Chapter 80: Bastard
"There's no need for such formality, please rise!" Zhang Xuan hurriedly helped Zhou Qun and the others to their feet, surprised that they had come to the academy.
"Dad..." Zhou Qingkai, who had been so arrogant moments ago, now stood frozen in place. In his mind, his father's horse-taming skills were nearly unmatched, and yet here he was, kneeling before another man, paying the respect of a disciple... How powerful must Zhang Xuan be?
No wonder Patriarch Chen had chosen to make him an guest elder instead of his father. Suddenly, Zhou Qingkai's face burned with shame.
While everyone else was shocked, Chen Xiao could only hold his forehead in exasperation. He had hoped to keep Zhang Xuan's extraordinary horse-taming abilities under wraps for as long as possible, but now everything was out in the open...
Glancing at Zhou Qun and the others, Chen Xiao couldn't help but feel speechless. How unreliable!
But the most exasperating of all was his foolish son. With a raised eyebrow, he grabbed Chen Hao by the ear, "You wretch! Get outside and kneel!"
"But Dad..." Chen Hao winced in pain. "Even if Teacher Zhang is great at teaching and taming beasts, it's clear that Miss Liu and Miss Yu don’t want to be his students. I only acted to help them."
Chen Xiao was furious, "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Chen Hao persisted, "It's not nonsense! They didn't even want to remember or learn the techniques Teacher Zhang taught. Isn't it obvious they aren’t willing?""This..." Chen Xiao was at a loss for words, and a chill ran through the room as everyone turned to look at Zhang Xuan. He calmly turned his gaze to the two girls, "Is what he said your true feelings?"
Liu Mingyue and Yu Xiaoyu exchanged nervous glances before Liu Mingyue decided to speak the truth. "I initially agreed to be your student to make you lose face. After all, I have excellent talent, while you were just an auxiliary teacher, unworthy of teaching me. So I pretended not to understand or learn anything, hoping to anger you. But just now, I realized the techniques you taught are incredibly profound. Even with just a little practice, I’ve improved rapidly! Now, I understand how fortunate and honored I am to be your student."
Her voice was sincere as she continued. Initially, she had only chosen to become his student because no other teacher would accept her, and she wanted to see him fail. But after experiencing the benefits of his teaching, her perception had changed. The technique had increased her strength by 50% without even trying hard—what could she achieve with serious practice? And now, knowing he was an guest elder of the Chen family, she understood that she had indeed been lucky to become his student.
Yu Xiaoyu added, "My father wanted me to become your student because he knew it was for my own good. I’ve always respected you and never intended to slack off..."
"Respect? How is it respectful to claim you’ve understood everything when you’ve learned nothing?" Zhang Xuan frowned.
"I..." Yu Xiaoyu's face turned red, and she fidgeted with her clothing, at a loss for words.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Zhang! This is my fault!" a frantic voice suddenly interrupted. Everyone turned to see City Lord Yu Longqing rushing into the room.
Yu Longqing quickly explained, "Teacher Zhang, it was I who instructed Xiaoyu to act that way. She wasn’t paying attention in class because of my foolish idea..."
Zhang Xuan asked in confusion, "Why would you do that, City Lord?"
Yu Longqing, clearly embarrassed, confessed, "I was worried that since you’ve never taught students before, you might struggle to explain things clearly, and the students wouldn’t understand... So I told her to help fill in the gaps and keep the class from falling flat. I figured I could tutor her at home later if needed..."
It was astonishing to hear the City Lord admit that he had been helping his daughter cheat. Zhang Xuan, taken aback, asked, "But why would you, a City Lord, go out of your way to help a small, ordinary teacher like me?"
Zhang Xuan was genuinely puzzled. His only connection with Yu Longqing was helping him tame the Cangback Eagle, for which he had been paid. Why would the City Lord go to such lengths to support him?
Yu Longqing was momentarily speechless. He couldn't say it was because he recognized Zhang Xuan's talent and wanted to curry favor with him, but there wasn’t any other sufficient reason to offer.
As Yu Longqing struggled to find the right words, the surrounding crowd also looked on in confusion. It was odd for a City Lord, the most powerful figure in White Roc City, to show such excessive kindness towards a mere auxiliary teacher.
Just as Yu Longqing hesitated, Dean Lu Mingrong stepped forward, his expression complicated. "Teacher Zhang, please don’t take offense. The reason City Lord Yu acted this way is because I asked him to!"
Zhang Xuan was even more confused.
Lu Mingrong explained, "That’s right. After I learned you had helped the City Lord tame the Cangback Eagle, I started considering the implications. If such a powerful beast-taming technique could be taught, more people might learn to tame Source Beasts, making them a valuable asset for us! That’s why I directly promoted you to auxiliary teacher at the start of the semester and asked the City Lord to have Yu Xiaoyu become your student, so you could be promoted to a full teacher..."
Standing nearby, Yu Longqing clenched his fists, his face twitching in frustration. This bastard had outmaneuvered him! He had gone through all the trouble of making his daughter a student to build a connection with Zhang Xuan, and now Lu Mingrong was taking all the credit...
"I see!" Zhang Xuan nodded thoughtfully before turning back to Yu Longqing. "City Lord, didn’t you consider refusing Dean Lu’s request?"
Yu Longqing, now thoroughly embarrassed, struggled to respond. Just as he was at a loss for words, Adviser Liao, who had once helped tame the Cangback Eagle, stepped forward. "How could the City Lord refuse? He and Dean Lu made the decision together!"
Zhang Xuan was surprised. "They made the decision together?"
"Indeed!" Adviser Liao nodded. "Only five people knew that you tamed the Cangback Eagle. If the City Lord hadn’t told Dean Lu, how else could he have known?".
"Indeed!" City Lord Yu Longqing nodded in sudden realization. With this, he neither denied Lu Mingrong's involvement nor undermined his own initiative, ensuring that he remained the primary beneficiary of any goodwill. Even if there was a debt of gratitude, it would fall on him first.
Lu Mingrong hadn’t expected Adviser Liao to be so quick-witted, turning a passive situation into an active one. Knowing that saying more would only arouse suspicion, Lu Mingrong, though frustrated, could only nod, "Rest assured, Teacher Zhang. Our intentions were purely to ensure the continuation of your exceptional beast-taming skills, with no other motives..."
Zhang Xuan nodded, beginning to understand. In just a minute or two, the two most powerful figures in White Roc City had subtly clashed with words, each trying to outmaneuver the other. Though Zhang Xuan still felt something was off, the explanation seemed logical enough, and it did make sense. After all, why else would Dean Lu promote him from a mere auxiliary teacher without him showing any exceptional skills?
Turning his attention away from the two men, Zhang Xuan focused on Yu Xiaoyu and Liu Mingyue. "I don't care why you became my students, but now I'm giving you another chance to reconsider. If you don't wish to remain under my tutelage, you can leave now."
"I..." Liu Mingyue hesitated.
As she had mentioned earlier, she had been reluctant to become Zhang Xuan's student, but after witnessing the effects of the Blood of the Hanbei Turtle igniting the supreme-grade furnace, and the sheer power of the technique that had increased her strength by 50% with minimal effort, she began to realize that being his student might be far more beneficial than she had initially thought. However, she still hesitated due to Zhang Xuan's young age—what if his early successes were mere coincidences, and as her cultivation deepened, he could no longer guide her?
Yu Xiaoyu was equally conflicted. She had agreed to become his student because of her father’s insistence. Now that Zhang Xuan was giving them a chance to reconsider, she found herself unsure. The impact he had made on her was undeniable.
"I..."
"Teacher Zhang..." Both girls started to speak at the same time, only to be cut off by Zhang Xuan. "You don't need to give me an answer right now. If you wish to continue being my students, practice the techniques I taught you tonight and return tomorrow for a test. If you pass, you may stay; if not, it's over."
He then walked to the lectern, took out a brush, and wrote two notes, which he carefully folded and placed into two silk pouches. "Each of you will take one. Inside is my requirement. Do not open it tonight; only read it before class tomorrow. If you fail to meet the condition, there’s no need to return."
"Yes..." Yu Xiaoyu and Liu Mingyue exchanged glances and put the pouches into their pockets.
"Secondly, if you truly wish to be my students, you must no longer be swayed by outside influences. If I find that you question my instructions or are easily manipulated, you will be expelled from my tutelage, permanently."
Zhang Xuan’s voice was firm as he spoke. Unlike his previous students like Zhao Ya, Zheng Yang, and Yuan Tao, who were loyal and unwavering, these two had already shown signs of duplicity within just two days. Had he not been determined to stay low-key, he might have expelled them already.
The two girls nodded in agreement, understanding the seriousness of his words.
Satisfied, Zhang Xuan turned his attention to Hong Yi. Despite his average talent, Hong Yi was diligent and obedient, so there was no need to say much.
"Teacher, I will definitely come tomorrow..." Hong Yi, frightened by Zhang Xuan's gaze, quickly bowed.
No longer worried about the three of them, Zhang Xuan suddenly remembered something and turned to Liu Tianzheng. "Patriarch Liu, although Liu Mingyue gifted Dao Li to me, you're right—accepting such a precious horse without earning it isn't appropriate. Even if it’s a gift, I shouldn't keep such a valuable creature without proper compensation. However, I've already bonded with Dao Li in these two days. Could I buy it from you? How much did you pay?"
Liu Tianzheng shook his head. "There’s no need for that. Since Mingyue promised to give it to you, it wouldn’t be right to ask for money..."
Zhang Xuan insisted, "Fair is fair. If it were only a few hundred Source Coins, I wouldn’t mind, but this horse is worth much more. If I accept it without paying, it wouldn’t be good for either of us."
Seeing how serious he was, Liu Tianzheng eventually nodded. "I purchased Dao Li for 320,000 Source Coins, but if you’re serious about paying, just give me 300,000."
"300,000?" Zhang Xuan's eyes widened, and after a long pause, he sheepishly asked, "Could I... pay on credit?"
"Credit?" Liu Tianzheng was taken aback. Just moments ago, Zhang Xuan had been so adamant about paying, and now this? He wasn’t sure how to respond.
Before Liu Tianzheng could answer, Lu Mingrong interjected, "Credit? There’s no need for that. White Rock Academy will cover the cost!"
"Why should the academy pay? Teacher Zhang is Xiaoyu’s instructor; the City Lord’s Mansion should pay!" Yu Longqing declared, waving his hand.
"What right do you have? Teacher Zhang is part of White Rock Academy. If he’s going to teach horse taming, buying some teaching tools is perfectly reasonable!" Lu Mingrong argued.
"You call a fine horse a teaching tool?" Yu Longqing retorted, scoffing at the absurdity.
"Why not? On the other hand, if the City Lord’s Mansion pays, people might start talking. If anything like what happened earlier were to happen again, where would Teacher Zhang’s and the academy's reputation be?"
Yu Longqing hesitated. Lu Mingrong had a point—if the City Lord’s Mansion paid, it could indeed raise suspicions, especially given what had just happened with Liu Mingyue.
Seeing Yu Longqing falter, Adviser Liao chimed in, "The Dean is mistaken. The City Lord has always valued and nurtured talent. Besides, Teacher Zhang helped the City Lord tame the Cangback Eagle. A fine horse as a return gift is perfectly reasonable. And let’s not forget, Teacher Zhang is my young lady’s mentor. How can she learn horse taming without a horse? Purchasing one in advance is entirely justified!"
"Exactly, Adviser Liao is right! It’s just a small token of appreciation. Surely White Rock Academy won’t begrudge us this small expense, right, Dean?" Yu Longqing smiled.
"Uh, Dean Lu, City Lord Yu, I might not have that much money right now, but I can earn it and pay you back later..." Zhang Xuan said awkwardly. "Besides, I’m just an ordinary teacher, a nobody really. There’s no need for either of you to spend money on me."
Yu Longqing seized the opportunity, nodding, "Exactly! Teacher Zhang himself said he’s just an ordinary teacher, a nobody... Dean Lu, you should let me handle this!".
Dean Lu waved his hand dismissively, "Yes, exactly. Since he’s just a small figure, there’s no need to trouble the City Lord with this..."
And so, the argument between Yu Longqing and Lu Mingrong flared up again.
"Are they really fighting to pay 300,000 Source Coins on behalf of Teacher Zhang?"
"Did I hear that right?"
"Even if Teacher Zhang has exceptional talent in beast taming, isn't this a bit too much? These two big shots are really going all out for this..."
Watching the two powerful figures bicker, their faces red with determination, the onlookers were utterly speechless.
300,000 Source Coins could easily buy a house in White Roc City, yet here they were, competing to cover the cost, as if whoever paid would be more honored. And all the while, they kept referring to Zhang Xuan as a "small figure" and an "ordinary teacher." But with such fierce competition, how could he be considered ordinary?
"Dad, Dean Lu..."
At that moment, Yu Xiaoyu’s clear voice cut through the tension, "The money has already been paid..."
Both men turned simultaneously to see Chen Xiao standing in front of Liu Tianzheng, handing over a stack of Source Coins, smiling as he counted. "Sorry, but I’ve already paid! Maybe next time, gentlemen... After all, Zhang Xuan is our Chen family’s guest elder. It wouldn’t be right for anyone else to step in."
With a satisfied grin, Chen Xiao’s declaration brought the argument between Lu Mingrong and Yu Longqing to an abrupt halt. They both looked at him, and a single thought crossed their minds.
"Old bastard!".
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