Chapter 905: A Glance

This was somewhat frightening. He cultivated the Heavenly Dao technique, excelling in body refinement and the witch soul, yet his opponent possessed comparable combat power. Could it be that, like him, his soul and physical body were equally powerful?

"I cannot underestimate any cultivator!" Zhang Xuan thought to himself, growing cautious.

Since his rebirth, he had encountered countless peers of similar age whom he could easily crush. Over time, a sense of superiority had formed in his mind. Now, it seemed that true geniuses did exist and were equally formidable—he simply hadn't encountered them before!

"Does the dean wish to give it a try?"

Elder Mi said.

He was quite looking forward to seeing how this new dean compared to the former dean, Mo Liuzhen, at the same level in terms of combat prowess.

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

His current strength was 65 million ding, comparable only to the mid-stage of the Saint realm. Whether he could even pass the seventh level was uncertain. If he could attempt it, he naturally wouldn't decline.

Moreover, it was related to the assessment for a six-star master teacher.

"I'll lead the dean there!"

Elder Mi's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly led the way.

The Record Mountain was built near the Elder Hall, following the contours of the terrain. From afar, it looked like a towering peak.

"Our Master Teacher Academy's Record Mountain was constructed by Dean Mu Kai based on the War Master Hall's War Master Tower. Each level is guarded by a specialized puppet, representing the strongest combat power that can be exerted at that level. Breaking through is no easy feat!"

Arriving at the foot of Record Mountain, Elder Mi explained, "These levels demand high combat power and battle awareness, and they are extremely dangerous. Dean, you must be careful!"

"Dangerous?"

"Mm, because the puppets guarding the levels are unaware of their own strength. During combat, if you're not careful, danger can arise. Every year, not a few master teachers are severely injured or killed while attempting the levels!"

Elder Mi's expression turned solemn.

Record Mountain was not easy to challenge. If it were simple, it wouldn't have deterred countless people. It had been a month or two since the term started, and hardly anyone had come.

"Once the dean enters, if you encounter danger and cannot handle it, you must concede in advance. As long as you shout out, the puppets will automatically retreat and stop attacking..."

Elder Mi continued.

Although he had high hopes for this new dean, his actual strength was still too low. He would inevitably face danger, so it was better to explain clearly in advance.

"Alright!"

Nodding, Zhang Xuan didn't hesitate and walked toward the gate of Record Mountain.

Soon, he arrived at the first room, a spacious area of several hundred square meters. As soon as he entered, a puppet approached him.

The puppet at this level was only at the late stage of the Silkworm Seal realm, and with a single strike, the wind howled, wielding over thirty million ding of force.

"Finally, another challenger! Heh heh!"

With a cold snort, the puppet chuckled, its whole body creaking. It stamped its thick foot on the ground and charged straight at him.

"It's from the Artifact Hall. Although it hasn't reached the saint-grade standard, it has been imbued with spirituality. Not bad!"

Knowing that the opponent's strength was far inferior to his own, Zhang Xuan wasn't tense and instead smiled lightly.

This puppet, as he had guessed, was specially refined by the Artifact Hall. However, it was clearly more advanced than the ones he had seen during his two-star master teacher assessment. Though it still fell short of a saint artifact, it already possessed spirituality and even self-awareness.

If such things could be mass-produced, they would surely form a highly combat-effective army, but due to material and technique limitations, it would certainly be difficult.

Two breaths later, the puppet lay on the ground.

Zhang Xuan walked toward the second level.

The puppet on this level was at the peak of the Silkworm Seal realm, but it was no match either, and he defeated it easily.

The third level, as Elder Mi had said, had a strength equivalent to the early stage of the Half-Saint realm. Since Zhang Xuan had just broken through and could defeat a Half-Saint-level war master like Lu Cheng, this was naturally no challenge.

Ascending level by level, Zhang Xuan encountered no obstacles.

...

At the foot of Record Mountain, Zhao Bingxu, Wei Ranxue, and others, upon hearing that the dean was attempting the levels, all gathered around.

Although most of them had not personally witnessed Zhang shi's combat prowess, they knew it was extraordinary.

This could be seen from Wang Ying, Zheng Yang, and the others.

How could a teacher who taught such powerful students be simple?

"How many levels do you think the dean can clear in one go?" Wei Ranxue said.

"There's no doubt about the dean's strength. Just his understanding of martial techniques and his mastery of spear, fist, and leg techniques far surpass those of the same level... If I'm not mistaken, former Dean Mo Liuzhen reached the eighth level. The dean will surely do even better!"

Martial Technique Academy Dean Xu Changqing stroked his beard and said.

He had specifically studied Zheng Yang's spear techniques, Wang Ying's leg techniques, and Liu Yang's fist techniques, and concluded that they were invincible at the same level—no martial technique could match them.

How could a master teacher who could impart such powerful techniques be weak in personal strength?

Even Dean Mo Liuzhen, despite his unparalleled talent, hadn't gained the recognition of all deans or condensed a perfect dean's token... Zhang shi, having achieved this, would surely not fall short on Record Mountain.

"Mm, as we guessed, he should be able to reach the eighth level and break Dean Mo Liuzhen's record!"

Zhao Bingxu nodded with a smile.

Previously, they had doubted the dean's abilities, but every time they made a prediction, it turned out wrong, and they were left red-faced.

This time, hearing that he was going to challenge Record Mountain, they were all excited and hurried over, wanting to witness firsthand how this Zhang shi would break the record and create a new legend.

"I think so too..."

Dean Jiang also nodded. "I just want to see how long it takes the teacher to reach the ninth level!"

Others didn't know his strength, but he did. Not to mention anything else, just his zither music, which had reached the level of a seven-star demonic music master, could easily kill enemies above his level, catching them off guard.

If he were to unleash all this combat power, clearing the levels would be as easy as walking and eating.

"Back then, Dean Mo Liuzhen took an entire hour to reach the seventh level. I think our dean could do it in half an hour!" Zhao Bingxu laughed.

"Half an hour... I don't think it'll take that long. Given the dean's usual style, he'll finish eight levels in ten minutes, and might even destroy the entire Record Mountain..."

Zhong Dingchun, the dean of the Medical Academy, said with a wry smile.

"That... is indeed possible!"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent, suddenly feeling that letting him challenge Record Mountain might have been a mistake.

Since Dean Zhang came to the academy, he had challenged many checkpoints, and wherever he went, nothing remained intact—everything was a mess, so much so that they couldn't bear to look.

Record Mountain was an important place in the academy. If he were to challenge it and cause collapses and destruction, how would they explain it to their ancestors?

"He caused chaos before because he was a student. Now that he's dean... he should be more restrained!"

After a while, Song Danqing, the dean of the Calligraphy and Painting Academy, couldn't help but say.

"Hopefully..."

Everyone looked unconvinced, turning their gaze toward Record Mountain before them.

Record Mountain hid its levels within the mountain; from the outside, one couldn't tell how many levels had been cleared. Only by entering or waiting for the challenger to emerge could one know.

Many elders, knowing the new dean's formidable strength, guessed it wouldn't take long, so they all waited outside. But they waited and waited, and a long time passed.

Half an hour!

An hour!

Two hours...

A day later.

There was still no movement inside, and no one appeared.

"Elder Mi, are you sure the dean went in?"

Unable to hold back any longer, Wei Ranxue asked.

"Yes!"

Elder Mi nodded.

Yesterday, he had escorted the dean here and personally watched him enter, with no mistake.

"Then why hasn't he come out yet?"

"Given the dean's strength, he shouldn't be trapped for a day, right?"

"Exactly, could something have happened?"

Although they had never seen Zhang Xuan fight personally, considering his talent in various professions, challenging Record Mountain should have been a breeze. Yet now, a whole day had passed without a trace of him...

"Something might really have happened..."

Zhao Bingxu's face darkened.

When challenging Record Mountain, if you could pass, you passed; if not, you came out. But staying inside for an entire day had never happened before.

Even Hu Yaoyao and the others last time hadn't lingered that long.

Clearly, something was off.

"What do we do?"

Hearing Elder Zhao say this, Wei Ranxue looked anxious and couldn't help but glance over.

The dean had just taken office and had made such a big splash. If something happened to him while challenging Record Mountain... that would be insane.

"What else can we do? My suggestion is to go in and take a look... If the dean is really in trouble, we can help... If not, we can at least find out what happened!"

Elder Mi said.

"I agree!"

"I agree too!"

The deans all nodded simultaneously.

Ordinary students would come out after at most two or three hours. For a dean of such high talent not to show up for a whole day—it was hard not to be suspicious.

It was truly baffling.

They could accept Zhang Shi reaching the eighth or ninth floor in half an hour, or even turning the entire Record Mountain into rubble in ten minutes... But going in for a day without any movement, as if he had vanished, was unbelievable.

"Alright, let's go in!"

Having made the decision, the elders didn't hesitate. Holding their elder tokens, they pushed open the door and entered, soon arriving at the first room.

As soon as they arrived, they saw the puppet that had charged at Zhang Xuan, now slumped against the ground, eyes wide open, as if even after a day, it still couldn't believe what had happened.

"What's going on?"

Seeing it like this, Zhao Bingxu couldn't help asking.

"I lost..." The puppet stared blankly, as if the blow it had received was too great, its spirit on the verge of dissipating.

"Victory and defeat are common in battle. It's only the first level; losing is normal!"

Seeing it like this, everyone exchanged glances and shook their heads.

As the puppet of the first level, it was the weakest. Anyone who came to challenge could defeat it; there was no need to be so dejected, right?

After offering a word of comfort, Elder Mi seemed to notice something and couldn't help asking, "You don't seem to have any injuries. How were you defeated?"

Hearing this, the puppet's mouth twisted into a very aggrieved expression: "He just looked at me..."