Chapter 701: The Trade Fair

"Sun Qiang, find us a place to stay in the next couple of days. It should have a good environment and not be far from the academy!"

After leaving the Prince Huai's residence, Zhang Xuan turned around and looked at Sun Qiang.

He was a student of the Master Teacher Academy and could reside in the Scholar Sea, but Zheng Yang and the others were different. Normally, they were not qualified to live there. That was precisely why Prince Huai's invitation had made Hong shi and the others agree without much hesitation.

Staying for a short period was fine, but if it dragged on, it would surely invite criticism. Rather than dealing with trouble later, it was better to prepare in advance. This would also make teaching more convenient and allow everyone more freedom.

"Yes!" Sun Qiang nodded.

He was the steward, responsible for all matters of clothing, food, shelter, and transportation wherever they went. The others only needed to focus on their cultivation.

"Teacher, I feel like I'm about to break through!"

Just as he finished giving instructions and was about to return to the Scholar Sea, he heard Wang Ying's voice. Turning around, he saw her whole body surging with energy, true qi stirring through her acupoints, on the verge of breaking through!

She was at the peak of the Yin-Yang realm; once she broke through, she would reach the fourth level of Mortal Transcendence, the Turbid-Clear realm.

Over the past month, she had trained diligently and had long reached the peak, but had never found the right opportunity. Now, knowing that her teacher was feeling troubled, her spirit stirred, and she was about to break through this barrier at any moment.

"Heavenly Xiong Beast!"

Knowing that breakthroughs depended on opportunity and could not be delayed, Zhang Xuan's mind stirred, communicating with the spirit beast in the sky. With a grasp of true qi, everyone rose into the air and landed on the beast's back.

In a few dozen breaths, they returned to the Scholar Sea. He arranged for Zheng Yang and the others to stay in his room first, then stood by Wang Ying's side to guard her breakthrough.

The Turbid-Clear realm involved the separation of soul and body into turbid and clear. Although they had the simplified Heavenly Path cultivation technique and breaking through was not a problem, achieving true qi that was perfectly rounded and unified, with spirit and flesh intermingling without merging, was still somewhat difficult.

Knowing that only by enduring pressure during a breakthrough could one gain the greatest benefits, Zhang Xuan did not intervene, merely guarding her.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!

True qi circulated within her body, all her acupoints opened wide, continuously devouring spiritual energy. Wang Ying suddenly let out a cold snort, and a thick stream of energy burst forth from the Baihui acupoint at the top of her head.

Boom!

The turbid and clear separated; she had reached the fourth level of Mortal Transcendence, the Turbid-Clear realm!

Reaching this realm was like being reborn. Wang Ying's entire being seemed to transform into an unsheathed longsword, emitting a startling aura.

"This is... a breakthrough in mental state?"

Zhang Xuan's brows jumped.

Just like master teachers, martial artists also experienced breakthroughs in mental state. For the latter, it was about understanding principles, while for the former, it leaned more toward combat.

A normal breakthrough to the Turbid-Clear realm, even if it increased one's cultivation and strength, would not produce such a sharp aura. Clearly, this was a breakthrough in mental state, reaching a higher realm!

Clear as water, pure as gold!

The Pure Heart realm!

"What a great fortune!"

His eyes lit up.

In the martial artist's path, physical body and true qi were important, but after reaching the Turbid-Clear realm, mental state became crucial.

This involved the purity of the soul. With a surge in mental state, future cultivation would be like a dragon entering the sea, becoming smoother and faster.

Humans are creatures of thought. Whether in cultivation or daily life, with mundane affairs disturbing them, it is impossible to be completely focused and single-minded.

The Pure Heart realm was precisely about casting aside all distracting thoughts, unifying the mind and spirit, and cultivating with full concentration. Under such conditions, one's cultivation speed would be several times faster!

It could be said that with Wang Ying reaching this realm, her future cultivation speed would become increasingly faster, far surpassing Zheng Yang and the others.

"This girl, though unwilling to speak, also has a stubborn streak..."

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan smiled wryly.

Among his many students, Wang Ying's talent was inferior to Zhao Ya's, her perseverance inferior to Lu Chong's, her mental agility inferior to Zheng Yang's, her cunning inferior to Yuan Tao's, and her worldly wisdom inferior to Liu Yang's... Yet she had always progressed the fastest, and now she had even comprehended the Pure Heart realm!

It seemed that being meticulous and steady as water was the greatest talent for cultivation progress!

"Her cultivation is getting faster and faster; she'll soon need the cultivation technique for the Harmonious Spirit realm, which I don't have yet..."

Knowing that her cultivation had entered the right track and no longer needed his guarding, Zhang Xuan rubbed his forehead.

He was currently at the peak of the Harmonious Spirit realm, but this breakthrough had only been achieved thanks to the woman in white and his soul oracle methods; he had not formed a Heavenly Path secret manual in his mind.

He had to hurry up and find one; otherwise, when Wang Ying broke through again, this teacher would face the situation of having no techniques to teach.

No longer paying attention to the students who were cultivating, he stepped out of the room.

"Hong shi, can you find cultivation technique manuals for the Harmonious Spirit and Bridge Heaven realms?" Finding Hong shi, Zhang Xuan asked.

"Cultivation technique manuals? I can find some... How many do you need?" Hong shi was startled.

"The more, the better!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Wait a moment, let me see..."

Hong shi walked out and returned after a while, carrying several dozen books.

"There are forty sets of Harmonious Spirit realm manuals in total, but only three for the Bridge Heaven realm!" Although he didn't know why Zhang Xuan wanted these manuals, he still managed to find some.

The fifty geniuses from the Huan Yu Empire who had passed the assessment were mostly at the Harmonious Spirit realm, so finding manuals of this level was not difficult, but those for the Bridge Heaven realm were not so easy.

He had only managed to find a few from Feng shi, Luo shi, and others.

"Forty sets..." Zhang Xuan ran his hand over them and shook his head.

For others, forty sets would be considered generous, but for him, it was far from enough to form a Heavenly Path cultivation technique.

"Where can I find more? The more, the better!" Returning the books to Hong shi, Zhang Xuan couldn't help asking.

"You... exactly how many do you need?"

Seeing that even forty were not enough, Hong shi was taken aback.

With so many manuals, even he would need several months to read and understand them all. Yet it still wasn't enough? How many did he want?

"Over a thousand!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Over a thousand?"

Hong shi staggered, nearly falling over.

Although since Kong shi founded the Master Teacher Pavilion, various cultivation techniques had emerged like bamboo shoots after rain, finding over a thousand different ones was extremely difficult!

After all, each manual condensed the full effort of a cultivator; they were not cabbages that could be grown in abundance as long as there were seeds and someone to tend them.

"Indeed. Do you know where I can find them?" Ignoring the other's shock, Zhang Xuan said.

"This..."

Seeing that he was not joking, Hong shi rubbed his forehead. "The Master Teacher Academy definitely has them. Not just a few thousand, even tens of thousands can be found..."

The Master Teacher Academy gathered master teachers from all over the world, with a vast collection of techniques and manuals. Not just a few thousand, even tens of thousands could be found. But Zhang shi was not yet an official student of the academy and had no credits; accessing the books was impossible.

"Oh!"

After muttering for a while, Hong shi's eyes suddenly lit up. "There's a trade fair for new students these days, where some sell cultivation technique manuals. You can go and take a look. With so many new students in the Scholar Sea, finding a thousand or so shouldn't be hard!"

"Trade fair?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

"Yes! The new students from various empires basically all have their own cultivation techniques and also bring specialties from their own countries. In the days before the assessment, such a trade fair is held. First, it lets everyone get to know each other, and second, it allows for the exchange of resources and cultivation experiences, helping everyone improve and better pass the assessment!"

Hong shi explained.

"Good. Where is this trade fair? Let's go take a look!"

Hearing about such a grand event, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"It's on the trading ship in the middle of the Scholar Sea!"

Hong shi pointed.

In the middle of the Scholar Sea was a huge lake. He had thought it was just for decoration, but it turned out the trading venue was set up there.

Leaving the residential courtyard, they walked toward the lake. Soon they arrived at the shore. Although spring had already arrived, the chill of winter had not completely dissipated. A breeze blew across the lake, carrying a piercing cold.

Looking out across the lake, they indeed saw a huge ship several thousand meters away, lying across the water. From a distance, people could be seen moving like shuttles, countless in number.

"There's a ferry boat over there..."

With no road for several thousand meters, Hong shi looked around and immediately spotted a small ferry boat. The two walked over.

"How many spirit stones to go to the trade fair?" Upon reaching it, Hong shi asked.

"One mid-grade spirit stone!"

The ferryman was an old man, who raised his eyelids.

"One mid-grade? Are you robbing us?" Zhang Xuan's eyes widened.

For such a short distance, even one low-grade spirit stone seemed expensive, but he was asking for a mid-grade one. This guy was way too black-hearted!

"Robbing? If you think it's expensive, you can walk on water! This is Scholar Lake, full of spirit beasts at the seventh or eighth level of Mortal Transcendence. Don't blame me for not warning you if you die!"

Seeming long accustomed to such scenes, the old man smiled faintly.

On land there were spirit beasts, but in the water there were even more, and even more varied than those on land.

Such a huge lake harbored many high-level spirit beasts; those at the seventh or eighth level of Mortal Transcendence were nothing special.

At the Harmonious Spirit realm, even if one couldn't fly, walking on water was not difficult. But with spirit beasts in the water, one wouldn't dare to do so; a slight misstep could easily lead to being swallowed, beyond the reach of even immortals.

"This..." Hong shi hesitated, wondering whether to take the boat, when a mid-grade spirit stone landed in the old man's hand, and two figures flashed onto the boat.

"Boatman, set sail!"

Looking closely, they were none other than the Wind Senior and the young man who had been defeated by Zhang Xuan's finger earlier.

Standing on the boat, watching the old man's oar part the water as they slowly moved forward, the young man looked over with a sneer. "Can't even spare a spirit stone, yet you want to go to the trade fair..."

This Zhang shi had defeated his Wind Senior with a single finger in front of everyone. Although he had shown mercy, it had still caused a great loss of face. Thus, the young man still harbored considerable resentment.

Now, seeing this powerful Zhang shi unwilling to part with even a single mid-grade spirit stone, he couldn't help mocking him.

But before he could finish, he saw the two on the shore leap into the air.

Whoosh!

They landed on the back of a huge Heavenly Xiong Beast.

The enormous spirit beast flapped its purple wings, causing ripples on the water's surface and shaking the small boat violently, nearly capsizing it. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from sight, flying toward the ship on the lake.