Chapter 1255: Why Is Teacher Zhang So Weak?

Refuse, and his momentum would weaken; in the future, before the crowd, he would surely be unable to hold his head high. Accept, and naturally some would refuse to submit.

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Just as he was considering how to resolve this sudden challenge, he saw Hall Master Yue smile lightly, point a finger, and the suspended wine cup and wine flew straight over.

It seemed the other party gave him no chance to refuse.

“I hope Teacher Zhang will not decline; this is a small token of my regard!”

Whoosh!

The wine cup arrived before him.

In an instant, an intense pressure transmitted from the wine cup, as if it would crush his body.

Feeling this force, Zhang Xuan’s brows furrowed again.

The other party sent the wine cup over, appearing unhurried and with a friendly air, but in fact, he had employed means to deliver a show of force.

If he failed to catch it and the wine spilled, it would not only show disrespect to the host but also be seen as ungrateful! Without him needing to speak, the surrounding crowd, already unconvinced, would strike and beat him flat.

This fellow played the good guy, displayed magnanimity, and still managed to set him up… Impressive!

“Many thanks for Hall Master Yue’s kindness!”

For anyone else, the other party’s move, coming so suddenly, would be impossible to handle, leading to direct embarrassment. But he was different; with his Eye of Insight activated, he immediately saw the trajectory of the true energy contained within with perfect clarity.

Without much movement, he lightly raised the chopsticks in his hand and suddenly thrust forward.

The chopsticks were not fast, but they carried an invincible spear intent. In the blink of an eye, they reached the wine cup, and with a “pop,” pierced a hole in the true energy surrounding it.

The true energy scattered like a punctured balloon, losing all support, and the cup fell straight down.

With a flick of the chopsticks, he lightly clamped down, and the wine was caught.

“Hmm?”

This series of movements was as smooth as flowing water, as if Yue Yiquan had simply sent the wine over peacefully and he casually caught it with his chopsticks… An outsider would see nothing unusual, but Hall Master Yue’s face involuntarily darkened.

The force he had left around the wine cup earlier would have caused even a peak Primordial Spirit realm expert to lose face, yet this man caught it with ease… His control over force had reached an astonishing level.

According to reports, wasn’t this Zhang Xuan’s strength due to that furnace?

Since when had his personal strength become so formidable?

Zhao Xingmo’s assessment, where he was beaten badly at the same level, was a matter of face and certainly wouldn’t be disclosed. The present Hall Master Wu, Yao Mantian, Zhang Jiuxiao, and others had no need to speak of it either.

Thus, even he, the hall master of the Qianchong Empire Master Teacher Hall, was unaware of Zhang Xuan’s skyrocketing cultivation and invincibility at the same level.

The information he had obtained came only from Song Xuan.

And Song Xuan, having suffered at Zhang Xuan’s hands, naturally described him as detestable, using weapons to ambush… As for other details, he was too embarrassed to say more. Consequently, with mismatched information, things did not go smoothly.

Nevertheless, despite his shock, as a hall master, his face showed no expression. He smiled lightly and said, “Teacher Zhang, please!”

With that, he raised his own cup and drained it in one gulp.

Zhang Xuan smiled, lifted his cup, and was about to speak when the young man called Teacher Yun suddenly stood up: “Hold on!”

Everyone looked over in unison.

“Teacher Yun, what’s the matter?”

Yue Yiquan looked over.

“Hall Master Yue, we all agreed earlier that this cup of wine goes to the one with the strength… You say this Teacher Zhang is the strongest among us, but I’m not entirely convinced. I’d like to challenge him, if I may?”

Clasping his fists, Teacher Yun turned to Zhang Xuan, his eyes full of provocation.

No one would miss out on the Tianchen Drunk brewed by Elder Tianchen. To give it to some fellow from the Qingyuan Empire for no reason—not only he but others were dissatisfied.

“Right, I think a contest is in order!”

“We all know the situation in the Qingyuan Empire. If I’m not mistaken, this Teacher Zhang is only at the mid-stage Primordial Spirit realm, Saint Domain Level Four… Such strength is about the same as one of my students. I also find it inappropriate for him to drink the wine!”

“Let the capable obtain it. Teacher Zhang, since we all have to retake the assessment anyway, why not let us see your true strength first!”

…

Voices buzzed; everyone looked over with hostility.

“It seems I underestimated the power of this wine…”

Seeing their attitude, Zhang Xuan felt somewhat helpless.

He had thought it was just wine, and whoever drank it wouldn’t matter. He never expected it to have such an effect.

“I’ve already given the wine to Teacher Zhang. How he handles it is his affair. Let’s not harm our goodwill…”

Yue Yiquan smiled lightly.

The fire had been stirred; now he could just sit back and watch the tigers fight.

“Very well!”

Hearing him say not to harm goodwill, which clearly implied tacit approval, Teacher Yun’s eyes lit up. With a cold laugh, he looked over: “Teacher Zhang, do you dare to compete with me? If you win, the wine is mine!”

“Oh, and if I lose?”

Holding the wine cup, Zhang Xuan said.

“Lose?” Teacher Yun curled his lips: “Rest assured, I won’t lose!”

“Whether you lose or not isn’t for you to decide. Even if I’m weaker, I still have a chance to win… If I win, I give you the wine; if I lose, you take nothing. Isn’t that too much of an advantage for you?”

Raising his eyelids, Zhang Xuan looked over.

“Then what do you suggest?”

Startled, Teacher Yun snorted.

This cup of wine was given to the other party by Hall Master Yue. If he lost and gave it to him, he would lose the wine; if he won, there was no wager. That was somewhat unfair.

“Simple. We both know the value of Tianchen Drunk. This cup is worth ten high-grade essence spirit stones… How about this: I won’t bet ten; you put up five as a wager. If I lose, take the wine; if I win… the spirit stones are mine!”

Zhang Xuan smiled.

This Yue Yiquan aimed to make him look foolish, but… if he used it cleverly, he could fleece these “geniuses” a bit!

Ten high-grade essence spirit stones—these people might not be able to produce them, but five… given their status, should be easy.

“Five high-grade essence spirit stones?”

Unexpectedly the stakes were so high, Teacher Yun frowned, hesitating.

“If you don’t dare, then forget it. Sorry, I’ll just drink this wine…”

Too lazy to say more, Zhang Xuan raised the cup and was about to down it in one gulp.

“Hold on!”

Just as the cup was raised, another loud shout rang out, followed by another master teacher standing up: “Old Yun, if you don’t have the guts, this cup of wine is mine…”

With that, he chuckled, grabbed a jade box, and presented it before everyone. Opening it gently, five spirit stones glittered inside.

“These are five high-grade essence spirit stones. Check them!”

With a flick of his hand, the spirit stones flew over.

Catching them casually, Zhang Xuan glanced and nodded.

“Correct.”

“Good, then let’s begin! During the preliminary test, we assessed strength. I’ll compete with you in… Do you dare to accept?”

Seeing him take the stones without worry of being cheated, this master teacher smiled lightly and strode to the center of the hall.

The hall was spacious; although over thirty talents sat on both sides, there was still a space of several hundred square meters in the middle, perfectly suitable for sparring.

“Sparring?” Zhang Xuan seemed to lose his earlier confidence and looked over cautiously: “May I ask, what is your cultivation level?”

“I am at the peak of Primordial Spirit realm… If you’re afraid, I can suppress myself to the same level as you, mid-stage Primordial Spirit!”

Seeing his attitude, this master teacher sneered.

Before the fight even began, he had already lost momentum. Without a match, everyone knew who would win.

“That would be best!”

Relieved, Zhang Xuan put down the wine cup, stood up, and walked into the open space in the middle.

“I am Liu Chongxin of the Beiye Empire!”

Seeing him approach, Liu Chongxin raised his brows, suppressed his power, and in an instant, matched Zhang Xuan at mid-stage Primordial Spirit.

“Zhang Xuan of the Qingyuan Empire!”

Nodding, Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment, then clasped his fists: “Please go easy on me!”

“Heh, I will!”

Seeing this fellow, who had been so aggressive about the wager just moments ago, suddenly become like this, Liu Chongxin revealed a disdainful expression. He flipped his palm, and his palm began to redden: “Let’s begin!”

Taking a step forward, he grabbed through the air.

“Teacher Liu may seem reckless, but he is actually very cautious. He used his Iron Heart Palm right from the start!”

“To have passed Teacher Zhao’s selection, he must have lasted three moves against those two auditors. How could he be simple? Liu’s recklessness is just a show to make the opponent careless. In actual combat, he is always careful!”

…

Other cultivators familiar with Liu Chongxin whispered among themselves.

To stand out from a titled empire and be selected—who could be a simple character? Although Zhang Xuan’s performance was barely satisfactory, the opponent would still not take him lightly.

Swish!

The palm descended, and the surrounding space began to redden, as if scorched by charcoal.

Iron Heart Palm, a signature technique of the Beiye Empire Master Teacher Hall, a Saint Domain mid-level martial skill. When fully executed, its power was formidable, no less than the Great Star Luo Finger.

“Well struck!”

Zhang Xuan seemed to be stirred with boldness as well. With a loud shout, he flipped his wrist and met the attack.

His move was also a Saint Domain mid-level martial skill, the Crane Cloud Palm!

It appeared vigorous but was actually agile, clearly not daring to meet the opponent’s Iron Heart Palm head-on, intending to use skill to overcome.

“Trying to be clever? Dream on!”

With a light laugh, Liu Chongxin pressed his palm down sharply. The surrounding space seemed to be enveloped, and the subtlety of the Crane Cloud Palm could no longer be executed, forced to meet the attack head-on.

One force overcomes ten skills!

He used his powerful true energy cultivation to directly suppress Zhang Xuan’s variation.

Bang!

Their palms clashed. Zhang Xuan’s face turned pale, and he staggered back several steps, as if unable to withstand the opponent’s fierce power. His palm twisted, hidden under his sleeve, trembling uncontrollably.

“I thought you were something special. With such little skill, you want to drink the wine?”

Having gained the upper hand with one move, Liu Chongxin raised his brows and burst into laughter.

“This…”

Blinking, Zhang Jiuxiao’s mouth twitched: “Teacher Zhang… why has he become so weak? I hope Teacher Liu has good luck…”

His eyes were full of sympathy.

Every time Teacher Zhang acted like this, someone would be in for misfortune. He had experienced it many times and had learned from experience.