Chapter 714: Huai Wang Mansion

Zheng Yang and his direct disciples had followed him all the way from Tianxuan Kingdom, experiencing countless life-and-death situations. They had long considered him their closest family. If anything truly happened to him, they wouldn't hesitate to turn the entire Hongyuan Empire upside down!

Even heaven itself would have a hole poked in it!

Anyone who dared to harm them would face their boundless fury.

"Rest assured, Master Teacher Zhang, they are safe!"

Seeing Zhang Xuan's grim expression, Elder Hong realized his hesitation might have caused a misunderstanding. He quickly explained, "It was Prince Huai's Manor. Someone came to pick them up yesterday, and we dared not stop them..."

He was responsible for looking after these individuals, and now that Master Teacher Zhang had returned, they were gone. Anyone in his position would be furious.

It was already quite good that Zhang Xuan hadn't directly erupted in anger.

"Prince Huai's Manor?" Zhang Xuan's eyebrows furrowed.

He had never even heard of that name. Why would they pick them up?

"I don't know either!" Elder Hong was also puzzled. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Prince Huai, Yu Longxuan, is the Hongyuan Empire Emperor's uncle, the current Imperial Uncle. He is second only to the Emperor and holds a revered position. Even Princess Yu Fei-er, whom we met earlier, addresses him as 'Grandpa Xuan'!"

"Yesterday, he suddenly sent people to pick them up, insisting that they stay for a few days. I saw no ill intent, and since he's a high-ranking official of the current dynasty, I didn't stop them..."

"Stay for a few days?"

The more Zhang Xuan listened, the stranger it sounded.

He certainly had no connection with Prince Huai, Yu Longxuan. As for his four students—Zheng Yang, Wang Ying, Yuan Tao, and Liu Yang—only Wang Ying had a slightly better family background, but even that was just one of the prominent families in Tianxuan Kingdom. Yuan Tao was an orphan who had roamed around since childhood, living as a rogue cultivator in Dihuang City, unable to even find a cultivation technique.

Zheng Yang and Liu Yang were also unremarkable. There was no way they could be related to a prince of a first-tier empire. So why would he invite them to stay?

It was simply too strange!

"When did you arrive? Did they cause any trouble?" A thought struck Zhang Xuan.

His disciples, along with his butler Sun Qiang, were all fearless individuals. Especially Sun Qiang, with "Master Teacher Yang" as his backer, he was practically lawless and cared about nothing. Could they have caused some trouble and caught the attention of Prince Huai's Manor, which then used this as an excuse to seize them?

"We arrived yesterday morning... and came straight here. We didn't cause any trouble..."

Elder Hong frowned, carefully recalling the events of yesterday.

"What do you mean 'didn't cause trouble'? Did you forget that yesterday, when we first arrived and hadn't even found this place yet, Master Teacher Zhang's chubby student..." Seeing Elder Hong struggling to remember, Elder Feng interjected.

"The chubby student? Oh, right, Yuan Tao did fight someone yesterday, but that was a minor matter. Besides, the other party was just an ordinary person; it shouldn't have anything to do with Prince Huai's Manor, right?" Elder Hong was startled, then remembered, and couldn't help but say.

"What happened?" Hearing that Yuan Tao had caused trouble, Zhang Xuan's face turned ashen as he looked over.

"Actually, it wasn't Yuan Tao's fault. Yesterday, as soon as we arrived, we had a conflict with someone who looked like a rogue cultivator. That person deliberately provoked him, insisting on a fight. Yuan Tao taught him a lesson and was injured in the process, bleeding a little. However, the other party also compensated him with healing pills. From his attire, he looked like a merchant. Could it really be related to this incident?"

Recalling yesterday's events, Elder Hong frowned.

The person who fought Yuan Tao seemed like an ordinary traveling merchant, and his strength was very average. He shouldn't have any connection with Prince Huai's Manor, which was why Elder Hong hadn't thought of it until now.

"A fight? And he got injured?" Zhang Xuan's brows furrowed even deeper.

Although Yuan Tao, Zheng Yang, and the others were lawless, they knew how to restrain themselves when he wasn't around. Moreover, Yuan Tao's awakened physique gave him invincible defense; it shouldn't be easy for him to get injured and bleed.

Could it be that the so-called Prince Huai was actually involved in this incident?

If not, why would a prince he didn't even know want to invite them over?

"Where is Prince Huai's Manor?" After thinking for a while but still unable to figure it out, Zhang Xuan's brows furrowed tighter. He couldn't help but look over.

"Master Teacher Zhang wants to go to Prince Huai's Manor to find them? You definitely can't go alone..." Elder Hong was startled and quickly waved his hands.

As an Imperial Uncle, Prince Huai's residence was a fortress with countless experts, certainly many Saint-level cultivators. Going there like this would be extremely dangerous.

"Just tell me where!" Zhang Xuan interrupted, letting out a snort.

Although his cultivation and rank were not as high as Elder Hong's, his recent victory over Senior Brother Feng, combined with his various legends and detached state of mind, imbued him with a powerful aura that made people reluctant to challenge him.

"Yes..."

Knowing that Zhang Xuan was indeed going and that he couldn't object, Elder Hong's face paled. He had no choice but to say, "Prince Huai's Manor is not far from here. If you go out from the Scholar's Ocean and travel a few dozen kilometers, you'll see it..."

He then pointed in a direction.

Before he could finish speaking, a sharp cry echoed from the sky. A huge Purple-winged Heavenly Empyrean Beast descended. Zhang Xuan stomped on the ground, landed on its back, and flew straight in the direction Elder Hong had pointed.

"Master Teacher Zhang..."

Elder Hong's face turned pale with fright. He hadn't expected Master Teacher Zhang to be so fast, or to rush directly towards Prince Huai's Manor without even discussing it.

Who was Prince Huai?

He was the Imperial Uncle, holding an extremely high position among officials. Even the Emperor himself would bow and show respect, never daring to overstep. For Zhang Xuan to just charge over on a spirit beast, without a word, if he angered the Prince, the consequences would be severe...

"Ruohuan, quickly come with me to the Imperial Palace to find Princess Yu Fei-er. Perhaps only she can avert this disaster..."

Gritting his teeth, he called out and walked out with Young Master Ruohuan.

The only royalty they knew now was Yu Fei-er. He only hoped she would remember their time cultivating together at the Purification Lake and help Master Teacher Zhang this one time...

The Purple-winged Heavenly Empyrean Beast flew swiftly. Zhang Xuan stood on its back, looking down. Before long, he indeed saw a huge manor.

The manor was opulently decorated, gleaming with gold. Numerous guards in golden armor exuded an invincible aura even before he approached.

"This should be it..."

He instructed the Purple-winged Heavenly Empyrean Beast to circle the area and return upon command. Zhang Xuan then lightly swayed and descended from the sky.

He didn't directly storm into the manor. After all, the other party was the Imperial Uncle of the current dynasty, and it wouldn't be wise to openly antagonize him without concrete information about Yuan Tao and the others.

He landed on an empty street several hundred meters from the manor, changed into a brand new Master Teacher robe, and then walked over.

Upon arriving, he immediately saw the three large characters "Prince Huai's Manor" shining with golden light outside the main gate. He didn't know which star-level calligrapher had made them, but they seemed alive, constantly moving as if they could break through the air at any moment.

"It's probably the work of a six-star calligrapher!"

His gaze sharpened.

To make characters resemble swimming dragons, with their sharp edges fully displayed, the person who wrote these three characters must have reached at least the six-star calligrapher level.

Four guards stood before the gate, clad in dark blue armor. Each subtly exuded an aura that gave off a soul-crushing pressure.

"Mortals Crossing Six-Stage Bridge-Heaven Realm experts?"

His pupils contracted.

He hadn't expected these four guards at the gate to all be Bridge-Heaven Realm experts, stronger than him.

Such experts would definitely be high-ranking officials in the Illusion Feather Empire, capable of commanding armies anywhere. Here, they were merely guards. This Prince Huai's Manor was unusually powerful!

No wonder Elder Hong had been so worried earlier. Now it seemed this place was practically a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.

But even if it was a dragon's den, so what?

If they truly dared to harm Yuan Tao, Zheng Yang, and the others, he would cause a huge commotion, even against the Imperial Family!

At worst, he would unleash his twenty-odd puppets—twenty-odd tireless Saint realm experts with invincible defense—and that mysterious, unfathomable "ruthless one." No matter how formidable the place, he was confident he could force his way through!

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan approached the guards.

"This is Prince Huai's Manor. Unrelated personnel are not permitted to approach!" a guard snapped, gesturing with his spear as Zhang Xuan drew near.

"Master Teacher Zhang Xuan wishes to pay his respects to Prince Huai. I hope you will inform him!"

With a slight smile, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist, took out a name card, and handed it over.

Before confirming the other party's intentions, it was better not to make things difficult.

"Master Teacher?"

The guard looked at him doubtfully, then casually took the name card.

It was very simple, only containing "Master Teacher" and his name, without his rank.

A four-star Master Teacher was the pinnacle in Myriad Kingdom City, but compared to a first-tier empire, which was two full major tiers above a second-tier empire, it wasn't quite enough to command respect.

If his actual rank were written down, meeting Prince Huai might not be so easy.

They might not even bother to deliver the name card.

"This..."

Handing the name card to the other guards for a look, this guard hesitated, "May I ask, what is Master Teacher Zhang's rank? Have you met our Prince before? Do you have an appointment?"

Since no specific rank was written, and they were just guards, they could only ask.

Their Prince, naturally, couldn't be met by just anyone with a name card.

"I haven't met Prince Huai, but I am friends with Princess Yu Fei-er. Oh, and I am also an old acquaintance of Master Teacher Mo Gaoyuan!" Zhang Xuan smiled.

If he said he was a four-star Master Teacher, they definitely wouldn't let him in, so he decided to be vague.

However, what he said was also true. Princess Yu Fei-er, having faced life and death with him, calling her a friend was not an exaggeration. He had also met Mo Gaoyuan before, so "old acquaintance" was a fitting description.

"An old acquaintance of Master Teacher Mo?"

As expected, upon hearing this, the guards' expressions immediately turned serious.

Mo Gaoyuan was the Head of the Hongyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion, a peak six-star Master Teacher. Anyone who dared to call such a person an old acquaintance would likely be at least a six-star Master Teacher themselves!

It's just... why was a six-star Master Teacher so young?

"Master Teacher Zhang, please come this way. We will report to the Prince immediately!"

Despite their doubts, they dared not be negligent. They quickly ushered Zhang Xuan into the courtyard to rest.

Master Teachers possessed endless means. Although the person before them appeared young, there was no guarantee he wasn't much older. Regardless of whether it was true or false, as a Master Teacher, he was not someone they could afford to offend.

"Mm!"

Seeing that they were going to report to the Prince, Zhang Xuan felt relieved. He nodded and followed the guards into the Prince's Manor.