Chapter 946: Owes a Beating

"Three minutes?""Solve it another way?""What an arrogant fellow. Alright then, we won't be descending today. We'll see what method he uses to solve this!"

The three deans were all stunned. They had expected something else, but not this! A newly appointed dean, facing seven-star master teachers, showed no reverence whatsoever and spoke with such audacity... It was maddening! Since he was so arrogant, fine, they wouldn't descend! Let's see what he could do to them!

"Dean Wu, Dean Shen, Dean Wu..." Seeing that the other party became so enraged before he could even finish speaking, resulting in the opposite effect, Zhao Bingxu's face was a picture of distress. He had genuinely meant to warn them that the dean had a temper, but no one expected this outcome.

"No need to say more. You may descend!" Wu Tianqiong waved his hand.

"This..." Seeing that their minds were made up and unyielding, Zhao Bingxu could only shake his head and, along with Elder Mi and the others, flew straight down.

Once they left, the three deans exchanged glances and shook their heads. "This Dean Zhang of Hongyuan is quite interesting..." Shen Pingchao smiled; unlike his previous serious demeanor, there was no hint of anger on his face.

"Indeed. We originally stopped the airship here to present him with a challenge, to see if he could handle it as perfectly as the legends claimed... Now it seems he has quite a fiery temper!" Wu Tianqiong sighed helplessly. As seven-star master teachers, they naturally knew this was extremely impolite. They had done it intentionally, not to provoke or disrespect, but simply to observe the new dean's capabilities and how he would react to such a situation. It was also a test. After all, the deans of the four academies were peers and of the same rank. They wanted to see if this young man, only twenty years old, was qualified to be compared with them.

In truth, their refusal to descend was not an insurmountable problem. A typical master teacher would personally fly over to invite them, prepare seating, and humbly await them... Sensing the sincerity, they would naturally let go of their pretense. But this fellow, instead, showed no deference at all, directly issuing a "three-minute" threat... and if they didn't descend, he'd take action... He was truly arrogant!

"A little arrogance in a young person is good, but too much isn't beneficial for future development!" Wu Ran shook his head, "We can take this opportunity to temper his arrogance and make him understand that while high talent is an asset, it's certainly not a license for unbridled insolence."

"Exactly!" Shen Pingchao nodded, "To be honest, I'm genuinely curious what he's relying on with such arrogance, and what method he could possibly use to make us descend!"

"We'll soon find out..." The three simultaneously burst into laughter.

Before their laughter had ceased, a sound like a great bell suddenly rang out from below.

"Hum!"

The sound resonated all around, like a clap of thunder on a clear day, or the stampede of ten thousand horses.

"What was that?" The three paused, startled. Before they could fully react, they felt the sixteen sacred beasts supporting the airship suddenly drop.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

They didn't even have time to cry out before plummeting straight down. The Cloud Cliff Airship, dozens of meters long, relied entirely on these sacred beasts for suspension. With the sacred beasts falling, deprived of their support, it naturally couldn't remain aloft. It shook violently and continued to plummet.

"It's the Heavenly Dragon Eight Tones! This fellow is using the Heavenly Dragon Eight Tones to suppress the sacred beasts. This is bad..." His body swayed, and Wu Tianqiong paused in mid-air, a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

The sacred beasts pulling the Cloud Cliff Airship almost all possessed dragon bloodline. Sacred beasts with this bloodline were incredibly powerful in combat at the same level, and when flying, their stamina and speed were formidable... making them ideal for piloting an airship. Their only weakness was an innate fear of true dragon bloodline. However, true dragons had disappeared for countless years, and no one had ever seen one. Therefore, since these sacred beasts began pulling the airship, there had never been any problems; everything had been peaceful... They never dreamed that the long-lost Heavenly Dragon Eight Tones, dormant for untold years, would suddenly resound! Weren't these sounds something only dragons could use? How could a human emit them, and with such perfection and power? The Heavenly Dragon Eight Tones were so formidable that even these sacred beasts, having reached the sacred beast standard, couldn't endure them!

Filled with frustration, Wu Tianqiong's hands didn't stop. He sharply clenched his palm, and the surrounding air immediately coalesced into a mass, lifting the enormous Cloud Cliff Airship and temporarily preventing its descent. Shen Pingchao and Wu Ran also reacted, quickly taking action. The power of the three seven-star master teachers was as vast as the sea, their True Qi like dragons. Though the airship was massive, it finally stopped. Just as everyone sighed in relief, a faint sound echoed from below once more.

"Moo!"

Boom!

The sound was not loud but carried immense penetrating power. The sixteen sacred beasts, which had been rigid and dropped their tongues, falling from the sky, immediately went berserk, charging straight downwards. They were still attached by ropes, and at this sudden surge, the huge vessel, which had just barely been brought to a halt, was pulled down again. With the sudden burst of power from the sixteen mighty sacred beasts, combined with the airship's own weight, even the three deans, despite their immense strength, couldn't withstand it. Instead, they were pulled off balance and simultaneously plummeted from the sky.

Rumble...

A massive cloud of dust billowed upwards as the Cloud Cliff Airship, originally suspended in the sky, crashed hard onto the ground, creating a large crater. The many students standing on the deck and inside the cabins were all thrown to the ground in unison. Under the strong impact, many with lower cultivation levels spat blood, sustaining serious injuries even before the combat master selection had begun. Even those with higher cultivation felt their blood boiling and were completely disoriented.

It wasn't just the students and teachers of the three academies who looked like this; Elder Mi and others who had just flown down from the sky also twitched at the corners of their mouths upon seeing this scene. They had thought the dean's "three minutes" was just a bluff, but he had actually followed through... Hadn't this dragon language been lost for untold ages? When did the dean learn it? And he used it with such proficiency...

"Are the three deans alright...?" They hastily looked towards the airship and saw the three deans, who had moments ago been full of grandeur and soaring aura, now sprawled on the deck, covered in dust and looking utterly disheveled. Being forcibly dragged by the sixteen sacred beasts, even though they had reached Saint 2-dan and 3-dan, they still found it somewhat unbearable. Not being injured was already a stroke of luck.

"Dean, is this what you meant by 'civilized'?" Zhao Bingxu's vision went dark, and he stood frozen. Just moments ago, the dean had repeatedly claimed he would act "civilizedly" and not mess around, yet... this was what happened. You call this civilized? Who ever saw a civilized person throw guests off their airship upon arrival, and then... smash their mode of transport to pieces?

Just as he was about to approach the dean to discuss how this was inappropriate and could affect unity... he saw the young man, at some point, standing before the sacred beasts lying on the ground.

Crackling!

A flurry of kicks and punches, and in a short while, the sacred beasts began to emit excited sounds. Sixteen drops of blood flew from their respective foreheads and landed before the dean... Signing a contract, the sacred beasts recognized their master!

"My goodness..."

"Not only did the dean destroy their airship, but he also tamed their sacred beasts?" Their vision went dark. All ten elders were dumbfounded.

"Alright!" Clapping his hands, Zhang Xuan called out, and the many sacred beasts simultaneously roared, shedding their restraints. They flew over and lined up neatly behind him, like soldiers, heads held high with immense pride.

Since the other party wouldn't descend, he simply had to find a way to make them. From the first glance, he had known that all sixteen sacred beasts contained dragon bloodline. If that were the case, it was simple. First, use the Heavenly Dragon Eight Tones to intimidate, then proceed to tame them... Though these sixteen were called sacred beasts, they were actually only at the early stage of Saint 1-dan. With his current strength, it wasn't difficult to overpower them, and with the added deterrence of the dragon language, they quickly surrendered completely.

Since they were impolite, he wouldn't be polite either. He would just subdue these sacred beasts first.

"This..." Climbing up from the shattered deck, Wu Tianqiong and Shen Pingchao nearly spat blood. They had only wanted to test the other party, to see his response... They hadn't expected him to be so ruthless as to destroy their precious airship and, incidentally, abduct more than a dozen sacred beasts... What's more, these sacred beasts, which they had pampered with food and drink every day for years—it was bad enough that they had defected, but what was with their proud expressions? Were they really that proud to follow this fellow? They knew this guy didn't play by the rules, but this... this wasn't just unconventional, it was utterly outrageous!

Unlike the frustration of the other two, Wu Ran clearly saw Zhang Xuan's appearance, and his body swayed as he leaped up in excitement. He had long heard about the many deeds and the name of this new dean, but he had never seen him and didn't know what he looked like... He never dreamed it would be none other than the young man who, at the Conferral Altar, had pointed out the errors in Master Kong's insights and received his acknowledgment! That day, the young man had vanished, and Wu Ran had searched everywhere, thinking he would never meet him again and had missed the chance to seek guidance. He never expected... that he would be this legendary dean of Hongyuan Academy! Had he known it was him, he would have come over much sooner, instead of waiting so long... He had many questions he wished to ask and learn from. He had previously thought that such an exceptional young man could not possibly remain obscure; he was destined to shine brightly. Now, it appeared this was indeed the case. If even Master Kong had acknowledged him, wouldn't gaining the approval of previous deans be simple?

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Disregarding everything else, he swayed his body and arrived before Zhang Xuan.

"Wu Ran of Qingzhu Academy greets Master Zhang!"

"Hello, we meet again..." Zhang Xuan smiled.

"Yes!" Wu Ran clasped his fist.

"This..." The ten elders and many students exchanged bewildered glances, completely losing their minds. The deans, who had just moments ago been so imposing and arrogant, refusing to descend from the airship, now—after crashing—had completely changed their attitude, becoming as respectful as students...

Could it be... that the deans of these academies also shared the same flaw as their ancestors, needing a good beating before they would listen? In other words... they needed to be taught a lesson?