Chapter 839: Returning to Hongyuan City

"Folding space is somewhat similar to formations. Find the portal, and naturally you can leave easily!"

Luo Ruoxi said.

"Portal?" Zhang Xuan looked around.

This space was not large, only a few hundred meters in radius. Beyond that, it was as if something cut it off, like a spatial barrier; even if one wanted to go over, one could not set foot there.

"It seems the exit is within this range..."

The spatial barrier was certainly impassable, and the portal could only be within the vicinity of the thatched hut.

The Eye of Insight squirmed, scanning around but finding nothing. Suddenly struck by a thought, he looked back at the place he had come from and indeed noticed a difference.

A few steps brought him to the spot. He lightly stamped his foot on the ground, and a circular platform slowly appeared, identical to the one he had seen when entering.

"That's right, this is it. As long as we step onto it, we can leave..." Luo Ruoxi smiled, stepped onto it first, and with a faint flicker, vanished from the spot.

"Careful..."

Not expecting her to leave directly, Zhang Xuan was startled.

With the Sealing Sage Platform dismantled, the many masters must have gone mad. Going out like this was just asking to be beaten to death, wasn't it?

But since she had already gone out, he couldn't worry too much. He immediately stepped onto it as well.

Whoosh!

A flash of light, and the scene before him changed. Blue sky, white clouds, and a gentle breeze reappeared, with the girl standing not far away.

"Hmm?" Looking around, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but be startled. "Where is this?"

It was an open space, clearly different from the previous Sealing Sage Platform, obviously no longer at the original location.

"I don't know either. Probably Kong Shi calculated that the Sealing Sage Platform's appearance would cause a lot of trouble and moved the exit location," Luo Ruoxi said.

"That's best..." Seeing that they were not at the Sealing Sage Platform and had escaped the fate of being surrounded and killed, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Now he also understood that gaining Kong Shi's approval meant that even damaging the Sealing Sage Platform was not a big deal. The key was that if these masters learned that the Sealing Sage Platform hid a folding space containing Kong Shi's personal writings, it would surely incite immediate frenzy.

Although many masters were open-minded, there were still more who would harbor other thoughts.

He didn't want to be besieged every day over a broken book.

After checking the surroundings and confirming that this place was some distance from the Sealing Sage Platform and no other masters were pursuing, Zhang Xuan finally relaxed. He summoned the Purple Winged Heavenly Bear Beast and was about to leave when he glanced at the stone platform nearby. A thought struck him.

With a flick of his wrist, a football-sized beehive appeared in his palm.

"Master!" The Thousand Ant Queen Bee rolled to the ground.

"There's a folding space here. Can you put it into the beehive?" Zhang Xuan looked at her.

The Thousand Ant Beehive was only two or three meters in diameter, too cramped even for a Purple Sun Beast. He had never found a way to expand it. Now, with such a huge folding space here, could he somehow make the two compatible?

This one was hundreds of meters in diameter. If successful, he might even form a spirit beast army, unleashing them all at once to beat down anyone who dared to defy him.

The Thousand Ant Queen Bee lowered her head to look at the stone platform, crawled onto it, and after a moment returned to his side, eyes shining. "Master, I can merge this folding space with the beehive, but... it might take some time!"

"How long?" Zhang Xuan asked.

Involving space was certainly very complex. The Thousand Ant Queen Bee was only a Return to Unity realm spirit beast; even with her innate talent, it wouldn't be easy to accomplish.

"I need three days to devour it completely, but converting it into the beehive will take at least a few months..." the Thousand Ant Queen Bee said.

"Alright, I'll wait for you three days!" Zhang Xuan smiled.

Three days was nothing.

"Yes!" Hearing her master's consent, the Thousand Ant Queen Bee said no more. With a shake of her body, she drilled into the stone platform and disappeared.

Seeing that he wouldn't even spare the folding space left by Kong Shi, Luo Ruoxi shook her head.

Others would treat anything left by Kong Shi as a sacred artifact, revering it without daring any desecration, but this fellow... was actually planning to have the Thousand Ant Queen Bee swallow it... She really didn't know what to think.

...

The two waited on the spot for three days. The Thousand Ant Queen Bee indeed crawled out, her face pale, her size doubled, and her belly swollen round.

After putting her back into the beehive to let her expand the space on her own, Zhang Xuan stepped onto the beast's back and flew toward the Master Teacher Academy.

This trip to the Sealing Sage Platform had been extremely profitable.

The 'master' character tempering had raised his mental state to 21.1, comparable to a seven-star master teacher; he had obtained Kong Shi's personal letter, which, though he didn't know its use, must be of great value since countless masters coveted it; finally, he had given the Thousand Ant Queen Bee the capital to upgrade the beehive.

Having devoured such a huge folding space, it was imaginable that the beehive would expand many times over. Then, the Purple Sun Beast, the Purple Winged Heavenly Bear Beast, and even his clones and students could all be accommodated, with no more worries about having nowhere to go.

Cultivation knew no time; three days passed in a flash. Traveling onward, Hongyuan City appeared in sight again.

After this period, the beehive had grown to over ten meters wide, spacious enough even for the Purple Winged Heavenly Bear Beast to enter.

Zhang Xuan hadn't been idle either. With his increased mental state, he understood techniques more thoroughly and cultivated more quickly.

These past few days of cultivation, he had intended to suppress his cultivation level and continue only after finding the Heavenly Dao technique. But unexpectedly, after waking from sleep, he had unconsciously broken through to the early stage of Void Step realm, which annoyed him for quite a while.

This time, he had been determined to temper his true energy well and train hard for a while, but... he wasn't given any chance.

Ah, breaking through too easily was also a worry!

Reaching the Void Step realm, his true energy power increased by a large margin, from 14 million cauldrons to 17 million cauldrons!

It was no weaker than the mid stage of Void Step realm.

Adding his soul power of 11 million cauldrons and physical body power of 8 million cauldrons, he could now unleash 36 million cauldrons!

Even a peak Silkworm Seal realm expert would probably be killed with one punch.

(A peak Silkworm Seal realm expert has 34 million cauldrons of power.)

Entering Hongyuan City, before long, the Master Teacher Academy came into view. Luo Ruoxi's delicate figure flickered, and she took her leave, stepping into the air and disappearing.

Zhang Xuan, on the other hand, controlled the Heavenly Bear Beast and flew toward his residence.

...

"Dean, Zhang Xuan and Teacher Luo have returned..."

As soon as the Heavenly Bear Beast entered Hongyuan City, an elder from the Alchemy Academy hurried to Lu Feng's residence.

"Returned? Very good..."

Slapping the table, Lu Feng stood up abruptly, his eyes gleaming.

He had thought this fellow would return in a day or two, but instead, he had kept them waiting for nearly ten days—utterly unforgivable!

"Continue surveillance, and don't let this fellow escape!"

After giving the order, Lu Feng looked to one side. "Dean Chen, Dong Xin, let's go to the Elder Council Hall!"

"Alright!" Chen Chengxun and Dong Xin breathed a sigh of relief and also stood up.

To prevent leaks, they had stayed here all these days, not daring to go anywhere. Now that Zhang Xuan had returned, it was time to end this.

Before long, the three arrived at the tallest and most majestic building of the Master Teacher Academy, in the most secure room.

The Elder Council Hall!

The place where the ten elders and the dean deliberated.

It was rarely opened, but this year, just over half a month into the semester, it had already been opened twice.

The first time was over the disappearance of Senior Purple Sun Beast, and the second was to expel Zhang Xuan.

Entering the room, they activated the formations within. Before long, the remaining eight elders filed in.

"Dean Lu, why have you summoned us so urgently this time?"

Upon entering, Elder Mi looked over.

"Yes, if it's about the same matter as last time, there's no need to discuss it. Although most of the Alchemy Academy students have withdrawn from the class, I personally went to check, and nearly half of them have made breakthroughs in alchemy... That is to say, Teacher Zhang is not at fault but has merit!"

Zhao Bingxu said.

After that day, many deans had also investigated the Alchemy Academy. Indeed, as Lu Feng had said, countless students had withdrawn... However, despite withdrawing, these students had learned better knowledge and made obvious progress.

The academy's purpose was to educate; as long as students could progress, it was a great merit. Reporting it to the Master Teacher Hall would also be without fault.

"Don't rush. Wait until Teacher Mu and Hall Master Mo arrive, and then we'll talk!"

Waving his hand grandly, Lu Feng snorted.

Last time, these people had outmaneuvered him, and he had no recourse.

But this time, with solid evidence, let's see what you can say!

"Hall Master Mo? Why call him?" Hearing his words, Wei Ranxue spoke up.

The other elders frowned.

Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy and Hongyuan Master Teacher Hall were two separate entities, non-interfering. When the academy's elders held a meeting, why bring this hall master over?

Wasn't it embarrassing enough?

Letting the Master Teacher Hall come to mock them too?

"You'll know when the time comes!"

Lifting his head, Lu Feng exuded strong confidence.

Let them defend Zhang Xuan. When they learned he was an alien tribesman, they would probably be dumbfounded.

Seeing that he said nothing but acted mysteriously, Zhao Bingxu, Dean Mi, and the others exchanged glances, each full of doubt.

Creak! Creak!

Before long, Teacher Mu and Hall Master Mo Gaoyuan walked in.

"Teacher Mu, Hall Master Mo!"

Everyone clasped their fists.

"What is it this time?" After everyone was seated, Teacher Mu waved his hand.

"Teacher Mu, this matter concerns the safety of Senior Purple Sun Beast and our human race, so it cannot be taken lightly. Before I speak, I hope you can set up a禁制 in this room to prevent anyone from passing messages!"

Lu Feng stood up.

"禁制?" Teacher Mu frowned.

"Lu Feng, what do you mean? Do you think we would leak information?" Zhao Bingxu's face darkened.

The other deans also narrowed their eyes, displeased.

As ten great masters and deans of important academies, before he even stated the matter, he wanted to impose a禁制, clearly guarding against them.

Especially that phrase 'prevent anyone from passing messages'—what did it mean? Did it imply that when it came to the safety of Senior Purple Sun Beast and the human race, they would leak information?

"I certainly won't leak information, but some people might not be so sure. The stakes are too high, and among us, not a few might be deceived. Doing this is also to prevent trouble before it happens!"

Lu Feng looked around, his eyelids lifting.