Till now, Hall Master Xing had always referred to that person as ‘big trouble’, and he had not said who the person was.
As such, Zhang Xuan had no idea who the other party was. All he knew was that the other party was an extremely skilled individual who possessed fighting prowess at the peak of his cultivation realm.
As one who had cultivated the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, he was confident that he would be able to subdue any opponent in the same cultivation realm easily, but he did not believe that he was truly invincible. After all, his clone was always around to remind him not to get complacent. Since his clone was able to attain strength far greater than him, surely there would be some amazingly talented cultivators in the world who might have been able to do the same.
As such, from the start to the end, he had never doubted that the ‘big trouble’ Hall Master Xing referred to could have been referring to him.
After all, he had never met with anyone from the Combat Master Hall in his identity as the principal of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy ever since he arrived in Qingyuan Empire, so how could he possibly be the ‘big trouble’ the other party was talking about?
Furthermore, from the tone Hall Master Xing assumed, it was apparent that the Combat Master Hall was facing a great adversary, which further served to convince Zhang Xuan’s subconscious mind that it could not possibly be him.
After all, he was a humble individual who could not get any more low profile. Ever since he arrived in the Qingyuan Empire, all he did was pay a visit to the Spirit Awakener Guild, so it did not make sense for a Leaving Aperture realm expert like Hall Master Xing to be so worried about him.
…
After asking, Zhang Xuan waited patiently to hear from Hall Master Xing whom that formidable expert was, only to see the Leaving Aperture realm cultivator’s mouth twitching non-stop. His body staggered weakly from side to side, and it seemed as if he would collapse to the ground at any moment.
At this point, the thought of killing himself even flashed across Hall Master Xing’s mind.
After everything he had done to guard against the Xuanxuan Faction, it turned out that the other party’s commander had already infiltrated their camp, converting nearly all of the combat masters into his students.
To think that he was so naive as to believe that he had managed to find himself an expert to defeat Principal Zhang and resolve the crisis the Combat Master Hall was currently facing…
They had even gone to the extent of allowing Sun shi to learn their heritages, only to find out that he was actually Zhang Xuan at this point in time.
Not only did he fail to resolve the crisis, he even turned it into a catastrophe.
A mouthful of blood welled up at the back of Hall Master Xing’s throat, ready to spew forth at any moment. Hall Master Xing turned around to look at Elder Qi, only to see that the latter had a flabbergasted look on his face as well.
Back then, he had wanted to see Principal Zhang’s painting, which Zhuo Qingfeng had sent in, and compare it with Sun shi to verify if they were the same person. However, Elder Qi had happened to arrive at that moment and confirmed that Sun shi was his benefactor. He had guaranteed that Sun shi could not possibly be Principal Zhang.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtFrom the looks of it now, it seemed that Elder Qi had no idea what was going on either.
If you don’t know, don’t make blind guarantees! Look at the trouble you have landed us in!
If only he knew this would happen, he would not have taken Elder Qi’s word for it.
It just so happened that Feng Xun, Jiang Yuan, and the others were cultivating in isolation at the moment, saying that they wanted to condition themselves so as to face the Xuanxuan Faction at full strength.
Everything had happened so coincidentally that it seemed as if the heavens had planned the doom of their Combat Master Hall themselves!
Clutching his chest, Hall Master Xing felt his breathing becoming more and more unstable.
He felt like he was a true fool. All of those schemes he had come up with to fend against the Xuanxuan Faction ended up as nothing more than a joke. If anything, it had only hastened the downfall of their Combat Master Hall.
Why did life have to be so difficult?
Unable to stand it any longer, Hall Master Xing asked, “You are… Principal Zhang? Then why did you call yourself Sun Qiang?”
Not expecting the other party to ask this question instead of revealing whom to beat up, Zhang Xuan was slightly taken aback. Sighing deeply, he spoke in a tone reminiscent of an expert attempting to conceal himself in the mortal world. “I don’t like to cause trouble or stand out too much. After I enchanted the Spirit Awakener Guild, I didn’t want to bring unneeded trouble to the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy as a result of that, so I decided to adopt another persona instead.”
It was truly a trouble being too outstanding, he could not even conceal his true identity when he wanted to.
How frustrating!
“Pu!” Upon hearing those words and seeing how the other party was acting, blood spewed out of Hall Master Xing’s mouth, and his breathing became even more unstable.
You said that you don’t like to cause trouble or stand out?
Low profile?
Low profile your head!
Over the three days you have spent in our Combat Master Hall, the ruckus and commotion you have caused never halted at any single point in time. You even went to the extent of turning almost all of our combat masters into your students!
If not for the fact that you were too busy cultivating and challenging the trials, perhaps our Combat Master Hall might have become yours by now.
Every single time you challenged a trial, you just had to create a record that left others deep in despair… and you call that being low profile?
There is no one in the world who could be more high profile than you!
“Hall Master Xing, what’s wrong?” Seeing the Leaving Aperture realm expert before him abruptly spurting blood in the middle of a conversation, Zhang Xuan worriedly checked on him as he stepped forward, wanting to help Hall Master Xing.
“You…” Looking at the innocent look on the other party’s face, Hall Master Xing felt so angered that he could have erupted. However, he eventually forcefully suppressed it.
To be honest, he could not blame Principal Zhang for this either.
In the first place, he was the one who went to the Spirit Awakener Guild to engage the other party’s help. Besides, the other party had no obligation to report his true identity either, especially to a stranger like him.
And more importantly, the other party had agreed to help him get rid of the ‘huge trouble’ out of goodwill.
It was a pity that the heavens seemed to be playing a trick on them, resulting in such an awkward situation.
“It’s nothing; I’m just a little short on breath…” Hall Master Xing waved his hand and rejected Zhang Xuan’s help. Still unwilling to accept the truth, he asked once more, “You really are Zhang Xuan?”
“That’s right. I apologize for concealing this matter from you, but it was not my intention to lie to you,” Zhang Xuan replied.
“Alright then…” Hall Master Xing’s face turned reddened further, and his breathing grew even more erratic.
Noticing that there was something amiss with Hall Master Xing’s state, Zhang Xuan frowned. “Hall Master Xing, is there something wrong? You were still perfectly fine a moment ago… or could it be that big trouble has already made a move on you?”
To make a move right before his eyes without him noticing, it seemed like the ‘big trouble’ was far stronger than he had anticipated!
“Cough cough!” Unable to watch on the situation any longer, Division Head Liao stepped forward and said, “Principal Zhang, the big trouble that Hall Master Xing is referring to… is actually you!”
He feared that if this situation were to continue, their hall master might just die from sheer frustration.
“What?” Zhang Xuan was startled. “I am the big trouble?”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“That’s right!” Seeing how the other party was completely oblivious to the matter, Division Head Liao nodded helplessly.
“But when you first mentioned the trouble in the Spirit Awakener Guild, I had not even been to the Combat Master Hall, and I haven’t met any of you before either.” Zhang Xuan was completely bewildered by the situation.
“Hu… You will have to ask them for this matter!” Division Head Liao said as he pointed to Wang Ying and the others.
Frowning, Zhang Xuan turned to his two direct disciples and asked authoritatively, “What did you two do this time around to make the Combat Master Hall so angry?”
“We…” Wang Ying’s face reddened as she said, “Some of the combat masters in the Combat Master Hall didn’t abide by the rules and sneaked over to our accommodation to challenge us ahead of the exchange. As such, they ended up being pummeled by our Xuanxuan Faction. After that… they insisted on joining us, so we welcomed them with open arms and taught them the battle techniques and combat skills that you have taught us.”
“That’s all? From the very start, the purpose of this exchange is to learn from one another, so… this shouldn’t be any problem at all…” Zhang Xuan frowned.
If the members of both organizations were just challenging and learning from one another, it should have been no big deal at all. Was there a need for Hall Master Xing and the others to label him as ‘big trouble’ and even display such deep fear for him?
“Cough cough. Actually, the combat masters that joined the Xuanxuan Faction aren’t just limited to ordinary members. It seems there are five division heads too. They were impressed by your teachings, so they joined the Xuanxuan Faction as well…” Seeing that his teacher was still a little bewildered by the situation, Liu Yang elaborated further on the matter.
“Even the division heads have joined our Xuanxuan Faction?” Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched.
He finally understood what was going on.
This was no longer a problem of whether they joined the Xuanxuan Faction or not, but that the dignity of the Combat Master Hall was at stake.
No wonder the Combat Master Hall regarded him as their top enemy! Who would have thought that within just three short days, this group of rascals would dare to do something so preposterous!
How infuriating!
“You all… Truly preposterous! It’s out of goodwill that the Combat Master Hall agreed to have an exchange with us, so how can you poach their members? Is this the right way to treat our friends? Regardless of whether we are master teachers or not, we must abide by our morals and conduct ourselves appropriately! Even if the division heads willingly joined the Xuanxuan Faction, it’s not right to bring them into the Xuanxuan Faction! Is this how I have taught you all this while? You are ruining the valiant reputation I have built up for myself! How am I to face our friends in the Combat Master Hall in the future…”
Zhang Xuan began to berate Wang Ying and the others from the Xuanxuan Faction furiously.
But before he could finish his words, the many combat masters behind Hall Master Xing finally arrived at the square.
Over the past few days, Zhang Xuan had been too busy cultivating and challenging trials, so they had not been able to consult him on the problems that they had. Thus, upon seeing him standing in the middle of the square, they could not hold themselves back any longer. The entire group rushed forward excitedly and kneeled onto the ground.
“Paying respects to Teacher!”
“…” Wang Ying.
“…” Zheng Yang.
“…” Everyone from the Xuanxuan Faction.