Chapter 1285: Results Void

"Acknowledging a master?"

Not only the crowd was puzzled, Zhang Xuan was also stunned on the spot. It took him a moment to figure out what had happened.

The sword intent filling the sky was all released by Lingxu Sword. These long swords had benefited and were already obeying commands.

Now that Lingxu Sword had successfully acknowledged him as master, and he had comprehended the true interpretation of the sword path, the many weapons had also recognized him and successfully acknowledged him as master.

"Adding Ji Lingfeng's Qingyu Sword, it's exactly one hundred and eight... meeting the requirements of the sword formation. No wonder Lingxu Sword agreed to Ji Lingzhen's request and attacked me..."

Zhang Xuan mused.

The surrounding middle-grade saint artifacts, long swords, totaled one hundred and seven. Together with Lingxu Sword, they could exactly form a sword formation, unleashing extremely powerful might.

"After Sword Elder created the sword technique, could it be... that he never managed to gather the sword formation? That's why he was killed?"

A thought emerged in his mind.

The Three Swords of Lingxu required many weapons to coordinate. Could it be that Sword Elder died without gathering them, leading to his downfall under siege?

Otherwise, with his strength, killing him would probably not have been so easy.

Knowing that these matters could no longer be deduced, Zhang Xuan stopped thinking about it. With a wave of his hand, he gathered all the long swords in the air into his ring. Just as he finished, he heard a sharp crane cry, and a huge immortal crane flew over.

Zhao Xingmo and Hall Master Yue stood on the crane's back, looking at the many examinees lying on the ground with faces ashen as if they had lost their parents.

Zhang Xuan had used the Thousand Ant Queen to control the thousand ants, preventing them from knowing what was happening here. But after a long time, they still sensed something amiss. On their way over, feeling all the jade tokens shatter, they nearly fell off the crane's back.

Three days were stipulated for the results, but in just half a day, everyone was wiped out... Wasn't this too exaggerated?

The immortal crane landed on the ground. Soon figuring out what had happened, Zhao Xingmo looked at Zhang Xuan before him, his eyes turning green, almost on the verge of tears.

He knew this guy liked to cause trouble, but not like this!

One person eliminated all the examinees—how could this retest be evaluated?

Could it be that after all this hard work and searching everywhere, only he would pass?

If so, not to mention whether the Saint Son Hall would agree, the eight great enfeoffed empires and many saint clans would go mad.

"Teacher Zhao, the law does not punish the multitude. With so many failing, I think it goes against the rules. This retest has flaws. Perhaps... we should set new rules and hold another competition! That would also reflect fairness."

Glancing at Zhang Xuan, his eyebrow twitching, Hall Master Yue quickly cupped his fist and said.

"Right, I also think a retest is needed..."

"I agree..."

Sun Qian and others' eyes lit up, and they quickly spoke up.

If there was no retest, they would all be wiped out, which they naturally wouldn't accept.

"This..."

Zhao Xingmo hesitated.

Returning with only one person to report was certainly not acceptable, but... changing the established rules at this point would also be a great challenge to credibility.

If a retest was held this time, those who didn't pass next time would still be unwilling and demand another retest—what then?

Could this go on forever?

"I need to report this to the Saint Son Hall and let the elders decide!"

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xingmo said.

This situation was beyond his capacity; it was better to report the news.

"Yes!"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent.

"Teacher Zhang, since you have obtained the treasures of the Sword Pool, I hope you can return them to my Qianchong Empire. On behalf of the Qianchong Master Teacher Pavilion and many master teachers, I would be extremely grateful..."

Turning to look at Zhang Xuan not far away, Hall Master Yue said.

Earlier, when explaining why everyone was eliminated, he had also detailed the appearance of the treasure.

"Return?"

Zhang Xuan looked at him as if he were an idiot: "The Sword Pool has stood in Qianchong Empire for ten thousand years without anyone obtaining it, showing that this thing does not belong to you. Since I have this luck, why should I hand it over?"

"That's not right. The Sword Pool is a relic of my Qianchong Empire, inspiring countless master teachers to strive forward. It is the spiritual pillar and totem of the entire empire. You are not from Qianchong Empire, yet you have obtained the inheritance. Naturally, you should return it. You can't just take it away, destroy an empire's faith, and cause chaos!"

Hall Master Yue said with a smile.

His tone was not harsh, and he even smiled, but his words carried an imposing force that compelled submission.

The meaning was clear: the inheritance in the Sword Pool belongs to our Qianchong Empire; since you are not from the empire, don't think of taking it away!

If you don't return it, any turmoil in the empire will be your fault... Presumably, the headquarters wouldn't want to see that either.

Spoken softly, but with a strong threat.

Zhang Xuan was extremely intelligent and immediately caught the implication. He smiled lightly: "Since it's a spiritual pillar and totem... why has no one obtained it in the ten thousand years it has existed in Qianchong Empire? Having treasures but not using them, unable to benefit future generations and improve their strength—your Master Teacher Pavilion is too useless!"

"Uh..."

His mouth twitching, Hall Master Yue's face flushed red.

"Being incapable of obtaining the inheritance yourself, yet trying to extort it from me—is this the rule of Qianchong Master Teacher Pavilion? It seems I need to report this to headquarters and have them investigate thoroughly!"

Zhang Xuan continued.

"This... Teacher Zhang, if you don't want to return the inheritance, that's fine. I was just worried that it might affect your reputation. I meant nothing else..." Knowing he was in the wrong, Hall Master Yue had to stop.

"Affect my reputation? That won't happen. Coincidentally, I have something to report to headquarters and seek justice from the alliance!"

Zhang Xuan said.

"What matter?" Hall Master Yue's eyelid twitched.

"Entering the Sword Pool for the retest was a rule set by Teacher Zhao. None of us examinees knew about it. But here, I was ambushed and attacked. I suspect someone leaked the information in advance, intending to harm me. Therefore, I hope the alliance will conduct a thorough investigation!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

Ji Lingfeng and others lying in ambush here clearly knew he would come for the retest. If no one had leaked the information, he absolutely wouldn't believe it.

He had just beaten this Hall Master Yue badly yesterday, and he was the most likely to know the news in advance... He couldn't think of anyone else who would do this.

"This, this... Teacher Zhang not only wasn't harmed but also obtained the inheritance, turning misfortune into blessing. I think... let's just forget it. Taking local matters to the alliance would have a bad influence..."

Pale-faced, Hall Master Yue said.

"I will report Sword Elder's inheritance to headquarters and detail everything that happened here over the past two days. How the investigation is conducted and how the alliance branch decides the punishment is not up to me..."

Interrupting him, Zhang Xuan said.

If he hadn't been strong enough, he would certainly have been killed by Ji Lingfeng by now. As the hall master of the Master Teacher Pavilion, instead of protecting master teachers, colluding with outsiders to ambush an alliance elder—just this charge alone would be enough to ruin this Hall Master Yue, even if not kill him.

Of course, he couldn't be bothered with the specific verdict.

"I..."

His face deathly pale, his body swaying, Hall Master Yue collapsed to the ground.

It was indeed he who had leaked the news about Teacher Zhang's retest here. If not investigated, nothing would happen... but once investigated, he absolutely couldn't escape.

This was already considered plotting against a master teacher.

"Teacher Zhang, what's going on?"

Zhao Xingmo noticed something amiss from their conversation and couldn't help looking over.

"This is the full account of what happened after I entered the Sword Pool. Teacher Zhao, you can take a look..."

With a flick of his hand, Zhang Xuan handed over a jade token.

Zhao Xingmo glanced at it, and his face turned livid.

He had set the retest in the Sword Pool. The news was so secret, yet this Teacher Zhang had been ambushed... If he didn't get to the bottom of it, he himself would be implicated. How could he not be angry?

"Yue Yiquan, you're very good. I will report this matter to headquarters in the name of the Saint Son Hall. They must give me an explanation!"

Flicking his sleeve, Zhao Xingmo said coldly.

"Teacher Zhao..." Yue Yiquan's face was ashen.

The Saint Son Hall, subordinate to the Master Teacher Pavilion, was the largest institution for training master teachers, even higher in status than the alliance's Master Teacher Pavilion. If a master teacher from the Saint Son Hall reported it, headquarters would inevitably intervene and conduct a detailed investigation.

In other words... he absolutely couldn't escape.

Originally, he only wanted to teach this little fellow from Qingyuan Empire a lesson on behalf of his brother-in-law, to make him understand that a quasi-8-star master teacher couldn't be insulted lightly... He never dreamed that the other party would be fine, but he himself would land in big trouble.

His future, status, reputation... would probably be swept away, turning him from the hall master of an enfeoffed empire's Master Teacher Pavilion into a prisoner.

If only he hadn't opposed him...

Yue Yiquan was filled with regret.

"Let's go!"

Ignoring the regretful hall master, Zhang Xuan followed closely behind Zhao Xingmo and the others, flying outward.

Returning to the Master Teacher Pavilion.

"Teacher Zhang, I failed your expectations..."

Seeing him arrive, Zhang Jiuxiao came up to him, looking dejected.

Teacher Zhang had spent a lot of effort to get him into the Saint Son Hall, but he had become the first to be eliminated, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"What happened to you? Why... were you eliminated as soon as you arrived?"

Zhang Xuan asked curiously.

"I..." Zhang Jiuxiao's face reddened: "I was ambushed by a sword..."

As guessed earlier, shortly after Zhang Jiuxiao arrived, he encountered a peak-level middle-grade saint artifact.

This sword's strength far exceeded his, easily eliminating him.

"It should be Ji Lingfeng's Qingyu Sword..." After asking about the sword's appearance, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Since the other party had come to ambush him, they had naturally investigated thoroughly. Worried that Zhang Jiuxiao would help, they eliminated him in advance.

"I have let down Teacher Zhang's kindness..."

Unaware of the reason, Zhang Jiuxiao looked dejected. Just as he was thinking about how to repay this person's favor, he heard Zhao Xingmo's voice not far away.

"This retest encountered an incident. The results are void. Everyone will return with me to the Saint Son Hall for the final selection!"

"Results void?"

Startled, Zhang Jiuxiao then realized: "Teacher Zhang, what happened? By the way, wasn't it supposed to be three days? Why are you all back so soon?"

After being eliminated, he left directly and knew nothing of what happened afterward.

"They attacked me, and I accidentally... eliminated everyone..."

Zhang Xuan said.

"Eliminated everyone?"

Zhang Jiuxiao stood frozen in place.