Chapter 1186: Seven-Star Master Teacher!

Seeing his expression, Hall Master Gou spat blood again, depressed to the point of madness.

There was definitely no way to retire peacefully this time... So many ancestral wills had been wiped out; as a hall master, he was truly the first in history to reach such a state!

"Master Zhang has successfully challenged the hall and may make any request. As long as it does not violate the principles of a master teacher, the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Hall is willing to follow your lead and obey your commands!"

After holding back for who knows how long, Hall Master Gou finally suppressed the depression in his chest, clasped his fists, and bowed, his attitude no longer as arrogant as before.

In history, only three had succeeded in challenging the hall; he never expected to encounter one...

"Vice Hall Master Tian Qing colluded with Prince Zhongqing to frame a master teacher! Moreover, he deliberately leaked master teacher secrets, leading to an attack by the alien spirit race, causing the deaths of countless master teachers... His crimes are heinous and unforgivable. I hope the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Hall will immediately conduct a thorough investigation!"

Zhang Xuan said.

"Yes..."

Hall Master Gou nodded, but just as he was about to speak, he frowned: "Where is Vice Hall Master Tian Qing?"

Just a moment ago, this Vice Hall Master Tian had been inseparable from him; how had he vanished in the blink of an eye?

"Reporting to the hall master, the vice hall master just left on some business..."

A master teacher quickly stepped forward.

"Damn!"

His pupils constricted, Hall Master Gou hastily ordered: "Find him immediately..."

With a whoosh,

Many master teachers rushed out immediately, but before long, they all flew back, their faces grim: "Hall master... Master Tian has already left the imperial capital, whereabouts unknown..."

His body trembling, Hall Master Gou's face turned ashen.

Just now, Master Zhang's challenge of the Master Teacher Tower had been too shocking; he hadn't paid attention to that fellow, never dreaming that he would take the opportunity to flee!

It seemed that he had seen that Master Zhang's challenge was about to succeed, and knowing he would be caught at any moment, he dared not stay any longer.

"My purpose in challenging the hall was because I was wronged by him. Clearly knowing that once I succeeded, he would definitely escape, I made no preparations in advance... What meaning is there in you being hall master?"

Zhang Xuan's face darkened.

The conflict between him and the Master Teacher Hall all stemmed from this Tian Qing. Regardless of whether the challenge succeeded or not, the other party was inexcusable. Under such circumstances, not sending someone to guard him strictly, allowing him to come and go freely—how could he not escape?

For a peak Seven-Star master teacher, if he truly wanted to hide, unless one used the Eye of Clarity to search one by one, it would be impossible to find him.

"I..."

Hall Master Gou's face flushed red.

He truly hadn't expected that the person before him could succeed in the hall challenge, and so quickly... so naturally, he hadn't reacted in time.

"Issue a master teacher wanted order from the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Hall! Capture Tian Qing; if he resists arrest, he may be killed on the spot!"

Clenching his fists, Hall Master Gou turned and ordered.

"Yes!"

A master teacher turned and left.

The master teacher wanted order was the highest level of arrest warrant on the entire continent. Once issued, all master teacher halls in all empires and kingdoms within the Qingyuan Empire would receive the message. Any cultivator within the range who discovered him and reported it would be rewarded.

It could be said that under this wanted order, unless he constantly changed his identity and never revealed his strength, it would be impossible to escape.

"I, Gou Tianze, have handled matters unfairly and betrayed the trust of the Master Teacher Hall. From today onward, I resign from the position of hall master and await the arrival of headquarters to handle the matter. As for the position of hall master, it will be temporarily replaced by Master Wu!"

After arranging this, Hall Master Gou took out the token representing his identity and handed it over.

In an instant, he seemed to have aged several hundred years, with no strength left.

He had served as hall master for a full five hundred years, giving his all, never dreaming it would end this way.

Knowing that since the other party had fled, capturing him would not be easy, Zhang Xuan shook his head, stopped dwelling on it, and looked up at Master Wu.

"Master Wu, here are my supplementary professions, sufficient to apply for Seven-Star master teacher!"

Saying this, he handed over the Seven-Star supplementary profession badges he had obtained.

Glancing at them, Master Wu nodded: "Master Zhang, please wait. I will report your situation to headquarters; it may take some time."

"No hurry. Since I have nothing to do, I'll go take a look at the library!"

Zhang Xuan responded.

Although he had experience advancing to an empire, applying for a Seven-Star badge still required going through procedures. With Master Wu presiding, it should be no problem, so there was no need to worry. Instead of waiting idly, it was better to take the opportunity to read some books.

Although he already had the qualifications of a Seven-Star master teacher, he had never read any books about Seven-Star master teachers.

"This is my identity token. With this, Master Zhang can freely browse the library..."

Master Wu said.

Having succeeded in the hall challenge, none of the master teachers in the entire hall were his match. Obtaining the badge was a certainty, beyond doubt. Therefore, giving him the token in advance to enter and read books was not a violation of the rules.

"Mm."

Taking the token, Zhang Xuan said no more and, led by a master teacher, headed toward the library.

The library of the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Hall contained not only all books related to master teachers but also many supplementary professions. The books on calligraphers and appraisers he had seen before were among them.

Master teachers valued erudition. The number of books was immense; it took an entire day to record them all in his mind.

After finishing the master teacher section, he went to the supplementary profession library, which collected books on various professions such as spirit awakeners, demon sound masters, alchemists, physicians, calligraphers, beast tamers, startling swan masters, formation masters, appraisers, and heavenly artisans. He also recorded them all in his mind.

Although the supplementary profession books in the Master Teacher Hall were not as detailed or profound as those in their respective guilds, for Zhang Xuan, as long as there were enough of them, depth was irrelevant.

Learning all these profession books and the Seven-Star Heaven's Path techniques took him three days after leaving the Master Teacher Hall.

"Master Zhang, this is your rank badge..."

As soon as he walked out of the library, Master Wu greeted him.

Glancing at it, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

From now on, he was finally a Seven-Star master teacher.

A year ago, he had never even heard of the profession of master teacher; he was just a teacher about to be dismissed from Tianxuan Kingdom. Now, he had reached Seven-Star and become a member of the continent's elite—thinking about it was truly moving.

"Master Zhang, there is still no trace of Tian Qing. But rest assured, I have reported this matter in detail to headquarters, and they have already sent people down. Barring accidents, they should arrive within half a month."

Master Wu continued.

"Mm." Zhang Xuan nodded.

Seeing that Zhang Xuan had succeeded in the hall challenge, Tian Qing must have fled. Unless someone from the master teacher headquarters came with special artifacts, finding him would be nearly impossible.

"What about Prince Zhongqing? Has he been captured?"

"He is imprisoned inside the Master Teacher Hall, but he hasn't said anything." Master Wu said.

"Keep him locked up for now. What about the commendation for Chen Zhe I asked you to do earlier?"

After Chen Zhe died, Zhang Xuan had asked Master Wu to commend him rather than criticize him. Before that started, Zhang Xuan began the hall challenge. Now that Master Wu was back in charge, it should have been completed, right?

"As you instructed, the commendation meeting was held this morning. I said he made great contributions to humanity by providing very detailed information..." Master Wu quickly nodded.

"That's good. Now, bring a few powerful master teachers and come with me. We can go directly to capture Vice Hall Master Tian Qing!"

Hearing that he had already arranged it, Zhang Xuan smiled.

"Go directly to capture him? Where?"

Master Wu was startled.

"Simple. Go to Chen Zhe's house and lie in ambush. Barring accidents, someone will definitely visit tonight!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Visit tonight? Does Master Zhang mean that this Chen Zhe knew some secret of Tian Qing?" Frowning, Master Wu quickly understood.

Chen Zhe was Tian Qing's student. He died inexplicably in prison while under investigation, and now Tian Qing had fled... If there was no connection between the two, he wouldn't believe it.

"I don't know either. I just developed a conjecture while reading these past two days. If Chen Zhe hadn't known a secret, he wouldn't have been silenced. Now that you have publicly commended him, although the other party might be suspicious, he doesn't dare to gamble."

Zhang Xuan smiled.

"I know he might have known some secret, but... Tian Qing is now a rat crossing the street. If caught, he will at least be stripped of his master teacher status. Since it's already come to this, there's no need to risk it for some so-called secret, right?"

Master Wu was puzzled.

Tian Qing now was like a criminal guilty of a capital offense. Since the punishment would be the heaviest anyway, he certainly wouldn't mind adding a few more charges... In that case, even if Chen Zhe had some secrets, it wouldn't be worth the risk of being caught to sneak over.

"That depends on how many secrets Chen Zhe knew!"

Zhang Xuan said: "The reason Chen Zhe was exposed was because he went to Zhang Yinqiu to retrieve information. As a result, the Master Teacher Hall didn't know, but the alien spirit race did... What if the information he knew was related to the alien spirit race or a special secret passage?"

"This..."

Master Wu stiffened, full of disbelief: "Master Zhang, have you discovered something?"

"For now, it's just speculation; it's not certain yet."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

These past two days, he had not only been reading and studying but also carefully reviewed his experiences over the past six or seven days in Qingyuan City.

After several reviews, he indeed found something amiss.

The alien spirit race had learned the information from Chen Zhe. It was absolutely impossible that Tian Qing didn't know.

As the vice hall master of the Master Teacher Hall, he leaked information to the alien spirit race yet was not held accountable—that in itself was very strange.

"Alright, I'll go gather them now..."

Knowing that Master Zhang must have discovered something by saying this, Master Wu hurriedly left and soon returned with five master teachers.

Four were elders of the Master Teacher Hall, and the other was an old acquaintance, Zhang Jiuxiao!

Although Zhang Jiuxiao was no match for Zhang Xuan and had been beaten until he couldn't tell east from west, his true strength was not to be underestimated. With his many treasures and weapons, if rules were not considered, even Master Wu might not be his match.

"Don't rush. We'll set out after dark!"

Zhang Xuan smiled.

"Alright!"

Everyone nodded simultaneously.

After the hall challenge, everyone admired the man before them to the utmost. Now, Zhang Xuan's prestige in the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Hall surpassed even Master Wu's.