After sending Hong Lin flying, School Head Jiang put away his zither and scanned the crowd from the stage above with a gaze that sent shivers down one's spine. "Is there anyone else who doubts my teacher's capability? I am more than willing to entertain you with a fight!"
The crowd fell completely silent. Those who had harbored such thoughts previously had been hushed by School Head Jiang's menacing words.
Against a member of the Ten Great Master Teachers, a 7-star demonic tunist at that, how could any of them possibly fight him?
Seeing that there was no response from the crowd, School Head Jiang turned his gaze back to Pavilion Master Xue Cangyun and smirked. "Pavilion Master Xue, don't you still have other students? I don't mind facing them all at once!"
Feeling School Head Jiang's gaze falling on them, Pavilion Master Xue Cangyun's students hurriedly cowered away and lowered their gazes, not daring to meet the other party's eyes.
Given that even the strongest of them, Hong Lin, had been defeated in a single blow, who else would dare face School Head Jiang in a duel?
Sighing deeply, Pavilion Master Xue Cangyun clasped his fist and declared, "Our Baituo Empire Master Teacher Pavilion has no objections to Zhang shi becoming the principal of the Master Teacher Academy!"
Even he wasn't a match for School Head Jiang, needless to say, his students.
Seeing that Zhang Xuan had managed to overcome this ordeal as well, Zhao Bingxu heaved a sigh of relief. "Of the five representatives of the regional Master Teacher Pavilions, three have already recognized Principal Zhang. Vice Pavilion Master Bai of Chiyao Empire and Pavilion Master Mo of Hongyuan Empire, what about you?"
As the inauguration ceremony had been organized in a rush, only four representatives from the Master Teacher Pavilions of the nearby empires had managed to make it in time. Counting in the Hongyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion as well, there were a total of five representatives in total.
"Our Chiyao Empire Master Teacher Pavilion has no objections!" Given that the three heads of the other Master Teacher Pavilion were no match for Zhang Xuan, Vice Pavilion Master Bai, as a mere vice head, was less likely to be a match. Thus, he hurriedly stood up and clasped his fist.
"Our Hongyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion has always supported Zhang shi as the next principal!" Mo Gaoyuan stood up and clasped his fist as well.
He had witnessed how Zhang shi had risen step by step in Hongyuan City, and he was also the first ones to agree to the latter's succession as the next principal of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. Naturally, he wouldn't voice any objections during the inauguration ceremony either.
"Good. Since there are no objections, we shall proceed on to the next formality!" Zhao Bingxu nodded.
The greatest obstacle the succeeding principal would face in the Question Symposium was mainly the representatives from the other Master Teacher Pavilions. Since even the representatives had no objections to the matter, Principal Zhang could be considered to have overcome this formality safely.
At this moment, however, a huge group of students consisting of several hundred people suddenly stood up together, and a representative among them said, "School Head Zhao, we have a question that we would like to ask Principal Zhang!"
The representative was the student who had killed the most spirit beasts in the battle against the Cloudmist Ridge earlier.
Grade-4 student, Zhu Chenqing!
His family had been killed by the spirit beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge, so he harbored great hostility toward them. From the moment he enrolled into the Master Teacher Academy, he had already vowed to eradicate those scourges who had brought great suffering to mankind.
However, it was a pity that, due to several considerations, the Master Teacher Academy had never made a move against the Cloudmist Ridge. At the same time, his influence as a single student was limited, so there was nothing he could do about the matter either.
He had thought that the beast stampede this time around could change the Master Teacher Academy's nonchalant attitude toward the Cloudmist Ridge, forcing them to steel their resolve and eradicate the Cloudmist Ridge once and for all. However, he had never expected that the succeeding principal would actually propose a negotiation with the Cloudmist Ridge… and even come to an agreement with them at that!
It wasn't hard to imagine how furious he had been when he heard the news.
Thus, he rallied all of these students to rise with him for a single reason—to demand an explanation!
In truth, he had managed to rally tens of thousands of people to stand up together with him before the inauguration ceremony, but many of them were from the Xuanxuan Faction. After seeing that the new principal was their faction leader, they changed their mind and decided not to participate, thus resulting in the number of protesters falling to a mere few hundred.
"Speak!" Zhao Bingxu frowned in displeasure, but he gestured for Zhu Chenqing to continue.
"I wish to ask Principal Zhang, when will the Master Teacher Academy clash with the beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge once more!" Zhu Chenqing said.
Demanding the principal to reveal the results of the negotiation was extremely disrespectful, and it could be viewed as challenging the authority of the principal. As such, Zhu Chenqing chose to frame the question in another manner that would be slightly less insolent.
"Finally, someone dropped the bomb!"
"It seems like we aren't the only ones concerned about the matter regarding the Cloudmist Ridge. It seems like the students also want an explanation as well!"
"Let's see how the new principal answers that question!"
…
Hearing Zhu Chenqing's question, Zhu Yi and the others glanced at one another and nodded in agreement.
As emperors of Tier-1 Empires in the region, it didn't really matter to them who became the emperor… What was more important to them was whether or not the new principal had the ability to protect them!
Considering what they had heard about the Cloudmist Ridge, it was inevitable that they would doubt the succeeding principal's capability.
If the other party couldn't even deal with mere beasts, could they really expect him to stand up for their empires in times of crisis?
"Clash with the beasts of the Cloudmist Ridge?"
Zhang Xuan and Zhao Bingxu traded glances upon hearing the question, and they couldn't help but chuckle softly. The latter shook his head, stepped forward, and replied, "There's no need to battle anymore. The problem regarding the Cloudmist Ridge has been thoroughly resolved. No more will we have to worry about facing beast stampedes from them anymore!"
"Thoroughly resolved?" Zhu Chenqing and the other students looked at one another and frowned.
What did those words mean?
No more would they have to worry… Was the other party talking about the promises made by the kings of the Cloudmist Ridge?
But how could the words of the enemy be accepted so simply? That was taking this matter far too lightly!
If this matter could be resolved that easily, the Master Teacher Academy wouldn't have been so helpless before this matter despite the emergence of numerous outstanding principals in history.
"Pardon me, but since School Head Zhao is so certain of this matter, we would like to know what kind of terms the Master Teacher Academy promised the Cloudmist Ridge that could resolve the problem of beast stampedes once and for all!" Gritting his teeth, Zhu Chenqing dove straight into the main point.
"Principal Zhang, allow me…"
Noticing the nuances behind Zhu Chenqing's words, Zhao Bingxu took a look at Zhang Xuan and nodded. However, at that instant, an elder abruptly flew in hurriedly from the perimeter of the training grounds.
Before reaching the stage, he was already yelling in a panic, "Principal, elders, bad news!"
"What happened?"
Seeing an elder panicking like that in the midst of the inauguration ceremony, Zhao Bingxu frowned.
"Reporting to School Head Zhao, w-we…" With a pale face, the elder's body trembled intensely as he uttered fearfully, "We have been surrounded by the spirit beasts and saint beasts of Cloudmist Ridge!"
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"Surrounded?"
Zhao Bingxu and Zhang Xuan were only slightly bewildered upon hearing the words, but the faces of the crowd instantaneously warped in horror.
For the Master Teacher Academy to actually be surrounded by spirit beasts and saint beasts…
In other words, they were trapped like cornered prey in an enclosure!
Everyone immediately got to their feet, intending to take a look at the situation. However, at that moment, a loud sonic boom reverberated deafeningly through the air.
Hu hu hu!
Raising their gazes, the crowd saw three immense saint beasts flying straight toward the training grounds.
They were the Emerald Bamboo Earth Dragon King, White-eared Beast King, and Steelscale Beast King of the Ten Indomitable Kings of the Cloudmist Ridge.
Even before their arrival, the overwhelming aura of three Saint realm 1-dan beasts permeated the training grounds, leaving the air in the surroundings tempestuous.
Trailing neatly behind them were a dozen Nascent Saint beasts, followed by thirty or so Half-Saint beasts!
If it had been just this, there was no way the crowd of a hundred thousand gathered in the training grounds at this very moment could possibly fear them. However, flying behind them was a huge formation of three thousand aerial spirit beasts!
Each of them was at least at Transcendent Mortal 7-dan, and there were even quite a handful that had reached Transcendent Mortal 9-dan. Moving in a neat formation, their majestic cries echoed resoundingly in the air.
With just a single command from their leader, this mighty army could instantly swoop down from the sky and inflict devastating damage on them.
An elder from the Beast Tamer School's face paled, and he quickly roared furiously, "All master teachers, prepare for battle!"
Hualala!
Having gone through the previous battle, the master teachers behind him swiftly whipped out their weapons and got into formation. Each of every single one of them stared at the aerial spirit beasts warily, prepared to retaliate as soon as any of them made a move.
"Damn it! Those who aren't one of our own can never be trusted; I have said time and time again that we should never keep such a threat by our side! How could the Master Teacher Academy be so foolish to have thought that they could negotiate with them? Take a good look at what that has brought us!" Zhu Yi cursed with a pale face.
"Expecting the beasts to hold their end of a promise is a joke in itself! For the spirit beasts to fly together neatly without the slightest warning beforehand, it is clear that they have come prepared today! Even if the Master Teacher Academy manages to survive the ordeal today, it will surely suffer devastating damage that it might never recover from…" another emperor remarked with a livid face.
Yet another emperor harrumphed coldly. "Indeed. To come under the attack of a beast stampede in the midst of his inauguration ceremony, that Principal Zhang is doomed to go down in history as a sinner…"
Three thousand aerial spirit beasts and dozens of Half-Saint and Nascent Saint beasts was indeed a fearsome formation, but it wasn't enough for them to bring them fear yet.
The Master Teacher Academy had many trump cards up its sleeves after several millenniums of history, and on top of that, the Hongyuan Empire royal family was there as well. With their combined force, resolving this conflict wasn't too difficult. Just that… if this matter were to be made known to others, Zhang Xuan and the Master Teacher Academy would become a laughingstock for many years to come.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
Hong long long! Hong long long!
But just as everyone was preparing themselves for a fight, a deafening war cry from countless beasts abruptly sounded in unison, shaking the heavens. Soon after, the ground began shaking intensely.
"What is that?" someone amid the crowd shouted.
Everyone quickly turned around, and what they saw left them completely frozen on the spot.
Amidst a huge cloud of dust that had risen outside the Master Teacher Academy, they saw an army of enormous Bluetrunk Elephants charging toward them with astounding momentum.
Those Bluetrunk Elephants each possessed a cultivation of at least Transcendent Mortal 5-dan, and there were several thousand of them in total. Under the lead of a Saint realm 1-dan Bluetrunk Elephant King, their presence seemed to emanate an aura that sent a ripple of fear and panic through the crowd.
As the ground trembled beneath those massive figures, seemingly heralding the end of the world, the hearts of those watching them jolted in fright as well.
"The Bluetrunk Elephants are here too? This will complicate things…"
Seeing that the thick-skinned, massive beasts were there as well, everyone's complexion worsened.
The aerial spirit beasts were already troublesome foes to deal with by themselves. If they had the support of the Bluetrunk Elephants, who specialized in crushing through formations with the fearsome momentum of their charge, that would make the battle many times more difficult than it already was.
Zhu Chenqing rose up and commanded, "Everyone, get into a defensive formation."
Huala!
Hearing the orders, the students hurriedly awoke from their daze and quickly got into a defensive formation that would help them cope against the furious charge of the Bluetrunk Elephants.
Aoooo! Aooooo!
But shortly after they got into formation, a piercing howl echoed in the air. Following which, before everyone's twitching eyes, an army of several thousand Steelfang Wolves charged in under the lead of a Saint realm 1-dan Steelfang Wolf King.
Steelfang Wolves were known for their cunningness and their exceptional ability in collaborating with one another to perform group assaults, making them a troublesome foe to deal with. For several thousands of them to appear simultaneously, it was truly a catastrophe!
"We are doomed…" someone amid the crowd muttered feebly as the faces of those around him warped in despair.
Even Yu Shenqing couldn't help but feel his hairs stand on end from the sheer number of enemies before him.
Even though the old eunuch Luo Fu had said that they would be able to uncover news regarding the results of the negotiation at the Cloudmist Ridge before the inauguration ceremony, there seemed to have been some delays due to unexpected circumstances. As a result, he had no idea what School Head Mo had promised the kings of the Cloudmist Ridge back then.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
As if the heavens were decreeing their doom, before everyone's shocked gazes, a bunch of Scarlet Blaze Lions arrived under the lead of the Saint realm 1-dan Scarlet Blaze Lion King, and just like those before, there were thousands of them as well.
Following shortly behind were the Steelbacked Bear, Tigerhead Beast, Crimsonflame Ape…
Nine of the Ten Indomitable Kings of the Cloudmist Ridge had arrived with thousands of their subordinates, and altogether, they formed an impressive army of several dozen thousand beasts!
In other words, it could be said that the entire force of the Cloudmist Ridge was present at that very moment! It was as if they were declaring that they would eradicate the Master Teacher Academy by hook or by crook that day!
Everyone's face turned ghastly white, and not a single person could find a word to utter.