Chapter 815: Hu Yaoyao"s True Ident.i.ty
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Written on the land deed was the specific location of the plot of land, and it was indicating the location of the manor that Hu Yaoyao said was where the old residence of Wu Yangzi used to be situated.
Back then, when he learned that the manor belonged to him, he was extremely perplexed. He racked his mind to figure out who it could be, but never had he thought that it would be King Huai!
He never had any interaction with King Huai, except for the fact that Zheng Yang and the others had stayed in his manor for a few days, and his ambiguous relations.h.i.+p with the Yuan Clan, who had taken Yuan Tao with them.
To be honest, they couldn"t even be considered acquaintances, having just met once. Yet, the other party was gifting him a luxurious manor worth more than a hundred high-tier spirit stones?
Wasn"t this… a little too much?
But thinking about it carefully, King Huai was indeed the only one who had the financial resources to spare to carry this out.
Even though Mo Gaoyuan, School Head Mo, and others were prestigious 6-star master teachers, their wealth still couldn"t be compared to a king who wielded immense power in Hongyuan Empire.
"That"s right!" Butler Yu Qing nodded respectfully.
"I don"t think I have done anything worthy of this gift from King Huai…" Zhang Xuan shook his head.
As much as he was interested in the manor, he had no ties with King Huai whatsoever. It wasn"t really appropriate to accept such a valuable gift from a stranger.
"My master has ordered me to deliver the land deed and housing deed to you regardless of the cost. Otherwise, I might be kicked out of the King Huai Manor or even be severely punished for my lapse in duty!" Yu Qing said anxiously.
"Furthermore, this manor is registered under your name. If you continue to turn me down, I really do not know what I will do with the manor!"
Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan frowned.
He had noticed it just now as well. The owner registered on the land deed and housing deed was indeed him.
In other words, King Huai had guessed that he would reject the gift, so he chose to register the manor straight under his name.
After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan nodded. "Alright, I will accept it then. Sun Qiang, take the jade box. When I am free, I will make sure to pay King Huai a visit so as to express my grat.i.tude!"
It was a fact that he needed a better accommodation at the moment, and Wu Yangzi"s treasure was located within the manor as well. Since the other party was determined to give the manor to him, there was no need for him to refuse it anyway.
At most, he would find an opportunity to offer some guidance to King Huai or resolve the illnesses he was suffering from in order to repay the favor.
Actually, the other party"s intention behind giving him the manor wasn"t too difficult to figure out.
What King Huai was interested in wasn"t him but Yuan Tao.
Yuan Tao possessed the Emperor"s Bloodline. Once he returned to the Yuan Clan, a Sage Clan, the Yuan Clan would surely devote their resources to grooming him. It would just be a matter of time before he became a powerhouse of the Master Teacher Continent.
Considering that he was Yuan Tao"s teacher, it wasn"t too difficult to imagine his standing then.
King Huai might be unable to fawn over Yuan Tao, but if he could get on close terms with him, it would be equivalent to building a connection to the Yuan Clan as well.
Even if Zhang Xuan were to adamantly reject the manor, it was likely that King Huai might still resort to other means to get to him. Since that was the case, he might as well just accept this manor.
"Thank you, Zhang s.h.i.+!"
Butler Yu Qing had thought that Zhang s.h.i.+ would need some convincing before accepting the manor, but the latter suddenly agreed to it. Excited, he hurriedly pa.s.sed the housing deed and land deed to Sun Qiang before clasping his fist. "I will be taking my leave then!"
"Un!" Zhang Xuan waved his hands to dismiss the other party.
"Since we have a new residence now, let"s head there!"
Without any hesitation, he left with the others behind him.
"This…"
It was just a moment ago that Huang Xing and the others had stopped Zhang Xuan from entering his old residence in the Elite Sector when King Huai suddenly sent him a ma.s.sive manor. They glanced at one another with blank looks on their faces, not knowing what to say.
It was clear that School Head Lu had done all of this to humiliate Zhang Xuan, but now… not only was Zhang Xuan not humiliated, he even gave a tight slap back to School Head Lu…
If they were to report this matter to School Head Lu, would the latter fly into a rage and punish them instead?
What the heck was this!
If they had known earlier, they would have never gotten involved in this matter!
…
Oblivious to the woes Huang Xing"s group faced, Zhang Xuan, Sun Qiang, and the others left the academy, and not too long later, they arrived before a ma.s.sive manor.
"Young Master…"
Before he could even knock on the doors, "jiyaa!", the doors creaked open, and a huge army of guards and servants rushed out to welcome him.
A butler stepped forward and reported, "King Huai has sent us here out of worry to tend to your needs."
"I see, help me relay my grat.i.tude to King Huai!" Zhang Xuan nodded.
King Huai had truly put a lot of effort into this matter. Not only did he purchase such a luxurious manor in a prime location, he even refurbished the manor and prepared all of the servants required to manage it.
He sure was generous!
Indeed, it would be difficult for Sun Qiang and the others to tidy up the manor by themselves.
Since he had already accepted the manor, adding a little more to the debt didn"t mean much anymore.
All he had to do was to find a way to return the favor when the time came.
Following the butler into the residence, Zhang Xuan couldn"t help but gasp in awe.
It seemed like great care had been taken in the refurbishment as well. The manor was extravagant but not lacking in elegance, magnificent but soothing at the same time.
It was exquisitely designed to harmonize with nature. In an instant, Zhang Xuan felt as if he had walked into a ma.s.sive park.
It was apparent that a Spirit Gathering Formation had been set up here; the spiritual energy in the manor was extremely dense. In terms of concentration, it was on par even with his residence in the Elite Sector.
"Incredible!" Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
From the looks of it, it seemed like King Huai must have spent a bomb on the refurbishment of the manor as well, perhaps even costing more than the manor itself.
In any case, if Zhang Xuan had bought the manor himself, there was no way he would have been able to make it like that.
Walking into the main hall at the very center of the manor, Zhang Xuan instructed, "Sun Qiang, you shall go with the Great Violetwing Beast to bring Wei Ruyan over!"
"Yes!" Sun Qiang nodded before taking his leave.
After finding a place to keep You Xu locked up, Zhang Xuan took a walk around the manor, and he soon arrived at a flower garden.
He paced around the area a few times before finally taking the Ten-leafed Flower out and planting it in the ground.
This was the area in the manor where the spiritual energy focused. By storing the medicinal herb here, he would be able to maintain its freshness.
After planting it in the ground, Zhang Xuan dripped a few droplets of Earth Vein Spirit Essence on it before heaving a sigh of relief.
In order to have the Ten-leafed Flower nourish Wei Ruyan"s soul, Zhang Xuan had to keep it alive first. Otherwise, if the flower were to wither, the soul that was bound to it would dissipate as well.
In order to ensure that nothing went wrong, Zhang Xuan took out several dozen formation flags from his storage ring and planted them in the area, creating a formation to keep others out.
Only after this was done did Zhang Xuan finally heave a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to return to his room, he suddenly saw Luo Qiqi and Hu Yaoyao walking over.
"Teacher, is this manor really yours?" Even at this point, Luo Qiqi could still hardly believe that it was true.
After all, this place was simply far too extravagant, and it would be no exaggeration to say that it was on par with the royal palace. To abruptly give such a place to her teacher for no apparent reason, it was normal that she would be skeptical.
Zhang Xuan nodded. "Let"s head in to speak!"
Thus, the three of them headed to the main hall.
"Hu Yaoyao, are you certain that this is Elder Wu Yangzi"s old residence?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"Yes, I am certain!" Hu Yaoyao replied decisively.
Seeing the lack of hesitation in her response, Zhang Xuan frowned.
The reason he and Luo Qiqi were looking for Wu Yangzi"s old residence was to obtain the treasure he had hidden. However, this manor had already changed hands several times, and considering the many times it had been refurbished and renovated, probably every inch of ground here had been dug before. Even if there was a treasure here, the chances were that it would have been taken away.
Just as Zhang Xuan was deep in contemplation, Hu Yaoyao suddenly spoke once more. "The reason Zhang s.h.i.+ is determined to find Elder Wu Yangzi"s old residence, if I am not mistaken, is to find the treasure that he left behind, right?"
"Treasure? What treasure?" Zhang Xuan feigned ignorance.
"There"s no need for you to hide it from me. There are some members in my Bewitching Devil Faction who are blacksmiths too, and I have heard that the both of you found Elder Wu Yangzi"s corpse!" Hu Yaoyao said. "Since you"ve found Elder Wu Yangzi"s corpse, surely you"ve learned of the existence of his treasure as well!"
"It has been two thousand years since Elder Wu Yangzi disappeared. Even if we managed to find his corpse, he would have already been long dead. How could we possibly receive any clues about his treasure from him…" Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed in disappointment.
"To tell you the truth, I already knew what you two were up to when you asked me about the location of Elder Wu Yangzi"s old residence. It"s just that I chose not to point it out since you were unwilling to talk about it!"
Chuckling lightly, Hu Yaoyao returned back to her usual coquettish self and said, "Don"t worry. Of the entire Hongyuan City, I am the only one who knows about the treasure that Elder Wu Yangzi left behind. Thus, you need not worry about the news being leaked!"
Since the other party had already brought things out into the light, Zhang Xuan couldn"t be bothered to keep up with the disguise anymore. Thus, he turned his gaze to her and asked, "Oh? Since you said so, I would really like to ask you what your relations.h.i.+p with Elder Wu Yangzi is. Why do you know so much about him?"
In the first place, it was already bizarre how certain she was about where Wu Yangzi"s old residence had been. But to think that she would know about the existence of the treasure on top of that… This was suspicious.
"You want to know?" Hu Yaoyao smiled. Taking a deep breath, she drove her zhenqi.
Weng!
The next moment, with a jolt, her slender body suddenly emanated a slight glow, and the strength of the aura she exuded surged.
"This is… the Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body?" Luo Qiqi exclaimed in shock as she exchanged glances with Zhang Xuan.
No matter how they looked at it, the technique was the secret art they had learned from Wu Yangzi, Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body!
But didn"t this physical body cultivation technique go missing long ago?
How did Hu Yaoyao learn it?
Furthermore, from the looks of it, it seemed like she had spent quite some time studying and cultivating it as well, reaching Second Incandescence just like Zhang Xuan.
"Indeed, this is the Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body!" Hu Yaoyao nodded as she halted the flow of her zhenqi. "This is a technique I inherited from my ancestor."
"Your ancestor? Isn"t the Quintuple Incandescence Golden Body… Wait, could it be…" Luo Qiqi was astonished.
"In truth, my surname is not Hu but… Wu!" Hu Yaoyao said. "Wu Yangzi is my ancestor!"
"But if you are a descendent of Elder Wu Yangzi, why did you change your surname to Hu?" Zhang Xuan was perplexed.
As a grandmaster blacksmith, Wu Yangzi possessed immense prestige in Hongyuan City. It should have been an honor to have such an ancestor, why would his descendants choose to conceal their heritage instead?
Hu Yaoyao harrumphed coldly. "If we didn"t change our surname, our lineage would have been ma.s.sacred by others long ago!"
"Ma.s.sacred?" Zhang Xuan frowned. "But this is where the Master Teacher Academy is located. There are actually people who dare to lay their hands on you?"
With both a Master Teacher Pavilion and Master Teacher Academy taking root here, who would dare to lay their hands on Wu Yangzi"s descendants?
"Dare? Do you really think that it was possible for Wu Yangzi to be kidnapped by others so easily? Not to mention, does it make sense that he didn"t even have a chance to leave a message or call for help?" Hu Yaoyao asked.
"This…"
In truth, Zhang Xuan also felt that there was something amiss with the matter.
Back in the underground chamber, the Otherworldly Demon puppets whom he had faced were all at Saint 1-dan. While they were a formidable force in Hongyuan Empire, it was still nigh impossible for them to deal with a figure who could potentially make the breakthrough to become a 7-star blacksmith so discreetly.
Could there… really be some kind of hidden secret behind this matter?