After becoming the principal, even though the academy had allocated him a residence with a good location and abundant spiritual energy, Zhang Xuan still spent most of his time outside.
It wasn't too far away from the academy, so he didn't have to worry about anything. Besides, it was much quieter than the academy, and he had more time to guide his students.
"Young Master, you're back!"
As soon as Zhang Xuan stepped into the residence, Sun Qiang walked up to him in agitation.
Over the past two months, that fellow seemed to have gotten rounder, and there was oil flowing from the corners of his lips. His cultivation had improved, but it wasn't by much.
That fellow had always been lazy, and it seemed like he hadn't put in much effort into his cultivation despite eating quite a lot of good food during this period of time.
Knowing the other party's character, Zhang Xuan criticized him a little before instructing, "Call Wang Ying and the others over!"
"Yes!" Sun Qiang nodded before walking out.
Not too long later, Wang Ying and the others returned.
In the past two months, his direct disciples had improved significantly, and there wasn't much of a gap between them.
Wang Ying had already reached Chrysalis realm primary stage, and Zheng Yang and Liu Yang had reached Ethereal Treading realm pinnacle as well, seemingly on the verge of making a breakthrough at any moment.
It wasn't that they were talented, but that Zhang Xuan had imparted them the simplified version of the Heaven's Path Divine Art before he left. On top of that, the Cloudmist Ridge had sent over countless resources and pills to raise their cultivation …
Under such circumstances, they would really be letting down the efforts he had put into them.
On the contrary, Wei Ruyan, who was the last to be accepted by Zhang Xuan, didn't see much of a growth in her cultivation. She was still at Chrysalis realm pinnacle.
However, this was within his expectations.
Wei Ruyan had nourished herself too harshly previously. Even though she possessed the strength of a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan cultivator, it was still nothing more than a castle in the air. If she were to cultivate recklessly, it would only cause her cultivation to crumble, and she would find herself unable to advance any further.
Thus, before she left, Zhang Xuan gave her a goal, which was to start from Fighter 1-dan and temper her cultivation realm by realm.
In just two months, he had managed to return back to Chrysalis realm pinnacle. Even though he was still at the same cultivation realm as before, be it in terms of foundation or fighting prowess, he was still far stronger than when he had just awakened.
In other words, after two months of tempering, her current cultivation had truly reached the level of a Chrysalis realm cultivator. Unlike before, when she had only been able to raise her cultivation through the accumulation of medicinal herbs, she was still pitifully weak.
"Not bad!"
Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
It seemed like these students were more reliable. They were much more hardworking than Sun Qiang. They did not disappoint him.
"Some of you have already reached Chrysalis realm, and even those who have yet to do so are not too far away from doing so. There are two paths that you can choose from!"
Activating the formation and shielding the surroundings, Zhang Xuan looked at the few people before him with a grave expression.
"I have two cultivation techniques here. The first one can allow one's cultivation to increase rapidly, allowing one to reach the Saint realm very quickly."
"Secondly, your progress will be much slower, and it will be very complicated to cultivate. However, as long as you succeed, your battle prowess will multiply, and your might will be astonishing!"
Zhang Xuan didn't force his students to choose between the Saint Ascension Decipher and the ordinary Heaven's Path Divine Art.
The Saint Ascension Decipher was powerful, but it was also difficult. Without a resolute will, it was impossible for one to reach the end.
He had to make this point clear first.
"Teacher, I choose the second option!"
Wang Ying hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
"We choose the second option as well!"
The others also didn't hesitate to follow suit.
Having come this far, none of them wanted to miss out on a cultivation technique that could multiply their fighting prowess.
"If you choose the second option, you will have to put in more effort and sweat, and you might not even succeed in the end … You will have to consider it carefully!"
Zhang Xuan said.
"Yes, we have!"
"Hard work is nothing. As long as we are strong, we have nothing to fear!"
The others quickly replied.
"Good!" Seeing that they had chosen the second option without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
In the first place, cultivation was a struggle against the heavens and fate. If they didn't even have the courage to do so, even if he were to guide them personally, they wouldn't be able to achieve much in the future.
Taking out the simplified version of the Saint Ascension Decipher, Zhang Xuan passed it to the others and had them memorize its contents before explaining it to them in detail.
The Saint Ascension Decipher was extremely complicated, and it was difficult for even him to comprehend it. If he didn't explain it clearly and made a mistake, it could very well lead to problems in his cultivation.
Four hours later, seeing that everyone had understood the Saint Ascension Decipher, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
After instructing the others to cultivate, Zhang Xuan turned his gaze to Sun Qiang once more.
"I believe you should be well aware of my teacher's strength!"
"Yes!"
Sun Qiang hurriedly nodded.
Even though he had no idea how powerful the Old Master was, he was confident that he was at least an 8-star master teacher. He was one of the top figures on the Master Teacher Continent!
"It's good that you know. As long as he is willing, he can find many Seven Star or even Eight Star master teachers to serve as his butler! If this is the extent of your strength and you are unwilling to cultivate, I can consider reporting this to my teacher and have him replace you! "
Zhang Xuan said impassively.
To deal with this fellow, one had to be ruthless. Otherwise, it would be futile to just supervise him.
"Yes!"
Cold sweat trickled down Sun Qiang's back.
During this period of time, the Hongyuan Empire royal family had been fawning on him, and the Shen Clan and Liu Clan had been sending him all kinds of profits, leaving him feeling a little lost.
After hearing the young master's words, he realized that if he wanted to continue down this path, strength was the most important factor.
Without strength, neither the Old Master nor the Young Master would spare him a second glance.
Without these two, he was just an ordinary fatty, nothing at all.
"Alright, have there been any news in the two months that I've been away?"
Knowing that the other party had realized the crux of the problem, Zhang Xuan asked.
"Un. The head of the Shen Clan paid a visit a while ago, and he said that it would be best to sell the Cloudmist Flower separately. Instead, he said that it would be best to sell the Cloudmist Flower in bulk for a long period of time. Thus, I negotiated with them and decided to only sell ten catties per empire every month …"
After a moment of contemplation, Sun Qiang hurriedly told Zhang Xuan about his recent business affairs.
"I'll leave this matter to you. I won't interfere in it!"
Zhang Xuan waved his hands casually.
In terms of business, he knew that he couldn't match up to Sun Qiang and the Shen Clan. Thus, it would be better for him to hand over the reins to the other party.
"Yes … This is the first batch of profits from the Cloudmist Flower!"
Seeing that the young master was ignoring him, Sun Qiang passed a storage ring over to Zhang Xuan.
Taking the storage ring, Zhang Xuan took a look inside, and his eyes suddenly widened in shock. "So much?"
There was a huge pile of high-tier spirit stones in the storage ring, and the concentrated spiritual energy that emanated from the storage ring was enough to leave one breathless. There were at least several thousand of them.
"The first batch of profits comes to a total of 3,327 high-tier spirit stones. The second batch should be settled by next month …"
Sun Qiang said with a smile.
"Three thousand high-tier spirit stones …" Zhang Xuan's lips twitched.
He had put in so much effort to bewitch and tame the Cloudmist Flower, but he had only managed to earn several hundred high-tier spirit stones. To earn such a huge profit just by selling the Cloudmist Flower … This was daylight robbery!
However, to him, the more spirit stones there were, the better.
Three thousand high-tier spirit stones might seem like a huge fortune, but it might not necessarily be sufficient for him to reach Saint 1-dan primary stage.
Not to mention, his students had also cultivated the Saint Ascension Decipher, and the advancement of the Byzantium Helios Beast and the nine kings … He was constantly spending money.
Putting aside several thousand high-tier spirit stones, even tens of thousands of high-tier spirit stones were nothing to a huge spender like him.
In truth, as valuable as the Cloudmist Flower was, it was difficult to sell it for such a huge sum of money. Otherwise, those saint beasts would have long started selling it.
But now that the Earth Vein Spirit Essence had been sapped dry, and the mist had receded, it was impossible for the flower tea to be produced anymore. As such, it had become a rare and valuable commodity.
On top of that, the older the Cloudmist Flower was, the more valuable it was. On top of that, there was also the Shen Clan pushing for it …
"Also, Elder Mi came yesterday, and he said that someone has come to the academy to look for you!"
Sun Qiang pondered for a moment before replying.
"Look for me? Who? "
"It's the principals of the other three academies … They have already arrived at Hongyuan City. They wish to discuss the Combat Master Selection with Young Master! "
Sun Qiang said.
"They have already arrived?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback. It was at this moment that he recalled that the centennial Combat Master Selection was about to begin.
"I will return to the academy right now!"
Zhang Xuan nodded.
The Combat Master Selection was a centennial event for the four academies, and the prestige of the academy was at stake. As the principal of the academy, there was no reason for him to reject it.
Shortly after Zhang Xuan left the residence and returned to the Elder Hall, he saw Zhao Bingxu walking up to him anxiously.
"Principal Zhang, you are finally back! This is great …"
Noticing that something was amiss with Zhao Bingxu's expression, Zhang Xuan asked, "What happened?"
"Reporting to Principal Zhang … Yunxu College's Wu Tianqiong, Luoqing College's Shen Pingchao, and Qingzhu College's Wu Ran have already arrived at the academy. It is said that the Combat Master Hall will be arriving soon, and Elder Mi and the others are already waiting for you there. I heard that you have returned, so I came over to look for you …"
Zhao Bingxu said anxiously.
"Isn't it still early?" Zhang Xuan asked doubtfully.
When he returned from the Saint Ascension Platform, Jin Yuan Ding had said that there were still three months before the Combat Master Selection would begin. Going by his calculations, there should still be a few more days before the Combat Master Selection would begin … Why would all of them be here all of a sudden?
"The Combat Master Hall has sent someone to report that they have received an order from the Mingshi Tang headquarters, and they have ordered us to complete the Combat Master Selection within three days," Zhao Bingxu explained.
"So urgent?"
Zhang Xuan had been intending to look for the candidates participating in the Combat Master Selection and conduct some lessons for them in advance so as to raise their fighting prowess. Who could have known that the Combat Master Selection would be held so soon? Wasn't this a little too fast?
"They didn't mention the reason, but they will be arriving at any moment now … and the Combat Master Selection will begin at any moment. Principal Zhang, I'll have to trouble you to oversee the situation!"
Zhao Bingxu said.
They had thought that since Principal Zhang had yet to return, they would have no choice but to do so. However, since Principal Zhang had returned, they had no choice but to invite him over to take a look.
Even though they had managed to recruit quite a few talented youths over the past two months, they still didn't have the slightest bit of confidence in the candidates from the other three academies.
The disparity between the two academies was still apparent. If nothing went wrong, it was likely that only a handful of candidates would be able to clear the Combat Master Selection.
"Alright, let's head over to take a look!"
Nodding, Zhang Xuan and Zhao Bingxu quickly made their way to the sparring field.
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