Chapter 1426 - Connate Sainthood
“Feng Ziyi also successfully cleared the Tower of Master Teachers?”
A wave of silence swept across the crowd. Zhan shi and the others were rendered speechless.
In the several dozen millenniums since the creation of the Tower of Master Teachers, there had only been three people who had managed to clear the trial. Just what in the world had happened recently? There had been two consecutive challengers, and both of them had actually cleared it.
“How long did he take?” one of the elders could not resist asking.
Zhang Xuan had used roughly fifteen minutes, so how long did Feng Ziyi take to clear it?
“Almost an entire day,” the elder who had gone out to investigate earlier replied.
“A day… His record might be beneath that of Zhang shi, but it’s definitely an outstanding achievement. Considering how the wills of the sanctum heads began reacting right after he became an 8-star master teacher… could he possibly be the sanctum head candidate?” Zhan shi deduced.
“I think it’s very likely!”
The other elders swiftly nodded in agreement.
Even though Zhang shi had cleared the Tower of Master Teachers very quickly, there was no peculiar phenomenon occurring right after he cleared it. On the other hand, just moments after Feng Ziyi became an 8-star master teacher, the wills of the sanctum heads began trembling in shock. Could it be that he had received Sage Kui’s recognition and become the only current candidate to the position of the sanctum head?
“But considering how Feng Ziyi is Yang shi’s direct disciple, it’s only a matter of time before he returns to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters. Why would Sage Kui choose him as a sanctum head candidate?”
“I have no idea either. However, Sage Kui’s wisdom is not something that the likes of us can fathom, and perhaps, he might have seen something far beyond what we can see.”
“To be honest, if a sanctum head does appear in this generation, I would think that the likelihood of Zhang shi being him is higher. According to the rumors I have heard, he’s Feng Ziyi’s senior, and on the whole, the capability and the potential that he has displayed far surpasses that of the other students.”
“One of the requirements to becoming a sanctum head candidate is the possession of the Eye of Insight. No matter how talented Zhang shi may be, even if he’s on par with the little princess of the Luo Clan, as long as he doesn’t possess the Eye of Insight, all would be for naught!”
“That’s true…”
Frowns emerged on the elders’ faces as they heatedly discussed the issue with one another.
Both Zhang Xuan and Feng Ziyi were possible sanctum head candidates. It was still impossible for them to confirm which of the two it would be, but most of them were leaning toward Feng Ziyi.
“I think there’s at least a 90% chance that it’s Feng Ziyi. Zhang shi would likely be the one to succeed Yang shi’s position in the future, so there wouldn’t be a problem for Feng Ziyi to take on the role of our sanctum head.”
In the first place, the elders were all working on speculation, so even after a lengthy discussion, they were still unable to come to a conclusion.
Eventually, Zhan shi stepped forward and said, “Alright, there’s no point debating this anymore. We have narrowed the potential sanctum head candidate to just two people, and that’s good progress. For the time being, make sure that none of what we have discussed today gets leaked. Also, none of you are to show any disrespect to the two of them, and make sure to satisfy every one of their requests wherever possible.”
The elders nodded. “Understood!”
…
The Zhang Clan was located a far distance away from the Sanctum of Sages. Even when riding on Jian Qinsheng’s tamed aerial beast, it would still take nearly an entire month to get there.
With too much free time on his hands, after he was done examining the sanctum head token, Zhang Xuan began reinforcing his cultivation.
It took him three days to fully reinforce his Grand Dominion realm pinnacle cultivation, and after that, he spent a couple more days retempering his physical body and Primordial Spirit. Afterward, he suddenly found himself at a complete loss over what he should do.
Eventually, he ended up spending most of his time discussing swordsmanship with Jian Qinsheng, and the latter benefited greatly from his unique and sharp insights regarding swordsmanship.
With that leisurely atmosphere, twenty days passed in a flash.
“We should be reaching the Zhang Clan in around two days’ time.” Studying the meandering mountain range and long rivers beneath them, Jian Qinsheng swiftly deduced their location, and he could not help but tremble in agitation.
Just two more days, and he would be able to cleanse himself of the humiliation that he had suffered so far. He would be able to trample that haughty and boastful Xingmeng Sword Saint beneath his feet. Just the thought of it was sufficient to leave surges of exhilaration coursing through his body.
“If we barge in on the Zhang Clan’s Clan Assembly and challenge them on such a grand occasion, wouldn’t it be in breach of the master teacher’s value of ‘propriety’?” Zhang Xuan asked Jian Qinsheng.
As much as he wanted to teach the Zhang Clan a lesson, he was also well aware of his identity as a master teacher. He had to pay careful heed to his standing and act within the scope of what was deemed appropriate by society.
“To tell you the truth, I’m not the one who initiated this challenge. On the contrary, they were the ones who invited me over to challenge them. The Zhang Clan’s Clan Assembly is more than just an occasion for the members of the Zhang Clan to gather and discuss major affairs; more than that, it’s also used as a platform for the Zhang Clan to reinforce their prestige and influence as the number one Sage Clan in the Master Teacher Continent!” Jian Qinsheng harrumphed coldly.
The Zhang Clan would usually send out invitations to others to attend their Clan Assembly.
The motive was simple—to display the overwhelming might of the Zhang Clan to the rest of the world!
If it had been in the past, Jian Qinsheng would have surely become nothing more than a stepping stone to further the Zhang Clan’s reputation. But now that he had Zhang Xuan, a one-of-a-kind genius who had successfully grasped two Sword Quintessences, on his side, no matter how powerful the younger generation cultivators of the Zhang Clan were, who could possibly be a match for him?
“Do they send out invitations to all major powers?” Zhang Xuan asked doubtfully.
“I’m not too sure either, but that does seem to be the case. For every Clan Assembly that they’ve hosted so far, they invited many people from all walks of life to participate. There were demonic tunists, apothecaries, blacksmiths, beast tamers… Most occupation guilds received a couple of invitations, and they dispatched their most outstanding juniors to attend. While the pretext was to have them observe the Clan Assembly, in truth, it was to allow those of the younger generation to spar with one another and further their experiences.”
Even though Jian Qinsheng did not like the Zhang Clan, he still could not help but remark, “Even though it’s clear that they were utilizing the Clan Assembly as a platform to boast of their prowess, they are indeed a force to be reckoned with. There are simply too few in the younger generation who are able to match their counterparts in the Zhang Clan!”
“Most occupation guilds received a couple of invitations?” At this point, Zhang Xuan could not help but recall what he had heard from Bi Hongyin back then.
Back then, when the young prodigy was born, it seemed like they had invited quite a few renowned figures from the various occupations, and her teacher happened to be one of them.
“The previous Zhang Clan’s Clan Assembly happened twenty years ago, during the young prodigy’s full month celebration. Back then, the few students of mine were all defeated by a single person.” Recalling the situation back then, a bitter look appeared on Jian Qinsheng’s face.
Just the direct disciple of the Xingmeng Sword Saint had been enough to render all of his students completely helpless, and that incident had truly shredded his dignity into many pieces.
That matter had been on his mind throughout the years, bubbling furiously inside of him without any avenues to release it.
If not for meeting Zhang Xuan, there was a good chance that he would never have been able to exact vengeance in his entire lifetime.
“The young prodigy’s full month celebration… Speaking of which, since you attended the previous Clan Assembly, did you meet the young prodigy?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“Of course I did! Even though he was still very young then, there was an imposing air shrouding him, as if the essence of the heavens was infused right into him. Just a glance at him left me trembling at my core, feeling deeply ashamed of my form.”
Recalling that sight from twenty years ago, Jian Qinsheng could not help but fall into deep thought. “Really, I just can’t understand why the Xing Sword Saint would be blessed with such luck. Not only does he possess amazing aptitude in swordsmanship, he also sure has a way with giving birth. I can tell you that never in my life have I seen a child as talented as that boy!”
“A child who’s just barely a month old… just what kind of talent could he possibly have? Isn’t that a little too exaggerated?” Zhang Xuan’s complexion did not look too good.
If that child was really as outstanding as Jian Qinsheng made him out to be, his name would have resounded throughout the Master Teacher Continent by now. How could he not have appeared publicly even once?
“Exaggerated?” Jian Qinsheng shook his head. “It’s no exaggeration at all.”
“Oh?”
“What I’m saying really comes from the bottom of my heart. If you don’t trust me… let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of Connate Sainthood?” Jian Qinsheng asked.
“Connate Sainthood?” Zhang Xuan frowned, unsure of what that term was referring to.
“It refers to a person born intrinsically with Saint realm cultivation,” Jian Qinsheng said.
“Born with Saint realm cultivation? H-how could that be?” Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
It had taken him a great deal of effort in order to cultivate to Sainthood—just the fact that it had taken him more than six months to do so said a lot about the matter! And yet, there actually existed individuals in the world who were born with Saint realm cultivation? Surely not even the heavens would be so biased toward an individual?
At the very least, there was not a person whom he knew who was a Connate Saint, and this included Luo Ruoxin as well.
“Indeed. I couldn’t believe it the first time I saw it either, but the truth is as such,” Jian Qinsheng remarked deeply.
At this point, he could not help but recall something, and he remarked, “It might seem weird to say this, especially since the young prodigy was only a month old when I saw him, but I must say that there’s really some degree of resemblance between you and him…”