Chapter 1022: Causing Trouble
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
When they reached the guild"s entrance, the middle-aged man fell silent for a brief moment before saying, "Sun Jin laos.h.i.+ is one of the most capable blacksmiths in the guild, and he has many disciples and followers. As a mere apprentice, an evicted one at that, I have no right to bring you to him."
Due to the rich earth flames around Firesource City, blacksmiths and apothecaries were particularly respected in the region. In a sense, they could be considered n.o.bles there, existences whom the average civilians could never hope to make an appointment with. This was especially so for a blacksmith of Sun Jin"s caliber.
"You have no right? Don"t worry, I will bring you right to him!" Harrumphing coldly, Zhang Xuan swiftly uncovered Sun Jin"s location before leading the way over.
The Firesource City Blacksmith Guild was bustling. The main hall was packed with sellers and buyers of weapons alike. 1-star and 2-star blacksmiths were serving as attendants in the area, attending to the customers and bringing about order to the crowd.
After walking for a while, they soon arrived before a relatively vast room. Just as they were about to make their way in, two 4-star blacksmiths walked up to them, and upon recognizing the middle-aged man following behind Zhang Xuan, they sneered coldly.
"I was just wondering who this is. Isn"t this our great Song Zhen, who still remains as an apprentice even after twenty long years? What? Are you unwilling to give up, so you wish to give it another try?"
"It doesn"t matter. No matter how many times you take the examination, trash is trash; you can"t change your nature regardless of how much you try!"
Disdainful smiles were plastered on the faces of the duo. Clearly, they were well aware of the affairs surrounding the middle-aged man.
"I…" Hearing the sneers, the face of the middle-aged man, Song Zhen, paled. He opened his mouth to speak, but eventually, he closed it without saying a word.
"Alright, you should stop making a fool out of yourself here and scram. Our teacher has no intention of meeting you, so it doesn"t matter how many times you come here!" One of the two 4-star blacksmiths waved his hands impatiently.
Song Zhen was about to explain the situation when Zhang Xuan suddenly raised his hand, stopping him. After which, Zhang Xuan turned his gaze toward the duo and said, "He isn"t the one who wants to meet your teacher; it"s me. Get Sun Jin out here to receive me!"
"You want our teacher to receive you? Who do you think you are?" Hearing the arrogant words spoken by the young man before him, one of the 4-star blacksmiths guarding the door harrumphed coldly, the disdain in his eyes reflected clearly for all to see.
Given his teacher"s standing, even the city lord of Firesource City had to submit a visiting scroll in advance before paying a visit. Yet, this twenty-year-old fellow actually dared to speak such haughty words, wanting his teacher to receive him. The ignorant sure were fearless!
"I will give you three counts to get out of my way, or else I will toss you out myself!" The other blacksmith threatened menacingly.
Seeing that the duo wasn"t planning on letting him enter, Zhang Xuan shook his head and said, "Since he has no intentions on receiving me, it seems like I will just have to go in by myself."
Right after saying those words, Zhang Xuan turned his eyes away from the duo and began making his way into the room.
As the princ.i.p.al of the Master Teacher Academy, not even a 7-star master teacher would dare to keep him waiting outside.
Seeing that the young man was trying to barge in forcefully, the faces of the two 4-star blacksmiths warped in astonishment.
"Audacious! What are you trying to do?"
They hurried forward to block the young man"s path as they raised their palm, prepared to make a move.
However, before they could launch their strike, an overwhelming might crashed down upon them.
Peng peng!
The duo was knocked flying simultaneously before cras.h.i.+ng heavily into the wall. Their faces reddened, and fresh blood spewed from their mouths.
With just a look, Zhang Xuan could tell that this wasn"t the first time that the two 4-star blacksmiths had oppressed others. Toward such people, he had no intention on holding back at all. With a simple exertion of his zhenqi, the duo was already severely wounded.
The two of them were only at Cosmos Bridge realm, so it was only natural that they wouldn"t even be able to withstand a simple exertion of zhenqi from Zhang Xuan.
Struggling to his feet, one of the 4-star blacksmiths exclaimed, "Someone is trying to barge in forcefully!"
His voice was very loud, and it swiftly resounded through the main hall of the Blacksmith Guild.
"Someone is trying to barge in? What is going on?"
Countless pairs of eyes turned toward them.
However, Zhang Xuan paid those curious gazes no heed at all, proceeding in with an impa.s.sive look on his face.
Song Zhen had thought that the other party was paying a visit to the Blacksmith Guild to find a solution to his problem, but who could have known that the other party would forcefully barge in in such a manner? Horrified, he couldn"t help but cower in fear. However, after a moment of hesitation, he clenched his jaws in determination and decided to follow behind the other party.
No matter what, it was apparent that the other party was doing it for him, so how could he back away at this moment?
On the other hand, noting that Song Zhen had decided to follow behind him, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
Even though he was determined on bringing judgement upon Sun Jin today, it could pose some trouble to him should Song Zhen choose to back down at this crucial moment.
"Trying to barge into our Blacksmith Guild? You are seeking death!"
"Quick, stop that fellow!"
Hearing the shouting from the 4-star blacksmith, seven middle-aged men within the room hurried forward to surround Zhang Xuan.
Dressed in their blacksmith robes, there were either four or five gleaming stars on the emblems pinned in front of their chests, indicating their ranks. Without any hesitation, they drew their weapons and launched an a.s.sault at the two intruders.
As the occupation that was second only to master teachers in Firesource City, blacksmiths had their pride and dignity to uphold. Any action that undermined the prestige of the Blacksmith Guild had to be dealt with sternly to show others that blacksmiths weren"t to be trifled with. Thus, upon hearing that someone was forcefully barging into the Blacksmith Guild, their first thought was to apprehend the other party before anything else.
Seeing the seven middle-aged man a.s.saulting him without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan sneered coldly, "Noisy!"
Without even shooting them a glance, Zhang Xuan placed his hands behind his back and continued walking forward.
Peng peng peng peng!
The crowd who had rushed forward to attack him were all knocked back. The stronger the attack was, the more forceful the counterattack against them was. Under the immense impact, their faces paled, and blood spurted from their mouths.
As 5-star blacksmiths, their cultivation had already reached Transcendent Mortal 8-dan or 9-dan. Yet, despite their strength, they had still been sent flying just like that, as if saying that they weren"t even qualified to be considered an opponent to Zhang Xuan.
Seeing the entire sight from behind, Song Zhen"s face paled in astonishment, and his body began trembling.
Back when the other party flicked away the sword in his hand, he had already known that the other party was a powerful expert. However, he didn"t think that the other party would be so fearsome!
The strongest expert he had met ever since he was young was the guild leader of the Blacksmith Guild. Yet, to his shock, he realized that the young man before him seemed to be even stronger than the guild leader of the Blacksmith Guild!
"Quick, someone is trying to barge in…"
Hualala!
Right after the seven of them fell to the ground, another group of men rushed in. They were all 5-star blacksmiths as well, and as soon as they entered the room, they immediately launched a torrent of attacks toward Zhang Xuan. However, just like before, the attacks were completely ineffective. A moment later, they were left lying on the ground as well.
After striking down three waves of guards, the duo finally arrived at the lounge.
"Song Zhen, what do you mean by this?" Right after stepping into the lounge, they saw an old man glancing over in their direction with fury blazing in his eyes.
There were two 6-star blacksmiths standing beside the old man.
"I…" Upon seeing the old man, Song Zhen"s face paled. As if the other party"s authority had been marked deep into his bones, he found himself unable to speak a word at all.
"We don"t mean anything much; we are just here to ask if you manage to sleep well at night. You filled your apprentices with hope, only to usher them toward despair. Don"t you feel the slightest guilt within you?" Zhang Xuan walked straight toward the main seat in the lounge before turning a heavy gaze toward the old man.
The old man"s cheeks twitched slightly, and with a face livid with rage, he bellowed, "Who are you? This is the Blacksmith Guild, not a place where you can fool around!"
"Fool around?" Zhang Xuan shook his head with a wry smile before turning a sharp gaze toward the old man. "I am here to return justice to Song Zhen!"
One of the 6-star blacksmiths standing beside the old man stepped forward and sneered coldly. "Return justice to Song Zhen? What justice does he need? Despite studying under Sun Jin laos.h.i.+ for more than twenty years, he hasn"t even managed to clear his 1-star blacksmith examination yet. What justice does that trash need? It"s only because of Sun Jin laos.h.i.+"s magnanimity that he was allowed to remain here for so long. Otherwise, the Blacksmith Guild would have long chased sc.u.m like him out of its doors!"
The 6-star blacksmith seemed to be in his early forties, and he possessed a cultivation of Nascent Saint as well. The gaze that he directed toward Song Zhen was filled with mockery and disgust.
"I am talking to Sun Jin, who do you think you are to interject in our conversation?" Zhang Xuan"s face darkened. "Kneel down!"
Kacha!
All of a sudden, the 6-star blacksmith felt an immense might crus.h.i.+ng down on him. Without any time to react at all, his knees caved him, leaving him kneeling helplessly on the ground.
"How dare you cause trouble here? Who in the world gave you the guts to do so?" Seeing his companion being forced to kneel on the ground, the other 6-star blacksmith flew into a rage. Bellowing furiously, he whipped out a sword and charged right toward Zhang Xuan.
As the sword pierced through the air, a freezing gust of wind seemed to permeate the entire room. Even though the 6-star blacksmith only possessed a cultivation of Saint 1-dan primary stage, the sword in his hand had reached the level of Spirit pinnacle!
Through the augmentation of his sword, even a Saint 1-dan intermediate cultivator would find it hard to stand against him.
Facing the other party"s ferocious a.s.sault, Zhang Xuan flicked his finger casually, and the sword immediately flew out of the other party"s hand. In the next moment, the sword flew into his hands, and with a resounding "ding!", the sword had acknowledged its new master.
Pu!
Seeing his personal weapon taking another man as its master, the face of the 6-star blacksmith turned ghastly pale, as if he had seen a ghost. Stifled by the sight he had just seen, a huge mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth.
"Who in the world are you?" Seeing how the young man was able to incapacitate one of his students with a word and have a Spirit pinnacle weapon acknowledge him as its master with a flick of his finger, Sun Jin"s face finally turned grave.
"Like I said, I am here to return justice for Song Zhen." Zhang Xuan turned his cold gaze toward Sun Jin. "Do I really need to point it out explicitly to you?"
"I have taught Song Zhen for more than twenty years, and yet, he still wasn"t able to become a 1-star blacksmith. What business is it of mine that his talent is mediocre?" Sun Jin spat through gritted teeth.
"You are saying that it has nothing to do with you?" Picking his ear leisurely, a look of disappointment surfaced on Zhang Xuan"s face. "I don"t like to hear those words. Tell me the truth."
"You…" Seeing that the other party wasn"t about to let the matter rest easily, veins began popping out of Sun Jin"s temper. With a frown of displeasure, he harrumphed. "What I said is the truth. There is nothing I can do about his lack of talent. If you don"t believe me, you can ask Song Zhen about the matter yourself. A person who can"t even smith a Mortal-tier weapon, what can I possibly do to help him?"
"It seems like speaking the truth is something very difficult for you. Since that"s the case, why don"t I share something with you? Perhaps it might help you jot your memory…"
Gazing deeply at Sun Jin, Zhang Xuan said calmly, "The cultivation technique he practices is suited for finding ores, but it happens to be in conflict with earth flames, thus making it impossible for him to smith. Can you tell me what is going on here?"
"This…" Sun Jin was astonished to hear those words, but he didn"t allow it to show on his face. Nevertheless, his fists couldn"t help but clench tightly behind his back. "He is just an ordinary apprentice; how would I know what kind of cultivation technique he practices? Do you expect a 6-star pinnacle blacksmith like me to bother myself with even the cultivation technique of a mere apprentice?"
"You…" Those words seemed to have triggered an explosion in Song Zhen"s face. With a face scarlet with agitation, he exclaimed, "But you were the one who imparted my cultivation technique to me! You even offered me many pointers so as to ensure that I wouldn"t err… How can you possibly be unaware of it!"