Chapter 140: Chapter 4 The Name of Zhang Xuan Echoes Through the School Head
On a set of steps outside the training ground, Liu Tianzheng and Xu Xin watched from afar towards the central platform.
The competition was organized under their supervision, and they had been waiting here from the start. As for why the competition involving everyone eventually turned into a match between Liu Mingyue and others against Chen Hao, naturally, they played a role in it.
The main purpose of the competition was to see the strength of Zhang Xuan’s student, but the new students were too weak to be tested, so they had to find a way to make them compete with senior students.
After watching for a while, Liu Tianzheng revealed a hint of doubt in his eyes, “To increase strength so rapidly in such a short amount of time, one must have a sufficiently powerful cultivation method and plenty of resources, right?”
Xu Xin nodded, “The Accumulative Phase is a process of strength accumulation. A teacher can at most explain the methods and experience of practice, as well as how to avoid mistakes, which indeed doesn’t contribute much to strength enhancement. But… even with these things, to expect someone with such poor talent to achieve this extent in just a few days, can you imagine how difficult that would be?”
Liu Tianzheng sighed, “This…”
It wasn’t just difficult, it was nearly impossible. Let alone himself, even if he poured all of the Liu Clan’s resources into it, it couldn’t be done this well.
“Exactly! This Zhang Xuan is indeed strange…”
Xu Xin took out a notebook from his bosom, picked up a writing brush, and began to record, “No matter, our job is to observe and record everything, then hand it over to Lord Ling when the time comes!”
“Yes!” Liu Tianzheng nodded.
At this moment, his daughter Liu Mingyue had already taken the stage. Zhou Qingkai once again wielded “De Lu Yue Xi,” only to have his flaws exposed and was punched off the platform.
De Lu Yue Xi, with its sudden pounces and leaps, indeed posed a significant threat, but once dodged, it left one riddled with flaws, making it easy to defeat.
Liu Mingyue’s strength was naturally superior to Hong Yi and having been a clan child, she was well-versed and no match for her opponents.
With his daughter’s move, Liu Tianzheng completely confirmed her strength.
“3.9 horsepower?”
He knew her situation the best. In just over a day without seeing her, she had gone from 0.61 to 3.9 horsepower, an increase by several times… No wonder she was willing to leave the Liu Clan to study under Teacher Zhang.
This kind of progress was already against the heavens!
“Could it be that Zhang Xuan has some heavenly artifact that allows for rapid Accumulative Phase improvement?”
He didn’t know the situation of Yu Xiaoyu and Hong Yi, but after his daughter’s argument with him, the Liu Clan didn’t give her any resources. This meant that Zhang Xuan likely possessed a tremendous treasure, along with a powerful cultivation method, which enabled her rapid progress.
“If I can get my hands on this artifact, the entire younger generation could improve rapidly, and the Liu Clan could become the leader of the Three Premier Clans… It’s not impossible…”
A glint flashed in Liu Tianzheng’s eyes as he pondered in his heart.
Of course, this presupposed that Zhang Xuan was indeed a Mandate Chaos Master. Then, he would just follow behind Lord Ling to reap some benefits. If Zhang Xuan were a Fate Master, he would immediately dispel such thoughts and make a better connection…
While weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Wang Yuxing ascended to the platform. His strength was considerably higher than Zhou Qingkai’s, even slightly stronger than Liu Mingyue’s, boasting a full 4.2 horsepower. But knowing that the young lady before him was Young Master Chen’s goddess, he fought timidly. After over a dozen moves and being cornered, he too was punched down.
Following two defeats by his flunkies, Chen Hao walked onto the platform with a complex look in his eyes.
He finally understood why his father had made him kneel for an entire day at the training ground.
Not to mention anything else, just the ability to rapidly improve a student’s strength in a short time, is something that ordinary teachers cannot achieve, even School Head Lu falls far behind.
“I originally thought that Zhang Xuan, just a Miscellaneous Duties Teacher, had no real skills, but I didn’t expect his instruction to be so formidable!”
“One student making rapid progress could be explained by talent, but when two students improve simultaneously, and even though Miss Yu has not yet made a move, she’s definitely even stronger. Just this fact alone proves that this teacher is truly against the heavens…”
“I have an idea… I want to drop my current teacher’s classes and sign up for Teacher Zhang’s classes…”
“That’s a good thought, but don’t think anymore! Because Zhang Xuan will become my teacher…”
Not just Chen Hao, but the crowd below had also come to understand, each of them looking towards the platform with flushed and excited faces.
“Teacher Zhang… will you take me as a student?”
The student who had just spoken also realized how formidable his teacher was, looking over with excitement.
“No!”
Zhang Xuan shook his head, “The ‘Four Secret Techniques’ that Senior Uncle Liu teaches are very suitable for you. As long as you study seriously, you can certainly become an expert. Being of two minds, longing for something better, will only disperse your focus and result in a net loss eventually.”
Having nearly finished reading the books in the Book Collection Vault, he could deduce some basic facts about the students’ strength and conduct without even using the Library of Heaven’s Path by observing their breathing and behavior.
“Yes…”
The classmate clenched his fists, full of disappointment.
When Yu Xiaoyu first offered her Apprentice Gift, the whole school treated it as a joke, and even he had heard of it and didn’t spare his mockery. Now he understood just how wise this action was.
The earlier he mocked, the harder his face was slapped now.
As they spoke, the competition on the platform began again. Even though Liu Mingyue’s strength wasn’t weak, Chen Hao was a prodigy who had already broken through the Accumulative Realm to reach the Physique Realm. After a few moves, Liu Mingyue started to gradually fall behind.
“Mingyue, come down, I’ll give it a try!”
Knowing that if the fight continued, she would definitely lose, Yu Xiaoyu jumped up.
With dedicated cultivation, along with the enhancement of Spiritual Origin Bamboo, Miss Yu had reached the pinnacle of the Accumulative Phase, possessing a full 5 horses’ strength, and was on the verge of a breakthrough at any moment.
Chen Hao, although slightly stronger, only possessed about 7 horses’ strength, the gap wasn’t too big.
The competition between the two was intense, exchanging blows back and forth, and after more than a dozen moves, there was no clear winner.
Mo Yanxue clenched her fist so tightly while watching this scene that she didn’t even notice her nails digging into her flesh.
Just a few days ago, her best friend couldn’t compare to her at all, and it was always her who stepped forward to help when there was trouble. But now, she could only look up to her, the only difference being… they had different teachers!
It seemed laughable now that she had thought she could beat the other party and continue to be the undisputed number one among the younger generation in Baiyan City. Looking at the situation now… she had thought too highly of herself!
Not to mention being number one, at most, she could be fourth… No, there was still one more ahead!
“Alright! Today’s competition ends here.”
Knowing that if the fight continued, either Yu Xiaoyu or Chen Hao would inevitably get hurt, and considering that one was the city lord’s daughter and the other was the son of Patriarch Chen, it could get troublesome, Lu Mingrong leaped onto the stage to stand between them.
“School Head, I still want to defeat him and make him apologize to Teacher Zhang!”
Yu Xiaoyu stepped forward.
Chen Hao shook his head, and speaking directly, he said, “There’s no need to defeat me. Being able to empower you and Mingyue with such strength in such a short time, I sincerely apologize for my previous actions and acknowledge that Teacher Zhang is indeed the best teacher in the entirety of Baiyan Academy…”
Yu Xiaoyu was somewhat dumbfounded by the unexpected apology before a definitive result could be achieved, “You’re supposed to be defeated by me, begrudgingly refusing to utter a word! An apology like this… what am I supposed to do?”
According to her expectations, they were to defeat Chen Hao and his group one by one, displaying their absolute strength for all to see. And yet, the apology came halfway through the fight, leaving her suddenly unsure of what to do next.
“I truly regret my actions, and I hope that Miss Yu and Miss Liu can accept it…”
Thinking it a sardonic gesture at first, Chen Hao turned to his two subordinates and chided loudly, “What are you waiting for? Come up here!”
The reason he had gone looking for trouble with Zhang Xuan was because he feared that his goddess would be at a disadvantage. Now, after only a few days of cultivation, Liu Mingyue was catching up to the effort he’d put in for several years, and he had no more words to waste.
“Yes!”
Zhou Qingkai and Wang Yuxing hurriedly jumped onto the stage, turned to one side, bowed with a cupped fist salute, and spoke in unison, “Teacher Zhang is the most impressive teacher we have ever seen. We sincerely apologize…”
The crowd followed their gaze, all eyes landing on the figure of Zhang Xuan at the very back, each person filled with fervor.
Three students had experienced a qualitative leap in strength in mere days. If they were to become his students, wouldn’t they also become powerful in a short time?
“This…”
Seeing such looks from everyone, Zhang Xuan, his mouth twitching, turned and walked away.
“Teacher Zhang, don’t rush off, do you still need students? Please take me on!”
“I can also offer an Apprentice Gift…”
“As long as Teacher Zhang accepts me as a student, I’ll do anything you ask…”
“Teacher Zhang, please allow me to offer myself. While my talent might not compare to Miss Yu and the others, it’s not far off…”
Woosh!
Seeing him about to leave, all the people immediately crowded around, each one eagerly wishing they could kneel down on the spot.
“This is bad… It’s going to become a mess!”
Wu Yunzhou and others in the stands all twitched their brows.
They had known that revealing this person’s innate talent would definitely cause a sensation, but they had never dreamed it would be this immense.
Tens of thousands of students from the academy all wanting to become disciples… It wasn’t a matter of whether he could teach them or not but what about the other teachers?
Students not attending their own classes, insisting on becoming disciples of another—it would be a slap in the face if this got out!
But now, trying to intervene would probably not be accepted by any student…
“School Head…”
The Elders hurriedly turned their eyes to Lu Mingrong on the stage, only to see him just as stunned, on the verge of tears.
He had been School Head for so long and had never encountered such a situation…
He’d heard about the real reason the Chen Clan wanted Zhang Xuan as an honorary elder and rightfully guessed the man could make thousands of horses obey commands without rebelling, in just a short time. He never dreamt that the same could be done with students…
While the Elders and School Head Lu appeared almost tearful, Yu Xiaoyu, Liu Mingyue, and the others watched their teacher being zealously chased and running without a pause, a simultaneous twitch at the corners of their mouths.
No wonder the teacher had wanted them to keep a low profile…
It turned out he had foreseen all this chaos!
Oh no, it seemed they had caused trouble yet again…