Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
The other party was at least slightly fearful of him the previous time, retreating at his bellowing. But from the looks of it, the other party seemed intent to accomplish whatever they intended to do this time around.
What in the world had happened for this group to even disregard the young master's identity as a 4-star master teacher?
"What are we doing? Stop playing the fool!"
Sect Leader Luo Huang sneered coldly. "Where's Zhang shi? Get him to come out at this very instant, or else don't blame us for getting nasty!"
Sect Leader Bai's eyebrows shot up in disdain.
"The Master Teacher Pavilion does indeed have its rules. We might be unable to lay our hands on a person of Zhang shi's standing, but if it was just a mere butler and a few other students... Do you think that the headquarters would punish us for crippling insignificant ants?"
Master teachers were governed by strict rules, but this didn't mean that they were saints. Just the bloodshed in the wars against the soul oracles and the Otherworldly Demons could easily fill an ocean.
It was true that the Master Teacher Pavilion frowned on senseless murder, but as long as one didn't go overboard in one's actions, the headquarters would usually just overlook such actions.
If these people refused to cooperate, they were willing to cripple or even kill them. The worst that could happen to them from this was just a dip in their reputation.
"The young master is in the midst of his seclusion, and he mustn't be interrupted at the moment. If you wish to meet him... please return tomorrow!"
Despite knowing that what the other party said was the truth, Sun Qiang knew that he couldn't back down at this point.
The young master had entrusted him to keep anyone from interrupting him. Unless he dies, he would never allow anyone to barge in at this point!
"Since you're seeking death, don't blame us for getting nasty!"
Not expecting this fellow to continue standing his ground, Sect Leader Bai flicked his finger.
Peng!
A sword qi flew through the air, and before Sun Qiang could react, he was already struck in his chest, and fresh blood spurted from his mouth.
How could he possibly stand against an opponent whom even the Demon Cinque Beast and Garden Owner Xue were no match for? If not for the other party's reluctant to sacrifice his reputation by killing a mere underling, he would have already been killed by now.
"Damn it!"
Upon seeing the sight, the eyes of Zheng Yang and the others reddened in anger. Roaring furiously, they charged forward.
But given that there haven't even reached Half-Transcension yet, how could they possibly be a match for a group of Consonant Spirit realm experts? With just a few flicks of Sect Leader Bai's finger, they were all already lying on the ground, injured.
They had devoted all of their strength, and yet, they couldn't inflict the slightest injury to their enemies. They couldn't help but feel frustrated at their helplessness.
All along, under the protection of their teacher, they had been able to cultivate peacefully without any worries. But at this moment, they finally realized that they were nothing without their teacher.
In the face of danger, other than dragging him down, they were unable to do anything at all.
With his hands behind his back, Sect Leader Luo Huang spoke impassively, "There is a limit to my tolerance. If he were to come out now, I might still consider sparing your lives!"
"I've already said that the young master is in seclusion. No one is to interrupt him now..."
Sun Qiang struggled to his feet and stood before Sect Leader Luo Huang. Zheng Yang and the others also followed suit.
They knew that they weren't a match, but even the slightest time they could stall now would be invaluable for Zhang Xuan. No matter how weak they were, they couldn't back down now.
Zhang Xuan was an important person to them. If the other party wished to cause him any trouble, they would have to step over their corpses to do so!
"Since you are so intent on dying, I'll fulfill your wish! Let's see whether he can continue hiding after his butler and students are dead!"
Seeing how even a group of ants dared to disregard his authority, Sect Leader Luo Huang's face darkened, and killing intent appeared on his face.
You wish to hide behind your butler and students?
Fine, continue doing so then! Let's see how long you can hold out for!
Placing his middle finger on his thumb, just as Sect Leader Luo was about to flick a surge of sword qi toward the group who dared to defy him, he suddenly saw two figures rushing over.
The one in front was an elder who exuded a powerful aura. A hint of worry was etched on his glabella.
"Sect Leader Luo, what are you doing?"
Even before arriving at the residence, the elder roared, and his voice reverberated across the entire residence.
"Zhang shi is a master teacher of our Myriad Kingdom Alliance. For you all to charge into his residence and injure his butler and students, is this a declaration of war against the Myriad Kingdom Alliance?"
His voice was seething with fury.
Myriad Kingdom Alliance Master Teacher Pavilion's Pavilion Master Kang Gan!
Following behind was a middle-aged man who bore a mark of authority between his brows. With a glance, it was clear that he was a person of great standing... Myriad Kingdom Alliance's Alliance Head Zhao, Zhao Feiwu's father.
Given how huge of a ruckus this matter had caused, it was impossible for them to be unaware of it.
Just that, they never expected for Sect Leader Luo and so many experts to actually seek trouble with a master teacher who had just passed the 4-star master teacher examination.
Even though Zhang Xuan had shown outstanding results in the selection round, this was only in terms of the Myriad Kingdom Alliance's standard. It didn't make any sense for so many experts to confront him together.
"Declaration of war?"
Seeing that Pavilion Master Kang had arrived on the scene, Sect Leader Luo Huang chuckled lightly and dissipated the sword qi he had gathered on his fingertip. Placing his hands behind his back, he said, "Pavilion Master Kang, you're exaggerating the matter. The only reason why we're here is because we've received a complaint regarding Zhang shi, and we would like to weed out a black sheep sullying the reputation of all master teachers. This has nothing to do with your Myriad Kingdom Alliance Master Teacher Pavilion!"
Narrowing his eyes, Pavilion Master Kang questioned, "Weed out a black sheep? What do you mean by that?"
Sun Qiang and the others were perplexed as well.
These fellows had barged in here, demanding to meet Zhang shi without any reason at all. Yet, all of the sudden, they started talking about weeding out a black sheep...
"Simple. Someone told us that Zhang shi has killed his kin, stole his family heirloom, and eradicated his kingdom!"
Sect Leader Luo Huang raised his eyebrows. "As a master teacher, without the permission of the Master Teacher Pavilion, he wreaked havoc in a kingdom and toppled its order... As half 5-star master teachers, are we unqualified to question him on this matter?"
"This..."
Pavilion Master Kang was stumped.
He had been busy preparing for the Master Teacher Pavilion for the past few months, so he wasn't too sure about the events that transpired in Xuanyuan Kingdom. On top of that, Zhao Feiwu had pushed down the matter so very few people knew about it. Luo Qianhong, out of shame, also didn't report this matter to them as well.
As such, Pavilion Master Kang was unaware of this matter.
"Stole a family heirloom? The matter probably isn't as simple as that!"
Alliance Head Zhao had heard the story from his daughter, but thinking nothing much of it, he didn't enquire about the details.
"Isn't as simple as that? We have an eye-witness here!"
Sect Leader Luo Huang waved his hand, and a single-armed elder walked out from the crowd.
Ding Hong!
Knowing that Zhang Xuan was living in this courtyard, his eyes were burning with fury.
"My grandson, Ding Mu, was killed by Zhang Xuan, and he had one of his acquaintances take control of Xuanyuan Kingdom. In fact, even my arm was severed by him. It is due to him that I was forced to wander around aimlessly with nowhere to return to..."
At which, Ding Hong roared furiously, "And the only reason for his deranged actions is due to a single relic... Kong shi's handwritten letter!"
"Kong shi's handwritten letter?"
Hearing those words, Pavilion Master Kang's eyebrows twitched.
Even though he wasn't too sure what it was, nothing that was related to Kong shi could be ordinary.
"Indeed! Because of this relic, he destroyed my entire clan! Is this an action befitting of a master teacher?" Ding Hong howled.
His words were phrased in an extremely misleading manner. Knowing that master teachers had the ability to discern truth from falsehood, he chose to warp the truth in a manner that sounded as if Zhang Xuan had done all of this just for Kong shi's handwritten letter.
There was nothing wrong with the details-everything that had occurred did originate from Kong shi's handwritten letter, just that the story was presented in a manner biased against Zhang Xuan.
"You're lying! It's your grandson who tried to..."
Seeing the other party twisting the facts around, Zheng Yang was so furious that if he could, he would have rushed forward to tear Ding Hong apart at this instant.
"Audacious! Your seniors are talking, a junior like you have no place to be interrupting in our conversation!"
Before Zheng Yang could finish his words, Sect Leader Luo Huang waved his hands.
Hu!
A surge of energy gushed toward Zheng Yang, Sun Qiang, and the others, sealing their mouths. No matter how much they struggled, they were unable to get a single word out.
"What are you trying to do?" Pavilion Master Kang's face darkened.
"Nothing much. I just don't want others to be interrupting our conversation!"
Sect Leader Luo Huang gazed at Pavilion Master Kang impassively and asked, "You've heard what the other party had said. As a 4-star pinnacle master teacher, you should be able to easily discern whether this Emperor Ding Hong has lied or not!"
As long as one's cultivation didn't exceed that of a master teacher by too much, it would be impossible for one to get away with lying blatantly to a master teacher. Given the huge disparity between Pavilion Master Kang and Ding Hong cultivation, it was impossible for Pavilion Master Kang to be unable to discern it if the latter was lying.
It was precisely for this reason that the others believed Ding Hong's words regarding Kong shi's handwritten letter and were willing to go to such extent for it.
"This..."
Pavilion Master Kang was stumped.
While this single-armed Emperor Ding Hong's words were emotionally-charged, he could sense that the other party's resentment toward Zhang shi was true.
Zhang shi had killed his grandson and eradicated his kingdom?
All because... he wanted to obtain Kong shi's handwritten letter?
If it was anything else, Pavilion Master Kang would surely defend Zhang shi. After all, in the time that he had been with the latter, he had gained some understanding of the latter's personality.
If he was a greedy person, he wouldn't have given a middle-tier spirit stone to Ruohuan gongzi.
But... Kong shi's handwritten letter possessed an allure that no master teacher could resist.
Could Zhang shi truly be guilty of this?
Seeing the hesitation in Pavilion Master Kang's eyes, Sect Leader Luo Huang immediately stepped forward and announced, "Zhang Xuan has disregarded the master teacher moral code and willfully stole, killed, and usurped the authority from a kingdom. On top of that, as half 5-star master teachers, he failed to observe decorum to greet us, and instead, even allowed his subordinate to insult us. Just by this charge of insubordination in itself, we can report to the headquarters to have him stripped of his license and indicted by the Hall of Commandment!"
His words were infused with a quality that befuddled one's soul-a unique ability of Consonant Spirit realm experts-that made one inclined to believe his words.
"This matter surely isn't as simple as it sounds. We should first investigate the matter thoroughly before coming to a conclusion..."
Even so, Pavilion Master Kang still felt that it was unlikely for Zhang shi to commit such atrocities.
"Investigate the matter? Do we even need to investigate it? The truth will become clear once we verify whether Kong shi's handwritten letter is on him or not!"
Sect Leader Luo Huang flung his sleeves.
"This..."
Pavilion Master Kang was stumped.
If Kong shi's handwritten letter was truly with Zhang Xuan, then no amount of explanation could cleanse him of this charge.
"Alright, hurry up and get Zhang shi out. Are we going to wait all day for him?"
Frowning, Sect Leader Luo Huang was in the middle of his words when he suddenly felt an indescribably powerful aura from the heaven. After which, an extremely cold voice that was devoid of the slightest emotion boomed in the area.
"To justify your plundering so brazenly with blatant lies, the master teachers of Huanyu Empire sure are shameless!"
At which, a figure suddenly appeared in mid-air. His robes fluttered like an immortal descending from the heavens.
"Flight? S-S-S-S-Saint?"
Sect Leader Luo Huang and the others narrowed their eyes in astonishment.