"Alright!" Zhang Xuan nodded.
As a Celestial Master Teacher, the acknowledgement of these ancestors didn't mean much to him. However, since he was here, he was also curious to see how many of their acknowledgements he could receive.
Thus, walking forward to the praying mat, he took a deep breath and knelt down.
"Descendant Zhang Xuan pays respect to the ancestors, and I earnestly plead for your acknowledgement!"
Then, Zhang Xuan bowed deeply, just as Mo Hongyi did earlier.
Everyone immediately turned their gazes to the ancestral tablets. Even the 4-star master teachers, Su shi and Ling shi, felt a little nervous as well, and they clenched their fists tightly.
This fellow had created too many miracles. Perhaps, he might be able to break Jun Ruohuan's record.
Everyone waited expectantly with bated breaths. The hall fell completely silent.
However, the ancestral tablets remained fixated on their spot, and there was no sign of them falling over at all.
"It can't be that... he failed to earn the acknowledgement of all of the ancestors?"
After a while, the master teachers in the hall glanced at one another in bewilderment.
This Zhang Xuan had broken so many records, and the Trust Level of a student he taught even reached a shocking 99. He should be able to earn the respect of quite a handful of experts. Why wasn't there any movement at all?
This was way too peculiar.
"Usually, the tablets will fall within a tea's time. The time has already passed, but there isn't any movement. Seems like... it's a failure!"
After another moment of silence, Pavilion Master Jiang roughly calculated the timing, and a look of disappointment appeared on his face.
Based on the results of the two, since Mo Hongyi was able to earn the acknowledgement of one of the ancestors, Zhang shi should be able to earn the acknowledgement of quite a few. Yet, the current situation broke all preconceptions they had. He couldn't help but feel slightly under.
"Talent and strength aren't the determining factors for the ancestors' acknowledgement. Rather... it's whether you are suited to be his student or not."
After a moment later, Su shi spoke up, "It could be that Zhang shi's talents are too high, and they feel pressured!"
The explanation felt shaky to even Su shi, but this was the only reason he could find. Otherwise, it made totally no sense for the less talented Mo Hongyi to succeed and the more talented Zhang Xuan to fail.
"Indeed. That must be the case. Otherwise, how could not earn even a single acknowledgement from the ancestors?"
Smiling bitterly, Pavilion Master Jiang was just about to continue speaking when Vice Pavilion Master Guan pointed over and said, "Wait, something is amiss. Look there...'
Everyone hurriedly raised their heads, but the ancestral tablets were still completely still.
"Vice Pavilion Master Guan..." Jiang Shu looked at him doubtfully.
"I'm not referring to the tablets, but..." Vice Pavilion Master Guan's face turned pale, and his lips quivered in fear. "But... Kong shi's statue!"
Everyone froze for a moment before swiftly turning their gazes to the massive statue. The statue which was fixated to the ground suddenly... swayed!
"The statue is swaying?"
Not only was the crowd surprised, even Su shi and Ling shi were perplexed over this phenomenon.
They had seen the tablets fall over before, but they'd never heard of Kong shi swaying!
"It's not swaying..."
Just as everyone was stunned by this bizarre occurrence, Pavilion Master Jiang suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "Zhang shi, watch out..."
Before he could finish his words, 'jiya!', the gigantic Kong shi statue fell to the floor.
The location where Zhang Xuan was bowing toward was right in front of the statue, and the statue fell straight towards his head.
"The hell!"
Zhang Xuan, who was kneeling and awaiting the acknowledgement of the ancestors, couldn't possibly have expected that such a huge statue would fall on him. His complexion immediately turned awful. Knowing that it was too late for him to avoid, he hurriedly stood up and faced it head on.
Peng!
His fist and the statue collided together.
On top of being a Zongshi realm pinnacle expert, Zhang Xuan possessed a physical strength of 9999 ding. No matter how resilient the Kong shi statue was, it was made of mud, so how could it withstand the might of his fist? Boom! It exploded from the center.
Hualala!
The moment Kong shi's statue was broke apart, the sound of beans popping sounded, and the ancestral tablets in the room hurriedly fell down. Then, 'jiya! 'jiya!', the entire Teacher Acknowledgement Hall began to shake as well.
"Escape..."
Pavilion Master Jiang's face paled, and he hurriedly shouted. Then, he darted out of the hall with the group of master teachers.
Not daring to hesitate at all, Zhang Xuan also dashed out.
The moment he left the room, 'boom!', the grand hall collapsed inward. Dust flew in the air, and smoke billowed.
"This... What the heck just happened?"
Pavilion Master Jiang and the other master teachers were completely dumbfounded.
They hurriedly turned to the stunned youngster standing not too far away, and an urge to strangle him to death welled up within them.
When other people paid respect to the ancestors, they either got acknowledged or ignored. Yet, when it was his turn, not only did he destroy Kong shi's statue, he even tore down the entire Teacher Acknowledge Hall...
What was wrong with you!
Kong shi is the world's teacher, an existence whom everyone respects. Even if his statue was going to fall on you, shouldn't you at least support him? To face him with a fist, what was going through your head?
To make a move on Kong shi...
That is enough of you!
All of the master teachers felt a spell of dizziness.
The young man before them stared at the ruins, and scratching his head, he asked, "This... Have I been acknowledged?"
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Acknowledged?
Acknowledged your head!
Everyone was on the verge of tears.
You destroyed Kong shi's statue and tore down the ancestral hall; how in the world can you still hope for others to acknowledge you?
In truth, Zhang Xuan was breaking down within as well.
He was fine with not being acknowledged, but what in the world was with that falling statue?
Since it was durable to the extent of being able to last for beyond a millennium, its toughness was already far beyond that of ordinary rocks. If he didn't strike back and allow it to fall on his head, even if his physical body was strong enough to endure it, he would probably suffer a concussion.
"This old geezer must be trying to get back at me..."
Zhang Xuan was speechless.
Back then, he refused to acknowledge Kong shi as his teacher, so the other party must be trying to get back at him for that. Otherwise, why would such a huge statue suddenly fall on him?
And for the entire Teacher Acknowledgement Hall to fall along with it?
How was he supposed to resolve the situation now...
"No one is to talk about what happened today!"
After a moment of silence, Su shi scanned the surroundings and instructed.
The destruction of Kong shi's statue and the collapsing of the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall were no different from having the tomb of one's ancestor being ransacked... If news were to spread out, others would definitely laugh their heads off. The prestige of their Master Teacher Pavilion would be whittled down.
Thus, the only thing they could do now was to seal the news.
It was fortunate that there were only a handful of people present, and given their standing, they would surely be reluctant to speak of such a shameful affair.
"Yes!" The crowd nodded.
"Alright, it's nothing much to not be acknowledged. Since you two have become master teachers, allow me to introduce you two to your responsibilities and duties as master teachers!"
Knowing that it was a waste of time to discuss this matter, Pavilion Master Jiang immediately changed the topic.
"As a teacher, one's role is to impart knowledge and clarify doubts! As a master teacher, this is even more so expected of you. Back then, when Kong shi established the Master Teacher Pavilion, he only had a single vision in mind. That is... for everyone to become an expert!"
"For everyone to become an expert?"
Mo Hongyi and Zhang Xuan frowned.
"Indeed. Even though our world may seem peaceful on the surface, that's actually not the case."
A grim expression appeared on Pavilion Master Jiang, "Back in Kong shi's era, humans weren't the only dominant race in the continent. There was another powerful race... the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe!"
"Otherworldly Demonic Tribe?"
"Un. It's an extremely powerful race, and every single one of them possesses the strength of a Zhizun realm expert from birth! Back then, humans who were captured by them ended up as their slaves for life!"
Pavilion Master Jiang slowly explained, "Eventually, under Kong shi's leadership, the human race managed to emerge triumphant. He then established the Master Teacher Pavilion and promoted the heritage of equality of education hoping that all humans could gain sufficient strength to fend for themselves."
"This..."
Zhang Xuan was shocked.
Even though he had a huge collection of books in the Library of Heaven's Path, such ancient secrets weren't written in any one of the books, so he had never heard of it before.
He could have never imagined that there would be such a powerful race in the world, possessing the strength of a Zhizun realm from birth.
"Do you two know why poison masters are despised and unrecognized by the other occupations?" Pavilion Master Jiang asked.
Zhang Xuan and Mo Hongyi glanced at one another doubtfully before shaking their heads.
"Even though the ability of poison masters to kill others discreetly induces fear in others, their expertise contributes a lot to the human race as well. Even so, the other occupations still despised them... The reason for it isn't just fear and worry, but back then, they once allied with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe and helped them to bring harm to their human counterparts!"
Pavilion Master Jiang explained.
The duo immediately came to a realization.
Actually, Zhang Xuan had also been perplexed over this matter. Poison masters were indeed fearsome foes, but they weren't a deranged bunch who poisoned everyone they met. Not to mention, poison was, by no means, omnipotent too. He didn't think that there was a need to be so guarded against them, going to the extent of chasing them out of the cities and exiling them to remote corners such as the Red Lotus Range.
However, after hearing this news, he realized that it was due to the unforgivable deeds that poison masters had once done.
As time passed, the grudges were forgotten, but habits die hard, thus resulting in the current circumstances.
Even today, poison masters remained a feared existence. No one was willing to provoke them, but their name remained sullied.
"Alright, you two are just 2-star master teachers, and this matter has already passed. The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe no longer exists, so there's no need for you to ponder so much over it!"
Pavilion Master Jiang smiled. "Even though the danger from the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe has passed, the heritage of the master teachers continues on to this day. As long as you are a member of the Master Teacher Pavilion, you are expected to fulfill the role of a teacher, follow the rules of the Master Teacher Pavilion, and enlighten the masses!
"It is not because of our title as master teachers, but because of our role in enlightening the masses that we are given unparalleled standing and esteem!"
Then, Pavilion Master Jiang's face grew stern, "If I were to learn that any of you two were to commit atrocities and infringe the rules, even if I didn't do anything, other master teachers would definitely find you and purge you!"
"Yes!" Zhang Xuan and Mo Hongyi nodded.
"Remember, being a master teacher isn't an honor or a standing, it's a responsibility and a duty. A true master teacher should always have his students' welfare in his mind. Only by fulfilling our role will we be acknowledged and respected by others!"
After delegating his instructions, Pavilion Master Jiang shook his hands casually and said, "Alright, I've already said all that I need to. Let's go to the main hall, I'll introduce you two to Su shi and Ling shi!"
"Un!"
The duo answered, and the three of them headed to the main hall of the Master Teacher Pavilion.
No one noticed a slight unique aura slowly seeping out from each of the innumerable ancestral tablets and Kong shi's statue. Gathering together, they formed a huge torrent.
However, as there wasn't anyone to accept it, it slowly dissipated with time, as though it had never appeared before.