Chapter 969: Returning to the Surface

Just moments ago, he had said that their combat masters were formidable and not to be trifled with, only to have two teenagers, sixteen or seventeen years old, beat them into unconsciousness, leaving them unaware of their surroundings...

One being strong was bad enough, but two in a row—and the second had only been training for two months, not even knowing martial skills...

Upon entering the academy, he was beaten by ordinary students; then, the Dragon Gate Formation, which almost no one had passed in three hundred years, was conquered by two in succession...

To be honest, he was starting to doubt life itself.

Dean Zhang, even if you are very powerful and formidable, there's no need to be this ruthless!

It's one thing for you to be strong yourself, but even the students you casually teach are this formidable? Where does that leave the face of the Combat Masters Hall?

"Combat Master Liao, it seems... your people can't proceed with the next match. What should we two do?"

Just as he was feeling frustrated, he heard Wang Ying's voice from the side.

Hearing this, he remembered that the nine people on the stage were all poisoned and unconscious, not yet awake.

In previous assessments, it was always their combat masters who knocked others unconscious; now, with only two students from the opposing side, his own were either severely injured or unconscious...

Liao Song felt his heart turn cold.

"Let our people rest... Continue in three days! In the meantime, summon some more combat masters from the Combat Masters Hall..."

After hesitating for a moment, Liao Song said.

There was no other way now.

His nine subordinates were severely poisoned; even if the poison could be neutralized, they wouldn't fully recover in a few days.

Without recovering to their peak, the assessment would be inaccurate.

It was better to rest for a few days, then continue the assessment, and also summon more people!

He refused to believe that the prestigious Combat Masters Hall couldn't handle a few people!

"Alright!" After a moment's hesitation, Wang Ying nodded.

Zheng Yang had passed the assessment through strategy, Wei Ruyan through her innate constitution. She and Liu Yang had neither of these advantages; relying solely on strength, passing would be extremely difficult.

With a three-day buffer, the teacher would return, and after learning from him, the assessment would be much easier.

It wasn't that their strength was inferior to Zheng Yang's; many techniques had been used before, and the combat masters in charge of the assessment would be on guard in the second battle.

Succeeding again would be difficult.

Seeing her agree, Liao Song breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid she would insist on continuing the assessment; it was pathetic enough that the Combat Masters Hall couldn't even produce assessors.

"How thrilling!"

"To witness such a battle, I have no regrets in this life!"

"As expected of Dean Zhang's personal disciple, this Zheng Yang is incredibly strong!"

"Of course, with the dean being so formidable, how could his students be ordinary?"

Although only two battles had been fought, and many hadn't understood Wei Ruyan's assessment, Zheng Yang's battle was spectacular, making countless cultivators who came to watch feel it was worth the trip, witnessing the birth of a legend.

"I wonder what the requirements are to become the dean's personal disciple..."

"I want to too..."

Many people were pondering how to become Dean Zhang's personal disciple and soar to greatness. Even many cultivators from the four academies who had failed the assessment were now eyeing the opportunity, their minds stirred.

However, what they didn't know was that the person they wished to apprentice under was still sitting cross-legged in the seal deep within the underground cavern, like an embryonic sac wrapped within.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally opened his eyes.

"Still a bit short!"

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan stood up.

Over the past few days, while repairing the seal, he had also been cultivating the Sealing Saint Liberation according to the seal's structure. His strength had indeed improved greatly. Although his cultivation was still at the peak of the Consummate Saint realm, his combat power and strength had surged again.

Through cultivation, the embryonic sac in his body had become more stable, like a golden pill spinning rapidly. He had now reached the final step, needing only the last liberation.

According to his calculations, once this step was completed, it would inevitably consume a large amount of spiritual energy. If he continued to stay within the seal, it would affect it, so he stopped.

Whoosh!

He leaped up and jumped out.

This seal posed no major obstacle to humans, but for the Otherworldly Demons, it was as difficult to cross as a spatial barrier.

Returning to the underground cavern, he found a safe place, took out a pile of formation flags, and with a flick of his finger, set up a sixth-level spirit gathering formation. Then he sat inside, threw out hundreds of high-grade spirit stones, and began to cultivate.

Having killed over two hundred Otherworldly Demons and received profits from the Shen family, he currently had no shortage of high-grade spirit stones. Besides, spending them to improve his strength was worth it.

Taking a deep breath, he opened all his acupoints, and the surrounding spiritual energy surged in like a storm, entering his body.

Streams of true energy condensed into the Sealing Saint Liberation according to a special method, layer by layer repairing the final defect of the golden pill.

Rumble!

After an unknown period, a roar sounded. The spiritual energy in the spirit gathering formation was instantly drained, and hundreds of high-grade spirit stones turned to powder. Then, Zhang Xuan felt a violent shake in his dantian. The golden pill suddenly transformed, turning into a purple-gold color.

This purple-gold embryonic sac was as heavy as a mountain, yet it rotated like a planet, giving a sense of inexhaustible power.

"Such a powerful embryonic sac..."

His eyes brightened, and Zhang Xuan clenched his fists.

He could clearly feel that with this embryonic sac rotating, his perception of surrounding spiritual energy had become much easier, and the speed of refining true energy had also increased significantly.

In other words, cultivating with this embryonic sac would make his cultivation speed faster and his true energy purer!

"Could this be... a first-grade embryonic sac?"

His body trembled slightly.

Previously, he had a second-grade supreme-grade embryonic sac. Now it had transformed again into purple-gold. Although the Sealing Saint Liberation did not record what level this was, it had likely reached the first grade!

A first-grade embryonic sac—only Confucius in history had successfully condensed one. Its power was immeasurable and was key to becoming a saint!

"It's a pity I still lack materials; otherwise, I could directly break through to the Saint realm..."

After studying for a while, learning more about the purple-gold embryonic sac in his body, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but sigh.

The Sealing Saint Liberation he was currently cultivating was not at the Heavenly Dao level but had flaws. Breaking through to Half-Saint required Thunderclap Stone, while breaking through to Saint realm required another treasure—Seven-Colored Earthly Dew Liquid.

This item only appeared deep in the earth's veins, even rarer than Earth Vein Spiritual Liquid. Even with the many treasures he currently possessed, he had never seen it.

Without this item, he couldn't break through to the Saint realm.

"I'll have to go out and look for it..."

If he didn't have it, that didn't mean the entire Hongyuan Empire didn't. It was inconvenient to find anything in the underground cavern now, and it wouldn't matter if he couldn't find it.

If worst came to worst, he could apply to the headquarters.

The headquarters of the Master Teacher Pavilion had protected humanity for tens of thousands of years—what treasures didn't they have?

As long as one had enough merits and money, these items could be easily exchanged.

"The seal is almost repaired, and the Otherworldly Demons that came over have been killed. It's time to go back..."

Stretching, he put away the formation flags, took one last look at the seal, and breathed a sigh of relief.

After days of continuous repair, the damaged parts of the seal had been perfectly restored. Even if the Otherworldly Demons on the other side had any means, it would be difficult for them to cross over.

He had been in the underground cavern for several days; it was time to go up.

Although the killing aura here was thick and made breathing difficult, the gains were considerable. His strength had broken through to the peak of the Consummate Saint realm, and his embryonic sac had advanced. These two points alone were great opportunities.

Moreover, the puppet that was previously only at Saint realm Layer 1 had now transformed to Layer 3, greatly enhancing his survival ability.

Flying all the way, he didn't see Lu Feng and the others. Presumably, they had returned earlier after discovering that the threat of the Otherworldly Demons had been resolved.

Soon arriving at the place where he had appeared earlier, he communicated with the soul within the tombstone.

Whoosh!

Immediately, he felt a huge suction force, and his entire body entered the tombstone again.

Meeting Mu Shi's consciousness, he detailed what had happened below, leaving him deeply moved.

"This seal was set up by a follower of Confucius back then, involving spatial laws. Unless one reaches the peak of the Saint realm, no one dares to touch it. The domain battlefield corresponding to the passage is called Qingtian Battlefield. It is said that the strongest Otherworldly Demons there have reached Saint realm Layer 5!"

"With such strength, even the Qingyuan Empire would find it hard to contend, but they couldn't break the seal either. That's why the headquarters didn't send anyone. Now, using some unknown method, they've managed to send soldiers over—it's truly unsettling!"

"Don't worry, I've used a special method to repair the damaged seal..."

Zhang Xuan recounted what had happened over the past few days.

Of course, his so-called special method was again attributed to "Yang Xuan"; otherwise, with his current strength, being able to repair the seal would be unbelievable to anyone.

"To have a Heaven's Mandate Master Teacher as a student, the teacher must be extraordinary. Unfortunately, I have no chance to seek guidance from this expert..."

Mu Shi sighed.

After chatting for a while, he reassured the consciousnesses of the deans, then Zhang Xuan left the tombstone and exited the Dean's Tomb.

As soon as he came out, he saw Zhao Bingxu, Elder Mi, and the others waiting outside, looking at him with concern.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing their expressions, Zhang Xuan frowned.

"Dean... why did it take you so many days to come out?"

Zhao Bingxu couldn't help but ask directly.

"Oh, after entering, I suddenly had an insight and broke through inside..." Zhang Xuan had already thought of an excuse.

Regarding the matter of the Otherworldly Demons in the underground cavern, to avoid trouble, the fewer people who knew, the better. Rather than telling them and causing worry, it was better not to say anything.

"Breakthrough?"

The two elders exchanged glances, their mouths twitching simultaneously: "Is the Dean's Tomb... still okay? How much of it collapsed? Do we need repairs? Ah, forget it, if it collapsed, it collapsed. Dean, you don't need to blame yourself..."

Whenever this dean cultivated, nothing good ever happened.

For example, back in the Artifact Refinement Academy, just by training his physical body, he caused the entire underground fire passage to collapse.

"Blame myself? Collapsed?"

Only then did he understand what they were worried about. Zhang Xuan was speechless.

He always acted steadily, yet he was misunderstood like this... How ridiculous!

Can you guys be any more ridiculous?

Are they really his subordinates?