Chapter 681: Qin Zhong

After questioning for who knows how long, Zhang Xuan finally closed the book.

This fellow truly had no idea about Master Teacher Kong's congenital fetal poison; even if killed, he could say nothing about it.

The poisoning was a secret matter, not even known to friends, let alone enemies.

Like himself, no one along his journey knew of his poisoning, and it must have been the same for Master Teacher Kong back then.

Through questioning, he also understood why this fellow had become like this and the true purpose of this underground palace.

The owner of the heart, in his lifetime, had rampaged across the land, destroying heaven and earth, killing countless humans.

Master Teacher Kong personally fought him several times, but he always escaped cleanly, until the last battle, when they fought until the sky went dark and the earth dimmed; he was stripped of flesh and bone, and his soul was utterly annihilated on the spot.

He was indeed dead, but as a super-strong expert of an era, how could he have left no contingency? Before fighting Master Teacher Kong, he had left a drop of heart's blood in this underground palace.

And left a clan of his people to guard it.

Tens of thousands of years passed, the seas changed and mulberry fields turned; after years of evolution, the heart's blood finally coalesced into a heart, and his consciousness awakened.

He thought he could once again dominate the world, but before he could go out, he encountered me, was sealed in the book, and turned into something like a picture.

As for these puppets, though they had lost consciousness, they were all his descendants, and for his resurrection, they had expended countless efforts; therefore, his will could easily control them and, with the help of the spirit array, restore their strength.

Upon asking this, a thought suddenly emerged.

Wu Yangzi thought he was clever, refining all these alien clan members into puppets, but... could it be possible that this group of puppets knew his purpose and turned the tables on him?

This alien clan had only about twenty members, and most were male; it was clearly impossible for them to continue multiplying. Could it be that they knew they were about to go extinct and, in order to continue guarding this 'ruthless man,' deliberately let themselves be refined into puppets?

That way, their cultivation remained, their defenses were stronger, they could better obey the 'ruthless man's' commands, fight everywhere, and even if the 'ruthless man' revived, he might be able to restore their consciousness...

Otherwise, the alien clan, naturally powerful and a transcendent life form that once ruled humanity, how could they have been toyed into extinction, not a single one left?

Of course... whether this thought is correct or not, it can no longer be verified.

Before the heart awakened, Wu Yangzi was already dead, and these alien clan members had already become puppets; even he couldn't explain clearly.

After more questioning, though this fellow's will was clear, his memory had not fully recovered; he only knew the general idea of many things, and when asked for details, he was vague.

Especially regarding cultivation techniques; when asked, he only knew some methods of the alien clan, and was completely ignorant of human ones.

This made Zhang Xuan very frustrated.

He had thought he caught an ancient monster who survived from antiquity and could extract many techniques from him to break through quickly, but he never dreamed it would be no different from picking up a piece of trash.

Unable to resist, he beat the fellow several more times before calming down.

Having asked all he wanted, and seeing that the puppets still had some time before digging out, Zhang Xuan was not anxious; he sat cross-legged on the ground and began to cultivate.

The Five Radiance Golden Body, though only the first level was cultivated, had doubled his physical strength, from two million cauldrons to four million cauldrons!

Adding true qi of 4 million cauldrons and soul power of 3.2 million cauldrons, his total strength had reached 11.2 million cauldrons, comparable to a peak Mortal Transformation Stage Seven Return to One Realm expert!

(Return to One Realm early stage 8 million cauldrons, mid stage 9 million cauldrons, late stage 10 million cauldrons, peak 11 million cauldrons)

A peak Mortal Transformation Stage Five Spirit Union Realm possessing the strength of the Return to One Realm, spanning two major levels—even the super geniuses of the Master Teacher Academy could not achieve this.

The other four levels had defects and required various treasures to cultivate; Zhang Xuan had to give up and continued to refine true qi, increasing the dantian's storage capacity for true qi.

...

"Five days!"

Looking at the pit-like ground, Luo Qiqi shook her head, disappointment hard to conceal in her eyes.

Five days without rest, hoping that the Zhang shi who sacrificed himself to save others could create another miracle, but... looking at the current situation, miracles were hard to come by.

"So long, buried underground, even a Mortal Transformation Stage Eight expert would find it hard to survive!"

Yu Fei'er was also in a daze.

When he was alive, she was so angry she wished she could bite off a few pieces of his flesh; now that he was dead, and died saving them, she felt an unshakable attachment.

Buried hundreds of meters underground, surrounded by rock, even if a Mortal Transformation expert had extraordinary strength, surviving an extra hour or two was possible, but days... absolutely impossible!

That is to say... Zhang shi was truly dead this time!

And his body was gone; even if he wanted to rise from the dead... he couldn't!

"Let's go to the Beast Hall, borrow a flying spirit beast, and hurry back to Hongyuan City. I will report this to my father and have him send people! Although Xing Yuan and the others can invite experts from the academy, I'm afraid they won't search diligently for Zhang shi."

Gritting her teeth, Yu Fei'er stood up and said.

Waiting here forever was not a solution; the only way now was to find a Saint Domain level expert to personally dig, to find him alive or see his corpse.

The academy's experts might come for the alien clan puppets and Wu Yangzi, but to have them spend effort searching for someone was certainly impossible.

Zhang shi was called an academy student, but he hadn't officially reported in or passed the entrance exam; he wasn't a registered student, not worth a Saint Domain expert's effort.

Moreover, he might already be dead.

"Alright!"

Luo Qiqi also nodded.

Having waited five days without him coming out, Zhang shi was likely in grave danger; as students, what they could do was find his body and give him a proper burial.

"The Beast Hall of the Huan Yu Empire is not far from here; if we go all out, we can get there in about half a day..."

Yu Fei'er calculated the location and said.

"Half a day? No need. This is the必经之路 between the Beast Hall and the Huan Yu capital; flying spirit beasts from the Beast Hall often pass by. We can try to hitch a ride!"

Luo Qiqi looked up at the sky.

Although the Beast Hall was not far from here, crossing mountains and valleys could easily lead to encounters with other spirit beasts; if a fight broke out, it might take three days to get there, wasting a lot of time.

It was better to try hitching a ride.

Hitching a ride meant paying a certain reward to ride someone else's spirit beast along the way.

This was the必经之路 between the Beast Hall and the Huan Yu Empire; every day, many spirit beasts flew by, and maybe they could find one willing to take them. That way, they could fly there in a few dozen minutes, avoiding much trouble.

"Mm!" Yu Fei'er also nodded and looked up. Just as she looked into the sky, she heard the whoosh of wings, and a huge Green Leaf Dragon Wing Beast flew overhead.

"Green Leaf Dragon Wing Beast? This is a Spirit Union Realm spirit beast with dragon bloodline; its status in the Beast Hall should be high. Let's go with it..."

Recognizing the spirit beast, Luo Qiqi looked up at the sky, gathered her qi in her dantian, and her voice immediately carried upward.

"I am Master Teacher Luo Qiqi, wishing to hitch a ride. I hope you can oblige!"

The identity of a master teacher was useful anywhere; directly announcing it increased the likelihood of being allowed to ride.

Sure enough, upon hearing her words, the Green Leaf Dragon Wing Beast in the air circled and descended straight down, soon arriving before the two.

This spirit beast's back had no riding cabin, only a bare rein. As soon as it landed, a young man jumped off its back.

This man appeared to be around thirty, dressed in luxurious clothes, with piercing eyes; he was actually a Qiao Tian realm expert, like Luo Qiqi and the others!

"Qin Zhong of the Beast Hall, greetings, Master Teacher Luo!"

Seeing that the ones wanting to hitch a ride were two such beautiful girls, Qin Zhong's eyes lit up with excitement.

Such beauties, even though he had seen countless women, he had never encountered before.

"We wish to go to the Beast Hall and hope to ride your spirit beast. Is that possible?" Luo Qiqi said indifferently.

"It is my honor to have you two ride with me!" Qin Zhong said excitedly. "But... my spirit beast has no cabin, so you may have to rough it..."

"No matter!" Luo Qiqi shook her head.

Their goal now was to get to the Beast Hall as quickly as possible and find a suitable spirit beast; whether there was a cabin or how comfortable the ride was, it didn't matter.

"It's not too far to the Beast Hall. How much do you charge?" Yu Fei'er asked.

Hitching a ride meant borrowing someone else's spirit beast, which was paid; usually, the price was stated in advance, otherwise, if they raised the price mid-air, even as a princess, she couldn't afford it.

"You jest, miss. Two such beauties riding my spirit beast is my honor; how could I be so rude as to charge you money!"

Qin Zhong clasped his hands behind his back, striking a suave pose to attract their attention, but found they didn't even look at him.

"Better to name a price, so we can ride with peace of mind."

Seeing this fellow's frivolous demeanor, clearly with ulterior motives, Luo Qiqi frowned slightly.

If not for her anxiety, she wouldn't bother with such a self-righteous fellow.

"This..."

Seeing her insistence, Qin Zhong hesitated, then his eyes rolled. "I have no special request. How about this: seeing you two travel-worn, you must have been in the mountains for quite a while. When we reach the Beast Hall, if you allow me to accompany you for a meal, the fare is waived."

"A meal?"

Seeing his demeanor, the two knew exactly what he was thinking, and their faces darkened.

A fellow from the Beast Hall of the Huan Yu Empire dared to flirt with two five-star master teachers—his audacity was immense!

"Yes, I dare not have any extravagant hopes, only wish to fulfill the duties of a host. Besides, you two are in such a hurry to go to the Beast Hall; you must be looking for a powerful spirit beast. As a four-star beast tamer, and my father being the hall master of the Beast Hall, I might be able to help you!"

Qin Zhong said with a smile, his face full of pride.

His identity as the young hall master of the Beast Hall, once revealed, would earn him respect from most people. Even if they were master teachers, judging by their age, they should be no more than three-star. Knowing this, they would surely look at him with new eyes.

Then, winning their affections would be within reach.