"I do!" Zhang Xuan nodded.Not only was he aware of that there was a sanctum head to the Sanctum of Sages, he was also the only candidate in line for that position.
"There"s a set of unique selection criteria in order to decide one"s eligibility to become the sanctum head. Those who are unqualified will not be able to inherit the heritage of the Sanctum of Sages. You should have heard of this too, right?" Yuan Xiao asked.
Zhang Xuan nodded in response.
In order to become the head of the Sanctum of Sages, one must possess the Eye of Insight, be a master teacher, have an upright, humble, and low-profile personality, be of n.o.ble character, and possess das.h.i.+ng looks that were second to none and charisma that could capture the hearts of others. It was only after clearing all of that criteria that Sage Kui finally bestowed the Sanctum Head Token to him.
Without achieving those factors, there was no way he would have been a candidate for the position of sanctum head.
"Such is the same for the heads of Sage Clans! Only those whose bloodline has reached a certain level of purity are qualified to become the next head of the clan. One can"t just claim authority within the Sage Clan on the basis of strength alone. Take the current head of the Zhang Clan for example. In fact, the Xingmeng Sword Saint is only the stand-in clan head of the Zhang Clan at the moment. The real clan head is the young prodigy! In the past several millenniums, he"s the only one whose bloodline has reached the level of purity necessary to become the head of the Zhang Clan!" Yuan Xiao said.
"The same goes for the Luo Clan as well. Even though Brother Xuanqing possesses a pure bloodline as well, it"s still insufficient for him to inherit the position of the clan head. The real head of the Luo Clan is his younger sister. It"s just that his younger sister is still too young at the moment, so everything is still being managed by the elders for the time being."
Zhang Xuan came to a realization.
The situation in the Sage Clans was indeed rather similar to his current circ.u.mstances.
Even though the Sanctum of Sages had a deputy sanctum head who was managing the affairs for the time being, once Zhang Xuan broke the seal on the Sanctum Head Token and became the real sanctum head, there would be no one who could steal his position from him.
This was the rule that Kong s.h.i.+ had set, and this was in accordance with the virtue of propriety that Kong s.h.i.+ had preached. No one would dare undermine Kong s.h.i.+"s ideology, especially not in a place where his heritage was pa.s.sed down.
Otherwise, the public would immediately turn against that person, and that person would be criticized and insulted for their immoral actions for many years to come.
"So, it"s impossible for any clan member of a Sage Clan to turn against the inc.u.mbent clan head in an attempt to wrestle power away from him. Not to mention, with the sheer purity of the bloodline that the young prodigy possesses, his maturity will only bring the Zhang Clan to greater heights in terms of power, bringing every single member greater honor and prestige. Just who would be so foolish as to foil their own future by harming the young prodigy?" Yuan Xiao explained.
"Ah…" Zhang Xuan scratched his head in embarra.s.sment.
He really did not think that even the powerful Sage Clans would be restrained by so many conventions.
If everything that Yuan Xiao had said was true, it was indeed not too likely for anyone to have a.s.saulted the young prodigy of the Zhang Clan.
"I heard this secret from my teacher many years ago, and to be honest, I can"t verify whether the details are exactly as I remembered them or not." Bi Hongyin shook her head. "Furthermore, for a clan as big as the Zhang Clan, there would at least be several thousand infants who are born in the same year, and we can"t discount the possibility that the infant my teacher encountered is a child of the Xingmeng Sword Saint"s friend."
With over several dozen millenniums of history behind it, the Zhang Clan had already grown to become a ma.s.sive empire by itself. The population of the entire clan was so numerous that it was impossible to count all of them, and the family structure of both the main family and the side family had grown incredibly complicated. Each year, the clan would usher in several thousand new members, so there was no way to ascertain for sure that the person whom Bi Hongyin"s teacher had treated was definitely the young prodigy.
Furthermore, it was a ridiculous notion to think that a peerless genius that the Zhang Clan had never seen before ever since the time of its founder would actually be left on the verge of death not too long after his birth!
"That"s true…" Everyone nodded.
"Alright, let"s not discuss the Zhang Clan anymore." Knowing that it would be pointless to talk about this matter, especially since they had no way of verifying it anymore, Bi Hongyin turned her gaze to Luo Xuanqing and asked, "Brother Luo, I heard that the little princess left the Sanctum of Sages a while ago. Has she returned yet?"
Upon hearing those words, Zhang Xuan"s eyes immediately lit up, and he anxiously turned his gaze to Luo Xuanqing.
Her words eroded all grudge and anger Zhang Xuan had felt toward her, leaving nothing but grat.i.tude instead.
"She has long returned," Luo Xuanqing replied with a slight nod.
"She has returned? Wonderful! If there"s a chance, do bring me to meet her. Despite being fellow students of the Inner Sanctum, I still haven"t got a chance to meet her yet!" Bi Hongyin said excitedly.
Even though it had been two years since the little princess arrived in the Sanctum of Sages and she had left behind countless records as well, there actually were not too many people who had truly met her before.
There were only countless rumors of her floating around in the Sanctum of Sages, some praising her unparalleled beauty and others in awe of her talent.
"She has been in seclusion ever since her return, desperately cultivating non-stop as if she has offended someone powerful. Even I am unable to meet with her, let alone others!" Luo Xuanqing shook his head and sighed deeply.
"Desperately cultivating non-stop? But she"s already so powerful…" Zhang Xuan exclaimed beneath his breath as he felt a sharp pain stabbing into his chest.
Back at the Qiu Wu Palace, the young lady had hesitated for a very long while before accepting his confession. Most likely, she had known then that it would be difficult for her to go against the engagement, and it was unlikely that there would be a happy ending for the both of them. Nevertheless, she still courageously took a leap of faith and accepted him.
But this acceptance came at a price. It would mean that she would have to defy the orders of the elders of her clan, and in order to do so, she had no choice but to desperately immerse herself in her cultivation in the hope that she could soon wield the strength to dictate her fate.
Otherwise, she could only be swept along by the pace of others.
Noticing the huge fluctuations in Zhang Xuan"s emotions, Luo Xuanqing shot a narrowed glance over. "You seem to be very interested in my younger sister."
"I…"
For a moment there, Zhang Xuan thought of coming clean and telling him, Your younger sister has already agreed to become my girlfriend.
But at the last moment, he eventually abandoned the idea.
Putting aside whether Luo Xuanqing would be able to believe his words or not, even if the other party did, this matter would only turn in a catastrophe.
Just thinking about it, the fiancée of the young prodigy of the Zhang Clan had fallen in love with an unaffiliated cultivator with a humble background…
That was bound to cause a huge uproar, and if things went wrong, he might even be putting more on Luo Ruoxin"s plate for her to deal with.
She was already cultivating hard for their future together, so naturally, he could not possibly allow a moment of recklessness to drag her down.
Just wait till I break the seal and become the real sanctum head of the Sanctum of Sages… With such a position, no one will dare underestimate me anymore… Zhang Xuan took in a deep breath and suppressed his agitation.
What was more important for him at the moment was to cultivate humbly and strive to break the seal on the Sanctum Head Token as soon as possible.
He did not fear trouble, but it would be unforgivable if he caused more trouble for Luo Ruoxin in the midst of doing so.
Driving his state of mind, Zhang Xuan swiftly returned to a state of composure before replying with a smile, "The fame of the little princess has spread far and wide. I heard of her affairs back when I was still in the Qingyuan Empire, and to be honest, I have nothing but praise and admiration for her. That"s why I can"t help but be rather curious about her affairs!"
"Humph, that"d better be the case! If I learn that you harbor any kind of thoughts toward my younger sister, even though we are acquainted with one another, rest a.s.sured that I"ll pummel you to the point that you won"t even be able to recognize which way"s up!" Luo Xuanqing harrumphed with a voice dripping with threat.
"Of course, of course…" Zhang Xuan nodded with a bitter smile.
To be threatened by his future brother-in-law… Just what was this!
At the same time, he felt incredibly glad that he had stopped himself from blabbering earlier, or else he could very well have been lying on the ground, bruised all over.
"Alright, let"s not talk about that anymore." After chuckling softly, Yun Lianhai changed the topic. "Right, Zhang s.h.i.+. In your cohort, other than Zhang Yu, there"s another student who possesses incredible talent despite not being from any Sage Clan. If I recall correctly, his name should be… Feng Ziyi! Do you know him?"
"Feng Ziyi? I know of him. He"s the person who was ranked in first place for the Mountain Gate examination this time around!" Zhang Xuan nodded. " According to what I know, he seems to be the direct disciple of one of the grand elders of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters."
"Indeed. There is a total of three grand elders of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, and their whereabouts are usually a mystery. To be able to become one of their direct disciples, I must say that Feng Ziyi"s luck is really good. On top of that, the person who took him in is the person who is the strongest of the three grand elders… Yang s.h.i.+!" Yun Lianhai remarked in envy.
"Yang s.h.i.+?" That familiar name made Zhang Xuan instinctively turn his gaze toward Yun Lianhai.
"Indeed. Yang s.h.i.+, Yang Xuan!" Yun Lianhai replied.
"Yang… Xuan?" Zhang Xuan"s body stiffened.