Chapter 1332: Self-Introduction

"The mountain gate collapsed?"

Zhang Xuan froze, standing rigidly in place.

When he had breached it yesterday, everything was fine. Tens of thousands of students entered, each displaying their talents, ultimately determining the top five hundred... How could it suddenly collapse?

"That's what Teacher Fei said!"

Chen Leyao whispered, her eyes also filled with disbelief.

Clearly, this news was extremely shocking to her as well; otherwise, she wouldn't have blurted it out upon seeing Zhang Xuan.

"Teacher Fei?"

"That's the one up front. He's the homeroom teacher for the elite class. If you have any issues in the future, you can find him, and if there's something you don't understand, you can consult him!" Chen Leyao pointed ahead.

Zhang Xuan looked over. A middle-aged man stood directly in front, surrounded by a few students who seemed to be asking him something.

"Did he say why?"

The mountain gate trial system had stood for tens of thousands of years without falling. How could such a sudden change occur?

"It seems to be because the statue of Saint Kui that suppressed the mountain gate shattered!" After a moment's thought, Chen Leyao said.

Zhang Xuan was utterly perplexed.

What did the collapse of the mountain gate have to do with the shattering of a statue?

"The mountain gate trial system was established by Saint Kui. It's a folded space he created, and many of the assessment items are controlled by his will. If the statue shatters, it means the will he left behind has dissipated. Without support, the space naturally collapses..."

Chen Leyao explained.

"This..." Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had spent three days with Saint Kui and was deeply grateful to the first hall master of the Saint Child Hall. He had hoped to find him and thank him in person after gaining the strength to activate the sect leader token, but he hadn't expected his will to dissipate so soon.

"Having existed for tens of thousands of years, even if most of that time was spent in slumber, life has reached its end..."

He sighed.

Everyone has a lifespan limit. Even Confucius couldn't leap beyond the river of time and transcend the material world.

Although Saint Kui was extremely powerful in life, the will he left after death also had a time limit. If he kept sleeping, it could last longer, but every trial required him to awaken, and over time, dissipation was only a matter of time.

"Indeed!" Chen Leyao nodded, unable to help but sigh. "With Saint Kui's will dissipated, the position of hall master will be even harder to establish..."

"Hall master?"

"You don't know yet? It's said that Saint Kui's will not only selected students but, most importantly, selected the new hall master. Every hall master of the Saint Child Hall was personally chosen by him... Now that his will has dissipated and no new hall master has been established, whoever takes the position will lack legitimacy..."

As a genius of a major power, she had her own information channels. Although these matters were confidential, they weren't too hard for her to inquire about.

"This..." Blinking, Zhang Xuan was about to speak when he heard a resonant voice from the center of the room.

Turning his head, he saw it was Teacher Fei, who had been talking to a few students earlier.

"It seems everyone from the elite class has arrived. First, welcome you all as students of the Saint Child Hall. For the time to come, I will be spending it with you. Now, please introduce yourselves, so that everyone can get to know you and become familiar with you as quickly as possible, because you will be spending a considerable amount of time with your classmates. Alright, first up, Feng Ziyi..."

Zhang Xuan looked over.

This Feng Ziyi had managed to surpass even the Zhang family members and become first in the assessment, demonstrating his ability. Zhang Xuan was also curious to see who this formidable figure was.

A young man stepped forward. He appeared to be about twenty-four or twenty-five, with an ordinary appearance—no extraordinary aura, no striking features. If you didn't look closely, you might not even notice him in a crowd.

However, under the illumination of the Eye of Insight, one could clearly see the violent aura within him, like a boiling river, ready to erupt with astonishing power once ignited.

"Domain Realm late stage... Truly formidable!"

His expression turned serious.

The other was only about twenty-four or twenty-five and already possessed such strength. His talent could be said to be terrifyingly powerful.

"My name is Feng Ziyi!"

Stepping out of the crowd, the young man said little, only introducing his name before falling silent.

However, the more he acted this way, the more unfathomable he seemed.

"Second, Zhang Xu!"

Teacher Fei said.

Although he had detailed information on each student, if the other party was unwilling to speak, it wasn't appropriate to press further.

With these words, another young man stepped forward.

He appeared even younger than Feng Ziyi, about the same age as Zhang Xuan, only around twenty. Yet his strength was no less than the former, giving off a powerful sense of dominance, as if he could turn his hand to summon clouds and rain.

"I am Zhang Xu, from the Sage Zhang family. I hope to become friends with all of you and progress together!"

Unlike Feng Ziyi's aloofness, he spoke with a smile.

Under the Eye of Insight, this Zhang Xu showed no obvious flaws in his physical body, true qi, or soul, incredibly powerful.

Zhang Jiuxiao, Zhang Qian, and even Zhang Yunfeng were nothing compared to him, not worth mentioning.

Although the other was only at Domain Realm late stage, if it came to a real fight, even using all his strength, Zhang Xuan might not be able to win.

As a core member of the Zhang family, his bloodline power was surely stronger than Zhang Qian's. Coupled with various exquisite martial techniques and methods, he could probably fight across several minor levels, just like Zhang Xuan himself.

After Zhang Xu's introduction came Yuan Haiqing, Bai Qingxuan...

Listening to each introduction, Zhang Xuan was secretly astonished.

No wonder the great clans and powers could maintain their peak status. Their methods of nurturing the younger generation were indeed unique.

Among the top fifty of the elite class, over forty were from such backgrounds. Counting them up, he was the only one truly from a small place.

"It seems the Master Teacher Continent is the same. Because of different training conditions and resource gaps, the excellent become more excellent, the weak become weaker, and the gap widens..."

He sighed inwardly.

Powerful forces and families had access to higher-level master teachers and resources. Their descendants received the best training from birth, something ordinary families truly couldn't match.

For someone like him to have come all the way from a small place like Tianxuan Kingdom was already a miracle among miracles.

No wonder others didn't believe it and always thought he was a junior from the Zhang family.

Before long, the self-introductions of the fifty people drew to a close.

"The last one in our class, Zhang Xuan!"

As the words ended, everyone's eyes turned to him in unison.

This Zhang Xuan, though not from the Zhang family, had beaten up Zhang Qian and Zhang Yunfeng. Everyone present had witnessed it and remembered it well.

"My name is Zhang Xuan, from the Qingyuan Empire!"

With nothing to boast about, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly and introduced himself.

"So he really is from the Qingyuan Empire!"

"Coming from such a small place, he dares to lay hands on someone from the Zhang family. This guy's got some nerve!"

"With his fiftieth-place result, he defeated Zhang Yunfeng. Don't you find that strange?"

"That's true. He's probably a junior secretly trained by some nine-star master teacher from the Master Teacher Academy..."

Hearing his introduction, everyone lowered their voices.

Having reached such strength as a rogue cultivator and showing no fear of threats from the Zhang family, everyone believed his background wasn't as simple as he claimed.

"Alright, now that everyone has introduced themselves, I'll talk about some rules of the Saint Child Hall and some essentials for choosing a teacher."

Teacher Fei smiled and said, "You can look up the various rules of the Saint Child Hall from your identity tokens, so I won't go into detail. What I want to talk about now is the most important thing, the one you should pay the most attention to!"

"That is... As fellow students of the Saint Child Hall, you can compete and spar with each other, but you cannot kill each other. If there is truly an irreconcilable conflict that must be resolved by life and death, you can apply in advance for a life-and-death duel. As long as three elders agree and you obtain the so-called life-and-death document, you may proceed!"

"With this in place, if you are killed in a fair duel, the forces behind you cannot seek revenge!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

This was actually somewhat similar to the rules of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy.

Whether master teachers or other professions, where there are people, there is conflict; where there is conflict, there is the jianghu. No matter how powerful or how lofty one's state of mind, no one is exempt.

Back then, even Confucius had lost his temper and wept bitterly, let alone others.

When there are conflicts, they must be dealt with and not allowed to ferment; otherwise, the impact will only grow.

For this reason, whether at the Master Teacher Academy or the Saint Child Hall, they did not suppress human nature but allowed it to play out freely. If there was truly an irreconcilable conflict, it was better to resolve it than to let it fester due to rules, ultimately leading to greater disaster.

"As for choosing a teacher... My advice is simple: choose what you are best at!"

Teacher Fei continued, "All of you passed the assessment, selected from tens of thousands, so you must have an exceptional skill. Therefore, I hope you can continue to develop this skill and surpass others..."

Then, Teacher Fei detailed some of the Saint Child Hall's renowned master teachers, as well as those with special talents and professions.

Listening to these introductions, Zhang Xuan shook his head, completely uninterested.

As long as he had enough books, he could learn better than from anyone. There was no need to bother about who was strong.

"Fairy Leyao, about the Cold Ice Spirit Liquid you gave me last time, do you still have any? Could I purchase some?"

Things like top-grade spirit stones were troublesome to find, but the person before him had ready-made Cold Ice Spirit Liquid. He had used it before with good results, and it could quickly improve his cultivation.

"This... I do have some, but I need to keep it to break through to the Domain Realm..."

After hesitating, Chen Leyao said.

He was the teacher of the young palace master and had a semi-teacherly relationship with her. Under normal circumstances, she shouldn't refuse his request, but... she needed it to break through to the Domain Realm and couldn't conveniently give it away.

"Break through to the Domain Realm?"

Frowning, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up as he looked at her. "If I can help you break through to the Domain Realm without using the Cold Ice Spirit Liquid, would you be willing to sell it to me?"

"If I can break through, I'll give it to you for free, let alone sell it!"

Chen Leyao said.