Chapter 170: Brewing Storm
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Tianxuan Kingdom
"Beiwu Tier 2 Kingdom Liu s.h.i.+ and Zhuang s.h.i.+, as well as Hanwu Kingdom"s Zheng s.h.i.+, have arrived at the kingdom and they went to pay a visit to this Yang Xuan together?"
"Indeed. It is said that after they paid him a visit, they summoned Ling Tianyu, Du Miaoxuan, and the rest of them into the royal palace. No one knows what happened in there, but the second day, the three master teachers visited the mansion once more... Furthermore... They had turned up at the mansion for five consecutive days, but were nevertheless unable to meet with the master of the mansion?"
"The heck! That"s way too intense, he even turned away master teachers? I know about Liu s.h.i.+ and he is one of the more capable 1-star master teachers. To think that such a person would be turned away at the entrance... Just exactly how capable is this Yang s.h.i.+?"
"I"m afraid that he probably isn"t just a mere 2-star master teacher!"
...
No one has ever heard of Yang Xuan"s name. In fact, the Teacher Guild was unable to find anything about him either. As such, many people were doubtful of his ident.i.ty and thought that he wasn"t a real master teacher.
However, the situation has changed.
Liu s.h.i.+, Zheng s.h.i.+, and Zhuang s.h.i.+ are three official master teachers. They are public figures famous within the surrounding kingdoms. The three of them had paid Yang s.h.i.+ a visit, but for five consecutive days, they did not even get past the entrance. No matter how foolish one might be, it was clear to see that Yang Xuan isn"t a simple figure.
"He is a master teacher, but his ident.i.ty doesn’t exist... Probably, his name, Yang Xuan, is fake..."
"Master teachers love to travel and experience the life of an average civilian. Through such, it trains their mind and tempers their soul. Could he be a high-tier master teacher who is in the midst of his exploration?"
"I don"t know about that... But if it"s true, then Tianxuan Kingdom has truly struck gold!"
"Indeed! Master teachers are a symbol of a country"s strength. If a country has a 1-star master teacher, it can apply for a 2nd Tier Kingdom position. With a 2-star master teacher, it can apply for a 1st Tier Kingdom position. Finally, If it has a 3-star master teacher, it can apply to become a Conferred Kingdom!"
"Once a kingdom is conferred a t.i.tle, it gains the right to build ma.s.sive transportation formations to import and export resources, resulting in the country to prosper. The benefits from doing so are unimaginable..."
...
All kinds of rumors had spread throughout the kingdom.
"Your Majesty, even though the three master teachers aren"t sure, and they still hold suspicions, from your humble servant"s perspective, Yang Xuan seems like a person of great capabilities. Otherwise, he would not have been able to treat so many people easily. Even if he isn"t a master teacher, he is likely to be a great physician. There might be hope for the Royal Elder."
In the palace, an old eunuch a.n.a.lyzed the available news.
"Un, send someone to stand guard at his entrance. The moment Yang Xuan returns to his mansion, report back to me immediately. I will pay him a personal visit." A grave expression appeared on Emperor Shen Zhui"s face.
"Yes!"
The old eunuch nodded his head hurriedly.
...
"This is a rare opportunity. w.a.n.g Chao, if we catch Yang s.h.i.+"s attention and become his apprentice, we will surely be able to become master teachers!"
In a wide cla.s.sroom in Hongtian Academy, Lu Xun stared excitedly at the young man before him.
"Indeed. No matter what, we have to pay him a visit and leave a good impression before him!" w.a.n.g Chao nodded his head excitedly. "Even if we are unable to become his apprentice, we will surely be able to achieve a breakthrough if he offers us some words of guidance."
"Un!" Lu Xun nodded his head.
"Right, so how is the matter with Zhang Xuan going?" w.a.n.g Chao suddenly recalled and asked.
"Him?" Placing his hands behind him, he stared into the distance with an aura of superiority. "He is just a stepping stone for me to become a master teacher. He means nothing at all, so don"t worry about it. All of the students I have chosen for the battle are undergoing secret training, and in a few days, they will be able to break through to the next realm. They will win the Teacher Evaluation by an overwhelming lead and as such, the attention of the master teachers will be on me!"
"That"s great! I"ll have to congratulate you in advance then..." w.a.n.g Chong clasped his hands enthusiastically.
...
Such situations occurred throughout the kingdom. The appearance of a Yang s.h.i.+ had caused all powers within the kingdom to stir. All attention were fixated on Yang Xuan"s mansion and in an instant, this seemingly inconspicuous mansion became the center of buzz within the capital.
A storm had begun to brew.
………………………………
At the moment, Zhang Xuan had reached the final bookshelf within the country"s Book Collection Vault.
Five days of continuously flipping books without any rest or sleep had exhausted all of his strength. Putting aside cultivating, he wasn"t even in the mood to speak.
"There"s still one last row..."
Knowing that it wasn"t easy to enter the kingdom"s Book Collection Vault, Zhang Xuan was determined to first imprint all of these books onto the Library of Heaven"s Path before doing anything. Even so, just this task itself had him exhausted to the point of possibly fainting at any moment.
Seeing that he had finally reached the final row, Zhang Xuan"s eyes glowed in delight and tears threatened to flow out of his eyes.
After working hard for the past few days. he finally sees the end of his work.
"Un? These are books on poison..."
This row pertains to the uses of poison, creating poison, discerning poison, and inflicting poison on others. Similar to others topics in the library, only books on the very basics of the subject were available.
"I shall flip!"
Hualala! Slowly, with the movements of his fingers, the books were gradually imprinted into his mind, one at a time.
Of the countless jobs, the occupation poison master, based on its fighting prowess, is more than qualified to be listed among the Upper Nine Paths. But similar to a.s.sa.s.sins, it is a despised job. They can only hide in the shadows, never to see the light of the day. As such, very few people are willing to take on the craft, causing it to eventually fall into the ranks of the Lower Nine Paths.
Naturally, Zhang Xuan isn"t willing to become a poison master either. However, it was still beneficial for him to look through these books as it could help him guard against other poison masters.
While one shouldn"t bear ill intentions against others, one mustn"t let down his guards.
Two hours later, he finished flipping through all of the poison-related books.
"I should first return to take a nap..."
After successfully imprinting all of the books in the Book Collection Vault into his mind, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt the fatigue he had acc.u.mulated in the previous five days crus.h.i.+ng down heavily at once. All he can think about right now is to find a location to sleep.
Even though he has already reached Pixue realm pinnacle and his body is significantly stronger than others, five consecutive days without rest while keeping his mind on the edge has left him on the brink of collapsing.
Even so, the effort was worth it.
The Tianxuan Kingdom has more than a millennium of history behind it. Even though the books in here aren"t exceptionally profound such that they can be considered as secret manuals, there are huge quant.i.ties of books on the fundamentals of nearly all occupations.
Usually, under such circ.u.mstances, others would find it difficult to discern the truth from the false, especially with the overwhelming content contained in this library. They would simply get increasingly muddled the more they read. However, to Zhang Xuan who possesses the Library of Heaven"s Path, this isn"t a problem at all.
As long as he is willing to, he can extract the most precise knowledge of each job and form a Heaven"s Path manual, retrieving the genuine wisdom in each book for his use.
Walking out of the kingdom, Zhang Xuan looked at the sky and only then did he realize that he had spent five entire days in the vault.
"I can"t rest yet. It is almost ten days since I ordered that Unravel Yin Pill and Colossus Rhinoceros Blood, so the items should be arriving soon..."
While he was walking along the streets, he suddenly recalled that the ten days deadline was about to come to an end and this wasn"t the time for him to go straight to sleep. The items he had entrusted Guild Leader Ouyang to buy on his behalf should be reaching soon.
"I should first return to the mansion to take a look. Hopefully, someone has requested something of me in the past few days. This way, I would be able to gather the sum required for the items..."
He was still lacking two million gold coins to pay for the items. After getting into a remote alley and changing his appearance to that of "Yang Xuan", he started walking toward the mansion.
…………………………
Zhang Liao and Zhang Mo are two famous burglars in the Tianxuan Kingdom. They specialize in robbing the rich to help the poor. In a way, they can be considered as righteous burglars.
Due to their nimble movements and well-planned operations, they have never failed throughout the numerous years in their career. The Tianxuan Kingdom offered a high bounty to capture the duo, but it is laughable that they do not even know the duo’s appearances.
"That in front of us is Du Qiao"s residence. This person is a despicable tyc.o.o.n. He has committed plenty of immoral acts throughout his life. Although he had a recent encounter with bandits which dealt a huge blow to his business, an emaciated camel is still larger than a horse. We should have plenty of money to utilize if we were to rob from him..."
Zhang Liao chuckled and took a large step forward.
Due to the intense hunt for them, they left Tianxuan Kingdom for half a year. Upon returning, they immediately set their sights on Merchant Du Qiao.
"Un. However, we need to first plan carefully. We have to ascertain the skills of the guards in the residence and their habits before we can make a move." Zhang Mo nodded his head.
Whenever the duo decides to conduct burglary, they will observe the target thoroughly to confirm the layout of the residence and determine the weakness in their defense. Only when they are absolutely certain that they will succeed will they strike.
This is precisely the reason why they had yet to fail a single time after stealing from over fifty households.
"The residence right ahead. I have been here once... Ah?"
Turning around the alley, Zhang Liao walked forward. Just as he was about to sneak into the mansion which they had decided upon to survey its interior, he was shocked by the sight before them.
Zhang Mo"s face also turned pale. His eyes widened in shock.
A large queue had formed at the entrance of the mansion. There were several hundreds of people lining up before the gates. It is one thing to have many people wanting to visit the master of the household, but... The gates to the mansion were tightly shut, and there didn’t seem to be any signs of it opening anytime soon.
"Look! Isn"t that... the Eight Arms Dragon, Liu Kaiyuan?"
Zhang Liao suddenly recognized a person in the crowd and his face turned ghastly white.
"It"s him... The Eight Arms Dragon Liu Kaiyuan. He is a renowned figure among wandering cultivators. As a Tongxuan realm advanced stage expert, he is one of the top-notch figures in the kingdom. However, wasn"t he injured during an expedition to capture a savage beast, and since then disappeared from public view? Why is he here? Furthermore, waiting at the entrance?" Zhang Mo was astonished.
"Wait... Is that... Iron-fisted Stone Dragon, Feng Jun? As a Tongxuan realm intermediate stage, he is the number one expert of Hanxue City. It is said that his iron fists are capable of disintegrating boulders. He is a powerful figure who even Emperor Shen Zhui regards as a peer. Why is he here... queuing up?"
"Eagle Eyes Duan Jiujiang? Steel Caltrop Long Xuanhai? Pale Scholar Hu Xiaobai..."
Initially, he thought that those who were queuing up were just ordinary civilians. However, upon recognizing a few of them, he took a closer look. As his gaze scanned through the faces of those figures in the queue, Zhang Liao"s body trembled and he nearly fainted from fear...
These people are all top-notch experts of Tianxuan Kingdom! Even the weakest of them all is a Tongxuan realm primary stage.
Even though they do possess several tricks up their sleeves, if they really were to encounter any single one of these people, they probably wouldn"t be able to escape. They would be beaten to death on the spot.
Just that...
Back then, when Emperor Shen Zhui invited them for a gathering in the royal palace, very few of them actually turned up. Why would such arrogant and rebellious experts who dare to even disregard Emperor Shen Zhui"s invitation be queuing at this mansion’s entrance?
Surely I am seeing things...
Zhang Liao and Zhang Mo exchanged gazes. Puzzled, they scratched their head furiously.
If these people were only queuing up, they might not have been so shocked. But judging from how they did not even dare to breathe loudly for fear of offending the people living in the mansion... Not daring to knock the door even though they were kept outside...
The heck! Heavens, can you tell me whether it is them who have gone mad, or is it just me?
Isn"t this Du Qiao"s residence?
How can a lowly merchant possess such prestige?
How did he get these experts to willingly wait at the door, not daring to even utter a single word of complaint?