Ye Guan and Siao Ge were delighted upon receiving an Immortal-rank cultivation manual. They reckoned that the entire Nanzhou probably didn’t have even one Immortal-rank cultivation manual. 

In other words, an Immortal-rank cultivation manual was rare, and one would become a powerful cultivator by cultivating one. Ye Guan and Siao Ge’s looks of dissatisfaction were replaced by bright smiles.

The teleportation array in the distance suddenly vibrated. Ye Guan turned to look at it and deduced that the Guanxuan Academy was in the middle of fixing the array. 

Ye Guan turned to look at Siao Ge and said, “Brother Siao, I want you to go down first and tell everyone that you conquered the tower by yourself.”

Siao Ge was confused. “Why?”

Ye Guan smiled and explained, “I have enemies in the academy, and I want to keep a low profile.”

Siao Ge blinked, but he quickly caught on and exclaimed, “So you want to pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger!”
Ye Guan chuckled and nodded. “That’s right!”

Siao Ge fell into contemplation before saying, “I’m honestly not comfortable with what you want me to do. It makes me feel ashamed.”

“Just think of it as doing me a favor,” said Ye Guan.

A talented man would attract jealous people. Ye Guan had to keep a low profile because he didn’t want people to constantly take note of him.

One has to make it big while maintaining a low profile!

Fame? Ye Guan didn’t care about fame. 

Siao Ge was silent for a while before responding, “Okay.”
Ye Guan smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Siao Ge stared deeply at Ye Guan before asking, “Did you just join the academy?”

“Yes!” Ye Guan nodded and said, ”I just enrolled.”

Siao Ge smiled and said, “I guess we’ll meet soon. Your flying sword art was strong. You should look for me when you have time, and we can exchange pointers.”

“Sure,” said Ye Guan.

The vibration of the teleportation array intensified. 

Ye Guan saw that and said, “See you next time, Brother Siao.”

With that, Ye Guan looked for a place to hide. 

Meanwhile, Siao Ge started walking toward the vibrating teleportation array with a smile. 

An old man emerged from the teleportation array along with the three tutors and Lu Chen. The old man at the helm was none other than the Guanxuan Academy’s Academy Chief—Song Fu.

Siao Ge hurriedly greeted them. “Tutors!”

Song Fu patted Siao Ge’s shoulder and smiled. “You did great.”

The expressions of the three tutors were complicated. It couldn’t be helped because someone finally conquered the ninth floor.

“We should go,” said Song Fu.

With that, they turned around and walked into the teleportation array. 

Song Fu glanced at a corner of the floor before eventually walking into the array. 

Ye Guan waited for a while before coming out of hiding and walking into the teleportation array. He quietly left the tower. 

Siao Ge’s conquest of the ninth floor spread like wildfire throughout the entire Guanxuan Academy. The fact that Guanxuan Academy had no intentions of hiding Siao Ge’s feat also helped in the spread of the news. Siao Ge quickly became famous.

Meanwhile, Tutor Xiao visited the seventh floor of another trial tower.  

Nan Xuan was cultivating like crazy in the tower, and it seemed that he had no intentions of slacking until the end of the month.

Tutor Xiao said, “Someone conquered the ninth floor of the tower...”

Nan Xuan froze. His face turned sour as he asked, “Was it Ye Guan?”

Tutor Xiao smiled and replied, “Don’t worry. It wasn’t him. It was Siao Ge.”

“Siao Ge?” Nan Xuan frowned. “I have never heard of that name.”

Tutor Xiao nodded and explained, “It’s not strange that you haven’t heard of him. He’s a talent that the Academy Chief has been teaching personally. It was only when the news broke out did all of us finally hear of him.”

Nan Xuan’s voice turned solemn as he said, “Does that mean that he’s going to become the Chief Student Representative?”

Tutor Xiao nodded. “That’s right. We have more or less decided that he’ll be the Chief Student Representative. He might even become the next Academy Chief.”

Nan Xuan was silent. 

Tutor Xiao didn’t mind his silence and continued with a smile. “Now, you have two tasks. Firstly, you’ll have to conquer this floor. Conquering this floor means you’ll have an eighty percent chance of killing Ye Guan. Secondly, you should befriend Siao Ge. You’ll profit greatly from being his friend because he has relatives on the Upper Realm.”

“Upper Realm?” Nan Xuan frowned slightly. “He’s not from Nanzhou?”

Tutor Xiao nodded and said, “He’s definitely not from Nanzhou, but I’m not sure about his actual identity. Basically, you won’t suffer a loss by befriending him. It would be great if you managed to create tension between him and Ye Guan because we will also be able to suppress his tutor.”

Nan Xuan went silent before muttering, “I heard that Ye Guan has a sister in the academy…”

Tutor Xiao shook his head and rejected the idea. “Fei Banqing is taking care of Ye Nan, and she’s keeping tabs on the latter, so you better not think of any nonsense.”

Nan Xuan nodded slightly and said, “It will take me at most five more days to finish this floor. I’ll go and befriend Siao Ge once I’m done here.”

“All right, focus on your cultivation, then.” Tutor Xiao nodded before turning around to leave.

Left alone, Nan Xuan’s eyes glimmered in a sinister light.

…

Ye Guan returned to his palace and took out the Immortal-rank cultivation manual that he had received as a reward. He unfurled the scroll, and a ray of light shot from the scroll and into his glabella.

A few words popped up in Ye Guan’s mind—Mysterious Heart Art.

It was an Immortal-rank cultivation method. Ye Guan quickly sat down and began absorbing the spiritual energy in the surroundings. Moments later, every particle of spiritual energy on Mount Banqing surged toward him. 

Ye Guan’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stopped cultivating. 

The spiritual energy abruptly scattered.

Ye Guan was stupefied, and he exclaimed, “What was that? That was so scary…”

Ye Guan was shocked upon realizing that the Immortal-rank cultivation method was ten times more powerful at absorbing spiritual energy than the Sky-rank cultivation method he had been cultivating until now.

This is insane! Ye Guan inwardly exclaimed, but he seemed to have remembered something as he stood up and headed for Nalan Jia’s palace. He was about to knock on the door, but someone else opened the door for him.

Nalan Jia walked out of her palace sporting a light blue dress with her hair draping down her shoulders. Her skin was like jade, and her eyes glimmered like stars.

Nalan Jia smiled upon seeing Ye Guan. “What is it?” she asked.

“I—” Ye Guan started, but he stopped to take a closer look at Nalan Jia. “You’ve reached the Divine Soul Realm?”

Nalan Jia nodded. “Yup!”

If my memories are serving me correctly, then wasn’t Nalan Jia just a Truth Realm cultivator while we were still in Ancient Desolate City? Now, she’s already a Divine Soul Realm cultivator… 

Ye Guan was startled. Did she really break through three realms, even though it hasn’t been that long since we got here?

Nalan Jia saw the bewilderment on Ye Guan’s face, and she explained, “My physique is unique, and Tutor told me that I won’t face any bottlenecks while cultivating.”

Ye Guan shook his head in awe and smiled. “That’s awesome…”

Nalan Jia smiled without saying anything. Ye Guan quickly took out the Immortal-rank cultivation manual and handed it over to Nalan Jia. 

“Give it back to me once you’re done memorizing it,” he said.

Nalan Jia unfurled the scroll and froze. “An Immortal-rank cultivation manual?”

She made a sidelong glance at Ye Guan. Ye Guan hesitated beneath Nalan Jia’s gaze. 

Nalan Jia reminded him. “You promised not to hide anything from me.”

Ye Guan nodded and told her what had happened in the trial tower. 

Nalan Jia went silent after hearing Ye Guan’s story. In the end, she muttered, “I thought I could easily beat you if we exchanged pointers, but it seems that I don’t stand a chance against you.”

Ye Guan smiled without saying anything.

Nalan Jia looked down at the scroll in her hands. She didn’t try to return the scroll to Ye Guan. She unfurled it once more and read it.

It didn’t take that long for her to memorize every word in the scroll, and she returned it to Ye Guan once she was done memorizing it.

Ye Guan accepted the scroll.

Nalan Jia said, “There’s only half a month until your death match with Nan Xuan, right?”

“Yes,” said Ye Guan with a nod.

Nalan Jia stared deeply at Ye Guan before saying, “I’ll be there and cheer you on!”

Ye Guan smiled at her and said, “Okay...”

Nalan Jia grinned and said, “All right, I’ll be cultivating until then.”

Ye Guan nodded and said, “Okay, see you there.”

With that, Ye Guan turned around to leave. 

However, Nalan Jia exclaimed, “Wait!”

Ye Guan turned around and saw Nalan Jia extending over a purple scented sachet.

“This is yours,” said Nalan Jia.

Ye Guan took the scented sachet and looked at it.

“Did you make it by yourself?” he asked.

Nalan Jia nodded and smiled. “Yup. It has a few special ingredients that’ll heighten your focus while you’re carrying it with you.”

Ye Guan was overjoyed, and he said, “Thank you; I appreciate it.”

Nalan Jia laughed. “You’re welcome.”

Ye Guan hung the scented sachet by his waist. However, Nalan Jia shook her head at the sight. 

“That’s not how you carry it around…” she said before walking over to Ye Guan. She reached out and tied the scented sachet to Ye Guan’s clothes. Nalan Jia was standing so close to Ye Guan that the latter caught a whiff of her alluring scent.

Ye Guan’s heart became filled with warmth as he stared at the beautiful lady in front of him.

Meanwhile, Nalan Jia was finally done tying the scented sachet. She looked at Ye Guan and said, “It’s done. All right, I’m going to cultivate now.”

With that, she turned around and left for her palace. 

Ye Guan looked down at the scented sachet attached to his clothes, and he was all smiles as he returned to his palace.

Ye Guan was unaware, but Nalan Jia had walked out of her palace to watch him leave while smiling softly.

…

Ye Guan’s next destination was Fei Banqing’s palace. 

Ye Guan was about to knock on the door, but Fei Banqing interrupted him.

“Come in,” she said from behind the door.

Ye Guan carefully opened the door and walked into the palace. He approached Fei Banqing and bowed in front of her. “Tutor.”

Fei Banqing nodded and said, “Take a seat.”

Ye Guan obliged and sat in front of her. 

Fei Banqing asked calmly, “Do you have any business with me?”

Ye Guan nodded, and he wordlessly took out the Immortal-rank cultivation manual and placed it in front of Fei Banqing. 

Fei Banqing stared at the scroll for a few moments before looking at Ye Guan. She didn’t say anything, but she could feel that Ye Guan truly cared about her. The thought made Fei Banqing smile as she asked, “Is this the reward?” 

Ye Guan nodded and said, “Yes, and the two of us have our own manual.”

Fei Banqing gazed deeply at Ye Guan. “You are giving it to me?”

“Yes!” Ye Guan exclaimed.

Fei Banqing smiled and asked, “Are you giving it to me because I gave you a Sky-rank cultivation manual? Is this your repayment?”

Ye Guan didn’t know what to say. 

However, Fei Banqing remained calm as she said, “I know that you don’t want to be indebted to me. Anyway, leave the manual here, and we’re even.”

“Tutor, it’s a misunderstanding... ” Ye Guan said.

Fei Banqing went silent and simply stared at Ye Guan. 

Ye Guan knew that he had to be serious here, so his expression turned serious as he explained, “Tutor, I really appreciated your kindness, but I’m not here to give you this Immortal-rank cultivation for the sake of repaying my debt to you. I’m giving it to you because I feel that it suits you more than me; that’s all.”

Fei Banqing wordlessly gazed at Ye Guan.

Ye Guan emphasized. “I’m serious!”

Fei Banqing finally said, “Okay, I understand...”

At the positive answer, Ye Guan stood up and bowed slightly. 

“Thank you for accepting it, Tutor. Anyway, I’ll be going ahead to cultivate,” he said.

With that, Ye Guan turned around and left.

All alone in her vast palace, Fei Banqing stared at the Immortal-rank cultivation manual for a while. A smile eventually broke out on her lips.