Chapter 722: We Are Friends In Life And Death

In the days that followed, Ye Guan spent every day in the tiny pagoda, engaging in intense battles with An Nanjing.

These battles honed Ye Guan's combat sense.

Under An Nanjing's guidance, Ye Guan's Phantom Edge became more unpredictable and sophisticated, which was to be expected as the technique relied heavily on one's combat sense.

Unfortunately, Ye Guan still couldn't withstand ten moves from An Nanjing despite his drastic improvement. He realized how incredibly difficult it was to last a hundred moves against her.

However, the challenge only fuelled his fighting spirit.

Battle—relentless battle!

After an unknown amount of time, An Nanjing suddenly stopped and stared at Ye Guan.

Ye Guan asked, "Senior An, why is it that you can always counter my attacks despite the number of variations that I've done?"

An Nanjing blandly replied, "Awareness."

"Will your awareness always be better than mine?"

"I've been through countless battles," An Nanjing said, nodding. "From a single glance, I can tell what you're thinking and what you want to do. In my eyes, your swordsmanship is too simple."

Ye Guan fell silent.

"This isn't strange at all," An Nanjing added, "You've experienced far too few battles, so your combat awareness still needs improvement. You need to keep on fighting."

"What exactly is combat awareness?" Ye Guan asked, "Does it count as a technique?"

"You must be thinking that techniques become useless at a certain level."

"Yes, that's right."

"You're incorrect."

Ye Guan was puzzled.

"Think about this," An Nanjing explained, "What if you have ten points of power and your opponent also has ten points of power?"

"I understand," Ye Guan replied, "If my opponent's strength is comparable to mine, then the deciding factors will be our combat awareness and techniques."

"That's right," An Nanjing said, nodding. "Yes. The exceptions to this are your grandfather and your plain-skirt aunt. Any technique or level of combat awareness is insignificant in the face of their overwhelming strength. But how many people can reach their level? You could reach that level in the future, but for now, you have to take it slow."

Ye Guan smiled and said, "I understand."

"Your sword technique is great," An Nanjing remarked, "Your peers can't possibly withstand it. However, there's still much room for improvement. You should—"

An Nanjing cut herself off and smiled. "I'll just demonstrate it for you."

Then, she stepped forward, and a long spear shot toward Ye Guan.

Ye Guan's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to respond, the spear vanished mysteriously, and he felt the tip of a spear pressing against the back of his head.

Ye Guan was in disbelief.

An Nanjing opened her palm, and the spear returned to her hand. She looked at Ye Guan and said, "Illusions within reality, and reality within illusions. Doing that will make it impossible for your opponent to defend against your attacks."

Ye Guan was enlightened. "Thank you for teaching me something valuable."

An Nanjing smiled and asked, "Want to give it a try?"

Ye Guan nodded. He stepped forward, and a strange scene unfolded on the battlefield.

Swords made out of sword intent manifested and disappeared mysteriously, one after another.

It was difficult to distinguish which sword was real and was capable of killing!

Ye Guan was thrilled upon realizing that, and he became more and more excited as he practiced.

Just like that, his combat awareness and Phantom Edge became even more terrifying under An Nanjing's guidance.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

Ye Guan still couldn't withstand a hundred moves from An Nanjing, but his combat awareness and Phantom Edge had reached greater heights.

He could finally exchange dozens of moves with An Nanjing.

It wasn't a hundred moves, but Ye Guan knew how terrifying his strength had become. Their exchanges had become incredibly complicated as well, fraught with predictions and counter-predictions.

The fact that he could exchange so many moves with An Nanjing was a fearsome feat in itself.

After receiving An Nanjing's fiftieth move, Ye Guan suddenly stopped and collapsed to the ground. He was covered in sweat from head to toe; he was completely exhausted and had zero strength left.

Ye Guan couldn't afford to let his guard down against An Nanjing for even a brief moment, so the fight was taking a massive toll on his mind as well. He had to be fully concentrated throughout the fight, which pushed him beyond his limits. It seemed that the saying about how one wouldn't know one's true limits until one had pushed themselves to the absolute limit was true.

An Nanjing's eyes glimmered in approval as she stared at Ye Guan sprawled out on the ground. She was quite satisfied with his performance. He was talented and a hard worker; he was not afraid of hardship as well.

Ye Guan's strength had increased drastically over the past ten years, and An Nanjing was witness to how much he had suffered.

She reckoned that if someone else were here, they wouldn't hold on for as long as Ye Guan did.

Ye Guan opened his eyes slowly and asked, "Senior An, have I reached my limits?"

"What do you think?" An Nanjing asked back.

"I don't think so," Ye Guan said with a grin.

An Nanjing nodded slightly and said, "Then, you haven't reached your limits yet."

I haven't reached my limits yet!

Ye Guan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He activated the Divine Tree of Nature and the Life Force Heart.

Soon, he was back to full health, so he stood up and said, "Let's do it again."

An Nanjing nodded. "Sure."

With that, an intense battle erupted once more.

***

The supreme elites of the Primordial Spirit Clan rushed back to the clan upon hearing of the Wise Master and Qing Yer's declaration of war on the Guanxuan Academy. They were understandably furious, as no organization had dared to be so disrespectful to their clan.

Surrender or die? How arrogant!

If it weren't for the Wise Master and Spirit Lord Sifa, the majority of them would have made a beeline for the Guanxuan Universe.

The Wise Master was sitting cross-legged in the Primordial Spirit Temple with a piece of tortoise shell in his hand.

He had been trying to divine the fate of the Primordial Spirit Clan, but his efforts were to no avail.

It felt like the secrets of heaven had been obfuscated, and it was a puzzling experience to the Wise Master, as he had never experienced something like this until now.

Spirit Lord Sifa was sitting in front of the Wise Master.

"Still no progress?" Spirit Lord Sifa asked grimly.

The Wise Master nodded, causing Spirit Lord Sifa to frown.

The Wise Master said softly, "I've been feeling uneasy these days."

Spirit Lord Sifa said in a low voice, "Don't think too much about it. Even if a supreme elite with ninety percent divinity is standing behind Ye Guan, our Primordial Spirit Clan does not need to be afraid of them."

The Wise Master shook his head slightly. He knew the ways of divination more than anyone else, so the lack of results made him feel extremely uneasy.

Just then, an old man rushed into the temple. "I've come here to pass down a message from Elder Qing Yer."

The Wise Master immediately got up and asked, "Is there news of the clan leader?"

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"He said that there's only one person with ninety percent divinity throughout the vast expanse..."

"Really?"

"Yes, but he's not certain whether she's Ye Guan's backer or not. The supreme elite with ninety percent divinity is the leader of the Past Clan from the Time River. She returned to the Old Era not too long ago, and she lives on Past Planet at the moment. The clan leader suggests that we seek her out first and ask her whether she's on Ye Guan's side or not. If she's on Ye Guan's side, then the clan leader will handle what's going to happen next. Otherwise, we can just handle this issue by ourselves."

The Past Planet? The Wise Master and Spirit Lord Sifa exchanged glances and spoke in unison, "Let's go."

With that, the three vanished into thin air.

***

Two women were sitting across from each other in a certain pavilion in the starry skies of the Shen Zhi World.

The two women were none other than Lou Deyue and Qing Zhi.

Qing Zhi had decided to go to the Shen Zhi Civilization, as this was the only place she could go.

"I just received news that your Primordial Spirit Clan has declared war on the Guanxuan Academy," Lou Deyue said.

Qing Zhi frowned.

Lou Deyue shook her head slightly and remarked, "What is your clan thinking?"

Qing Zhi's expression turned grim.

Lou Deyue scoffed, "Your Primordial Spirit Clan is truly courting disaster..."

Qing Zhi said in a low voice, "Deyue, the creator of that special spacetime. Are they really—"

Lou Deyue cut her off, "Qing Zhi, I know what you're trying to say, but I can only tell you this—during our heyday, we have multiple people with ninety percent divinity. Despite joining forces, however, they still couldn't create such a terrifying spacetime. Let that sink in, and then try to imagine just how formidable Young Master Ye's backer must be."

Qing Zhi fell silent.

Lou Deyue added, "And then there's his sword. I haven't seen it myself, but you said that his sword had easily shattered your clan's Primordial Spirit Imprint.

"Do you know what that means? The person who had forged that sword is far stronger than your ancestors."

Qing Zhi clenched her fists. She had already thought about those points, but she was just in denial. After all, the Primordial Spirit Clan was her clan.

Lou Deyue stood up and walked up to her, saying, "You only have one choice now, and that is to stand by Young Master Ye..."

Qing Zhi shook her head and protested, "I don't want him to get hurt, but I also don't want to betray my clan..."

"Stupid!" Lou Deyue said angrily. "What you should be thinking about now is not whether or not to betray your clan but how to ensure the survival of your Primordial Spirit Clan. If you choose to stand on your clan's side, then Young Master Ye will surely be disheartened. Even if he spares your life, you will no longer be friends with him. But if you stand on his side, you don't even have to say anything once your clan's reckoning has arrived. He will surely be compassionate toward you, and he will not annihilate the Primordial Spirit Clan because of you.

"Men are like that; the more you help them, the softer their hearts will become. Conversely, the harder you are on them, the harder their hearts will become. The majority of them won't show any mercy by then. So you have to stand on his side without wavering. You will be criticized for it, but the Primordial Spirit Clan will thank you millions of years later."

Qing Zhi shook her head. "I don't want to use such tactics on him..."

Lou Deyue sighed. "Silly girl, we are no longer little girls. We have many responsibilities to bear, and in the process, we inevitably have to use some tactics... As long as it doesn't harm him, it's okay to resort to little schemes."

Qing Zhi was still a little hesitant.

Lou Deyue suddenly called out, "Gu Lao!"

Swoosh!

An old man appeared in front of Lou Deyue.

"Gather all of our people. We're heading to the Guanxuan Academy," Lou Deyue said.

The old man looked puzzled. "Why are we heading to the Guanxuan Academy?"

"What do you think?" Lou Deyue looked annoyed as she replied, "Young Master Ye is my friend in life and death. How can I just sit back and do nothing now that I've learned that he's in trouble? Go and tell everyone to gather here. We'll have dinner at the Guanxuan Academy tonight."