Chapter 995: Arriving at the Xuan Xuan Association

After finishing discussions with the others, Zhang Xuan turned to Elder Zhao Bingxu and instructed, "Oh, Elder Zhao, you should also make preparations. Our academy will also build a large flying ship!"

Zhao Bingxu nodded.

Although flying ships are enormous, forging one would not be too difficult for the tens of thousands of students at the Master Forger Academy. The reason they hadn't done so before was that the sacred beasts required to pilot the ships were hard to find. Having tamed all nine kings of the Cloudmist Ridge, and with the numerous sacred beasts there, finding a dozen or so would be very simple.

Since they were going to bring many students from the Xuanxuan Club for the exchange, flying there on individual spiritual beasts would take an unknown amount of time; traveling by flying ship would naturally be much easier.

After the discussion concluded, everyone chatted for a few more moments.

Master Wu spoke, "Fire Origin City is only about a week's journey from here. If the ancient ruin hasn't opened, going there early would be useless. I think it's better if everyone prepares separately during this period. Then, we can meet up in Fire Origin City!"

"Alright!" Everyone nodded simultaneously.

With the ancient ruin not yet open, going early was meaningless. On the contrary, so many important figures gathering in a remote small city could easily cause trouble. It was better to prepare in advance.

"In that case, we shall take our leave..."

Having said that, Master Wu no longer lingered and flew straight out with Master Mu.

Wu Tianqiong and the others, due to the great distance back home, remained here.

After arranging for Elder Mi and others to take care of things, Zhang Xuan then called out to Liao Song, Zhuo Qingfeng, and the various Combat Masters, and went to the Xuanxuan Club headquarters.

Even before arriving, he saw many people training, their fists whistling, each filled with power. After just one glance, his face darkened, a surge of anger burned within him, and Zhang Xuan couldn't help but roar.

"Stop all of you... What in the world are you practicing?"

The Xuanxuan Club was founded by him, and he had high hopes for it. It was precisely for this reason that he tirelessly taught them, even inviting Combat Masters to guide them. He had thought his efforts would yield results, but upon seeing them, he realized these guys were practicing... what in the world? Their movements were sloppy, their strength weak, and their combat awareness terrible... as if they hadn't eaten for days. Were they swatting flies?

"What in the world?"

Hearing the rebuke, Liao Song, Zhuo Qingfeng, and the others exchanged glances, their eyes twitching. In their eyes, these people's training was already quite formidable... How did it become "what in the world" coming from his mouth? His demands were too high, weren't they?

"Dean..."

Ruohuan, Song Chao, and the others hurried forward.

"Where did all the guidance I gave you before I left go?" Zhang Xuan was furious. What on earth was this! He had poured so much effort into teaching them, only for them to learn so little... it was simply humiliating!

"We... we studied diligently?" Ruohuan and the others' faces flushed.

"This is what you call diligent?"

With a look of disappointment, Zhang Xuan pointed at a few students not far away: "That move 'Autumn Wind Turning to Rain' he just performed, it looks brilliant, but it's actually worthless. Why so many flashy moves? With the very first move, if you just lower your palm by three fen, your opponent would immediately be hit and fall to the ground!"

He then pointed at another student. "The Azure Leaf Sword Art he's using, it's clearly an offensive move, yet he's practiced it as a defensive one. If his defense was good, that would be one thing. But at this point, if someone just crouches down and attacks his lower body, what do you think would happen?"

"And that Chaotic Demon Hammer Art, it looks magnificent. But in reality, his True Qi and strength are not cohesive. If someone discovers the junction where his True Qi intersects, they wouldn't even need to make a move; a single glance could cause his True Qi to clash, leaving him severely injured..."

"And that one..."

Zhang Xuan tapped his finger and pointed out seven or eight people in succession. With each statement, the students he pointed at looked ashamed. What the Dean had just said, he had explained in previous classes. It was just that they weren't so adept at applying it! Hearing the rebuke now, they dared not refute a single word.

No wonder he was losing his temper. The knowledge he imparted was without reservation; he poured his heart and soul into it. He had thought that after so many days, everyone would have grasped 60-70% of it, but now, it seemed they hadn't even grasped 20%! Their comprehension was simply too poor!

Of course, what he hadn't realized was that after his trip to the underground, his cultivation level had not only broken through and the Heaven's Path Divination had been revised, but his understanding of combat had also undergone a drastic transformation. With his enhanced vision and insight, it was natural for him to see flaws everywhere in these students and perceive no progress.

"This, this..."

Liao Song and Zhuo Qingfeng were breathing rapidly. In their eyes, the flawless and incomparably powerful moves actually had so many flaws. This guy's insight was simply too formidable! No wonder he could easily defeat a Saint 2-dan Combat Master from the Half-Saint realm... Just this level of insight was beyond their comparison.

"Master Liao, since they are full of flaws, can we take advantage of this to redeem ourselves?"

Even as he was lamenting inwardly, he heard a message transmitted from his subordinate, Zhou Ye. As a dignified centurion of the Combat Master Hall, he had been beaten by ordinary academy students upon his arrival, and he had been holding a grudge ever since. Upon hearing that these Xuanxuan Club members had so many flaws in their training, his eyes immediately lit up.

"They can be exploited, but... their flaws aren't that easy to find..."

Liao Song shook his head. Dean Zhang spoke about it easily, but even with his own insight, he couldn't see them. He didn't believe his subordinate would be able to detect them. If you couldn't even see them, how could you exploit them?

"Then we can find the weaker ones among them to fight. There are over thirty thousand people; I don't believe every single one of them is strong!" Zhou Ye said.

"This..."

Liao Song hesitated. What the other party said was true. People's comprehension varies, and even with guidance from the same master teacher, what they learned would be different. In the Xuanxuan Club, with over thirty thousand members, there were naturally strong ones and weak ones. Just like the few Dean Zhang was rebuking now, they were clearly not strong enough.

"Alright, combat isn't about wishful thinking; it requires a lot of contemplation..."

After rebuking everyone, Zhang Xuan introduced to them, "I presume I don't need to introduce Combat Master Liao, Combat Master Zhuo, and the others, do I? I specifically invited them here to guide you. Later, study diligently and absolutely do not be lazy..."

"Yes!"

Everyone nodded.

"Combat Master Liao, these are the students I told you about. I've only lectured them for one afternoon, so their combat power is average. You can just guide them as you see fit. It would be best to let them know the true strength of Combat Masters!" After introducing them to everyone, Zhang Xuan chuckled.

"Uh..."

Liao Song was about to speak when Ruohuan walked over, saying, "Master Liao, we meet again..." Previously, not knowing their identity, they had severely beaten their people. Now, thinking back, he felt quite embarrassed.

"Yes, we meet again..."

Liao Song also nodded.

"You all can interact. I have some other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first!" Giving a brief instruction, Zhang Xuan waved his hand. Since he had a month's time, he planned to take the opportunity to visit Jingyuan City, search for the Poison Hall, and resolve Wei Ruyan's situation. Before leaving, he naturally had to arrange everything. These Combat Masters were meant to temper the Xuanxuan Club members. This was so they could get used to fighting Combat Masters, understand the gap, and not be too embarrassed when they went for exchanges in the future.

"Farewell..."

Seeing that he had matters and was leaving, Liao Song breathed a sigh of relief and quickly clasped his fist. It was naturally best if he wasn't here. If they truly couldn't win, it wouldn't be as embarrassing.

"Mm!"

Zhang Xuan turned and flew towards his residence, disappearing from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.

"Everyone," Liao Song said, seeing him leave, "Dean Zhang said he wants us to guide them, but in reality, we are here to learn from each other..." He smiled, looked at the Xuanxuan Club members, and clasped his fist, saying, "We can improve our understanding of martial arts through sparring!"

Ruohuan nodded. Cultivation isn't just theory. Only through personal experience and continuous exploration can one make progress.

"Captain, I want to be the first to spar with a Xuanxuan Club expert!" Zhou Ye stepped forward first.

"So it's Brother Zhou..." Ruohuan recognized him and looked over with a smile, saying, "I'll find you an opponent right away..."

Although this Zhou Ye was defeated by them last time, his strength was extremely formidable. Although every member of the Xuanxuan Club seemed strong, as he had guessed, not everyone could defeat him.

"No need to trouble yourself. May I choose my own opponent?" Zhou Ye interrupted him with a smile. To redeem himself, he naturally had to find a weaker opponent. Otherwise, if he let the other party choose, he certainly wouldn't be able to win.

"Choose yourself?" Ruohuan frowned, immediately understood the other party's intention, hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Of course!" This sparring session was to improve their strength, not to save face. Losing was nothing.

"Alright then..." Hearing the agreement, Zhou Ye breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look around. The Xuanxuan Club had numerous members, packed densely, layer upon layer, stretching as far as the eye could see. Because their strengths were all quite similar, it was indeed hard to distinguish them based solely on appearance.

"I choose that one!"

After observing for a while, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pointed at a figure.

"Her?" Seeing the person Zhou Ye pointed at, Ruohuan's mouth twitched, "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Zhou Ye nodded. Among the many male members of the Xuanxuan Club, he had encountered a few who were almost impossible to defeat. So, he chose a woman. This woman, appearing to be in her twenties, looked very beautiful. After just one glance, his heart fluttered. If he could defeat her and incidentally display his own strength, perhaps he could win her heart and gain her favor. Most importantly, the opponent's cultivation level was the same as his, both at the Chrysalis-Sealed realm. This way, he wouldn't need to intentionally suppress his cultivation and could unleash his full combat power.

"Alright then..."

Seeing his confirmation, Ruohuan could only shake his head, went to the woman, and explained the situation in detail. The latter first frowned, then eventually nodded, and walked to the training platform in the middle of the courtyard.

Zhou Ye leaped onto the platform with a smile and bowed, saying, "I am Zhou Ye. May I know your name, fair lady?"

The woman looked over, her voice as tranquil as a chrysanthemum. "I am... Yu Fei-er!"