Chapter 1331: It All Collapsed (Part 2)

As a super-strong expert at the seventh level of the Saint Domain, the Void Realm, who wielded the power of the void, if he couldn't even withstand a sword qi released by a kid at the Nascent Soul stage, it would truly be embarrassing.

"Alright then, be careful..."

Since the other party was so certain, Zhang Xuan didn't say more. With a flick of his finger, streams of sword qi flew out from his fingertips, hovering in the air like upright longswords.

"So many?"

Elder Liao was startled. He drew a semicircle in front of his chest with his palm, forming a defensive barrier.

He wanted to test whether the other's sword qi truly had the power to destroy the Jia Alley.

Woo woo woo!

Just as he finished this, he heard a sharp roar in the air. The space before him seemed to collapse. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of sword qi arrived less than five meters away.

"So fast?"

Startled, Elder Liao hurriedly expanded his domain to stop them.

Boom boom boom!

The sword qi struck the domain like a blender thrust into a water tank. The violent impact made his face flush red, and his domain nearly collapsed out of control.

Swoosh!

His entire body flew backward, his back slamming heavily into the wall, smashing a large hole. Even so, the sword qi before him remained undiminished, stirring up countless colorful lights.

In an instant, the entire hall was enveloped by the sword qi.

Creak!

Under the impact of the sword qi and the elder's collision, the room could no longer bear it. Large cracks appeared, and then it collapsed with a roar.

Whoosh!

His true qi completely depleted again, Zhang Xuan stopped, panting heavily.

After a few breaths, he recovered some strength and looked up, his eyebrows twitching involuntarily.

He saw that the ten alleys—Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui—were all emitting green smoke and had turned into ruins. Even the hall for the Nascent Soul assessment was completely wrecked.

"Cough, cough..."

Crawling out of the ruins, Elder Liao's hair was nearly half-bald from the sword cuts, and his body was full of sword holes, looking indescribably miserable.

"Elder... you were the one who told me to strike..."

His mouth twitching, Zhang Xuan quickly said.

The other had confidently claimed he could block it—what had he blocked?

Wasn't this harmful?

After finally shaking off the title of "Destroyer," he was back to square one...

If this continued, how would others see him?

He really just wanted to take the assessment quietly and read books quietly...

"I..."

His face flushed red, Elder Liao turned to look at the collapsed alleys, on the verge of tears.

He only wanted to confirm whether the other had cheated... how did this happen?

But to be fair, it really wasn't the other's fault. He had insisted that the other strike...

"Get lost!"

About to explode with frustration, wanting to say something but unable to, Elder Liao could only wave his hand, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Get lost?"

Zhang Xuan was stunned: "Don't I need to compensate?"

Though the main responsibility lay with the other, he was also not blameless.

"Can you afford it?"

Elder Liao said angrily.

Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched: "I can't afford it!"

So many puppets and formations—their total value was definitely not something that could be made up with superior-grade spirit stones. His wealth, though decent, was truly insufficient for compensation.

"Scram!"

Elder Liao trembled.

"Yes..."

Retracting his neck, Zhang Xuan had no choice but to leave. After a few steps, he suddenly turned around: "Elder Liao, I see you have a cold constitution. You'd better stop practicing the Cold Yin Art recently..."

"How do you know I practice the Cold Yin Art?" Elder Liao was startled.

This was their first meeting—how could the other know the technique he practiced?

"I just said it casually. If... you feel any discomfort, come find me at the elite class's courtyard..."

Having said that, Zhang Xuan said no more and turned to leave.

He had collapsed the entire assessment alley, yet the other hadn't detained him or made things difficult. That counted as a favor. During the fight, he had used the Library to take a look and knew that the other had recently encountered a problem with his cultivation technique, so he reminded him.

Actually, it wasn't a big deal. Stopping practice for a while would solve it; if he didn't stop, it wouldn't be too serious and could still be handled.

But the other was in a rage now, so it wasn't convenient to say more.

Having just collapsed the other's place, saying "You're sick" would probably mean he wouldn't even get to leave—he'd be beaten to death on the spot...

Seeing him say something cryptic and then leave in a hurry, Elder Liao was puzzled. But looking at the ruins everywhere, he again became so angry his beard flew up.

"One Sword Breaks the Sea—I can't use it lightly in the future..."

Walking out of the ruins, Zhang Xuan looked back, feeling dejected.

Since mastering this sword technique, he had used it three times, injuring two people and one puppet, and destroying a large area of buildings...

Who knew what would happen if he used it again?

It seemed that from now on, he must not use this sword technique unless absolutely necessary, or else he would truly take over his brother-in-law's title and become a destroyer feared by all.

He was a man destined to be the Hall Master. He needed to inspire awe and admiration, not cause destruction and be universally condemned.

"Let's go see how Sun Qiang's inquiries are going. If not... I need to earn some money quickly. Even if Elder Liao doesn't demand compensation, I can't really not pay."

Soon, he had an idea.

Normally, being the Hall Master didn't matter much to him, but it involved Luo Ruoxin's marriage next April, which was too important to refuse.

Without the identity of Hall Master, it would be absolutely impossible to take her away openly.

So, this position was a must, and he couldn't afford any mistakes.

According to Kui Sheng, before he could break the seal of the Hall Master's decree, it was best to win people over and earn their admiration, which would increase his prestige... Now, he had learned a sword technique and dismantled Jian Qinsheng's house, and taken an assessment and collapsed the hall along with the alley...

Even if they didn't ask him to pay, he couldn't just do nothing.

Of course, he really didn't have enough money and needed to earn some quickly!

Hurrying back to his residence, he waited not long before he saw Sun Qiang return.

Having not slept all night, he looked somewhat tired.

"How did it go?"

Zhang Xuan looked over.

"Reporting to the young master, I specifically inquired. There are many items containing pure spiritual energy. The best are supreme-grade spirit stones, but these are common in the inner courtyard and rare in the outer courtyard."

Sun Qiang said.

"Inner courtyard?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Before coming, he knew that the Saint Son Hall had inner and outer courtyards. If he wasn't mistaken, Luo Ruoxin should be in the inner courtyard.

"Yes... Besides supreme-grade spirit stones, the most effective are eighth-grade Strength Accumulation Pills! They contain pure spiritual energy and can be used as cultivation treasures... I bought some for you to try, young master."

Saying this, Sun Qiang took out a jade bottle and handed it over.

Casually pulling out the stopper, Zhang Xuan glanced at it and nodded.

There were three pills in total. The spiritual energy was indeed very rich, much stronger than the seventh-grade Spirit Origin Pill he had taken before.

"They are useful to me, but... three are too few. If I had about thirty, it should allow me to break through to the middle stage of Nascent Soul..."

He rubbed his forehead.

Although this Strength Accumulation Pill was an eighth-grade pill, it was the most common kind, only entry-level. Its medicinal power wasn't much stronger than the Spirit Origin Pill, effective but not potent.

"Are there any other items?"

He asked further.

"Also... completing various tasks can earn rewards, including Jade Vein Spirit Essence with abundant spiritual energy!" Sun Qiang said.

"Jade Vein Spirit Essence?" Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

This substance, like spirit stones, could only be produced in places with special dense spiritual energy. The spiritual energy it contained was very pure, though still inferior to supreme-grade spirit stones, it was much richer than superior-grade spirit stones.

However, such items were even rarer than supreme-grade spirit stones. He had only seen them mentioned in books.

"What tasks?"

"Some are set by students, others left by teachers. They are mostly tasks they find difficult to complete. I specifically checked. There are three tasks with Jade Vein Spirit Essence as a reward, the largest being a full three sticks!"

Sun Qiang said.

"Three sticks of Spirit Essence?" Zhang Xuan's eyes sparkled.

Spirit Essence was much larger than spirit stones. One stick could be exchanged for tens of thousands of superior-grade spirit stones. Three sticks... the spiritual energy they contained would definitely allow him to smoothly break through to the Nascent Soul stage!

If he sold them, even if he couldn't cover all the losses from the assessment alley, he could at least make up part of it.

"Yes!" Sun Qiang nodded.

"With such a high reward, what kind of task is it?" Though excited, Zhang Xuan knew it couldn't be easy.

The Saint Son Hall had countless experts, many with talent and aptitude. With such a high reward yet no one daring to take it, it must be far from simple.

"I heard it's a task from the Beast Taming Hall... I don't know the specifics."

After a moment's hesitation, Sun Qiang said.

He was just a servant. Being able to find out this much was already difficult; he didn't know the details.

"Where do I claim these tasks? Take me to see..."

Zhang Xuan nodded and was about to have Sun Qiang take him there when he suddenly frowned. Flipping his wrist, his identity token appeared in his palm.

He lightly swiped his finger over it, and a line of text appeared before his eyes.

"Teacher Zhang, come to the 'Ren Hall' elite office immediately. Report today!"

It was a message from Chen Leyao.

"Report... right, I still need to report!"

Both elite class and regular class students, after entering the Saint Son Hall, needed to report and choose a teacher!

Without choosing, one would have no support in the academy, making resources hard to secure.

Although master teachers wouldn't oppress students, they couldn't guarantee that other students wouldn't bully them.

After all, the Saint Son Hall accepted geniuses, and master teachers were few.

Most importantly, many geniuses came here to gild themselves and build a network. Under the same teacher, relationships were naturally closer, making things easier in the future.

"You keep investigating. I'll go report first."

Knowing that elite class reporting couldn't be delayed, Zhang Xuan didn't waste words and quickly headed toward the Ren Hall.

Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faithfulness—benevolence ranked first, showing its status in the Saint Son Hall.

The master teacher profession's most important duty was to pass on knowledge and cultivate students worldwide. The Ren Hall was where teachers taught and students learned. Here, one could find the most desired teachers and learn the best traditions.

Arriving at the entrance, he saw it was already packed with people, new and old students combined numbering over ten thousand.

Outside the hall, a large character shone brightly.

"It seems the characters outside the five halls were all left by Master Kong, intended to remind future generations..."

After a glance, Zhang Xuan nodded inwardly, then heard the sound of the ruthless man swallowing saliva.

He resealed that fellow in the Book of Heaven's Path and followed the crowd inside.

The Ren Hall was also divided into many halls. The elite class and regular class had different teaching locations. The elite class had greater authority, able to freely choose teachers for study, while the latter could only passively receive instruction from some teachers.

Looking around, he found the elite class reporting location and walked over.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw that the fifty people who had passed the assessment with him were almost all present.

Chen Leyao had been somewhat anxious, but seeing him arrive, she immediately relaxed. She came over and lowered her voice: "Why are you so late? Something huge has happened! The mountain gate has collapsed!"