Chapter 972: Seniority
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
Seeing his state, Zhang Xuan shook his head.
Since he knew that such fate would befall him, he never should have done what he did back then.
It was only natural for mortals to fear death, but to collude with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was equivalent to giving up on the justice in one"s heart.
Justice and life, there was no saying which was more important. But since You Xu had made his choice, he would have to bear the price of failure.
It is a pity that Wei Ruyan is unconscious at the moment and is unable to witness this.
You Xu was the mastermind behind Wei Changfeng"s death, and as Wei Changfeng"s daughter, it was indeed regretful that Wei Ruyan was unable to witness the death of her enemy with her own eyes.
This public execution served to indicate the Master Teacher Pavilion"s att.i.tude toward all traitors. As this was a decision made by the headquarters, Zhang Xuan had no right to intervene.
Besides, You Xu had already lived for long enough; it was about time for him to accept his punishment.
…
After dealing with You Xu, Mu s.h.i.+ turned to the others and said, "The four princ.i.p.als, Combat Master Liao, Combat Master Zhuo, and fellow elders, the two of us have come down here today to discuss something with you. Please follow me!"
"Yes."
Nodding in response, the crowd followed Mu s.h.i.+ to the Elder Hall.
In truth, he had been puzzled as to why the headquarters would dispatch two 7-star master teachers to Hongyuan Empire, not to mention, one of them was even at Saint realm 4-dan. If it was just to deal with You Xu, there was no such need.
There was bound to be some other reason.
Mu s.h.i.+ had stayed in the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy from a fairly long period of time before, so he was rather familiar with the area. It didn"t take long for the crowd to arrive in the large a.s.sembly room.
After everyone got seated, School Head Mo activated the formation to isolate the room. After which, Mu s.h.i.+ shot a sweeping gaze at the crowd before speaking. "The reason I had all of you gather here today is due to a piece of information we have received while interrogating You Xu."
After saying that, Mu s.h.i.+ flicked his wrist, and a token appeared in his hand.
The token was incredibly worn and damaged, and it seemed as if it would break apart at any moment.
"I believe all of you should recognize this!" Mu s.h.i.+ said.
"Is that a Princ.i.p.al"s Seal?" Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.
The token might have been worn and damaged, but he could still clearly feel the reinforcement of countless wills within. It was similar to the Princ.i.p.al"s Seal in his possession, just that it looked a bit shabbier.
"Indeed. This is a Princ.i.p.al"s Seal, the one belonging to the old princ.i.p.al of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, Zhang Yinqiu!" Mu s.h.i.+ explained.
"The Princ.i.p.al"s Seal of our old princ.i.p.al? Could it be…"
Upon hearing Mu s.h.i.+"s words, School Head Mo was stunned for a moment before his face flushed in agitation. "He… is still alive?"
School Head Zhao and the others also swiftly turned their gazes at Mu s.h.i.+ anxiously.
While they had already recognized Zhang Xuan as the new princ.i.p.al, they had spent some time with the old princ.i.p.al and viewed him as a close friend. Thus, when they heard the news, they couldn"t curb their agitation.
"I can"t say for certain whether he is dead or not, but someone forcefully sent this item out from the ancient domain," Mu s.h.i.+ replied grimly.
"Forcefully sent this item out? What does that mean? Mu s.h.i.+, can you explain it in more detail?" Zhang Xuan asked.
Mu s.h.i.+ nodded as he recalled the matter. "After bringing You Xu back to the headquarters that day, we interrogated him and found the location of the ancient domain that the old princ.i.p.al had gone missing in. Thus, we dispatched some men to take a look.
"However, when we arrived at the area where the ancient domain was located, we realized that it was located at an area with a complicated geographical terrain that seemed to obey some kind of rhythm. Based on our deduction, the ancient domain only opens at certain times, and once the moment pa.s.ses, one can only wait for the next instance. While our men were calculating the ideal timing to enter the ancient domain, this token abruptly flew out of the ancient domain!"
Hearing those words, School Head Mo"s face flushed in agitation. "Mu s.h.i.+, are you saying that the Princ.i.p.al"s Seal flew out from the ancient domain that our old princ.i.p.al disappeared in?"
"That"s right." Mu s.h.i.+ nodded.
"Then…" School Head Mo"s breathing hastened. "Doesn"t that mean that the Princ.i.p.al"s Seal was sent out by the old princ.i.p.al?"
It had been only around three months since You Xu was captured, and the Princ.i.p.al"s Seal had been found. This meant that there was a good chance that the old princ.i.p.al was still alive at this point!
Perhaps, he might have been trapped in a certain location of the ancient domain, unable to escape. That would explain why he had forcefully sent his Princ.i.p.al"s Seal out, hoping that aid would be sent for him.
"I am not sure about the situation within the ancient domain. It could also be that the old princ.i.p.al might have released the Princ.i.p.al"s Seal two years ago, and it only appeared once more after sensing the aura of a master teacher in the vicinity!" Mu s.h.i.+ wasn"t as optimistic about the situation as School Head Mo.
"This…" Everyone fell silent.
Mu s.h.i.+"s words made sense as well. The Princ.i.p.al"s Seal was created by the gathering of innumerable wills, granting it a certain level of sentience. If the old princ.i.p.al had released it after sensing the grave danger he was in, instructing it to remain hidden and only appear in the presence of master teachers… That was a viable explanation as well.
As such, the appearance of the Princ.i.p.al"s Seal wasn"t sufficient evidence to determine whether the old princ.i.p.al was still alive or not.
After a moment of hesitation, School Head Mo said, "Mu s.h.i.+, where is the ancient domain that you spoke of? Can you tell us so that we can head over to take a look?"
No matter what, the old princ.i.p.al had been a friend to them for several hundred years. Knowing that there was a possibility that the other party could still be alive, they had to take a look regardless of the situation. Otherwise, their hearts would never be at peace.
"This is precisely the reason I gathered all of you here today." Mu s.h.i.+ looked at the crowd and said, "Based on our prior scouting, it is very likely that the ancient domain will open once more within a month. Thus, I hope to invite all of you to join the expedition. There are two main aims to this expedition. Firstly, we aim to find the old princ.i.p.al, and if he is still alive, we will attempt to save him. Secondly, the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe has been rather active recently, and we suspect that it might be closely tied to the ancient domain!"
Upon hearing those words, School Head Mo"s eyes lit up, and he immediately replied without any hesitation.
"We will join the expedition!"
However, after saying those words, he realized that he was getting ahead of himself, so he hurriedly turned to Zhang Xuan and asked, "Princ.i.p.al Zhang…"
"School Head Mo is right. We have to go to the ancient domain to express the stand of our Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy," Zhang Xuan replied.
Back at the Mausoleum of Princ.i.p.als, when he heard the message left behind by the old princ.i.p.al, he had already made up his mind to take a look at the ancient domain. The incident with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe at the Subterranean Gallery only served to strengthen his determination.
No matter what, he had to take a look. Otherwise, it would be hard for him to rest at ease.
"Good. What about the others?" Seemingly having known that this would be the outcome, Mu s.h.i.+ wasn"t surprised in the least. He turned his gazes to the other three princ.i.p.als.
"Since the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe is involved in this matter, it is only right for us to stand up and offer our help too!"
Wo Tianqiong, Shen Pingchao, and Wu Ran nodded in agreement.
"How can our Combat Master Hall remain idle before such a situation?" Liao Song chuckled.
"Good, we have everyone onboard then. In one month, we will meet up at the ancient domain. Allow me to make things clear first. This expedition to the ancient domain will be very dangerous, or else Zhang Yinqiu and the others wouldn"t have fallen in it. Even our headquarters don"t have much information about it at the moment. There is a very good chance that we might be unable to return from this expedition," Mu s.h.i.+ said.
"We understand that." The crowd nodded.
"Good. It"s settled then…"
Seeing that the crowd had agreed to it without any hesitation, Mu s.h.i.+ was just about to seal the deal when Wu Rufeng, who had been watching the situation by the side, abruptly spoke up. "Due to the dangers regarding the expedition to the ancient domain, the minimum cultivation to join the team is Saint realm. Since Princ.i.p.al Zhang is only at Nascent Saint, it will be best for you to sit out on this one. Otherwise, you will just end up dragging everyone down!"
"Me?" Zhang Xuan frowned.
His cultivation might only be at Nascent Saint, but if he were to exert his full strength, he could easily subdue a Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle cultivator. Furthermore… he possessed many life saving means.
To go a step further, even if everyone in this room were to attack him at this instant, he was confident that the side who would emerge victorious in the fight would be him.
Despite knowing nothing at all, this fellow had said that he would drag everyone else down. Wasn"t this 7-star high-tier master teacher being too presumptuous?
Noticing the displeased expression on his Senior Uncle"s face, Mu s.h.i.+ sent a telepathic message over. "Senior Uncle, Wu s.h.i.+… is a little supercilious, so do bear with him a little."
"Supercilious?"
"Indeed. Even though You Xu"s betrayal has nothing to do with Senior Uncle, you were reflected as the princ.i.p.al during the investigation, so… he felt that you have failed in your responsibilities because of the matter. Furthermore, your age and cultivation are indeed considerably low as compared to the other princ.i.p.als, so it can"t be helped that he has a negative opinion of you," Mu s.h.i.+ explained.
Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly with a bitter smile.
It seemed like this fellow had been seated on a high position for far so long that he had become a little detached from common sense.
A subordinate"s fault, in a way, could be considered the fault of the leader as well… but You Xu"s betrayal had happened two years ago whereas it had only been four months since Zhang Xuan had enrolled into the Master Teacher Academy and met You Xu! It was one thing for him to not be rewarded for capturing You Xu, but to pin the blame on him on top of that…
Zhang Xuan couldn"t help recalling a certain prevalent work culture in his previous world. Whenever a problem cropped up, the leader would capture a scapegoat to take the blame so as to display his authority and wisdom.
At this moment, it seemed like he was that very goat!
If it had been anyone else, there was no way they would have dared refute the accusation from a 7-star high-tier master teacher. However, Zhang Xuan wasn"t one to let others accuse him like that. He turned his gaze toward Wu s.h.i.+ and said, "You are Wu Rufeng, right?"
"Audacious! How dare a lower ranked master teacher address a higher ranked master teacher by his name! Where are your manners?" Not expecting Princ.i.p.al Zhang to speak to him in such a manner, Wu s.h.i.+"s face darkened.
"Where are my manners?" Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan placed his hands behind his back and gazed at Wu s.h.i.+ impa.s.sively. "May I ask, what is Wu s.h.i.+"s relations.h.i.+p to Mu s.h.i.+?"
With eyes narrowed menacingly, Wu s.h.i.+ harrumphed coldly. "Mu s.h.i.+ and I are both 7-star master teachers, so naturally, we are considered peers!"
As fellow 7-star master teachers from the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion, they were naturally peers.
"Peers? Good…" Following which, Zhang Xuan turned his gaze to Mu s.h.i.+ and asked, " Little Hong 1 , how do you address me?"
"Senior Uncle!" Mu s.h.i.+ replied honestly.
"You heard that. Since you and Mu s.h.i.+ are fellow peers, and he addresses me as his senior uncle, that goes to say that you are a generation younger than me. As so, is there any reason I shouldn"t call you Wu Rufeng? Or… could it be that you don"t think that it is sufficiently intimate for me to address you by your full name?"
At which, Zhang Xuan pondered for a brief moment before adding, "Since that"s the case, what do you think of Little Feng?"
Hearing the two words "Little Feng", Wu s.h.i.+ nearly spurted blood and fainted on the spot.
"You…"
He hurriedly turned to Mu s.h.i.+ to see if the latter was speaking the truth.
After all, it was illogical for a 7-star master teacher to address a 6-star master teacher as his Senior Uncle!
Knowing what Wu s.h.i.+ intended to ask, Mu s.h.i.+ answered honestly, "Princ.i.p.al Zhang"s teacher is my grandteacher, so going by seniority, he is indeed my senior uncle."
"This…" Wu s.h.i.+"s face turned livid.
Etiquette and seniority were very important to master teachers. Princ.i.p.al Zhang might not have been anything much, but if his teacher was very senior, he would share a high standing as well.
Just take Kong s.h.i.+"s students for example, even if they were completely ignorant and powerless, a 9-star master teacher would still have to humbly address them as "senior"!
This was simply one of the rules.
Wu s.h.i.+ had intended to teach the other party a lesson, but who would have thought that he would become the other party"s junior all of the sudden? He couldn"t help but feel incredibly stifled within.