“Wait!” Fei Banqing stopped Ye Guan.

Ye Guan turned around. 

Fei Banqing stared deeply at him for a moment before saying, “You only have a month until your death match with Nan Xuan. If you’re going to kill him, I advise that you wait until the death match. Otherwise, you will be breaking the rules, and you’ll be in deep trouble.”

Ye Guan remained silent, mildly surprised. He didn’t expect that Fei Banqing would see through his thoughts. 

He was actually planning on assassinating Nan Xuan, and it was all because he had always preferred to settle his grudges as soon as possible.

Fei Banqing sighed and said, “It’s great that you’re stubborn. I think powerful men should be stubborn, but you have to keep in mind that you’re already a student of the Guanxuan Academy, and you’re not invincible as well. You have to stick to the rules, or you’ll be suppressed by those who are more powerful than you.”

Ye Guan nodded. “I understand…”

Fei Banqing smiled at the sight and said, “Go ahead.”

Ye Guan bowed before turning around to leave. 

Fei Banqing shook her head. This disciple of mine is great, but he’s too ruthless and decisive. He should think about the ramifications before doing something!

Fei Banqing seemed to be criticizing Ye Guan, but Ye Guan’s principle of giving no quarter to his enemies and his decisiveness were precisely the reasons she quickly grew fond of the latter.

Fei Banqing grinned upon recalling Ye Guan’s decisiveness, but she soon shook her head. She could finally understand her tutor’s feelings back then. A hot-headed disciple is indeed troublesome!

…

The Trial Peak was located on the southern side of the Guanxuan Academy. The Trial Peak was actually a mountain range with nine ridges between the mountains, and there was a trial tower on each of the ridges. 

The students of the Guanxuan Academy could naturally train in the trial towers.

Ye Guan skipped traveling through a ridge and arrived directly near one of the trial towers using a teleportation portal. He smiled slightly upon seeing one of the trial towers, and the intent to fight burned in his heart. 

He knew that he could only test his limits through fighting.

His battle with Sun Xiong made him realize that Sun Xiong lacked combat experience, especially in life-or-death battles. Of course, it wasn’t really strange that Sun Xiong was a greenhorn in that kind of battle. 

It was a common issue among disciples of grand clans. Their great family background gave them access to lots of resources, so this meant that they had never really experienced fighting for their lives in exchange for resources. 

Therefore, the disciples of grand clans would often struggle against vicious individuals who were more than willing to bet their lives in exchange for cultivation resources.

It was only natural that the privileged disciples of those great clans were greenhorns when it came to life-or-death battles. After all, why would they risk their lives against barbarians? 

However, Ye Guan’s many years of living in Ancient Desolate City made him realize one thing—a cultivator had to be vicious!

He would die if he wasn’t vicious enough.

Soon, Ye Guan arrived at one of the trial towers. An old man was standing by the entrance of the trial tower. The old man glanced at Ye Guan before saying, “A hundred purple spiritual crystals for every two hours.”

Ye Guan nodded and paid two hundred spiritual crystals.

The old man stored the purple spiritual crystals in his storage ring.

“You have four hours,” he said. 

Ye Guan bowed slightly and asked, “Senior, am I allowed to go to any floor?” 

The old man stared at Ye Guan and replied, “Yes, but it depends on your strength.”

Ye Guan smiled and nodded. “I understand.” 

With that, Ye Guan walked into the tower and was immediately transported to an illusory realm. 

A sword-wielding phantom was standing In front of him.

Ye Guan was slightly surprised at the sight. A swordsman? 

Without warning, the phantom dashed forward and thrust its sword at Ye Guan. The phantom was swift. Ye Guan sidestepped and avoided the thrust, but the sword still brushed past Ye Guan’s head.

Ye Guan’s eyes narrowed, and he stomped with his left foot. 

Boom! 

The phantom staggered backward. Ye Guan rushed ahead and struck the chin of the phantom with his elbow. 

There was another loud noise as the phantom disintegrated from the impact. 

Ye Guan tidied his clothes and headed up to the second floor. As expected, another phantom was waiting for him there. 

This time, Ye Guan took the initiative and charged at the phantom. Ye Guan’s fist struck the phantom before it could even react, and it was disintegrated by the flow.

With that, Ye Guan headed up to the next floor. 

And just like that, Ye Guan reached the seventh floor…

The sword-wielding phantom on the seventh floor stared silently at Ye Guan, and it was emitting an ominous aura. Ye Guan was about to attack the phantom, but it abruptly vanished and reappeared right in front of him.

Ye Guan’s pupils constricted in shock, and he sidestepped to avoid the incoming sword thrust. Unfortunately, the phantom was too fast, and its sword ended up piercing his left shoulder.

Ye Guan’s heart leaped into his throat, and he hurriedly jumped away to retreat. The blood gushing out of his wound dyed his robe red.

Ye Guan managed to retreat to a corner. His expression turned both grim and somber as he glared at the phantom. What was that sword move? It was so fast! There weren’t any wasted movements, and it was a decisive attack!

Meanwhile, the phantom charged at Ye Guan and transformed into numerous specters that pounced on Ye Guan, interrupting the latter’s train of thought. 

Ye Guan’s eyes narrowed as he swept his gaze across the specters, but rather than slicing them apart, he decided to run away from them.

However, it seemed that the phantom wasn’t willing to let Ye Guan go, and it relentlessly chased after Ye Guan using its specters. Ye Guan couldn’t do anything else other than run, and his accumulated fatigue was starting to rear its ugly head.

At first, the phantom was still capable of leaving wounds on Ye Guan, but as time went on, Ye Guan eventually adapted to the phantom’s attacks, speed, and techniques, allowing him to become even better at running away!

By the third day, Ye Guan had completely acclimated to the phantom’s speed, and he could finally see through the phantom’s attacks and techniques. At this point, the phantom could no longer injure Ye Guan.

The phantom thrust its sword at Ye Guan. Ye Guan would have sidestepped to avoid the sword thrust, but he had already gotten used to the phantom’s attacks. Ye Guan ducked and charged at the phantom with his head lowered.

Moments later, he arrived in front of the phantom and punched its chest.

Boom!

The phantom was torn apart. 

“Haaa…” Ye Guan sighed deeply and sat down. 

He immediately meditated to heal himself. He was covered in blood, and it wasn’t really strange when he had been fighting a phantom that was faster than Divine Path Realm cultivators for three days straight.

The phantom’s sword moves were decisive and direct as well. Ye Guan reckoned that an average cultivator wouldn’t be able to dodge its attacks. 

However, the biggest issue Ye Guan faced while fighting the phantom was the fact that the phantom focused only on one characteristic—speed! Ye Guan looked a bit scared upon recalling the phantom’s fastest speed.

Two hours later, Ye Guan stopped cultivating. He could feel that he had almost recovered, so he decided to just let his body take care of his remaining wounds. 

He changed into a clean set of clothes and stared at the teleportation portal. 

He just had to walk into that teleportation portal, and he would arrive on the eighth floor.

Scared? Not at all. Ye Guan was excited! 

Ye Guan walked into the teleportation portal, and he was transported to another illusory realm in the proverbial blink of an eye. He was surrounded by nothingness, and there wasn’t anyone else here aside from a phantom in the distance. 

It was another sword-wielding phantom. 

Ye Guan raised his guard and tightened his right fist. However, the phantom didn’t charge toward Ye Guan. It lifted its sword and slashed out, sending a brilliant light flying toward Ye Guan.

Ye Guan’s expression fell. Sword energy! Goodness, he can use sword energy! 

Ye Guan was a swordsman, but he could only wield the sword. He still couldn’t wield sword energy. However, the phantom in front of him could do so. The sword energy was incredibly fast, and it reached Ye Guan in the blink of an eye. 

It seemed that the phantom on the eighth floor was at least a few times faster than the phantom on the seventh floor. 

Goodness! Ye Guan didn’t dare to face the sword energy head-on. He sidestepped to avoid the attack. Fortunately, my sidesteps had gotten quicker thanks to the phantom on the seventh floor. 

He barely managed to avoid the sword energy, but before he could even compose himself, another sword energy flew toward him. The thick scent of death assaulted Ye Guan’s nose, and his eyes narrowed.

It was clear that he couldn’t hide his strength anymore, so Ye Guan decisively took out the Path Sword.

Slash!

The Path Sword collided against the sword energy, disintegrating it. 

Ye Guan was stunned at the sight. It’s that easy? 

Ye Guan’s gaze turned toward the phantom, and he saw that the phantom’s sword had departed the phantom’s hand and was now floating in front of Ye Guan.

The sword was trembling ever so slightly.

Is it afraid? Is it submitting to me?

Ye Guan was astonished, and the phantom seemed surprised as well. The two of them stared at the quivering sword in a daze. 

Moments later, Ye Guan discovered that the sword wasn’t afraid of him. It was actually afraid of the Path Sword in his hand. 

“Ahem.” Ye Guan cleared his throat and asked, “Master Pagoda, is my assumption correct? Is it really afraid of the Path Sword?” 

Little Pagoda sounded uncertain as it replied, “I think so?” 

Ye Guan was even more confused. “Why?” he asked.

Little Pagoda went silent, prompting Ye Guan to ask once more, “Why?” 

Little Pagoda finally answered, “I think it’s tired, and it wants to rest?”

Ye Guan was annoyed by the uncertain response, and he snapped. “Please be honest with me, Master Pagoda.” 

With that, Little Pagoda added, “Your sword is special, and as far as I can remember, there are only two swords that are not afraid of your sword. Apart from those two, the rest will submit to your sword. They won’t even dare to showcase their abilities in front of your sword.”

Ye Guan blinked. “Master Pagoda, are you saying that I will be invincible among swordsmen?” 

Master Pagoda replied, “I’m not sure about the swordsmen themselves, but your sword will definitely beat your enemy’s sword!”

Ye Guan was delighted, and he exclaimed, “That’s incredible! Master Pagoda, I’m convinced that the plain-skirt sister I saw at the time is a sword immortal. Am I right? I’ve heard that there are no sword immortals, even in the Upper Realm!”

Little Pagoda was silent for a few moments, but it eventually replied, “Indeed. She’s a great sword immortal!” 

“My master is actually a great sword immortal? I really didn’t expect that. Wow! It feels great to have such a strong master, hahaha!” Ye Guan boisterously laughed at the positive response. However, an idea suddenly popped up in his mind, and he hurriedly asked, “Master Pagoda, can she split a mountain into two with a sword strike? I’m talking about a really high mountain!” 

Little Pagoda thought about it for a while before answering, “I believe she’s capable of doing that if she puts in the effort.” 

Woah! Ye Guan jumped in excitement, but he quickly composed himself by muttering, “Calm down, I have to calm down... She’s the amazing one, not me. I have to work harder so that I’ll become a sword immortal one day!” 

Little Pagoda smiled and exclaimed, “That’s right!”

With that, Ye Guan took in a deep breath of air as a new goal formed in his heart. 

A sword immortal! I must become a sword immortal. Once I become one, I’ll go back to Ancient Desolate City and split a mountain into two with a sword strike in front of everyone. Honestly, I don’t really like that mountain behind Ancient Desolate City. 

Meanwhile, the mysterious voice in the pagoda asked, “A-aren’t we going too far?” 

Little Pagoda sighed and said, “Just think about his father…” 

The mysterious voice grew silent. 

Indeed, they had to raise an independent man this time. 

Meanwhile, Ye Guan grabbed the sword floating in front of him. He walked toward the phantom and handed the sword over to it. 

“Take this. We have to fight again!” he said.

The phantom was silent. Ye Guan carefully placed the sword in the phantom’s hand. 

Afterward, he walked back to where he was earlier and lifted the Path Sword. 

Ye Guan covered the Path Sword with his profound energy.

The phantom made a move just then, sending a sword energy toward Ye Guan. 

Ye Guan didn’t back down. He sprinted toward the phantom with his eyes narrowed and thrust his sword toward the incoming sword energy. Ye Guan decided to face the sword energy head-on.

Boom!

The sword energy was forcibly dispersed, and Ye Guan used the backward momentum from the sword energy to retreat in a hurry. 

However, it seemed that the phantom had a different idea. It vanished and reappeared in front of Ye Guan, glaring coldly at him.

Ye Guan’s eyes flashed, but he started running away rather than confronting the phantom. He used the same tactic he used against the phantom on the seventh floor because Ye Guan knew that he couldn’t possibly beat a sword-wielding opponent capable of wielding sword energy.

To make matters worse, the phantom was faster than him. Ye Guan couldn’t even find any opportunities to attack. He was helpless and could only dodge. 

However, Ye Guan was planning on getting used to the phantom’s speed and movement, so he didn’t really mind dodging. Unfortunately, he quickly found himself in a sad—no, tragic plight. 

Ye Guan couldn’t dodge all of the phantom’s attacks, so it didn’t take long for him to be riddled with wounds.

“Wait!” Ye Guan exclaimed and raised the Path Sword high up.

The phantom came to a halt. It had no choice but to stop moving because its sword surrendered once again.

Ye Guan was covered in his own blood, and his voice was trembling as he said, “Let me recover. We’ll fight again once I’ve recovered.” 

Ye Guan then confiscated the phantom’s sword. 

The phantom stood rooted and speechless.