction, not involving the Ice Palace's most fundamental secret, it made them understand.

The so-called Yin-Yang Pool was not naturally occurring, but artificially created. And... the most important thing was the mother water; only by pouring this substance in could the water quality be completely transformed, creating a treasured land with immense benefits for cultivation.

This was like refining concentrated spiritual liquid for dilution; the most important part wasn't the diluted medicine, but what came before it.

And at this moment... the Yin-Yang properties of this mother water, which was supposed to be concentrated, had actually... vanished into thin air!

Without the mother water, the so-called Yin-Yang Pool was just a pile of spiritual liquid. Even if it offered some benefit for cultivation, it wouldn't have its previous effects...

"This..."

Hall Master Kang's mouth twitched.

He had thought it was a simple matter that could be easily resolved, but now it seemed, it was completely beyond his ability to intervene.

It involved the mother water, which was equivalent to the Ice Palace's greatest secret. How could it be casually revealed for him to know?

Moreover, even if it were revealed to him, if even Palace Master Wu, who had immersed herself in this for a lifetime, couldn't solve it, what could he possibly do?

Honestly, his luck was terrible. He had thought that getting the spots would greatly boost his students' cultivation; he never dreamed he'd encounter something like this.

"Oh, right, Teacher Zhang..."

Just as he was about to shake his head and tell them he had no solution, he suddenly remembered Zhang Xuan, who constantly created miracles, and couldn't help but look over. It would have been better if he hadn't looked; as soon as he did, his brow instantly furrowed.

He saw that Teacher Zhang at this moment had a strange expression, as if he had done something shameful, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Teacher Zhang, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing the usually carefree Zhang Xuan not trying to solve the problem at this moment and making such an expression, Palace Master Wu couldn't help but look over.

Hearing the question, the others also reacted, their gazes converging.

Teacher Zhang's expression was indeed strange. Even Palace Master Wu felt something was amiss.

"I..."

Hearing the question, Zhang Xuan's face flushed, and he couldn't help but scratch his head. "Well... Palace Master Wu, earlier in the Ice and Fire Chamber, didn't I say... I cultivated for a bit?"

Seeing that he didn't answer directly, but instead said these things, Palace Master Wu and Hall Master Kang were full of surprise, but still nodded.

Previously, he had indeed said that cultivating in the Ice and Fire Chamber had delayed him, which was why he hadn't passed the assessment.

Scratching his head, Zhang Xuan was full of embarrassment. "Ahem... When I was cultivating, I used a bit too much force, and accidentally... I absorbed all the Yin-Yang energy from your mother water..."