Chapter 880: Jade Shenqing's Regret

Boom!The moment Emperor Yushenqing left, the room, no longer supported by zhenqi, immediately collapsed. Debris and stones flew everywhere.

Numerous young talents scrambled out of the room, staring at the ruins on the ground and the emperor who was walking away, shouting "misunderstanding." They exchanged bewildered glances.

"What... what's wrong with His Majesty?"Young Master Liu Quan of the Liu family swallowed hard, looking dazed.Just moments ago, he had righteously and mercilessly driven someone away, completely offending them, and then the next moment, he rushed over, claiming it was a misunderstanding...Could his change of heart be any faster?

"How would I know?" Shen Jun was even more confused.He had just witnessed the emperor's anger and even supported him; now, with such a sudden change, he immediately felt like a fool, not knowing whether to leave or stay.

"So... are we still going to teach that guy a lesson?" Liu Quan couldn't help but ask.Since His Majesty said it was a misunderstanding, should they still proceed with the punishment?

"We must teach him a lesson, but find a few unfamiliar faces so no one knows who's behind it!" Shen Jun's eyes gleamed.If His Majesty had maintained his previous attitude, what good would it be even if this fellow gained Princess Fei-er's favor?The royal family always valued its reputation. If His Majesty disapproved, she wouldn't be able to do anything, no matter what!Now, with the emperor rushing out, his attitude had clearly changed, and Shen Jun's pressure immediately intensified!Since that was the case, they should beat him until he dared not harbor any fanciful thoughts; otherwise, Shen Jun simply couldn't stomach it.

While the two discussed the details of how to teach Zhang Xuan a lesson, Yushenqing had already chased out of the imperial palace, only to find Yu Fei-er and Luo Qiqi standing not far away, with no trace of Zhang Xuan to be seen.

"Where's Master Zhang?" he asked, rushing forward.Although he was the Emperor of Hongyuan Empire, the other party was the Head of the Master Teacher Academy, holding a more esteemed position than him.If he truly offended them, there wouldn't even be a need for action; a mere declaration that the Master Teacher Academy would no longer protect the Hongyuan Empire would suffice. Their Yu family dynasty would be swallowed by other covetous empires within half a month!The reason the Yu family remained standing was not due to their own immense power, but because... the Master Teacher Academy was present, and no one dared to defy the world's consensus by causing trouble!Therefore, strictly speaking, even as emperor, whose status in the Hongyuan Empire was unparalleled, he was still significantly inferior compared to the Head of the Master Teacher Academy.Aside from anything else, within the court, at least ninety-nine out of a hundred officials above the Transcendent Mortal realm had benefited from the Master Teacher Academy. Should a crisis arise, they would undoubtedly obey the Academy's orders, not his!This was the reality!

He had initially thought the other party was just a minor master teacher without power or influence, and even if he fortunately gained the appreciation of a few deans, it wouldn't amount to much, as his own status was no weaker than that of the Ten Elders... He never dreamed that this person would turn out to be the new Head!And one acknowledged by the Ten Elders and personally appointed by Master Mu!It was precisely for this reason that he disregarded his imperial status and rushed out.

"Teacher said he had important matters to attend to, so he left first..." Luo Qiqi replied.

"Left?" Yushenqing was stunned.

"Father Emperor, Master Zhang is my savior. How did he offend you, that you made Master Bai Yin attack him?"Yu Fei-er could no longer hold back. Disregarding imperial protocol and the father-daughter hierarchy, she asked.Others might not understand the clash of demonic sounds, but she specialized in souls and knew a few things: Master Bai Yin had attacked first, and Master Zhang had only retaliated in anger.There was clearly her father's shadow behind it; otherwise, even with ten times the courage, Master Bai Yin would never dare to harm her guest!

"I..." Yushenqing was speechless. After a moment, he had no choice but to reveal the truth: "Just before the banquet began, the Soul Refining Hall was cleared at an unprecedented speed, all its spiritual energy absorbed, and the ancestral statue was also damaged. I suspected Master Zhang was responsible..."

"Impossible! Since arriving at the imperial palace, Teacher has been with me all along. How could he go to your so-called Soul Refining Hall to cause destruction!" Luo Qiqi shook her head.Since coming to the imperial palace, the two had been inseparable. How could Teacher leave without her knowing, as if by magic?

"I suspect it was a Spirit Familiar that damaged the Soul Refining Hall. Didn't Master Zhang stand there in a daze for a while, not moving at all?" Yushenqing continued.

"He was standing there in a daze because he knew it was my birthday today and was preparing a gift for me, specifically creating a set of soul refining techniques..."Hearing her father's words, Yu Fei-er couldn't help but speak, her eyes reddening.She hadn't mentioned her birthday; Master Zhang only learned about it after arriving, and then immediately poured his heart into creating a cultivation technique for her. Yet... he was still misunderstood and even attacked!Would he be heartbroken because of this?

"Creating a cultivation technique?" Yushenqing was stunned.

"Exactly. I'll transcribe the cultivation technique he created right now. You can see for yourself if there was any time left for him to cause trouble in the Soul Refining Hall after creating a technique of this caliber!"Yu Fei-er gritted her teeth, took out paper and brush, and wrote swiftly. In a short time, she had transcribed the cultivation technique Master Zhang had imparted to her.

Taking the paper, Yushenqing froze after reading less than half a page. Intense shame flushed his face crimson.This set of soul refining techniques was incredibly powerful, even stronger than their family's ancestral Thousand Hammer Soul Condensing Art!For a cultivation technique of this level, even a master teacher like Master Mu would struggle to create it in less than several months. The fact that the other party created it on the spot must have consumed countless hours of effort...And he had actually suspected him of causing trouble!It was truly a case of repaying good intentions with suspicion.

"This technique perfectly suits the physique of our Yu family..."He quickly finished reading, feeling so ashamed he wished to sink into the ground.This soul refining cultivation technique was entirely created based on the Yu family's unique physique; outsiders could not cultivate it. Therefore, there was no need to suspect if it was left by a predecessor.Such a profound cultivation technique, it was foreseeable that if cultivated, the entire Yu family's strength would increase by at least thirty percent!It could be said that this one cultivation technique alone was far more valuable than merely destroying the Soul Refining Hall. Even if half, or even the entire imperial palace, had collapsed and all the steles were destroyed, its value would still far exceed that!The other party had naturally been in a daze while focusing on creating the technique... yet he had suspected him, deliberately tested him, and then driven him away...The more he thought about it, the more he felt he had gone too far.

"Luo Fu, hasn't Master Zhang's residence collapsed? Immediately invite the nation's finest artisans to repair it at once! Before dawn, a residence more magnificent than the imperial palace itself must be built!"Turning his head, Yushenqing commanded."Yes!" The old eunuch hastily departed.

Such a large residence, with its construction and formations, would undoubtedly cost a fortune. But what did it matter?As long as he could apologize and mend their relationship, it would all be worth it!

Unaware that not only the Master Teacher Academy but also the Hongyuan imperial family were preparing to rebuild his residence, Zhang Xuan had by then arrived at Leiyuan Peak.The towering, snow-capped peak appeared quite desolate.He entered the wooden hut where the Purple Sun Beast had previously resided and sat down cross-legged.There was still some time until midnight, and Hu Yaoyao and the others hadn't arrived yet, so it was a good opportunity to transmit the Transcendent Mortal cultivation technique to his clone, allowing him to also improve his strength.

"Main body!" The clone appeared before him.

"What exactly happened when you impersonated Master Yang? How did you even collapse the Master Sealing Hall?" Zhang Xuan asked directly.Although he had his suspicions, the power at that time was simply too immense, and there were still some things he couldn't quite comprehend.

"It was the doing of the Ruthless Faction, using the personal writings of Master Kong!" The clone transmitted a thought.Zhang Xuan immediately understood.It wasn't far from what he had guessed. The Ruthless Faction, using Master Kong's personal writings, indeed purified the aura, removing the killing intent, and also amplified its power significantly.At that time, the clone had precisely utilized that power to achieve such might, suppressing Master Mu and even the Ten Elders into silence.

With a thought, he retrieved the Tome of Heaven's Path where the Ruthless Faction resided, along with Master Kong's personal writings.

"I did pretty well, didn't I? I told you, as long as you let me eat this, I could definitely help you do something big..."The moment he saw Zhang Xuan, the Ruthless Faction's eyes gleamed as it said ingratiatingly.

"Let you eat it, you wish..."Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan opened Master Kong's personal writings, intending to say that the other party was "overthinking things," but suddenly froze, exclaiming in surprise: "What happened here?"He saw that hundreds of the carved characters on the bamboo slips had vanished entirely, leaving the surface smooth and blank, as if they had been forcibly scraped away with a knife.There had been characters before; he had personally reviewed them and used them to train his mind. How... how could they have disappeared after just a few days?

"If you don't let me devour these characters, how else could I generate such a powerful aura, capable of crushing formations and flattening buildings?" the Ruthless Faction retorted.

"Devour... you devoured these characters?"Zhang Xuan's vision went dark.He had always known his clone was unreliable, but he never expected it to be so unreliable when teamed up with the Ruthless Faction!These were Master Kong's personal writings, containing a cultivation technique... Now that parts were missing, how was anyone supposed to comprehend anything from it?!

"Yes!" the Ruthless Faction nodded.

Hearing its confession, Zhang Xuan felt like crying but had no tears.Master Kong's handwriting—any master teacher who obtained it would carefully preserve it for future generations. Yet, he had gone and let it be eaten... If he ever truly met Master Kong, he would surely be overcome with shame!What kind of situation was this?!However, things were already done, and blaming those two was useless.After all, given the circumstances at the time, if Master Yang hadn't appeared, explaining things would have been even more troublesome.

No longer dwelling on it, he carefully examined the bamboo slips. About a third of the characters were missing from the entire scroll. This meant that if he wanted to reproduce the effect of Yang Xuan's appearance again, this scroll could still be used twice more!

"Never mind..."He shook his head.Although Master Kong's cultivation technique was excellent, Zhang Xuan possessed the Heaven's Path Divine Art, so having it or not wasn't a big deal.He put the bamboo slips and the Ruthless Faction back into his storage ring. With a thought, he transmitted the Transcendent Mortal cultivation technique to his clone.

With a cultivable technique, the clone didn't hesitate and began cultivating with the aid of the earth vein spiritual liquid.

Taking advantage of the free time, Zhang Xuan also took the opportunity to observe his own strength.His soul power had reached the peak of the Transcendent Mortal realm, possessing a full 20 million ding of strength. Combined with 17 million ding of zhenqi and 8 million ding from his physical body, he now wielded a total of 45 million ding of strength, which was in no way inferior to some experts who had just entered the Half-Saint realm!A peak Transcendent Mortal could rival an early Half-Saint, crossing two major cultivation levels. Even true battle masters would probably find it hard to compare!

After studying for an unknown period, he realized his soul was too strong and his physical body was somewhat unable to keep up, so he stopped cultivating.

He didn't stay long this time. Hearing the sound of spirit beasts flying outside, knowing that Hu Yaoyao and the others had arrived, he willed his clone back into the Thousand Ant Beehive, placed the Purple Sun Beast behind the hut, and then Zhang Xuan got up and walked out.