Chapter 1537: Lu Chong's Transformation

"Not bad, not bad!"

Looking at the witch soul before him, which had shrunk to the height of an ordinary person, the lonely boy's features clearly visible, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

This was, of course, Lu Chong, who had entered the ancestral land of the witch soul masters!

When he first accepted him as a student, he was silent and taciturn, not saying a word, but now he even teased the acting head of the Master Teacher Hall, showing that he had emerged from the shadow of his family's annihilation and was no longer as lonely as before.

As his own student, Zhang Xuan did not care much about his strength; after all, with him around, no matter how low his strength, he could ultimately stand proudly in the world... To be honest, what he valued most was a good character.

Character determines destiny.

Only those who constantly strive for self-improvement, break through their limits, and work hard can truly reach the peak and possess the potential of a strong person.

Those who do not seek progress, muddle along, and think only about showing off without training cannot become true experts even with the best teachers and resources, like Sun Qiang!

He had been with him the longest and used the most resources, but... he was the weakest.

"Teacher, your disciple has fulfilled the mission and fully awakened the soul body..."

Hearing the teacher's praise, Lu Chong was filled with excitement, clasped his fists, and looked over.

"I saw..."

Zhang Xuan smiled.

To save him, he had been severely injured by that crown prince of the Xuan Yuan Kingdom and fell into a deep sleep. Only then did he discover that his soul body was enormous; once awakened, it would inevitably cause earth-shattering changes. Now that he could even tease Ren Qingyuan, it seemed that his soul body had perfectly merged with himself.

Only then could he break through his limits in such a short time and progress faster than him by an unknown margin.

"Mm!"

Seeing the teacher smile, Lu Chong felt satisfied, like a child finally getting the fruit he wanted. He nodded and quickly raised the item in his palm: "Teacher, please keep this for now. Otherwise, if this acting head snatches it back, we won't be able to resist..."

Zhang Xuan reached out and took it.

Lu Chong had managed to snatch it not because he was stronger than Ren Qingyuan, but because the witch soul was hard to detect when hidden, and the latter had focused all his mental energy on Wei Ruyan, allowing him to catch him off guard and succeed.

Once prepared, even if his cultivation were doubled, he probably couldn't do it.

Otherwise, if everyone went around stealing hall master tokens, the Master Teacher Hall would have no reason to exist.

As soon as his palm touched the hall master token, Zhang Xuan felt a special sensation surge into his heart, as if this item was tailor-made for him and could be refined at any time.

"What's going on?"

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but be startled.

This was definitely his first contact with this hall master token. He had thought that such a powerful artifact would be hard to control, but he never dreamed that the moment he held it, it felt like an item he had refined himself, full of attachment.

"Can I refine it?"

Gently brushing his fingers over it, Zhang Xuan was about to try fusing it with his blood when he felt a tremendous pressure bearing down. Looking up, he saw that all the nine-star master teachers had gathered together, forming a huge light shield in the air with the surrounding formations.

"Teacher, it's the city-protecting formation of the Empire Alliance, built around the Empire Alliance Master Teacher Hall to defend against external enemies. Now, combined with the many nine-star master teachers, it's fully activated!"

Wei Ruyan's expression was solemn.

"City-protecting formation?"

"Mm, this formation isn't particularly powerful on its own, but with so many nine-star master teachers as the formation's core, exerting all their strength to drive it, it's not to be underestimated. We probably can't resist it, and even escaping might be difficult..."

Seeing the teacher didn't understand, Wei Ruyan explained.

The Master Teacher Hall ruled the continent, keeping the Heterodox Spirit Tribe from daring to invade for tens of thousands of years. Its own strength was only one reason; the most important was that it had established branches everywhere. The greatest function of these branches was to set up one formation after another, nourished over the years. Once a crisis occurred, they could be activated to unleash an irresistible power.

For instance, the Empire Alliance itself was not a weak force. With the formation set up by the Master Teacher Hall and combined with so many nine-star master teachers, even Teacher Yang would find it hard to escape once it was fully operational.

"Teacher, rest assured. With my witch soul traversal combined with Senior Sister's poison arts, even if they are strong, it won't be easy for them to keep us here!"

Smiling, Lu Chong's delicate face showed strong confidence.

Having received the inheritance of the witch soul ancestral land, he was no longer the ignorant youth he once was. Like Wei Ruyan, he had transformed into a major power, every move exuding authority that made others dare not offend.

"Yes, their formation is formidable, hard to resist head-on, but if we want to escape, I doubt it can stop me!"

Wei Ruyan also responded, her body surrounded by boiling poison qi, as if ready to explode and sweep in all directions.

"I've never worried about escaping. Your teacher's strength, though not yet very high, can still manage if he wants to flee!"

Seeing his two students so confident, Zhang Xuan smiled.

His strength might be inferior to his students, but... trapping him with a formation was like delivering meat to a wolf's mouth... Since leaving the Tian Xuan Kingdom, he had yet to see a formation that could trap him!

"Then..."

The two were puzzled.

If they could escape, why not do so? Were they just waiting to be surrounded by these people?

"Ah, we can't leave yet. Your senior sister Zhao Ya is at a critical point in her cultivation. If we leave now, it's not just a matter of wasted effort; she might even die!"

Seeing they didn't understand, Zhang Xuan explained.

"Senior Sister Zhao Ya? Cultivation? Where is she?"

Hearing that their senior sister was also here, both were startled.

Zhang Xuan's zhenqi had wrapped Zhao Ya like a cocoon, making her features indistinguishable. Even the two couldn't tell that this 'thing' emitting the aura of the Heterodox Spirit Tribe was their senior sister.

"This is... her meridians had problems. I planned to reshape her meridians using a new meridian diagram, which is why this aura appeared!"

Pointing ahead, Zhang Xuan said.

"Reshape meridians?"

"Using a new meridian diagram?"

Wei Ruyan and Lu Chong exchanged glances, both drawing a cold breath.

They had never heard of such a thing; only the teacher would dare to do it.

"Since Senior Sister is here, we will protect her to the death, no matter how dangerous!"

Wei Ruyan stood straight.

The teacher faced so many master teachers without fear for the sake of his senior sister; as disciples, what did they have to fear?

At worst, they would die together!

"I will also protect Teacher and Senior Sister to the death!" Lu Chong nodded as well.

"Mm, I know your intentions... But even with the formation, it won't be easy for them to kill us. For now, guard me while I study this token. If I can resolve the problem with it, that would be best!"

Smiling lightly, Zhang Xuan's eyes fell back on the hall master token in his palm.