Chapter 1161: Chen Zhe Is Dead

"Are you thinking that we shouldn't have let that Loyal Qing Prince go?"

Seeing his expression, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly.

"Yes!" Master Wu nodded. "A master teacher cannot be insulted. This isn't a matter of compensation, but of the dignity of the teaching profession. If we set a precedent, I fear that in the future, everyone will dare to insult master teachers..."

Although he disagreed with the other's approach, having experienced Qiuwu Palace, he knew that this young Master Zhang had astonishing judgment. Doing so must have its own purpose, so he hadn't interrupted. But now he could no longer hold back.

"I will explain, but before that, I want to ask Master Wu one thing... Would you directly tell other master teachers about the Heaven-acknowledged master teacher?" Zhang Xuan said.

"The Heaven-acknowledged master teacher is a matter of utmost secrecy. I would never mention it to anyone, not even to a higher-level master teacher hall..." Master Wu's expression turned serious, and he quickly said.

He knew that the person before him was a Heaven-acknowledged master teacher.

However, he dared not reveal this matter, nor could he. Otherwise, it would inevitably cause the entire alien race to swarm out, leading to widespread suffering and possibly causing this master teacher to die prematurely.

If that happened, he would be a sinner in history.

"But... Vice Hall Master Tian said it!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

Earlier, when interrogating him at the Loyal Qing Prince's residence, the other had said: 'Even a Heaven-acknowledged master teacher has appeared, so it's nothing for the founder of the Poison Hall to be alive...'

At that time, he felt something was off.

Any master teacher knew what those four words represented. The other had said this in front of outsiders upon first meeting him, which clearly violated the proper etiquette of a master teacher.

It was also for this reason that he had beaten the other senseless without any restraint.

"He... knows you are a Heaven-acknowledged master teacher?" His pupils constricted, and Master Wu's face darkened.

"It seems he doesn't know; it was probably just a test!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

The other's tone suggested he didn't know, but deliberately saying that was likely due to suspicion. However, Zhang Xuan's mind was strong, and his expression remained calm without any nervousness, so the other probably hadn't noticed anything.

"That's good. But Master Zhang, you must be careful. Wherever you go in the future, bring me or Hall Master Xing..." Master Wu said solemnly.

If the news hadn't leaked, this Master Zhang was merely a super genius—rare, but such people existed.

But... once people learned of the Heaven-acknowledged master teacher, it would be disastrous.

"No need for now. It should be fine at the moment. If we did that, it would only arouse more suspicion, turning uncertain matters into certain ones..." Zhang Xuan shook his head in refusal.

With all his abilities, he was far more protected than by these two. Having them around would actually be inconvenient and less safe.

"This..." Master Wu hesitated.

True. If he and Hall Master Xing followed him day and night, others would inevitably suspect, making it even more obvious.

"Vice Hall Master Tian has issues, and the Loyal Qing Prince colludes with the Poison Hall to refine poison—an even bigger problem... This Emperor personally came and spent such a huge price to guarantee him... If it's just because he saved his life, I don't believe it!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Master Wu was stunned.

The imperial family is ruthless; for power, even brothers can kill each other. Now, the esteemed Emperor risks offending the Master Teacher Hall for a minister... There must be a problem!

"Since there's a problem, rather than keeping him cooped up here where it's hard to interrogate, it's better to let him go. That's like loosening a tight knot in a rope, making things easier later..." Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

Capturing the Loyal Qing Prince was like tying a knot too tightly. Letting him go might yield unexpected results.

"Indeed, that's a good method..."

Master Wu suddenly understood, filled with admiration.

As expected of Master Zhang; he saw problems more clearly.

If the other refused to speak during interrogation, even the Master Teacher Hall could do nothing. But letting the thread loose to expose his flaws made things much easier.

"Alright, leave the rest to you. There's still some time until evening. If convenient, I'd like to visit the Master Teacher Hall's library..."

With a plan in place, Master Wu could handle the rest. His participation or not was irrelevant.

Now the most important thing was to quickly condense the Heavenly Path cultivation technique for the third level of the Saint Domain, raise his strength, surpass that Zhang Jiuxiao, and smoothly enter the Saint Child Hall.

"I'll take you there..."

Knowing that this Master Zhang liked to read, Master Wu smiled and just stood up when urgent knocking came from outside the door.

"Enter!"

Frowning, he saw the master teacher who had left earlier, his face full of anxiety.

"What's wrong?"

Knowing that something major must have happened to make a six-star master teacher so agitated, Master Wu asked.

"Teacher... something terrible. Chen Zhe... he's dead!" The master teacher swallowed and said.

"Chen Zhe is dead?"

His pupils constricted, Master Wu abruptly stood up.

This Chen Zhe was a key point in the intervention. He had gone to the Hongyuan Empire to retrieve Zhang Yinqiu's materials, ultimately leading to the leak of information... He had been held in the Master Teacher Hall, even his cultivation sealed. How could he suddenly die?

"I don't know the specific cause of death. Earlier, when I checked on him, he was fine... Just now, after releasing the Loyal Qing Prince, I took a look and found he had stopped breathing..."

The master teacher was extremely tense.

Chen Zhe, student of Vice Hall Master Tian Qing, a seven-star initial stage master teacher... Regardless of his identity, his sudden death would have a huge impact.

"Let's go take a look!"

With a solemn expression, Master Wu took a step and looked at Zhang Xuan nearby. "Master Zhang... would you like to come with me?"

The person before him had a sharper eye than his own. Going together might reveal the problem.

"Alright!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

He was also very curious.

Logically, under the Master Teacher Hall's custody, even suicide was impossible, let alone murder. Yet now he was truly dead... It was inexplicably strange.

Following the six-star master teacher, after a while, they arrived at a separate room. Indeed, a middle-aged man lay on the ground, his body cold, having stopped breathing.

Without walking over, Zhang Xuan looked around.

The room was equipped with tight formations, preventing messages from being sent out and even blocking divine sense. Once inside, there was no way to contact the outside.

Approaching the corpse, he activated the Eye of Insight and examined it carefully.

"The physical body has no damage at all, but... the soul has completely dissipated!"

His pupils constricted.

He had already discerned the cause of death: the soul had scattered!

"Soul dissipation?" Startled, Master Wu also quickly looked. After a moment, his face turned ashen.

Clearly, with the hint, he too had seen it.

"Could it be... that method of soul capture?"

His brows raised, a thought emerged in his mind.

Earlier, that Cang Xu, one of the Jibei Twin Heroes, had intended to use soul capture to kill him, but was trampled to death by the house before succeeding.

That method, through soul search, he had examined carefully. It was somewhat similar to the techniques of a soul shaman, capturing a person's soul and easily killing it...

Once successful, the physical body would also die completely, leaving no trace.

Could it be... this fellow was killed by that method?

"Could it be that the ruthless person, besides teaching this method to Cang Xu, also taught it to someone else, who killed Chen Zhe?" Zhang Xuan was full of doubt, unable to figure it out.

This Chen Zhe seemed completely unrelated to the ruthless person. How could they be connected?

"Take the corpse to Hall Master Qiu of the War Master Hall and have him examine it to see what's going on!"

After studying it for a while without understanding, Master Wu stood up and said.

"Yes!" The master teacher nodded.

Hall Master Qiu was the hall master of the Soul Hall in the War Master Hall, deeply versed in soul studies. If Master Wu couldn't see it, he would surely detect something.

"No need!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

This corpse had lost its soul; even Hall Master Qiu would be useless.

"Master Zhang..."

Master Wu was anxious. "With Chen Zhe dead, we lose the evidence. Vice Hall Master Tian, even if he attacked you, could claim he was merely disciplining a junior as a seven-star master teacher, misled by petty people... If so, I have no right to detain him!"

Vice Hall Master Tian, after all, was a peak seven-star master teacher. If there was evidence that the leak was related to him, he could be detained. But now the witness was dead, leaving no reason.

He could shift the blame for framing Zhang Xuan onto the Loyal Qing Prince, and the remaining charges, given his status, he could easily ignore!

"If you can't detain him, then release him!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

If not for knowing through the Library of Heaven's Path that this Vice Hall Master Tian had a defect in his primordial spirit, he would have suspected whether this fellow had killed his own student.

"Release?" Master Wu was stunned. "Then the humiliation Master Zhang suffered..."

"My humiliation is nothing. The other party has a special status. Without sufficient evidence, detaining him for long would greatly harm the Master Teacher Hall. As a newly appointed vice hall master, you would also be unstable. If so, things will be even more disadvantageous for us later!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head. His own grievances were insignificant. Once Master Wu's position was undermined, they would truly be passive.

"Alright!"

Knowing the other was right, Master Wu had to nod and looked over again. "Then... what should we do next?"

"What do you think we should do?"

Zhang Xuan smiled lightly.

"I think we should publicize Chen Zhe's crimes, making everyone suspect Vice Hall Master Tian. That way, whatever he does, he'll be passive, and we'll have an easier time!" After a moment's thought, Master Wu said.

Currently, few people knew about Chen Zhe leaking the Qiuwu Palace information. Only by confirming his crimes could Vice Hall Master Tian be put on the defensive.

Otherwise, with the man dead, he would be cleared, and all previous efforts would be in vain.

"Wrong! That won't work!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

"Won't work? Then what should we do?" Master Wu was taken aback.

"Simple. Bury Chen Zhe with full master teacher honors, generously reward his family, and give him a commendation! Praise him as a true master teacher... and call on everyone to learn from him."

Zhang Xuan laughed.

"This... what kind of method is that?" Master Wu stood frozen, utterly confused.