Library of Heaven’s Path

“This…” Zhang Xuan was stunned for a moment before he slowly shook his head.

He had encountered many different master teachers on his journey. He had met master teachers who addressed others humbly and amiably regardless of their ranking, as well as those who worked hard to ensure that their students matured to become upstanding and capable individuals in the future. At the same time, there were also master teachers who were self-important and abused their power for their own satisfaction, making them no different from tyrants.

The Master Teacher Pavilion was built with good intentions at heart, but as time passed, its primary purpose had inevitably dulled.

Power placed one in a lofty position and would corrupt one’s heart. Not even master teachers were infallible to that.

“The arrest warrant that the Master Teacher Pavilion has placed on you is one such example.” Yang shi shook his head and sighed. “I have checked your records, and on top of your outstanding talent, you have also made commendable contributions to mankind. Under normal circumstances, the stand that the Master Teacher Pavilion would take should be reconciliatory, working to mediate in the conflict between you and the other powers.

“However, your ability to control the lightning tribulation is simply too attractive for them to miss out on. To make matters worse, the fact that you don’t have a lineage means that they can force you to spit out your secret arts without fearing retribution from those in your lineage. With so many people desiring to obtain your secret arts, it’s no wonder they have chosen such an extreme approach this time around.

“Currently, the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters is split into several factions, each of them keeping their secret arts and skills under wraps, aiming to outdo the other factions instead of striving for collective growth. Long gone are the days when master teachers are truly open with one another, sharing their insights and knowledge unreservedly with one another.

“As long as a faction obtains your secret arts, they will be able to surpass the other factions and suppress them, thus gaining dominant power in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters. Kong shi left the Master Teacher Pavilion behind in order to strengthen mankind, but ultimately, even his teachings aren’t able to overcome the fundamental nature of humans… Damn!”

“Indeed…” Zhang Xuan sighed. “No matter how good a system Kong shi put in place, the humans who manage the system are ultimately still fallible!”

In the early years of the Master Teacher Pavilion, master teachers had sought not power or recognition. They had believed that their responsibility lay in the betterment of mankind, and they had never hesitated to share their knowledge with others so as to achieve that goal.

But tens of thousands of years had passed since, and mankind had progressed to a stage of stability and prosperity. There was no longer any urgent threat for mankind to unite against, so they had turned their sights inward and begun fighting for power instead, forgetting their initial purpose.

Sometimes, even the character of the most pinnacle master teacher might not compare with the lowest 1-star master teacher.

At the very least, the lowest 1-star master teachers had not been corrupted by power and authority yet.

“For the past tens of thousands of years, there has been a pre-established cap on how high one’s cultivation can go, so most people lose their motivation to continue cultivating once they reach that perceived cap. Thus, they sought new ways to allow them to live grander and more pompously instead.” Yang shi heaved yet another dejected sigh.

The problem with the Master Teacher Pavilion was an intrinsic issue, and the corruption had already permeated right into the core of the organization. It was not something that he alone could resolve.

“Much of the Master Teacher Pavilion’s virtue has eroded over the past tens of thousands of years… but even though the master teachers nowadays have already forgotten the lofty ideals that they once embraced, they remain unrelenting in dealing with the Otherworldly Demons and protecting mankind,” Zhang Xuan noted with a nod. “Perhaps it was in view of this that the preceding deputy pavilion masters thought little of the ailments that the Master Teacher Pavilion is suffering from!”

While power had caused the nature of the Master Teacher Pavilion to change, as long as they remained united when dealing with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, it would show that the master teachers had not truly cast away their values and purpose yet.

“Ever since Kong shi left us so, Great Sage has been the highest realm that any cultivator could reach. No one has been able to overcome the final hurdle to reach the level of the Ancient Sages. However, your very emergence signifies a change in the eras. As a Celestial Master Teacher, I believe that you’ll be able to lead mankind through its current threats and usher in another era of prosperity!” Yang shi exclaimed excitedly.

The preceding generations of deputy pavilion masters had been lacking in legitimacy and prestige, so they had not been able to garner the support of everyone in the Master Teacher Pavilion. However, things would be different for the Celestial Master Teacher.

“Great Sage?” Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.

“Above Saint 9-dan lies the realm of Great Sage, but unlike the Saint realm, Great Sage only consists of four dans. Beyond Great Sage lies Ancient Sage, which is also the level that Qiu Wu, Bo Shang, and the other disciples of Kong shi reached. However, in the dozens of millenniums since the passing of Kong shi, no one has been able to achieve a breakthrough to that level,” Yang shi replied.

“This…” Zhang Xuan’s heart jolted in astonishment.

All along, he had thought that Ancient Sage was just a manner of addressing the predecessors in the ancient era, but who could have thought that it would actually be the name of a whole cultivation realm!

“What realm did Kong shi reach?” Zhang Xuan could not help but ask out of curiosity.

Since his subordinates and disciples had all reached the level of Ancient Sage, as the number one expert of all mankind and the founder of the Master Teacher Pavilion, just how powerful could he have been?

“Kong shi reached an unfathomable level, far beyond our means to speculate!” Yang shi said as he gazed into the distance deeply.

At his peak, Kong shi had reached a level that no man had ever reached. No one could tell how powerful he was, or taking a step back, even if someone knew how powerful he was, it was not something that young juniors like them were qualified to look into.

“After all that has been said and done, I believe that you should have gained some understanding of the current Master Teacher Pavilion. If we don’t expose your identity as a Celestial Master Teacher, you will need another identity to increase your standing so that others won’t doubt you so. Otherwise, your feat of rising through the ranks within the span of a single year and successfully crashing two different Master Teacher Pavilions will be simply too eye-catching. Together with the huge uproar this time around, I fear that it will be hard to resolve this matter peacefully!” Yang shi said.

“This…”Zhang Xuan fell silent.

There was some truth in what Yang shi had said.

If the majority of the master teachers in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters wanted to lay their hands on Zhang Xuan, even with Yang Xuan’s influence as the First Grand Elder, it would still be difficult for him to overthrow a verdict that had the approval of the majority.

No matter how much prestige Yang shi wielded in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, the one who was truly in power and had the right to make the final call was still the deputy pavilion master.

Unless Zhang Xuan had a sufficiently high standing that could induce the deference of those 9-star master teachers, it would be difficult for Yang shi to gather sufficient momentum to stop the arrest warrant.

“I don’t have the right to accept you as my student, but I could take you into my lineage in the stead of my teacher. This way, you could assume the identity of my senior in front of others. My teacher has already passed on, so even if others question your identity, as long as I insist on it, there will be nothing that they can say. Of course, this is just an empty title to uphold in front of others. After all, even my teacher has no right to take you in as his student…” Yang shi revealed his thoughts.

“So, I’d become your senior?” Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan scratched his head in embarrassment. “But would you really be fine being my junior?”

“Celestial Master Teachers are individuals who can stand on equal grounds as Kong shi. If not for fear that it would be too shocking to others, I would have liked to acknowledge you as my teacher. Having you as my senior can already a huge honor in itself!” Yang shi hurriedly said.

As the First Grand Elder, there were very few who could match his standing on the Master Teacher Continent. However, compared to the Celestial Master Teacher, even his standing paled too much in comparison.

To act as Zhang Xuan’s junior and address him as his senior could already be considered insubordination, and it left him feeling a little jittery inside.

After a moment of contemplation, knowing that there was no other way around it, Zhang Xuan very reluctantly nodded and said, “I understand. Let’s go with that then, Junior Yang Xuan!”

“Senior Zhang…” Yang shi heaved a sigh of relief.

It sure was a bizarre turn of events. He had been intending to take the other party as his student, but it had eventually ended up with him finding himself a senior instead… Nevertheless, he was still delighted by the outcome.

With the emergence of the Celestial Master Teacher, the disjointed Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would finally come to be united as one. Mankind would grow stronger and stronger, and there would be no need to fear the crises that lay ahead of them anymore.

Zhang Xuan suddenly recalled the other matter he had at hand, so he asked, “Junior, I heard that you once helped a person reconstruct their meridians. May I know if that’s true?”

Previously, the guild leader had said that Yang shi had once successfully helped a cultivator replace their meridians. Since the person in question was standing right in front of him, it was a good opportunity to inquire about the matter.

“There was indeed such a matter!” Yang shi nodded in response.