Ye Guan dashed out of the grand hall. As he reached the doorway, an elder clad in a black robe appeared in front of him, blocking his path. "Young Master Ye, the Academy Chief has given orders. You are not allowed to leave the Sword Sect for the time being."

"Get out of my way!" Ye Guan roared, his voice filled with fury. In an instant, an overwhelming surge of sword intent erupted from him, knocking the black-robed elder back several meters away.

The elder, stunned and shaken, looked at Ye Guan with wide eyes. Then, his face darkened as he prepared to retaliate.

Just then, Yue Qi appeared, standing directly in front of the elder.

"Move," she commanded.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Guan and Yang Yian took to the skies and vanished into the distance.

The face of the elder in black twisted in fury. "Sect Master Yue, you—"

"Get out of my way!" Yue Qi cut him off, her voice laced with disdain as she, too, followed them into the sky. She could sense that something was amiss, and she knew she had to follow them. Otherwise, Ye Yang would be in grave danger.

On the other side, two figures looked at Yue Qi and Ye Guan in the sky.

They were none other than Zhu Qiu and "Zong Wu."

Zhu Qiu's gaze was as cold as ice as he looked up at the departing figures of Yue Qi and Ye Guan.

"Sect Master Yue is troublesome to handle," Zhu Qiu muttered coldly.

"Don't worry, we will deal with her," "Zong Wu" replied calmly.

Zhu Qiu glanced at him but said nothing.

"Zong Wu" said, "I'm more interested in Ye Yang. Someone like him can't possibly be ordinary. I wonder if our clan has done a background check on him yet…"

"Aren't you afraid that his backing is stronger than yours?"

"

Pfft!

" "Zong Wu" erupted into a peal of laughter. "That's the best joke I've ever heard in a while.

"Indeed." Zhu Qiu started laughing as well.

"Zong Wu" continued. "Once this matter is settled, we will arrange for you to enter the External Committee. For now, don't think about the Guanxuan Committee."

"Understood," Zhu Qiu said, nodding. His eyes gleamed with a burning desire as he thought about his bright future.

***

Ye Guan soon arrived at Fu Ji's house. Seeing that Aunt Jiao was unharmed, he sighed in relief. Aunt Jiao grabbed his hand, and her voice was shaking with fear as she muttered, "The butcher... he..."

Ye Guan said nothing.

Realization struck Aunt Jiao in that instant, and she fainted.

Ye Guan and Yang Yian rushed to support her.

Just then, Yue Qi entered the room.

Ye Guan stood at the bedside, staring at Fu Ji's lifeless body. He was silent for a long while. Tears streamed down Yang Yian's face, and her hands were constantly wiping them away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect that they would be so cruel," Yue Qi said with a dark face.

Ye Guan turned to look at her and said, "Sect Master Yue, you are most likely their next target."

Yue Qi frowned. "It won't be so simple. They might want to harm me, but I don't answer to the Academy. I belong to the Sword Sect, and the Sword Sect doesn't listen to anyone except the Academy Master.

"Even the Guanxuan Committee doesn't have the authority to command us..."

"I'm saying that they might deal with you directly."

Yue Qi's eyes widened with disbelief as she muttered, "Would they dare?"

Ye Guan closed his eyes; his silence spoke volumes.

Yue Qi's expression darkened. Under normal circumstances, such an act would be unthinkable, but given the actions of their enemies so far, who could say for sure what they would do next?

"It's my fault. I should have had you contact the Sword Sect first rather than the Academy," Ye Guan said.

Yue Qi stiffened at the mention of the Sword Sect. She produced a transmission talisman and crushed it. She looked up at Ye Guan, and a hint of panic was in her voice as she said, "I can't send any transmission outside…"

Ye Guan shook his head with a grim face. "It's too late."

Yue Qi tightened her grip on her sword; fury and determination were written all over her face. An oppressive sword intent radiated from her as well.

"Leave now and announce that you will no longer interfere in this matter."

"Do you think I'm afraid of death?"

Ye Guan shook his head. "It's not about fear. It's about strategy. Retreat for now, so they'll temporarily abandon their plans against you. Only then can you go to the Sword Sect and inform the higher-ups."

Yue Qi remained silent.

"This is our only option for now," Ye Guan added grimly.

Yue Qi, however, shook her head. "They'll figure out what we're doing the moment I show any signs of doing that. They'll strike without hesitation."

Ye Guan fell silent.

"Are you brave enough to go with me to the Main Academy?" Yue Qi asked.

"If you do, I will accompany you there with everything I've got," Yue Qi added.

"Sect Master Yue, if you do that, you will—"

"Cut the crap!" Yue Qi's eyes flashed with anger. "Just tell me if you dare. If you do, I will go with you to the Main Academy. I don't believe anyone can control everything!"

"Why are you doing this?"

"For justice!"

Yue Qi turned sharply and walked toward the door. Just before she left, she added, "You have half an hour to decide."

With that, she walked out of the room.

Inside the room, Ye Guan stood in silence, deep in his own thoughts.

"Aunt Jiao..." Yang Yian said, breaking the silence.

Ye Guan walked over to Aunt Jiao's side.

Aunt Jiao opened her eyes and stared at Ye Guan in a daze.

"This is my fault… I-I killed him," Aunt Jiao said with tears welling up her eyes. Then, she grabbed Ye Guan's hand and added, "Yong Master Ye, please... let this matter rest. Don't let anything happen to you..."

"All right," Ye Guan replied, bowing his head slightly.

Aunt Jiao looked at him while crying.

"Stay here with her," Ye Guan said softly.

Yang Yian's heart was heavy with worry. She knew what Ye Guan was about to do, as she had overheard his conversation with Yue Qi, but all she could do was nod and support him.

She knew that she would be a burden out there. In addition, Aunt Jiao needed someone to look after her, and Yang Yian was the only one who could do that.

Ye Guan gently caressed Yang Yian's hair. "Take good care of Aunt Jiao and yourself…"

Before leaving, he approached Fu Ji's lifeless body. His expression hardened as he looked down at the cold corpse, and after a long while, he turned around and finally left the room.

Yang Yian held Aunt Jiao's hand tightly.

Aunt Jiao's eyes were blank, and her face was dull.

Yang Yian wanted to offer words of comfort, but she knew deep down that nothing she could say would matter at this point. What she needed to do was stay by Aunt Jiao's side and make sure that she wouldn't do anything reckless.

***

Yue Qi had been waiting for Ye Guan all this while, and a hundred and twenty swordsmen—all at least Dao Immortal Realm experts—were standing behind her. They were the strongest swordsmen of the Qingzhou Sword Sect.

Yue Qi looked at Ye Guan. "Let's go. We'll head to the Immortal Treasures Pavilion."

"From the looks of it, the Immortal Treasures Pavillion probably won't let us use their teleportation arrays."

"I know, but we have to go there. I want to know whether our enemies can make the Immortal Treasures Pavilion obey them."

Ye Guan nodded, and without another word, they soared into the sky with the rest of the swordsmen. Soon, they arrived at the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.

Just as they had arrived, the general manager of the Qingzhou Immortal Treasures Pavillon stepped out to greet them. He was an elder named Liu Zhong.

Liu Zhong glanced at Ye Guan before looking at Yue Qi. "Sect Master Yue, what is the meaning of this?"

"General Manager Liu, given the Immortal Treasures Pavilion's intelligence network, you definitely know what's going on. We need to use the teleportation array to reach the Main Academy."

Liu Zhong remained silent.

"We need to use the teleportation array of the Immortal Treasures Pavillion to get to the Main Academy," Yue Qi said, glaring at Liu Zhong.

Liu Zhong remained silent as Yue Qi stared at him, waiting for his response.

If they wanted to get to the Main Academy, the teleportation array of the Immortal Treasures Pavillion was the quickest and safest way to do so. After all, it was the Immortal Treasures Pavillion. No one would dare to destroy their arrays.

Liu Zhong sighed. "Sect Master Yue, why go to such lengths?"

Yue Qi's eyes narrowed as she said, "I'm surprised. I had no idea that the Immortal Treasures Pavilion would actually be afraid of provoking anyone."

Liu Zhong shook his head. "Sect Master Yue, you know how strong 'Zong Wu' is. His strength is formidable, but the young man next to you… I've tried to investigate him, but I found nothing about him. He's suspicious.

"Sect Master Yue, you have a bright future ahead of you. It's simply not worth it to jeopardize your future and your sect for some stranger."

Yue Qi's eyes blazed with fury. "The External Committee and the Guanxuan Committee will decide whether he's suspicious or not. Isn't it better to let them decide?"

Liu Zhong fell silent.

Yue Qi's voice dripped with disdain. "You're already a traitor, so don't bother pretending to be innocent or virtuous."

Liu Zhong's face darkened. "Sect Master Yue, don't go overboard."

Yue Qi shook her head, as she turned to Ye Guan. "Let's go."

Ye Guan's gaze locked with Liu Zhong's. "General Manager Liu, have you heard about what happened to the Academy Master? He was wronged, but in the end, his good name was cleared, and the Immortal Treasures Pavilion underwent a massive purge.

"Don't you worry that your actions today might come back to haunt you later on?"

Liu Zhong sneered. "Young man, the Academy Master's name was cleared not because he was lucky but because he already had supporters in the Guanxuan Committee. Without them, he wouldn't have survived."

"As for you..." Liu Zhong chuckled. "Do you really think that you have that kind of support? If you do, tell me. As long as they're stronger than Zong Wu's backers. I'll go ahead and help you."

Ye Guan's eyes narrowed. "My backer is the Academy Master—the Guanxuan Laws."

Liu Zhong scoffed. "What a joke."

Ye Guan turned to Yue Qi and said. "Let's go."

Swoosh!

The two took to the skies and flew toward the distant horizon.

Left all alone, Liu Zhong shook his head in disbelief. As he watched them disappear into the distant skies, he muttered to himself, "An absolute powerhouse is protecting the Academy Master, so he can't die. But you, what about you?

"How dare you compare yourself to the Academy Master. That fool actually wanted me to help him? Does he even deserve my help? What a clown." Liu Zhong turned around and walked away.