Chapter 64: Chapter 64: The Truth
“What, you don’t even have 500 Origin Currency?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
For him, bowing in apology meant nothing; it was better to get some money instead.
Although he was already a teacher at Baiyan Academy, he hadn’t received his salary yet and was still penniless. It wouldn’t matter if he was alone, but now with an extra Dao Li to feed, consuming soybeans, bran, and fine fodder every day, he didn’t know how much it would cost.
Thousand-li horses were not so easy to maintain; his previous Suxiang alone cost a hefty sum each month. The Dao Li was bigger and more robust, naturally costing even more.
Therefore, the more money he had, the better. If he could earn more, then he would…
Unaware of his thoughts, Chen Hao shivered with rage on the other side.
He thought the other party had been generously forgiving, but it turned out to be an intentional humiliation.
Who was he?
The sole son of Patriarch Chen, a well-known prodigy of the school. Besides his parents, the world, and his teachers, he had never bowed to anyone in his life. He had agreed to lose the wager and bow in apology to you, but instead of feeling touched, you only wanted 500 Origin Currency… Who are you looking down on?
“Since you can’t pay and think it’s too much, let’s make it 300… never mind, just 100 Origin Currency then!” Zhang Xuan didn’t know his identity and thought he was just an ordinary student. Seeing his troubled face, he mistook it for the inability to pay and had to reduce the price again and again.
“You…”
To suffer such humiliation, Chen Hao’s vision darkened intermittently, feeling like he was about to explode with anger. Clenching his teeth, he spat out word by word, “There’s no need to deliberately provoke me. Since I’ve said I would apologize by bowing, I will not break my promise!”
After speaking, he struggled free from the grip, took a step back, and directly knelt to the ground, “I, Chen Hao, admit defeat and am willing to apologize to Teacher Zhang. I was wrong!”
He prostrated himself with a loud kowtow, then stood up and left.
The humiliation was too great to bear, and he simply couldn’t stay there any longer…
He had only taken a few steps, not too far away, when he heard that Teacher Zhang muttering with clear dissatisfaction, “Can’t even come up with 100 Origin Currency, today’s youth are really stingy!”
Stumbling, Chen Hao nearly spurted out a mouthful of blood… after all this time, it turned out he really did want the money, not just saying it for fun…
If he had known earlier, he would have just paid the money and be done with it. There was no need for any damn bowing!
“Alright, today’s public class ends here, everyone can leave!”
Seeing the public class conclude without revealing the prodigy’s identity or losing face, Dean Lu Mingrong breathed a sigh of relief, waved his hand, and his voice echoed far and wide.
“The Dean hasn’t chosen the wrong person; this Teacher Zhang indeed has real skills!”
“Not just skills, I think he surpasses half of the other teachers. He could even be compared to some Elders… No wonder City Lord Yu insists on Miss Yu taking him as her master.”
“To witness the birth of three Pinnacle Furnaces with my own eyes, this public class has been incredibly beneficial…”
The spectating crowd buzzed with excitement. They talked among themselves and slowly dispersed.
Only then did Dean Lu Mingrong turn to the young man before him and smiled slightly, “Teacher Zhang, will you continue teaching now, or do you have other matters to attend to?”
“I want to purchase some fodder for the thousand-li horse and find some books about horses. Do you know where I can find them?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Because he didn’t know the distribution of the horse’s meridians, although he had used the primordial energy to ignite the Furnace in the Dao Li, the creature had only opened a single meridian. It could only absorb 10 strands of Origin qi a day, which was ridiculously slow…
With some free time on his hands, it was a good opportunity to go look for what he needed while also buying some food.
The previous Suxiang lived by igniting its spirit in a corpse, surviving alongside the corpse, indifferent to whether the physical body was alive or dead. But now that it had merged with the Dao Li, if the latter starved to death, so too would it cease to exist.
This was like borrowing a corpse to resurrect. Once the resurrected body dies again, the spirit will also perish.
“Fodder, horses?”
School Head Lu was taken aback for a moment but then remembered that Zhang Xuan’s talent in beast taming was not weak either. After pondering for a bit, he nodded and said, “The things you’re talking about should be available at Baiyan Horse Farm… If Teacher Zhang wishes, I can accompany you there!”
“No need, just tell me the location; I can make my own way there!”
Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He wanted to study the meridians of horses and didn’t want too many people to know for the time being.
Seeing him decline, School Head Lu wasn’t angered but meticulously explained the location of the horse farm.
“Farewell!”
Knowing the exact location, Zhang Xuan told Yu Xiaoyu, Liu Mingyue, and Hong Yi to come again the next day. He then headed towards his lodgings, mounted Dao Li, and quickly rode off in the direction of the horse farm.
Watching him leave in the distance, School Head Lu suddenly remembered something and was stunned, “Oh no, the Baiyan Horse Farm happens to be the property of the Chen Clan. Teacher Zhang just made Chen Hao kneel and apologize; wouldn’t they deliberately make things difficult for him?”
“It shouldn’t happen; the incident just occurred. The news probably hasn’t reached them yet. Besides, it was Chen Hao’s fault, so you can’t blame Teacher Zhang!” Wu Yunzhou said.
School Head Lu Mingrong nodded, but suddenly his face became grave as he turned to look at Yu Xiaoyu and Liu Mingyue, who hadn’t left yet, “You two, along with all the elders, come with me to the office.”
“Us?”
The two girls exchanged glances, both filled with confusion.
Though they had been born into high status, they were still just students and normally didn’t have the privilege to enter the School Head’s office, especially not with so many elders.
“Dean Wu, what has happened?” Wu Yunzhou asked, equally puzzled.
Wasn’t the public class already a Major Accomplishment? Was there something left unresolved?
“You’ll know once we go!”
Without explaining further, School Head Lu Mingrong walked briskly ahead and before long, everyone was seated in his office. Yu Xiaoyu and Liu Mingyue didn’t dare sit and could only stand at the very end of the crowd.
“Dean Wu, all elders, please take a look at this…”
As their attention gathered, School Head Lu Mingrong took out the jade bottle he obtained from Chen Hao and passed it around.
“Is this the bottle that contained the Fire-Starting Material?”
Wu Yunzhou smiled faintly, took one of them, removed the stopper to look inside, glancing just once before his pupils involuntarily shrank.
“This, this…”
He hastily grabbed another jade bottle, opened it as well, and after checking, his face turned deathly pale.
“What’s wrong?”
Ran Qingxu and the rest were utterly baffled, “Is there something wrong with the blood essence of these Heavenly Destiny Primeval Beasts?”
Among the confusion, everyone gathered closer, and moments later their eyes rounded in shock, as if their eyeballs were about to fall out.
“This… is not the blood essence of the Qingguang Beast or Lingyun Beast; it’s the… Luo Zhi Bird and Cold-Backed Turtle! What the heck is going on?”
Ran Qingxu could no longer hold back.
“As for what exactly happened, I don’t know either. We might have to ask them…”
Letting out a breath, Lu Mingrong’s eyes pierced sharply, looking straight at the two young girls in the room.
Hearing this, both girls were equally taken aback, Liu Mingyue turning her head to the beauty beside her, “You used the blood essence of the Luo Zhi Bird?”
Yu Xiaoyu also widened her eyes in surprise, “You used the Cold-Backed Turtle’s?”