Chapter 311: Thirty Flaws
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
The air was still with silence.
The worst had really happened!
The first stage and the second stage of the Unerring Pavilion were just beside one another.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, before an examinee entered, Wu s.h.i.+ would inform them in advance on how they should trigger the first stage.
Even if he didn"t inform, as long as one was a master teacher apprentice in the Tianwu Kingdom, one should know the rules. Thus, no mishaps had ever happened.
Yet, this fellow just had to be the exception!
Furthermore, despite knowing nothing at all, he simply barged in!
It was one thing for him to barge him, but for him to disregard the first stage and head for the second one straight... Wasn"t his luck way too bad?
"Can"t we enter now to save him?" Apothecary Hong Yun enquired anxiously.
"Once the Unerring Pavilion is activated, it will not stop until there is a conclusion..." Wu s.h.i.+"s face paled. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he added, "Unless... the pavilion master personally makes a trip down and uses the Pavilion Master Token to forcefully enter!"
"Alright! I will look for the pavilion master now. Let"s hope he can last until then..." Vice Pavilion Master Guan nodded before turning around to leave.
Zhang Xuan was a genius who has broken all of the records of the previous tests. If he were to fall here because of their mistake, the entire branch would have to suffer the wrath of the headquarters.
"Surviving until the pavilion master arrives... Is that possible?"
Wu s.h.i.+"s face paled.
A Tongxuan realm would be destroyed in mere seconds before a Zongs.h.i.+ realm expert, how can he possibly last until the pavilion master arrives!
"At this point, we can only hope for the best..."
Knowing that there was no other way, Wu s.h.i.+ gazed at the door before him, praying from his heart for the young man"s safety.
...
In the room of the fifth test, Zhang Xuan stared intently at the puppet before him.
Ling Xiaoxiao was right, the first four tests did not differ much from what Wu s.h.i.+ said, so he thought that the fifth test would be the same as well. Seeing that the others were preoccupied with talking, he had pushed the door open and walked in alone.
However, upon entry, he was immediately hit with the realization that something was amiss.
A puppet had pounced at him the moment he stepped inside. Despite that, Zhang Xuan immediately crushed it on the spot, crippling it completely.
Then, a second puppet came rus.h.i.+ng over at him as well, and it was clearly much stronger than the first one. If not for Zhang Xuan"s swiftness, he would have been injured by now."
"A Zongs.h.i.+ realm primary stage puppet? As expected of the final test, it is indeed much more challenging than the previous tests!"
As the strength of the puppet dawned upon him, Zhang Xuan"s eyes narrowed.
In the third test, the two puppets who exchanged blows were only of Tongxuan realm cultivation whereas this fellow was at Zongs.h.i.+ realm primary stage. No wonder so many people were unable to pa.s.s the master teacher examination. They would surely be helpless before such a powerful enemy.
"However... this means nothing to me!"
A Zongs.h.i.+ realm puppet might be powerful, but it meant nothing to Zhang Xuan.
After reaching Half-Zongs.h.i.+, his strength had increased to 1500 ding. In terms of strength, he was already above that of a Zongs.h.i.+ realm primary stage cultivator. Furthermore, when his overwhelming strength was coupled with unparalleled battle techniques like Heaven"s Path Movement Art, Heaven"s Path Fist Art, as well as the eyes of discernment to detect other"s flaws, even a Zongs.h.i.+ realm advanced stage would find it difficult to get the better of him, needless to say, this puppet.
Hu!
As Zhang Xuan immersed in his thoughts, the puppet before him had already rushed up to him.
Focusing his attention on the puppet, he immediately spotted seven to eight flaws on it. With a ghost of a smile, he retreated a step backward, then using his finger as a sword, he aimed and stabbed at a specific point in the air.
Peng!
Although little power was invested in this move, the ma.s.sive body of the puppet fell backward involuntarily as though it had suffered a heavy blow.
"Continue!"
Successfully striking the other party, Zhang Xuan leaped, dashed forward, and pummeled the puppet"s flaws one blow after another without any hesitation.
Since this was called the Unerring Pavilion, this meant that one should strike at the weaknesses of the puppet. The more one struck the puppet"s weaknesses, the higher one"s results should be.
Previously, the first puppet had dashed over too suddenly and Zhang Xuan had sent it flying with a single slap before he could react. In comparison, this second puppet was significantly stronger, and it would serve as a good sparring partner.
Peng peng peng peng!
Fists, kicks, elbows, smashes... All kinds of attacks landed on the puppet"s body, causing it to retreat continuously.
Ever since his transcension, Zhang Xuan had not let loose and fight before. At this moment, unleas.h.i.+ng all his strength, he could feel the zhenqi in his body gus.h.i.+ng through his entire body, and an unspeakable sensation of pleasure a.s.saulted him.
Pipa! Pipa!
As the flow of pure zhenqi coursed faster and faster through his meridians, a few bottlenecks which he had struggled with in his usual training was suddenly broken through.
"I actually broke through the final hurdle of Zongs.h.i.+ realm?"
Zhang Xuan"s eyes lit up.
He didn"t expect that this series of offense would allow him to break through the hurdles that kept him away from Zongs.h.i.+ realm. This effectively left him on the verge of achieving a breakthrough to the Zongs.h.i.+ realm.
Advancing to the Zongs.h.i.+ realm meant going up a level of existence. There would be a visible qualitative change in one, be it one"s longevity or stamina.
Despite the fact that Zhang Xuan could already sense himself nearing the attainment of the Zongs.h.i.+ realm previously, he knew that without several months of gruel training, it would be difficult for him to finally take the last step. Little did he know that this single battle would serve as the impetus for this breakthrough.
"This is a good opportunity. I should use this fellow to train for a bit longer first, I"m in no hurry to advance to the Zongs.h.i.+ realm anyway!"
Even though he was delighted at the unexpected gain, he wasn"t in a hurry to achieve a breakthrough.
Once he breaks through to the Zongs.h.i.+ realm, beating up this fellow would be as easy as crus.h.i.+ng an ant. There would be no meaning behind it.
Rather, in his current state, he could refine his battle abilities as well as the ability to exploit the enemy’s flaws.
...
"Pavilion Master Hall, he"s not here..."
"Conference Room, he"s not here..."
"Where could the pavilion master be?"
Knowing that the genius was still trapped in the Unerring Pavilion, Vice Pavilion Master Guan rushed through the entire Master Teacher Pavilion without the slightest moment of rest. With the cultivation of a Zongs.h.i.+ realm pinnacle, his movement was as swift as a whirlwind.
Soon, he had looked through all the places where the pavilion master often visited, but there wasn"t a single sign of him.
He knew that the pavilion master had gone into seclusion to cultivate, but he didn"t think that... he wouldn"t be at the Master Teacher Pavilion.
"The backyard!"
Having searched through almost everywhere in the Master Teacher Pavilion, all that was left was the backyard.
At the back of the Master Teacher Pavilion was a gigantic residence, and it was split into numerous courtyards. There were numerous master teachers who lived here, and the pavilion master was one of them.
Moving swiftly, it only took him the span of six to seven breaths to reach the pavilion master"s courtyard. Just as he was about to enter, he heard the roar of a savage beast.
"Why is there a savage beast here?" Vice Pavilion Master Guan was shocked by the abrupt sound.
This is the Master Teacher Pavilion, not the Beast Hall. Where did the savage beast come from?
"Could the pavilion master be in danger?"
Overwhelmed by worry, the various formalities which included reporting his arrival deserted Vice Pavilion Master Guan as he barged in.
"Pavilion master..."
Yelling, he drove his cultivation, prepared to make a move. However, as his eyes fell on the scene in the courtyard, he was immediately stunned.
The pavilion master was in the courtyard, and a savage beast was present as well. But unlike what he thought, they weren"t battling at all. Rather, the former was grilling meat to feed the latter.
A gigantic savage beast was currently eating delightfully, and its pleasure was explicitly shown on its face.
"Guan s.h.i.+, to come over in such a hurry, did something happen?"
Seeing how the other party barged in without reporting, the pavilion master frowned.
"Pavilion master, something bad had happened! A genius was in the midst of the master teacher examination when he accidentally entered the Unerring Pavilion..."
Vice Pavilion Master Guan knew that it wasn"t the time to be asking him about anything else, so he quickly summarized the situation.
"You mean to say that... he unwittingly triggered the puppet of the second stage?" Hearing those words, the pavilion master became anxious as well. "How foolis.h.!.+ Let"s go!"
Knowing that there wasn"t any time to be wasted, the pavilion master couldn"t be bothered about the savage beast now. He swiftly dashed out of the courtyard.
The two Zongs.h.i.+ realm pinnacle experts possessed exceptional speed. Like a whirlwind, they arrived at the examination hall in the span of just ten breaths.
Expecting anxious faces upon entering the examination hall, what greeted them was eyes widened in shock instead. The crowd stared blankly ahead, as though they had lost their souls.
"What"s going on?" The pavilion master asked in confusion.
Such an incredible genius has entered the Unerring Pavilion and triggered the second stage, shouldn"t the crowd be anxiously antic.i.p.ating his arrival to save him?
Why wasn’t anybody worried at all? Why did it seem as though they had all turned dumb?
"Pavilion master... lo-look!"
Perplexed, Vice Pavilion Master Guan looked around when he suddenly saw something, and he pointed to something before him.
What he was pointing at was the door of the fifth test. A line of digits was s.h.i.+ning glaringly.
"465... What is this?"
The pavilion master shuddered, and he nearly keeled over on the spot.
"This... this should be the score from the flaws he found..."
Vice Pavilion Master Guan swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"The score from finding flaws?"
The pavilion master"s face darkened, and for a moment, he could feel blood welling up at the back of his throat.
Didn"t you say that this fellow was in danger and that he was about to be killed?
Didn"t you say that he was stuck in the Unerring Pavilion and that he needs to be saved?
What in the world is wrong with that score?
In the Unerring Pavilion, the first mistake found awards one with one point, the second mistake found awards one with two points, the third mistake found awards one with three points... so on and so forth.
If a genius was able to find six flaws and score 21 points, that would already be a groundbreaking feat, a record that would last for at least a century. Yet... 465?
The heck!
"465, which means to say... He has found thirty flaws of the puppet..."
Shuddering, the pavilion master"s face twitched uncontrollably. At this moment, he felt that the world has gone mad.
The movements displayed by the puppet in the Unerring Pavilion were vetted by 4-star master teachers. In other words, their blows were no different from a 4-star master teacher suppressing his cultivation.
Even if the 4-star master teacher unintentionally overlooked some flaws, there should only be at most one or two, needless to mention, it wouldn"t be easily detectable. Yet, this fellow...
Thirty mistakes, 465 points...
Was the puppet created by your family?
"Are you sure that... he triggered the second stage, not the first stage?"
The corner of the lips of the pavilion master twitched for a long while before he forced himself to calm down and ask.
A 1-star master teacher unintentionally barged into the second stage and found thirty flaws in the Zongs.h.i.+ realm puppet... Even a 2-star master teacher examinee wouldn"t be capable of such a feat!
"If it was the first stage, the door should s.h.i.+ne blue, and if it was the second stage, it should s.h.i.+ne red... When the test was triggered, I personally verified that it shone red. There is no mistake about it!"
Vice Pavilion Master Guan was dumbfounded as well.
He had anxiously pulled the pavilion master here for him to save a genius from losing his life. In the end... the other party was actually having fun inside.
Moreover, hadn’t it only been a while?
Yet, he had already found thirty flaws in the puppet?
Vice Pavilion Master Guan staggered.
Even if they were to gather all the master teachers in the Master Teacher Pavilion in there, they wouldn"t be able to find that many flaws!
After all, this was a puppet left behind by a 4-star master teacher. Unless one"s eye of discernment was above that of the other party, it was impossible to find so many flaws!
Jiya!
Just as the two of them were in a frenzy, the door opened and a young man walked out.
Upon seeing him walk out, Wu s.h.i.+ immediately rushed up to him. "Zhang s.h.i.+, are you... alright?"
The other party had already pa.s.sed the five tests, so he could be officially be considered a master teacher now. Thus, he changed his address for the other party from Zhang laos.h.i.+ to Zhang s.h.i.+.
"Why wouldn"t I be alright?"
Zhang Xuan stared at him with a confused expression. Then, his face slowly turned red and he said sheepishly, "However... I failed to control my strength and accidentally destroyed the puppet. It... should be capable of self-regeneration too, right?"