Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
Mu Xueqing was a talented student of Tianwu Academy.
Despite being only eighteen this year, she had already reached Pixue realm with over a dozen acupoints opened up.
Given her fame and the bright future laid before her, she should have been happy. Yet, she had been in low spirits recently.
This was because her teacher had left the academy.
Since the new teacher wasn't here yet, she was left to her own devices and was currently lazing around.
Stretching her back, a beautiful curvature which could easily send any man into frenzy appeared.
"Senior!"
At this moment, a youngster walked over.
"Meng Tao, what news have you uncovered? Is it reliable?"
Upon seeing the approaching person, Mu Xueqing immediately turned to face him with a serious expression etched on her face.
"I have looked into the matter, and... that Master Teacher Zhang Xuan is indeed an incredible figure! In fact, based on what Ive just found out, he seems to be even more amazing than how you made him out to be! However, I heard that he is in the midst of his 2-star master teacher examination and has to leave the capital for a while."
The eyes of the youngster named Meng Tao gleamed in reverence.
"Tell me about it!" Mu Xueqing's blushed.
Last night, when the news of Genius Mo Hongyis records being broken reached her ears, the name of Master Teacher Zhang Xuan was also brought to her attention.
Despite being under twenty, he had achieved many outstanding feats, leaving others amazed and frenzied. In fact, he was even already in the midst of taking his 2-star master teacher examination... even though she heard it directly from an elder in her clan, she still found the matter hard to believe.
After confirming the matter several times, she decided that from then onwards, Zhang shi would be her number one idol!
Thus, when she arrived at the academy this morning, she immediately told her juniors of this matter, and the news left all of them gasping in amazement as well. The junior before her, Meng Tao, had refused to believe this matter, so she had him check for himself.
"I heard that when Zhang shi arrived at the capital, he went to the Painter Guild to take the painter examination. Over there, he was met with provocation by the Ji Clan's Ji Mo gongzi and eventually, he used a savage beast to create a fifth level painting, earning him the rank of a 3-star painter..." Meng Tao said.
Initially, he couldn't believe that someone could be more impressive than Mo Hongyi. After all, Mo Hongyi's reputation as the number one genius of Tianwu Kingdom was already deep-rooted in the capital.
However, after looking into the matter, he realized that not only was Zhang shi more capable than Mo Hongyi, the gap between them was huge as well. Even after verifying the news personally, he still found it hard to believe. He had to pinch himself to make sure that it wasn't just a dream.
"Using a savage beast to paint a fifth level painting?" Mu Xueqing clenched her fists tightly.
As a genius, she revered other geniuses as well.
Although the name of Zhang shi was only established the day before, the number of legendary feats he had achieved was overwhelming, leaving her with no other choice but to be awed.
"Say... now that our teacher has left, if the academy can get Zhang shi to be our replacement teacher, how wonderful will that be..."
Even though the news gathered by her junior was identical to what Mu Xueqing had heard last night, she couldn't help but feel another surge of admiration for the young master teacher.
"Bring him in? Senior, Zhang shi is a figure who is going to become a 2-star master teacher, how can the academy afford to hire him..."
Meng Tao was speechless.
There were only three 2-star master teachers in Tianwu Kingdom, and every time they held a lecture, all teachers, including the principal, would attend it. To invite the other party over as their teacher...
It was nothing more than a pipe dream.
"I know it as well, but I can't help but hold such expectations. I really wish that I can listen to his lecture once. Given how talented he is, his lessons must be deep and profound. Perhaps I might even achieve a breakthrough in my cultivation just by listening to one of his lessons!" Mu Xueqing said with a dreamy look.
"Right, isn't the academy recruiting teachers today? Are the results out yet?"
"Theres not much news circulating at the moment, but from what I gathered, there is only a handful of star teachers applying for the position. The rest of them are just some ordinary teachers. I doubt they will be able to teach us anything good..." Meng Tao shook his head. He didn't bear much expectations for the new teachers.
"That's true..."
Mu Xueqing nodded as well.
If they were good, they would have long been brought into Tianwu Academy. They wouldn't have the need to attend the public recruitment at such a timing.
"Bad news, bad news..."
Just when the two of them were discussing the matter of the new teacher, they heard an anxious voice. Then, a lady rushed in with a reddened face.
"Calm down, don't panic. What's wrong?" Mu Xueqing frowned. "Didn't I ask you to camp outside the Elder Hall to check out the accepted teachers? Why are you already back? Wait, could it be that the results are already out?"
"Yes!" Panting, the lady hurriedly nodded her head.
"So fast?" Mu Xueqing was taken aback.
According to the news, there were over a hundred teachers who attended the public recruitment today. By right, it should have taken a significant amount of time to sieve through them.
"I saw the principal pass the identity tokens of our class over to a young teacher..."
After taking a few deep breaths, the lady finally managed to catch her breath and she started recounting the situation.
"A young teacher?"
"Un. That teacher seems to be in his twenties. Since I was too far away, I didn't manage to hear anything. However, I saw..." even now, the lady still found it hard to believe what she saw to be true.
"You are murdering us with anxiety! What did you see?" Mu Xueqing glared at her and hurriedly urged her on.
"I saw... the teacher beating up a freshman to the point the other party was vomiting blood..." the lady said.
"He beat up a freshman to the point the other party was vomiting blood?"
Mu Xueqing and Meng Tao glanced at one another in horror.
A teacher beating up a student?
Such violence was unheard of in Tianwu Academy.
"It's true! I've seen it with my own eyes... this is what Ive secretly recorded down previously, look!"
With a flick of her wrist, the lady produced a Record Crystal. Infusing zhenqi into it, two figures instantly appeared on it. Taking a closer look, a young man was beating up a student.
Peng!
The student spurted a mouthful of blood, and eventually, he kneeled before the young man.
As the scene was recorded from a distance, they were unable to hear the conversation taking place inside the Elder Hall. Even so, they could clearly see the tragic state of the pummeled student.
"You said that... the principal gave our identity tokens to this fellow?"
After seeing that sight, Mu Xueqing's face turned ashen.
What in the world was going on?
How could they hire such an aggressive person to be their teacher?
"Indeed, I witnessed it myself! Furthermore..." The lady uttered nervously before she pausing for a brief moment. "After grabbing the tokens, he immediately started walking toward our class. He should be arriving soon!"
"Arriving soon?"
Mu Xueqing clenched her fists tightly. "Doesn't the Teacher Guild prohibit teachers from getting physical with students? Why would the academy hire this kind of teacher?"
"This..." The lady shook her head. "I don't know either!"
"Senior, could it be that the academy knew that our class... is uncontrollable, so they intentionally found such a teacher to teach us a lesson and beat us into submission?" Meng Tao scratched his head.
"Beat us into submission? Hmph, let's see if he has the capability to do so!"
Mu Xueqing's face darkened.
"Meng Tao, get everyone to stop cultivating and gather here!"
"Alright!"
Meng Tao nodded and hurriedly left. Soon, slightly more than a dozen students gathered around Mu Xueqing.
"Senior!"
"Un! I believe that Meng Tao should have told you about what happened earlier. The academy has hired that vile fellow who gets physical with students on a whim to be our teacher. About this issue, what thoughts do you all have?"
After saying so, Mu Xueqing glanced at the crowd.
"If he were to become our teacher, our lives will become a living hell! I oppose to it!"
"However, what can we do about it? The academy has assigned him to us, and our identity tokens are already in his hands. Unless we head to the Administrative Office to request for a teacher switch, there's nothing we can do in this situation!"
"Since the academy has sent him to us, it definitely won't allow us to switch to the other classes. Since it came down to this, let's think of a way to chase him away so that we can get a better teacher here!"
"Even if we can't get a genius like Zhang shi, we have to at least have a star teacher. If we were to come under the tutelage of an aggressive fellow like him, our future will be ruined!"
...
The crowd harrumphed indignantly.
Meng Tao had already explained the situation, and he had shown them the recording in the Record Crystal as well. Every single one of them felt infuriated upon seeing the teacher laying his hands on a student, especially since it was to the point that the student was vomiting blood.
Given how brutal he was in treating his students, how could he be worthy of being a teacher?
They expected them to become the students of such a person?
Dream on!
"Alright, there's no use talking about it. Since the academy has passed our identity tokens to him, we are already his students. We have to find a way to chase him away!"
Mu Xueqing raised her hand to get the others to calm down.
"Why don't we intentionally go against him to trip him up!"
"Trip him up? How do you intend to do it?"
"For example... let's refuse to follow all of his instructions! As a teacher, realizing that he is powerless in the class, he would surely leave on his own accord soon."
"This might be useful against others, but that fellow is an aggressive person. If we were to really disobey his instructions and he were to get physical with us, who would be able to stand against him?"
"This..."
The group fell silent.
Regardless of what plans they had, the main problem was that this new teacher was an aggressive person. If he were to lay his hands on them, given the disparity in their strength, it would be impossible for them to stand up against him.
After all, even the strongest person among them, Mu Xueqing, was only at Pixue realm. Given their strength, it was impossible for them to stand against a Tongxuan realm cultivator.
"How about this? If he were to really lay his hands on us, let's record the scene down using a Record Crystal and find a way to send it to the Teacher Guild. I don't believe that the guild will ignore such a matter!"
"It is a good idea, but given how that teacher dared to beat up a student before the principal, elders, and so many teachers, he must have connections there. Or perhaps he might even be backed by the academy. If we were to screw this matter up, he might make things worse for us!"
"Indeed! If he were to know that we are plotting his downfall, won't he oppress us even further?"
...
The crowd proposed several more plans, but they were all vetoed.
Given how their new teacher was able to beat up a student before so many teachers, he must have had the backing of the principal. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to act so brazenly.
The idea of recording down the scene was not bad, but if it were to land in his hands before reaching the Teacher Guild, they would have a tough life ahead of them.
They had devise a plan properly so as to solve the problem once and for all. Otherwise, once they were to alarm him, their life would just get worse.
"What should we do? Senior, do you have any ideas?"
After racking their brains, they found that they were unable to think of a feasible plan. Eventually, everyone turned their sights to Mu Xueqing.
She was the de facto leader of the class, and everyone obeyed her words.
"I do have an idea!" Mu Xueqing's eyes suddenly lit up. Looking at the crowd, she said, "We are all students, and if we were to try to torment our teacher, once the Teacher Guild learns of it, we'll surely be punished. Or even worse, if the word of the matter were to spread, our reputation might fall to the gutters!"
The crowd nodded.
In this world, teachers were an esteemed existence and students were expected to obey their teacher's commands. If it was discovered that they tried to harm their own teacher, they would definitely suffer the condemnation of the public, and their families wouldn't let them off easily as well.
"Then what should we do?" Meng Tao asked anxiously.
"Since we can't do anything to our teacher, then... we should still be allowed to ask questions, right?"
A mischievous glint appeared in Mu Xueqing's eyes. "There are quite a few students in our class who like painting, tea ceremony, formations, equipment forging, pill forging... we can ask questions about these! If he is unable to answer those questions, let's see if he still has the cheek to remain here!"
"That's a good idea!"
"This way, not only will we not offend him, he will also be too embarrassed to remain here. Two birds with one stone!"
"That's a good plan..."
Hearing Mu Xueqing's idea, everyone's eyes lit up.
This was indeed a good plan.
Not only would they not offend the other party, they could also humiliate him at the same time.
"Wait... he is supposed to be a teacher guiding us on our cultivation. If we were to ask about these, he could just say that he isn't adept in those occupations. If so, our plan will be foiled!"
One of the female students spoke up.
Every teacher had their own expertise. Given Tianwu Academy's size, it was natural that they had teachers specializing in the various occupations as well. It was clear that they were up to something if they were to pose all of these questions to a single teacher.
Besides, as a teacher specializing in cultivation, it wasn't embarrassing for him to be unable to answer questions on other occupations!
After all, it wasn't possible for one to be adept in all occupations!
"I have already thought of that as well. We can just exert some pressure on him!" Mu Xueqing seemed to have already thought of a countermeasure, and a hint of a smile flashed across her beautiful eyes.
"Exert some pressure on him?"
"That's right! Later, when that teacher arrives, I will say that I have met with Master Teacher Zhang Xuan and he has expressed the intention to accept me as his student!" Mu Xueqing smiled.
"If that's the case, with Zhang shi as a backing, that teacher will surely be intimidated. He probably will be hesitant to go too far, and he will be too embarrassed to admit to knowing nothing at all as well... just that, if Zhang shi were to realize that we had made use of his name, won't we be in trouble?"
A student asked hesitantly.
"How is that possible? Zhang shi is an amazing genius, not to mention, hes a 2-star master teacher as well. We probably won't even get a chance to meet him in our entire life! Who asked him to suddenly become so famous all of a sudden, so much that everyone in the streets is talking about him? Besides, it's just a name, he probably won't ever find out about it!"
Mu Xueqing flung her hair.
The world that Zhang shi lived in was vastly different from theirs, it was impossible for them to ever be associated with him. Since he had become a huge topic in the past two days, they could make use of his name to intimidate that aggressive teacher.
"Alright, let's do it this way then..."
After contemplating for a moment, the group felt that there wasn't too much of a problem with the plan and they nodded in agreement.
"Un, when that teacher arrives, make sure not to display your hostility. All of you must be respectful to him so as to not allow him to grab hold of any of your handles!"
Mu Xueqing instructed.
"Yes!" The group answered.
...
"Is this the class I will be taking?"
Just when the group was busy plotting against Zhang Xuan, Zhang Xuan himself was currently standing outside the classroom, looking around to verify that he had come to the right location.