Hearing Tuoba Gu's words, Ye Guan's lips curled up slightly. "You're smart."

With that, he turned around and walked down the stage.

Tuoba Gu let out a sigh of relief. When Ye Guan had asked him that question, he broke out into a cold sweat, and he felt suffocated with his heart pounding wildly against his chest.

A certain feeling had also engulfed his heart—the feeling of death!

At that moment, he was truly afraid. As he watched Ye Guan's departing figure, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.

Who exactly is he?

The swordsmen looked at Ye Guan with curiosity and seriousness in their eyes.

Anyone capable of becoming an inner sect disciple was no ordinary person. At that moment, they realized that Ye Yang, who was a Xiantian Realm cultivator, had been pretending to be a pig to prey on a tiger.

They better be careful in the future!

Yu Ning kept her eyes fixed on Ye Guan. She was curious about his background, so she secretly investigated him. However, she couldn't find anything at all. His origins were extremely mysterious!

However, the mystery surrounding Ye Guan only made her feel more curious about him.

An Mujin was also staring at Ye Guan.

"Brother Ye… you really are interesting," he remarked and chuckled.

***

After Ye Guan descended from the Life or Death Stage, he turned to look at Fu Ji and Yang Yian, smiling as he said, "Let's head back."

The three of them were about to walk away when a swordsman walked over with a smile and said, "Greetings, Brother Ye."

Ye Guan was surprised. "And you are?"

He had just joined the inner sect, so he had yet to meet every single inner sect disciple.

The swordsman smiled and said, "My name is Lu Xuanfeng."

Then, he took out three talismans and handed them to Ye Guan. "Brother Ye, it'll take you quite a while to return to the sect from here. These are transportation talismans with the coordinates for the inner sect.

"If you don't mind, you can use them to go back. Don't worry, these talismans aren't a favor, and I don't have any ulterior motives. I just want to get to know you and Brother Fu. That's all."

Fu Ji glanced at Lu Xuanfeng but did not speak.

Ye Guan did not refuse the gesture. He took the talismans and smiled. "Thank you."

For him, it was always better to have another friend out here than to have another enemy. He was willing to befriend anyone as long as they weren't violating his principles.

Since Ye Guan was willing to accept his gift, Lu Xuanfeng's smile grew brighter.

"Farewell," he said, cupping his fist. Then, he hopped onto his sword and flew away.

Ye Guan watched him leave with a smile. "Let's go."

He grabbed Yang Yian's hand and activated the teleportation talisman. In an instant, the three of them were surrounded by blue light and vanished. When they reappeared, they were already at the Inner Sect Peak.

Yang Yian looked around in awe with her eyes wide open. "So impressive!"

Ye Guan laughed heartily, ruffing her little head. He then turned to look at Fu Ji.

When Fu Ji met Ye Guan's gaze, he bowed deeply and said, "Thank you for your help, Brother Ye."

Ye Guan smiled faintly. "Brother Fu, there's no shame in coming from a humble background. Have you not heard that Sword Master Qingshan was once just an outer sect disciple? But look at what he accomplished later. How many in this world could rival him?"

***

In a starry sky somewhere in the vast expanse, there were towering blood-red tombstones, and each one emanated a more sinister air than the last.

On one of the towering tombstones, a man in a blue robe stood proudly while holding a sword. The tombstone itself trembled violently beneath his feet. He seemed to have sensed something and burst out laughing.

"My precious grandson is truly talented,

haha!

" He slapped his right hand downward, sending a sword pen into the stone. "Only my grandson can remove that sword pen, so be obedient and wait for him."

He turned around to leave, but he stopped and took out a portrait before sticking it onto the stone. "This is my son. His name is Yang Guan."

With that, he soared into the air on his sword, vanishing into the depths of the starry skies.

After a long while, a furious roar erupted from within the stone. "Find him! Mobilize the strongest cultivators of the Heavenly Tomb Civilization and find Young Master Yang no matter what!"

The tombstones around him shook violently, and a mysterious energy shot out toward the vast starry expanse.

***

Upon hearing Ye Guan's words, Fu Ji revealed a bitter smile and remained silent.

Ye Guan spoke earnestly, "Brother Fu, let me say a few more words. In life, others may look down on us, but we cannot look down on ourselves because others will look down on us even more.

"The world admires the strong. If you want the respect of others, relying on being humble or flattering them will never work. Only strength can earn you the respect of others.

Thud!

Fu Ji suddenly knelt down and clenched his fists. "Brother Ye, I understand what you're trying to say, but you don't know how hard it is for the people at the bottom to change their fates. My talent is on par with theirs, and I work ten times harder than they do, but I will always be behind them.

"Why? It's all because while they can use pills to improve their cultivation bases, I'm barely making ends meet. While they have famous masters to guide them, I can only rely on myself and learn bit by bit.

"Before they became disciples of the Sword Sect, they already had sword techniques and spiritual treasures to help them, while I could only exchange for them using my academy points after accumulating them in the Sword Sect…"

At this point, Fu Ji's eyes turned red as he added, "I don't envy them, and I don't resent my mother as well. Brother Ye, do you know? My mother raised me single-handedly. She relied on selling steamed buns to support me. Without a husband, she suffered a lot and endured too many hardships.

"The reason I've been enduring all of this is not because I lack courage or fear death but because I'm worried about my mother. What's going to happen to my mother once I'm dead?

"When they kill someone, they can use money to settle and avoid responsibility. But I'm just an ordinary person with no power, influence, or background. I don't have the right to fight back against them."

Ye Guan remained silent for a moment and let out a quiet sigh. He bent down to help Fu Ji up, but he shook his head.

"Brother Ye, I know you are no ordinary person. I want to ask you for a chance. A chance to change my fate. This may be my only chance in life…"

Fu Ji was about to kowtow but was stopped by Ye Guan.

Ye Guan looked at him deeply and asked, "I can give you this opportunity, but can you endure hardship?"

Fu Ji was overjoyed and quickly responded, "I can do it! I can endure any hardship!"

"Then get up."

Fu Ji hesitated a moment before standing up.

Ye Guan lightly patted his shoulder. "Promise me. Promise me that this will be the last time you will ever kneel to anyone."

Fu Ji nodded. "I promise you!"

Ye Guan smiled faintly and pointed his finger at Fu Ji's forehead.

"This is the Sword Dao Inheritance of a senior. His name is Ye Xiuran[1], and he was an unparalleled swordsman. I hope you won't bring shame to his legacy."

Ye Guan had copied a portion of Ye Xiuran's Sword Dao Inheritance to study and learn. What he gave Fu Ji was not the full inheritance but the fundamentals. Fu Ji wouldn't be able to understand the entire inheritance, and it could even invite disaster if Ye Guan gave him the entire thing.

A Sword Dao Inheritance! Fu Ji trembled with excitement. He opened his eyes and was about to kneel to Ye Guan in gratitude, but Ye Guan stopped him again.

Ye Guan smiled and said, "Focus on your cultivation. Don't disgrace the senior."

"I will."

"Go."

Fu Ji bowed deeply to Ye Guan, then turned and left.

After Fu Ji left, Yang Yian asked, "Why are you helping him?"

"A drop of water given in kindness will be repaid with a spring's worth of water."

Yang Yian was confused.

Ye Guan didn't explain and simply said, "It's time to study."

He grabbed her by the hand and led her back to his courtyard.

Upon their return, Ye Guan began teaching Yang Yian how to read. During their trip to Qingyun City, Ye Guan purchased a few books in addition to buying their daily necessities. He wanted Yang Yian to finish reading the books before anything else.

Of course, he also taught her cultivation. With access to the best spiritual crystals, Yang Yian's cultivation speed was abnormally fast.

It was late at night, and Yang Yian had finally fallen asleep.

Ye Guan returned to his own room and sat cross-legged on the ground. He took out Tuoba Gu's storage ring and saw hundreds of Pure-grade spiritual crystals, as well as some pills and miscellaneous items.

Ye Guan chuckled. With these spiritual crystals, he now had more than a thousand Pure-grade spiritual crystals. For him, this was no small fortune. Money was incredibly precious for someone like him, after all!

Ye Guan had never considered money to be an issue, especially since he had inherited his family's fortune. In his eyes, money was just a number, but he had finally realized that he was mistaken.

Money was important, and a man without money wasn't a man!

Without much thought, Ye Guan put away the storage ring and took out more than a hundred Pure-grade spiritual crystals to begin absorbing them.

First of all, he would make a breakthrough!

An hour later, a surge of energy erupted from him.

Nascent Divinity Realm!

He took a deep breath, and a smile appeared on his lips. He just had to make another breakthrough to reach the Truth Realm, and then he would be able to fly on his sword.

However, he dared not continue. He had just made a breakthrough, so it would be too suspicious if he had another one.

Just then, he recalled something and asked, "Master Pagoda, the Sword Sect doesn't seem to be that corrupt."

"No, I don't think so," Little Pagoda responded.

"Are you talking about Fu Ji?"

"Yes."

Little Pagoda was silent for a while before saying, "He's right. It's extremely difficult for the common people to change their fates. Furthermore, as families and sects grow stronger, they will only continue to become more powerful.

"Simply put, the rich will get richer, and the poor will get poorer. It's not that these families and sects are not allowed to get better. As long as they don't plunder or oppress and simply walk down the right path, there'll be nothing wrong with it, but…"

Ye Guan's expression gradually darkened.

Little Pagoda added, "This opportunity to start from scratch is pretty good. This will allow you to experience your own order. Only through this process will you be able to find any issues with the order."

Ye Guan nodded. "I must take full responsibility for my order!"

Rumble!

A sword intent rushed out of him, but it wasn't the Invincible Sword Intent.

It was a brand-new sword intent.

1. Chapter 932 ☜

Coca and Corlumbus's Thoughts

What an incredible moment! A new sword intent emerging marks a significant turning point in Ye Guan’s journey. The Invincible Sword Intent has been such a defining point of Ye Guan's journey but this new development hints at something even more profound.

This new sword intent feels like it embodies a deeper understanding, one that goes beyond raw power and taps into something uniquely his. I can’t wait to see how this evolves!