Chapter 314: Mind State Zero?

"Father's senior fellow apprentice?"

Jiang Chen spat blood again.

What the hell? When did his father take a master?

And, calling you senior fellow apprentice? If it's true, then what am I?

A junior disciple?

His face twisted, his whole being filled with a maddened expression from the inside out.

The others also hurriedly looked over, wanting to see from the hall master's face whether it was true or not.

"Are you a direct disciple of Master Yang?"

Ignoring the gazes of those around him, Hall Master Jiang was stunned, then suddenly realized: "No wonder you're so powerful at such a young age, passing easily. So you're the teacher's student..."

If anyone just popped up and asked him to call them senior fellow apprentice, he certainly wouldn't believe it. But if this person wasn't Master Yang's student, how could he know about his apprenticeship?

And how could he have such amazing talent?

With just a casual test, he had the entire Master Hall in an uproar. If this Zhang Xuan didn't have a formidable master behind him, he wouldn't believe it.

The teacher had only met him yesterday, and today this Zhang Xuan appeared. The timing matched, so he probably wasn't lying.

"That's right. The teacher said you have a chronic ailment due to cultivation issues and left a set of techniques for me to pass on to you. If you cultivate according to them, you can resolve the隐患 and even break through to half-step至尊 without difficulty!"

Zhang Xuan transmitted his voice.

"What?"

Hall Master Jiang's face flushed red.

Yesterday, Master Yang had immediately identified his problem. He thought the master would wait for him to accomplish a few tasks before teaching him the techniques, but instead, he had this Master Zhang pass them on directly.

"Listen carefully!"

Yesterday, through the library, he had seen the隐患 in the other's body and consulted many books to find a solution. Since he wanted to earn gratitude and form a golden page, there was no reason to hesitate.

Without holding anything back, he immediately transmitted the voice.

A set of cultivation techniques was soon explained.

As a two-star peak master, Hall Master Jiang knew even before finishing listening that these techniques would be effective for his隐患!

After hearing it all, he trembled uncontrollably.

It was foreseeable that if he truly cultivated according to these techniques, not only would his hidden ailment be cured, but his cultivation would also grow rapidly, and breaking through the long-cherished shackles was not impossible!

His knees went weak, and he knelt down, cupping his fists sincerely.

"Thank you for the generous gift, teacher! Thank you, senior fellow apprentice, for passing on the techniques."

The two had been communicating via voice transmission about the ailment, so the surrounding crowd didn't know what was said.

Just as they were wondering, they saw Hall Master Jiang kneel down.

Everyone was startled.

"Hall Master Jiang is kneeling to this kid?"

"Not kneeling to him, but to his teacher... That means this Master Zhang is indeed his senior fellow apprentice!"

"Who exactly is this Master Yang? What level is he?"

"Who knows, but for Master Jiang to willingly take him as a teacher, he must be at least three-star, or even higher..."

...

Everyone clenched their fists.

The highest-level master in the Tianwu Kingdom was Hall Master Jiang, a two-star peak. Suddenly, someone appeared whom he willingly took as a teacher—anyone would be excited and find it hard to believe.

"Dad..."

Jiang Chen cried.

He thought the kid was just bragging and his father would surely slap him down, but it turned out to be true!

And he even knelt in submission?

This isn't fair...

Zhao Ya and the others were so excited their faces flushed red.

Earlier, they thought that since the teacher had just arrived, he had scared away Physician Bai Chan and made Princess Mo Yu bow. They even thought that after a while, the master hall master might come to pay respects. But now, not only did he pay respects, he knelt...

As expected of the teacher, truly formidable!

While everyone was shocked out of their minds, Zhang Xuan was excited to the point of red eyes.

Indeed, hard work pays off. The moment Hall Master Jiang knelt, his mind shook, the golden book appeared again, and another golden page was added.

It seemed his earlier guess was correct.

Only genuine gratitude from a student could form this thing.

"With this, I can increase my mind state..." He curled his lips and smiled lightly.

Boom!

His mind shook, and the golden page instantly burned. Zhang Xuan felt his mind being filled with something. Things he couldn't understand before became clear and transparent, and his thinking became faster.

"So this is the mind state of the Understanding Principle realm..."

Feeling that many previously chaotic things were now as clear as unraveling silk, Zhang Xuan knew without testing that his mind state had increased.

The Understanding Principle mind state allows one to more easily find the essence of things and grasp the key points.

Flaws that previously required the Heavenly Dao Library to find became simpler to discover and resolve with the提升 of mind state.

"I originally wanted to condense the page to learn knowledge..."

He shook his head.

He had planned to condense a golden page to convert all the recently collected books into his own knowledge, but now that the golden page was used, there was no way.

But no hurry; he could find a way to condense another next time.

Calming his mind, he exhaled and looked at Elder Zhu again, smiling slightly: "Alright, my mind state is sufficient!"

"Mind state sufficient? What do you mean?"

Mo Hongyi looked over.

Just now, he tested at 5.1, which wasn't enough to qualify for the two-star master exam. After talking with Hall Master Jiang for a moment, he turns around and says it's enough...

What does that mean? You're not saying that in this short time, your mind state has reached 6.0, are you?

If anyone else said that, he would surely strike them dead on the spot. But this guy is different.

He scored 130 on a 100-point test; in the first round of the exam, he entered the second round and found thirty flaws; he突破 to Grandmaster just by closing his eyes...

He simply can't be judged by common sense!

"You... mean that your mind state has now... reached 6.0?" Elder Zhu also twitched at the corner of his mouth, looking over with full doubt.

"I don't know either... but I think it should be enough. We can test it with a texture stone!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

The golden page could help him increase his mind state; he had experienced that before. But how much it could increase at once was uncertain—after all, no one could guarantee that the previous increase to 5.0 wasn't an isolated case.

So he didn't speak definitively.

His uncertain words left everyone speechless again.

Don't know?

Should be enough?

You don't know your own mind state... Are you joking?

In all his years, he had seen many geniuses and prodigies, but this was the first time he saw someone so bizarre and maddening.

"I have one here. Here!"

Suppressing the urge to vomit blood, Elder Zhu took out a texture stone and handed it over.

Taking it casually, Zhang Xuan gripped it with both hands and activated his mind state fully.

Hum!

A soft chime sounded.

"Quick, look! What's the number!"

"Could it really have exceeded 6.0?"

"Who knows? If it were anyone else, I'd say they're bragging, but this guy... I really can't figure him out."

...

Seeing him test, everyone focused their gaze, wanting to see the result.

Even Mo Hongyi's breathing involuntarily quickened.

Whoosh!

Full of hope, Zhang Xuan opened his palm and looked down, almost throwing the texture stone away.

"What... is this?"

The crystal-clear texture stone had turned a bluish-gray, lost its luster, and no number appeared on it.

No number?

Earlier, without using the golden page, his mind state was at least 0.1. Now it doesn't show anything, not even a zero. What's going on?

"Could it be..." His heart skipped a beat, and Zhang Xuan twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Could it be that the golden page can increase mind state but also cancel it out?

He had finally reached 5.1, and now it's directly eliminated?

If that's the case, that's screwed up...

He had just boasted, and now this happens... Would the people here beat him to death?

"No number?"

"I thought he really broke through to 6.0. Turns out it was just a bluff."

"Yeah, how could someone go from 5.1 to 6.0 in less than half an hour?"

...

Not only Zhang Xuan was stunned; the surrounding crowd was also baffled.

Weren't you just confidently saying you could take the exam? Now, when tested... you don't even have a single point?

"Putting on airs. I thought he really could break through to 6.0..."

"Seems I overthought it. Mind state requires slow cultivation; how can it just break through on a whim?"

Voices arose from the crowd.

Breaking through to Grandmaster could be said to be due to accumulated experience, but mind state is different. He tested at 5.1 earlier, and then a moment later says he might have reached 6.0—what a joke.

"Since there's no number, it means he hasn't reached 6.0. He's not qualified for the exam. Elder Zhu, no need to delay; let's begin!"

Seeing that 6.0 didn't appear, Mo Hongyi breathed a sigh of relief and regained his confidence.

Let you show off!

Hmph, you messed up this time!

Without the mind state, you don't qualify for the exam. If you want to catch up to me... wait a while longer!

"Hmm..."

Looking at the texture stone in Zhang Xuan's hand and seeing no number, Elder Zhu shook his head and was about to speak when he saw Hall Master Jiang approaching with a serious expression.

"Hold on!"

"What's wrong?"

Seeing the hall master's expression for the first time, Elder Zhu was full of doubt, and the others also involuntarily turned their heads.

Hall Master Jiang didn't answer but walked up to Zhang Xuan, casually picked up the texture stone from his palm, and touched it with his fingers.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the texture stone crumbled into powder.

"This..."

Everyone was stunned.

Texture stones are as hard as jade. Hall Master Jiang didn't even use force with his fingers; how could it shatter?

"Just as I thought..."

As if confirming something, Hall Master Jiang nodded, a glint flashing in his eyes.

"Hall Master, what exactly is going on?"

Elder Zhu looked over, and the others also wore puzzled expressions.

"Anyone with the Understanding Principle mind state, when they activate their mind and hold a texture stone, will definitely show a number. Master Zhang tested earlier, and you all saw it—he reached 5.1. Now, when tested, there's no result. Don't you find it strange?"

Hall Master Jiang said.

Everyone nodded.

Indeed, as long as it's the Understanding Principle mind state, a number should appear. Why is there nothing?

"There are two possibilities for a texture stone not showing a number: first, it's not the Understanding Principle mind state; second... the mind state exceeds the range the texture stone can bear, so... it's not that it doesn't want to show, but that it can't!" Hall Master Jiang said slowly.

"Exceeds the bearable range?"

Everyone's pupils contracted simultaneously.