It was not that Zhang Xuan was reluctant to become a 9-star master teacher, but he really was not prepared for it yet.The reason why he had come here was to find Kong s.h.i.+"s superior breakthrough method and advance his cultivation to Great Sage 1-dan. He did not think that Ren s.h.i.+ would ask him to undergo the 9-star master teacher examination as soon as they met…
Anyone in his position would be dazed.
"I have checked your supporting occupations, and your proficiencies have already reached levels comparable to the Inceptive Sages. With your capabilities and talents, I don"t think that you"ll face any trouble in the examination. It"s just a matter of when you want to do it!" Ren s.h.i.+ remarked with a smile.
He had witnessed the prowess of the young man with his own eyes. Be it in the impartation of knowledge, his cultivation, or his capabilities in other fields, they could be said to be impeccable. It was inevitable that he would become a 9-star master teacher! In his view, there was no reason to put off the inevitable.
Furthermore, this invitation could also be viewed as a symbol of goodwill and a desire for reconciliation from the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters.
"This… Alright then. May I know how the 9-star master teacher examination goes?" Zhang Xuan asked.
Since Ren s.h.i.+ had already put it out like that, there was no need for Zhang Xuan to hesitate too much.
He would eventually take the 9-star master teacher examination anyway, so there was no reason for him to put it off.
Given that Ren s.h.i.+ had already given him such an offer, he might as well get it over and done with.
Just that… the process seemed a little too informal for something as important as the 9-star master teacher examination. It was almost as if it was no big deal at all!
"Typically speaking, the 9-star master teacher examination requires the examinee to declare his philosophy of pedagogy and find a way to ascertain its effectiveness… However, just the fact that you are able to raise disciples like w.a.n.g Ying, Zheng Yang, Zhao Ya, and the others is more than enough to prove the feasibility of your philosophy of pedagogy. As such, there"s no need to go through the trouble of examining that!" Ren s.h.i.+ explained.
9-star master teachers had to have their own set of values and principles that they believed in when it came to teaching their students. While he was uncertain what Zhang Xuan"s values and principles were, the fact that he had been able to raise so many outstanding students was more than enough to show that his philosophy was effective.
"Aside from that, your Soul Depth must also reach 27, and you must be nominated by at least three 9-star master teachers. You have met the requirements for those two as well, so the only segment remaining is the trial of strength!
"In the interest of time, let"s not make things too complicated. w.a.n.g s.h.i.+, lower your cultivation down to Introspective Convalescence realm primary stage and exchange blows with Zhang s.h.i.+!" Ren s.h.i.+ instructed.
"Alright!"
An elder known as w.a.n.g s.h.i.+ walked out from the crowd. He took in a deep breath, and the next moment, his aura swiftly weakened. In the blink of an eye, his cultivation had already been suppressed down to Introspective Convalescence realm primary stage.
His true cultivation was only at Introspective Convalescence realm advanced stage, so it was not too difficult for him to suppress his cultivation. With a smile, he turned to Zhang Xuan and said, "Zhang s.h.i.+, be wary. Since it"s an examination, I won"t be able to go easy on you!"
"I expect nothing less!" Zhang Xuan replied with a smile.
Seeing that w.a.n.g s.h.i.+ was already prepared, Zhang Xuan swiftly sent a fist over.
With a loud roar, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+ also retaliated with a fist of his own.
Peng!
Sou!
Ahhhhh!
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+ vanished into thin air.
"This…"
The master teachers in the room froze on the spot.
Was this really the prowess coming from a Saint 9-dan cultivator?
Even if they were the ones facing the attack, they did not have any confidence that they would be able to fare any better than w.a.n.g s.h.i.+!
"Even though your cultivation hasn"t reached Great Sage yet, the fact that you were able to defeat w.a.n.g s.h.i.+ shows that your fighting prowess is already up to par… Liu s.h.i.+, prepare the 9-star master teacher emblem. From today, Zhang s.h.i.+ is a 9-star master teacher too!" Ren s.h.i.+ nodded with a smile.
"That"s it?" Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless.
Everything had happened so quickly that he could hardly believe that this was real.
Were it not the fact that he knew that he was in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters and that the person standing before him was the deputy pavilion master, he would have thought that he was being scammed by a fraudster.
Within half an hour of entering the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, he had sent a person flying, and all of a sudden, he was being congratulated for becoming a 9-star master teacher…
Even the 1-star master teacher examination that he had taken back then had not been this easy!
If this was going to be the case, why did he even go through the trouble of advancing through the ranks? He could have just taken the 9-star master teacher examination right away and cleared everything in one go!
"Since you have officially become a 9-star master teacher, you are qualified to attend this meeting…" Paying no heed to the speechless expression on Zhang Xuan"s face, Ren s.h.i.+ carried on with a grim look on his face.
Knowing that the matters that they were going to confer about were confidential, Luo Ruoxin turned to Zhang Xuan and said, "I"ll wait for you outside."
After which, she departed from the room.
Knowing that Ren s.h.i.+ and the others would not allow an outsider to listen in on the meeting, Zhang Xuan did not stop her.
Instead, he directed a questioning gaze at Ren Qingyuan and asked, "What is the purpose of this meeting for you to be in such a hurry?"
By this point, he had also realized that the reason Ren s.h.i.+ and the others were so eager to have him promoted to 9-star master teacher was so that he would have the clearance to attend this meeting.
"It"s the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe… They have just launched a ma.s.s invasion on the Master Teacher Continent!" Ren Qingyuan said with a deep frown.
"The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe has just launched a ma.s.s invasion?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
A 9-star master teacher whom Zhang Xuan had met before walked to the wall and pointed to a map pinned on it.
It was a full map of the Master Teacher Continent, and there were many red dots marked on the map.
"There is a total of 108 major Subterranean Galleries linked to the otherworldly battlefields across the Master Teacher Continent, and just a moment ago, we spotted movements in all of them concurrently. The attack has come so abruptly that the Master Teacher Pavilion and Combat Master Hall"s personnel stationed there are having trouble holding the fort," the 9-star master teacher said.
"108 Subterranean Galleries?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
He knew that there would be quite a number of Subterranean Galleries across the Master Teacher Continent, but he did not think that there would be so many of them.
If the Otherworldly Demons spilled out from all of them simultaneously, even with the prowess of the Master Teacher Pavilion, they would have trouble curbing them.
"What in the world is going on?" Zhang Xuan questioned anxiously.
"I"m unsure of the details either. Everything happened too quickly for us to process what"s going on. It started from a minor invasion in some of the Subterranean Galleries a day ago. It was still within a scale that we could cope with, so we were intending to handle it internally within the Master Teacher Pavilion. However, the scale of the invasion swiftly grew larger, and before we knew it, some of the seals are starting to be worn down. Many master teachers have already been injured!" Ren s.h.i.+ said.
"Has an invasion of such a scale ever happened before?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"It has happened before but never concurrently in all 108 major Subterranean Galleries!" Ren s.h.i.+ shook his head. "The Master Teacher Pavilion has already dispatched nearly all of the available 9-star master teachers we have, but it still isn"t sufficient to ward off the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. At this rate, it"s likely that all of the seals will be breached within ten days, thus giving rise to a large-scale invasion on the Master Teacher Continent!"
"Ten days?" Zhang Xuan clenched his fists tightly.
He did not expect time to be so tight.
It was true that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was in an advantageous position at the moment, but a forceful, frontal a.s.sault like this would cause calamitous losses for them too! Time was currently on the side of the Otherworldly Demons. The longer they bided their time, the fewer Ancient Sages mankind would have to deal with them.
Given that they had already waited for tens of thousands of years, surely they would be willing to wait a little longer to minimize their losses.
It was irrational for the Otherworldly Demons to go on a rampage at this point in time!
Or could it be…
A thought came to Zhang Xuan"s mind, and he hurriedly asked, "Does this matter have anything to do with the imminent appearance of the Temple of Confucius?"
Other than this, he could not think of any other reason for the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe launching such a reckless a.s.sault on mankind all of a sudden.
"The disturbances in the s.p.a.ce around the Temple of Confucius are growing stronger and stronger. It"s likely that the Temple of Confucius will surface very soon. We"ve had to station most of our 9-star master teachers there in order to prevent any Otherworldly Demons from slipping in, so we don"t really have sufficient manpower to deal with the invasion at the 108 Subterranean Galleries at the moment… I believe that the Zhang Clan and the other powers should have received word regarding the invasion by now, and we would like to formally request your help in quelling the Otherworldly Demons!"
With an expectant look in his eyes, Ren s.h.i.+ looked at Zhang Xuan solemnly and said, "The circ.u.mstances are really not in our favor at the moment. Mankind has to unite as one in order to survive this crisis!"
"This…"
Zhang Xuan finally understood why Ren s.h.i.+ and the others were in such a hurry to promote him to a 9-star master teacher.
As a 9-star master teacher, one of the top experts of the Master Teacher Continent, he had an indisputable responsibility to protect mankind in times of adversity! Clearly, Ren s.h.i.+ and the others had already heard of the news that he had become the head of the Three Premier Clans and wanted to rope him onto this wars.h.i.+p.
After all, the Three Premier Clans, the Glacier Plain Court, the Poison Hall… Those powers combined together formed a force sufficient to dictate the fate of the entire Master Teacher Continent!
Not even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would dare underestimate the might of this force.
Otherwise, they would not have deferred to those powers back then at Empire Alliance City either.
Without much hesitation, Zhang Xuan nodded gravely in response. "For mankind, there"s nothing I can"t do!"