Under the starry sky, Ye Guan lay quietly on the stone steps, gazing up at the endless sky. His thoughts drifted back to the past.

He could still remember being absolutely terrified when his cultivation base had inexplicably vanished.

He quickly resigned from his position as the heir and broke off his engagement... Ye Guan couldn't help but laugh upon remembering those times. He was truly frightened at that time—afraid of becoming a target, so he decided to lie low.

Little Pagoda sighed and said, "Back then, you were pretty innocent. Now, you've gotten incredibly mischievous."

Ye Guan laughed heartily and said, "Master Pagoda, you tricked the innocent me quite a few times back then."

Little Pagoda chuckled.

Ye Guan closed his eyes. Everything he had experienced so far was so surreal that it felt like a dream to him. At the time, his dream was to join the Guanxuan Academy and lead the Ye Clan to become the top clan in Nanzhou.

He couldn't have expected that the Guanxuan Academy was actually run by his family. Even more shocking was the fact that his family was the strongest family throughout the Guanxuan Universe.

Ye Guan seemed to have recalled something just then and asked, "Master Pagoda, can you tell me about my father and grandfather?"

Little Pagoda asked, "Why the sudden interest in their stories?"

"I'm just curious."

After a moment of silence, the Little Pagoda said, "They didn't have your luck. Although your father was a second generation, your grandfather left him nothing. His life was much harder than yours. If it weren't for your plain-skirt aunt protecting him, your father wouldn't have lived for a long time."

Little Pagoda sighed softly. Indeed, the Old Master's hands-off approach back then was quite extreme.

Considering what he had gone through, though, Little Pagoda somewhat understood his Old Master's mindset.

Ye Xuan had Plain-Skirt Destiny protecting him, but the old master had no one back then.

Little Pagoda still found it incredible how the Old Master managed to overcome so many hardships by himself.

Then, Little Pagoda began sharing stories about the Qingshan Sword Master and the Sword Master.

Ye Guan listened quietly, and the two talked to each other until daybreak.

Ye Guan remained silent for a long time.

"Why did you want to know about their past?" asked Little Pagoda, shattering the ice.

Ye Guan replied, "Partly out of curiosity and partly to remind myself that everything I have now was hard-won by the previous generations. I should cherish it."

Little Pagoda fell silent. Indeed, everything Ye Guan has now was fought for by the previous generations. Whether it was the Yang Clan or the Guanxuan Academy, Ye Guan's path wouldn't have been so smooth without them.

Little Pagoda said, "Both your father and grandfather are hoping that you'd do better than them or even surpass them, but they don't want to put too much pressure on you. They don't want you to live a hard life. It's the reason your parents have been telling you that they won't mind even if you don't want to inherit the family business. In their eyes, the so-called family business isn't as important as a single hair on your head."

"I know, but I still want to give it my best shot," Ye Guan replied.

One must work hard to achieve a significant feat.

"Then, let's start by establishing an order."

Ye Guan nodded slightly and looked up at the brightening sky.

He had just realized that he had spent the entire night chatting with Little Pagoda

Just then, a young woman appeared at the courtyard gate.

Ye Guan was briefly stunned upon seeing her.

"Sister Nan," said Ye Guan with a smile.

The young woman was none other than Ye Nan, Ye Xiao’s daughter. They had been very close when they were in the Ye Clan. After Ye Nan's admission to the Guanxuan Academy, they couldn't see each other often, but their bond remained strong.

Ye Nan was wearing a light green long dress, and her long hair cascaded over her shoulders.

A gentle smile was tugging at her lips as she said, "Father said that you're back, so I rushed back here. You know, it’s really hard to see you these days."

"My bad."

Ye Nan walked up to Ye Guan and sized him up before saying, "You've matured a lot."

"Are you still at the Southern State Guanxuan Academy?"

Ye Nan nodded slightly.

Ye Guan suggested, "You could go directly to the Xiaoguan Universe..."

Ye Nan shook her head. "Father said that our family shouldn't receive special treatment. We need to climb up step by step."

Ye Guan fell silent.

"I think it's better this way. Going to the Xiaoguan Universe through my own efforts is different from getting there through connections. Besides, our family has been receiving a ton of support. I just have to work hard, and it shouldn't be that difficult for me to reach the Xiaoguan Universe."

"Alright."

"How long will you be staying here?"

Ye Guan thought for a moment before replying, "I'll be leaving soon."

Ye Nan sighed softly, looking a bit sad.

"I have many things to handle outside."

"Before you go, you should visit the academy. Many people are eager to see you there. If the principal hadn't stopped them, the entire Guanxuan Academy would have already been here in Ancient Desolate City."

"I'm definitely going to visit the academy," replied Ye Guan with a nod. He had a good impression of Nanzhou Guanxuan Academy, and it was all thanks to the helping hand that they had extended to him long ago.

Nanzhou had become the leading state, surpassing even Qingzhou.

Qingzhou had started declining in the aftermath of that incident. They started declining, even though the Guanxuan Universe wasn't deliberately suppressing them.

The main reason for their decline was the An Clan. The young generation of Qingzhou was strong because of the An Clan; the An Clan represented Qingzhou as well, so their decline led to Qingzhou's gradual decline.

Nalan Jia had told him about it. The An Clan wasn't annihilated, but their position had become quite awkward.

Many factions within the Guanxuan Academy were actively them. In the past, they were receiving a ton of resources and benefits, but now, they weren't only deprived of such resources and benefits but was public enemy number one as well.

It seemed that people truly had the tendency to step on someone on the ground.

Ye Guan and Nalan Jia had agreed that once they were done handling their affairs in Nanzhou, they'd go and visit Qingzhou together.

They wanted to go there to handle some matters and to visit the places where Ye Guan's father once stayed.

Just then, an elder approached the courtyard gate and bowed slightly. "Little Guan, Little Jia has arrived with some members of the Ye Clan."

Ye Guan stood up and smiled, "Sister Nan, let's go."

With that, he and Ye Nan left the small courtyard.

At the entrance of the Ye Mansion stood Nalan Ming and Nalan Jia with some members of the Ye Clan.

Ye Xiao and Ye Guan stepped forward to greet them personally.

Nalan Jia walked up to Ye Xiao and bowed slightly, saying, "Good to see you, Elder."

Ye Xiao laughed heartily and said, "No need for formalities. Come, let's go inside."

On that day, the Ye Clan held a grand banquet attended by tens of thousands of people gathered.

The Ye Clan expanded the banquet to accommodate as many people as possible, and it was all thanks to Ye Guan's popularity.

Ye Guan and Nalan Jia were walking down a quiet street. It was already late at night, so they were the only ones around.

Nalan Jia suddenly grabbed Ye Guan's hand and smiled. "I really love this nostalgic feeling; this place is the epitome of life in my eyes."

Ye Guan nodded in agreement.

He had always found the city to be particularly warm and amiable.

He believed that life ought to be like this rather than full of nothing but cultivation.

Cultivating for an extended period of time would truly gnaw away at one's humanity.

A cultivator could spend hundreds or even thousands of years in seclusion, but once they were done, they'd discover that the world around them was unfamiliar.

Only a few of the people they once knew would still be around, and their bonds would never be the same as before.

Nalan Jia turned to Ye Guan and said, "I've always been a bit worried about you becoming a cultivation addict.."

"That's not going to happen. First of all, I can't do that because I have you, and you're my top priority. Secondly, ten years inside the pagoda is just one day outside, so that's never going to happen."

Nalan Jia nodded slightly and remarked, "I hope that we'll remain as we are now even after hundreds of years."

"Now

that

is going to happen," Ye Guan replied.

The couple walked down the street with their hand in each other's hand. They chatted about the past, the present, and the future. Although they were married, they often had to be apart and seldom had the chance to talk like this.

When the topic of children came up, they had a minor disagreement.

The Yang Clan’s tradition was to let children grow up on their own, but Nalan Jia didn't want their children to be raised that way.

What mother could bear to be away from her child at such a young age?

Ye Guan smiled and said, "If you don't like it, then we're not going to do it."

"We'll raise them well ourselves."

"Then, let's have a few more children?"

Nalan Jia blushed and glared playfully at Ye Guan. "We don't even have one yet, but you're already thinking about more..."

Ye Guan laughed heartily.

Nalan Jia suddenly suggested, "We're going to Guanxuan Academy tomorrow."

"Yes, and we'll visit Qingzhou after that. Then, it's time for us to leave."

"As for the An Clan..." Nalan Jia trailed off, staring at Ye Guan.

Ye Guan shook his head and smiled. "Do you really think that I'm still angry about that?"

Nalan Jia nodded and explained, "I have a certain goal in our trip to Qingzhou. I want to see how the Guanxuan Law is being implemented there. Although I've been getting updates and progress reports, I still want to see it for myself."

"I see."

Nalan Jia turned to Ye Guan and smiled. "It's getting late. We should rest."

Ye Guan blinked. "

Um...

can we... now?"

"What nonsense are you thinking?"

Ye Guan laughed, and the two slowly disappeared down the street.

Later that night, Ye Guan's voice suddenly shattered the silence in their room. "I just want to touch. It's just going to be a touch. I promise I won't do anything else..."