Chapter 943: Zhang Xuan is Back

The succession process for the deans of the Four Great Academies is largely the same.

It’s not arrogance or self-praise, but both of them, whether in educating students or managing the entire academy, rank among the most outstanding deans throughout history.

Yet, such abilities only garnered 45% and 37% approval, respectively. This highlights the immense difficulty of the ancestors’ evaluation.

What could a 20-year-old youth possibly have learned, even if they started learning from birth? Could his approval rating be even higher than theirs?

“Not just inferior, it’s incomparable!”

Seeing their expressions, Wu Ran knew exactly what his two old friends were thinking. With a bitter smile, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Incomparable? Do you mean... he has already surpassed 50% approval?” Shen Pingchao furrowed his brow.

He could only imagine that such a percentage would be the highest possible. Those who receive such recognition are usually geniuses among geniuses, having achieved great merits or made significant contributions to the academy. It was already incredible to have a student who only enrolled this year become a dean. Could it be that the ancestors’ approval exceeded even half? If that were true, wouldn’t so many ancestors be incredibly short-sighted!

“Fifty percent?” Wu Ran continued to shake his head.

Seeing his expression, Wu Tianqiong finally breathed a sigh of relief. “I knew 50% approval wouldn’t be that easy...”

Before he could finish, the voice from across continued, “If it were just that, I wouldn’t even mention it. It’s... one hundred percent!”

“One hundred percent?”

The two deans nearly spat blood. You must be joking, right? Everyone has different opinions; it’s absolutely impossible to satisfy everyone. Therefore, throughout the history of the Four Great Academies, despite so many brilliant deans, 100% approval has never been heard of. A new student, barely 20 years old, received approval from over a hundred ancestors of Hongyuan Academy... all of them?

“I knew you wouldn’t believe it, but facts are facts!” Wu Ran sighed. When he first heard the news, he had the same expression as them, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor in shock. If it hadn’t been for at least 100,000 people witnessing it and confirming it at the time, he wouldn’t have believed it either.

“Since you’re so certain, then it must be true...” Knowing his old friend never lied and had no reason to lie to them, Wu Tianqiong couldn’t help but look over. “The ancestor’s approval only allows three sentences. What exactly did he say to gain simultaneous recognition from so many?”

“He said nothing at all... instead, he beat up the collective consciousness of the ancestors!” Wu Ran said, his mouth twitching.

“Beat them up?” Shen Pingchao and Wu Tianqiong both stumbled simultaneously. They had heard of various forms of flattery and ways to curry favor, but beating them up... that works too? When did the ancestors’ consciousness become so spineless as to succumb to brute force?

“Not only that, this new dean also received 100% approval from the academy’s faculty and students, successfully forging a Perfect Dean’s Medallion! Furthermore, during his lectures, there was an astonishing phenomenon of braying donkeys and barking dogs, with countless animals breaking through to become savage beasts...” Fearing the two deans couldn’t handle the shock, Wu Ran continued speaking without giving them time to process.

“A Perfect Dean’s Medallion...”

“Braying donkeys and barking dogs...”

The two deans were indeed deeply shaken. It was a long time before they recovered and asked, “Have you met this Dean Zhang?”

“No!” Wu Ran shook his head. “When I arrived, he had gone to assess the promotion of a six-star master teacher to an empire. It’s been over two months since then...”

“Over two months? It seems unlikely we’ll get to meet him this time!”

“Indeed, promoting an empire is extremely difficult; it’s hard to accomplish without several years...” Hearing that the new dean had just assessed a six-star master teacher and chosen the most difficult task of promoting an empire, Shen Pingchao and Wu Tianqiong simultaneously shook their heads.

“Several years? Not needed! According to the news I received... he has already passed!” Wu Ran said.

“Didn’t you say... he only started the assessment two months ago?” Wu Tianqiong’s mouth twitched.

“Yes, he completed it in just over two months, promoting a Conferred Kingdom to an Empire...” Wu Ran nodded.

“...” The two deans were speechless.

When they first arrived, they had spoken of students being inexperienced, needing to learn that there are always greater heights to reach and more capable people. Now, listening to all this, they finally realized that it was they themselves who were truly inexperienced. Having held the position of dean for no less than 500 years, they had seen countless types of geniuses, but never had they heard of anyone quite like Dean Zhang.

“This battle master selection assesses the students, so a dean’s personal genius is irrelevant! As far as I know, Hongyuan Academy’s students generally lack fighting prowess... We’ll see the true measure on the competition ground then!”

“Indeed, as a dean, personal ability isn’t the most important thing. What matters is whether one can lead the academy forward by leaps and bounds... If that cannot be achieved, then no matter how much ancestor recognition or how powerful a dean’s medallion one obtains, it will all be in vain!” The position of Master Teacher Academy Dean is not for showcasing personal abilities; it’s a responsibility, a test of leadership. If the students are underperforming or the promotion rate is low, then no matter how impressive or renowned the dean is, it’s useless. Making the best use of everyone’s talents and resources — that is what a dean should do.

The Four Great Academies have always been in competition, and with Hongyuan producing such an exceptional dean, it would be false to say the three felt no pressure. At this moment, they were all determined to ensure their students shone brightly during the Battle Master Grand Competition, making everyone understand that as a dean, personal strength isn’t enough; the strength of the students is fundamental.

As events stirred in Hongyuan City, Zhang Xuan was currently riding on the back of the Violetlight Beast, flying straight back.

Promoting an empire was indeed a colossal task, truly deserving of its reputation as the most challenging six-star assessment. Even with all his methods, he found it somewhat overwhelming. Fortunately, he had completed the mission without failing.

Over two months, utilizing the 500 high-grade spirit stones provided by the Shen and Liu families, his cultivation successfully reached the Half-Saint pinnacle. His True Qi power surged by 24 million ding, from the previous 60 million ding to 84 million ding. This level of power surpassed the 75 million ding of a Conferred Saint pinnacle expert. With his True Qi power skyrocketing, normally, combined with his 20 million ding soul power and 32 million ding physical body strength, the power he could unleash would have reached 136 million ding, exceeding 100 million.

However... that was not the case. Regardless of the enhancements, his power consistently failed to cross the 100 million ding threshold, lingering at 99.99 million ding. It seemed as if 100 million ding was a chasm between the Saint realm and the Mortal Transcendence realm, insurmountable without reaching the required cultivation level. A single ding’s difference, the gap between immortal and mortal.

Nevertheless, even though he couldn’t unleash 100 million ding of power, with his profound accumulation, ordinary Saint 1-dan initial and intermediate stage cultivators were no match; he could easily crush them. Most crucially, after two months of cultivation, the True Qi within him had become even denser, and its sheer volume was astonishing. If a normal Half-Saint’s True Qi reserve was a pond, his was a river, at least dozens of times larger. In other words, the True Qi he alone could unleash was comparable to that of dozens of Half-Saint pinnacle experts... The thought was terrifying!

In these two months, not only had he advanced, but Luo Qiqi and Yu Feier had also successfully reached the pinnacle of the Chrysalis Seal realm. Dong Xin and Hu Yaoyao, like him, also became Half-Saint pinnacle experts. If news of such cultivation spread, it would undoubtedly be considered monstrous. However, following Zhang Xuan, everything seemed natural, even feeling a bit slow. Had it not been for the need to solidify their foundations, these two might have even successfully attempted to reach the Conferred Saint or even the Saint realm!

Under his guidance, Zhao Feiwu and Mo Yu also reached Mortal Transcendence 5-dan, possessing astonishing combat power. The Violetlight Beast, which had always followed behind them, also made significant progress by utilizing countless inner cores from the Cloudmist Ridge, reaching the late stage of Saint 2-dan. The nine kings of Cloudmist Ridge also all broke through to the Spirit Realm.

In just two months—a blink of an eye to cultivators—everyone and every beast around Zhang Xuan underwent a qualitative transformation, making progress so astonishing it was almost unbelievable. The Thousand Ant Hive, in particular, after nearly three months of expansion, had reached a diameter of five hundred meters. Its space was also more stable, giving the impression of a small world. Numerous buildings had been constructed within, capable of accommodating hundreds, or even thousands, of people without issue. The nine kings of Cloudmist Ridge and the Violetlight Beast resided there normally, finding it very spacious and entirely unaffected by each other.

The clone’s spirit soul had been cultivating under the Bodhi Tree and had also achieved a breakthrough, reaching the Chrysalis Seal realm. Seeing the clone’s weaker strength, the main body once again entertained the thought of teaching it a lesson. However, upon sparring... just like before, he was beaten black and blue again. Although the clone’s spirit soul didn’t seem to have strengthened significantly, for some unknown reason, while the main body made great progress, the clone made even greater progress.

After a long period of frustration, Zhang Xuan finally understood. The Nine Heavens Lotus Embryo was simply too powerful. The longer the clone’s spirit soul was in contact with it, and the more perfectly it integrated, the stronger its combat power would be! This meant that even if the clone didn’t cultivate and just slept all day, as long as it waited for the lotus embryo to perfectly merge with its soul, it would possess combat power beyond imagination. This was something the main body could not compare to. There was nothing to be done; the main body was inherently lacking and could only compensate with hard work. What could he do about his poor talent?

“Teacher, we’ve arrived at Hongyuan City. Should we go directly to the academy, or...?” That day, as he was cultivating, Luo Qiqi approached him.

“We’re here?” Zhang Xuan stood up. “Let’s go to the manor first!”

With Elder Mi, Zhao Bingxu, and others present, there wouldn’t be any major issues at the academy. He wanted to check on Wang Ying and the others first, to see their cultivation progress. He hadn’t brought them for this empire promotion; firstly, he felt he had taught them all he needed to, so it wasn’t necessary. Secondly, he wanted them to learn independence and see what level of cultivation they could achieve in his absence, considering it a test for them. They needed to walk their own paths eventually. After guiding them from Tianxuan Kingdom until now, it was time for them to move forward on their own.

“Understood!” Luo Qiqi nodded and spoke a command to the Violetlight Beast.

The enormous sacred beast flew directly towards the manor.