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Although Zhang Erhe didn't recognize Chen Xin, he vaguely guessed the man's identity based on the overwhelming aura emanating from him.
Originally, he thought Ning Tianchen was Chen Xin's disciple. He hadn't expected that they were actually grandfather and grandson.
"I am Zhang Erhe. I pay my respects to Senior Sword Douluo," Zhang Erhe quickly bowed deeply.
Chen Xin glanced at him before turning his gaze toward Ning Tianchen. Seeing that the latter was unharmed, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
His gaze returned to Zhang Erhe, and with a soft snort, he said, "Regarding your matters, do you want to explain yourself, or should I do it for you?"
Zhang Erhe was left speechless, his expression one of astonishment.
He had once been a deputy general in the Star Luo Empire's army, having achieved remarkable feats. He had been on the verge of being promoted to general, but due to his lack of political connections at court, the position was snatched away by a second-generation noble who used backdoor dealings to secure it.
Afterward, Zhang Erhe fell into despair. One day, while leading his troops to the frontlines, his army passed through a village. Irritated by the sound of a crying child disrupting their rest, he ordered the entire village to be slaughtered.
According to eyewitnesses among his troops, not a single villager survived that day. The bodies of the villagers were burned to ashes by Zhang Erhe.
The news quickly reached Emperor Dai Tianfeng of the Star Luo Empire. Enraged, the emperor issued a warrant for Zhang Erhe's arrest, but Zhang managed to escape.
Of course, this was thirty years ago, and since then, Zhang Erhe had rarely shown his face on the continent.
More importantly, the village he massacred had produced a prodigy. That prodigy, who had been studying abroad at the time, had escaped the massacre.
Over the past thirty years, the prodigy had grown into a powerful individual and was relentlessly hunting Zhang Erhe down.
All of this had only been uncovered by Chen Xin yesterday. Before he could inform Ning Tianchen, the latter had already met with Zhang Erhe today.
Fearing for Ning Tianchen's safety, Chen Xin rushed here without delay.
---
Ning Tianchen was dumbfounded.
Previously, he had guessed that Zhang Erhe was a former soldier. He had assumed that Zhang simply didn't want to serve his original army anymore and thus retired. He never expected that Zhang Erhe would commit such an atrocity as slaughtering an entire village.
And worse still, he had killed his own countrymen.
Zhang Erhe's face remained eerily calm as he said blankly, "That was a mistake I made in my youth. Looking back now, I can't understand why I became so irrationally angry that day. It wasn't just me—my entire army was the same."
Chen Xin interrupted, "I don't need your explanations. If you join the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, your enemy will direct their vengeance toward us."
"Your value isn't enough for the sect to resolve your vendetta for you."
Allowing a ruthless murderer like Zhang Erhe to join the sect would always be a destabilizing factor.
Though thirty years had passed, Emperor Dai Tianfeng was still in power. If he discovered that Zhang Erhe was hiding in the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, the Star Luo Empire would likely pressure the sect.
At that point, the sect would find itself in a difficult position.
After exchanging glances with Chen Xin, Ning Tianchen spoke up, promising, "Senior Zhang, though you cannot join the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, rest assured that as long as Yu Die and Cai Die stay at the Seven Treasures Academy, we will ensure their safety to the very end."
The sins Zhang Erhe committed thirty years ago occurred before Yu Die and Cai Die were born. Such blame naturally couldn't fall on them.
Chen Xin added, "I advise you to resolve your feud sooner rather than later. Otherwise, don't come near the Seven Treasures Academy."
---
As Zhang Erhe left the meeting room, a flicker of desolation passed through his eyes.
Though he had fought on the battlefield for many years, he found it hard to believe that he would order the slaughter of an entire village simply because of a baby's cries.
Ning Tianchen followed behind him, recalling the expression Zhang Erhe had worn while defending himself.
It wasn't the crocodile tears of a liar; instead, Zhang Erhe looked genuinely confused, as if he didn't understand why he had acted so impulsively that day.
Ning Tianchen suddenly guessed:
Could there have been another factor at play? Perhaps, a spirit-type soul master had secretly manipulated him that day?
Whether true or not, thirty years had passed, and there was no way to verify it.
Before leaving, Zhang Erhe instructed the Yu-Die sisters to stay safely at the academy.
Soon after, Sun Buyu helped them complete their enrollment procedures.
With that, the full lineup of the Seven Treasures team was finalized.
---
Later that afternoon, Ke Jie set aside some time to personally teach the team.
"To become a strong team, you must trust your teammates. Therefore, our first lesson is to build trust between all of you."
Ning Tianchen, Ning Rongrong, and Oscar had a high level of tacit cooperation, but Ning Tianchen hadn't yet developed good chemistry with the others.
"Principal Ke, how should we train?" Ning Tianchen couldn't help but ask.
Ke Jie gestured into the air, and a massive chessboard appeared over the training ground.
On the board, several black pieces were arranged to form a maze-like pattern.
"In a moment, you will step onto the chessboard and take turns entering. Those who successfully navigate the maze will receive rewards from me. Of course, there are traps within the maze. Stepping on one will eject you from the board, meaning elimination."
"After being eliminated, you may report the location of the trap you stepped on to the others. There are seven traps in total, and their positions won't change. Eliminated players can choose to report the correct locations or deliberately mislead others."
"You have five minutes to discuss the order of entry. After that, we'll begin."
This was clearly designed to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice within the team.
Under normal circumstances, only one person could reach the end. So, who would go last?
"I'll go first," Ning Tianchen said firmly.
Everyone regarded him as the team leader, and in such situations, he had no reason to hold back.
"Then I'll go second," Chen Huayu volunteered.
Surprisingly, everyone wanted to sacrifice themselves and didn't want to be the last to reap the rewards of victory.
"Support-type soul masters need protection. How about Rongrong and Oscar go last and second-to-last?" Yu Die suggested.
No one objected.
Oscar spoke up, "I'm a guy, so I'll go second-to-last. Rongrong will go last. No matter what, we must ensure Rongrong makes it through safely."
"Everyone… I…" Ning Rongrong felt unworthy of such consideration.
Ning Tianchen patted her shoulder, signaling her to relax.
"I think it might not be that simple."
Ke Jie was a renowned Go master, and anyone who had played against him in the sect described him as ruthless.
Such a person wouldn't merely focus on cultivating their spirit of sacrifice. There had to be other traps hidden within.
Yu Die shrugged indifferently. "We won't know what we'll encounter until we step onto the board. Instead of guessing blindly here, we might as well just go ahead."
"Have you decided? My soul power is limited—I can't maintain such a large chessboard for long."
Everyone nodded and lined up in the agreed-upon order.
Ning Tianchen stepped onto the chessboard first.
Once inside, the black pieces around him transformed into towering black walls, blocking any view of the overall maze layout.
"It seems we not only have to locate the traps but also find the correct path out of the maze."
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