Fei Banqing truly broke down. When she was still young, she considered herself unrivaled at causing trouble, but the brat in front of her made her young self seem like the kindest person out there. 

Ye Guan was better at causing trouble than her. 

“Tutor Fei!” Elder Qiu stood up and shouted angrily, “He’s your disciple?!”

Fei Banqing looked at him and replied indifferently, “Yes.”

Hearing that, Elder Qiu exploded in fury. He pointed at Ye Guan and bellowed, “He just murdered someone and even attacked an elder of the Discipline Department! How do you think we should punish him?”0

Fei Banqing made a sidelong glance at Ye Guan and asked, “Was it self-defense?”

Ye Guan nodded as if he were a chicken pecking rice and said, “Yes, it was justified self-defense. He hit me first, and everyone saw that!”

With that, Fei Banqing turned to look at a female student and asked fiercely, “Did Mu Bai hit him first?”

The female student hesitated for a while before she eventually nodded. “Yes! But…”

Fei Banqing didn’t bother to hear the female student out as she turned to look at Elder Qiu and said, “Elder Qiu, you heard it. Mu Bai started it; Ye Guan was only defending himself!”

Elder Qiu glared at her and exclaimed, “You’re just trying to protect him!”

Fei Banqing’s brows furrowed as she said, “Who said I’m trying to protect him? Are you deaf? Mu Bai started it, and my disciple was only defending himself! It’s justifiable self-defense!”

Elder Qiu’s face turned ashen. “Let’s say that it was self-defense, but he still went too far. He shouldn’t have continued on engaging Mu Bai when the latter stopped attacking.”

Hearing that, Fei Banqing made a sidelong glance at Ye Guan. 

Ye Guan momentarily hesitated before saying, “He threatened that he would kill me, so I killed him first. It was a necessity!”

Fei Banqing frowned and asked, “A necessity defense? Is that in the rulebook?”

Ye Gun replied, “No, I made it up!”

Fei Banqing stared at him in astonishment. 

“A necessity, my ass!” Elder Qiu roared, “Bastard, do you really think that I’ve never read the Guanxuan Academy Rules? The rulebook has no necessity defense. What you’ve done is murder!”

However, Ye Guan remained calm as he replied, “It was self-defense.”

Elder Qiu realized that Ye Guan was trying to avoid taking responsibility by taking advantage of the technicalities, and the realization made Elder Qiu even more furious as he spat, “Where do you think we are, you bastard?!”

Fei Banqing approached Ye Guan and muttered, “Go easy on the taunting…”

All of a sudden, an old cultivator descended and landed on the peak.

Elder Qiu rushed to greet the old cultivator. “Vice President!”

The cultivator was none other than the Vice President of the Discipline Department, Lu Chen.0

Fei Banqing’s face fell. She knew that it would be difficult to sweep the matter under the rug now that Lu Chen was here. After all, Lu Chen wouldn’t get fooled so easily. 

Ye Guan noticed Fei Banqing’s look of dismay, and he turned to look at Lu Chen. 

Lu Chen walked over and glanced at Mu Bai’s corpse. 

He chuckled and looked at Fei Banqing. “Tutor Fei…”

However, Ye Guan suddenly walked over to Lu Chen before Fei Banqing could say anything. 

Ye Guan bowed slightly and said, “Senior, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Lu Chen looked at Ye Guan and replied, “What is it?”

Ye Guan gestured to the side. Lu Chen’s brows furrowed slightly, but he still followed Ye Guan.

Fei Banqing frowned. What is that brat trying to do?

Elder Qiu was puzzled as well. 

Ye Guan and Lu Chen’s backs were facing everyone. Ye Guan shoved a storage ring into Lu Chen’s hand at an angle that was out of everyone’s view.

A bribe? Lu Chen froze. He frowned, and his eyes flashed with coldness. He was about to erupt in anger, but he froze once more upon realizing that the storage ring contained a thousand gold spiritual crystals.

Lu Chen was bewildered. The gold spiritual crystals in the storage ring were pure-grade gold spiritual crystals, and they were much better than the gold spiritual crystals that the Guanxuan Academy was paying him for his salary.

Ye Guan said, “Senior, I was really just defending myself. He punched me first, and his punch was so strong that I felt like I was in mortal danger, so…”

Lu Chen put away the storage ring. 

“I understand, I understand!” he exclaimed with a chuckle.

Ye Guan went silent.

Rules would always be in favor of those with power, but those with money could bend the rules to their favor. In other words, if one had neither money nor power, then the rules wouldn’t be beneficial to them at all; the rules would only restrict them.

Lu Chen turned around and walked back to where everyone else was waiting. He declared, “He has just told me about what happened. This young man had indeed acted in self-defense, and Mu Bai was simply asking to be killed!”

Elder Qiu was visibly shaken as he muttered, “Vice President…”

Lu Chen glared coldly at Elder Qiu. “How many times have I told you? You must investigate the cases thoroughly before coming to a conclusion. Old Qiu, you’re too reckless, and I advise you to change that mindset. Anyway, you’re dismissed!”

With that, Lu Chen turned around to leave, and the members from the Discipline Department followed closely behind him. 0

Elder Qiu stood rooted in astonishment. 

Fei Banqing stared deeply at Ye Guan before walking up to him and saying, “Let’s get out of here.”

With that, they turned around and started walking over to the main palace. The students and Elder Qiu were still stewing in their own shock at the indescribable turn of events.

A barely perceptible glint flashed in Elder Qiu’s eyes as he stared at Ye Guan.

Ye Guan looked back and stared at Elder Qiu as well.

…

“You bribed him?!” exclaimed Fei Banqing. They were already in the main palace, so the people outside couldn’t hear them.

Ye Guan wordlessly nodded. 

“How much?” Fei Banqing asked.

Ye Guan replied, “A thousand gold spiritual crystals!”

Fei Banqing’s eyes narrowed. “You’re really rich.”

Ye Guan didn’t say anything. 

Moments later, Fei Banqing continued. “He deserved to die!”

However, Ye Guan shook his head and said, “He deserves to die because he was a weakling, but what if I had been the weakling? What do you think would have happened to me? I was trying to talk to him properly, but he didn’t take me seriously at all. His taunting got even harsher.” 

“I wasn’t really planning on killing him, but he told me that he would make me wish that I was dead, so I reckoned that I had to kill him today. Otherwise, he would definitely think of ways to kill me tomorrow or in the near future. Our enmity could no longer be resolved, so I decided to just get rid of him today rather than later,” added Ye Guan.

Fei Banqing stared deeply at Ye Guan, and she couldn’t help but find the young man to be a bit frightening. It is kind of scary how much thought he had thought ahead before making a move!

Fei Banqing’s expression was complex as she asked, “Do you have any idea just how many people are pursuing Little Jia? Are you going to kill them all?”

“If I hadn’t killed him, I’m sure that the students of the academy would have been convinced that I was a pushover,” said Ye Guan. He sounded relatively calm as he added, “People will think that you’re a pushover if you insist on talking to them in a reasonable manner, and you’ll definitely get bullied into a corner the moment they find out that you’re weak. Unfortunately, it’s human nature for people to be afraid of the strong and bully the weak. What I did was just a punch to deter the bullies...”

Fei Banqing’s gaze remained focused on Ye Guan as she asked, “What if they remain undeterred? What if they keep on pursuing Little Jia?”

Ye Guan asked back, “Don’t you think it’s disrespectful to someone who is already engaged? Shouldn’t such actions be condemned? What kind of a man would be fine to see someone else confessing to his wife? I said I’ll do my best to be low-key, but I didn’t say that I’ll put up with everything.”

Fei Banqing went silent. 

Ye Guan continued. “I’ll kill those who are daring enough to confess to her!”

Fei Banqing was astonished. 

“You’re dangerous…” she muttered.

Ye Guan remained unperturbed as he asked, “Tutor, do you think that what happened today was my fault?”

Fei Banqing shook her head and explained, “I didn’t say that it was your fault, but your method is too extreme. You’re inflexible and hot-headed; do you understand what I’m trying to say here?”

Ye Guan went silent for a few moments before asking, “Then, Tutor Fei, can you tell me what I can do to those daring enough to confess to Little Jia right in front of me?”

Fei Banqing could only sigh and leave upon hearing that question. 

Ye Guan was silent as he stood in the large hall of the main palace by himself.

Fei Banqing left and soared into the skies, eventually arriving at a sea of clouds. 

Lu Chen was right in front of her, and he opened his palm, sending a storage ring floating over to her. Obviously, the storage ring had come from Ye Guan, and it contained a thousand gold spiritual crystals.

Lu Chen explained, “I cherish talents, and I’ll let this matter slide for your sake!” 

Fei Banqing nodded slightly and said, “Thank you.”

However, it seemed that Lu Chen wasn’t done just yet as he said, “He has a great personality and talent, so he shouldn’t use petty tricks like bribery. It’s your responsibility to guide him properly so that he won’t go down the wrong path.” 

Fei Banqing sounded serious as she replied, “He’s from a remote place with a dog-eat-dog culture, so his mindset and methods are a bit… extreme. Regardless, I’ll do my best to guide him so that he will always keep walking on the right path.”

Lu Chen nodded slightly. “Just be careful about overcorrecting him. A man should still be tough and bloodthirsty when the situation calls for it. Otherwise, his talent will go to waste. Mu Bai had indeed crossed, so he deserved to die. However, the people behind him will definitely not let the matter slide so easily—keep that in mind.”

Fei Banqing remained calm despite Lu Chen’s warning. Her expression didn’t even change as she replied, “If they touch even a strand of Little Guan's hair, I'll massacre them!”

Lu Chen chuckled hollowly and shook his head before saying, “The two of you aren’t blood-related, but his temper is exactly the same as yours when you were still young.”

With that, Lu Chen turned around and disappeared into the horizon. 

Fei Banqing looked down at the storage ring and shook her head before turning around to leave as well.

…

Ye Guan was sitting silently as he sat in the large hall of his palace.

“Master Pagoda, Was I wrong?” asked Ye Guan.

Little Pagoda replied, “What do you think?”

Ye Guan closed his eyes. “I stand by what I said. I won’t offend anyone, but if anyone dares to offend me, I’ll pay them back a hundredfold!”

“Just follow what your heart says!” said Little Pagoda.

My heart? Ye Guan exclaimed, “Master Pagoda! I want to become stronger!”

Little Pagoda was confused. “Why?”

Ye Guan exclaimed, “I have to be even stronger if I want to protect myself and avoid being humiliated by anyone else!”

Little Pagoda went silent. 

Ye Guan also went silent and finally started cultivating.

Meanwhile, a mysterious voice echoed in the pagoda. “What an anxious brat…”

Little Pagoda’s voice sounded gentle as it said, “He was abandoned to his own devices, so it’s not strange that he’s anxious.”

The mysterious voice replied, “His father received the same treatment back then, but to think that he would let his son experience the same predicament, even though he knows that it’s a harrowing experience…

“Sigh, he even rejected his Sister Destiny and Master’s help just to get rid of his inner demons, but…”