Chapter 61: Ao Tian

Ye Guan felt like there was a huge mountain boring down on his shoulders upon entering the cultivation room. The air was so heavy that he found it extremely difficult to breathe.

However, he smiled upon sensing the terrifying pressure. Ye Guan wasn’t exactly a knowledgeable swordsman, but there was one thing he wanted to specialize in as a swordsman—speed!

Ye Guan believed that he could break through anything with enough speed, and that was why he had a need for speed. He reached that conclusion after killing many powerhouses in Nanzhou by taking advantage of his speed.

He won because he was faster, so Ye Guan decided to focus on speed. Of course, there was another reason why Ye Guan had made the decision to focus on only one thing, and it was all because he was poor.

Cultivation was expensive, after all. He could only focus on one thing for the time being.

Ye Guan emptied his mind and looked around. He was slightly surprised by the thickness and purity of the spiritual energy in the room.

He reckoned that there was an Earth-grade spiritual vein here.

Ye Guan’s expression changed. He didn’t expect that an Earth-grade spiritual vein would be powering up a single cultivation room. He finally understood why it was so expensive to rent.

Soon, Ye Guan emptied his mind once more and started cultivating. This cultivation room costs a thousand gold spiritual crystals a day. I don’t have time to waste!

…

Ao Tian was sitting in front of a beautiful woman in the great hall of the True Dragon Clan. Ao Tian couldn’t afford to be arrogant in front of the beautiful woman because she was Grand Elder An Fei of Qingzhou’s An Clan.

The An Clan’s roots weren’t in Zhongtu Divine Continent but in Qingzhou, but even the Undying Clan had to tread lightly around them. The An Clan was special throughout the Guanxuan Universe, and every clan had to give the An Clan preferential treatment.

The An Clan had produced two martial goddesses. The second martial goddess of the An Clan ended up becoming one of the Sword Master’s wives. Back then, the Sword Master brought a million cultivators to ask for Martial Goddess An’s hands in Qingzhou.

He even made those cultivators kneel on one knee.

Their wedding was unprecedentedly grand.

It had already been a million years since then. Martial Goddess An had already become a part of the Yang Clan, but no one was still daring enough to look down on the An Clan.

It was a fact that only a few were privy to, but the An Clan had five enrollment slots for the Main Guanxuan Academy. On the contrary, the Undying Clan only had one enrollment slot.

The An Clan was so special that even the powerhouses of the Main Guanxuan Academy had to respect them, and they were strong and influential enough to be arrogant.

An Fei calmly said, “I heard that Ye Guan joined the Daoist Sect.”

Ao Tian nodded. “That’s right.”

An Fei stared deeply at Ao Tian and asked. “Clan Leader Ao Tian, what are you going to do?”

Ao Tian thought about it for a moment before saying, “Monk Dao is difficult to handle.”

An Fei was surprised.

“Indeed, but he’s just one person,” said An Fei.

Ao Tian nodded and said, “Ye Guan is a swordsman, and his sword is special. I reckon that his backer is a Great Sword Immortal.”

An Fei smirked and asked, “Clan Leader Ao Tian, are you trying to sound me out?”

Ao Tian didn’t say anything in response. He still hadn’t taken any action because he wanted to know the An Clan’s opinion. More specifically, he wanted their support.

“An Mu was a rare talent, but Ye Guan still killed him. Our clan will naturally avenge him, but…” An Fei trailed off. She gazed deeply at Ao Tian before continuing. “It’s not convenient for us to take action. Do you understand what I’m saying, Clan Leader?”

Ao Tian nodded. “I understand.”

An Mu had fought Ye Guan in a fair battle, so the An Clan’s reputation would definitely plummet if they were to openly avenge An Mu.

“Our clan has received five enrollment slots for the Main Guanxuan Academy, but we don’t have that many qualified members of the younger generation this year, so I’m thinking about giving the True Dragon Clan an enrollment slot,” said An Fei.

Ao Tian’s eyes sparkled in glee.

An enrollment slot had been his goal all this while. The True Dragon Clan had no issues acting as the bad guy as long as the An Clan was willing to pay them.

Ao Tian could barely suppress his excitement. He chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, Elder Fei. His days are numbered.”

An Fei nodded and stood up before saying, “Clan Leader Ao Tian, I want you to remember that it is necessary to nip extraordinary talents like Ye Guan in the bud.”

“A lengthy night is bound to be full of dreams,” she added.

Ao Tian nodded. “Indeed.”

An Fei nodded slightly before turning around and walking away.

Ao Tian broke out into a grin upon An Fei’s departure. An enrollment spot!

The True Dragon Clan seemed impressive and powerful on the Zhongtu Divine Continent, but the entire clan was nothing compared to the Main Guanxuan Academy.

In fact, the most talented member of the True Dragon Clan would struggle to become a student of the Main Guanxuan Academy. The Main Guanxuan Academy was a gathering of monsters. It was a scary place that devoured the weak.

The Zhongtu Divine Continent had over three thousand worlds, but the Zhongtu Divine Continent wasn’t the only continent in existence. There were eight other continents, and they were collectively known as the Nine Continents.

The Nine Continents were under the governance of the Guanxuan Universe, but there were also other universes with a similar number of worlds as the Nine Continents.

It was unknown just how many universes were out there, but there were currently at least ten thousand known universes.

The Main Guanxuan Academy was the goal of every talent from so many universes and worlds.

Therefore, it wasn’t really strange that the competition was terrifying.

Even the cream of the crop talents of the Zhongtu Divine Continent would find it difficult to enter the Main Guanxuan Academy, not to mention the cream of the crop talents from the six grand clans.

There were two ways to become a student of the Main Guanxuan Academy.

The first way was through one’s background. There was a higher chance of becoming a student of the Main Guanxuan Academy if one were a member of a clan similar to the An Clan or the Undying Clan.

The second way was to possess a terrifying and unparalleled talent. One had to become so impressive that the Main Guanxuan Academy would find it difficult to refuse one’s admission.

There had only been one individual who had become a student of the Main Guanxuan Academy using the second way, and it was Ye Yu from the Ye Clan of Qingzhou. She was currently known as the First Sword Immortal of the Main Guanxuan Academy.

In other words, an enrollment slot was an offer that the True Dragon Clan couldn’t resist.

Ao Tian suppressed the excitement in his heart and shouted, “Come here!”

An old man abruptly appeared in front of him.

Ao Tian spoke calmly, “Gather our matured dragons. We’re heading to the Daoist Sect.”

He wanted this lengthy night to end soon rather than later.

Ao Tian had already accepted the An Clan’s offer, so he would do his best to kill Ye Guan. He was going to nip him in the bud.

The old man hesitated before saying, “Clan Leader, we’ve received reports that Ye Guan is currently not at the Daoist Sect.”

Ao Tian frowned and asked, “He’s not there?”

The old man nodded and replied, “He’s cultivating at the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.”

He’s cultivating? Ao Tian thought about it for a moment before saying, “Tell our matured dragons to head to the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.”

The Immortal Treasures Pavilion! The old man was startled, and he hurriedly said, “We can’t afford to do that, Clan Leader! Please reconsider.”

The Immortal Treasures Pavilion was the only superpower that could match up to the Guanxuan Academy’s influence. In other words, the True Dragon Clan couldn’t afford to offend them.

Ao Tian calmly said, “Don’t worry, I’m not dumb enough to cause a commotion in the Immortal Treasures Pavilion. I’m just going to wait for him to come out. We’re going to kill him the moment he comes out.”

The old man was relieved to hear that. He reckoned that there would be a mutiny if Ao Tian ordered them to attack the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.

Get rich together? Sure. Die together? No, thank you. The old man was sure that the members of the True Dragon Clan shared the same sentiment as him.

The old man delivered Ao Tian’s orders, and the skies above the Immortal Treasures Pavilion were soon filled with the powerful cultivators of the True Dragon Clan. They eventually soared through the clouds and headed to the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.

…

Meanwhile, Ye Guan stepped into the cultivation room with eleven additional layers of gravity acting on it. It took him less than six hours to acclimatize to the previous cultivation room with ten layers of additional gravity.

Ye Guan frowned upon entering the cultivation room with eleven additional layers of gravity.

It’s too weak! Ye Guan made a decision and walked into the cultivation room with twelve additional layers of gravity acting on it.

Ye Guan smiled upon sensing the enormous pressure. This is it. This is the feeling that I have been missing. I want to push myself to the limit!

“Why are you working so hard?” asked Little Pagoda.

Ye Guan thought about it before responding, “I was just a young master of the obscure Ye Clan in Nanzhou, but I was fortunate enough to know you and learn a sword dao inheritance.

”The opportunity to change my destiny is already in my hands, and I’m not going to let go of it.”

Ye Guan considered hard work important, but opportunity was more important than hard work. If he hadn’t met Master Pagoda, he would have already hit a wall in his progress despite his hard work.

Hard work was a fundamental part of success, and one had to work even harder with an opportunity in hand.

Little Pagoda’s voice echoed in the tiny pagoda.

“I’m seeing signs of Old Master in this brat… I even think he’s slightly better than Old Master,” said Little Pagoda.

The mysterious voice didn’t say anything, but the mysterious voice knew that Little Pagoda was referring to the unrivaled Sword Master Qingshan in the distant past.

“If Young Master and his mother could see him, they would definitely be pleased with him,” said Little Pagoda.

Little Pagoda was met with silence, and he went silent as well.