Chapter 1287: The Ancient Sage Bu Shang

The reason he had come to the Hall of Saint Sons was to find Luo Ruoxi and free her from the Zhang family's marriage contract, so they could be together...

After countless hardships, he had finally arrived here and would soon see her—how could he not be excited?

"Rest assured, I will marry you in a proper and open manner, and won't put you in a difficult position..."

His eyes narrowed as Zhang Xuan slowly calmed his surging emotions.

This involved the Master Teacher Continent and two major super-families; the matter was bound to be fraught with difficulties. But... what did difficulties matter?

Whoever dared to contend with him—even if it were the top family, even the strongest force on the Master Teacher Continent—would not have an easy time!

Letting out a breath, he stood on the beast's back and gazed into the distance.

A massive academy hugged the ground, like a crouching giant beast, majestic and imposing, quiet yet dignified.

"The person who founded this academy must have attained at least a nine-star level in formation mastery..."

He nodded to himself.

The academy's buildings were constructed along the mountain, each one a masterpiece that perfectly blended with the environment, together forming a flawless painting.

To create such architecture, the founder of the Hall of Saint Sons was not only a nine-star formation master but likely also had reached an extremely high level in horticulture.

"The founder of the Hall of Saint Sons was the Ancient Sage Bu Shang, who once studied under Master Teacher Kong and was one of his direct disciples!"

Seeing his astonishment, Zhao Xingmo explained.

"A direct disciple of Master Teacher Kong?" Zhang Xuan was stunned.

He had thought the Hall of Saint Sons was founded by a nine-star master teacher or some saint, but it turned out the founder was a direct disciple of Master Teacher Kong.

"Indeed. Otherwise, why would the core children of sage clans send their children here to study?" Zhao Xingmo said with pride.

"Oh."

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

Earlier, he had wondered why families like the Zhangs and Luos, which surely had nine-star master teachers and experts in various professions, would send their core children to study at this Hall of Saint Sons... It turned out the academy's founder was a direct disciple of Master Teacher Kong!

That status alone showed that this academy was no ordinary place.

"Among Master Teacher Kong's many direct disciples, Ancient Sage Bu Shang may not have been the most famous, but he was the best at passing down his knowledge and philosophy! The Hall of Saint Sons has stood for tens of thousands of years, weathered the passage of time, yet Master Teacher Kong's ideals have been perfectly preserved. Studying here, one can easily feel the spirit left by this teacher of a thousand generations and his longing for humanity's strength! Studying here makes one wiser and more enlightened—something no family or holy land can achieve!"

Zhao Xingmo continued.

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Master Teacher Kong's greatness went without saying.

Ancient Sage Bu Shang had passed down his knowledge and philosophy; on that basis alone, calling the Hall of Saint Sons the best in the world was not an exaggeration.

No wonder countless great families across the continent flocked here. Just the spirit passed down by Master Teacher Kong was something many holy lands could never match.

"I've heard of Ancient Sage Qiuwu before. Between him and Ancient Sage Bu Shang, which one is stronger?"

Zhang Xuan couldn't help asking.

"Ancient Sage Qiuwu was Master Teacher Kong's servant, while Ancient Sage Bu Shang was his direct disciple. It should be easy to infer who is stronger! Of course, these are ancient secrets involving ancient sages, so we shouldn't say too much."

Zhao Xingmo smiled.

"This..." Zhang Xuan's eyes widened.

Although the other hadn't said it outright, the implication was clear: Ancient Sage Bu Shang was stronger!

It was like Sun Qiang and Zheng Yang.

Sun Qiang was his servant; though he followed him daily and received the best guidance, his combat strength was far inferior to Zheng Yang's.

"Master Teacher Kong had seventy-two direct disciples. The ten strongest were called the 'Ten Virtuous Ones,' and Ancient Sage Bu Shang was one of them. His Eye of Principle was unmatched in the world."

Zhao Xingmo said.

As a member of the Hall of Saint Sons, he deeply admired the academy's founder and knew many of his deeds.

"Eye of Principle?"

"Yes. Ancient Sage Bu Shang was the second master teacher after Master Teacher Kong to comprehend the Eye of Principle, and he used it to create a 'pupil technique.' It is said that during battles with the Otherworldly Tribe, with a single glance, wherever his gaze fell, Otherworldly Tribe kings were instantly slain, unable to escape... Extremely powerful! Unfortunately, this pupil technique has been passed down for tens of thousands of years, yet no one has been able to master it..."

Zhao Xingmo shook his head.

"Pupil technique? Instant slaying?"

Zhang Xuan was shocked.

He possessed the Eye of Principle and knew its limits—it could at most see through illusions and find flaws... The idea of killing with a glance was something he had never imagined.

If that were true, it would be terrifying.

"Yes. Mastering this pupil technique means receiving the inheritance of Ancient Sage Bu Shang and automatically becoming the Hall Master of the Hall of Saint Sons! A status even higher than the heads of the Sage Zhang and Sage Luo families."

Zhao Xingmo sighed.

"Becoming Hall Master? The Hall of Saint Sons... has no Hall Master?" Zhang Xuan was puzzled.

The number one academy in the world, educating countless geniuses, with many elders and family heads of sage clans as former students... How could it have no Hall Master?

"The most important condition to become Hall Master of the Hall of Saint Sons is to possess the Eye of Principle and comprehend the pupil technique passed down by the founder. The Hall of Saint Sons hasn't seen such a genius in over three hundred years... Currently, the academy's affairs are handled by an acting Hall Master."

Zhao Xingmo said.

These matters were not secrets; anyone who became a member of the Hall of Saint Sons would know them, so it wasn't gossip.

"Oh." Zhang Xuan nodded.

Every organization had its own inheritance. If one couldn't accept it or gain the founder's recognition, they couldn't command respect or make others submit.

Especially for this top academy, the requirements were even stricter, with no room for flaws.

Otherwise, not to mention the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, even the academy's faculty and students would not acknowledge them.

If even the faculty and students didn't acknowledge them... even becoming the true Hall Master would carry no authority.

"We've arrived. Let's go down."

Just as he was about to ask more, Zhao Xingmo's voice rang out. Looking ahead, he saw the sacred beast had reached the square in front of the Hall of Saint Sons and was slowly descending.

Knowing this was not the time for further questions, Zhang Xuan fell silent.

Whoosh!

The sacred beast landed, and everyone flew out.

The square was packed with people and various sacred beasts, all apparently talents who had come from far and wide to participate in the final assessment.

A quick glance showed that all of them had formidable auras and extraordinary strength.

"Teacher Zhao, are we going to take the mountain gate assessment with these people?" Ma Minghai's mouth twitched as he looked around.

Some of the people in the square were weaker than them, but more were stronger, their power like rainbows—even without fighting, he knew he couldn't defeat them.

Within the eight titled empires, they had always considered themselves geniuses, but seeing these people, they realized... they were far behind.

"Many of them are core children of sage clans, with pure bloodlines and, more importantly, the best training from a young age. It's natural that they are strong. As I said before, strength is only part of the mountain gate assessment. As long as you perform to your best, you should all pass. Don't worry too much..."

Seeing the group's nervousness, Zhao Xingmo comforted them.

Core children of sage clans could activate their bloodlines to gain high strength, and with unlimited resources and the best education from childhood, it was only natural they were stronger.

Different starting points led to gaps—this was a congenital condition that couldn't be remedied, only narrowed through relentless effort.

"Alright..."

Despite understanding this, the group remained somewhat tense.

Unlike the others, Zhang Xuan's Eye of Principle flickered as he discreetly observed.

"No wonder they are children of sage clans—truly formidable..."

He couldn't help but sigh.

Among these people, there were not only Out-of-Body realm experts who had undergone tribulations but even some who had reached the Half-Step Domain realm... Under thirty years old and possessing such strength—their talent was no less than his!

After all, although his combat strength was formidable, his true cultivation was only at the peak of the Spirit Embryo realm, far from the Half-Step Domain.

"Hmm? I notice many among them are not master teachers..."

Someone in the crowd asked.

Hearing this, Zhang Xuan also noticed.

Among the youths standing in the square, many were not wearing master teacher robes, clearly not of that profession.

"The Hall of Saint Sons teaches without discrimination. Those who come for the assessment are not only master teachers but also other professions, such as the Artifact Refiners Guild, Alchemists Guild... They also send people every year. So the Hall of Saint Sons is not exclusively for master teachers; other professions are included."

Zhao Xingmo smiled.

The Hall of Saint Sons, as the number one academy in the world, did not only train master teachers; other professions also had corresponding inheritances.

Therefore, every year, the number of candidates from other professions exceeded that of master teachers.

"I see..."

The group nodded.

Across the eight titled empires, there were only about thirty people in total, and only twenty would remain after the re-examination... That showed how rare it was.

In the square before them, there were no fewer than ten thousand youths taking the assessment. Earlier, they had wondered why there were so many; if the recruitment scope included not only master teachers... that explained it.

The professions of the world—upper, middle, and lower nine classes—did not represent twenty-seven professions. The term 'nine classes' was a general term representing diversity.

All professions combined numbered well over a thousand... Which profession didn't produce a few geniuses each year? So the large number of candidates was to be expected.

"Let's see how the geniuses of other professions fare..."

With this in mind, Zhang Xuan looked at the people from other professions.

After a moment, he shook his head.

Although there were strong individuals among other professions, overall they were somewhat inferior to master teachers.

The number one profession lived up to its reputation.

"Hmm?"

Just as he was about to look away, his eyes lit up: "This... are they from the Iceplain Palace?"