Chapter 571: Compensation

"Huh?"

"Cultivated too intensely?"

Palace Master Wu, Hall Master Kang, and the others were stunned. Young Master Ruohuan's mouth twitched, and he almost blacked out and fainted on the spot.

He had found it strange before: why had this Master Zhang failed the Ice-Fire Chamber, which even he could pass? The root cause was here... he had gone directly there, absorbed all of the Mother Water, and turned the Yin-Yang Pond into waste. What was the point of passing or failing anymore? Fortunately, he had previously admired the other party for admitting failure so candidly... now it seemed utterly shameless! If you dried up all the Mother Water and made the Yin-Yang Pond useless, what good was it even if we had the quota?

Sniffling, Young Master Ruohuan wanted to cry. Ever since he met this blockhead, whether it was during competitions, trials, or anything else, nothing had ever gone smoothly. He was either humiliated or on his way to being humiliated. If his heart hadn't been strong, he would have gone crazy from the torment long ago.

"You, you... absorbed all the yin and yang properties from the Mother Water?" Palace Master Wu also reacted, staring at the young man nearby as if she had gone mad.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan replied shyly. Although he knew it was Mother Water from the Library of Heaven's Path, he truly didn't realize its immense importance to the Yin-Yang Pond. Moreover... he merely wanted to cultivate his soul, and he hadn't expected such a renowned substance to be so fragile, completely disappearing after only helping his soul force advance from Transcendent Mortal 2-dan to 4-dan.

After a moment of thought, he understood: the Mother Water was only responsible for the fusion of yin and yang; it didn't provide much spiritual energy for cultivation. The power of the Yin-Yang Pond, for example, came from the countless spirit stones embedded around it. His soul, in addition to absorbing the yin and yang qi, had also absorbed the negligible spiritual energy within, so it was naturally easy to consume completely. Realizing this, he felt disheartened. If only he had known the thing was so fragile and so important to them, he wouldn't have touched it even if it killed him!

However... it couldn't be said that the Mother Water and spirit stones had equivalent effects. A witch soul cultivated by absorbing yin and yang qi was more solidified and purer, as if it had undergone a lightning tribulation. This was clearly something spirit stones could not achieve.

"The Mother Water is deeply buried underground. The Ice-Fire Chamber only connects to its aura, allowing people to sense the power of yin and yang... They are thousands of meters apart. How could you absorb it like that?" Palace Master Wu still couldn't believe it. This guy just went to the Ice-Fire Chamber, which was still extremely far from the Mother Water. How did he absorb it all?

"Ahem, well... when I entered the Ice-Fire Chamber, I found it was a mechanism, so I figured out how to open it and went down..." Zhang Xuan said.

Palace Master Wu staggered. This was a mechanism created by a 5-star Celestial Craftsman. Even she could only open it with the Palace Master's token. How did this guy in front of her "figure out how to open it" and "go down" so casually? Most importantly... that was just a ventilation shaft. It was originally dug for two purposes: for the Ice-Fire Chamber assessment, and to allow the Mother Water to communicate with heaven and earth for better incubation. At a depth of several thousand meters, there was nothing to brace oneself against... jumping down would result in instant death! Even if he really went down, how did he get back up?

"It was my mistake to absorb the Mother Water of your Yin-Yang Palace. How about this... I won't take advantage of you. I just observed carefully, and there are significant hidden dangers in your Ice Plain Palace's Yin Art and Yang Art. If I'm not mistaken... those who cultivate these arts usually die prematurely, right?"

"You..." Palace Master Wu was stunned. Disciples who cultivated the Yin Art and Yang Art were groomed to nurture the Mother Water. Affected by the earth's meridians and the ice plain, they usually didn't live long. Even if they reached the Transcendent Mortal realm with considerable strength, reaching the age of sixty was a major hurdle. However, this was a secret of their Ice Plain Palace... and this Master Zhang discovered it with just a glance?

"I can improve your cultivation techniques and help them remove this hidden danger. Consider it compensation for your Ice Plain Palace's losses!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Improve... cultivation techniques?" Palace Master Wu trembled. This defect had been passed down for countless years in the Ice Plain Palace without ever being eliminated. If it could be improved, it would be an immense merit for all people of the Source Fire Ice Plain. Let alone destroying one branch, even if ten were destroyed, the headquarters wouldn't bat an eye. But... could it truly be improved, and by a youth under twenty years old?

"The biggest problem with your two sets of cultivation techniques is that cultivators accumulate yang and yin qi, which cannot circulate smoothly. Although yang and yin qi are the most authentic powers of heaven and earth, if the cultivator doesn't have the corresponding physique, prolonged accumulation of these qi can easily damage their foundation. It's like ginseng: though beneficial, many people cannot consume it. Different physiques mean highly nourishing items can also become poison..." Knowing her concerns, Zhang Xuan looked over: "If the problem can be fundamentally resolved, allowing the physique to better integrate with yin and yang qi, then restoring their lifespan is quite simple!"

Palace Master Wu did not cultivate the Yin-Yang arts, but these disciples had low cultivation levels, making it easy for him to find their defects using his Eye of Insight. Through observation, he already knew that these individuals carried internal hidden injuries. If these were not repaired, their lifespans would be severely affected, and they would struggle to live past sixty. For Transcendent Mortal realm cultivators who typically lived two to three hundred years, not reaching sixty certainly counted as dying prematurely.

Palace Master Wu's expression shifted. Gritting her teeth, she flipped her wrist, took out two books, and handed them over: "Master Zhang, please modify the cultivation techniques..." Initially, she had been somewhat skeptical, wondering if he was trying to seize the opportunity to peek at their Ice Plain Palace's cultivation arts. After hearing his explanation, she realized she had been judging a gentleman by her own narrow-mindedness. The other party could even discern the secrets of their cultivation; this indicated that these Yin and Yang arts were no challenge in his eyes. If he truly wanted the cultivation techniques, he wouldn't have used such a clumsy method.

"Alright!" He took the cultivation techniques. As his finger touched them, a book immediately appeared in his mind. He lowered his head and looked at the book. Just as his Eye of Insight had shown, cultivating these arts indeed created hidden dangers, leading to premature death. However, under the illumination of the Library of Heaven's Path, the defects became dazzlingly clear, making it exceptionally simple to reverse-engineer and modify the cultivation techniques.

Before long, he opened the book in his hand, took out a brush, finished modifying the defects that caused premature death, and handed it back.

"This..." Taking the cultivation technique and reading it for a moment, Palace Master Wu's body immediately began to tremble uncontrollably. As a Transcendent Mortal 5-dan expert who had controlled the Ice Plain Palace for many years, she could easily discern whether the modifications had any effect. As long as they cultivated according to this, it wouldn't be long before all the hidden dangers in the Ice Plain Palace's disciples disappeared, allowing them to walk the world anew. He glanced at it once and changed the cultivation technique... Just how powerful was this young man? Even Hall Master Kang couldn't do this!

"Thank you, Master Zhang, for saving the lives of tens of thousands of disciples in the Ice Plain Palace!" Knowing that this set of cultivation techniques, once reported to the headquarters, would undoubtedly cause a huge stir and drive countless people mad, being capable of saving an unknown number of disciples who cultivated yin and yang attributed power, Palace Master Wu could no longer restrain herself. She bowed deeply and knelt on the ground.

"Oh... Palace Master Wu, what are you doing..." Unexpectedly, she would perform such a grand gesture, Zhang Xuan was startled and quickly stepped forward, intending to help her up. Palace Master Wu waved her hand, her expression serious: "I am thanking you on behalf of the entire Ice Plain Palace, not just myself. Please, Master Zhang, do not refuse!" Due to cultivation technique limitations, at least several hundred thousand disciples in the Ice Plain Palace would not live past sixty. With the emergence of this new set of cultivation techniques, their lives were assured. This meant that Master Zhang's single act had saved hundreds of thousands of people, and her kneeling represented not herself, but all of them.

"Alright..." Seeing her insistence, Zhang Xuan could only let her be. Hall Master Kang and Young Master Ruohuan, standing on the side, felt their vision blur and were almost spitting blood. They knew Zhang Xuan had completely consumed the Mother Water, and they had wondered if Palace Master Wu would kill him. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, she was kneeling... Master Zhang, just how many unknown abilities do you possess? Modifying cultivation techniques, solving a problem that even the Ice Plain people themselves couldn't resolve... This was no longer something an ordinary master teacher could accomplish. Hall Master Kang even suspected that even a 5-star master teacher wouldn't be able to do it better than him.

After respectfully receiving Palace Master Wu's three bows, she finally stood up, showing extreme deference to the young man before her. Although he had destroyed the Mother Water, he had saved the lives of countless people in the entire Ice Plain Palace. His merits offset his faults, and his contributions even outweighed his transgression.

"You came here specifically to cultivate in the Yin-Yang Pond, but now that it's gone, you can't advance... How about this: I'll give you some guidance, and I'll help you break through to the peak of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan within a month, as compensation!" After dealing with Palace Master Wu, Zhang Xuan looked at Young Master Ruohuan nearby. This guy had arrived full of excitement, hoping to use the Yin-Yang Pond for rapid advancement and a surge in strength, but it had been entirely consumed by Zhang Xuan, making cultivation impossible. Naturally, he deserved some compensation.

"Let me reach the peak of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan within a month?" Young Master Ruohuan was stunned. He was a master teacher himself, and his own teacher was the Hall Master of the Master Teacher Pavilion. Having used all the best methods available in his cultivation so far, reaching the peak of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan would be impossible without ten or twenty years. One month... He must be dreaming!

"When you cultivate, do you feel an extreme blockage in your Qi Sea, as if you've entered a narrow passage and find it difficult to proceed?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Uh... yes!" Young Master Ruohuan nodded. His current cultivation progress was very slow, not because of a lack of resources or ignorance of how to cultivate, but because his true qi felt blocked, circulating like a crawl, without the fluidity it once had. It was like long-distance running: no matter how great a world champion was, beyond a certain limit, their speed would drop; no one could maintain a constant speed indefinitely. He was now like someone who had reached his limit, finding every step forward difficult.

"It's simple. Take this pill, and you can easily reach the peak of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan within a month!" Looking at him calmly, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist, and a fist-sized, light red pill appeared in his palm.

Young Master Ruohuan's body swayed, his face contorting. "This is... a Grade-2 Aphrodisiac Pill for savage beasts?"