Chapter 1243: The n.o.ble Zhang s.h.i.+!
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Despite being fellow 7-star master teachers, why was there such a huge gap between the two of them?
He had used all his might to squeeze out a few characters from the Brush of Heavenly Impartation, and yet, when it came to the other party, the brush leaped from place to place swiftly as if a leopard, visibly getting more and more excited as it wrote, to the point where it could not even stop itself anymore…
Was this really the ability that only 9-star master teachers were capable of, Words of Wisdom?
Rumor had it that every single sentence and ever word of a 9-star master teacher carried profound wisdom behind it. Putting aside listening to an entire lecture, even a few words from them could benefit one greatly.
Even though the young man before him was a talented individual, no matter what, he was still only a 7-star master teacher. So, how could he possibly possess the ability of a 9-star master teacher?
But if that wasn’t the case, there was no way to explain the Brush of Heavenly Impartation’s sudden breakthrough and outburst!
“Let’s see what he has lectured on…” Unable to believe his eyes, Song s.h.i.+ immediately began examining the characters written in the air.
With just a single look, his body could not help but begin trembling.
It would be impossible to comprehend the deepest significance harnessed within the lecture without scanning the characters with his Spiritual Perception, but nevertheless, as a quasi 8-star master teacher, he could still roughly fathom the meaning of those written characters.
He could feel that those characters harnessed knowledge that was directed toward the very essence of cultivation itself, and with just a glance, he already found himself gradually growing more and more absorbed in them.
No, I mustn’t look… Otherwise, I might really just become his student!
Biting his tongue to bring back his rationality, Song s.h.i.+ quickly closed his eyes.
If he cultivated according to the method imparted by Zhang Xuan, that would mean that he had accepted the other party’s guidance, and that would effectively make the young man a half a teacher to him.
He was there to challenge Zhang Xuan to a Master Teacher Confrontation to right his reputation and regain his dignity, not to acknowledge a teacher!
But… considering how profound this cultivation technique is, if I study it carefully, there’s a good chance that it could become my impetus for a breakthrough to the Grand Dominion realm.
Gritting his teeth tightly, the angel and the devil within Song s.h.i.+’s heart began clas.h.i.+ng with one another.
He did not want to become Zhang Xuan’s student, but this was a truly valuable opportunity for him to achieve a breakthrough. Such an opportunity was hard to come by, and he had a feeling that he would regret it for life if he allowed this chance to slip through his fingers!
Deeply conflicted, Song s.h.i.+ fell into an internal struggle.
“There are around… one thousand, two thousand, three thousand… Forget it, it’s too much trouble to count. In any case, there are more than nine words here. Brush, you don’t have to write anymore.”
Not only was the crowd astonished by the sight before them, even Zhang Xuan was dumbfounded. It had taken a while before he finally recovered. Knowing that he had already won the duel, he turned to Yao s.h.i.+ and said, “Yao s.h.i.+, this duel should be my victory, right?”
Hearing Zhang Xuan’s words, Yao s.h.i.+’s eyebrows shot up.
Despite spurting blood and pa.s.sing out, Song s.h.i.+ only managed to squeeze out nine words. On the other hand, in the blink of an eye, you have already written three thousand words… Ah, no, it has written another two thousand words while I was speaking. Five thousand words…
If this isn’t sufficient to be considered a victory, what else can be considered a victory?
Yao s.h.i.+ hurriedly nodded. “Of course, you are the victor!”
“Thanks.” Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan raised his head and saw that the Brush of Heavenly Impartation was still writing. At this point, there were already more than eight thousand words in the sky.
“I said that it’s enough—didn’t you hear me?” Zhang Xuan frowned in displeasure.
What the heck is this!
Since I told you to stop, you should stop obediently. To keep writing and writing, are you boasting about how fast you are able to write?
Seeing that Zhang Xuan had lost his temper, Yao s.h.i.+ quickly explained with a bitter smile, “Zhang s.h.i.+, under the effects of your Words of Wisdom, the Brush of Heavenly Impartation will have to pen down the content of your entire lecture before it is able to rest.”
It was not that the brush did not want to stop, but it could not!
Words of Wisdom was a truly formidable ability. While it was a skill that only 9-star master teachers were capable of, it was not something that all 9-star master teachers were able to pull off.
“Is that so? I guess there’s no helping it then.” Scratching his head awkwardly, Zhang Xuan sighed deeply before waiting patiently.
Some time later, the brush in the air finally came to a halt. Completely exhausted by the sheer amount of work it had done, its brush tip was split haggardly, and it looked as if it had done enough work for its entire lifetime.
“You are finally done…” Zhang Xuan sighed in exasperation.
But right after he spoke those words, the brush struggled up into the air and wrote down a line of characters. They were the words that he had just spoken.
“You… Are you doing this on purpose?” Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.
The brush continued writing—Are you doing this on purpose?
“…” Zhang Xuan was on the verge of clawing his hair away. “Yao s.h.i.+, look! It’s copying me!”
Brush moved again—Yao s.h.i.+, look! It’s copying me!
“This… It might be because Zhang s.h.i.+ said too much earlier, such that it has developed a habit of penning down your every word. As a result, even when you aren’t executing the Impartation of Heaven’s Will, it still moves to record your words,” Yao s.h.i.+ explained with a twitching mouth.
This was also the first time she had seen a situation like this, so she was not too sure.
“If that’s the case, I think it would be good for you to put your Brush of Heavenly Impartation away now. Otherwise, I fear that it might end up scribbling all over Qingyuan City,” Zhang Xuan remarked as he looked at the lines of ten thousand words in the air.
Currently, those words had already covered around a half of the ma.s.sive square. If the Brush of Heavenly Impartation was allowed to continue, it would not be long before the entire sky over Qingyuan City was dyed black!
“You’re right!” Seeing how the words that Zhang Xuan had just said were being written down, Yao s.h.i.+ shook her head helplessly. She immediately stepped forward to stow the Brush of Heavenly Impartation back into her storage ring, but the latter suddenly jolted wildly before abruptly plummeting from the sky and falling weakly to the ground.
“This is…” Anxious, Yao s.h.i.+ immediately rushed over to take a look. Upon closer examination, her face darkened. “It has fainted from exhaustion!”
While the Brush of Heavenly Impartation was neither a Saint-tier artifact nor a Spirit-tier artifact, in order to be able to discern the Impartation of Heaven’s Will spoken by a master teacher, it had to possess some degree of sentience. The abrupt overload of profound information from Zhang Xuan, along with the physical exhaustion from writing so many words, had sapped its energy dry, resulting in it collapsing.
“Fainted from exhaustion?”
“Such a thing is possible, too?”
Hearing Yao s.h.i.+’s words, a huge commotion broke out beneath the stage. All the master teachers had looks of shock on their faces, as if they had seen a ghost.
Usually, it was the master teachers who fainted during the Brush of Heavenly Impartation out of exhaustion from the Heavenly Impartation of Mentor’s Calligraphy, and yet… Zhang Xuan actually managed to make the Brush of Heavenly Impartation faint from exhaustion instead.
Was this really happening before them?
They could not help but pinch themselves to check if they had imagined everything that had happened before them.
Pu!
In this moment, a spurt of blood showered the sky. Unable to suppress his injuries any longer, Song s.h.i.+ fainted as well.
He had gone to the extent of expending every last bit of his Soul Depth in order to break his previous record, and yet, with just a seemingly leisurely lecture, Zhang Xuan actually managed to break his record by more than a thousandfold!
More importantly, he even made the Brush of Heavenly Impartation faint out of exhaustion?
Could such an existence still be called a human?
Not even real 9-star master teachers would be as outrageous as him!
“Zhang s.h.i.+, how do you intend to deal with these characters?” Yao s.h.i.+ swiftly packed the Brush of Heavenly Impartation back into her storage ring before turning her gaze to Zhang Xuan.
Given that those characters had been written from Zhang Xuan’s Heavenly Impartation of Mentor’s Calligraphy, naturally, he possessed owners.h.i.+p over them.
“This…” Zhang Xuan looked at the huge acc.u.mulation of characters in the sky, and he could not help but feel his head hurt.
Those words were so densely packed together that it caused a huge shadow to loom over the square. They would be an eyesore if he left them there.
Noticing the conflicted look on Zhang Xuan’s face, Yao s.h.i.+ stepped forward and clasped her fist. “From how you were able to induce the Beacon of Heavenly Impartation, causing the Brush of Heavenly Impartation to continue writing non-stop, there’s no doubt that the knowledge harnessed within those words is deeply aligned with the essence of the world. If Zhang s.h.i.+ doesn’t mind, I’m willing to use two Saint intermediate-tier artifacts to purchase the characters from you.”
As an 8-star master teacher, she knew that those characters in the sky were incredibly valuable. It was no exaggeration to say that they were worth an entire city or even more!
“You wish to purchase them?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
Those characters could actually be sold?
“That’s right.” Yao s.h.i.+ nodded. “Through a unique method, it’s possible to store those characters within a book and study them whenever one wants to.”
Despite existing in a tangible form, those characters could be said to be no different from a physical embodiment of the Impartation of Heaven’s Will. As long as a cultivator scanned those words with his Spiritual Perception, they would be able to interpret the knowledge harnessed within it and benefit greatly from it.
Despite being an 8-star master teacher herself, Yao s.h.i.+ could sense that the knowledge harnessed within those characters could help her rise to greater heights.
As such, putting aside two Saint intermediate-tier artifacts, she would not hesitate to up the stakes if needed to!
“Yao s.h.i.+ is offering to buy those characters with two Saint intermediate-tier artifacts?”
“Doesn’t that mean that those characters are literally words of gold?”
Taking the discussion between the two in, the master teachers beneath the execution platform were utterly stunned.
Saint intermediate-tier artifacts were incredibly valuable. There were no more than a couple of them within the entire Qingyuan Empire.
Converted to high-tier spirit stones, they would be worth several ten thousand!
To actually offer that much money in exchange for those characters… Granted that it was Zhang s.h.i.+’s lecture, but it was still a really huge sum to pay for them!
“Two Saint intermediate-tier artifact?” Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment before eventually shaking his head, rejecting Yao s.h.i.+’s offer.
He usually relied on his strength and wits in order to defeat others. In comparison, his weapons seemed to play a smaller role. Not to mention, he already had the Golden Origin Cauldron, so any more Saint intermediate-tier artifacts would be unnecessary.
Seeing Zhang Xuan reject her offer, Yao s.h.i.+ quickly replied, “Zhang s.h.i.+, I am willing to negotiate the price with you if you find my offer inadequate. If two Saint intermediate-tier artifacts aren’t enough… what do you think of three?”
“It’s not about your offer.” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He swept through the crowd with his gaze before speaking with a resounding voice. “Chu Tianxing has committed many reprehensible deeds in his time, and he deserves the fate that befell him. Even though those deeds were orchestrated by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, there’s no doubt that our Master Teacher Pavilion was somewhat responsible for this matter.
“Despite serving as the guardians of mankind, we allowed the Otherworldly Demons to infiltrate our ranks and cause harm to our brethren. It’s fortunate that we managed to stop Chu Tianxing in time before he could conduct his depraved ritual, but it’s still a fact that our lapse in duty endangered countless innocent lives in Qingyuan City.
“As such, in order to make up for our mistake, I would like to donate this Heavenly Impartation of Mentor’s Calligraphy to Qingyuan City as a show of repentance from our Master Teacher Pavilion. We will right where we have erred and reflect on where we have failed!”
“This…”
“He’s actually giving such valuable characters to us?”
“That is worth three Saint intermediate-tier artifact! To gift it to us just like that…”
Hearing Zhang Xuan’s decision, the eyes of the civilians of Qingyuan City reddened.
To view money as if it was nothing more than dirt, giving them the characters that were easily worth three Saint intermediate-tier artifacts without much hesitation… He was a true master teacher!
“Actually, the matter concerning Vice Pavilion Master Tian and Chu Tianxing has already left me a little doubtful about the competency of the Master Teacher Pavilion. However, after hearing Zhang s.h.i.+’s words, my trust in the Master Teacher Pavilion has been restored!”
“Indeed. Without their protection, there’s no way we could have lived in peace for so many years. Perhaps, we might even have fallen under the treacherous schemes of Chu Tianxing and lost our lives.”
…
While the crowd of Qingyuan City had not said anything, the problems that had surfaced one after another in recent days had really left them a little disappointed in the competency of the Master Teacher Pavilion.
After all, the betrayal of a vice pavilion master and an emperor of a Conferred Empire was no laughing matter. Yet, the Master Teacher Pavilion had been oblivious to something as huge as this for such a long period of time. Inevitably, they had started to question the Master Teacher Pavilion’s leaders.h.i.+p internally.
However, the display of magnanimity from Zhang Xuan rea.s.sured them that the Master Teacher Pavilion was still devoted to its responsibilities and duties, and this had helped to restore public faith in them.
Hearing the words from the crowd and the agitation on their faces, Yao s.h.i.+ clasped her fist toward Zhang Xuan and bowed. “Zhang s.h.i.+’s magnanimity is truly worthy of praise. I was being too narrow-minded.”
She had been thinking of how she should dispel the various adverse consequences of the matter and re-establish the prestige and authority of the Master Teacher Pavilion among the populace. However, from the looks of it now, it seemed like there was no need for her to do so anymore.
As long Zhang Xuan was around, the unrest among the populace of Qingyuan City would be settled easily.
In just two short hours, the young man had already effectively become the number one figure of Qingyuan City, wielding authority incomparable by anyone else there.
With just a few simple moves, he had already managed to reduce the adverse effects from this incident to the bare minimum. It seemed like the young man did not just possess superior talent. More importantly, his outlook toward matters was also far broader and deeper than others. Compared to him, she really had much to learn.
“Alright, I shall announce the results of the Master Teacher Confrontation now. For the duel of Heavenly Impartation of Mentor’s Calligraphy between Song s.h.i.+ and Zhang s.h.i.+, Zhang s.h.i.+ is the victor!” Yao s.h.i.+ declared loudly, her voice sounding across the entire capital.
“Wonderful!”
“Great!”
“I knew that Zhang s.h.i.+ would win!”
Loud cheers broke out throughout the capital.
Not expecting Zhang Xuan to receive the admiration of so many people within such a short period of time, the awoken Song s.h.i.+’s face paled. “You all…”
After announcing the results, Yao s.h.i.+ turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, “Zhang s.h.i.+, since you have achieved victory… may I know how you intend to deal with Song s.h.i.+?”