That Miss Jian wasted no words. She flicked her sleeve.
A terrifying force suddenly swept through the area.
The moment that powerful force appeared, it directly shattered the surrounding space-time.
Song Fu’s expression changed dramatically. He hurriedly controlled the cloud ship to flee into the distance.
The black-robed elder was even more horrified. He raised his right hand, causing countless layers of space-time to overlap, forming a thick barrier of space-time.
However, the instant they touched Miss Jian’s force, those space-time barriers shattered with a boom.
At that moment, a residual shadow suddenly flashed in front of the black-robed elder.
Boom.
The already gravely injured black-robed elder had no strength to resist. He was struck directly in the throat with a single punch.
Crack.
The black-robed elder’s head flew off instantly, blood spraying out.
She flicked her sleeve again. The corpse of the black-robed elder ignited and then turned to nothingness.
After killing him, she was about to leave when suddenly she turned her head sharply towards the cloud ship of the Guanxuan Academy on her right.
At this moment, the cloud ship was teetering on the verge of capsizing.
Because the woman’s force had been too powerful, even the residual waves alone were more than the ship could bear.
The woman suddenly vanished from her spot. When she reappeared, she was already on the cloud ship, and at that instant, the ship stabilised.
Song Fu looked at the woman not far ahead, then quickly bowed slightly. “Senior, we are from the Nanzhou Guanxuan Academy…”
Before he could finish, the woman appeared directly in front of Ye Guan.
Seeing this, Song Fu’s expression changed dramatically again.
At that point, Fei Banqing suddenly stepped in front of Ye Guan. She looked at the woman before her. Though there was caution in her eyes, there was no fear.
The woman glanced at Fei Banqing, then said, “I mean no harm.”
With that, she looked at Ye Guan. “Come here. Let me have a look at you.”
Ye Guan stepped forward to the woman. His expression was calm, but the Path Sword within his body was already poised to strike.
The woman studied Ye Guan. After a moment, a trace of complexity flashed in her eyes. “What is your name?”
Ye Guan glanced at her. “Ye Guan.”
Ye Guan.
The woman said softly, “Guan…”
In the area, everyone watched the woman warily.
Then, the woman smiled faintly. Her expression softened considerably. “Are you heading to the Middle Earth Divine Continent?”
Ye Guan shook his head. “To the Upper Realm.”
The Upper Realm.
The woman’s brows furrowed slightly. After a moment, she smiled again. “If you ever come to the Middle Earth Divine Continent in the future, you can come find me.”
As she spoke, she opened her palm. A jade pendant slowly floated towards Ye Guan.
Ye Guan was somewhat surprised. “Senior, this is?”
The woman smiled. “I am with the Divine Clan. If you hold this jade pendant and come to find me, no one in the Divine Clan will dare stop you.”
Ye Guan was puzzled. “Senior, do you know me?”
The woman blinked. “Are we not getting to know each other right now?”
Ye Guan was speechless.
The woman smiled. “Little one, I look forward to you coming to the Middle Earth Divine Continent.”
With that, she turned directly. In the next moment, space-time cracked open before her. She stepped into the rift and vanished in an instant.
In the original spot, Ye Guan looked at the jade pendant in his hand, utterly bewildered.
Song Fu and the others nearby were also full of confusion.
In his mind, Ye Guan said, “Tower Master, she seems to know me.”
Little Tower replied, “Illusion.”
Ye Guan’s brows furrowed slightly. Little Tower continued, “Think about it. Someone that powerful, how could she possibly know you? Perhaps she was just acting on a whim.”
Ye Guan was silent for a moment, then said softly, “Indeed. Someone that strong has no reason to know me. Could it be… could she know my parents?”
Little Tower fell silent.
Damn it.
This guy is not easy to fool.
Ye Guan said, “Tower Master?”
Little Tower replied, “Your urgent priority is to properly improve your strength. Did you see her power just now? Terrifying, right?”
Ye Guan nodded, his expression grave. “Extremely terrifying.”
Little Tower said, “Work hard on cultivation. Strength is the true path. Everything else is illusory.”
Ye Guan nodded. Though he still had some doubts in his heart, he did not press further.
However, his intuition told him that this Tower Master was hiding something from him.
At that moment, Fei Banqing suddenly asked, “Little Guan, do you know that senior?”
Ye Guan shook his head. “I do not.”
Fei Banqing’s brows furrowed. “You do not?”
Ye Guan smiled bitterly. “I truly do not.”
Fei Banqing nodded slightly. “Then she must have seen your extraordinary talent and wished to form a good connection with you.”
Ye Guan smiled. “Perhaps.”
Fei Banqing nodded. She exchanged a glance with Song Fu. Neither spoke.
Clearly, this matter was not that simple.
However, neither pursued it further.
The cloud ship continued forward.
Nalan Jia walked to Ye Guan’s side. She glanced at him. “I feel you are becoming rather mysterious.”
Ye Guan smiled. “Because of that senior earlier?”
Nalan Jia nodded. “She definitely knows you, but you do not know her.”
Ye Guan fell silent.
Nalan Jia smiled faintly. “As far as I know, you were adopted by the Ye Clan, correct?”
Ye Guan nodded.
Nalan Jia said softly, “Do you know your own background?”
Ye Guan shook his head slightly. “I do not know the details. I only know a little. That is, I seem to be an illegitimate child, the kind that cannot be brought to light. My parents placed me in the Ye Clan to protect me.”
Illegitimate child.
Nalan Jia’s brows furrowed slightly.
She knew that in some great clans, illegitimate children could not be acknowledged publicly. Moreover, for the main family, an illegitimate child was often a source of shame.
Nalan Jia looked at Ye Guan and smiled faintly. “Do not mind this identity. Whether you are an illegitimate child or not, it makes no difference to me. In my heart, you are simply Ye Guan.”
Ye Guan turned to gaze into the depths of the starry sky. “Little Jia, this identity of mine may bring great danger in the future. I…”
Nalan Jia stepped to his side. She smiled. “If there truly is danger, then I will face it with you.”
Ye Guan was slightly stunned. Then he turned to look at Nalan Jia. She was gazing into the starry depths, her beautiful hair gently fluttering. She was stunning.
Ye Guan found himself staring, entranced.
Just like that, the two chatted at the bow all night.
The next day, the cloud ship entered a starry sky teleportation array.
Song Fu put away the cloud ship, then led everyone into the array. The array activated. Soon, everyone vanished within it.
After an unknown time, Song Fu and the group appeared before an ancient city.
The city walls were nearly a hundred zhang high, the gates dozens of zhang wide. It was extraordinarily grand and majestic.
At the city entrance, people came and went. It was very lively.
Ye Guan looked at the ancient city before him and exclaimed, “What a magnificent city.”
The others, like Sun Xiong, nodded slightly, their eyes full of amazement.
Xiao Ge laughed heartily. “Brother Ye, this is Upper City. My Xiao Clan is here. We will rest at my clan first.”
Ye Guan looked at Xiao Ge. “Brother Xiao, you are from the Upper Realm?”
Xiao Ge nodded. “Yes.”
Ye Guan smiled. “Then is the Martial Examination held in this Upper City?”
Xiao Ge shook his head. “No. The Martial Examination is in Cloud City.”
Ye Guan’s brows furrowed. “Cloud City?”
Xiao Ge suddenly pointed to the horizon. “Look there.”
Ye Guan turned. In the clouds at the limit of his vision, the faint outline of a magnificent giant city could be seen.
Seeing this, everyone was stunned.
Xiao Ge smiled. “During the competition, there will be simultaneous cloud projections across all three hundred and sixty prefectures. That means people in all three hundred and sixty prefectures can watch our matches.”
Ye Guan blinked. “What is cloud projection?”
Xiao Ge explained with a smile, “It is a special function developed by the Immortal Treasure Pavilion. I do not know the specifics, but anyway, academies in all three hundred and sixty prefectures can see our matches. In other words, if we enter the top ten, we will truly become famous throughout the world.”
Ye Guan said softly, “I have broadened my horizons.”
Xiao Ge laughed heartily. “I hear there are even more wondrous things in the Middle Earth Divine Continent.”
At that moment, an elder suddenly approached from afar. He quickly walked to the group, then bowed slightly to Song Fu. “Head Song, the family head has prepared a banquet. Please.”
Song Fu smiled faintly. “Thank you for the trouble.”
The elder quickly bowed again. “Head Song is too polite.”
Song Fu was about to speak when suddenly a loud laugh came from afar. “Junior Sister, you came without even saying a word. Do you look down on your senior brother?”
Hearing this, Fei Banqing’s gaze instantly turned icy cold.
Ye Guan glanced at Fei Banqing, then turned to look. Not far away, a middle-aged man accompanied by a woman in cyan slowly approached.
Fei Banqing looked at the middle-aged man, her eyes filled with undisguised killing intent.
Song Fu said gravely, “Stay calm.”
Fei Banqing said nothing.
The middle-aged man led the cyan-clothed woman to the group. He looked at Fei Banqing and smiled. “Junior Sister, it has been a long time.”
Fei Banqing’s expression was blank. “It seems you have been waiting here for me a long while.”
The middle-aged man smiled. “I knew you would come this time. However, I think this should be your last visit. Because, barring surprises, your Nanzhou Guanxuan Academy will once again finish last.”
His voice was loud, so everyone around heard it.
Upon hearing “Nanzhou Guanxuan Academy,” the crowd turned to look at Ye Guan and the others, their expressions peculiar.
The Nanzhou Guanxuan Academy had finished last for hundreds of years consecutively, thus earning the nickname “King of Last Place.”
Fei Banqing stared at the middle-aged man, killing intent radiating from her eyes. At that moment, Song Fu said softly, “Do not give them an excuse to target Little Guan and the others. Let us go.”
After a long silence, Fei Banqing turned and left.
Just then, the cyan-clothed woman beside the middle-aged man suddenly looked at Fei Banqing and sneered, “So this is the former saintess of the Xuantian Sect? Truly disappointing. Nothing more than a stray dog.”
Nalan Jia’s eyes narrowed, her right hand clenching tightly. Just then, a figure rushed out.
It was Ye Guan.
Ye Guan moved extremely fast. Moreover, he was very close to the cyan-clothed woman. Thus, before she could react, he seized her throat and slammed her backwards hard.
Bang.
The woman’s body smashed directly into the ground, cracking it instantly.
As the middle-aged man was about to act, Fei Banqing blocked him. Song Fu also appeared directly behind the man.
At that moment, Ye Guan suddenly grabbed the woman’s hair and dragged her forcefully to Fei Banqing. He stared at the woman’s twisted face. “Apologise to my mentor.”
The woman snarled viciously, “I am from the Xuantian Sect…”
Ye Guan slapped her hard across the right cheek.
Bang.
Her right cheek swelled red instantly.
“Ah.”
The woman roared in fury. “You dare humiliate me. I am from the Xuantian Sect…”
Ye Guan slapped her left cheek again.
Bang.
Her left cheek also swelled instantly. She raged like a madwoman. “If you have the guts, kill me. If you have the guts, kill me.”
Ye Guan suddenly drew a dagger. He held it across her throat, then slowly began to cut…
“Ah.”
This time, the woman finally grew afraid.
She quickly said, “I apologise. I am sorry. I am sorry…”
Ye Guan released her, then walked to Fei Banqing. He said softly, “She has apologised. Do not be angry anymore.”
Fei Banqing looked at Ye Guan without speaking.
…
