"Audacious!"
Song shi was on the verge of exploding from rage.
"We master teachers teach through words and deeds. While imparting knowledge to others, we can also change one's nature and develop in a better direction. If it's as you said, it's hard to change one's nature. What's the use of master teachers then? Are you denying Kong Shi's ideals and Mingshi Tang? "
Zhang Xuan bellowed.
"I-I didn't mean that!"
Song shi's body swayed weakly.
Denying Kong Shi's ideals and Mingshi Tang … Even if he was given ten guts, he wouldn't dare do such a thing!
"Then, are you denying the Progeny of Combat and the Combat Master Hall's decisions?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"I-I didn't mean that!"
Song shi clenched his jaws tightly.
While the combat masters were under the control of Mingshi Tang, the standing of the Progeny of Combat was simply too high. It wasn't something that an insignificant figure like him could criticize.
"Then, what do you mean? While the world is in chaos, I am the only one who is sober? "
Zhang Xuan asked.
"You …"
Song shi's face reddened. He knew that he would fall into a trap if he allowed the other party to continue questioning him. Thus, he hurriedly turned to Yao shi and clasped his fists tightly. "Yao shi, we master teachers are well aware of what the poison masters have done. Putting aside the vile nature of their cultivation techniques, some of them even use human blood to nurture their venomous insects. I don't know why those fellows were recruited into the Combat Master Hall, but based on my conjecture, it's probably just a disguise to imprison them to prevent them from committing any evil deeds. They aren't really acknowledging their identities … "
"Vile nature of their cultivation techniques?"
Zhang Xuan interjected. "As a master teacher, you should seek truth from facts. You're lying through your teeth. May I know what crime that is?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Song shi spat through gritted teeth.
"Nonsense?" Turning to Elder Xu and the others, Zhang Xuan said, "Everyone, I'll have to trouble you to drive your cultivation techniques and show Song shi whether it's a vicious technique or not!"
"Yes!"
Elder Xu and the others nodded as they drove their zhenqi, and surges of auras burst into the sky.
These auras were upright and upright, without the slightest hint of malice or malevolence. On the contrary, they felt a sense of warmth and comfort.
"This …"
Song Xuan was stunned.
As a quasi 8-star master teacher, Zhang Xuan had seen plenty of poison masters in his time, and every single one of them carried lethal poison.
Yet, not only did he not feel that way, he even felt warmth in his heart …
Paying no heed to Yao shi's shock, Zhang Xuan clasped his fist and asked, "Yao shi, may I know if they practice the Vicious Art?"
Yao shi shook her head and said, "Their zhenqi is pure and light, and it has nothing to do with viciousness."
"Indeed. They have already turned over a new leaf and become members of the Combat Master Hall. Yet, Song shi still treats them as poison masters and calls them vicious … May I ask what exactly is vicious? Did you come up with that on your own? "
Zhang Xuan stared at Song Xuan, refusing to budge an inch.
"I …" Song shi's body trembled as he found himself at a loss for words.
When he captured Elder Xu and the others, they didn't put up any resistance at all. As such, he didn't know that poison masters were capable of cultivating such an upright cultivation technique.
"Even if their cultivation technique isn't as sinister as before, it's a fact that they were able to poison everyone in the royal palace to death. No matter what you say, it won't change anything …"
It took a long while for Song shi to recover from his shock.
"Since that's the case, allow me to explain the matter to you in detail so that you can give up on it!"
Zhang Xuan waved his hand grandly as he turned to the 8-star master teacher before him and said, "Yao shi, I would like to tell you the ins and outs of this matter so that you can judge it for me and the others."
"Feel free to speak!" Yao shi nodded.
"It's like this. The Qingtian Emperor of the Qingtian Lineage is not only a powerful soul oracle, but he also wields extraordinary strength. He also possesses a secret art that allows him to capture one's soul. In other words, no matter how powerful you are, as long as you aren't stronger than him and are within a certain range, he can easily capture your soul and assimilate it into nourishment for his cultivation! "
"Capture one's soul and assimilate it?"
"That's right!"
With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out an altar and placed it on the ground. "This is one of the formations that he uses. If Yao shi doesn't believe me, you can take a look for yourself!"
It was the altar that Zhang Xuan had used to capture the Qingtian Emperor.
"These secret inscriptions …"
Taking a closer look, Yao shi's expression gradually turned grim. "Even though I've never seen such an altar before, it's true that soul oracles possess a secret art that allows them to advance their cultivation by consuming the souls of others. It's for this reason that the Qingtian Emperor was eliminated by the Mingshi Tang back then!"
Even though she had never seen such an altar before, with her eye of discernment as an 8-star master teacher, she could easily tell that it was extremely effective against one's soul. If one were to use it in conjunction with a secret art, it might really be able to extract one's soul from one's body.
"Indeed. To be honest, the Qingtian Emperor isn't the only one who possesses such a secret art. Chu Tianxing, who is loyal to him, has also learned it!" Zhang Xuan said.
"Chu Tianxing could be a soul oracle as well?" Yao shi frowned.
"That's right!"
Zhang Xuan nodded.
"Do you have any evidence?" Yao shi asked.
Learning the secret art of the soul oracles and pledging loyalty to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was a huge crime. Even though Chu Tianxing was already dead, without any evidence, it was still slander.
"There's no need for that. Elder Bai, I'll have to trouble you to bring the corpses of Chen Zhe, Pavilion Master Gou, and the other Seven Star Master Teachers over here!"
With an impassive look on his face, Zhang Xuan instructed.
"Yes!"
Beneath the stage, an elder of the Mingshi Tang Sect turned around and walked out of the room.
This elder had accompanied him to Chen Zhe's residence to capture Vice Pavilion Master Tian, so they were already acquainted with one another.
Not too long later, Elder Bai returned, and with a flick of his wrist, a row of corpses fell to the ground.
Knowing that this matter was of grave importance, the Mingshi Tang Sect had specially treated these corpses. Even after so many days, they still looked extremely lifelike, as if they had just died.
"Yao shi, you can examine these corpses carefully to see if there's anything in common with them!"
Zhang Xuan gestured.
Yao shi stepped forward and examined the corpses carefully, and the more she examined them, the tighter her frown became.
These corpses were completely intact, and there was not the slightest injury on them. However, their souls had already dissipated, vanishing completely.
"These are all corpses whose souls have been destroyed!"
Yao shi said after examining the corpses.
"Un. These are all 7-star master teachers whose souls were captured and obliterated before their deaths. Furthermore, there's one thing that all of these 7-star master teachers shared before their deaths — they had come into contact with Chu Tianxing. You can check on this in the Master Teacher Pavilion!"
Zhang Xuan said.
Chu Tianxing had once come to visit Zhong Qingwang, so he had come into contact with these people. Previously, he had not thought much of it, but after learning that Zhang Xuan was loyal to Vicious in the marshlands, it became much easier for him to figure out what was going on.
Without a medium, no matter how formidable Vicious was, it was impossible for him to kill someone from tens of thousands of li away. The reason why he was able to do so was probably because Emperor Chu Tianxing had come into contact with these master teachers and brought them fine wine and delicacies.
"I can testify that on that night, when Chu Tianxing came to visit Zhong Qingwang, he brought a lot of fine wine for everyone to drink!"
"I can also testify that I can swear on my identity as a master teacher for every word that I have said!"
Right after Zhang Xuan said those words, many of the master teachers beneath the stage immediately shouted in agreement.
Back then, Chu Tianxing's passionate attitude was still fresh in everyone's mind.
"You mean to say that … Chu Tianxing used a secret art to kill so many master teachers?"
Hearing the testimonies of so many people, Yao shi could not help but ask doubtfully.
"Even if he isn't the culprit, there's no doubt that he has something to do with it!"
Zhang Xuan said. "Even though Wu Shi and I were able to deduce that there was something wrong with Chu Tianxing, we didn't dare to make a move on him. After all, if we were to kill him, the Qingtian Emperor, who was hiding in the Marshlands of the Northern Meadows, would surely flee. Thus, under the pretext of going into seclusion, the two of us secretly gathered nine experts and headed to the marshlands to kill the Qingtian Emperor. Even though it was fraught with danger, we still managed to succeed … I have already told you about this matter! "
Yao shi nodded.
Zhang Xuan had already told her about this matter earlier.
"Even though we left discreetly, as the emperor of an empire, we still noticed that something was amiss a few days later. Most likely, Chu Tianxing also realized that we had leaked the matter, so he decided to make a final stand against us! "
"A final stand against us?"
"Indeed. Based on my conjecture, there's a good chance that Chu Tianxing is using a secret art to capture souls to sacrifice all of the living beings in Qingyuan City in order to raise his cultivation. It's impossible for him to kill so many experts at once, but since it's limited to those beneath Saint realm, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to slaughter several million cultivators. Once he succeeds, the entire capital will be reduced to a living hell! "
Zhang Xuan said with a compassionate voice.
"Zhang Shi, you mean to say that … Emperor Chu Tianxing intends to kill all of the living beings in Qingyuan City beneath Saint realm?"
"H-how is that possible? Surely he can't be that insane! "
Zhang Xuan did not bother to conceal his voice at all, and a huge commotion broke out beneath the stage. No one dared to believe what they were hearing.
This piece of news was simply too shocking. It was beyond imagination.
"I believe that there's no need for me to elaborate on the consequences of betraying humanity. Once it's exposed, he'll become the enemy of the entire Master Teacher Continent, and there's no doubt that he'll end up doing anything more extreme than that! "Zhang Xuan harrumphed.
"This …" The crowd fell silent.
In the face of life and death, there was no one who could maintain their composure. No one could be certain of what they would do.
"It's precisely because of this concern that I specially instructed Sun Qiang, Liu Yang, Elder Xu, and the others before setting off. If anything were to happen, even at the risk of being misunderstood, they had to save lives! This is the duty that master teachers should fulfill! "
"That's why Liu Yang snuck into the royal palace and feigned arrest while Sun Qiang, Elder Xu, and the others poisoned all of the guards. It seems like recklessness is the best way to resolve this issue. It's a way to minimize the impact while saving lives.
"As such, I feel that not only are they not guilty, they are even meritorious in saving lives. For such meritorious subjects to be sentenced to death by the indiscriminate Song shi, how can I just stand by idly and watch? If I were to allow such a thing to happen, where is the fairness of the Mingshi Tang? Where is our honor? "
The more he spoke, the more agitated Zhang Xuan became. His furious voice echoed throughout the entire capital.
"Ah …"
Hearing those words, Elder Xu and the others glanced at one another in bewilderment.
To save the people from calamity … Why did we suddenly become so noble all of a sudden?
But what Zhang Shi said …
Why didn't they have any impression of it at all?
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