Chapter 136: Chapter 106: Am I a Genius? (Final Chapter of This Volume)
Elder Council, the examiners are represented by the Fifth Elder of Baiyan Academy, Chen Jinlin.
At this moment, Elder Chen furrowed his brows as he looked at the young man in front of him, revealing a hint of confusion.
Three days ago, he had personally seen this newly recruited teacher at the school head’s side devour the zhenqi of many others for the sake of Accumulative Phase. Even with rapid progress, he couldn’t possibly have reached the Viscera Realm, could he?
If his cultivation hasn’t reached that level, what dream made him think he could qualify for the assessment?
Suppressing his displeasure, Elder Chen said, “To assess for a position as an elder of the academy, two conditions are required: first, one’s cultivation must have reached at least the intermediate stage of the Six Layers of the Viscera in the Source Pool! Second, contribution to the school must accumulate no less than 500 Merit Points!”
“Merit Points?” Zhang Xuan looked curious.
Chen Jinlin explained, “It’s the contributions made to the academy! Being an elder is a symbol of authority in the academy. With this status, one holds a certain level of management authority, naturally requiring significant contributions to qualify. Otherwise, just reaching the cultivation level would be sufficient to become an elder — how then would the academy be managed?”
Zhang Xuan nodded, “I don’t know… how does one earn Merit Points?”
“For a teacher, there are many ways to accumulate Merit Points! Should their students achieve outstanding results in the academy’s major examinations, they are awarded certain Merit Points; repairing damaged cultivation methods or incomplete manuscripts in the Book Collection Vault earns certain Merit Points; assisting the academy in taming Primordial Beasts or resolving crises… all can also yield Merit Points,” explained Chen Jinlin.
“Merit Points vary with the size of the contribution made, and 500 points are not too many. However, achieving this is also not that easy. Therefore, although Baiyan Academy has been established for who knows how many years, with over three thousand teachers, there are only slightly more than a dozen elders,” remarked Chen Jinlin.
Zhang Xuan suddenly realized and asked again, “What can be done to earn them fastest?”
“You seriously consider challenging for an elder position?”
Seeing his earnest face, Chen Jinlin showed a trace of displeasure, “Regarding Merit Points, I advise you not to rush into thinking about that. Instead, focus on advancing your cultivation to the Six Layers of the Viscera Realm in the Source Pool first… Reaching this level means your internal organs are as strong as iron, and every breath you take is incredibly long. You can hold your breath for two hours safely… You haven’t been practicing long, do not aim too high too fast!”
Zhang Xuan shook his head: “Viscera Realm? I’ve reached it already!”
As he spoke, the vital energy within his body was fiercely released, the skin all over his body as hard as iron, and a tiger-like roar emanating from his organs.
“Is this… Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sounds?”
With eyes wide, Chen Jinlin stood dumbfounded, filled with disbelief.
Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sounds could only be achieved by a master at the Viscera Realm. To think that someone from the Accumulative Realm three days ago had reached this stage in just three days… Even having witnessed various geniuses, he felt his brain couldn’t quite keep up.
“Yes, does this not prove now that I am eligible to register to become an elder?” Zhang Xuan smiled.
“You are eligible indeed, but, I still need proof…”
No longer displaying his earlier arrogance, Chen Jinlin hurriedly got up and in a blink, he was by the Strength Measuring Formation, casually pointing, “Come over here and test your strength! If your strength reaches over 30 horsepower, it will indeed prove that you have achieved this realm.”
No longer inclined to remain unassuming and covert, Zhang Xuan threw a punch.
Whoom!
The formation shook slightly, and two digits appeared on it—60!
The peak strength of the Viscera Realm, Sixfold of the Source Pool is 60 horsepower. Just proving possession of an elder’s strength was needed, without exceeding this range, to avoid suspicion.
“Not only the Viscera Realm, but at the pinnacle level…”
Shaking uncontrollably with excitement, Chen Jinlin no longer doubted and hurriedly said, “On that wall over there, it lists methods to earn Merit Points and some ways to gain experience, Teacher Zhang can take a look first. If there’s anything unclear, just ask me!”
Knowing that the person before him was as strong, if not stronger, than himself, this Fifth Elder lost all his previous arrogance.
“Thank you!”
Zhang Xuan, deciding not to say much else, took a few steps to the wall, which indeed was densely packed with methods for earning Merit Points, including several that exceeded two thousand.
The first item, find the remains of Baiyan Academy’s first School Head, Lu Qing, who died in a great battle with a Primordial Beast and was buried deep in Huaiyuan Mountain. Over the ages, numerous teachers and students have wished to find the remains to bury them properly on the school’s back mountain, but none have succeeded. Completion of this would reward 3000 Merit Points!
The second item, find Baiyan Academy’s lost treasure, the “Skyward Sword”, the weapon of the third School Head. Unfortunately, it was lost in a battle and was never recovered. Retrieving and surrendering it would earn 2500 Merit Points.
The third item, lead Baiyan Academy to become the first among the surrounding ten cities, valued at 2000 Merit Points…
Zhang Xuan continued reading down the wall, stopping shortly thereafter.
The seventeenth item, repair the formation of the Book Collection Vault, 500 Merit Points!
“Can I try this one?”
Repairing a formation was relatively simple. With the help of the Library of Heaven’s Path, it could be resolved without wasting time, and what was most critical was that the Book Collection Vault was very close by.
“You know how to repair formations?”
Unexpecting his choice, Chen Jinlin looked over curiously.
Formations were extremely intricate, and without talent, achieving any success was almost impossible. Could it be that this person not only possessed outstanding talents in beast-taming, teaching, and cultivation but also in formations?
“I’ve read some books on formations. Let’s go take a look, maybe I’ll succeed?”
Zhang Xuan casually explained and concurrently curiously asked, “What is this formation in the Book Collection Vault for? Why hasn’t it been fixed after breaking?”
“The formation in the Book Collection Vault serves three purposes; first, to prevent the books from being corroded by rampant Origin qi; second, to prevent those without a Library Access Certificate from forcefully entering; third, to prevent insects and similar creatures from infiltrating. As for why it is broken…”
At this point, Chen Jinlin looked over with an expression full of speechlessness, “You don’t know?”
“Why should I know?”
Zhang Xuan was puzzled, “I’ve only been to the Book Collection Vault a few times, and each time I was only reading books without paying attention to the formation.”
“Just reading books?”
Chen Jinlin shook his head, “The first time you went to the Book Collection Vault for practice, you triggered the phenomenon of ‘Devouring Origin Dragon,’ and it was then that the formation could no longer withstand the strain and collapsed…”
“Devouring Origin Dragon?” Zhang Xuan furrowed his brows. “What is that?”
“You don’t know?” With a twitch of his eyelid, Chen Jinlin realized he might have said too much at this moment.
“How would I know?”
Zhang Xuan found it strange.
“The Devouring Origin Dragon is a phenomenon during the practice process where Origin qi is absorbed too rapidly, forming a vortex resembling a giant dragon!”
Since he had already spoken, Chen Jinlin hesitated for a moment and then explained, “That day, School Head Lu and over ten Elders hurried over because of this. Otherwise, the entire Book Collection Vault might have been sucked dry by you…”
“This…”
After listening to the other party’s explanation, Zhang Xuan stood there, dumbfounded, and only then did he finally understand why School Head Lu and the others were unusually lenient and friendly towards him.
All along, he thought he had disguised himself quite well, but it turns out that he had been discovered long ago!
It wasn’t really his fault, after entering the Source World, he couldn’t find the Source Pool, and he always thought that replacing it with the Suspended Realm indicated a lack of talent, yet now you’re telling me I’m an exceptional talent…
If that’s the case, not only has the Suspended Realm successfully replaced the Source Pool, but it seems even more powerful!
“Wait, the Devouring Origin Dragon happened after I became a Miscellaneous Duties Teacher, so even before that… you knew my cultivation talent was pretty good?”
Zhang Xuan could not help but wonder.
Even in the Book Collection Vault, he felt that he was absorbing Origin qi too rapidly, which was noticed as unusual. However, before that, he had always been quite serious about hiding it.
“How could we not know? You were absorbing Heavenly Mandate Vitality, triggering the phenomenon of ‘Nine Dragons Summoning Heavenly Fate,’ and three Destiny Plates were continuously sucked dry…”
Chen Jinlin gave a bitter smile.
“This…”
After hearing the explanation, Zhang Xuan finally understood.
After all this time, his so-called low profile was only sustained by everyone’s cooperation, not because he was really being discreet…
If that’s so, why continue the pretense?
Rather than hiding, it’s better to display your skills openly. By being straightforward, you might just make others unsure of your true capability.
At worst, just do as Sun Qiang suggested and attribute it to some elusive teacher.
After all, the Master Teacher Continent had done this once already; they wouldn’t mind doing it a second time.
Thinking this, Zhang Xuan grew tired of continuing the facade, and instead waved his hand, “Let’s go, let’s take a look at the formation and see what exactly is wrong!”
First, become an elder of the academy, and elevate your cultivation to the Jade Bone Realm.
With enough strength, what of the Heaven Mandate Hall?
From Su Qiao’s words, he had also learned quite a bit. Even with the Heaven Mandate Hall, the top fighters of the Han Yuan Dynasty wouldn’t be too strong.
Possessing the Library of Heaven’s Path, capable of seeing through all flaws, watch me deceive them thoroughly…
If in the past, others didn’t know something was off with him, being low-key helped avoid a lot of trouble, but now that almost every top fighter in the city knew, any deliberate pretense became meaningless.
Unable to be low-key, then let’s be high-profile!
ps: The final chapter of this volume. This volume follows Zhang Xuan’s departure from the Empyrean Realm and his initial struggle to adapt in the Source World. In this volume, I adopted the writing style of ‘Library of Heaven’s Path,’ pretentiously acting low-key but engaging in high-profile actions.
However… it seems not everyone liked it. Thus, in the next volume, I will change the style, and Zhang Xuan won’t hide low-key anymore, but will instead boast high profile.
Writing a book is a process of exploring, learning as I go along.
Tomorrow, a new volume begins, ‘Empyrean Kong shi, Long Time No See.’ Stay tuned.