Chapter 4: Illegitimate Son

Upon returning to the Ye Clan, Ye Guan headed to the mountain behind the Ye Residence. No outsiders would come to interrupt him here, so he would often come here to cultivate.

Ye Guan stood near the summit of the mountain and closed his eyes. After a while, he pointed with his finger, and the Path Sword flew out. The sword soared into the sky and pierced the clouds.

The Path Sword was like a butterfly flitting between flowers as it pierced and cut through layers of clouds under Ye Guan’s control.

Eventually, Ye Guan’s face turned pallid.

He flicked his finger, and the Path Sword returned to him.

It consumes too much energy!

The Royal Sword Art was powerful, but it had the drawback of consuming too much energy to execute. The Nine Realms involved cultivating the physical body while becoming a Xiantian Realm cultivator involved cultivating Xiantian Energy.

The next realm was the Nascent Divinity Realm. In order to reach this realm, one had to give birth to a Divine Infant by using the Xiantian Energy they had gathered while at the Xiantian Realm.

The Divine Infant was like a second dantian that would almost double one’s profound energy reservoir.

The realm above the Nascent Divinity Realm was the Truth Realm.

A Truth Realm cultivator would have undergone a qualitative change in their profound energy. They could then release their profound energy out of their bodies, allowing them to infuse their profound energy into their techniques.

Ye Guan was currently in the Truth Realm.

The All-Truth Realm was beyond the Truth Realm. All-Truth Realm cultivators were capable of flight, and they were strong cultivators capable of harnessing the power of Heaven and Earth—harnessing lightning, fire, etc. In other words, All-Truth Realm cultivators were terrifying weapons of mass destruction.

However, Ye Guan was confident that he could kill an All-Truth Realm cultivator.

The Divine Path Realm was the realm above the All-Truth Realm, but Ye Guan had the Path Sword, so he was confident that he could kill a Divine Path Realm cultivator in an ambush.

Ye Guan looked down at the Path Sword in his hand, and the corners of his mouth curled up. However, he seemed to have thought of something and sighed. “It’s a pity, but I can’t fly while wielding a sword.”

“Says who?” Little Pagoda’s voice echoed all of a sudden. “You can definitely travel while wielding a sword!”

Ye Guan froze in surprise. “How?”

Little Pagoda said, “Stand on the sword and feel it. You have to become one with the sword!”

After a moment of silence, Ye Guan flicked his hand, and the Path Sword appeared in front of him. He jumped on it and closed his eyes.

Seeing that, Little Pagoda said, “Imagine that you’re a part of the sword, and then think of making it fly—”

Ye Guan interrupted Little Pagoda by soaring into the air.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Guan pierced the clouds.

At the sight, Little Pagoda muttered, “H-he’s much more talented than his predecessor!”

While soaring through the clouds, Ye Guan looked down at the tall mountain and the Ancient Desolate City that had grown smaller in his eyes. He was both nervous and excited.

Sword Travel! It had to be known that one had to reach the All-Truth Realm before one could soar through the skies. However, Ye Guan could already take flight using his sword. This is so cool!

“Hahaha!” Ye Guan burst out into laughter while soaring through the clouds. He reckoned that he could stay up there for a day.

Eventually, Ye Guan had to descend. He still wanted to fly, but he had run out of energy. Ye Guan excitedly looked at the Path Sword and said, “Master Pagoda, can I ask you a question?”

Little Pagoda responded, “Ask away!”

Ye Guan’s expression turned solemn as he asked, “Am I a young master of a grand clan?”

Little Pagoda asked, “What makes you think that?”

Ye Guan smiled and explained, “My sword is too strong, and I also have a sword art inheritance. In addition, ten years here is only a day outside, so I’m guessing that I should be a young master of some extremely powerful clan that was left somewhere else to grow and develop on his own, am I right?”

Little Pagoda was silent for a while before it said, “You’re half-right!”

Ye Guan frowned slightly. “Half-right?”

Little Pagoda explained, “You are indeed a young master of a grand clan, but you’re an illegitimate son!”

An Illegitimate son? Ye Guan blinked. “Is it the shameful kind?”

Little Pagoda’s voice sounded serious as it exclaimed, “Yes! I brought you to this tiny place to hide! Now that you know your origin, you have to work hard and cultivate. Otherwise, what do you think will happen once the clan finds you?”

Ye Guan’s expression turned grim. He could already imagine what kind of predicament would be waiting for him if he were discovered. All of a sudden, Ye Guan felt like the pressure on him had increased.

Little Pagoda continued. “You have to do your best. If you want to survive, then you have to be strong enough. Do you understand?”

Ye Guan nodded and exclaimed, “I’ll work extremely hard!”

Ye Guan was already familiar with the terrors of being powerless, and he didn’t want to repeat that experience.

Ye Guan said, “Master Pagoda, can I train in the pagoda?”

Little Pagoda refused. “No.”

Ye Guan was confused. “Why not?”

Little Pagoda explained, “This is a special realm and opening it requires a vast amount of spiritual energy. I’m also heavily injured, so I can’t help you train here every day.”

Ye Guan asked hesitantly, “What happened to the spiritual crystals that I gave you?”

Little Pagoda exclaimed, “Those spiritual crystals are too inferior, and they are basically useless to me!”

Ye Guan nodded and said, “All right, I’ll find a way to give you better spiritual crystals!”

Little Pagoda nodded. “Mmhm.”

An old man was walking over to Ye Guan.

The old man bowed slightly upon arriving in front of Ye Guan and said, “Heir, Clan Leader is looking for you.”

“All right!” Ye Guan nodded and headed down the mountain.

Meanwhile, a mysterious voice filled the world of the pagoda. “Little Pagoda, why didn’t you tell him his true identity?”

Little Pagoda calmly replied, “Do you really want him to become like his father? Do you want him to call you nonstop? Can you even take it?”

“Enough! I have had enough of that!” the mysterious voice said almost immediately.

Little Pagoda sighed and muttered, “His character is great, and he has an extraordinary talent. Overall, he’s a good sprout. We must nurture him properly, and we must not let him end up like his father!”

“Why didn’t you nurture his father properly back then?” asked the mysterious voice.

Little Pagoda protested. “His father was too strong to be nurtured!”

The mysterious voice was speechless. After a while, it spoke once more, “Little Pagoda, I feel like you’ve matured a bit.”

Little Pagoda said softly, “The universe will eventually burn down, and the Great Dao will collapse one day, but I have already perished, and I am currently on my eternal rest. Won’t anyone else mature as well if they were in my shoes?”

When Little Pagoda’s words fell, it went silent for a moment before continuing. “And no one can protect me anymore…”

...

Ye Clan, Administrative Hall.

When Ye Guan arrived at the Administrative Hall, Ye Xiao and the elders were already waiting for him.

Ye Guan looked around and saw at least six elders waiting for him.

Ye Xiao said, “Have a seat!”

Ye Guan nodded and sat down.

Ye Xiao looked at Ye Guan and said, “We have received news that a secret realm has appeared in Nanshan Mountain. Apparently, extremely pure spiritual energy has been flowing out of the secret realm, and our scouts reported the possibility of purple spiritual crystal mines existing in the secret realm.”

Ye Guan froze upon hearing Ye Guan mention the possibility that the secret realm might contain purple spiritual crystal mines. It wasn’t really strange that he was stupefied because spiritual crystals were usually used for trading in Nanzhou.

Spiritual crystals were categorized into the following grades—low, mid, high, and pure. Spiritual crystals above pure grade were called purple spiritual crystals, and they were extremely valuable.

They were so valuable that not even the entire Ye Clan had a purple spiritual crystal.

Ye Guan fell into deep contemplation. He had given Master Pagoda high-grade spiritual crystals, but those spiritual crystals were apparently too inferior to be of help to his injuries.

Ye Guan couldn’t help but think that perhaps purple spiritual crystals would be helpful to Master Pagod. Naturally, purple spiritual crystals would also be helpful to Ye Clan and himself. Therefore, it didn’t take Ye Guan long to make a decision.

Ye Xiao noticed the change in Ye Guan’s expression and asked, “You want to have a look?”

Ye Guan nodded and said, “Yes!”

Ye Xiao muttered, “We have the same thoughts as you, but you have to understand that the secret realm that appeared in Nanshan Mountain is not an ordinary secret realm. It’s more dangerous than the average secret realm…

“We have also received news that the Li Clan and Nan Clan have sent their own people to check it out. In addition, Yongzhou City, which is nearer to Nanshan Mountain than us, has most likely sent their own people as well, so…”

Ye Guan smiled. He knew what Ye Xiao wanted to say.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Please be at ease, Clan Leader. I will be extremely careful,” said Ye Guan.

“I know that you are both meticulous and cautious…” Ye Xiao trailed off before continuing. “However, many powers will be fighting for the secret realm. It’ll be great if we manage to grab onto an opportunity in that secret realm. Anyway, do not be too greedy. You are more important than anything else to us!”

The Second Elder walked over, and he sounded serious as he said, “Little Guan, you’re great in every aspect aside from your kind heart. However, you must remember that you will be at a huge disadvantage if your heart were to remain soft in that secret realm!”

Ye Guan nodded slightly and replied, “I understand!”

Meanwhile, Ye Xiao took out a black armor and handed it over to Ye Guan.

“This is yours,” said Ye Xiao.

The elders and Ye Guan froze upon seeing the black armor. It had to be known that spiritual treasures were categorized into the following grades in Nanzhou—Profound, Spiritual, Treasure, Law, Dao, Immortal, and Divine.

The black armor that Ye Xiao had handed over to Ye Guan was the Ye Clan’s one and only spiritual-grade spiritual artifact. Of course, it wasn’t because the Ye Clan was too stingy to purchase powerful spiritual artifacts.

They were simply too poor to afford powerful spiritual artifacts.

The spiritual grade spiritual artifact was the Ye Clan’s heirloom, and the clan leader was supposed to be the only one who could wear it. Spiritual artifacts were important for cultivators, and there would be times when external help from an spiritual artifact was required to break through obstacles.

Ye Guan looked at the Black Armor and felt warm inside. However, he wanted to reject the offer. Unfortunately, Ye Xiao was a step ahead of him and shoved the spiritual artifact into his hands.

“There’s no time to waste, and I’m giving it to you, so you should just take it!”

“Okay!” Ye Guan nodded hesitantly before accepting the Black Armor.

With that being said, Ye Guan bowed and said to the elders, “I’m off!”

Ye Guan finally turned around and left.

An unknown emotion flashed across Ye Xiao’s eyes as he watched Ye Guan’s departing figure. No one knew what he was thinking.

The Second Elder muttered, “I finally understand why the previous clan leader chose you to be his successor! The Grand Elder’s craving for power is insatiable, and he lacks foresight. He only knows how to chase temporary gain…

“As for me, I’m too calculative and scheming, but you… you’re loyal, and you know to consider the clan’s bigger picture…” The Second Elder trailed off. He shook his head and admitted. “We all pale in comparison to you!”

Ye Xiao looked at the Second Elder. “What do you think of Little Guan?”

“He is calm, meticulous, loyal, and strong. He’s also decisive, brave, and smart…” he replied, trailing off upon realizing something. He stared at Ye Xiao in disbelief and muttered, “Clan Leader, you…”

Ye Xiao muttered in response, “We’ve become old!”

...

The Nanshan Mountain’s chain of mountains extended for thousands of kilometers, earning it the moniker of the Nanshan Mountain Range. Since time immemorial, the Nanshan Mountain Range had always been filled with demonic beats.

However, the demonic beasts learned to live with humans thanks to the efforts of a particular swordsman thirty million years ago, who defeated the Demon Clan. Since then, the humans had lived in harmony with the Demon Clan.

Of course, skirmishes had always been unavoidable between the two sides, but not a single major war had occurred between humans and demonic beasts for over thirty million years and counting.

When Ye Guan finally arrived at Nanshan Mountain Range, he saw that the usually empty mountain range was filled with powerful cultivators. Naturally, the Ancient Desolate City wasn’t the only city with cultivators.

The Ancient Desolate City was on the leftmost region of Nanzhou, but there were hundreds of cities similar in scale to the Ancient Desolate City throughout the entire region. Naturally, most of them thrived in the spiritual crystal industry.

Boom!

The clouds suddenly split open as a huge and magnificent carriage emerged from the clouds.

Crimson flames surrounded the horse, and it was several times larger than an ordinary horse. It would also leave fiery hoofprints in the sky every time it galloped.

Ye Guan’s pupils shrank at the sight.

A Flaming Horse!

The horse was a legendary Flaming Horse, and it was an All-Truth Realm demonic beast.

Ye Guan’s expression sank upon seeing the carriage. The individual in the carriage was obviously from a powerful clan. Fortunately, Ye Guan didn’t have to wait long to see the individual in the carriage.

The curtains of the magnificent carriage were pulled open, and the beautiful visage of a young woman appeared. The young woman’s skin was as white as snow, and she was wearing a sky-blue dress. The light in her eyes was as sharp as a knife as she looked around coldly and arrogantly.

Her arrogant demeanor made everyone feel wary and intimidated.

The curtains were opened further, and another beautiful face emerged. It was the beautiful visage of another young woman, who was stunning, to say the least. The young woman sported a white skirt that seemed as gentle and pleasant as snow.

The ancient book she was holding made her appear elegant and classy.

Ye Guan froze upon seeing the young woman, and it was all because the young woman was none other than Nalan Jia. Ye Guan didn’t expect to see his fiancee here.

Nalan Jia announced. “The Nanshan Mountain Range will now be under the jurisdiction of the three biggest clans. Those who do not belong to the three biggest clans have fifteen minutes to leave. Otherwise, they will be executed summarily!”

When Nalan Jia’s words fell, three banners that spanned over a hundred meters were unfurled.

The banners settled in the air above the Nanshan Mountain Range.

The Nan Clan, Si Clan, and Zheng Clan—these clans were the three biggest clans in Nanzhou.

The cultivators were stupefied at the sight. They didn’t expect that the secret realm would spur the three biggest families in Nanzhou into action.