“Cough cough! Zhang shi, it’s fine. You can keep your stuff!” Clutching his heart, Elder Su couldn’t bring himself to look at them.
What the heck was with all of them?
In a sense, having one’s emblem applied for one was similar to being given a direct admission into branded schools. Typically speaking, it was extremely difficult to encounter something like that, almost nigh impossible. Yet, the fellow before him actually took out a whole pile of emblems and they were all freaking applied for…
More importantly… he even had the cheek to say that it was really, really difficult to obtain emblems by application…
Is this really how ‘really, really difficult’ is to you?
Why does it seem like you are intentionally bragging about it to us instead?
“You obtain all of these through application?” The eyes of the King of Destruction widened as his breathing hastened. “Just how much destruction did you cause to receive such treatment?”
He had to visit this branch thrice and destroy the Steps of Formations before Elder Su offered to apply for the emblem in his stead… Could he have possibly found a comrade in the same path?
“Destruction? Of course not! It’s not like I’m into destroying stuff or anything!” Zhang Xuan hurriedly waved his hand in denial. “I had all of these applied for me through my personal charisma!”
“Personal charisma? Hmph, I don’t believe you! If you weren’t destroying any of their stuff, why would they go through so much trouble to specially make an application for your emblem? Alright then, why don’t you tell me how you managed to receive your 7-star formation master emblem then?”
“Back then, they encountered a grade-8 seal which they were unable to decipher. I managed to open up a hole in the formation, and it’s through that which I earned the approval of the Qingyuan Empire Formation Master Guild…”
Thinking back, he met Guild Leader Han back at the entrance to the Qiu Wu Palace. He was attempting to create an opening in a seal containing the rampaging energy in the volcano, and after a series of misunderstandings, he eventually managed to win Guild Leader Han over through his capabilities.
“Open up a hole in a formation? How is that any different from destroying?” The King of Destruction clicked his tongue in displeasure. “What about your 7-star apothecary emblem then?”
“I obtained that through rendering the head of the Qingyuan Empire Apothecary Guild speechless during a Pill Debate. The spectacle was truly amazing then, the entire Apothecary School of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy ended up… ended up…” It was at this moment that Zhang Xuan realized he had misspoken, but with everyone’s eyes staring intently on him, he had no choice but to continue on. “… being torn down…”
The lips of the King of Destruction curled up into a smirk, “Aha, I knew it! What about your 7-star appraiser emblem?”
“While appraising a painting, I scraped off a layer of it and exposed a problem in it…” Zhang Xuan’s voice gradually grew more and more diffident.
“Your 7-star demonic tunist emblem?”
“I ended up knocking out all of the divine cranes in charge of the examination, and as there weren’t sufficient cranes to conduct the examination anymore, School Head Jiang ended up specially applying for the 7-star emblem for me…”
Thinking back on those incidents, cold sweat started to rain down Zhang Xuan’s back.
True, he didn’t destroy buildings frenziedly like what the King of Destruction did… But it honestly felt like his actions were not any better though?
All along, he had viewed himself to be a good person, but the more he spoke, the more he felt that he was the villain instead…
“And you still refuse to call that ‘destruction’?” The King of Destruction stared at Zhang Xuan with a smug look. “Earlier, I seem to have heard some explosion sound from the direction where you all came from earlier. Did something happen?”
“While testing out my strength, I accidentally… tore down the main hall…” Zhang Xuan replied awkwardly.
The King of Destruction clicked his tongue, “Is this the personal charisma you speak of?”
“I…” Zhang Xuan was rendered speechless.
He was still confident in himself a moment ago, thinking that it was how outstanding he was that he managed to get others to apply for his emblems. But looking back now… could they have done so out of fear to placate him, so as to prevent him from causing any more damage?
But… it was not like he did all of that intentionally!
Anxious, Zhang Xuan turned to Elder Su and the others in hope of finding some support from them, only to see their bodies trembling uncontrollably and their faces livid in fear.
It was already bad enough for a King of Destruction to barge into their home… Just what in the world did they do so wrong for the heavens to send two homewreckers into their branch?!
All they wished for was a life of peace, was this simple wish of theirs really that difficult to fulfill?
Seeing all of the fearful looks directed at him, Zhang Xuan could only lower his head in resignation. Realizing that it was impossible for him to salvage his reputation anymore, he quickly changed the topic, “Elder Su, I think you should hurry up and make the application with the headquarter. I intend to take the examination to obtain the 8-star formation master emblem…”
Really, all he wanted to do here was to take the examination. He had no intention of causing any trouble at all!
No wonder why the King of Destruction was unwilling to have his emblems applied for him. At this point, it seemed almost as if the occupation guilds would only specially apply emblems in order to placate troublemakers…
“I’ll take the examination together with him!” the King of Destruction interjected.
Elder Su looked at the two of them for a moment before slowly nodding. Then, he turned around and left the room.
An examination to set up formation was troublesome, but it shouldn’t be possible to cause too much damage through that. This course of action was at least acceptable to him.
Not too long later, Elder Su returned. “This is the elementary grade-8 formation which I have just applied for from the headquarters. I’ll give you three days to study it, and as long as you can successfully construct it within three months, I’ll consider it as your pass!”
After which, he flicked his hand, and a formation blueprint appeared before the duo.
The blueprint was extremely complex, making it extremely hard to harmonize it with the surrounding environment. Even though it was only an elementary grade-8 formation, it was at least several times more intricate than that of a 7-star pinnacle formation.
However, it’s still a lot easier to set up than the supporting formation Chen Leyao showed me… After taking a look, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
Even though he was a 7-star formation master, his understanding of formations was already on par with most 8-star primary formation masters. While he would have trouble constructing some of the more profound grade-8 formations, for elementary ones like this, it was still no trouble at all.
“Haha, I am known to be one of the fastest readers in my clan. It seems like I’m going to complete it faster than you!” While Zhang Xuan was still harboring such thoughts in mind, he suddenly heard the hearty laughter of the King of Destruction beside him.
“You are a fast reader?” Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan turned a glance over.
“Indeed. Despite the complexity of this formation, I’m confident that I would be able to fully comprehend it within half a day!” the King of Destruction declared proudly.
For a young man in his thirties to wield strength which even Elder Su was no match against, there was no doubt that the King of Destruction was a person of great talent, possessing skills that surpassed most ordinary men.
“What about you?” After speaking his piece confidently, the King of Destruction turned to look at Zhang Xuan intently. There was a bright smile of his face, but the look of competitiveness in his eyes was impossible to miss.
It wasn’t rare for him to find a fellow ‘avid destroyer’, and it was even more coincidental that the both of them were challenging the 8-star formation master examination at the same time. Considering the various similarities between the both of them, it was inevitable for him to compare himself against Zhang Xuan, wanting to see who would be the superior one.
“You are asking me?” Zhang Xuan was slightly surprised by that abrupt question.
He hesitated for a moment, and instead of answering the question straight, he turned to Elder Su and asked, “Are there formation flags for grade-8 formations here?”
“Of course, we have them all prepared!” Elder Su wasn’t sure why Zhang Xuan would suddenly ask such a question, but he still flicked his wrist, and a huge pile of grade-8 formation flags appeared on the ground.
“Thank you.” With a smile, Zhang Xuan waved his hand, and all of the formation flags immediately flew into the air.
Then, he snapped his fingers.
Huala!
The several hundred flags immediately flew into the surroundings, plunging themselves into the ground all around the room.
“What is he up to?”
Seeing Zhang Xuan tossing the formation flags all of a sudden, everyone was startled. They had no idea what he was up to.
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On the other hand, paying no heed to the crowd’s shock, Zhang Xuan took a few steps back and stomped his feet.
Weng!
With a buzzing sound, a formation came into life. Mist immediately crept into the room, hindering the sight of all those who stood within.
Grade-8 formation… activated!
“I’m done!” Zhang Xuan clapped his hands to rid the dust on them. “I have finished setting up the grade-8 formation.”
“…” The King of Destruction.
“…” Elder Su and the others.
“…” Chen Leyao.
“Cough cough!”
It took a very long time before Elder Su and the others were able to recover from their shock. The various elders quickly checked the various aspects of the formation for the first time, the second time, and the third time, but they were unable to find any single problem with it at all. In the end, they could only give a nod of approval, “There’s no problem with the formation Zhang shi has set up. I hereby declare that Zhang Xuan, Zhang shi, has cleared the 8-star formation master examination!”
“…” The King of Destruction felt so stifled on the inside that he could hardly breathe.
To be honest, he was intending to compete with Zhang Xuan and show off a bit before him, but in the end… he only ended up having his own face slapped instead!
He wasn’t even done reading through the content in the formation, but the other party was already done setting up the formation…
Wasn’t this a little too fast?
“Forget it, Elder Su. I don’t want to take the examination anymore. Help me apply for my 8-star formation master emblem instead!” The King of Destruction waved his hand and harrumphed in displeasure.
“This… Alright then!” Elder Su nodded.
This was what he had offered the other party from the start anyway. Besides, considering that it was the King of Destruction they were dealing with, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
“Thank you.” The King of Destruction nodded. He took a glance at the destroyed Steps of Formations and said, “I’ll have my men to compensate the damages here, and I’ll find someone to have the Steps of Formations repaired back to its original state as soon as possible too.”
“We’ll be counting on you then…” Hearing those words, Elder Su and the others visibly heaved a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, Zhang Xuan nodded inconspicuously in approval as well.
All this while, he had thought that the King of Destruction was an extremely unreasonable person, causing damage here and there without taking responsibility for his actions. But from the looks of it now, that wasn’t exactly the case.
While his actions did inconvenience others, he did make reparations for them afterward, so his actions were still barely acceptable.
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony.” the King of Destruction replied before turning over. “Your name is Zhang Xuan?”
“That’s right.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“You are a freshman who just came in this year? Otherwise, there’s no way I wouldn’t have heard of your name!” the King of Destruction asked with uplifted eyebrows.
The ability to set up grade-8 formation instantaneously was, without a doubt, an extremely powerful capability. If there had been such a figure in the Sanctum of Sages before, he would have surely heard of him before.
“That’s right.”
“Not bad. Talented and skilled, yet humble and low profile, just like me. I like you!” The King of Destruction nodded in satisfaction.
“You’re too kind.” Zhang Xuan replied with a polite smile.
Considering the King of Destruction’s strength, he was bound to be from an extraordinary background.
Being on good terms with a person like the King of Destruction was definitely a good thing for him.
“I’ll be leaving now. If you intend to challenge the examinations of any other occupations in the future, feel free to call me along. I have connections in many of them, so they would usually give me some leeway!” the King of Destruction said.
Zhang Xuan quickly thanked the other party.
After which, the King of Destruction began making his way out.
Watching at the departing back, Zhang Xuan turned to Elder Su and the others with a doubtful look and asked telepathically, “Elder Su, may I know which clan is the King of Destruction from?”
It was apparent that Elder Su and the others had been relatively docile before the King of Destruction. While it was true that the King of Destruction possessed great strength, Elder Su and the others should have connections in the Sanctum of Sages too, and they were backed by the Formation Master Guild as well, so they shouldn’t have been any need for them to treat the other party so respectfully.
In other words, the King of Destruction must have a powerful background which even Elder Su and the others were fearful of. Otherwise, given his track record, he would have long been expelled from the Sanctum of Sages!
“You… don’t recognize him?” Elder Su and the others were speechless.
After all that had been said and done, you actually don’t know who the King of Destruction is?
Zhang Xuan replied with a nod.
“He’s from the Luo Clan, Luo Xuanqing!” Elder Su replied.
“Luo Clan, as in the Sage Clan?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
It just happened that he was looking for members of the Luo Clan, but who could have thought that the young man before him would actually be one of them! To wield such strength at his age, he should possess considerable standing in the Luo Clan, right?”
With this thought in mind, Zhang Xuan asked anxiously, “May I know what is Luo Xuanqing’s identity in the Luo Clan?”
“His identity?” Seeing that Zhang Xuan really didn’t know a thing at all, a helpless look surfaced on Elder Su’s face. “He’s the sixth son of the head of the Luo Clan. If you still don’t know who he is, you should have heard of the famed little princess of the Luo Clan, right, The little princess is his younger sister…”
He is… Ruoxin’s elder brother? So, my brother-in-law? Zhang Xuan froze in the spot.
In the next moment, he quickly turned around, and upon seeing that King of Destruction Luo Xuanqing hadn’t gotten far, he immediately shouted out, “Broth… Luo Xuanqing, Brother Luo…”
Hearing that someone was shouting for him, Luo Xuanqing turned around with a frown.
Upon seeing that the other party had turned around, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but tremble in agitation at the thought that he would be able to learn about Luo Ruoxin’s affairs very soon. He began speaking, “Your sister…”
“You sister!” But before Zhang Xuan could finish his words, a furious bellow boomed across the air.
Following which, Luo Xuanqing abruptly appeared before him, and a fist crashed right into his face.
Peng!
Zhang Xuan was sent flying away, and he struck the wall behind him head first.
Boom! Huala!
The entire building had already been in a fragile state after Elder Su’s crash, and with Zhang Xuan crashing into it now too, everything around them began collapsing.