Chapter 821: Quasi 6-star Apothecary
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
"Evict him from the Master Teacher Academy?"
"Strip him of his master teacher license, banning him from taking the master teacher examination for life?"
Everyone was stunned.
"No, that is definitely out of question!" School Head Mo bellowed furiously.
If that were to happen, putting aside the fact that the Master Teacher Pavilion would lose a precious talent, just the thought of how Zhang shi's mysterious teacher would respond to it was enough to send shivers down his spine. Perhaps, the Master Teacher Academy might be completely obliterated with a wave of his hand!
The higher ranked a master teacher was, the more esteemed they became. Even though the Master Teacher Pavilion sought to uphold justice and fairness, it still had practical concerns to consider… Take for example, a hundred thousand 6-star master teacher might be a valuable asset to the Master Teacher Pavilion, but their value was still far beneath that of a 9-star master teacher.
Or taking Kong shi as example, he was a genius that only appeared once in several dozen thousand years. Putting aside a 9-star master teacher, not even a hundred 9-star master teachers could possibly achieve what he had contributed to humanity in his time.
If Mo Gaoyuan was right and Zhang shi's teacher was an 8-star master teacher or above, if the latter were to obliterate the Master Teacher Academy with a slap of his hand, it was likely that the Master Teacher Pavilion wouldn't utter a word of complaint.
It was unfair, but this was the kind of privilege that top-tier master teachers possessed. After all, there were still many threats that humanity faced where their strength was required.
"Stripping a master teacher's license concerns his entire future. This is not something we can take lightly!"
Zhao Bingxu spoke up as well. "This is especially so when the person in question is a talented individual. If we handle this inappropriately, I fear that what we will lose is not just a genius. We might risk bringing upon ourselves another Calamity of Fubo!"
"This…" Hearing those words, everyone fell silent.
In truth, the Calamity of Fubo could have been avoided.
It was due to that genius offending the offspring of a Sage Clan and having no backers to support him that he was eventually forced into a corner, resulting in the eventual tragedy.
Considering that Zhang Xuan had already awakened his Eye of Insight before he had even reached 6-star was testimony to his immense talent.
If they were to push him too far and breed malice toward humanity within him, Zhang Xuan could possibly choose to side with the Otherworldly Demons out of fury. With his prowess, that could spell calamity for humanity.
Putting everything aside, with his Eye of Insight, he could possibly become another Kong shi, but for the Otherworldly Demons this time around.
If so, humanity would be in deep trouble.
"School Head Zhao is right!" Mu shi nodded.
"Fine, we can put aside the matter of taking away his master teacher license… However, we have to evict from the Master Teacher Academy and Hongyuan City! Since he singlehandedly brought about the downfall of my Apothecary School today, he could easily do the same to the other schools tomorrow! By then, what will become of our Master Teacher Academy?" Lu Feng said with gritted teeth.
There was no one who had a response to Lu Feng's words.
Even School Head Mo, Wei Ranxue, and the others who favored Zhang Xuan couldn't find any words to respond to that.
Honestly speaking, given Zhang Xuan's nature, it was very possible that he might wreak havoc in the other schools after he was done with the Apothecary School.
It was as if he was an ox pulling a plow behind him. It seemed as if he just wouldn't be content until he overturned everything in his path. Furthermore, after what he had done to the Apothecary School… there was no one in the academy who could confidently say that they could stop him!
After a moment of silence, an old man spoke up.
"I concur with School Head Lu's judgement. This kind of trouble should be chased away as soon as possible! Putting aside Hongyuan City, we shouldn't even allow him to remain within Hongyuan Empire!"
The head of the Formation Master School, Chen Chengxun!
School Head Chen had always maintained close ties with School Head Lu, and they often stood on the same ground for most affairs.
Another school head nodded in agreement. "I concur as well!"
The head of the Painter School, Song Danqing!
"I disagree. The purpose of those tests in the Master Teacher Academy is for them to be challenged, and there are no rules banning students conducting lectures either. Zhang shi's doings might be exaggerated, but he hasn't done anything that infringed on the rules. What right do we have to evict him?" School Head Mo argued.
"Indeed. His deeds in the Apothecary School might seem ridiculous, but as you have said, even a veteran elder like Apothecary Lu chose to join the Xuanxuan Faction to listen to his lectures. This shows that, unlike what you have claimed, there is an extremely high value to his lectures!"
"As master teachers, we should be magnanimous! For someone of Zhang shi's capability, I think that not only should we not chase him away, we should even keep him in the academy as one of our teachers. Just imagine the heights he could bring our Master Teacher Academy to!"
Zhao Bingxu and Wei Ranxue also spoke up.
After which, School Head Zhong of the Physician School expressed his disapproval of the motion whereas School Head Feng of the Celestial Designer School expressed his approval.
After hearing their words, Mu shi turned to the remaining two in the room.
"So far, it's four for and four against. What about you two?"
Currently, Lu Feng of the Apothecary School, Chen Chengxun of the Formation Master School, Song Danqing of the Painter School, and School Head Feng of the Celestial School were in support of evicting Zhang Xuan from the Master Teacher Academy whereas School Head Mo, School Head Zhao, School Head Wei, and School Head Zhong were against it.
Only two more men hadn't expressed their views yet—the head of the Martial Arts School, Xu Changqing, and the head of the Demonic Tunist School, Jiang Qingqin.
"Zhang shi's students are currently the guest elders of our Martial Arts School. Since even his students have such a deep insight into battle techniques, nothing needs to be said about him. My view is that we should have Zhang shi remain!" Xu Changqing said.
"What about you?" Mu shi asked.
Everyone turned their sights to Jiang Qingqin.
It was five against four. If the other party were to vote in favor of Lu Feng, it would lead to a five against five, a draw, and there might be another round of voting in the near future. Otherwise, the motion would be scrapped entirely.
"I haven't met Zhang Xuan for myself, so I don't think I am in a good position to pass judgement on him. Thus, I will refrain from voting," Jiang Qingqin said. "Besides, the most important matter we have at hand isn't to deal with a single student of the academy but to find Senior Byzantium Helios!"
"Refrain from voting?"
"That's quite a wise decision. It's still too early to see who is right and who is wrong, so it might be better to back out for the moment."
"School Head Jiang has never been concerned about worldly affairs, so it's not too surprising that he wants to stay out of this matter!"
The others nodded in response.
The head of the Demonist Tunist School, Jiang Qingqin, had always been nonchalant about the world around him, choosing to stay out of troublesome affairs whenever possible. It was within the expectations of the other school heads that he would stay out of the voting.
"Since the current vote is five is to four, this motion will be scrapped. For the time being, everyone should focus their efforts on finding Byzantium Helios Beast!"
Announcing the verdict, Mu shi waved his hands. "Just as I have said before, the person who finds Byzantium Helios Beast will be the next principal. As for the matter regarding Zhang Xuan, I shall leave it to the next principal to decide how to deal with him!"
Even though Mu shi was a 7-star master teacher from the headquarters, he was ultimately still an outsider in this matter. It would still be for the best to allow the Master Teacher Academy to resolve the matter among themselves.
Otherwise, he could possibly be cast under suspicion of exploiting his authority.
Upon hearing the conclusion of the matter, Lu Feng panicked, and he hurriedly turned to Mu shi with an indignant look on his face. "Mu shi…"
"Alright, this matter is already settled. Dismissed!" Unwilling to speak any further, Mu shi waved his hands and walked out of the room.
"Farewell!"
Following which, School Head Mo, School Head Zhao, and the others left as well.
Soon, Lu Feng was the only one remaining in the room. Amid the deafening silence, his face warped savagely, and he clenched his fists tightly.
"Damn it…"
Furious, he slammed his fist on the table.
"Fine, I will let you get away for now. However, you'd better pray that you don't slip up. Otherwise… I will make your life a living hell!" Lu Feng roared furiously.
…
While Lu Feng was reporting the matter to the Ten Great Master Teachers, Zhang Xuan finally finished with his lecture as well.
Back then, when he had been standing before the library of the Apothecary School, he hadn't been standing in a daze. Rather, he had been using his soul to gather all of the books within into his Library of Heaven's Path.
As a 4-star apothecary, he had been able to skip right to the 4-star and 5-star books. As such, it had only taken him an hour to successfully compile the 5-star and 6-star Heaven's Path manual.
After studying the manuals, he'd suddenly felt a surge of inspiration, so he'd begun lecturing right outside the library.
The content he had spoken of was profound yet easy to understand, interpreting the essence of pill forging directly. The crowd in the surroundings couldn't help but be drawn in by his words.
This was also the reason behind the first exodus of the Apothecary School to the Xuanxuan Faction.
After he was done, Zhang Xuan had first gone to the Pill Chamber, hoping that there might be a Grand Intermittence Pill there. However, to his disappointment, there was nothing of the sort there. Nevertheless, not wanting to make a trip for nothing, he'd decided to take the grade-6 pills with him so as to return the favor to Lu Feng.
Following which, he had headed straight for the Ancestral Hall, where the Pill Debate examination was conducted.
Just as Vice School Head Wei and the others had seen, he had activated the Communication Jade Screen, not only to clear the Pill Debate but also to request the pill formula of the Grand Intermittence Pill as well.
Without any experience in pill forging, it would have been impossible for Zhang Xuan to pass the practical examination. However, if it was just a Pill Debate, given his thorough understanding and deep insight into pill forging, not even a 7-star apothecary would be a match for him.
In the Pill Debate, he had utterly crushed the 7-star apothecaries on the other end of the screen and received his quasi 6-star apothecary emblem, as well as the pill formula of the Grand Intermittence Pill.
Having achieved what he had gone for, Zhang Xuan had initially intended to leave. However, recalling how he had taken so many grade-6 pills for nothing, he'd still felt a little guilty. After all, his grudge was with Lu Feng, not with the Apothecary School. However, the matter was already done… Thus, he had gone to the Apothecary Symposium to conduct a lecture as a form of compensation to the Apothecary School.
Who knew that his lecture would end up aweing both students and teachers alike?
As a result, the grand sight of countless elders, teachers, and students abandoning the Apothecary School for the Xuanxuan Faction had come to be.
As for the matters regarding the uniform and the entrance fee, those were Ruohuan gongzi and Sun Qiang's doing.
"So, this is the key to forging the Delight Harnessing Pill. I finally get it!"
"I feel that with my current comprehension of pill forging, as long as my cultivation reaches the required level, I will surely be able to forge a grade-6 pill!"
"This lecture has truly benefited me greatly. It's as good as three years' hard work on my part!"
…
While Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief and departed from the stage, the apothecaries beneath the stage had intoxicated expressions on their faces, still immersed in the lecture they had just heard.
Zhang shi's lecture had been random and abrupt, raising points on the unexpected aspects of pill forging. However, his words eventually tied together perfectly like puzzle pieces to form a profound picture of pill forging, giving the listeners a striking and deep insight into the essence of pill forging. As long as they were to ruminate over his words carefully and decipher them, their proficiency in pill forging would surely rise immensely in the short run!
It was just a single lecture, but it was equivalent to several years of their hard work.
…
"Genius! He's truly a genius! To think that pill forging can be interpreted from such an angle as well…"
Apothecary Lu stood beside some of the other old elders of the Apothecary School as they discussed Zhang shi's lecture, and the more they spoke, the more astonished they became.
At their age, it was already far too difficult for them to make a breakthrough. If only they had listened to such a lecture ten years earlier, every single one of them would have been 7-star apothecaries by now!
"From now on, I am a member of the Xuanxuan Faction. I will never ever return to the Apothecary School!"
"Me too! I would rather remain here to listen to Zhang shi's amazing lectures than rot away in the Apothecary School. Perhaps, if we listen to a few more, we might just be able to pass our 7-star apothecary examinations!"
Just when the few elders were overwhelmed with excitement, they suddenly saw the young man who had just lectured them abruptly walking toward them.
"Zhang shi!"
The elders clasped their fists and bowed politely.
"There's no need to stand on ceremony. I am here to request something of you all," Zhang Xuan said.
"Feel free to speak, Zhang shi! As long as it's within the means of old bones like us, we will surely give it our best!"
Even though they weren't students of the academy, they had become completely impressed by the young man before them after hearing the lecture as well.
"Thank you, but it's actually not that much. I just need you all to collaborate together and forge a pill for me!" Zhang Xuan revealed his motive.
"Collaborate together?" The group was stunned.
Despite the profound understanding of pill forging that the young man before him had, he still needed their help?
"That's right. I wish to forge the Grand Intermittence Pill!" Zhang Xuan said.
"Grand Intermittence Pill… A grade-7 pill?" Apothecary Lu exclaimed in shock.