Chapter 84: Liu Tianzheng's Collapse

Chapter 84: Liu Tianzheng's CollapseOn the distant platform, even while crouching, Dao Li still towered over the seated participants, resembling a gray boulder from afar.

At this moment, the air around the "boulder" began to ripple, and faint strands of Heaven's Fate Energy could be seen slowly approaching and seeping into it.

"Could it be... this creature can actually absorb Heaven's Fate Energy?" Liu Tianzheng felt his heart skip a beat.

When the Destiny Disk was activated by an array, the Heaven's Fate Energy became extremely chaotic, making it impossible to see who was absorbing it or how much, unless one's cultivation had reached the eighth level of the Source Pool Realm, the Divine Soul Realm. Even at close range, it was difficult to detect.

This was precisely why Zhang Xuan’s first absorption had gone unnoticed even by Dean Lu Mingrong.

"Bring me the assessment stone!" Liu Tianzheng urgently ordered.

The assessment stone was the same device used in White Rock Academy’s Nine Pillars to display how much Heaven's Fate Energy had been absorbed. At the academy, the results were shown in real-time so students could demonstrate their talents and choose, or be chosen by, a teacher.

But here, with everyone being independent cultivators, displaying strong talent without sufficient strength could invite disaster. As a result, there was no public display of assessments during Source Pool evaluations at the trading house.

However, to confirm his suspicions, Liu Tianzheng couldn’t afford to worry about such formalities.

"Yes, sir!" Qin Lu rushed away and quickly returned, carrying a small stone tablet.

When he reached Liu Tianzheng, the latter took a deep breath and placed his palm gently on the tablet.

As his energy flowed into it, the tablet emitted a faint hum, and letters slowly appeared on its surface, showing the rankings of all the participants.

Name: Dao Li.

Refinement: Two strands.

"???"

Liu Tianzheng was completely stunned.

He had only vaguely sensed that Dao Li might be absorbing some Heaven's Fate Energy. He never imagined it would actually be true...

Even more shocking was that the horse ranked first among all participants!

Although all of the participants were older and hadn’t yet stabilized their Source Pools—indicating relatively average talent—they were still humans. Yet here they were, being outdone by a horse!

Wasn't it said that only Source Beasts could absorb Heaven's Fate Energy?

For a moment, Liu Tianzheng felt his chest tighten, leaving him at a loss for words.

He quickly looked back at Dao Li and saw the horse pause for a moment, its large eyes darting around. Just then, a hand smacked its head, and Zhang Xuan’s slightly irritated voice could be heard.

"Hurry up and stabilize your Source Pool, or the Heaven's Fate Energy will be absorbed by someone else."

Hearing this, Dao Li didn’t dare to resist. It closed its eyes again, and in the next moment, the stone tablet in front of Liu Tianzheng began to flicker.

Three strands!

Four strands!

Five strands...

In just a few minutes, Dao Li had absorbed eight strands!

It had already reached the Sixth Grade Source Pool level.

Seeing the horse diligently absorbing the energy, the young man beside it finally relaxed and also closed his eyes.

"A horse that can not only absorb Heaven's Fate Energy but also seems to possess a Fifth Grade Source Pool..."

Liu Tianzheng swallowed hard. Just as he was reeling from the shock, a sudden realization hit him.

"Wait a minute... Could Lu Mingrong and Chen Xiao have known about this all along? Is that why they were so eager to buy this horse and pay the bill so quickly?"

Even though Zhang Xuan had exceptional talent in taming beasts, surpassing Zhou Qun and others, it shouldn’t have been enough to make figures like Lu Mingrong, Yu Longqing, and Chen Xiao all scramble to assist him.

But if they knew this horse could absorb Heaven's Fate Energy, meaning it could potentially cultivate on its own and evolve into a Source Beast, wouldn’t that explain everything?

"Damn it..."

Liu Tianzheng clenched his teeth in frustration.

A regular fine horse might cost around 100,000 Source Coins, and Dao Li was particularly valuable because it was a warhorse that had seen battle.

He thought he had made a decent deal by getting 320,000 Source Coins for it, thinking he hadn’t lost out. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect the horse to have this kind of ability.

A Source Beast... Even the most ordinary one would be worth at least a million Source Coins if sold.

He thought he had broken even with the 320,000 Source Coins, but in reality, he had lost several hundred thousand, if not close to a million!

"No wonder everyone at the academy was pushing my daughter to become this man’s disciple. They must have discovered Dao Li's uniqueness and wanted to take advantage of me..."

Once this thought clicked into place, everything else made sense to Liu Tianzheng. He felt like his chest was about to explode from the rage.

He had thought he was profiting, but in reality, he had been played for a fool.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Liu Tianzheng couldn’t help but let out a cold snort, "Lu Mingrong, Yu Longqing, how dare you deceive me? If I see you again, I’ll make sure to get some answers!"

"What are you going to ask us about?"

Before he could finish his outburst, a puzzled voice interrupted him.

Liu Tianzheng turned to see none other than the very two men he had just cursed—Dean Lu Mingrong and City Lord Yu Longqing—standing right behind him.

"What am I going to ask? Don’t you both know already?" Liu Tianzheng shouted in anger.

"Wait... you know?" Lu Mingrong and Yu Longqing finally noticed that the Source Pool assessment had started. Seeing the stone tablet in front of Liu Tianzheng, they exchanged a glance, and their expressions changed simultaneously.

"So, you admit it? Do you think it’s fun to deceive me?" Liu Tianzheng snapped, flicking his sleeve in frustration.

"It’s not that we wanted to deceive you... But the fewer people who know about this, the better. Otherwise, it could cause enormous trouble. I’m sure you understand this, right?" Lu Mingrong sighed, shaking his head.

It wasn’t that they had intended to keep it from him, but Dao Li's talent was too terrifying. If word got out, it could bring disaster upon White Roc City.

Liu Tianzheng sneered, "Trouble? Ha! Are you worried about trouble, or are you worried that if I found out, I wouldn’t let you take advantage of me?"

"Take advantage of you?"

Both Lu Mingrong and Yu Longqing exchanged confused looks.

"If anything, you’re the one who’s taken advantage!" Lu Mingrong couldn’t help but retort.

‘Your daughter is apprenticed to such a genius. Just that connection alone will bring you untold wealth and glory.’

‘You’ve made a huge gain, yet you’re accusing us of taking advantage... How shameless can you be?’

"Me, taking advantage? Lu Mingrong, I never thought you’d twist the truth like this. Do you really think my daughter and I are so easily fooled? If you don’t give me a proper explanation today, the Liu family will make sure White Rock Academy regrets this!"

Liu Tianzheng roared in anger, his fury evident in every word.

The more Lu Mingrong listened, the more confused he became. Anger flared within him as well, and he raised an eyebrow, shouting back, "Liu Tianzheng, have you lost your mind? I gave your Liu family such a huge opportunity, such tremendous support, and instead of appreciating it, you repay kindness with resentment? Do you really think White Rock Academy is afraid of you?"

"Opportunity? You call this an opportunity?" Liu Tianzheng sneered. "Fine, take your so-called opportunity back!"

With that, he pulled out a large stack of Source Coins from his robe and threw them at Dean Lu.

As the Source Coins scattered in the air, both Lu Mingrong and Yu Longqing were left utterly bewildered.

Was he out of his mind?

Knowing that Zhang Xuan was a genius and that his daughter had become his disciple should have made him happy. But instead, he was throwing money around. What on earth was going on?

Unless...

"If you want to cancel Liu Mingyue's apprenticeship, as the dean, I can agree to it!" Lu Mingrong said coldly, thinking he understood Liu Tianzheng's intentions.

Now it was Liu Tianzheng’s turn to be dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what you think it means!" Lu Mingrong responded with a hint of disdain.

Liu Tianzheng gritted his teeth. "Fine! So you're using me and then discarding me once you’ve gotten what you want, Lu Mingrong. How ruthless!"

So they wanted to trick him into giving up the horse and then break off the teacher-student relationship? He had expected them to at least try to cover it up, but they were being this blatant!

"Discard you? Are you out of your mind?" Lu Mingrong was about to ask for clarification when he noticed a swirling vortex of energy forming above the platform.

"He's not even trying to be subtle, is he?"

Lu Mingrong's eyebrow twitched when he saw that the center of the vortex was Zhang Xuan.

Previously, when absorbing Heaven's Fate Energy at the academy, Zhang Xuan had been somewhat discreet, not causing such a commotion. But now, it was as if he might as well have "I'm a genius" branded on his forehead.

Seeing that Liu Tianzheng had stopped responding and was staring at the platform, Lu Mingrong also turned his gaze in that direction. His pupils shrank in shock. "What the...?"

The scene of Zhang Xuan wildly absorbing Heaven's Fate Energy, causing the air around him to churn, was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"Not the horse... It's Zhang Xuan!" Liu Tianzheng quickly realized his mistake.

The vortex of energy was not centered on Dao Li but on Zhang Xuan himself.

Zhang Xuan sat calmly on the ground, eyes closed, as torrents of pure Heaven's Fate Energy poured down like a storm. His body seemed like a bottomless pit, unable to be filled no matter how much energy it absorbed.

Trembling, Liu Tianzheng glanced at the stone tablet before him. At some point, another name had surged to the top of the rankings, overtaking the horse. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Name: Zhang Xuan.

Refinement: 3,517 strands.

"???"

Liu Tianzheng's vision darkened, and he nearly fainted.

At the normal rate of 200 Source Coins per strand, 3,517 strands equaled over 700,000 Source Coins... all absorbed by one person?

He had been worrying about how to break even, but with Zhang Xuan alone, the trading house was sure to suffer a massive loss...

"No way... He can't be human..." Liu Tianzheng was too stunned to speak.

Could an ordinary cultivator really absorb that much energy?

"Stop staring and do something to cover this up! If word gets out, you know what kind of trouble it will bring!" Lu Mingrong snapped, irritated that Liu Tianzheng was standing there dumbfounded.

"Cover it up? Did you... did you already know about his talent?" Liu Tianzheng finally caught on.

"Of course. Didn't you realize earlier that Liu Mingyue becoming his disciple was a huge blessing, and now you're trying to back out?" Lu Mingrong was exasperated.

Liu Tianzheng finally understood. "Wait, are you saying... you were talking about Zhang Xuan being a super genius?"

Lu Mingrong nodded, then looked puzzled. "Of course. What else could we have been talking about?"

"I was talking about the horse..." Liu Tianzheng pointed to the stone tablet.

Lu Mingrong and Yu Longqing followed his gaze, and their pupils contracted in shock.

Name: Dao Li.

Refinement: 45 strands.

In such a short time, Dao Li had absorbed 45 strands of Heaven's Fate Energy. The horse's talent surpassed that of Mo Yanxue and Yu Xiaoyu...

And most importantly... the horse was actually cultivating?

In an instant, both men were utterly floored.

They had sought to recruit Zhang Xuan because of his remarkable talent—his ability to ignite the furnace, his excellent teaching skills, his proficiency in taming beasts, and his connection to Heaven's Fate. But now they realized they had underestimated him!

Not only could he tame horses and turn them into warhorses, but he could also make them into Source Beasts...

If news of this got out, countless dynasties would be fighting to claim him.

As this realization dawned on them, Liu Tianzheng finally understood why Chen Xiao had been so eager to help pay the bill despite his son being humiliated.

Being associated with a genius like Zhang Xuan was worth any amount of money.

At last, Liu Tianzheng realized why Lu Mingrong and Yu Longqing had looked so shocked when he lashed out at them. Knowing that Zhang Xuan was a genius, his earlier attitude was indeed foolish.

"Dean Lu, I may have misspoken earlier. I had no intention of withdrawing my daughter from Zhang Xuan's tutelage..." Liu Tianzheng quickly tried to smooth things over.

This truly was a golden opportunity for the Liu family, one they couldn’t afford to miss.

"Let's not focus on that right now. We need to figure out how to cover this up. Once these people come out of their cultivation and realize the Heaven's Fate Energy is gone, they’re going to start asking questions..." Lu Mingrong interrupted, not wanting to dwell on the issue.

"You're right..." Liu Tianzheng nodded, realizing the gravity of the situation. Just as he was about to ask how they had managed to handle it before, Yu Longqing spoke up.

"No need to cover it up; the Heaven's Fate Energy is already gone..."

Lu Mingrong and Liu Tianzheng quickly looked up, only to see the Destiny Disk they had just purchased beginning to crack with a faint "click." Fine lines spread across its surface.

Liu Tianzheng felt his heart clench as he glanced back at the stone tablet.

Under Zhang Xuan's name, the number had risen to 10,216 strands...

A single Destiny Disk could store about 10,000 strands of Heaven's Fate Energy. This meant that aside from the few strands absorbed by Dao Li, Zhang Xuan had consumed nearly all of it. Everyone else had barely gotten a single strand.

"We can't let anyone else find out!" Liu Tianzheng knew that the Heaven's Fate Energy had been completely absorbed. The others would soon open their eyes and realize something was wrong. Without hesitation, he slammed his hand down on the assessment stone in front of him.

Crash!

The assessment stone shattered into powder, scattering across the ground.

With the stone gone and the vortex dissipated, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to figure out what had happened.

Now, the only witnesses were the few people present.

Liu Tianzheng's eyes fell on Qin Lu, the steward, standing not far away. Just earlier, he had thought Qin Lu was reliable and a good moneymaker for the Liu family. But now, he realized that if it weren't for Qin Lu’s greed in allowing this man and his horse to participate in the assessment, they could have easily earned over 200,000 Source Coins.

Instead, they were left with just 6,000.

"Promote him? Forget it. Maybe I should just get rid of him!" Liu Tianzheng's eyes flashed with a dangerous glint.

While the three of them were dealing with their thoughts, Zhang Xuan, having absorbed over 10,000 strands of Heaven's Fate Energy, slowly opened his eyes.

He had stored all the energy in the Library of Heaven's Path. Looking up, he saw countless books floating in the air, all emitting a warm glow, like stars in the night sky.

"With this much Heaven's Fate Energy, I can continue cultivating..." Zhang Xuan smiled to himself.

Although 10,000 strands were not a lot, they were enough for him to use for a while. He just needed to be frugal and avoid the reckless consumption of energy that he had indulged in before.

He then glanced at Dao Li beside him.

The horse had also absorbed a considerable amount of Heaven's Fate Energy, stabilizing its Source Pool. From now on, its cultivation speed should increase.

Overall, Zhang Xuan felt the 6,000 Source Coins had been well spent.

"What happened? I haven’t even started absorbing, and it’s already over?"

"Elder Liu Tianming, we paid so much money! Are you telling us we didn’t get to absorb a single strand of Heaven's Fate Energy?"

"Refund! Refund!"

Zhang Xuan's reflections were interrupted by a chorus of angry shouts from the crowd around him.

These independent cultivators had come to stabilize their Source Pools and advance to Source Warriors. But now, after spending their money, they had gotten nothing in return, and their frustration quickly turned into a wave of fury.

At first, their complaints were measured, but they soon escalated into an uproar.

Seeing the commotion, Zhang Xuan decided to join in, raising his arm and shouting, "Refund! Refund!"

He had absorbed the energy so discreetly that no one had noticed. If he joined the crowd, he might even get his 6,000 Source Coins back!

Not far away, Liu Tianzheng saw this and felt a vein in his forehead throb as he struggled to control his anger. He felt as if he might suffocate from sheer frustration.

The others had a right to demand refunds since they hadn’t absorbed any Heaven's Fate Energy. But Zhang Xuan? He knew perfectly well where all the energy had gone, yet here he was, shouting for a refund with the rest!

"He's just trying to keep a low profile, not wanting to stand out or draw attention. Let's pretend we don't know anything; otherwise, it will only cause more trouble!" Yu Longqing advised, noticing Liu Tianzheng’s irritation.

"I know..." Liu Tianzheng sighed, feeling utterly drained.

He knew that staying quiet was the best way to handle the situation, but it still felt infuriating.

With Elder Liu Tianming and Qin Lu managing the situation, the crowd was eventually pacified.

In the end, the Liu family agreed to refund the money and promised to conduct a new assessment in the future.

The crowd, though dissatisfied, knew they lacked the power and influence to challenge the Liu family head-on, so they dispersed.

Qin Lu approached Liu Tianzheng cautiously and asked, "Patriarch, should we refund Zhang Xuan's money?"

"Yes, give it back. If he wants to keep a low profile, let’s help him with that," Liu Tianzheng sighed, waving his hand dismissively.

"Understood," Qin Lu said before walking away. A short while later, he returned. "Patriarch, I tried to give him the money, but he refused to take it. He said he doesn’t need a refund."

"Doesn’t need a refund?" Liu Tianzheng's eyes lit up.

Could it be that Zhang Xuan had a change of heart and was now willing to let the Liu family recover some of their losses? Even though 6,000 Source Coins was a drop in the ocean, it was still a positive sign.

Qin Lu shook his head and explained, "No, what he meant was that the 6,000 would be a deposit for the next assessment. He said he plans to come back next time!"

"???"

Liu Tianzheng felt a chill run down his spine. Panicking, he quickly turned around. "Refund him! Refund him immediately! If necessary, double it, triple it—whatever it takes, as long as he doesn’t come back next time!"