Ye Guan looked down at himself and was stunned by his injuries. He looked pitiful, and he knew that he had to heal himself.

The speed of this phantom was ridiculously fast. 

It had to be in the legendary Divine Soul Realm, at the very least.

The realm above the Divine Path Realm was the Divine Soul Realm, and it could only be reached by the confluence of soul and physique. A Divine Soul Realm cultivator could perform divine abilities, and they could raze a small city to the ground with a flick of their sleeve.

The phantom didn’t use any divine abilities, but its sword energy was powerful enough to destroy an entire city wall. It was also extremely fast. If Ye Guan hadn’t somehow gotten used to the speed of the phantoms on the previous floors, and if he had challenged this floor directly from the start, he would have instantly died.

The phantom on this floor was that strong—he stood no chance at all.

Ye Guan took a deep breath and brought the phantom’s sword even closer to him before focusing on healing. The sight seemed to have rendered the phantom speechless.

The majority of Ye Guan’s wounds healed an hour later. He stood up and picked up the sword on the ground before handing it over to the phantom.

“Let’s do it again,” he said.

The phantom didn’t bother saying anything. It rushed up and thrust its sword at Ye Guan’s forehead in the proverbial blink of an eye. Ye Guan still didn’t counterattack. He continued dodging to the best of his abilities. 

Soon, he was riddled with injuries, and he confiscated the phantom’s sword once again to heal himself. 

Ye Guan repeated the cycle for ten days, but it wasn’t like Ye Guan hadn’t been learning anything. In addition to getting used to the phantom’s speed, he finally had a grasp of the phantom’s techniques and attack patterns, as well as its responses to certain movements.

Just like that, another five days passed...

The swift phantom thrust its sword continuously at Ye Guan, and its attacks seemed like rain as they rained down on the latter. However, Ye Guan managed to dodge each and every attack by ducking, crouching, and sidestepping.

Ye Guan lasted thirty minutes without sustaining any injuries.

The phantom thrust its sword at Ye Guan, but this time, Ye Guan flipped his palm open, revealing a strand of sword energy. The phantom’s attack failed, and it retracted its sword to unleash another attack. 

Unfortunately, Ye Guan took advantage of the brief gap to send the sword energy flying toward the phantom’s throat.

Squelch! 

A grotesque noise echoed as Ye Guan’s sword energy pierced the phantom’s throat. 

The phantom stood rooted and gradually disappeared. However, its sword dropped to the ground instead of disappearing with it.

Ye Guan picked up the sword and examined it. He could see that it was an Earth-rank sword at the very least, which wasn’t a bad harvest at all. 

He put the sword away and sat cross-legged instead of going to the ninth floor.

Ye Guan was confident that Sun Xiong was no longer capable of inflicting injuries on him. On the contrary, Sun Xiong was no longer his match. He could easily defeat the latter, and of course, he wasn’t just bragging. 

However, Ye Guan knew that the reason he managed to defeat the phantom on the eighth floor was that the phantom was just an illusion. He was currently in a cultivation ground, so it was only natural that he couldn’t die here. 

Unfortunately, there was no way Ye Guan could do the same tactic he had been using against the phantoms on a real battlefield.

He took a deep breath and looked at the teleportation array leading to the ninth floor. 

His expression turned grim. The phantom on the ninth floor has to be really, really strong! I think its cultivation base is above Divine Soul. I don’t think I stand a chance against such a strong opponent—

Ye Guan shook his head, interrupting his train of thought. He smiled and muttered, “How can I leave without taking a look?”

With that, he stepped into the teleportation array. He was inundated with a dazzling light, and he found himself in a different illusory realm upon opening his eyes. 

There was a shining door, and a boy was sitting cross-legged next to the door. The boy looked to be only about sixteen or seventeen years of age. He was wearing a green robe, and a spear lay next to him. 

The boy seemed bewildered upon seeing Ye Guan. He had been on the ninth floor for a very long time, and it was the first time that someone had made it up here.

Ye Guan smiled at the boy and asked, “My name’s Ye Guan. What’s your name?”

The boy examined Ye Guan from top to bottom.

“My name’s Siao Ge!” he answered. 

Ye Guan walked up to Siao Ge while looking around with a confused look. 

“Brother Siao, why isn’t there a phantom here?”

Siao Ge pointed at the shining door and said, “Knock on that door, and that bastard will appear!”

Ye Guan blinked and asked, “Is it strong?”

Siao Ge said with a straight face, “No, I’ve defeated it many times before.”

Ye Guan merely stared at Siao Ge. As if I’ll believe you!

Siao Ge blinked and suggested. “Brother Ye, why don’t you try it for yourself?”

Ye Guan laughed and agreed. “Sure.”

With that, Ye Guan walked over to the shining door. 

The corners of Siao Ge’s lips curled up slightly, and his eyes shone maliciously.

Ye Guan knocked on the door. 

Siao Ge’s smile widened, but his expression suddenly went stiff. He turned around to run, and he moved so fast that Ye Guan couldn’t even see him anymore.

Siao Ge’s expression changed. The shining door was flung open, and a massive ax emerged from the door at lightning speed.

The target of the massive ax was none other than Siao Ge. 

Siao Ge’s eyes narrowed. He knew that it was already too late for him to escape now that the ax was flying toward him. Siao Ge could only face the ax head-on, so he pointed his spear at the flying ax and thrust. 

A strand of light shot out from the spearhead.

Boom! 

The strand of light was shattered in an instant, and Siao Ge flew around thirty meters away. His landing was rough, and blood sprayed out of his mouth.

Fortunately, the massive ax flew into the shining door. It didn’t continue to attack Siao Ge.

Ye Guan walked over to Siao Ge and asked, “Brother Siao, are you okay?”

Siao Ge wordlessly stared at Ye Guan.

Ye Guan stared incredulously at the shining door. 

“What was that ax? It was ridiculously strong!” Ye Guan gasped.

Honestly, he was terrified by the sudden turn of events. Damn it! If I were the target, I would have died or sustained severe injuries! It was just that strong…

Siao Ge wiped the blood at the corner of his lips while wordlessly staring at Ye Guan.

He wasn’t mad. He tricked Ye Guan into knocking on the door, but he ended up suffering from his deceit, so he couldn’t really blame anyone. He could only admit that he wasn’t that good at deceiving others.

A real man knew to admit defeat. Sore losers were losers!

“Brother Siao, who’s behind that shining door?” asked Ye Guan.

Siao Ge shook his head and said, “I don’t know…”

Ye Guan frowned. “You still haven’t met the individual behind the door?”

“I can’t even face that ax, so what makes you think that I’ve already met the individual behind that door?” Siao Ge shook his head once more. He glanced at the shining door and continued. “The powerful cultivators from the Main Academy left this shining door here, so it is definitely extraordinary. It’s a pity that no one has ever managed to get in the door since Nanzhou’s Guanxuan Academy was established. As far as I can remember, even the ridiculous talents only managed to come this far.”

Hearing that, Ye Guan suddenly suggested. “How about we work together?”

Siao Ge was stunned. 

“Work together?” he asked.

Ye Guan nodded and explained, “The ax was too strong. There’s no way we can face it head-on, but I think we can beat it if we’re together.”

Siao Ge made a sidelong glance at Ye Guan. “Are you sure?” he asked.

Ye Guan nodded once again. “Yes, but we have to agree not to betray each other before we do anything else.”

“I won’t betray you as long as you don’t betray me first!” muttered Siao Ge.

Ye Guan nodded and said, “You’ll take the blow, and I’ll destroy the ax from the side.”

Siao Ge worldlessly gazed at Ye Guan for a moment before saying, “Why don’t you take the blow, and I’ll destroy the ax from the side?”

Ye Guan responded, “Your spear was powerful, and the spear energy you have honed was majestic and strong. You even managed to comprehend spear light, so the difference between you and the massive ax from earlier isn’t that huge. Of course, the ax is still stronger than you.”

“You don’t have to butter me up because I don’t want to take the blow,” said Siao Ge, seemingly exasperated. He stretched out his right arm and said, “Look, it’s bleeding!”

Ye Guan flipped his palm, and a sword energy manifested over his palm. He then waved his hand, and the sword energy flew like a wave at breakneck speed. 

Siao Ge’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “A swordsman? Are you really a swordsman, Brother Ye?!”

Ye Guan nodded. “Yes, I’m a swordsman. Anyway, you’re sturdier than me, so you should take the blow. I’m a swordsman, so I’m quick on my feet. I should have no issues ambushing the ax and destroying it from the side.”

Siao Ge went silent. 

Ye Guan gazed at him and asked, “Don’t you wish to see what’s beyond that door?”

Siao Ge remained silent. However, he eventually gnashed his teeth and said, “Let’s do this then!”

Ye Guan nodded. “All right. Go ahead and knock on the door.”

“Let me heal myself first,” said Siao Ge with a nod. He took a thumb-sized pill and popped it into his mouth. The pill was effective, and it healed Siao Ge’s wounds at a speed visible to the naked eye. 

Ye Guan was astonished at the sight, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Siao, do you have more of that pill?”

Siao Ge hesitated, but he quickly gave in and said, “Yeah, but I only have a few….”

Ye Guan blinked a few times before asking, “Can you lend me two? I’m sure we’ll have to give it our all later, and we’ll definitely have a higher chance of succeeding with those pills on hand.”

Siao Ge didn’t say anything in response. 

He seemed to be hesitating, but he eventually agreed. “All right!” 

He flipped his palm, and two pills floated over to Ye Guan. 

Ye Guan nodded slightly and said, “Thank you.”

Siao Ge nodded. 

He took a deep breath and said, “Brother Ye, I’m going over there to knock on the door. Get ready.”

Ye Guan’s expression turned solemn at Siao Ge’s words.

Siao Ge walked up to the shining door and knocked on it before immediately running away without looking back at the door. In an instant, he was already ten meters away from the door.

Moments later, the shining door flung open and a massive ax flew toward Siao Ge.

Siao Ge’s expression changed slightly, but his eyes contained no fear. He took a step forward and thrust his spear fiercely at the massive ax.

“Connecting Galaxies!” he exclaimed, and innumerable strands of spear light poured out of the spearhead. 

Ye Guan was stupefied at the sight. That bastard is actually in the Divine Soul Realm?! He’s just a boy, but he’s already a Divine Soul Realm cultivator; what a monstrous talent! 

Siao Ge was unaware of Ye Guan’s thoughts as he promptly thrust his spear once more.

Boom! 

There was a loud explosion as Siao Ge’s spear struck the massive ax. 

A series of rumbling noises echoed as the spear light and spear shadows shattered from the collision. Siao Ge staggered backward, but the massive ax was unlucky because Ye Guan had already arrived behind it.

Ye Guan didn’t hesitate. He swung his sword fiercely at the massive ax.

Boom! 

A loud boom echoed as the ax crashed to the ground and was split into two. 

Tremble!

Ye Guan and Siao Ge thought that it was over, but the massive ax suddenly started trembling.

At the sight, Ye Guan hurriedly shouted, “Come here! Hurry up!”

Siao Ge rushed over to Ye Guan. 

Ye Guan explained, “Someone is trying to take the ax back, so let’s hurry up and carry it away from the door!”

With that, Ye Guan and Siao Ge carried the ax away before scampering away like rabbits. In the blink of an eye, they were already three hundred meters away from the door, and the massive ax finally stopped trembling. 

Ye Guan and Siao Ge heaved sighs of relief.

“Wait!” Ye Guan exclaimed. He seemed to have come up with an idea as he said, “I think we should throw it into that teleportation array.” 

Siao Ge didn’t object, and the two of them threw both halves of the ax into the teleportation array that led to the eighth floor. 

The teleportation array activated and engulfed the ax.

They heaved another sigh of relief. 

Thud!

A dull noise could be heard from the shining door. Ye Guan and Siao Ge turned to look at the shining door with grim expressions, and they were stupefied to find a giant walking out of the door while holding another massive ax.

Siao Ge and Ye Guan froze. 

Ye Guan recovered first, and he gulped before saying, “Brother Siao, let’s do it again. Take the blow, and I’ll attack!”

Siao Ge turned to look at Ye Guan, and his voice was trembling as he asked, “Can someone really take a blow from that thing, Brother Ye?”

…