There would eventually come a day when a student would have to leave their teacher.
Zhang Xuan understood this fact, and he knew he would have to part with his students one day. Ever since the incident with Zhao Ya, he had been preparing himself mentally. But even so, he still found himself gripped with reluctance when faced with the situation.
"This is a surge of zhenqi from me. It should help you if you face danger!"
Pulling Lu Chong to a room, Zhang Xuan began delegating some matters to him.
His plight was very different from that of Zhao Ya. Zhao Ya would be taken care of by the Glacier Plain Court, and it was unlikely that she would be in any danger. On the other hand, Lu Chong and Mo Hunsheng would be traversing across the continent to search for a place which might not even exist. The journey would be fraught with danger, and this surge of zhenqi may help to protect them, even if just once.
"Demon Cinque, you shall follow Lu Chong..."
After instructing some matters, Zhang Xuan called Demon Cinque Beast over.
While safety shouldn't be a problem given that a Transcendent Mortal 9-dan expert, Mo Hunsheng, was escorting him, they would still require an aerial spirit beast for their travel. As a Transcendent Mortal 5-dan spirit beast, Demon Cinque Beast should prove to be useful for them.
After settling all of the issues he could foresee, he brought Lu Chong to Wang Ying and the others for them to bid their farewell.
Two of the original six students have left, and everyone couldn't help but feel slightly depressed.
After settling the arrangements regarding Lu Chong, Zhang Xuan went to look for his 'junior', Garden Owner Xue.
For the time being, the latter didn't have any intention of heading to a higher-tier empire, so she wasn't going to tag along with Zhang Xuan.
By the time everything was done, the sun was already up in the sky, and it was soon going to be the meeting time with Hong shi and the others.
"Let's go!"
With everything settled, Zhang Xuan proceeded to the square near the Alliance Head Residence with Zheng Yang, Wang Ying, and the other students beside him.
Since he had promised to conduct a lecture, he decided to settle this too before leaving.
However, before he could even reach the square, he could already see an uncountable number of people in the square, stretching all the way to the limits of his eyes.
"Sect Leader Hu, you're here to listen to Zhang shi's lecture as well?"
"Well, this is the first champion of the Master Teacher Tournament who won with such a huge landslide. Since he is going to conduct a lecture, there's no way I can miss this!"
"Indeed. There are several centuries of history behind the Master Teacher Tournament already, and Zhang Xuan is the first person to achieve such astounding records. Look, even Sect Leader Zhi and Sect Leader Liu are here..."
"You're right! Even Hong shi's lectures wouldn't be met with such popularity..."
"I don't know about how popular Hong shi's lectures are, but at the very least, we half 5-star master teachers wouldn't be able to match up to this..."
"There are so many people here that I can't help but feel envious. Speaking of which, I tried putting myself into Zhang shi's position in the tournament, but I realized that I wouldn't be able to emulate his achievements at all! To think that a person who has just passed the 4-star master teacher examination would be able to achieve feats beyond that of a half 5-star master teacher... It is no wonder why he enjoys such exploding popularity!"
...
The entire square was full of life.
"All of them are here to listen to my lecture?"
Zhang Xuan blinked his eyes in shock.
In his view, it would already be a huge achievement if several thousand people were to attend his lecture on the basics of cultivation. Never could he have expected that he would be able to rally so many people here. For a moment, he even suspected that there was a second, hidden stage to the Master Teacher Tournament that he was unaware of.
How many people are there here?
Hundred thousand? A million?
Not to mention... There were many who were hanging on walls and standing on trees as though ninjas as well.
And what is with those aerial savage beasts in the sky?
"I heard that those who were unable to get a seat in your lecture went to rent savage beasts from the Beast Hall..." Pavilion Master Kang explained awkwardly.
"I understand the part about aerial savage beast, but what about those grounded ones?"
Zhang Xuan couldn't help but ask about them.
He could understand the reason behind the mass of aerial savage beasts in the sky, but by the side of the square, there was also a bunch of land savage beasts lying down. There was the Sabretooth Tiger, Half-limbed Gale Wolf, Sable Ape...
What were they doing here?
"After hearing that you were going to conduct a lecture, Hall Master Han Chong of the Beast Hall sent all of the savage beasts and spirit beasts in the Beast Hall over to support you," Pavilion Master Kang said.
"..." Zhang Xuan.
This could be called support as well?
Just the beast tamers would suffice; what kind of support are you giving me through sending this bunch of savage beasts over?
"Actually, Zhang shi's reputation is simply too great. Knowing that you are going to conduct a lecture, there is no one who is willing to be left out!" Pavilion Master Kang said.
In truth, Hall Master Han had no choice either... After the Master Teacher Tournament, Zhang shi's reputation exploded. Everyone wanted to listen to the lecture that was to be conducted by this top-notch genius... Even the intelligent savage beasts and spirit beasts couldn't hold themselves back...
And thus, such a sight occurred.
The square outside the Alliance Head Residence was extremely vast, and it could contain even a million people at once. And yet, at this very moment, it was so cramped that there was hardly room for one to fidget. Even Pavilion Master Kang himself found such a sight unbelievable.
He had conducted similar public lectures before, and with fifty thousand people participating, that event was proclaimed to have changed the history of Myriad Kingdom Alliance Master Teacher Pavilion. Never in his dreams did he expect the popularity of Zhang shi's lecture to be so over the top...
There were indeed vast differences even among fellow humans...
"Forget it. It doesn't matter how many people are here, I just have to conduct my lecture properly!"
Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan decided not to think too much into it. Thus, he raised his foot and began heading toward the stage at the very center of the square.
...
Li Hanbing was sixteen this year, and he was a beggar. He had been an orphan as far as he could remember, and he had always been a subject of mockery and a target for humiliation.
His greatest dream was to become an expert, but what a pity it was... His humble background disallowed him from obtaining any cultivation technique or cultivation resources.
As the saying goes, the poor study and the rich train. Without sufficient resources to back up one's cultivation and the guidance of teachers, it was difficult for him to make any progress.
As such, despite being sixteen this year, he was still trapped in Fighter 1-dan Juxi realm, unable to make any progress.
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Most probably, he would remain this way for his entire life.
He thought that it would be impossible for him to ever listen to the lecture of a master teacher. But one day, he suddenly heard that an incredibly talented master teacher known as Zhang shi was going to conduct a public lecture on the basics of cultivation... Upon hearing this news, he rushed to the square the night before to secure a spot for himself before waiting patiently.
"It's starting..."
After a long wait, he saw a figure walking majestically up the stage.
"This Zhang shi doesn't seem much older than me..."
He thought that the champion of the Master Teacher Tournament would at least be in his late thirties, but the latter didn't even seem to have reached his twenties yet. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment.
He had waited for an entire day, but at this moment, he feared that he might have only wasted his time.
Would his hopes fall flat once again, just as they had many times before?
In truth, the Master Teacher Pavilion would organize public lectures every month, but the content tended to be rather profound. An orphan like him who had never gone through proper education wouldn't understand a single word of it, and thus, wouldn't benefit from it as well.
He had tried attending those several times, but he quickly realized that it was futile. On the contrary, he lost confidence instead.
There were some master teachers, who like proud academics, wished to be recognized and wanted to be respected for their work. There was no problem with this, but they treated these public lectures as a platform to showcase their knowledge... and if the content of their lecture was too simple, it would seem as though they were incapable.
As such thoughts proliferated among the master teachers, the culture behind the public lectures seemed to change as well. Earnest cultivators attending the lecture soon realized that those lectures were impractical for them.
Considering the young age and astounding accomplishments of the person on the stage, it was likely he would just be yet another proud master teacher fishing for glory through this public lecture. It seemed that... he would only be disappointed once again.
"Seeking the Heaven's Path can be viewed as an arrow placed against a bowstring. Too high, it has to be lowered; too low, it has to be raised; too taut, it has to be loosened; too loose, it has to be tightened. Heaven's Path is about supplementing one's deficiencies with one's strengths..."
Hu!
A voice sounded in his ear.
Even though he was a thousand meters away from the stage, every single word of Zhang shi reached his ears with resounding clarity.
"As expected, I don't understand it at all..."
Listening attentively, he realized that this public lecture was no different from those he had attended before. He couldn't understand a word at all.
In the end, all master teachers were cut from the same cloth. Public lectures were just platforms for them to boast about their knowledge; it mattered not to them whether it was meaningful to their audience or not.
And those audiences were also equally hypocritical... For fear of exposing their ignorance, instead of questioning the lecturer, they feigned understanding and even showered the lecturer with praises.
After all, if one turned out to be the only unknowledgeable one in the room, how embarrassing would that be?
This is simply human nature…
Shaking his head in disappointment, Li Hanbing stood up and prepared to leave. But right after he took his first step, he suddenly felt a jolt in his acupoint. Following which, he felt a numbing sensation in his Baihai acupoint, and a huge wave of spiritual energy was drawn in from the surroundings and circulated continuously throughout his body.
Kacha! Kacha!
With a crisp sound, he noticed something similar to small lake appearing within his lower abdomen.
"This is... dantian?"
Li Hanbing's eyes widened in shock, and his body trembled.
After breaking through Fighter 1-dan Juxi realm, one would form a dantian in one's lower abdomen, allowing one to store spiritual energy... Li Hanbing had been trapped in Juxi realm for a very long time, and he thought that this would remain so... Who could have known that a few words from Zhang shi would actually induce a breakthrough within him?
"But I don't understand the content of the lecture at all? Why am I still able to achieve a breakthrough?"
Li Hanbing was stunned.
He didn't understand a single word of what Zhang shi said, so... how could he have suddenly achieved a breakthrough?
Shouldn't the lecture be ineffective to his cultivation if he couldn't understand a word of it?
Raising his head to look around, he saw several beggars, who had come here along with him, sitting on the floor with smiles overflowing with happiness on their faces. Their auras had also grown significantly stronger.
"Heaven's Path is about supplementing one's deficiencies with one's strengths... So, this is the law of nature. It means that only if we cultivate alongside the flow of nature can we improve quickly..."
Suddenly, a thought emerged in his head.
Even though the other party's words were extremely profound, completely incomprehensible to him, but for some reason, he could understand the intent behind the other party's words as though they were conceptualizing right before him.
Heaven's Path, the law of nature!
Quickly sitting down, he felt his spiritual energy flowing slowly through his dantian.
Kacha! Kacha!
A crisp echo sounded from his body again and yet again as his cultivation soared non-stop.
Dantian realm primary stage!
Dantian realm intermediate stage!
Dantian realm advanced stage!
His cultivation rose quickly as though he were a balloon and someone was blowing into him.
He still couldn't understand the other party's words, but for some reason, he was still able to gain a much deeper understanding of what cultivation was... and it aligned with his own comprehension of it as well.
"This is the lecture of a true master teacher..."
As though having drunk a heavenly brew, a smile slowly crept onto Li Hanbing's face.
His happiness wasn't derived from his rise in cultivation, but the knowledge that was slowly building up within him. He could actually understand the intent behind the other party's words clearly! It was as if the lecturer, Zhang shi, was conducting a one-to-one lesson for him!
As he listened on, the spiritual energy in his body continued circulating, and all of a sudden, his body jolted lightly-Fighter 3-dan Zhenqi realm, reached!
Zhenqi realm could be considered as one's official inauguration as a cultivator. To think that a beggar like him could actually reach such a level as well...
Zhang shi, from today onward, you will be the only teacher I will ever recognize!
Li Hanbing kneeled onto the floor as he made a solemn vow.