Chapter 1072: The Ancient Sage Was Struck Down and Vanished

They had imagined that Zhang Shi would be taught a lesson by the ancient sage, that he would be sent flying with a single palm strike, but they never dreamed the outcome would be the complete opposite—this super-strong man who had followed Confucius for who knows how long was actually defeated in one move.

And the key point was that the guy who defeated him had only been practicing that move for at most an hour!

“How can we compete with him?”

Feng Xun, with his big wavy hair, looked like he was about to cry.

He had thought that losing this time meant he could go back and train hard, and one day he would get his revenge and settle the score. But now, facing such a freak, he might as well just go wash up and go to bed!

Otherwise, he would keep getting crushed.

“You… is this really just minor mastery?”

Sharing the crowd’s shock, the stone statue’s head flew up, and as it looked at the guy before it, it too felt bewildered.

It had created this technique and studied it for who knows how many years, thinking no one could surpass it. Yet now, it was effortlessly sent flying. How could his power be so great?

“Hmm.” Zhang Xuan had never used this move before and hadn’t expected it to be so powerful—one palm strike had reduced it to this. He felt a bit embarrassed: “There were too many flaws. I made a few modifications, but I didn’t expect the power to be this great. Sorry…”

“Modifications? You modified my technique?”

The stone statue’s eyes nearly popped out.

In just three hours, this guy not only understood the technique left on the stone tablet and cultivated it to minor mastery, but he also… thought the power wasn’t enough and went ahead and modified it…

Are you trying to defy the heavens!

“Well, to be honest, this technique is not bad, and its power is considerable, but it has too many flaws—a full twenty-seven of them. Unfortunately, my insight is too shallow; I only fixed eighteen of them. I know the problems with the remaining nine, but I haven’t found a solution…”

Zhang Xuan shook his head, looking dejected.

If he had enough techniques, who would want to practice a palm technique with so many flaws… Just thinking about it made him depressed.

Crash!

The stone statue was in the process of reassembling its shattered body. Hearing this, it wobbled again and nearly collapsed further.

Insight too shallow… And what’s with that dejected expression on your face?

Will you die if you don’t show off?

I created this technique and couldn’t even modify it myself. You looked at it for a while and fixed it—and you call that shallow?

If you call that shallow, should I go kill myself?

A top-tier saint-grade intermediate martial skill, and you’re still depressed after cultivating it…

I’m the one who should be depressed!

Agitated, the more the stone statue tried to reassemble, the more cracks appeared on its body.

It had left this relic hoping to find an outstanding descendant to inherit its technique and spread its greatness… But instead of showing off its superiority, it had been constantly crushed…

“Which eighteen places did you modify?”

Suppressing its depression, the stone statue asked.

At the same level and realm, the opponent’s palm power was so profound, which proved he had indeed succeeded in the modifications. It too wanted to know what problems existed in the palm technique it had painstakingly created.

“You want to know? I can teach you!” Zhang Xuan looked over.

Crack!

It shattered a bit more, its chest aching.

“No need…”

Though it was eager to know, if the guy asked it to become his disciple again, it really couldn’t afford to lose face.

“Don’t be polite. It’s actually very simple. These eighteen points involve the flow of true energy into the spiritual sea within the body…”

Zhang Xuan explained.

A traveler knows no bounds; without enough techniques to integrate, he only knew the flaws but couldn’t fix them, and didn’t know how to answer the other. But now, the correct technique had appeared, so explaining it once wouldn’t hurt.

Crack! Crack!

After hearing a few sentences, the stone statue shattered faster and faster, as if the shock was too great for it to bear.

Qiuwu Ancient Sage had only left a trace of his consciousness, and after so many years, it was already incomplete. Now, after repeated blows, it was on the verge of collapse.

It wasn’t that the consciousness was too weak, but that this guy before it was too exaggerated.

The twenty-seven flaws were exactly the same as what Confucius had pointed out back then. At that time, Confucius didn’t fix them for him, telling him to find the solutions himself… Now, hearing the other’s words, he understood where the crux lay. With a feeling of “If I hear the Way in the morning, I may die in the evening,” his spirit relaxed, and he could no longer hold on.

“…I only fixed these eighteen. The remaining nine, I really couldn’t fix…”

Soon, after explaining the modified content in detail, Zhang Xuan came back to his senses and looked at the stone statue before him. His eyes widened in shock: “Ah… what happened to you?”

He saw that the stone statue, which had been struggling to recover its body, was now as limp as a pile of mud. Even the previously intact head was cracked like a spiderweb, densely fragmented, as if it might collapse at any moment.

“So that’s how it is, so that’s how it is… I’ve been practicing wrong all along. No wonder I haven’t achieved higher accomplishments after all these years…”

Ignoring his question, the stone statue seemed lost in thought, its cracks growing more numerous.

“Thank you for your guidance. Not only did you see through my technique and modify it so perfectly, you have passed the test and are qualified to receive my inheritance. My inheritance is, is, is…”

After lamenting, the stone statue looked over again, but before it could finish its sentence, another “crack” sound was heard.

Crash!

It shattered into a pile of mud.

Zhang Xuan was stunned. He quickly went over and reached out to grab it, only to find that the stone statue had crumbled into powder, and the consciousness within it had completely vanished.

“You didn’t even say… what the inheritance is…”

Staggering, Zhang Xuan nearly spat blood.

This Qiuwu Ancient Sage was way too unreliable!

Didn’t he say that passing the test would grant the inheritance?

In the end, without saying a word, he just shattered… What the hell?

He wasn’t the only one depressed. Teacher Wu and the others also stared wide-eyed, almost crying.

After all their hard work, thinking they were about to receive the inheritance, who would have thought… the ancient sage’s residual consciousness was so crushed by Zhang Shi that his Dao heart collapsed and he simply dissipated…

He didn’t even have time to say what the inheritance was or what to learn!

What kind of nonsense was this!

Earlier, they thought following this Zhang Shi into the relic was a good thing—his talent, insight, and understanding of formations could ensure everyone’s safety, and if they got some benefits, they could follow and get a piece of the pie…

Now they realized it wasn’t like that at all!

Even Qiuwu Ancient Sage couldn’t withstand the blow… Forget getting a piece of the pie, they couldn’t even get the soup!

“This… his consciousness probably reached its time limit, and the stone statue couldn’t hold on…”

Just as everyone was feeling depressed, they saw Zhang Xuan looking over apologetically: “Although the ancient sage’s inheritance didn’t survive, everyone can learn this palm technique to greatly increase their strength…”

“Hmm.”

Everyone nodded.

There was no other way.

The consciousness was gone. Who knew what the inheritance was? And where to find it?

No use dwelling on it.

Fortunately, there was still a palm technique.

With that thought, everyone looked at the stone tablet not far away, and heard a crisp sound.

Crack! Crack!

Then, a series of rumbles came. The ancient stone tablet developed cracks, growing larger and larger, becoming an unstoppable torrent.

“These stone tablets have been displayed for too long. Without the ancient sage’s consciousness to sustain them, they can’t hold on either…”

President Han understood and quickly spoke. Before he finished, everyone felt the ground shake, and the folded space they were in seemed to begin collapsing.

“Get out quickly! This place, like the stone tablets, is maintained by Qiuwu Ancient Sage’s consciousness. Run…”

With that, he rushed out first.

The others knew the danger and hurried out without stopping.

Zhang Xuan followed closely. After a moment, they returned to the garden and found Luo Ruoxi wasn’t there. They continued forward, and just as they rushed out of the portal, they saw the nine great doors behind them collapse with a roar, completely disappearing, as if the previous things were but a dream that never existed.

“This…”

Everyone looked at each other, cold sweat pouring down.

Fortunately, they were fast, and fortunately, they had passed the test, so the seal blocking their departure had vanished. Otherwise, trapped inside, they would have disappeared along with this folded space.

Too dangerous!

“Where’s Ruoxi?”

Unlike the others’ fear, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help looking around.

She wasn’t in the garden earlier, so why wasn’t she outside either?

After searching for a while, he was about to use his Insight Eye to track her down when he saw her flying back from ahead.

“You’re out? Did you get the inheritance?”

Coming closer, Luo Ruoxi asked curiously.

“Cough, cough… No. Qiuwu Ancient Sage’s consciousness was talked into collapsing by Zhang Shi, and the inheritance didn’t even have time to come out…”

Teacher Mu explained awkwardly.

“Collapsed?”

Luo Ruoxi looked strangely at the young man not far away.

“I…” Zhang Xuan scratched his head, not knowing how to answer.

He was just discussing the pros and cons of the Great Sorrow Demon Palm with the other party, and didn’t say anything else. Who knew the other party couldn’t take the blow!

And he was an ancient sage at that…

“This is the cultivation method for the Great Sorrow Demon Palm. I’ve already made modifications. Everyone can learn from this, so it’s not a wasted trip!”

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan rewrote the technique he had learned and handed it to everyone.

Regardless of whether Qiuwu Ancient Sage was talked into collapsing because of him, since the others didn’t get the inheritance because of him, he couldn’t let them come for nothing. This technique was compensation.

“Thank you…”

Everyone’s eyes lit up, filled with excitement.

Teacher Wu opened it, and everyone looked over.

It didn’t take long to read through the manual. They looked at the young man again as if they had seen a ghost.

“Teacher Zhang… is this the Great Sorrow Demon Palm? You really cultivated it to minor mastery in just one hour?”

They swallowed their saliva one by one.

This technique was indeed very powerful, but… precisely because it was so powerful, cultivating it was like climbing to heaven.

Not to mention others, even Teacher Wu, a seven-star upper-grade master teacher, would need at least ten or eight years of serious cultivation just to get started, let alone reach minor mastery…

Yet, such a difficult martial skill—this guy had reached minor mastery in one hour, and even surpassed Qiuwu Ancient Sage at the same level, with a deeper understanding… How did he do it?

No wonder the ancient sage’s consciousness couldn’t withstand the blow and simply vanished. If it were them, they would have been crushed to death too!

“Earlier, when he said he wanted to take the ancient sage as his disciple, it was probably true…”

“Freak!”

Everyone silently cursed in their hearts.