Chapter 642: Chapter 642: Embarrassment

By the time Shi Hao left the Great Void Realm, he had already reached the pinnacle of the Second Kings.

He began to challenge the Third Kings.

His foundation was solidly laid, as vast as a Royal Court, akin to constructing a skyscraper, the broader the base, the higher the skyscraper could be built.

To him, reaching the Third Kings was a minor matter, and he came out of seclusion two days later.

— Once the problem of Soul Force was solved, there were virtually no barriers to the advancement of his cultivation.

After coming out of seclusion, Shi Hao faced a dilemma.

Which palace to join.

At Ling Tian Academy, it wasn’t like at Heavenly Palace Academy where forces were divided according to continents.

Here, martial artists were divided into many factions based on their attack preferences, such as those studying the sword going to the Sword King Palace, those studying the saber going to the Dao King Palace, those who fight barehanded going to the Fist King Palace, and those skilled with legs having the Leg King Palace.

Due to such subdivision, building forces based on continents was, of course, impossible.

Each palace would regularly hold trials led by the Palace Master, entering the Elemental Cave for real combat, which not only provided combat experience but, in the life-and-death battles, also allowed them to uncover their shortcomings and harvest Elemental Cores.

More crucially, when a life-and-death situation arose, the powerful incumbents would not stand by and watch.

This was a tremendous benefit.

Moreover, the Palace Masters would personally provide instruction on a regular basis, which was extremely helpful in enhancing combat power.

For Shi Hao, possessing the memories of Yuan Chengmie and being highly insightful himself, he didn’t need to join any palace, but the academy had regulations that required freshmen to choose a palace to enter within two months of joining.

However, the problem was that while students could choose which palace to join, the respective Study Palaces could also select their students, or say no.

Shi Hao had wanted to join the Dao King Palace but was decisively rejected.

Joking, right? You publicly humiliated Lu Chen from their Dao King Palace, and you still want to join the Dao King Palace?

No way!

Shi Hao’s application was never even put on the Dao King Palace Master’s desk; it was directly thrown into the trash can.

Thereafter, the Sword King Palace, the Fist King Palace, and other Study Palaces declared one after another, stating that Shi Hao was too outstanding and they simply could not teach him. So, don’t even apply, your application would be useless, they wouldn’t accept it.

This was true for every Study Palace, either a teacher would come out to explain or the most outstanding student of the palace would issue the statement.

This was meant to embarrass Shi Hao.

Not a single Study Palace wanted to accept you, see how you wrap this up!

Now, everyone was waiting to see Shi Hao make a fool of himself.

It was at this time that Xiao Hei suddenly came looking for him.

“Han Dong has been beaten.” Xiao Hei said.

Shi Hao’s eyes narrowed, then he asked, “By whom?”

“Liu Shen,” Xiao Hei said, “He’s from the Dao King Palace. The reason is quite ridiculous, saying that Han Dong bumped into him while walking, and as a result, he gave him a beating. I went to the Dao King Palace to look for him, but I couldn’t defeat Pei Ziyuan and didn’t manage to stand up for Han Dong.”

“What realm is Liu Shen?” Shi Hao asked again.

“Self-Observation.” Xiao Hei replied.

Han Dong was merely at the Other Shore Realm, how could he have possibly bumped into Liu Shen, who is at the Self-Observation level?

So, it wasn’t that Han Dong bumped into Liu Shen, but that Liu Shen bumped into Han Dong, deliberately reversing the truth.

Why?

Quite simple, because Han Dong was Shi Hao’s friend and had joined the academy based on personal relationships in the first place; who in the academy would care if he was beaten up?

Was this to disgust himself or to provoke him into storming the Dao King Palace?

Shi Hao raised an eyebrow, knowing that the other side was deliberately provoking him, but with his follower getting beaten, could he remain silent as if nothing had happened?

But if he forcefully entered the Dao King Palace, he would really fall into his opponent’s trap.

Not to mention the teachers in the Dao King Palace, let’s just talk about its most outstanding disciple, Xiong Bin, who had already reached the cultivation level of the Supplementing Divine Temple, and had ignited the Incense Flame.

Shi Hao was indeed extraordinary, but he knew his limits, and for now, he could not defeat those who had ignited the Incense Flame.

But with Liu Shen hiding inside the Dao King Palace, if Shi Hao wanted to stand up for Han Dong, he would inevitably have to confront all the disciples of the Dao King Palace, which was tantamount to challenging the entire palace. There was no need for courtesies, nor to care about variations in cultivation levels.

This was an overt provocation, “I’ve beaten your people, dare you retaliate?”

First with all the Study Palaces refusing him, and now with Liu Shen’s challenges from the Dao King Palace, they tightened the noose step by step, aiming to embarrass Shi Hao.

“Who is the Palace Master of the Dao King Palace?” Shi Hao asked.

“Du Bian,” Xiao Hei replied.

What?

Shi Hao was stunned. Was it that Du Bian?

There might be people with the same name in the world, but those who have cultivated to the Heaven Connecting Road level and still sharing the same name and surname is almost impossible.

This Du Bian was indeed a disciple of Yuan Chengmie.

Shi Hao smiled involuntarily, he had been wondering how to resolve this issue, and now it seemed manageable.

He immediately took action to find this “senior brother.”

It was not that Du Bian was always in the Dao King Palace, most of the time he stayed in the camp, ready to enter the Elemental Cave whenever necessary to quell disturbances and settle difficulties.

Thus, after reporting to the academy, Shi Hao waited in the camp for the arrival of this inexpensive senior brother.

It only took two days before Du Bian arrived.

This strong figure entered the camp with haste. Given the tense situation, he could only take a short rest before rejoining the battlefield.

Luckily, the Mighty of the Sky Ladder only occasionally took part in battle, so the final great battle had not yet commenced between the parties.

“One change births four images, four images extend to eight aspects,” Shi Hao suddenly said aloud.

Du Bian paused momentarily, turning to look at Shi Hao, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

Then, he strode towards Shi Hao.

Ss, it’s Shi Hao again.

Some here had previously witnessed Shi Hao’s conflict with Mo Huangyun, which had involved a significant figure like the Sword Emperor. Now that Shi Hao recited a few obscure lines, he had somehow also drawn Du Bian’s attention?

What kind of monster was this guy?

“Whose disciple are you?” Du Bian asked, “Du Jingheng, or Peng Chang?”

The two lines Shi Hao had recited were from the essential guide of the Taiyi Dayan Technique passed down by Yuan Chengmie, a supreme secret technique of the Yuan lineage, not to be imparted to anyone but core disciples.

Thus, Du Bian immediately believed that Shi Hao was perhaps the most outstanding among the disciples or descendants of the two junior brothers.

Shi Hao shook his head, smiling, “My master’s surname is Yuan.”

What!

Du Bian was taken aback. This was not something to be spoken lightly.

If a disciple of Du Jingheng or Peng Chang dared to impersonate a disciple of Yuan Chengmie, discovery would inevitably lead to execution for the crime of deceiving the master and annihilating ancestry–and uncovering this was a very easy task.

So, this person was actually a disciple of the master?

He was astonished because Yuan Chengmie had stopped taking disciples a hundred years ago and had concentrated on exploring ancient relics and finding ways to ascend to the Immortal Realm. How suddenly did a junior brother appear?

“Come with me; I need to verify something!” Du Bian said, as this junior brother certainly could not be acknowledged carelessly.

He asked many details, all related to the daily habits of Yuan Chengmie’s life, and Shi Hao answered them all clearly without any hesitation.

–In a way, this was his life.