Choose someone else? Ye Guan was confused. “Why?”

Little Pagoda responded, “Choose someone else, and I’ll teach you a powerful sword technique.”

Ye Guan immediately replied, “Okay!”

A ray of light shot into his glabella the moment he agreed.

Buzz!

A stream of information flooded Ye Guan’s mind. 

Absolute Strike. One sword to determine life and death—you’ll live if I want you to live; you’ll die if I want you to die.

Damn! Ye Guan’s blood boiled. His voice trembled as he asked, “Master Pagoda, how many levels does this sword technique have?”

Little Pagoda replied, “It has no levels.”

Ye Guan frowned. He seemed confused as he asked, “No levels?”

Little Pagoda replied, “Yes. It’s a sword technique that heavily depends on the swordsman’s ability. The swordsman must think that he’s unparalleled, and he has to be sufficiently strong to determine life and death in a single strike.”

Ye Guan nodded slightly and exclaimed, “I can feel it! I think the creator of this sword technique was an extremely powerful individual. Am I right, Master Pagoda?”

Little Pagoda replied, “The creator of that sword technique is the owner of the Path Sword.”

Ye Guan stiffened before asking, “What about that plain-skirt woman?”

“You should call her… sister,” Little Pagoda muttered.

Ye Guan frowned, seemingly confused.

Little Pagoda explained, “Right now, only your plain-skirt sister knows that sword technique aside from you. The creator of Absolute Strike has become a cripple after something went wrong during his cultivation. Now, it is all up to you.”

Ye Guan readily agreed. “I will not disappoint you and the plain-skirt sister.”

With that, he recalled the details of the sword technique with glee. 

It’s a sword technique! It is a lot more valuable than regular martial skills!

Needless to say, Ye Guan treasured the sword technique. 

Time passed, and daybreak soon arrived. 

Nalan Jia walked out of the cabins. She was wearing a light green dress, and it was probably because the weather was a bit colder than usual that she was wearing a thin, light jade-colored chiffon shawl. Her figure was stunning as usual, especially her slender waist and long legs. 

Nalan Jia truly possessed an enviable figure.

Nalan Jia was holding a tray of snacks in her hands. She walked over to Ye Guan and smiled before asking, “Did you spend the entire night cultivating?”

Ye Guan nodded while standing up. “Yes.”

Nalan Jia nodded as well and said, “Try these snacks.”

Ye Guan didn’t stand on ceremony and picked up a small biscuit to eat. While Ye Guan was munching on the snacks, Nalan Jia spoke, “Tutor said that we’re approaching the Guanxuan Academy.”

A smile blossomed on Ye Guan’s lips as he exclaimed, “Great! I really can’t wait to get there…”

It wasn’t strange that Ye Guan was excited to arrive at the Guanxuan Academy. After all, the academy was like a holy land for cultivators.

All of a sudden, the cloud ship slowed down dramatically. Fei Banqing walked out of the cabins and grinned. “We’re here!”

Ye Guan looked up and saw a seemingly endless stretch of mountains, but what truly caught his attention were the floating mountain peaks. There were numerous majestic palaces and pavilions above the mountain peaks. 

A colossal sword was floating in the middle and between these mountain peaks.

The word colossal seemed to be an understatement because the sword’s length was at least tens of kilometers, and it looked like it was acting as the proxy between heaven and earth, which made it look all the more intimidating.

Ye Guan’s awe for Guanxuan Academy was multiplied, and he suddenly felt inferior. 

Fei Banqing walked next to Ye Guan and smiled. “Is it that shocking?”

Ye Guan nodded and replied, “Yes!”

Fei Banqing chuckled. “This is nothing. I heard that the Main Academy at Guanxuan Universe is even grander than this.”

Ye Guan made a sidelong glance at Fei Banqing and asked, “Tutor Fei, have you been to the Main Academy?”

Fei Banqing shook her head and replied, “I’ve never been there. Only those who are extremely talented can qualify to enroll at the Guanxuan Universe’s Main Academy. No one from Nanzhou, Beizhou, or Zhongzhou has qualified in the past thousands of years.”

Ye Guan went silent to speak to Little Pagoda, “Master Pagoda, are you familiar with the Guanxuan Universe’s Main Academy?”

Little Pagoda replied, “Of course!”

Ye Guan asked, “Have you been there?”

Little Pagoda responded, “Of course, I’ve been there.”

Ye Guan sounded sincere as he said, “Master Pagoda, I really envy you.”

Little Pagoda was rendered speechless. 

The cloud ship finally stopped. Ye Guan looked into the distance and saw ten red-crowned cranes flying from the mountains. The cranes were huge, and one could see a flicker of lightning whenever they flapped their wings.

Ye Guan asked, “What are those?”

Fei Banqing glanced at Ye Guan and replied, “They’re called Lightning Cranes, and the academy takes care of them. I think the weakest crane is at the Spiritual rank.”

Ye Guan exclaimed, “Geez, that’s impressive!”

Fei Banqing smiled. “There’s more where that came from, so you should take your time and find them for yourself.”

With that, Fei Banqing brought the two of them to one of the mountain peaks. The mountain peaks had only a few palaces, and it was quite desolate compared to the other mountain peaks.

“This is Mount Banqing, and it belongs to me. I don’t have any other students aside from the two of you,” explained Fei Banqing. She pointed at a palace on the right and said, “Lad, you can stay in that palace. There are some helpful books in that palace. Anyway, go ahead and take a look for yourself. Pay special attention to the book on the rules of Guanxuan Academy. Stay here and familiarize yourself with the rules before doing anything else, and you’ll thank me later.”

Ye Guan nodded and agreed. “Okay...”

Fei Banqing turned to look at Nalan Jia and said, “Come with me. I’ll help you cultivate.”

Nalan Jia threw one last look at Ye Guan and said, “See you later.”

Ye Guan smiled. “Yeah, see you later.”

Fei Banqing grabbed Nalan Jia, and the two of them flew somewhere.

Ye Guan turned around and examined the palace. It was several times bigger than the Ye Manor. 

“Master Pagoda, have I been a frog in the well all this while?”

“Yes,” replied Little Pagoda.

Ye Guan chuckled. He entered the palace and found that every room had fully stocked bookshelves. Ye Guan walked to one of the bookshelves and retrieved an old book.

Two hours later, Ye Guan’s understanding of the Guanxuan Academy and the entire world greatly increased. Apparently, he was currently in the Lower Realm, and the Lower Realm had three main continents—Nanzhou, Beizhou, and Zhongzhou.

Every continent had its own Guanxuan Academy branch.

The realm above the Lower Realm was the Upper Realm. The old book didn’t contain that much information about the Upper Realm. It only stated that the decennial martial contest would be held in the Upper Realm. 

It was worth mentioning that the Lower Realm had a very powerful and mysterious organization—the Immortal Treasures Pavilion

The Immortal Treasures Pavilion and Guanxuan Academy had a collaborative relationship. The Immortal Treasures Pavilion was the only organization with enough power to match the Guanxuan Academies of the Lower Realm. 

The two organizations had a great relationship with each other, and there was even a rumor about how the first Academy Master of the Guanxuan Academy had a special relationship with the founder of the Immortal Treasures Pavilion. 

After reading the old book, Ye Guan decided to read the rules of the Guanxuan Academy. Fei Banqing was right, the rules took precedence over anything else in the Guanxuan Academy.

Aside from memorizing the rules of the Guanxuan Academy, Ye Guan was also practicing the Absolute Strike Sword Technique under Little Pagoda’s guidance. He was holding a book on the Guanxuan Academy rules in one hand while holding the Path Sword in the other hand.

Ye Guan cultivated until he was disturbed by loud noises the next morning. He frowned and walked out of his palace. 

Ye Guan saw a group of people in front of Nalan Jia’s palace, and there were quite a few young men and young women in the group.

The door to Nalan Jia’s palace was filled with thousands of bright roses. The flowers were neatly arranged to form a heart, and a young man was standing in the middle of the heart while holding a bouquet of roses.

The young man shouted in the direction of Nalan Jia’s palace, “Lady Nalan! I know you have many suitors, but please give me a chance to court you!”

“Give Mu Bai a chance! Give Mu Bai a chance! Give Mu Bai a chance!” chanted the crowd of students.

Ye Guan frowned slightly at the sight. “Did they really come here to learn?”

Ye Guan shook his head. He didn’t want to kick up a fuss, but they were an annoying sight to behold!

One should study in an academy rather than get into relationships.

Ye Guan walked out. There was no way that he would ignore the matter when someone was confessing to his fiancee right in front of him.

The students were still chanting, but Nalan Jia’s palace remained silent. The young man holding a bouquet of flowers muttered, “Lady Nalan—”

The young man was interrupted by Ye Guan, who suddenly appeared in front of him.

The students froze as well. Who is he?

Mu Bai stared at Ye Guan and asked, “Who are you?” Ye Guan responded, “Ye Guan.”

Mu Bai’s eyes narrowed as he said, “I know you—you’re Lady Nalan’s fiance.”

The students were stunned upon hearing Mu Bai’s words.

Fiance?! Their eyes landed on Ye Guan. 

Ye Guan smiled and exclaimed, “Correct, you got it right!”

“To think that you would actually follow her here…” Mu Bai trailed off. However, he eventually smiled before saying, “Anyway, I’m trying to court Lady Nalan. You have no objections, right? Of course, I don’t really care even if you object.”

“Pffft! Hahaha!” The students laughed rather boisterously.

However, Ye Guan remained calm as he said, “You should be more polite. I’m a physique cultivator, and I have been cultivating my physique for seventeen years. All-Truth Realm cultivators are not capable of harming me.”

“Oh, really? Pffft!” Mu Bai laughed. “You’re a physique cultivator? Hahaha!”

Ye Guan pointed at his chest and said, “Don’t believe me? Punch me in the chest and find out!”

Mu Bai stared deeply at Ye Guan before replying, “You told me to do it, so don’t mind if I do!”

Mu Bai immediately punched Ye Guan’s chest. 

Bam!

Ye Guan flew away and crashed to the ground. He gripped his chest with his right hand and spat a mouthful of blood. 

The students were stupefied, and Mu Bai was surprised as well.

Are you kidding me? Didn’t you say that you’re a physique cultivator?! Why did you fly away? I only used thirty percent of my strength!

While Mu Bai was stewing in his own astonishment, Ye Guan suddenly shot to his feet and moved at lightning speed to slap Mu Bai across the face before the latter could even react.

Pak!

Mu Bai’s eyes widened, and he spat blood. Unfortunately for Mu Bai, Ye Guan wasn’t done just yet. Ye Guan leaped into the air and stepped on Mu Bai’s back before he could recover.

Pak!

Mu Bai’s face crashed into the limestone ground. The students were terrified by the sudden turn of events. Fortunately, it seemed that Ye Guan wasn’t planning on targeting them as he turned around to leave.

Mu Bai looked up, and his face was drenched in his own blood. He glared at Ye Guan and growled. “How dare you trick me, you bastard! I’ll make you wish you were dead! You—”

Mu Bai couldn’t finish his sentence because Ye Guan had turned around and kicked him in the throat.

Crack!

There was a grotesque noise as the sheer force behind Ye Guan’s kick ripped Mu Bai’s head off of his shoulders, sending it flying into the air. Blood spurted like a fountain from the headless stump of Mu Bai’s corpse, staining the limestone ground.

The students were horrified. 

They couldn’t have imagined, even in their wildest dreams, that someone would actually murder someone else in Guanxuan Academy! After all, murder was against the rules and was a serious crime in the academy.

All of a sudden, dozens of incredibly powerful auras bored down on Ye Guan as powerful cultivators descended in front of Ye Guan. 

The expressions of the students changed upon seeing the cultivators.

Discipline Department! The students of Guanxuan Academy were afraid of the Discipline Department, so it wasn’t strange that the group of students here was terrified upon seeing them.0

Elder Qiu was standing at the helm of the Discipline Department in front of Ye Guan, and Elder Qiu was also known by his moniker—Asura!0

Elder Qiu glanced at the corpse and glared at Ye Guan. 

“How dare you commit murder in the academy!” he shouted.

Ye Guan pointed at the blood at the corners of his lips and said. “It was a justifiable self-defense!”

Everyone was rendered speechless. Elder Qiu stared deeply at Ye Guan. “Justifiable self-defense?”

Ye Guan nodded and explained, “He punched me, damaging my internal organs, so I had no choice but to defend myself.”

Elder Qiu’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to argue with me?”

Ye Guan remained calm as he said, “I was just defending myself.”

“How preposterous!” Elder Qiu was furious, and he reached out to slap Ye Guan. 

However, Ye Guan was faster. The moment Elder Qiu raised his hand, Ye Guan moved and sent a knee toward Elder Qiu’s face. 

Elder Qiu’s expression changed, realizing that he had underestimated Ye Guan. However, it was too late, and he could only block the attack.

Bam!

There was a crisp noise, and Elder Qiu staggered backward. However, Ye Guan wasn’t done just yet. 

He dashed toward Elder Qiu and lifted his right leg to perform a roundhouse kick. 

Elder Qiu was startled, and he immediately raised his right hand to block the attack

Boom!

Elder Qiu was sent tumbling away. Ye Guan was about to make another move, but a furious shout interrupted him.

“Stop! what are you doing?!”

Everyone turned to where the voice had come from and saw Fei Banqing walking out from the doors of the main palace. 

Fei Banqing! The expressions of the students changed dramatically, and they thought the same as they inwardly exclaimed. The female dictator has returned?!

Fei Banqing walked over to Ye Guan. 

She glanced at Mu Bai’s corpse and looked at Ye Guan. “Didn’t we have an agreement that you’ll stay low-key? You murdered someone on your first day in the academy, and you even hit a Discipline Committee Elder. Is this your definition of low-key?”

Ye Guan lowered his head. He wiped the blood on the corners of his lips and pointed at himself. He sounded aggrieved as he shouted, “Look! I got hit, too! I’m even bleeding profusely…”

“Aaargh!” Fei Banqing cried out. She lost it and started stomping her feet. 

Everyone was rendered speechless by the unbelievable sight in front of them.

…

Note: Asura referring to evil spirit/demons