"Master?"
Not only were the crowd puzzled, even Zhang Xuan was stunned on the spot. It took him a moment to figure out what was going on.
The Sword Will that filled the sky was released by the Virtuous Spirit Sword. These swords had benefited from it and had long obeyed its command.
Now that the Lingxu Sword had acknowledged him as its master, and he had comprehended Sword Quintessence, the weapons had acknowledged him as their master as well.
"Adding in Ji Lingfeng's Sword of Faint Whispers, I have a total of 108 swords in total. It's no wonder the Lingxu Sword agreed to Ji Lingzhen's request to make a move on me …"
Zhang Xuan thought.
In total, there were a total of one hundred and seven Medial Grade Saint swords in the surroundings. Together with the Lingxu Sword, they could form a sword formation that could bring out great might.
"After the Old Sword Maestro created the sword art, could it be that he never managed to gather all the Sword Formations? That's why he was killed? "
An idea popped into his mind.
The Three Swords of Lingxu required the coordination of many weapons. Could it be that the Old Sword Maestro did not manage to gather all of them before his death, resulting in his death?
Otherwise, with his strength, it would not have been so easy to kill him.
Zhang Xuan knew that there was no point thinking about it anymore. With a wave of his hand, he collected all of the swords in the sky into his storage ring. Barely after he was done, the shrill cry of a crane echoed in the air, and a massive crane flew over.
Standing on the back of the crane, Zhao Xingmo and Pavilion Master Yue looked at the corpses of the examinees lying on the ground.
Zhang Xuan had used the Myriad Anthive Queen to control the Myriad Ants, preventing them from knowing what was going on. But as time passed, they still noticed that something was amiss. On their way over, they sensed all of the jade talismans shattering, and they nearly fell off the back of the crane.
The deadline was set to be three days, and yet, in just half a day, all of them had been wiped out … Was there a need to be so exaggerated?
The divine crane landed on the ground, and it did not take long for it to make sense of what was going on. Looking at Zhang Xuan before him, Zhao Xingmo's eyes turned green, and he was on the verge of tears.
If I knew that this guy liked to cause trouble, I wouldn't have done it like this!
One person had eliminated all the examinees. How would this second round count?
You can't possibly be the only one who passed after searching for so long, right?
If that was really the case, putting aside whether the Sanctum of Sages would agree to it or not, the Eight Conferred Empires and the Sage Clans would go crazy over it.
"Zhao shi, the law doesn't punish the masses. Given that so many people have failed, I don't think that it's in line with the rules. There's a loophole in the secondary selection, so why don't we … reformulate the rules and have another duel? It can also reflect fairness. "
Pavilion Master Yue shot a glance at Zhang Xuan, and his eyebrows shot up. He hurriedly clasped his fist.
"That's right, I also think that we should redo the competition …"
"I agree …"
The eyes of Sun Qian and the others lit up.
If they didn't compete again, they would be completely wiped out. Naturally, they wouldn't be willing.
"This …"
Zhao Xingmo hesitated.
It was impossible for him to bring only one person back to report on his mission, but … changing the rules that had already been set would be a huge challenge to his credibility.
What should they do if they failed the second test and requested to continue with the second test if they were still unwilling to give up?
He couldn't possibly keep going on like this!
"I'll have to report this matter to the Sanctum of Sages for the elders to decide!"
Zhao Xingmo pondered for a moment before replying.
This kind of situation had already exceeded the scope of his ability, so it was better to report the news.
"Yes!"
Hearing Zhao Xingmo's words, the crowd fell silent.
"Zhang Shi, since you have obtained the artifact of the Sword Lagoon, I hope that you can return it to our Qianchong Empire. On behalf of Qianchong Empire's Mingshi Tang and the other master teachers, I'm deeply grateful to you …"
Pavilion Master Yue turned to Zhang Xuan and said.
He had explained the reason why everyone had been eliminated, as well as the matter regarding the artifact appearing in the Sword Lagoon.
"Return it?"
Zhang Xuan looked at Pavilion Master Yue as if he was looking at a fool. "The Sword Lagoon has existed in Qianchong Empire for ten thousand years, and no one has managed to obtain it. This shows that it shouldn't be yours. Since I have the fortune to obtain it, why should I return it to you?"
"That's not right. The Sword Lagoon is an ancient ruin of our Qianchong Empire, and it has inspired countless master teachers to forge ahead bravely. It is the spiritual pillar and totem of our empire. You aren't from Qianchong Empire, so it's only right for you to return the heritage to us. After all, you can't possibly take it away with you and destroy the faith of an empire, right?"
Pavilion Master Yue said with a smile.
Pavilion Master Yue's tone wasn't too harsh, and he was even speaking with a smile on his face. However, his words carried a forceful tone that left one no choice but to submit.
The meaning behind his words was clear — the heritage in the Sword Lagoon belongs to our Qianchong Empire. Since you aren't from our empire, don't even dream of taking it away!
If you don't return it, you will be the reason why the empire is in chaos. Most likely, the headquarters wouldn't be willing to see that happen either.
Pavilion Master Yue's words were gentle, but they carried a heavy threat.
Zhang Xuan was a sharp individual, and he immediately understood the underlying meaning behind Pavilion Master Yue's words. With a light chuckle, he said, "Since it's the spiritual pillar and totem of our Qianchong Empire, why hasn't anyone managed to obtain it? If you don't make use of it, you won't be able to benefit the later generations. Isn't your Mingshi Tang a little too useless? "
"Ah …"
Pavilion Master Yue's lips twitched, and his face reddened in anger.
"Trying to extort the heritage from me despite being incapable of obtaining it? Is this the rule of Qianchong Empire's Mingshi Tang? It seems like I'll have to report this matter to the headquarters and have them investigate this matter! "
Zhang Xuan continued.
"This … It's fine if Zhang Shi doesn't want to return the heritage, but I'm just worried that this will affect your reputation. I don't mean anything by it …" Knowing that he was in the wrong, Pavilion Master Yue could only swallow his words.
"Affect my reputation? That won't be the case. It just so happens that I have something that I would like to report to the headquarters so that the alliance can redress my grievances! "
Zhang Xuan.
"May I know what it is?" Pavilion Master Yue's eyelids twitched.
"Entering the Sword Lagoon for the secondary selection is a rule set by Zhao shi, and none of us examinees are aware of it. Yet … I was ambushed and assaulted here. I suspect that someone might have learned of the matter beforehand and leaked it out in order to harm me. Thus, I hope that the Alliance Master Teacher Alliance will investigate the matter!
Zhang Xuan waved his hand.
The fact that Ji Lingfeng and the others were lying in ambush here meant that they knew that he would be participating in the secondary selection. There was no way he would believe that no one had leaked the news.
He had just pummeled Pavilion Master Yue the previous day, and he was the only one who had the opportunity to learn of the news in advance. He really couldn't think of anyone other than him who would do such a thing.
"T-this … Not only was Zhang Shi unharmed, he even managed to obtain the heritage. This can be said to be a blessing in disguise. Why don't we just let this matter rest? It wouldn't be good if this matter were to be brought to the attention of the alliance …"
Pavilion Master Yue said with a pale face.
"I'll report the Old Sword Maestro's heritage to the headquarters and report everything that has happened over the past two days in detail. As for how the alliance branch will deal with this matter, that's not up to me to decide …"
Zhang Xuan interrupted Pavilion Master Yue's words.
If not for his superior cultivation, he would have been killed by Ji Lingfeng by now. As the head of the Mingshi Tang Pavilion, Pavilion Master Yue had colluded with outsiders to assault an elder of the alliance instead of protecting a master teacher. Just this crime alone was enough to cripple Pavilion Master Yue.
But of course, he couldn't be bothered with how the matter would be dealt with.
"I …"
With a pale face, Pavilion Master Yue's body swayed weakly to the ground.
It was true that he was the one who leaked the news that Zhang Shi was conducting the examination here. If they didn't pursue the matter, it wouldn't have mattered much. But if they did, there was no way he could get away with it.
This could be considered as harming a master teacher!
"Zhang Shi, what's going on?"
Zhao Xingmo could tell that something was amiss from the conversation between the two, and he couldn't help but ask.
"This is the entire story of what happened after I entered the Sword Lagoon. Zhao shi, you can take a look."
With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Xuan passed a jade token over.
Zhao Xingmo lowered his head to take a look, and his face immediately turned livid.
He was the one who had decided to conduct the secondary selection at the Sword Lagoon, and despite how discreet the news was, Zhang Shi had actually been assaulted. If he didn't get to the bottom of this matter, he wouldn't be able to get away scot-free. How could he not be furious?
"Yue Yiquan, you did well. I'll report this matter to the headquarters in the name of the Sanctum of Sages, and I demand an explanation from them!"
Zhao Xingmo flung his sleeves and bellowed coldly.
"Zhao shi …" Yue Yiquan's face turned ashen.
The Sanctum of Sages was the largest nurturing ground for master teachers beneath Mingshi Tang, and its standing was even higher than that of the Alliance Master Teacher Mingshi Tang. If he were to report this matter to the headquarters in the name of a master teacher from the Sanctum of Sages, there was no doubt that the headquarters would step in to investigate the matter.
In other words, there was no way he could escape from this.
He had only intended to teach this fellow from the Qingyuan Empire a lesson on behalf of his brother-in-law so that he would know that a quasi 8-star master teacher couldn't be humiliated so easily. Yet, who could have thought that nothing would happen to the other party, and he would end up in such a huge trouble instead?
His future, standing, and reputation would be completely ruined. From the head of a Conferred Empire Master Teacher Mingshi Tang, he would be reduced to a prisoner.
If only he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have gone against the other party …
Yue Yiquan's heart was filled with regret.
"Let's go!"
Paying no heed to the regretful pavilion master, Zhang Xuan quickly followed behind Zhao Xingmo and the others.
Returning back to Mingshi Tang.
"Zhang Shi, I'm sorry for my incompetence. I've let you down …"
Upon seeing Zhang Xuan, Zhang Jiuxiao walked up to him with a dejected look on his face.
Zhang Shi had put in a lot of effort in order to get him into the Sanctum of Sages, but he had ended up being the first one to be eliminated.
"What did you encounter? Why were you eliminated so quickly?"
Zhang Xuan asked in bewilderment.
"I …" Zhang Jiuxiao's face reddened in embarrassment. "I was assaulted by a sword …"
Just as he had guessed, not too long after Zhang Jiuxiao arrived, he encountered a Saint intermediate-tier artifact.
The strength of the sword far surpassed his, so it easily eliminated him.
"It should be Ji Lingfeng's Sword of Faint Whispers …" After learning about the appearance of the sword, Zhang Xuan shook his head.
Since the other party had attempted to assault him, it went without saying that he had already investigated the matter thoroughly. Fearing that Zhang Jiuxiao would lend him a hand, the other party eliminated him in advance.
"I've let down Zhang Shi's trust …"
For some reason, Zhang Jiuxiao was still thinking about how he could repay Zhang Xuan's kindness when Zhao Xingmo's voice suddenly sounded.
"Due to a mishap in the secondary selection, the results won't be counted. Everyone, follow me back to the Sanctum of Sages to participate in the final selection!"
"The results won't be counted?"
Zhang Jiuxiao was taken aback for a moment before he finally came to a realization. "Zhang Shi, what happened? Right, didn't you say that it would take three days? Why did you return so quickly? "
After he was eliminated, he had left the Sanctum of Sages, so he was unaware of what had happened after that.
"They attacked me, and I was careless … and eliminated everyone …"
Zhang Xuan.
"Eliminated everyone?"
Zhang Jiuxiao was stunned.
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