The people in the hall were looking at the commotion. They didn’t expect that the two of them would have another argument. They were also caught off guard by the fact that Ye Guan and Nalan Jia were strong, even though they were from Nanzhou.

Lu Ke’s expression turned hideous. He glared in fury at Ye Guan. He didn’t bother saying anything as he reached out with his hand toward Ye Guan.

The space in front of Ye Guan distorted, and a hand emerged from a rift in space. 

However, Ye Guan was nowhere to be seen by the time the hand emerged from the rift.

Lu Ke’s pupils shrank, and he hurriedly placed his left hand over his chest. 

Boom! 

There was a muffled bang as Lu Ke was sent flying by more than thirty meters. He crashed to the ground. He was about to stand up when Ye Guan suddenly appeared in front of him and stepped on his chest.

Pah! 

Lu Ke coughed out blood. He glared at Ye Guan and taunted. “Kill me!”

Everyone looked at Ye Guan. 

Kill? 

They were in the Hall of Ceremonies rather than on the Life or Death Stage. 

It wouldn’t be good if someone were to die here. 

“Young Lord Ye!” A voice echoed, and it came from Luo Zhaoqi. She looked at Ye Guan with a smile and reminded him. “Please don’t break the rules…” 

She sounded gentle, but it was clear that she was demanding Ye Guan to stop.

After a few moments of silence, Ye Guan looked at Lu Ke.

“What did you say just now?” he asked.

Lu Ke smiled crookedly at Ye Guan and taunted. “Kill me!”

Ye Guan lifted his leg and stomped Lu Ke’s throat.

Crack!

Lu Ke’s eyes widened as he took his last breath. 

The spectators’ faces changed instantly. Ye Guan’s murder of Lu Ke was a blatant disrespect to Luo Zhaoqi and her status as the Chief Student Representative.

Luo Zhaoqi was no longer smiling. 

Ye Guan turned to look at her and bowed slightly before saying, “Student Representative Luo, I didn't mean to offend you and the academy, but… you saw it as well! He asked me to kill him, and I simply obliged!”

The crowd’s faces stiffened. 

Luo Zhaoqi wordlessly stared at Ye Guan.

However, Ye Guan remained extremely calm beneath her gaze.

She walked up to Ye Guan and smiled before saying, “Indeed. I saw it myself as well, so let’s forget about this matter then, Young Lord Ye!” 

She waved her sleeve, and Lu Ke’s corpse was reduced to ashes before being swallowed by a tiny rift in space. 

Luo Zhaoqi’s movement looked casual, but she reduced Lu Ke’s corpse into ashes in the proverbial blink of an eye and opened a tiny rift in space to dispose of his cremated remains. 

The display of might caused everyone’s faces to change slightly.

One thing was for sure—Luo Zhaoqi was extremely powerful! They stared at her with awe. It seemed that the Chief Student Representative of the Upper Realm’s Guanxuan Academy wasn’t just a mascot.

Meanwhile, Ye Guan remained unperturbed. 

Luo Zhaoqi swept her gaze across everyone else and smiled. 

“Please have fun, everyone. If someone dares to stir up another trouble, then don’t blame me for taking matters into my own hands!” she warned.

Luo Zhaoqi glanced at the lady next to Lu Ke earlier and said, “The Profound Sky Clan is disqualified from participating in this decade’s martial contest, and they are also not allowed to participate in the next martial contest.”

The lady’s face was beyond pallid. The crowd threw sorry gazes at her. The Profound Sky Clan was done for. They were doomed because the fact that they had been disqualified from participating in this decade’s martial contest and banned from participating in the next meant that they would lose a ton of resources.

Luo Zhaoqi finally left. 

Ye Guan and his group lost all interest in the welcome banquet, and they decided to leave together.

Meanwhile, Luo Zhaoqi was seated in another hall and was taking a sip of tea. 

An old man was seated opposite her, and he was none other than the Courtyard Chief of the Hall of Ceremonies.

Luo Zhaoqi smiled at him and asked, “Chief Li, was it the Academy Chief who told you to invite Young Lord Ye?” 

Chief Li nodded. “Indeed.”

Luo Zhaoqi remained smiling without saying anything.

Chief Li asked, “Little Qi, did you sense anything weird about him?”

Luo Zhaoqi was quiet for a while before saying, “He was hiding his strength.”

“How much?”

“At least sixty percent…”

Sixty percent?! Chief Li went silent. Ye Guan actually managed to kill Lu Ke, a Spacetime Realm cultivator, with just forty percent of his true strength? In that case, he truly couldn’t be underestimated.

Luo Zhaoqi added, “I think I’m mistaken. There’s no way the Academy Chief would give him preferential treatment if he were only hiding sixty percent of his strength. I think he was hiding at least eighty percent.”

Eighty percent! Chief Li’s pupils shrank. The idea that Ye Guan killed Lu Ke with just twenty percent of his entire strength was absurd.

Luo Zhaoqi revealed a contemptuous smile. “I’m more concerned about Zuo Fu.”

Chief Li was slightly confused. “Zuo Fu?” 

Luo Zhaoqi nodded and explained, “I think he’s the most mysterious out of everyone in the banquet.” 

“How is he compared to that individual from Qingzhou?”

“I don’t think it’s fair to compare the two of them to each other because that individual from Qingzhou is rumored to be the third most talented individual in all of history!”

Chief Li asked, “Third? Who are the first and second?”

Luo Zhaoqi picked up her teacup and took a sip before saying, “The Sword Master and An Guoshi.” 

Chief Li’s expression stiffened. 

Luo Zhaoqi chuckled and continued. “I have to say that it’s truly unfortunate to be born in the same generation as that individual from Qingzhou. Forces from the Zhongtu Divine Continent are even keeping an eye on him…”

“Really?” Chief Li asked.

Luo Zhaoqi nodded, “They even sent someone down to come and escort him. The moment he gets first place in the contest, I reckon that they’ll immediately bring him over to the Zhongtu Divine Continent.” 

“Why are they in such a rush?”

“I’ve heard that it’s somewhat related to the Destiny Contest, but I’m not sure about the specifics. They decided to take that individual from Qingzhou with them.”

Chief Li shook his head and sighed. “In that case, we can say that the results of the upcoming martial contest have already been decided.”

Luo Zhaoqi remained calm as she said, “The Immortal Treasures Pavilion has predicted that Qingzhou will come in first while Yunzhou will come in second.”

Chief Li asked, “What about Nanzhou?” 

Luo Zhaoqi smirked and replied, “From what I’ve seen today, I think they’ll be in the top ten.”

“That’s a pretty good result! Nanzhou’s ranking has always been rock-bottom all these years.” Chief Li nodded and paused before saying, “What are your thoughts on Ye Guan?”

Luo Zhaowi was silent for a few moments before she responded, “He’s talented, but he’s too impulsive. He also seems ignorant about when to hide his true feelings… I think it’ll be difficult for him to achieve great things!”

…

Ye Guan and his group left the Hall of Ceremonies and made their way to the Siao Residence. On the way, Ye Guan looked at the sulking Siao Ge and laughed. 

“Are you still upset?” he asked.

“I just didn’t expect that she’s from the Profound Sky Clan…”

“Well, it has become clear that she had ulterior motives when she approached you, so I think you should stop sulking over it. It’s not worth it to lose sleep over someone like that,” said Ye Guan.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Siao Ge nodded.

Ye Guan continued. “The Profound Sky Clan has suffered a great loss, and I don’t think that they’ll let this matter slide.”

Siao Ge laughed and said, “Don’t worry, they won’t dare to do anything to us before the martial contest starts. Otherwise, they’ll be making an enemy out of the Guanxuan Academy. They’ll never do something like that.”

Ye Guan nodded in agreement. “We still have to be cautious.”

Siao Ge said, “Yeah. Anyway, I’m going to the Guanxuan Academy tomorrow and cultivate in their trial tower. I’m sure the trial towers there are better than the trial towers we have on the Lower Realm.”

“Sure, have fun.” Ye Guan chuckled before asking, “Are you sure that both of you don’t have anything else to do tonight?”

Siao Ge was stunned by the incomprehensible question, but his expression soon darkened. Damn it! This bastard is trying to chase us away!

However, he could only glare at Ye Guan before turning to look at Sun Xiong. 

“Sun Xiong, I need your help with something. Come with me!” he said.

Sun Xiong glanced at Ye Guan and Nalan Jia before nodding. He was a bit naive, but he wasn’t ignorant. Soon, the two of them disappeared, leaving Ye Guan and Nalan Jia by themselves.

Nalan Jia chuckled and broke the silence. “My intuition is telling me that the reason you didn’t care about offending Chief Student Representative Luo was that you’ve already offended her.”

Ye Guan remained calm and said, “I don’t really care.”

“Is that so?”

“Why would I care what she thinks of me?”

“She’s the Chief Student Representative of the Upper Realm’s Guanxuan Academy!”

Ye Guan shook his head and said, “Her status does not matter to me. I will not beg for her attention, and I don’t need her help as well. She looks amiable, but she’s actually very prideful. I think she’ll look down on me if I were to lick her boots.”

Nalan Jia smiled. She was about to say something when Ye Guan shook his head and interrupted. “Let’s not talk about her anymore! I don’t want to talk about another woman while I’m with you.”

Nalan Jia’s smile deepened. 

The pair walked slowly toward the Siao Residence while talking about trivial matters, and it was a heartwarming night overall.

Upon arriving at the Siao Residence, Nalan Jia returned to her room, while Ye Guan left and went straight to one of the Guanxuan Academy’s trial peaks. He didn’t want to waste even a second of his waking hour; he decided to go ahead and cultivate.

He soon arrived at his destination. The Upper Realm’s Guanxuan Academy had thirty-six trial peals, and each of them was unique. 

Ye Guan pondered over it for quite a while before he decided to choose a trial tower suitable for honing one’s comprehension of spacetime. 

The trial tower allowed Ye Guan to not only comprehend spacetime but to comprehend spacetime manipulation, spacetime gravity, spacetime density, and spacetime power as well.

Ye Guan chose to work on spacetime gravity. 

His goal was to train on his Instant Death Strike under the influence of heavier gravity.

Ye Guan soon arrived in front of the trial tower that he had chosen and saw that it was the same as the trial towers on the Lower Realm. It had nine floors as well. 

The first floor had an additional layer of gravity acting on it, while the second floor had two additional layers of gravity acting on it and so on. The highest floor—the ninth floor—had nine additional layers of gravity acting on it.

Ye Guan handed over the gold spiritual crystals and entered the first floor. 

He instantly felt heavy as an invisible force bored down on him. He summoned a strand of sword energy with a thought and sent it flying. He immediately noticed that the strand of sword energy was flying slower than usual.

It was definitely because of the difference in gravity… 

Ye Guan grimaced before practicing his sword techniques under these special conditions. He trained like a crazed madman. He executed his sword techniques over and over again until he was completely exhausted.

Ye Guan repeated the same routine until he got used to the spacetime gravity on the first floor. His sword energy could now travel at the same speed outside, so Ye Guan decisively entered the second floor. 

Time passed by slowly, and on the fifth day, Ye Guan had already arrived at the fourth floor. 

However, his expression fell the moment he entered the fourth floor. The fourth floor had four additional layers of gravity compared to the outside world. If he had gone straight to the fourth floor, he wouldn’t have been able to move even an inch. 

He took deep breaths and slowly mustered his sword energy. Ye Guan had recently discovered that cultivating under pressure also improved his concentration and mental power.

In the beginning, it took a huge toll on him, and his sword energy had become much slower compared to the outside world. Today, it was still the case, but Ye Guan was adapting quite rapidly to the gravity in the tower.

He was getting faster and faster, and he was improving slowly but surely. 

Little Pagoda’s voice echoed in the tiny pagoda. 

“This brat really reminds me of someone!” it said.

The mysterious voice guessed, “His father?”

Little Pagoda said, “No, his grandfather!”

The mysterious voice went silent. 

Little Pagoda continued. “He’s not as extreme as his grandfather, but his level of perseverance and determination is almost similar to his grandfather’s.”

After a few moments of silence, the mysterious voice said, “I feel like you shouldn’t scare him too often and make him believe that he’s truly an illegitimate child. I think he’s going to be in danger at this rate.

”Just look at how hard he’s trying to become stronger as soon as possible… my heart is aching just looking at him.”

Little Pagoda retorted, “Do you really think that what he’s going to face in the future is more dangerous than making him think that he’s an illegitimate child?”

“Fine, then scare him even more! Scare him but don’t scare him to death!”

Little Pagoda didn’t know what to say.