Chapter 411: He Is My Teacher

If a formation is off by a small grade, its power is more than doubled, and finding the hub becomes even harder.

Everyone thought it was incredible and shocking that Teacher Zhang could stop a third-grade initial formation with a single kick, but only now did they realize...

Second-grade, third-grade, fourth-grade—none of it mattered!

As long as he was there, no matter how powerful, one kick would finish it.

Twitching the corner of his mouth, Lu Chong shook his head vigorously.

Back then, his father had told him this formation was incredibly powerful, built up by ancestors through repeated reinforcement, containing great wisdom... Now it seemed—wisdom, my foot! When the teacher came, everything was like dirt and dogs.

With the formation stopped and danger gone, everyone filed in.

A few simple stone huts, no one knew how long they had existed; even if later generations often renovated them, they still looked dilapidated.

"Go ahead!"

Arriving before the stone huts, Zhang Xuan stopped.

This was something left by Lu Chong's ancestors. He had come only to break the formation; now that the goal was achieved and danger was gone, whether he went in or not didn't matter.

"Yes, Teacher!"

Nodding, Lu Chong walked in. After a short while, he came out, his eyes slightly red.

Back then, his parents and relatives had been wiped out, and he had been forced to flee, unable to collect their remains. Last night, he had made many memorial tablets overnight and placed them together with the ancestors' tablets, finally letting them return to their roots.

"Life is full of disappointments. Let's go."

Knowing the other's feelings and that there was nothing to console, Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

"Teacher!"

Hurrying forward, Lu Chong handed him a scroll.

It was a bamboo-slip book, clearly ancient and worn. However, it seemed to have been refined using some special method; though old, it was tough and not easily damaged.

Knowing this should be the handwritten notes left by Confucius, Zhang Xuan took it and casually opened it.

To be honest, he was quite curious about Confucius, the Teacher Under Heaven. Although he didn't covet his student's belongings, taking a look at the handwriting shouldn't be a problem!

As the notes opened, a sense of vicissitude surged up.

The first half of the scroll, though the handwriting was good, wasn't shocking. The latter half, though only a few words, gave a feeling of dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, as if a great mountain were pressing down.

The content was simple—indeed ordinary letters. It seemed Lu Chong's ancestor had sent a letter, and Min Sage, to express gratitude, had asked his teacher to personally reply a few lines and send them back together.

Looking down at the handwriting left by Confucius, Zhang Xuan felt a vast aura rush into his mind, causing his calm state of mind to open up like a bright mirror.

Teacher's Words Refine the Mind!

Legend has it that the handwriting left by a powerful master teacher contains his spirit and insights into heaven and earth. Frequently viewing it greatly helps elevate one's state of mind—this is called 'teacher's words refining the mind.'

However, this refinement requires resonance. Unless there is a teacher-student lineage or blood relation, ordinary people viewing a predecessor's handwriting have a very low chance of triggering it—even ten thousand attempts may not succeed once.

Zhang Xuan and Confucius had no teacher-student lineage or blood relation, yet he could directly trigger it—one had to say, his luck was extremely good.

Rumble!

Holding the letter, Zhang Xuan felt his state of mind become more stable, and his mental scale slowly increased.

He seemed to fall into a special artistic conception, standing still.

...

"Your Highness, Your Ladyship, it seems they have obtained the item."

Behind a huge rock atop the mountain hollow, Liang Qingming clasped his fists.

Having made the decision, Ding Mu, Lin Long, and the others had pursued them.

Although ambushing a two-star master teacher, once discovered, carried great danger, the reward would be even greater if successful.

"As a two-star master teacher, this Zhang Xuan surely has many life-saving items bestowed by his teacher. We must strike with a single blow, leaving no chance to breathe. Otherwise, once he sends a distress signal or activates a life-saving item, success will be hard."

Ding Mu's face was grave as he arranged: "More importantly, that handwritten notes must be obtained."

Since Teacher Yang had let Zhang Xuan go out alone, he must have many life-saving items on him. They had to act quickly, without any hesitation.

"Rest assured, Your Highness." Liang Qingming nodded.

"Let's move."

His expression hardening, Ding Mu nodded.

If they didn't kill him and only snatched the notes, no matter how well they concealed it, they would surely be discovered. Then the entire Xuan Yuan Kingdom might be destroyed as a result.

If they killed the man and handled it properly, faking a beast attack to confuse the public, by the time the truth was found, they might have already used Confucius's handwritten notes to find a backer and no longer need to worry.

Although the Master Teacher Hall was impartial and all branches were under the headquarters' control, there were still factional divisions.

Just like feudal lords under the central government, comparisons and conflicts between provinces and regions were common.

As long as conflicts within the Master Teacher Hall didn't involve betraying humanity, the headquarters rarely intervened.

Competition brings progress and makes humanity more prosperous. For the Master Teacher Hall, competition is also a form of motivation.

"Yes!"

Hearing the order to act, Liang Qingming's eyes turned serious. True energy circulated in his body, and with a flick of his wrist, a long sword appeared in his palm.

Swish!

His figure flashed, rushing out from behind the rock, turning into a bolt of lightning, and stabbed straight at Zhang Xuan among the crowd.

His full strength as a late-stage Supreme Realm expert was unleashed; in the blink of an eye, he covered hundreds of meters and arrived before them.

The formation had been stopped, so there was no defense in the hollow. Thus, his speed was very fast, unimpeded.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan was immersed in the state of teacher's words refining the mind and didn't notice at all.

Mo Yu and Lu Chong never expected anyone to ambush them at this time.

Seeing the brilliant sword light and hearing the sound of air splitting, everyone's pupils contracted, and their faces changed drastically.

"Teacher!"

"Zhang Xuan!"

"Young Master!"

Shouts rang out, and their bodies trembled.

"Teacher, watch out!"

Lu Chong, closest to Zhang Xuan, saw the brilliant sword light and knew that if struck, he would surely die. His eyes reddened.

To help him take revenge, the teacher had faced the Lin family alone without a word of reproach; to improve his strength, the teacher had spent countless resources without asking for anything in return...

Teaching martial skills, instructing in techniques!

Setting the principles of conduct, explaining the essence of cultivation!

Without the teacher, he would only cultivate mediocrity, never able to take revenge in his lifetime!

Without the teacher, he might have been discovered by the Lin family sooner or later, his life beyond his control.

It was the teacher who lifted him out of the mire; it was the teacher who gave him the face to face his deceased relatives...

This was the person he respected and loved most.

He must not come to harm!

"If you cultivate like this, you won't break through to the Aperture Opening Realm in ten years, and you may never be able to... take revenge!"

"Don't ask how I know! Hatred buried in the heart can be either motivation or an obstacle. Right now, you are suppressing your worries too heavily, which only hinders your cultivation and makes breakthroughs difficult. I know you don't speak because you fear you can't hold back and will blurt out the enemy's name, inviting retaliation."

"Rest assured, if you trust me, I guarantee you can take revenge within ten days!"

"You can trust me or not—the choice is yours! But... there is only one chance!"

"The assassin you speak of happens to be someone I know—he is my student, and I... am his teacher!"

...

Boom!

Scenes of interacting with Teacher Zhang flowed through his mind, words echoed in his thoughts. Instantly, boundless power surged within him, and his whole body moved like teleportation, covering several meters in a blink to stand in front of Zhang Xuan.

Pfft!

Liang Qingming's long sword arrived just then, piercing straight into his chest. The Supreme Realm expert's true energy surged along the blade into his body, instantly destroying his vitality.

"Ah!"

Feeling the opponent's sword energy raging inside him, his whole body about to be torn apart, Lu Chong roared, stretched out both hands, and gripped the long sword tightly in his palms.

"You..."

Unexpected that this guy would block his sure-kill strike, Liang Qingming's face darkened. He tried to pierce through him and kill Zhang Xuan, but found the sword firmly gripped, as if embedded in rock—neither thrust nor pull could move it.

"Let go..."

Never imagining he would be stopped by a Grandmaster Realm fellow, Liang Qingming, both anxious and angry, roared. True energy along the sword continuously poured into the opponent, trying to kill him first before dealing with Zhang Xuan.

"You cannot harm him, because..."

Feeling his vitality gradually dissipate under the opponent's true energy onslaught, Lu Chong showed no regret. Instead, his gaze was resolute, with a firmness that no one could shake.

"He is my teacher!"