Library of Heaven's Path

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

"Didn't the Master Teacher Academy negotiate with the Cloudmist Ridge and receive the latter's promise to never cause a beast stampede anymore? How did this happen?"

"How can we fight against so many spirit beasts and saint beasts at once?"

"We are doomed!"

"This is probably the greatest crisis the Master Teacher Academy has ever faced since its founding. This is even worse than the war that Principal Mo Liuzhen faced four thousand years ago!"

It took a while before the crowd's voices finally returned.

With so many saint beasts and spirit beasts surrounding them, even if the Master Teacher Academy were to achieve a victory eventually, it would still suffer devastating damage!

Out of its hundred thousand students, it would be a huge blessing if even a third of them were still alive by the end of this ordeal.

If that were to really happen, this matter would surely go down in history!

It was just a moment earlier that they had been told confidently that the problem of beast stampedes from the Cloudmist Ridge had be resolved once and for all, but such a situation fell upon them in the very next instant. Even if that Zhang Xuan fellow were to successfully be inaugurated as the next principal, he would be nothing more than a figurehead, devoid of any power or authority, and perhaps, he might even be a laughingstock of the world!

"From the challenges by the pavilion masters, it can be seen that Zhang shi does possess some capability. But faced with such a situation, there is nothing he can do. He can only blame his misfortune for meeting with such an incident on the day of his inauguration!" One of the emperors sighed in lamentation.

"Indeed. No matter how well he copes with the situation and lowers the casualties to the bare minimum, it doesn't matter anymore. To be surrounded by so many saint beasts and spirit beasts during his own inauguration ceremony… No matter what he does, he is doomed to go down in history as the most incompetent principal of the Master Teacher Academy!" Zhu Yi also shook his head and he shot a glance at Zhang Xuan with sympathy in his eyes.

The previous performance of the young principal had indeed won his admiration and approval, but it was a pity that fate had toyed with him. No matter how capable a genius the other party was, there was nothing he could do in the face of so many saint beasts and spirit beasts.

Just as Zhu Yi was lamenting over Zhang Xuan's fate, he suddenly noticed that the commotion in the surroundings had abruptly died down. The breathing of those around him hastened, as if something huge was impending.

Frowning, Zhu Yi asked Yu Shenqing, who was sitting beside him, "What's wrong?"

"Take a look for yourself!" With a pale face, the emperor of Hongyuan Empire raised a shaky finger to the sky.

"Look at what?"

Bewildered by the other party's response, Zhu Yi raised his head, and the sight that was reflected in his eyes left his pupils narrowing in shock. His body stiffened, and with a hoarse voice, he exclaimed in astonishment, "W-w-w-what is that?"

He wasn't the only one who was in such a state. In an instant, the crowd went mute; the training grounds plunged into an eerie silence. Every single one of them had their faces warped in shock, as if they had seen a ghost.

Zhao Bingxu also raised his head to take a look, and he saw that the aerial saint beasts and spirit beasts, at some point in time, had positioned themselves to form massive words that filled the boundless sky for several dozen kilometers.

Every single one of those words was shaped beautifully, reminiscent of a calligraphy masterpiece of a master painter.

"Congratulations to Master for becoming the principal of the Master Teacher Academy! May you achieve extraordinary accomplishments and your name to go down for generations to come… Could it be that they aren't here to cause trouble but to… offer their congratulations?"

Reading those words in the sky, Zhu Yi felt his mind going blank.

He had thought that those spirit beasts and saint beasts would make use of this opportunity to launch a fatal attack on them or even extort them for even more favorable terms… But never in his dreams had he expected that they would form words to offer their congratulations instead!

What was going on?

Hong long!

Before Zhu Yi could recover from his shock, the three kings of the Cloudmist Ridge in the sky abruptly clasped their fists and bowed deeply to Zhang Xuan and said, "Green Bamboo Earth Dragon, White-eared Beast, and Steelscale Beast congratulate Master on becoming the principal of the Master Teacher Academy. We have prepared 132,000 jin of Cloudmist Flower as a gift for you to celebrate this festive occasion!"

(~66,000kg)

Huala!

As they spoke those words, thirty Half-Saint aerial beasts descended onto the stage with a large chest each in their talons, placing them down gently before opening them.

Weng!

In an instant, the fragrance of tea leaves permeated the area. Mist puffed out from the chests to form a myriad of brilliant colors above them, creating an extraordinarily picturesque sight on the stage that seemed as if it had come out of a beautiful dream.

"This…" Yu Shenqing's eyes nearly popped out from their sockets, and with quivering lips, he uttered, "These are… supreme grade Cloudmist Flower tea leaves?"

"Cloudmist Flower tea leaves? Isn't that what you gift us from time to time?" Zhu Yi asked in astonishment.

As the emperor of a neighboring empire, he had the privilege of enjoying tea brewed from the valuable Cloudmist Flower as well. However, due to its limited quantity, he had only been able to drink it a few times despite his esteemed standing.

Even so, that aroma, that flavor, and that texture… they were things that he would never forget in his life.

Just the thought of it left his mouth salivating endlessly.

"What I gifted you?" Yu Shenqing shook his head. "Far from it. What I have given you is just the lowest grade Cloudmist Flower tea leaves. Compared to the ones in those chests, those are nothing more than trash!"

"N-nothing more than trash?" The faces of Zhu Yi and the other emperors turned livid.

Noticing their expressions, Yu Shenqing realized that he had misspoken, so he quickly clarified himself. "Don't misunderstand! It's not that I am intentionally sending low grade products to you—those are already the best ones in our royal palace! We simply don't have the means to procure supreme grade Cloudmist Flower tea leaves!"

"You don't have the means to procure them?" The other emperors were taken aback.

To think that the most influential person in Hongyuan Empire would have something he would be unable to lay his hands on too?

"In order to reach such a grade, the Cloudmist Flower must be at least two hundred years old and be nourished by the Earth Vein Spirit Essence. After which, it has to be carefully dried for three whole years before it is ready for consumption… In comparison to that, the tea leaves that our royal palace are able to procure only have a maturity of less than three years, so there is no way they can compare with those," Yu Shenqing said with a bitter smile.

They were both Cloudmist Flower tea leaves, but there was a vast difference between their quality. Only what was in those chests could be considered as true tea leaves; in comparison to that, those procured by the Hongyuan royal palace were comparable to weeds.

"Tea leaves so valuable that even your Hongyuan royal palace doesn't have any, and those saint beasts actually gave away more than a hundred thousand jin of them as a gift?" Coming to a realization, Zhu Yi and the other emperors exchanged glances, and they suddenly felt a dryness in their throats. There were no words that could describe the current emotions they were feeling.

As fans, they were aware of the staggering value of the Cloudmist Flower tea leaves. Even the most ordinary and low-grade ones that Yu Shenqing had in his possession was easily worth a fortune!

Yet, to give away more than a hundred thousand jin of the tea leaves so easily…

This was simply way too generous, wasn't it?

However, before they could recover from their shock, a hearty laughter suddenly boomed in the air, creating resounding echoes throughout the Master Teacher Academy.

"Scarlet Blaze Lion, Steelbacked Bear, and Tigerhead Beast also congratulate Master on becoming the principal of the Master Teacher Academy. We have prepared thirty chests of spirit medicine and saint medicine as a gift for you to celebrate this festive occasion!"

Huala!

Following which, ten Scarlet Blaze Lions, ten Steelbacked Bears, and ten Tigerhead Beasts walked up to the stage side-by-side. Each of them carried a two-meter wide chest on their backs, and after placing them down gently on the stage, they slowly opened them; a fragrance immediately burst into the air, reaching over ten li away.

(5km)

"This is… Dazzleflower Saint Medicine, Redleaf Saint Medicine, Myriad Chrysanthemum Saint Medicine… Not to mention, there are so many of them… Even if one were to empty out the entire Physician School, it would be impossible to gather so many of them together!"

"That's not all. Look carefully, there are Greenleaf Flower Stem, Fleeting Fragrance Leaf, Woodbeard Spirit Grass… These medicinal herbs are incredibly rare, and perhaps even the Great Herb King of Hongyuan Empire might not have them!"

"Look, isn't that the Thousand Gold Flower? Back then, I spent ten years visiting over twenty Tier-1 Empires, but I wasn't able to find a single one. But this… there is actually half a chest of them here?"

"Is that the… Miniature Heart Devouring Grass? Isn't that the extraordinarily rare medicinal herb famed as the core ingredient for brewing the ultimate wine that can leave one deeply intoxicated, such that one can even forget the love of their life? When I was younger, in order to forget a relationship, I toured the world to find it, and it took me three entire years just to find one that was three months old… Yet, those in that chest have a maturity of at least several hundred years!"

…

Upon seeing the medicinal herbs in the chests, the master teachers of the Apothecary School and Physician School nearly went insane.

Not only were these medicinal herbs insanely expensive, they were also extremely rare and difficult to find. Yet, those saint beasts actually gave out thirty chests of them in a single go. On top of that, all of the medicinal herbs were of a decent maturity too…

To use those as a congratulation gift…

Were they intending to empty out the Cloudmist Ridge?

"Steelfang Wolf, Bluetrunk Elephant, and Crimsonflame Ape also congratulate Master on becoming the principal of the Master Teacher Academy. We have prepared thirty chests of ores as a gift for you to celebrate this festive occasion!"

Huala!

Before the crowd could even digest the astounding sight of thirty chests of spirit herbs and saint herbs, the final three kings also stepped forward and presented their gifts loudly.

Hong long long!

Ten Steelfang Wolves, ten Bluetrunk Elephants, and ten Crimsonflame Apes also made their way to the stage, putting down the huge chests on their back carefully and opening them.

Weng!

A ripple spread across the spiritual energy in the air, and a burst of color appeared before everyone's eyes.

All kinds of rare ores, which the crowd had only heard about but never seen before, appeared before everyone's eyes.

"Is that the… Bluescar Metal? I heard that this metal is even tougher than Xuan Metal, and weapons forged using the Bluescar Metal will have elegant blue veins running through them. It is said that those weapons are incredibly sharp, allowing one to slice through the flesh of another cleanly, without leaving the slightest bloodstain on the blade. Innumerable experts would die to just gain possession of a tael of it! For there to be an entire chest of it here… that should be at least several dozen tons, right?"

(A tael = 50g)

"I saw the Bloodseal Ore in one of the chests! If one grinds the ore down and smears it on a blade, even the toughest metal will be easily turned into liquid! Back then, I tried to purchase some of it from the Blacksmith Guild, but I was rejected on the grounds of my rank being too low… Yet, the saint beasts are giving an entire chest of it to Zhang shi?"

"Those are Adamantium Rocks! As long as they are carefully carved, they can become jewels more dazzling that diamonds! Even if its value doesn't compare to the other ores, surely they don't have to give away so many chests of it like that!"

"Could those be Snowaccrue Rocks? If cultivators of yin attribute cultivation technique were to carry some on them, their cultivation speed could be boosted significantly…"

…

As soon as those ores appeared, all of the master teachers of the Blacksmith School fell into a frenzy.

As blacksmiths, they were able to recognize the ores in the chests, and they couldn't help but be astounded by their sheer value. Putting all of them together, and the value could easily exceed the wealth of the entire Master Teacher Academy and the Hongyuan royal family!

And yet, these were given away for free to Zhang shi to serve as congratulatory gifts for his inauguration!

"Zhu Chenqing, didn't you say that our Master Teacher Academy agreed to humiliating conditions in order to convince the beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge to retreat?"

"But these gifts… Even if one were to overturn the entire Master Teacher Academy, it would be impossible to take out so many valuable resources!"

"Not to mention, the Ten Indomitable Kings even delivered the gifts personally with their men!"

…

Those students who had stood up in protest against Zhang Xuan earlier turned their sights to Zhu Chenqing.

Previously, Zhu Chenqing had told them that the Master Teacher Academy had compensated the Cloudmist Ridge with huge wealth just to convince them to retreat so that the inauguration ceremony could carry on without any trouble. It was after hearing his story that they agreed to stand up with him to question the succeeding principal indignantly.

But this… instead of the Master Teacher Academy compensating the Cloudmist Ridge, it was the Cloudmist Ridge that was delivering valuable gifts one after another to them!

No matter how slow they were, it was clear that the 'agreed to humiliating terms so that the inauguration ceremony could go on without any trouble', which they had been told, was a lie…

"I-I… How was I supposed to know this?" Zhu Chenqing exclaimed with a trembling body as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

Considering that it was their side that had proposed the negotiation, and that the negotiation had been conducted in the enemy's den, where the negotiator could be easily pressured into giving in, the eventual terms decided upon in the negotiation were bound to be shameful and humiliating to them…

Who would have thought that it would turn out to be the complete opposite?

Zhu Chenqing felt as if his sanity was going to snap by the craziness happening around him…

The heck!

Are you sure that you went there to negotiate and not to rob them?