Chapter 972: Seniority

Seeing him like this, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

If only he had known this day would come, why did he act as he did in the beginning!

Between life and death there is great fear, but surrendering to the alien tribes means losing one's moral integrity.

Moral integrity and life—gain one and lose the other. Since a choice has been made, one must bear the consequences of failure.

It's a pity Wei Ruyan is unconscious and cannot see this scene now...

Wei Changfeng died because of You Xu. As his daughter, not being able to witness her enemy die before her eyes is somewhat regrettable!

However, executing You Xu publicly to demonstrate the Master Teacher Academy's determination to deal with traitors is a decision made by the headquarters, and he cannot change it.

Besides, You Xu has been lingering on for so long; it's time for him to accept punishment.

Four deans, Master Liao, Master Zhuo, and all elders, the two of us have come this time to discuss important matters. Please follow me!

After dealing with You Xu, Mu Shi looked at the crowd.

Yes...

Responding, the crowd followed closely behind, heading toward the Elder Hall.

Zhang Xuan said nothing more and followed along.

The headquarters had sent two seven-star master teachers, one of whom had even reached the fourth level of the Saint Domain. He had found it strange before; if it were just to handle the matter of You Xu, there was no need.

There must be other matters to deal with.

Mu Shi had spent a long time in the academy and knew the way well. Soon they arrived at the meeting hall of the Elder Hall.

Everyone sat down, activated the formation to isolate the surroundings, and Mu Shi looked around: "I called you all here to discuss important matters, information we obtained while interrogating You Xu."

With that, he flipped his wrist, and a token appeared in his palm.

This token was worn and damaged, with many worn spots, looking as if it could shatter at any moment.

I believe everyone recognizes this item!" Mu Shi looked around.

Could it be the Dean's Token?" Zhang Xuan frowned and spoke.

Although this token looked worn, one could clearly feel countless thoughts imbued within it, somewhat similar to the Dean's Token in his hand.

It just appeared very crude.

Correct, this is the Dean's Token, the token of your Hongyuan Academy's former dean, Zhang Yinqiu.

Master Mu explained.

"The old dean's decree? Could it be..."

Upon hearing the introduction, Elder Mi was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed with excitement: "He... isn't dead?"

Zhao Bingxu's people also looked over nervously.

Although they now acknowledged Zhang Xuan, they had spent a long time with the old dean, and upon hearing this news, they were all too excited to contain themselves.

"I'm not sure whether he's dead or not, but this item was sent out from a relic by someone using great force!"

Frowning, Master Mu said.

"Sent out by someone? What exactly happened? Could Master Mu elaborate?"

Zhang Xuan asked.

"It's not complicated. That day, after I brought You Xu back to headquarters, through interrogation, I learned the exact location of the relic the old dean had gone to, so I sent people to investigate!"

Master Mu nodded and fell into recollection: "The relic was intricate and complex, seemingly governed by some pattern. It could only be entered at specific times; once missed, one had to wait! Our people were calculating the optimal time to enter when this token sensed the aura of a master teacher and flew over through the air!"

Hearing this, Elder Mi on the side flushed with excitement: "Master Mu means... after capturing You Xu and investigating the relic, the dean's token flew out?"

"Correct!" Master Mu nodded.

"Then..." Elder Mi's breath quickened: "Does that mean the old dean sent out the dean's token?"

Only three months had passed since capturing You Xu. If the dean's token could still appear after that, it suggested the old dean might not be dead!

It was highly possible that he was trapped somewhere in the relic, unable to escape, and thus used great force to send it out to inform the world.

"None of us know the situation inside the relic. It's also possible that the dean's token was released two years ago but only fully appeared upon sensing the aura of a master teacher!"

Not as optimistic as him, Master Mu spoke.

"This..." The crowd fell silent.

What he said made sense. The dean's token was composed of countless thoughts and possessed special spirituality. If the old dean had released it two years ago when encountering danger, with instructions to appear only when encountering a master teacher... it was not impossible that it only manifested when the people from the Master Teacher Academy arrived.

Therefore, based solely on the appearance of this token, it was impossible to determine whether the old dean was dead or alive.

"Master Mu, where is this relic? Can we go and take a look?"

After hesitating, Elder Mi said.

Regardless, the old dean was a friend they had known for centuries. Now that they had news, they had to investigate; otherwise, how could they be at ease?

"Summoning you all here is precisely for this matter!"

Master Mu looked at everyone: "According to our investigation, this relic will reopen in about a month, so I want to invite everyone to go together! First, we can search for the old dean and the others—if they're not dead, we can rescue them. Second, the alien race has been active recently, and I suspect it's closely related to this relic!"

"Alright, let's go!"

Hearing this, Elder Mi's eyes lit up. Without any hesitation, he quickly nodded. Only after speaking did he realize he had overstepped his bounds, and he hurriedly turned to look at Zhang Xuan, who was not far away: "Dean..."

"Elder Mi is right. We must go—this is the stance of our Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy!" Zhang Xuan responded.

Back in the Dean's Tomb, he had known that the old dean was heading to the ruins and had originally planned to go take a look. After experiencing the underground cavern incident and the unusual behavior of the Otherworldly Tribe...

No matter what, if he didn't go see for himself, he would find it hard to rest easy.

"Mm. What about the rest of you?"

As if he had long anticipated this outcome, Master Wood showed no surprise. He nodded and looked at the other three deans not far away.

"Since the Otherworldly Tribe is involved, we also have an unshirkable responsibility!"

Wu Tianqiong, Shen Pingchao, and the others nodded simultaneously.

"How could our War Master Hall fall behind!" Liao Song also chuckled.

"Since everyone agrees, I won't say more. One month from now, we'll head to that ruin. Of course, I must lay the cards on the table: this ruin is extremely dangerous—otherwise, it wouldn't have caused Zhang Yinqiu and the others to be completely wiped out! Even our headquarters has very little information... Once we go, it's very possible we may never return!"

Master Wood looked around.

"We're clear on that!" Everyone nodded at once.

"Good, then it's settled..."

Seeing that no one hesitated, Master Wood acknowledged and was about to make a decision when he heard Wu Rufeng, Master Wu, from one side raise his eyebrows and look over: "For this trip to the ruins, to ensure safety, the minimum strength required is the Saint Domain level! This Dean Zhang is only at the Initial Saint level. I think it's better if he doesn't go—otherwise, he'll only hold us back!"

"Me?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Although he was at the Initial Saint level, his true combat strength could easily kill even a peak Saint Domain First Layer expert. Most importantly, he had numerous means of self-preservation. In fact, if everyone in the room attacked him together, the ones who would die would definitely be them!

This guy, knowing nothing, says he'll hold them back... For a high-grade Seven-Star master teacher, that's far too arbitrary!

"Master Uncle, Master Wu... is somewhat opinionated. Please forgive him..."

Seeing his master uncle displeased, Master Wood quickly sent a voice transmission.

"Opinionated?"

"Yes. Although You Xu's betrayal of humanity has nothing to do with you, Master Uncle, when the investigation came out, you were the dean—meaning you were somewhat negligent in management! Additionally, there's a gap in age and strength between you and the dean, so he has some reservations about you..."

Master Wood hurriedly explained.

Hearing this explanation, Zhang Xuan gave a wry smile and shook his head helplessly.

It seemed this guy had been in a high position for so long that he had lost touch with normal human life.

When a subordinate makes a mistake, the superior is implicated... He had been at the academy for barely four months. The moment he met You Xu, he caught him. Instead of being rewarded, he was blamed...

This was typical leadership behavior—when something goes wrong, find a scapegoat to take the fall, to display authority and keen insight...

And he was that scapegoat!

For anyone else, being directly accused by a high-grade Seven-Star master teacher would leave them unable to refute. But Zhang Xuan wasn't one to suffer such losses. He looked up: "Wu Rufeng, is it?"

"How dare you! A low-grade master teacher, addressing a high-grade master teacher by name—where are your manners?"

Not expecting him to speak, Master Wu's face darkened.

"Manners?" Zhang Xuan smiled, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked over calmly: "May I ask, Master Wu, how do you address Master Wood?"

"Master Wood and I are both Seven-Star master teachers, so naturally we are peers!"

Squinting his eyes, Master Wu snorted despite his anger.

Both were master teachers of the Qingyuan Empire's Master Teacher Hall, and both were Seven-Star, so naturally they were peers.

"Peers? Alright then..." Zhang Xuan turned to look at Master Wood not far away: "Little Hongzi, how do you address me?"

"Master Uncle!"

Master Wood answered truthfully.

"You heard that. You and Master Wood are peers, and he calls me master uncle... That means you are one generation below me. So what's wrong with me calling you Wu Rufeng directly? Unless... you think calling you by your full name isn't intimate enough?"

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment, then said: "How about this—I'll call you Little Fengzi..."

"You..."

Hearing the words "Little Fengzi," Master Wu nearly vomited blood and fainted.

He quickly turned to look at Master Wood, wanting to see if what he said was true.

Why did he call the other party master uncle?

"Dean Zhang's teacher, I must address as master grand-uncle. According to seniority, calling him master uncle is not wrong..." Knowing what he wanted to ask, Master Wood quickly explained.

"This..."

Master Wu's face turned green.

Master teachers valued etiquette and seniority. Although this Dean Zhang wasn't much, if his teacher had a high seniority, even if his own rank was low, he still held a very high status.

For example, a student of Master Kong, even if he knew nothing, would be addressed as "senior" by a Nine-Star master teacher!

That was the rule.

He had intended to intimidate the other party, but in the blink of an eye, he had become a junior disciple. Just thinking about it was frustrating.