Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 109: Tranquil Heart Pill

"Not bad!"

"Meng Yan is getting more and more adept in his pill forging technique!"

"Indeed! If he is able to identify a flaw in his pill forging method, I will twist my head off!"

Zhang Xuan noticed that the gazes of the other apothecaries were fixated on Meng Yan and they nodded their head in approval in response to the display of his skills.

They were able to tell what the other party's pill forging method before and they had once used it as well, so they weren't too unfamiliar with it.

This was also precisely the reason why it was harder to find flaws in it. Even they were unable to see the slightest mistake in the other party's forging. Every movement of his strictly adhered to the forging method without a single error in it.

"Guild Leader Ouyang, do you think that he will be able to see through the forging method and the flaws in it?"

After bringing Zhang Xuan over, Wen Xue didn't leave immediately. At this instance, she was standing behind Ouyang Cheng and she couldn't help but ask him the question.

She wasn't even an apprentice and thus, she was unable to see through the various intricacies of pill forging. So, she could only place her expectation on this guild leader before her to explain the situation to her.

"Flaws?" Ouyang Cheng shook his head, "To tell you the truth, Meng Yan's pill forging method had been passed down for more than 300 years. It went through the hands of countless individuals and even if there is an error in it, it would have long been corrected. Anyway, given my level of standard, I am unable to see any errors in it!"

"Not even you are able to discern any flaws?"

Wen Xue covered her mouth in shock.

Ouyang Cheng was the most capable apothecary in Tianxuan Kingdom, reaching the astounding level of the 1-star intermediate stage. If he was unable to discern anything, how could Zhang Xuan, who had just become an apothecary apprentice, possibly tell anything from it?

Hu!

After a moment, the flames weakened. Meng Yan opened the lid and the fragrance of medicine gushed out from the cauldron.

The pill had been formed!

Meng Yan pinched lightly and grabbed three pills from the cauldron. Each of them was round with a smooth surface. They were roughly the size of a longan and radiated a unique glow.

"Alright, as expected of Apothecary Meng Yan. Not only was the pill formed, it even reached the level of Satiation. Incredible!"

Looking at the pill in his palm, everyone couldn't help but be impressed.

Upon being forged successfully, the pills would assume different appearances depending on the efficacy of its medicinal property. It could be classified into four tiers, namely Formation, Satiation, Perfection, and Inscribed Pill.

It was already incredible for typical 1-star primary stage apothecaries to reach the level of Formation when forging grade-1 pills. To reach the level of Satiation was already something beyond what those of his level was capable of.

"Hmph, lad, I am already done forging my pills. So, what method did I just use and what flaws are there in it!"

Meng Yan returned to his seat and looked at Zhang Xuan coldly.

Upon hearing his words, the gaze of the others focused on Zhang Xuan. They wanted to see what kind of shocking words this arrogant lad would speak of.

Initially, they thought this lad would speak immediately. However, his eyes simply stared forty-five degrees upward with a sorrowful expression on his face. He shook his head slowly and sighed.

"Hurry up if you have something to say!"

Seeing this fellow still persisting on keeping up the act, Meng Yan clenched his fist and smashed it on the table.

Peng!

Given his formidable strength and the current fury he had accumulated, a crack appeared on the table, putting it in a state of near collapse.

"Since you aren't embarrassed by it, then I will begin speaking!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was sufficiently heated up, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly with a lowered head and said, "If I'm not wrong, the pill you forged should be the Tranquil Heart Pill which fighters often consume!"

"That's right!"

Meng Yan nodded his head.

It was easy for an apothecary to see what a kind of pill it was, so it couldn't be considered a formidable feat.

"The method you used is Ten Formulas of Tranquil Water!" Zhang Xuan continued.

"That's right! This is Ten Formulas of Tranquil Water. This is the most suitable method to forging Tranquil Heart Pill. It doesn't mean much for you to see through this!"

Not expecting for the other party to be able to able to discern it, Meng Yan was slightly shocked. However, he didn't pay the matter much heed.

Ten Formulas of Tranquil Water was a unique method to forge Tranquil Heart Pills. It was said that an apothecary created this method while looking at the surface of the water of a mountainous stream. The entire technique emphasized greatly on delicacy and quietness. There weren't too many intense movements in it, as though it was a quiet stream, flowing slowly and steadily down the mountains. As it fulfilled the concept of Tranquil Heart Pill, it was easy for a pill to form using this method to forge it.

Given that he was able to tell that the pill forged was Tranquil Heart Pill, it wasn't that difficult to infer that the method used was Ten Formulas of Tranquil Water.

"True, it doesn't mean much. However, it is a pity that you have warped the Ten Formulas of Tranquil Water beyond recognition, causing it to lose the fundamental meaning behind it!" Zhang Xuan flung his hand and said with a stern voice.

"Warped beyond recognition? Nonsense! If it is truly warped beyond recognition, how can I possibly successfully forge the Tranquil Heart Pill, even reaching the level of Satiation at that?"

Meng Yan retorted furiously.

"Since you don’t believe my words, then I shall point it out clearly to you!" Zhang Xuan stepped forward and pinched the pill lightly to place it on his palm. His gaze swept through the room as he asked, "Who can tell me what effects should this pill possess?"

"Tranquil Heart Pill is a grade-1 pill. It helps cultivators to calm their mind so that their thoughts will not wander. This kind of pill is effective even on Fighter 8-dan Zongshi realm experts and as such, it is one of the best sellers of the Apothecary Guild!"

Wen Xue said.

As a receptionist, she had sold all kinds of pills. It was natural that she would have a deep understanding of the effects of this Tranquil Heart Pill.

"Indeed, this pill can help cultivators to calm their minds!" Zhang Xuan nodded his head in satisfaction. "However, it’s a pity that this pill which Apothecary Meng Yan doesn't have such effects! On the contrary, it might even cause a person's cultivation to go berserk if consumed!"

"Nonsense!"

Meng Yan's expression darkened.

The other party's action of doubting the efficacy of his pill in public was equivalent to humiliating him.

"You need not be so quick to refute my words. Let me finish my words first!" Ignoring the other party's burst of outrage, Zhang Xuan chuckled and continued, "If this pill was created by Apothecary Meng Yan yesterday, I wouldn't say such words. However, it is a pity that it isn't yesterday now and this pill is destined to be a failure!"

"Yesterday?"

"Is there any difference to it?"

"Lad, clarify your words! Don't try to mystify us!"

Upon hearing Zhang Xuan's words, the crowd had no idea what Zhang Xuan was driving at. As such, they couldn't help but raise their doubts.

"I will explain to you all right now! Forging pills aren't just about technique and skills, one's mental state plays a huge part in it as well! Only by infusing one's mental state into the pill will the efficacy of the medicine be heightened! Tranquil Heart Pill requires the mental state of the apothecary forging it to be serene and only through such can the pill be forged perfectly! I believe all of you should have seen the bad temper of Apothecary Meng Yan. He can be set off easily with a single word. With rage in his heart, how can he possibly forge the Tranquil Heart Pill which calms others?"

At which, Zhang Xuan slightly knocked on the table before Meng Yan.

A crack had appeared in the table after the latter's previous punch. At this moment, unable to take the pressure any longer, it fell apart.

Upon the sight, everyone came to a realization.

His words were true. Pill forging was intricately linked to one's state of mind. It was inappropriate and unsuitable for one to forge a Tranquil Heart Pill when under such rampaging emotions.

"Of course, his fiery temper isn't sufficient to ruin the pill. The crux of the problem is that there is killing intent within Apothecary Meng Yan right now. If I'm not wrong, you probably killed someone this morning and you still bear resentment toward the person. Most probably, you were betrayed by someone you trust. This resentment and killing intent have been infused into the Tranquil Heart Pill when you were forging it. Even though only a sliver of it had slipped in, to the cultivators who consume it, it could have disastrous aftereffects. It increases the possibility of their cultivation going berserk exponentially. If so, it will result in fatal damage onto their fundamentals!"

Zhang Xuan said.

"You... You..."

Meng Yan's body swayed. He looked at Zhang Xuan as though he was looking at a ghost and his face immediately turned ghastly white.

Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 108: Meng Yan

"What?"

"We are official apothecaries, and you, a mere apprentice, dares to claim that you are able to point out our mistakes?"

"What are you putting on an act for? We apothecaries have numerous means up our sleeves. Putting aside whether you can point out our mistakes, if you can even recognize the method we are using to forge pills, we can consider it your win!"

Upon hearing Zhang Xuan's words, everyone exploded once more.

An immature brat dared to claim that he had the ability to see through their forging methods and flaws just by seeing them forge a pill before him?

"Is he mad?"

At one side, Ouyang Cheng and Wen Xue felt frenzied.

At the very most, one could only ask some remote questions in Pill Debate. As long as one was well-versed in the knowledge of pill forging, much of it could be rationalized and inferred. However, to point out one's forging method and the errors in it?

Pill forging was just like a person's handwriting; there are ten thousand different types of handwriting for ten thousand different people. Even for the same pill, there were at least a thousand different methods of forging it. The movements in each method were profound and intricate and a slight difference in their motions could mean an entirely different forging method.

Furthermore, each and every pill forging methods that were able to be passed down through the generations were the blood, sweat, and tears of innumerable people and had been refined countless times toward perfection. It might not be entirely perfect, but at the very least, these apothecaries had been using it daily and never found anything off about it.

Even if a 3-star apothecary were to be here, it would be hard for him to point out the errors in it!

This wasn't just a mere rise in the difficulty anymore, it was an overturn of the rules, raising the difficulty to the heavens!

If an apprentice apothecary undergoing a Pill Debate was equivalent to the difficulty to three-digit addition and subtraction, what Zhang Xuan proposed was equivalent to Goldbach Conjecture!

The difficulty wouldn't just increase, it would be increased to an unimaginable level!

[Brother, are you sure you aren't jesting?]

Wen Xue looked at him as though she was looking at a monster.

Yesterday, he wasn't even sure about the existence of a book collection vault in the Apothecary Guild and he didn't know what books he had to read for the apprentice apothecary examination. Yet, today, he suddenly became an expert, putting on airs here. If she didn't witness it personally, she might have thought that he was afflicted with dissociative identity disorder.

Even though a human's personality changed over time, it should be impossible for such a massive change to occur in a person in a single day!

Even if he wanted to act cool, there should be no need for him to play it so big!

"Why? You dare not agree? Are you afraid that you will be embarrassed after I point out your errors? Or are you afraid of being humiliated when I point out your forging method?"

Ignoring their stares, Zhang Xuan chuckled lightly.

He had already contemplated over the matter and came up with a solution for passing the Pill Debate.

Even though he was done looking through the basic tier book collection vault in the Apothecary Guild, there was still a certain level of difficulty for him to successfully pass the Pill Debate.

After all, there were so many apothecaries assessing him and it was hard to tell whether they might have capabilities beyond that of the books. They might come up with questions beyond what was written in the books!

If he failed to answer their question, it would be an immediate loss!

Since that was the case, he should find a way to prevent them from bringing up such problems.

In other people's perspective, to determine a forging method and pointing out the flaws in it through watching how a person forged pills was much more difficult than undergoing a Pill Debate. However, Zhang Xuan possessed the Library of Heaven's Path, which allowed him to easily see through the flaws of others. What was nigh impossible to others became an absolutely simple task before him, only requiring reading word-by-word off a book.

An apothecary forging pills was equivalent to a fighter executing his battle technique, a book would be compiled by looking at it.

Thus, Zhang Xuan intentionally drew aggression from the others to incur their rage. After which, by behaving contemptuously, the others would definitely think of him as arrogant and agree to it.

As long as they agreed to this method of examination...

[Hehe, once you all agree to it, everything else will be a piece of cake. Witness as I play you all to your deaths!]

"Since you are looking for excitement, we will fulfill your request!"

"Indeed, since you are adamant on acting cool, we'll see how you cry afterward!"

As he expected, the crowd immediately exploded yet again after his taunting.

Every single of them was tempted to pay greetings Zhang Xuan's eighteen generations of ancestors and all of his kin.

[Embarrassed your head! The heck that we would be humiliated!

We just fear whether you have sufficient capabilities to do so!]

The ten apothecaries' fighting spirit roused. If not in consideration of their identity, they would have charged forward to bash him.

"Since all of you have the guts to agree to it, then let's begin!" Upon seeing how he was able to settle the issue so easily, Zhang Xuan chuckled. Then, looking at Ouyang Cheng, who was standing at the center of the room, he said, "Guild Leader Ouyang, can we begin?"

"Err... Of course!"

He didn't expect a simple Pill Debate would escalate to this point. Ouyang Cheng felt helpless and frustrated. At this moment, he had no choice but to go along with it.

"May I ask which apothecary would like to go first? I am willing to offer you all free pointer!" Zhang Xuan flung his sleeves arrogantly.

The faces of the crowd flushed red in anger.

"I can't stand watching him act like this any longer. Allow me to teach this brat a lesson first!"

Finally, an apothecary couldn't hold in his rage any longer and stood up.

It was a middle-aged man in his forties. His face was slightly gray and his eyes glowed as though they were lanterns. With a single look, it was clear that he wasn't someone with a good temper.

"It's Apothecary Meng Yan!"

"Meng Yan's temper may be awful, but he’s a true 1-star primary stage apothecary. Given how he’s able to forge over a dozen kinds of pills, he isn't someone to be underestimated!"

"Indeed, a few of his apprentices even made it big. Furthermore, he has many kinds of forging methods. It is most suitable for him to make the first move!"

Seeing the middle-aged man stepping out, the rest of the apothecaries secretly nodded their heads in agreement.

How could there be any mediocre figures among the 1-star apothecaries? This Apothecary Meng Yan might not be the most capable apothecary among the group, but his skills were not the worst of the bunch. They would be able to see the capabilities of that arrogant fellow through him.

"Lad, I will start forging now. If you are unable to tell the forging method later on and point out the flaws in it, prepare to be punished!"

With a cold sneer, Meng Yan walked over to the cauldron.

He casually grabbed a few medicinal herbs from the shelves by the side, and by controlling his zhenqi, he induced the flame beneath the cauldron to become even more vigorous.

Xiong xiong!

The flames burned furiously off its fuel and a slight chiming sound resounded from the cauldron, as though it was a giant bell.

Huhuhu!

Stalks after stalks of medicinal herbs were thrown into the cauldron and under the high temperature, a unique scent of medicine floated into the air.

"This is pill forging?"

Zhang Xuan might have read quite a few books in the basic tier book collection vault, but this was the first time he was seeing someone forge a pill.

"Incredible!"

He couldn't help but be impressed by it.

In terms of cultivation realm, he was in no way inferior to the other party. However, the way how the other party threw the medicinal herbs into the cauldron so casually without the slightest hesitation or pause, and how every single stalk of medicinal herb was placed under optimal conditions for it to best unleash its medicinal properties, it was something he could not hope to match.

This required continuous practice over time.

He might excel in theories, but this didn't mean that he was capable of materializing it into physical actions.

After a moment of looking at it, after integrating the knowledge from the basic tier book collection vault and the analysis on them by the Library of Heaven's Path, Zhang Xuan soon realized that...

He was unable to discern anything at all!

He wasn't even able to see what forging method the other party is utilizing, much less see through the flaws in his actions.

No wonder everyone stared at him as though he had gone mad upon hearing his request. If even Guild Leader Ouyang, who wielded the greatest ability among the group here, was unable to see through his forging method and had a perplexed expression at this very moment, how could an apprentice apothecary possibly see through it?

"Flaws!"

After confirming that he was unable to see through it through the sea of knowledge he had accumulated, Zhang Xuan didn't hesitate any longer and he willed for a book to be compiled.

Weng!

With a loud explosion, the Library of Heaven's Path jolted and a book suddenly appeared in his mind.

Written inside were this Apothecary Meng Yan's pill forging method and the flaws in them.

"This..."

After taking a look, a bizarre expression appeared on Zhang Xuan's face.

Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 107: Pill Debate Begins

Normally, if one wanted to take the examination for a 1-star apothecary, a 2-star apothecary had to be present to witness the proceedings.

However, Zhang Xuan was taking the Pill Debate examination instead of the traditional Pill Forging examination. As such, his examination only required ten 1-star apothecaries to conduct the examination. Even so, the entire proceedings had to be recorded using a Record Crystal, so that the headquarters could check and verify it. In fact, even some apprentice apothecaries were qualified to look through it and if it was proven that some of the examiners went easy on the examinee or so, all apothecaries involved in the proceedings would be stripped of their position and expelled.

This was precisely the reason why no one dared to go easy on others during a Pill Debate. Regardless of how formidable the power backing the examinee was, they were unable and unwilling to do so.

"Guild Leader Ouyang, you said that someone wants to undergo Pill Debate? It can't be this young brat here, can it!"

Upon sitting down, they glanced at Zhang Xuan and a bizarre expression appeared on their faces. An apothecary took the initiative to pose the doubts of them all to Ouyang Cheng.

Those who undergo Pill Debate were either master teachers or scholars who were well-versed in pills and medicines. Upon receiving the notice, everyone thought that it would be an elderly. Never in their dreams did they expect to see a young man who was barely even twenty.

[Guild Leader Ouyang, are you sure you aren't joking with us? You really aren't pulling our legs?

Forged pills are just like white wine; the older the alcohol is, the more fragrant it is. Age may not mean much, but a veteran with numerous years of research behind him is definitely in a better position than someone who had just started studying the subject.

A fellow who isn't even twenty yet wants to undergo Pill Debate...]

Even if he started to learn from his mother's womb, how much can he learn?

"Zhang Xuan may be young, but he has a deep comprehension of medicinal herbs. He even achieved a perfect score in the apprentice apothecary Written Paper examination!" Upon seeing the doubtful looks on everyone's face, Ouyang Cheng explained.

"Perfect score?"

"That means nothing at all!"

"The apprentice apothecary Written Paper only assesses the student's understanding of the medicinal properties of herbs, their classification, and traits. Scoring full marks can only mean that he has a solid foundation. However, to conduct a Pill Debate based on that, calling all of us over for that, aren't you being a little too reckless?"

"Pill forging isn't just about understanding the properties of medicinal herb and their classification. It is much more profound than that. One has to feel and comprehend the art of pill forging. If he hopes to become an apothecary just because he knows some basic stuff, isn't he being a little way too optimistic?"

The crowd chirped in, their tones filled with contempt and disdain.

Written Paper was just an examination conducted for apprentice apothecary. Official apothecaries often came into contact with medicinal herbs and scoring full marks for them meant nothing at all.

"Er..."

Upon seeing so many people treat him contemptuously before he even got an opportunity to speak, Zhang Xuan felt a little helpless.

If an apothecary's skill was proportionate to his age, you might as well dig a few of them up from the graves!

Pill forging? They would be formidable if they didn't turn themselves to ashes in the midst of doing so.

"Cough!" Zhang Xuan coughed to interrupt the commotion occurring among the apothecaries and spoke, "Guild Leader Ouyang didn't invite you all here to talk about age. I may be young, but that doesn't mean I’m unable to match up to the rest of you in terms of forging pills!"

"Match up to the rest of us? You aren't even an apothecary, and yet you are so arrogant that you’d look down on us?"

"Youngsters should be humbler. Despite not knowing much about pills, you dare to undergo Pill Debate. You sure are gutsy!"

"Arrogant fellow, when the Pill Debate begins in a moment's time, I hope that you still can talk as casually as you are doing now!"

...

The moment he spoke up, all their arrows came aiming toward him.

A deep frown was on every single one of their faces as they attempted to tear him apart with their words.

Pill Debate was actually equivalent to challenging the wisdom of ten apothecaries with the knowledge of a single individual.

All the apothecaries who gathered here upon Ouyang Cheng's call were all famous figures in Tianxuan Kingdom and every single one of them were of high standing. If they were to lose to a master teacher or an elder, it was still a result acceptable to them. But for an immature brat who wasn't even twenty yet, if they were to really lose to him, how could they still uphold their dignity?

Thus, they didn't have any intention to treat Zhang Xuan kindly from the moment they saw him. On the contrary, they tried to oppress him from the very start.

It was an attempt to crush his confidence.

As a bachelor in his previous life, he was tortured daily by the loving display of couples every day. Even so, didn't he manage to overcome them and live on?

This kind of attacks no longer worked on Zhang Xuan anymore.

"Alright!" The scent of gunpowder was already apparent even though the Pill Debate had yet to begin. Upon seeing the argument escalating, dark lines streaked across Ouyang Cheng's face. He hurriedly interjected, "There is no use talking about it all, everything should be proven with capabilities instead. After all, capability doesn't differentiate between ages. Since I have gathered everyone here to conduct a Pill Debate, then let's just go straight to the point and begin!

"I'll first talk about the rules of the Pill Debate!"

Afraid that the crowd might come up with even more toxic words, Ouyang Cheng immediately began explaining, "Pill Debate isn't a true debate. Rather, the ten apothecaries will raise questions for the examinee to answer. As long as there’s a question he is unable to answer or answers erroneously, the examinee fails! If both parties are unsure of the answers to the questions raised, a test can be conducted on the spot to verify the answer. Whoever's theory is able to produce higher quality pills will win.

"Of course, the questions raised by the apothecaries must be within the sphere of the knowledge of a 1-star apothecary. Also, the examiners are not allowed to pose a question about secrets unknown to others."

At this point, Ouyang Cheng scanned the surroundings and asked, "Are there any other questions?"

The rules were simple and the explanation was clear.

"No!"

The crowd shook their heads simultaneously.

As an apothecary, even if they had never heard of Pill Debate, they should have done their homework on it beforehand.

There was a limit to the questions they could raise to the examinee. After all, how could an apprentice apothecary possibly answer a question about forging a grade-3 pill or some profound pill forging method?

"Since there are no questions, then let's..." Ouyang Cheng raised his hand grandly and just as he was about to announce the start of the Pill Debate, Zhang Xuan stood up with a frown, "Hold for a moment!"

"Why? Are you scared now? It’s too late now!"

"It’s too late for you regret your decision! We can either begin the Pill Debate now or you can admit your defeat straight up!"

Upon seeing Zhang Xuan halt the proceedings, they thought that he wanted to resign and sneered coldly at him.

"Regret my decision? You want to make me regret my decision with those standards of yours?" Zhang Xuan activated his aggression-pulling aura.

"What did you say?"

An elder bellowed loudly.

As expected, the apothecaries here immediately erupted upon hearing his words. If looks could kill, he would have been sliced into numerous pieces by now.

"I'm sorry, I'm not saying that your standards are not up to par. I'm saying that... all of you here are unable to make the cut!"

With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan emanated a haughty disposition.

[Why?

You want to bicker with me? Do you believe that I can choke you all to death with a few words?]

"You..."

"Arrogant!"

"Ignorant brat!"

Instantaneously, everyone exploded. Everyone flew into a rampage and their beards flew along with their vigorous breathing.

Seeing the atmosphere heating up and that he had become a public enemy for all of them here, Zhang Xuan nodded his head in satisfaction. With a smile, he looked toward the center of the room and asked, "Guild Leader Ouyang, it seems that they look down on me just because on my age. To tell you the truth, I also look down on them. Actually, I don't think that there is much point to a mere debate, so why don't we increase the difficulty of the examination?"

"Increase the difficulty?"

Ouyang Cheng frowned.

[Pill Debate is already difficult by itself, and you want to increase the difficulty? Also, how do you intend to go about increasing the difficulty?]

The others were also bewildered.

[Lad, do you find your death lacking splendor, so you want to find a more exciting way to do so?]

"Simply, Pill Debate is just theoretical and words are empty!"

Ignoring the bizarre expression everyone was shooting him with, Zhang Xuan raised his hands boldly, carrying a majestic disposition with him, "How about this? As long as any apothecary here dares to forge pills before me, regardless of what methods he uses, I am able to point out the name of his forging method and the errors he commits in the process. If any of those here finds what I say incorrect, I can admit defeat immediately!"

Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 106: New Worries (2)

If he were to train them conventionally, he was confident that he could induce a massive improvement in his five students, grasping the entire school by surprise.

However, it was too daunting a task to achieve it within half a month to make it in time for the Freshmen Tournament.

Regardless of whether it was Wang Ying, Zhao Ya, Zheng Yang, Liu Yang or Wang Tao, each of them had problems with their bodies. Even though he knew the remedy to treating each of them, it was hard for him to resolve their problems entirely within this short period of time.

The Library of Heaven's Path could see through flaws, but it didn't show him the correct way to resolving them.

The methods he came up with to solve the problems that his students encountered were the conclusions he came up with after researching innumerable books, so the effectiveness of them all could only be considered average.

That short amount of time he had wasn't sufficient to solve their problems entirely, needless to say, induce a rapid growth in their cultivation.

Of course, if he were to impart the Heaven's Path Divine Art to them, their cultivation would surely soar immediately. However, Zhang Xuan knew that he mustn't impart the cultivation technique to anyone else.

Possessing a treasure beyond his ability to guard was a crime. It was possible that it might bring him calamity if news of his cultivation technique were to spread out.

Even if the Library of Heaven's Path was able to identify the locations of the mingmen of his opponents, it wasn't of much use if he was battling against enemies far above his cultivation realm.

Putting aside the fact that true experts did not have such weakness and even if they had, if he was unable to match up to them in terms of speed and strength, he might not be able to damage the latter even if he were to hit them squarely at their vitals!

"Zheng Yang's situation is slightly easier to resolve. I can try to find a battle technique for him. Within half a month, he should be able to achieve some level of accomplishment in it. This should be sufficient for him to deal with most opponents!

"I have helped Wang Ying to open up the blocked acupoints on her legs. However, two years of injury has caused severe damage to her fundamentals. Her meridians and muscles require a long period of recovery. Conventional methods can't possibly allow her legs to recover completely in half a month, needless to say, attain a higher level! Unless... her legs are nourished with a specialized medicinal solution!

"On the other hand, Liu Yang needs some pills to clear his obstructed meridians!

"As for Zhao Ya and Yuan Tao, just as what I have analyzed before, it should be sufficient as long as I find a way to awaken their unique constitution!"

All these sounded easy, but carrying them out would prove to be difficult.

Putting aside the others, even Zheng Yang's problem, which seemed easy to solve, was tricky. He had learned the way of the spear for many years and he might find it difficult to grasp bare-handed techniques. If he was unable to assimilate the battle technique to his own, it might potentially become his downfall instead, causing his fighting prowess to regress instead!

Learning powerful battle techniques took time and learning weak ones were pointless. To assimilate a technique to his own in half a month... The difficulty to do so was clear for all to see.

"Putting aside the matter of Zheng Yang's battle technique, Wang Ying's medicinal solution should be able to be found in the Apothecary Guild. That is to say, the problems of the four of them can be settled at the Apothecary Guild!"

Determination reflected in Zhang Xuan's eyes, "Looks like I have to pass today's Pill Debate by hook or by crook!"

Actually, after the threat of his expulsion had passed, he could’ve taken it easy and taught his students leisurely. However, since Lu Xun came running over to undermine his dignity, as a transcender with a cheat code, how could he possibly allow him to climb over his head?

Sayings such as 'The river reverses its flow after 30 years' were all nonsense. One didn't simply wait for revenge to come by itself. Since the other party is willing to send his face over, naturally, Zhang Xuan wouldn't go easy on him.

Furthermore, even though it seemed as though he had settled the Education Bureau and wouldn't be fired in the short term, but there were still a lot of people waiting for him to make a fool out of himself. After all, he stepped over the dignity of a school leader as a teacher and caused a scandal in the school. People were already gossiping about how the school didn't know how to choose its personnel. There wasn’t a single organization that would allow the existence of a ticking time bomb in their ranks.

If he was unable to make his stand in the Freshmen Tournament, all kind of pressure would come stacking upon him, making his life difficult.

Thus, he had to win, regardless of the price he had to pay.

As for why he didn't choose to simply leave the academy when there's a massive world out there... As a teacher, if he were to lose upon being challenged, it was no different from a guilty criminal escaping pursuit. It would leave a stain in his records in the Teacher Guild and by then, he would probably be unable to even be promoted to a high-level teacher, much less say, master teacher.

However, this wasn't the main reason. The main reason was that these five students of him already held absolute trust in him. He had already become an important person in their lives, and as a teacher, he could not let them down!

"Alright, I'll start the lessons now!"

Upon arriving at a conclusion, Zhang Xuan didn't panic and started teaching his students calmly.

His lectures were based on the numerous correct theories he had gathered from all the books in the teachers’ Compendium Pavilion.

They were profound albeit boring, giving the listeners an epiphany.

Not only did his five students benefit greatly from his lecture, even Wang Tao, Wang Yan, and Zhao Yanfeng, who were listening in by the side, flushed red in agitation. They felt as though they had just eaten a ginseng fruit.

At this moment, they realized that just by listening in, even without Zhang laoshi's personal guidance, they had struck the jackpot.

As long as they continued listening to his lessons seriously, their cultivation would surely rise by leaps and bounds.

What Zhang laoshi was explaining was a new type of training system, an entirely new perspective, something that would revolutionize the entire world of cultivation.

"I'll end the lesson here! Cultivate properly when you all return, I will check your cultivation tomorrow!"

Looking at the time, it was already nearing noon. Zhang Xuan gestured for them to leave.

"Yes!"

Zhao Ya and the others rose and bade Zhang Xuan farewell.

"The Pill Debate is about to start, I should head over now!"

Time didn't wait for anyone. Since he applied for the Pill Debate, he naturally would not give up on it. Zhang Xuan walked out of the classroom toward the Apothecary Guild.

Soon, upon reaching the guild, Wen Xue came welcoming him.

The contemptuous gaze yesterday had been replaced with that of respect.

Even though the person in front was younger than her, he was already a certified apprentice apothecary. She dared not to offend him.

"Apothecary Ouyang Cheng asked me to wait here for you. He says that the ten apothecaries are here and the Pill Debate can start at any time now. Of course, if you wish to go back on your words, you can also choose to cancel this Pill Debate!"

Wen Xue said.

"There's no need to cancel it!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

It would take too much time for him to become a 1-star apothecary through Pill Forging. Since he was able to do it today, there was no reason for him to back off.

"This way!"

As though seeing through his intentions, Wen Xue shook her head and brought him in.

It was the building where the apprentice apothecary examination was held. However, they proceeded deeper within and soon, they arrived at a vast hall.

Several hundred square meters large, ten chairs were placed in a circle at the center. There was a giant cauldron placed behind the circle of chairs and a flame burned majestically beneath it, bringing one a stifling sensation.

Pill Debate, in order to ascertain whether a theory was true or not, had to be verified on the field. The cauldron was here for such use.

"Zhang Xuan, you’re here. It isn't too late to regret now. Rest assured, with your talents, if you were to become my apprentice, I will make sure that you will be able to forge pills within half a year to pass the apothecary examinations!"

Jiya! The door opened and Ouyang Cheng walked out. His words carried a tone of persuasion to it.

He still didn't think that it was likely for this young man to pass the Pill Debate.

"Half a year is too long!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

[What a joke! If I had half a year of time, I wouldn't have to go through the trouble to come knocking at the Apothecary Guild in search of books.]

"Alright!"

Knowing that there was no way to persuade him otherwise, Ouyang Cheng shook his head in disappointment.

In his perspective, Zhang Xuan was still young and thus, it couldn't be helped that he would be complacent. Once he blew it up, he would know the difficulty of Pill Debate.

"Esteemed guests, please enter!"

Upon his shout, numerous human figures entered the room. There were exactly ten of them, and some of them were middle-aged while others are elderly. Even the youngest of them was probably at minimum 40 years old.

The apothecary from yesterday, Du Man, was also within the group.

These people were wearing a robe specially made for apothecaries. There was a unique emblem hanging on their chest, and the single star on it was exceptionally conspicuous.

1-star apothecaries!

Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 105: New Worries (1)

Pipa! Pili pala!

Throughout the entire night, the sound of him breaking through in his cultivation could be heard every now and then as his strength soared continuously.

"To think that the night would be over in a flash!"

Finally, Zhang Xuan opened his eyes.

The sun had already risen.

Despite going without sleep the entire night, not only did Zhang Xuan not feel fatigued, he even felt revitalized instead.

With the level of purity of his zhenqi and the uniqueness of his Heaven's Path Divine Art, breaking through his cultivation realm was an extremely easy task. It was just that it took time for him to identify the correct acupoints. Even so, in a single night, he had opened over twenty acupoints!

Going by conventional standards, a fighter could only open 72 acupoints in their entire body. Every 18 acupoints opened was considered a tier.

That was to say if one opened 1-18 acupoints, he was in Pixue realm primary stage, 19-36 acupoints for the intermediate stage, 37-54 for advanced stage and 55-72 for pinnacle!

However, due to the low purity of zhenqi that most people possessed and incorrect sequence they opened their acupoints in, the cultivation of most people stopped progressing after opening thirty to forty acupoints. The only way for them to grow stronger was to try to break through Fighter 7-dan Tongxuan realm.

As a result, the classification above remained in theory. Based on Tianxuan Kingdom's standards, Pixue realm basic stage was classified as opening 1-10 acupoints, intermediate stage 11-20, advanced 21-30 and pinnacle 31 and above.

As long as one opened 31 acupoints and above, regardless of whether it was 31 or 72, they were all considered as Pixue realm pinnacle in Tianxuan Kingdom!

When Zhang Xuan was still at Dingli realm pinnacle, he already possessed 8 ding of strength. After recultivating his first three cultivation realms, his strength was boosted by 12 ding. Adding them up together, he possessed a total of 20 ding of strength before breaking into Pixue realm. After opening 20 acupoints, just taking into account zhenqi itself, he possessed 40 ding of strength. That was equivalent to a Pixue realm pinnacle expert!

Other people had difficulty opening a single acupoint in the course of half a month while he opened 20 of it in a single night. Furthermore, 90% of the time was spent on researching the correct sequence. No one would be able to believe that it was possible for one's cultivation realm to soar that rapidly.

However, if the flawless Heaven's Path Divine Art didn’t have such effects, it wouldn't be worthy of the word 'perfect'.

After grabbing some food to eat, he headed to the classroom.

………………………………

"You're saying that... In order to find a way to awaken your unique constitution, Zhang laoshi was willing to undergo Pill Debate to become an apothecary?"

In the classroom, Zhao Ya revealed what had happened yesterday to Wang Ying and the rest.

"Zhang laoshi had created cultivation techniques for us, and now he is putting himself at risk for our welfare..."

"No matter what, we must achieve good results in the Freshmen Tournament. Otherwise, we would’ve truly let down Zhang laoshi, and his efforts to groom us would be in vain!"

The eyes of Zheng Yang and the others burned passionately. Even the usually lazy Yuan Tao was agitated.

Warriors died fighting to protect their soulmates. Zhang laoshi had done so much to protect them. If they still knew none of the gratitude at this point, they would truly be ingrates!

"No, I have to start cultivating right now!"

"Me too!"

In an instant, zeal consumed everyone and only a single goal retained in their minds. That was to bring glory to Zhang laoshi by astonishing everyone with their strength in the Freshmen Tournament!

"What is wrong with them all?"

Upon walking into the classroom, he saw that not only were all his students present, every single of them were cultivating seriously and diligently. Zhang Xuan found the situation slightly queer.

Was there something wrong with these fellows?

"Teacher!"

Just when he was about to start his lessons, he saw Wang Tao, Wang Yan, and Zhao Yanfeng walking over.

Zhang Xuan had already agreed to have Wang Tao and Wang Yan listen to by the side of the class. However, why was Zhao Yanfeng here too?

"I impertinently made my own decision to withdraw from Lu laoshi's tutelage. If my decision had caused you trouble, please punish me!"

As soon as Zhang Xuan walked into the classroom, Zhao Yanfeng immediately confessed.

Hearing these words, Zhang Xuan came to a realization why Lu Xun picked a fight with him out of nowhere.

So this was the reason.

Despite being the most reputable star teacher in the academy, two students of his withdrew from his lessons to listen to the lessons of the worst teacher. No matter who it was, they would definitely find this situation unacceptable.

How could he continue teaching other students in the future if word were to spread out? How could he win his student's trust like this?

"Alright, you can listen to my lessons!"

Since the matter had already happened, if he sent Zhao Yanfeng back, others might think that he was afraid of Lu Xun. As such, he could only pretend to be unaware of the matter.

In any case, he wasn't obliged to offer pointers to students listening in his lesson. They were free to leave if they want to and it wouldn't really waste any time of his.

"Stop for a moment. You all should have already tried to cultivate the cultivation techniques I passed you all yesterday!"

Ignoring the trio, Zhang Xuan turned his attention to Zhao Ya, Wang Ying, and the others.

"We have!"

The eyes of his students glowed in excitement.

The cultivation technique Zhang laoshi had created for them was incredible! With just a single night of training, they felt the energy within their body growing stronger. Just the effort of a single day was comparable to what they achieved in ten previously!

As such, they felt even more impressed with the teacher before them.

"Un, let me see your punching routines. Wang Ying, we'll start from you!"

Zhang Xuan turned his gaze over to her.

"Yes!"

Wang Ying stepped forward and swiftly executed a punching routine.

"Not bad!"

After which, Zhang Xuan casually offered some pointers and pointed out a few flaws in her cultivation.

The same occurred for Zhao Ya, Liu Yang, and the others.

All in all, the speed at which his five students were cultivating at were rather fast. In fact, it was an astonishing speed compared to other students.

Even so, if they were to continue at this pace, there would still be a significant gap between his students and Lu Xun's.

Lu Xun was a star teacher of the academy. Those who studied under him were basically the top students of the entire academy.

The entrance examination assessed a student's overall performance and their potential. Zhao Ya, Wang Ying, and the others were only able to squeeze into the top hundred via their potential. If one were to only consider their fighting prowess, only Zhao Ya was better off among the five of them. The other four would probably be ranked below 500.

This was especially true for Yuan Tao. His placing in the entrance examination was reflective of his strength.

It was impossible to have the several hundred of students under Lu Xun fight with the five students of his. That would be unfair. As such, he would pick five of them out to fight with them.

To choose the top five out of several hundred powerful students, it was clear to see how difficult it would be for Zhao Ya and the others to triumph over them.

Putting aside the others, the top three students of the entrance examination had come under his tutelage and all three of them had already broken into Fighter 2-dan!

Given how the five of them were unable to defeat Zhu Hong, who was ranked fourth, despite ganging up against him, how could they possibly deal with the other three individually?

Even though potential, talent, and personality could help to boost a student's ranking in the Freshmen Tournament, what was valued the highest was still strength!

Without strength, everything else was empty talk.

Once they lose on the sparring field, all of the former would be negated by the others.

"Wang Ying's legs has just recovered and her body hasn't adapted to the changes in her body yet. As such, she is unable to utilize her strength properly. With two months of rest, her condition should improve, but half a month... That is too difficult!

"Zheng Yang has just escaped from his trauma, allowing his mastery of the spear to improve rapidly. However, it’s possible for weapons to be banned in the Freshmen Tournament, given the nature of it as a sparring contest. His advantage might very possibly become his downfall. I have to find a way to boost his bare-handed fighting skills within this period!

"Also, it will take at least half a month for the condition of Liu Yang's right arm to improve, and by then... Sigh, time is truly lacking!"

Looking through the conditions of the few via the Library of Heaven's Path, Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella and his worry reflected on his face.

Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 104: Fighter 6-dan Pixue Realm (2)

"Let's begin!"

Everything else went easy after discovering the correct acupoint. The method to breaking them open was about the same. Without much hesitation, Zhang Xuan directed the zhenqi in his body towards the Xinqiao acupoint.

Boom!

Not long after, there was a loud explosion and Zhang Xuan's body swayed uncontrollably.

Instantaneously, Zhang Xuan felt a qualitative improvement in his mental state.

Regardless of whether it was his vitality or his reaction speed, they improved by leaps and bounds.

He had successfully broken through Fighter 6-dan Pixue realm!

If he closed his eyes at this instant, he could sense radiance emitting from an acupoint within his body, like a star in the middle of a dark night.

Goo goo goo!

With the acupoint opened, spiritual energy immediately gushed in, inducing a rise in his strength by a single ding.

"Great!"

Sensing the changes in his body, Zhang Xuan knew that he had successfully accomplished a breakthrough to the next realm. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Even without cultivation technique manuals, I can always try to fumble around for the correct part by experimenting with every single possibility. Even if there are ten thousand possible routes in my cultivation, as long as I toss out all of the erroneous ones, I will eventually find the correct one..."

His eyes twinkled with excitement.

It was just a conjecture he came up with abruptly, so he didn't really expect to succeed.

Of course, such a method was only possible for Pixue realm. There was a total of 108 acupoints in the human body and they were all fixed in place. Thus, it was possible for him to try them one by one. However, if he really tried to create a cultivation technique of his own out of nowhere, even with the Library of Heaven's Path, he would surely tire himself to death.

Actually, Zhang Xuan didn't know that the reputation for the 36 Locked Acupoints didn't come from nowhere. Without the purest zhenqi, it was impossible for one to break open the acupoints.

Using a simple analogy, if the other acupoints are paths, the 36 Locked Acupoints are pinhole-sized paths. Impure zhenqi is like muddy water. Even though it can flow through the other paths with ease, it is an impossible task for it to pass through the pinhole-sized paths! Just the silt in the muddy water itself is sufficient to plug up the path. If one tries to break through it forcefully, they might end up crushing their acupoint instead, causing an imbalance in their body, and ultimately, death.

Zhang Xuan cultivated the flawless Heaven's Path Divine Art and his zhenqi had no impurities in it whatsoever, like completely pure water. Even when facing pinhole-sized paths, it could easily pass through to break open the acupoint successfully!

"I should continue with the second acupoint!"

With a single successful experience, Zhang Xuan continued to look for the second acupoint. After awhile, the second acupoint was successfully opened as well.

The hardest part of the Pixue realm was in finding the correct sequence to open the acupoints. As long as one found it, breaking through the Pixue realm was an extremely easy task.

……………………………………

Zhao Ya's residence. Yao Han was sitting at a distance not too far away from Zhao Ya.

"Xiaojie, tell me about this Zhang laoshi and your physical condition. Why do you need to consume the medicinal herb?"

Initially, he was prejudiced against Zhang Xuan, but after seeing him put himself in peril for his students and gifting a medicinal herb worth a hundred thousand gold coins so casually, he couldn't help but doubt the notions he had of him.

His actions might be a façade, but that tranquil and nonchalant aura of his and that disposition of an enlightened expert couldn't be feigned.

How could one who possessed such aura, disposition, and morals possibly be a villain who fooled women?

Looked like he had been mistaken from the very start!

Furthermore, xiaojie had been healthy all along. Why did she need to consume this medicinal herb? Not to mention, such an expensive and valuable one?

Filled with doubt, he couldn't help but bring them up upon reaching her residence.

"Zhang laoshi... Initially, I was prejudiced against him as well until I saw his capabilities personally and listened to his lectures…." Zhao Ya started to recount everything that happened ever since she met Zhang Xuan.

Upon speaking about her physical "illness", her face flushed red.

In the past, she would definitely be too embarrassed to speak of it. She would wonder if she had problems with her innate nature and her body. However, upon getting the truth of the matter from Zhang laoshi, she managed to get past that barrier of hers.

For a person possessing Pure Yin Body to cultivate a pure yin cultivation technique, it resulted in yin energy accumulating in her body and if not for her outstanding mental resilience, she would have given in long ago.

"Pure Yin Body? Xiaojie has Pure Yin Body? To think that we were unaware of that! We even made you cultivate the White Jade Pure Maiden Skill...."

Upon hearing the symptoms and pain the girl had undergone throughout the years, Yao Han's face paled.

He was of the same generation as Zhao Ya's father and he had long seen Zhao Ya as his own daughter. If not for Zhang laoshi seeing through to the crux of the problem, xiaojie might still be trapped in the quagmire of pain, unable to pull herself out of it. Unable to see through this all despite being a senior who had been beside her all this time, he felt intense self-reproach and remorse.

Back at the Apothecary Guild, he had heard her say that she had a unique constitution. Back then, it wasn't convenient for him to ask about it. Never in his dreams would he imagine that it was of this kind, and that such aftereffects would occur upon cultivation a pure yin cultivation technique.

"Since this Zhang laoshi is so capable, why would his reputation be so..."

After listening to the words of the young girl, this Zhang laoshi seemed to be an incredible figure of great capabilities. However, if he were that incredible, his reputation should have long ago rung far and wide. Why would the results of his investigation be that he had failed the Teacher Qualification Examination and even caused a student's cultivation to go berserk?

"Today, due to Liu Yang's affair, the Education Bureau conducted an Enlightenment Will Trial..."

Zhao Ya went on to talk about the incident that occurred at the Enlightenment Will Tower.

"What? You mean... it was due to Elder Shang Chen's intentional oppression that his reputation is so poor? Zhang laoshi, in consideration for the image of the academy, didn't expose him? His strength is already that of Pixue realm pinnacle?"

Yao Han shuddered.

If he didn't hear this news firsthand, he would have never believed it.

For the head of the Education Bureau of an established academy to be so shameless!

On the other hand, for Zhang laoshi... to be such a noble person!

Looked like he was indeed mistaken!

Not just him, everyone was mistaken about him!

"I have never seen Elder Shang Chen, but Shang Bin laoshi, who is his grandson, is interest-motivated and vicious. Naturally, his grandfather can't be any better..."

If anyone else heard such rumors about the head of the Education Bureau, they would definitely doubt the reliability of the news. However, Yao Han didn't have the slightest hesitation in believing Zhao Ya's words.

He had never met Shang Chen, but he had met Shang Bin.

The wounds on his face were the doing of the other party!

Since the grandson was of such character, how noble can the grandfather be?

Birds of the same feathers flock together!

"Uncle Yao, now that you know about Zhang laoshi's affairs, I hope that you can be more respectful to him from now on!" After concluding her explanation, Zhao Ya looked at Yao Han with a grim expression.

"Rest assured! Your uncle isn't a foolish person. I know what to do from now on!" Yao Han nodded his head. The next instant, his expression darkened. The authoritativeness and self-confidence of the butler of a powerful family exuded from him as he continued, "However, this Shang Chen and Shang Bin had caused me to bear misunderstandings about Zhang laoshi, not to mention how they soiled his reputation. I must converse with the city lord and have them punished!"

"Yeah! Such vile people deserve to be punished!" Zhao Ya nodded her head.

She was unlike Wang Ying.

Wang Ying had a docile and honest nature while she, as the daughter of a city lord, possessed a valiant disposition. Otherwise, she wouldn't have barged into Zhang Xuan's classroom angrily upon hearing others praise him.

This was precisely the reason why, upon hearing Yao Han say that he would teach the duo a lesson, she didn't hesitate and immediately nodded her head in agreement.

If not for this head of the Education Bureau, Zhang laoshi wouldn't suffer such injustice and be viewed mockingly and contemptuously by the rest of the world.

Otherwise, given his capabilities, how could he possibly be unable to recruit any students?

They must be taught a lesson, and a severe one at that, one that will send their reputation down the drain!

"Uncle Yao, I will be troubling you to spread this information. The more people know of it, the better!" At this, Zhao Ya issued a command.

"Yes!" Yao Han nodded his head.

Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 103: Fighter 6-dan Pixue Realm

"Zhang laoshi, I don't have sufficient money to pay for the Frigid Sun Mother Grass now, so I will pay you a portion first. Treat it as our Baiyu City buying it from you. After all, we can't expect you to go bankrupt while teaching xiaojie…"

Xiaojie -> Young mistress

Oblivious to the changes that had occurred in Zhang Xuan, Yao Han stepped forward to pass over banknotes worth twenty thousand in total.

"There's no need for it. It’s just a medicinal herb, it's just a small affair!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

The responsibility of a teacher had just dawned on him, so how could he accept money from a student at this moment?

Furthermore, it was just a stalk of Frigid Sun Mother Grass. Frigid Sun Grass was only worth hundred gold coins per stalk, so a Frigid Sun Mother Grass shouldn't be worth much either. His fortune counted in the millions, so why would he bother about that petty sum?

Furthermore, he obtained this stalk by acting cool, not even spending the least bit of money on it. His heart didn't ache giving it away like this.

"This..." Upon seeing his resolute determination, Yao Han could only keep his money. Feeling impressed, he commented, "Zhang laoshi, I’m really impressed by your generosity. To give a herb worth a hundred thousand gold coins just like that, it’s laughable that I’ve thought that you were trying to scam our xiaojie..."

"What? Worth a hundred thousand gold coins?" Zhang Xuan's lips quivered.

[This Frigid Sun Mother Grass is worth a hundred thousand gold coins?

Are you for real?

If I knew that it was worth a hundred thousand gold coin, I should have accepted your money!]

Other people gave presents to their teachers in a show of filial piety, so why was it that when it came to him, he was paying them instead...

"Yes!" Yao Han looked over with a peculiar expression, "Could it be that Zhang laoshi doesn't know of its price?"

"I..." Even though his heart was bleeding, he knew that he couldn't retract his words at this point. As such, he assumed a stern face once more. With an arrogant aura that treated all worldly objects contemptuously, he said, "Of course not, money means nothing to me at all. Zhao Ya is my student, and a herb worth a hundred thousand gold coins is but a small matter. If it’s beneficial to her, there’s no need to hesitate over mere money!"

Since what's done is done, he could only go ahead and sell her the favor.

"Xiaojie has truly found a good teacher!"

Seeing his attitude, Yao Han was truly in awe of him.

[No wonder xiaojie kept praising him. Just his morals itself is sufficient to send others in awe like me.]

Standing by the side, Wen Xue looked on the situation in embarrassment. If only there was a burrow here, she would’ve dived in immediately.

The other party was such an upstanding and noble teacher, yet she mistook him as a pursuer of hers, treating him disdainfully... Her actions were truly laughable!

Thankfully, he had a generous heart and was indifferent to her rudeness. Otherwise, his identity as an apprentice apothecary was more than sufficient to have her permanently expelled!

"Let's return. I have to prepare for the Pill Debate tomorrow as well!"

A single act had cost him a hundred thousand gold coins... Besides, the money wasn't anything much. After all, Baiyu City was paying for it, not Zhao Ya...

Suppressing the urge to cry, Zhang Xuan walked out to the streets.

By the time he returned to the academy after having dinner, it was already nearing midnight.

"Since I'm not tired yet, I should look into how I can break into Pixue realm!"

In his previous life, he was a nocturnal owl. Furthermore, given his level of cultivation, his physical condition was much better than how it was back then. Even though it was already late at night, he wasn't tired in the least.

After exposing the might of a Pixue realm expert in the Enlightenment Will Tower today, the academy should be making a move soon to confer him the title of an elder.

Upon becoming an elder, he would be granted entry into the elders’ Compendium Pavilion.

By then, he would be able to obtain sufficient Fighter 6-dan secret manuals to perfect his Heaven's Path Divine Art.

Of course, before then, studying it was okay as well.

After all, he had duplicated quite a few secret manuals from Master Lu Chen's residence. Even though only a partial of the words were true and as such, unable to be linked together to form a complete version, it was still worth studying.

With a jolt of his mind, a dozen books or so which he saw in Master Lu Chen's residence appeared in his consciousness.

"Actually, Pixue realm cultivation isn't very difficult. The only difficulty one will face is the sequence of breaking through the acupoints!"

After scanning through the numerous manuals, Zhang Xuan came to a realization.

[It is said that there are 108 acupoints on a human body. However, only 72 of which can be opened. Furthermore, there is a specific sequence to opening these acupoints. Everyone's physical body is different and as such, there is a different sequence for everyone to follow to achieve optimal results. If one didn't find the correct route, it’s likely that they might only be able to open thirty to forty acupoints and be stuck there for the rest of their lives.

It’s just like cleansing the silt and mud off a river. Only by cleansing from the upper stream can the river be cleansed entirely. If one were to start from the center, not only will the river not be cleaned thoroughly, it may even cause a blockade!

This is precisely the reason why the first acupoint to open is important. If one were to get it wrong, it will have disastrous repercussions.]

"This book 《Golden Flame Technique》 says that the first acupoint to open should be the Shenli acupoint, only with strength can one break through the other more important acupoints. On the other hand, this 《Art of Sun Adaptation》 says that one should start from the Zhongshu acupoint because it is in the direct center of the human body..."

The acupoint one should start with was different in every single book and each of their reasoning seemed logical.

Others might end up becoming confused upon reading through all these, but Zhang Xuan possessed the Library of Heaven's Path. With but a single glance, he knew that all of it... were false!

"Being unable to find the correct acupoint is equivalent to being unable to find the source of a river. If an error was to occur from the very start, it would be difficult to push on afterward. Forget it!"

After studying for a moment longer, Zhang Xuan realized that none of the manuals held the correct answer to the first acupoint he should break through. Just when he was about to give up, an idea popped up in his mind.

"If what is recorded in all these books are false and given that a human only has 108 acupoints in total, if I were to try them one by one, wouldn't I be able to figure out the sequence of which I should open up my acupoints?"

The method to break through acupoints was simple, one just had to use their zhenqi to surge through it. The main problem was the sequence to doing so. Since these were all wrong, of the 108 acupoints in his body, there had to be a correct one!

Other people might be unable to try them one by one, but such a problem didn't exist for him!

As he possessed the Library of Heaven's Path, after eliminating all mistakes, what was left should be naturally correct!

"Give it a try!"

At this point, Zhang Xuan didn't hesitate any further. Picking up a brush and paper, he wrote out the 108 acupoints on a human body out and canceled away the incorrect first acupoints from the various secret manuals from it, followed by the other acupoints that were proven to be in the correct positions for him in the sequence listed in the books.

After which, only twenty acupoints were left of the 108.

However, there was no need to worry. Zhang Xuan hand copied a manual and alternated the twenty acupoints in the first acupoint within the sequence one by one.

Weng!

A new secret manual appeared in the Library of Heaven's Path, displaying the errors and flaws of it.

At his thirteenth try, his mind jolted and the secret manual reflected the first acupoint that had no flaws.

"Haha, I've succeeded! To think that it would be the Xinqiao acupoint. Since the Library of Heaven's Path has not pointed out any errors in it, it means that this is the first acupoint I should break through to enter Pixue realm!

"Xinqiao acupoint is a hidden acupoint in a human body. Without pure zhenqi, it’s impossible for a Fighter 5-dan pinnacle to open it. No wonder it isn't written in any of these manuals..."

After verifying the first acupoint he had to open, Zhang Xuan was filled with excitement.

Xinqiao acupoint was located in the depths of one's heart. It was reputed as one of the 36 Locked Acupoints. Without sufficiently pure zhenqi, not only would one be unable to open it, one's cultivation might even go berserk while attempting to open it.

If not for the verification by the Library of Heaven's Path, he would’ve never believed that this would be the first acupoint he needed to open.

It was no wonder that he was unable to find the correct sequence in the manuals he duplicated. To think that the correct acupoint for him to start with was one of the Locked Acupoints.

From the looks of it now, even though it was termed as 'Locked Acupoint’, but with the correct sequence, one would be able to break it open!