Chapter 2076: The Xuanjiang River

They all knew their teacher's talent. If it had been a year, or longer, his injuries would have long since healed, and he might even have made a name for himself. But with only about a month, he was probably still trapped in Xuanjiang City like them, unable to leave.

After all, this was a brand-new world. At the Fourth Level of the Ancient Sage realm, one could command the wind and rain in the Master Continent, but here, it counted for nothing!

"Well, let's ask someone!"

With this in mind, Zhao Ya looked at a nearby servant: "Please trouble you to see your master and convey our gratitude, us fellow disciples."

"Yes!" The servant withdrew. Before long, a middle-aged man strode over, full of surprise: "You all were so severely injured, yet you've woken up so quickly..."

Although he was not skilled in medicine, the mansion's physician had examined them and said that under normal circumstances, the injured would not wake up for several months. Yet in just a few days, they were all fully conscious—their cultivation must not be as simple as it seemed!

Could it be that, like Shan Xiaotian back then, their luck was about to turn?

"Thank you, Squire Zhang, for saving our lives..."

The nine fellow disciples stood up together and clasped their fists.

"You're welcome. It was just a casual act, nothing much..."

Squire Zhang chuckled.

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhao Ya stopped beating around the bush and asked: "We were all seriously injured and can't remember clearly. May I ask... where does this Xuanjiang City belong? Is there a place like a Master Hall?"

"Master Hall?" Squire Zhang blinked: "Never heard of it."

He paused and said: "Xuanjiang City is under the jurisdiction of one of the six great sects, the Lingyun Sword Pavilion..."

"Six great sects?"

"There are six great sects in the world: the Lingyun Sword Pavilion..." Squire Zhang introduced them in detail.

Everyone suddenly understood.

It seemed this was indeed the Upper Firmament, completely different from the Master Continent—two entirely distinct worlds.

"Speaking of the six great sects, something shocking happened a few days ago!"

As they talked more, Squire Zhang grew interested: "The new sect master of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect is named Zheng Yang. Have you heard of him?"

"Zheng Yang?"

Everyone was startled. The remaining eight looked in unison at a young man in the middle.

"Same name as me?"

Zheng Yang felt awkward.

"You're also called Zheng Yang?" Squire Zhang paused, then chuckled: "There are many people with the same name in the world. No need to be nervous!"

Across the continent, there were millions, even tens of millions, named Zheng Yang. Having the same name was normal.

"Yes... I just find it a bit common..." Zheng Yang nodded.

Actually, having the same name wasn't a big deal; it just felt a bit unexpected.

That the sect master of one of the six great sects, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, such an extraordinary expert, shared his name...

"Common? If we're talking about names with many bearers, the new sect master of the Seven Star Tower might be even more so..." Squire Zhang laughed.

"Could it be... even more common than the name Zheng Yang? What kind of ugly name could be even more common?"

Liu Yang became interested and looked at Zheng Yang with a teasing expression.

"Oh, it's Liu Yang!" Squire Zhang laughed.

"..." Liu Yang.

Seeing everyone's eyes fixed on this young man, Squire Zhang also sensed something was off. He looked over in confusion: "What... don't you think this name is common and ugly? In my opinion, it's several times uglier than Zheng Yang! Of course, Brother Zheng, I'm not saying your name is bad; I'm just remarking..."

Liu Yang's face darkened: "Um... I'm also called Liu Yang."

"..." Squire Zhang's face twitched. He was stunned. Had he rescued a nest of people with the same names as sect masters?

After a moment's hesitation, he tested: "Then among you, is there anyone named... Zhang Xuan?"

"You... know Zhang Xuan?" Zhao Ya was startled.

"Yes, in the Abandoned Continent, who doesn't know that name..." Squire Zhang nodded: "He is the sect master of our Lingyun Sword Pavilion!"

"Sect master of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion?"

This time, it was Zhao Ya and the others who were stunned.

"Could it be a coincidence of names?"

"Teacher has only been here for a little over a month. How could he become the sect master of one of the six great sects, the Lingyun Sword Pavilion?"

"To become a sect master, one's cultivation must at least reach the peak of the Immortal Lord realm..."

...

During the earlier pleasantries, Squire Zhang had mentioned some cultivation levels: the Pseudo-God realm, though unknown, and the three major realms of Void Immortal, True Immortal, and Immortal Lord were clearly explained.

To become a sect master, one's cultivation was likely at least at the peak of the Immortal Lord realm. Had their teacher, who had only been here for a little over a month, even healed his injuries?

Zhao Ya asked: "What does this Sect Master Zhang Xuan look like? Do you know..."

"He looks about twenty years old. Coincidentally, he has a connection with our Xuanjiang City. Over a month ago, he was injured and rescued by Shan Xiaotian in the city. Later, he transformed into the sect master of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion..."

Speaking of Zhang Xuan's experience, Squire Zhang was full of admiration: "Not only that... the Sect Masters Liu Yang and Zheng Yang I mentioned earlier... were actually all disguises of him, his aliases! That is to say, he now concurrently holds the position of sect master of four great sects: the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, the Seven Star Tower, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, and the Zhuxing Palace. Calling him the number one person in the world is not an exaggeration..."

"Sect master of four sects?"

"Number one person in the world?"

Their faces twitching, Zhao Ya and the others grabbed their hair. Yuan Tao even bit his tongue without noticing.

At this point, even a fool would confirm that the Zhang Xuan in question was definitely their teacher, not a coincidence of names!

A coincidence of one name could be tolerated, but how could the aliases also match theirs?

They had just been thinking that their teacher had only been here for a little over a month and might not even have fully recovered from his injuries. Hearing this news... their hearts all convulsed.

This cultivation speed... was too heaven-defying!

In one month, from the Fourth Level of the Ancient Sage realm, breaking through Void Immortal and True Immortal to reach the peak of Immortal Lord, and single-handedly unifying four great sects... becoming the number one person in the world...

Teacher was still teacher, still the one to be looked up to.

"Do you know... this Sect Master Zhang?"

Seeing everyone's dazed expressions, Squire Zhang sensed something was wrong and looked over in confusion.

Zhao Yan smiled bitterly: "Know him? If I'm not mistaken, he should be our teacher..."

"Teacher..." Squire Zhang was stunned.

"We may need to trouble Squire Zhang to send us to the Lingyun Sword Pavilion..."

After asking many more details and confirming that the Zhang Xuan in question was indeed their teacher, Zhao Ya said.

"That's easy. I'll do it right away..."

Squire Zhang hurriedly left.

If what they said was true and they were indeed the personal disciples of Sect Master Zhang Xuan, then as their rescuer, his fortunes would surely rise, and everything would go smoothly!

...

Sitting on the mountaintop, after waiting half an hour, he indeed saw the red string on the spear flutter and point in a direction.

Zhang Xuan stood up.

The direction the red string pointed was actually the Xuanjiang River.

"No wonder I couldn't detect the entrance's location..."

Earlier, he had asked Shan Xiaotian where he had rescued him. This time, he had also specifically checked that place, but found nothing. It turned out to be in the Xuanjiang River.

This river was extremely wide. If a formation were set within it, even the Lingyun Sword Pavilion would find it hard to detect.

After all, water easily conceals fluctuations in spiritual energy.

Putting the formation flags and spear into his storage ring, Zhang Xuan led Wu Chen straight toward the direction indicated by the red string and flew off.

Entering the river, they dove straight down.

The Xuanjiang River was very deep, over a hundred meters. Soon reaching the riverbed, Zhang Xuan frowned.

According to his observation, everything within a few hundred kilometers was normal, no different from an ordinary river.

"Young master..."

Wu Chen also couldn't see anything unusual and looked over in confusion.

Could the formation just now have been wrong, and the passage was not here?

"Don't rush..."

After a moment's hesitation, a drop of blood appeared on his fingertip, and Zhang Xuan flicked it.

Hum!

With a soft chime, the riverbed, originally full of quicksand and silt, immediately rippled, and a small stone door appeared before them.

Approaching it, Zhang Xuan gently pushed.

The stone door swung open with a bang, revealing a pitch-black passage.

Zhang Xuan walked in first. Seeing Wu Chen's confusion, he smiled: "This passage leads to the seal of Master Kong on the other side. On this side, to prevent the leakage of the Upper Firmament's mercury spiritual energy, corresponding measures must have been taken. Although my blood differs greatly from Master Kong's, both belong to Heaven-recognized masters and should share some commonality. Therefore, using my blood can activate this hidden seal. Otherwise, simply searching would never find it!"

Actually, it wasn't about being Heaven-recognized masters, but that both possessed a part of the Heavenly Dao.

However, in front of Wu Chen, he didn't want to reveal that.

Wu Chen suddenly understood.

Walking slowly along the passage, before long, they saw a spacious hall where seven or eight guards at the Fourth Level of the Ancient Sage realm were drinking.

"The sect master sending us here is no different from imprisonment!"

"It's so boring!"

"I heard the other side is another world, where people have very low cultivation..."

"Very low, but the other side is sealed off; we can't get through..."

They chatted while drinking.

"These should be people sent by 'Master Kong'."

Hearing their conversation, Zhang Xuan waved his hand lightly.

Before they could react, the few of them turned to ashes.

Although they were stationed here on orders, they remained a huge隐患 for the Hundred Schools of Thought. Rather than leaving them to leak information, it was better to kill them.

At the Fourth Level of the Ancient Sage realm, with his current strength, as long as he acted, he would leave no trace.

In the center of the hall was a huge vortex, swallowing streams of mercury spiritual energy, disappearing to who knows where.

The portals on either side of the vortex were carved with special patterns. Looking closely, they resembled the altar in the Zhuxing Palace.

"It seems that when Master Kong built this passage, he was worried someone would block the entrance... So, coming out from here would teleport you to a random place within Xuanjiang City, not here."

After examining it, Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.