Ye Guan stared at the woman in front of him and smiled. “Long time no see, Chief Zhao.”

"Yes, and welcome to the Upper Realm," Zhao Su replied with a smile in kind.

Ye Guan nodded and noticed the young woman standing next to Zhao Su. She was dressed in a long red dress and was as beautiful as a painting.

She was none other than Luo Zhaoqi, the Student Representative of the Upper Realm Guanxuan Academy back then.

Luo Zhaoqi smiled slightly and bowed toward Ye Guan. Her feelings toward Ye Guan were quite complicated. Although she had been with Ye Guan back then, the two of them didn't really consider each other as friends—no, not even acquaintances. And it was all because of the An Clan.

Luo Zhaoqi and Zhao Su both admired Ye Guan in the past, but the two of them didn't step out to protect Ye Guan when the An Clan decided that they couldn't care less about the martial ethics and rules.

Of course, Ye Guan wasn't angry at them. He knew that even a hundred Zhao Su and Luo Zhaoqis wouldn't stand a chance against the An Clan back then.

Moreover, Zhao Su had also reported the An Clan to the Main Guanxuan Academy, which was the reason she became the Academy Chief of the Upper Realm's Guanxuan Academy.

“Let’s go,” Ye Guan said.

Zhao Su hurriedly agreed and led everyone to the Upper Realm's Guanxuan Academy.

Meanwhile, Siao Ge chose to return home. After all, his hometown was in the Upper Realm.

Ye Guan decided to pay the Siao Clan a visit, as they had helped him a lot upon his arrival to the Upper Realm.

On the third day, the most awaited Upper Realm Martial Contest finally started.

Thousands of academy students from many different places had gathered in Cloud City today, and there was also a massive crowd of spectators.

The news about how Ye Guan and Nalan Jia would host the contest spread like wildfire, attracting a record-breaking number of people to witness the martial contest.

Thousands of students looked up at the high platform in the distance.

Ye Guan and Nalan Jia were sitting in the middle of the platform while Zhao Su and the others sat next to them.

Everyone was thrilled to see Ye Guan. After all, he was the Academy Master of the Guanxuan Academy!

Ye Guan's name was extremely famous among the young generation of the Guanxuan Universe, and it was all because the Guanxuan Universe had become the most powerful force throughout the All Worlds, surpassing even the True Universe—a universe famous for its terrifying strength. Furthermore, the stories of Ye Guan's achievement had already spread throughout the Guanxuan Universe. One of those stories was when Ye Guan led the Guanxuan Universe to battle against the True Universe…

Zhao Su turned to look at Ye Guan and asked, “Would you like to say a few words?”

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The others also turned to look at Ye Guan.

"Sure," replied Ye Guan with a smile. He stood up slowly, and the crowd immediately went silent.

Ye Guan swept his gaze across the youthful faces of the students in the crowd and said, “Fellow students, on behalf of the Guanxuan Academy, I would like to wish you all the best in the martial contest. It is fate that led us to meet today, so my wife and I will reward the winner of this contest with a mystery gift.”

A mystery gift?! T

he students were instantly thrilled.

Zhao Su smiled and looked at the students down below, remarking, “It seems that this year’s winner is extremely lucky.”

The gift itself wasn't important; the opportunities and connections that the gift would bring were more important than the gift itself.

One’s future would undoubtedly become smooth sailing by obtaining Ye Guan and Nalan Jia's recognition; the prestigious figures of the Guanxuan Universe would surely pay special attention to them.

It was exceedingly difficult for an ordinary person to rise up the ranks.

Zhao Su had also won the martial contest, but she had yet to visit the Xiaoguan Universe.

In other words, even though there was value in participating in the Upper Realm's martial contest, it wasn't that big of a deal.

The most valuable martial content was the All Worlds Martial Contest, and the True Xuan Martial Contest held jointly by the Guanxuan Universe and True Universe.

Therefore, even if one managed to become the champion of the Upper Realm's Martial Contest, it would still be extremely difficult for one to enter the Main Academy. Of course, it would be a different story if one had a strong background.

As for Ye Guan... he was an isolated case.

Ye Guan had just presented a priceless opportunity to these students.

Life was always like this—a lifetime's worth of hard work could be worth less than someone’s words.

Song Fu and the others revealed envy in their eyes. This year’s winner would be very lucky indeed.

Meanwhile, only a few students recognized the opportunity that Ye Guan was presenting to them. Nonetheless, everyone was beyond excited.

Just then, Ye Guan exclaimed, “Begin!”

The crowd went silent, and a mysterious pressure abruptly enveloped Cloud City.

Everyone’s expressions changed drastically as they stood beneath the mysterious pressure.

At first, everyone was fine, but the mysterious pressure grew stronger and stronger as time went on. Eventually, the majority of them found it difficult to even stand.

Everyone went all-out, as Ye Guan and Nalan Jia were around. It would be too embarrassing to collapse too quickly in front of such esteemed figures.

Zhao Su laughed. “I can still remember how hundreds of people had collapsed so quickly during the previous martial contest, but today, so many of them are still standing, even though it's been a while since the first round started.

"I guess they don't want to embarrass themselves in front of the Academy Master and the Pavilion Master.”

Ye Guan smiled and replied, “The younger generation is the future of the academy. If the academy wants to expand, then these students have to receive more support from the academy.”

Zhao Su nodded, but she dared not reply.

“I’ll handle it when we get back,” said Nalan Jia, holding Ye Guan’s hand.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“We’re family. Don’t mention it.”

Ye Guan chuckled, and then he looked down. The students could no longer hold out, and they began falling one after another.

Among the countless students, three students caught Ye Guan's attention—two young men and a young woman.

The three were standing tall, seemingly unaffected by the pressure.

“The young man dressed in white robes is Li Yu, a student from the Upper Realm. He’s the most outstanding student in his class,” Zhao Su explained.

Song Fu then said, “The boy dressed in black robes is called Nan Feng. He’s the most brilliant genius of our Nanzhou’s Guanxuan Academy. And he's from the Nan Clan…”

“Nan Clan?” Ye Guan questioned.

Nalan Jia replied, “Nan Xuan.”

Nan Xuan?

Ye Guan could still remember that name. When he first arrived at the Guanxuan Academy of Nanzhou, he had a life-and-death battle with Nan Xuan.

There was also a woman named Nan Qingyue, who wanted to kill him and Nalan Jia. Nan Qingyue was from the Nan Clan as well.

Ye Guan stared at the black-robed young man and asked, “He's from the Nan Clan?”

Song Fu nodded, and then he glanced at Ye Guan, feeling a bit worried.

It seemed that the black-robed young man's background was the reason Song Fu hadn't brought him out to meet Ye Guan.

“What did the Nan Clan do after Nan Xuan's passing?” Ye Guan asked.

Song Fu replied, “They immediately sent people to apologize to the Ye Clan and to settle the misunderstanding.”

Ye Guan chuckled and reassured, “Academy Chief Song, don’t worry about it. I’m not the type to nurse a grudge. It's all water under the bridge, and I'm not going to hold them accountable for what they had done long ago.”

Song Fu breathed a sigh of relief at Ye Guan's remark. Nan Feng had a great character and was talented, so it would be a shame if he ended up dying at Ye Guan's hands.

Ye Guan’s gaze landed on the young woman. She was dressed in a robe decorated with pristine-looking clouds, and there was a black ribbon tied around her waist. Her hands were placed behind her back as she stood tall amidst the mysterious pressure. She looked very neat and clean with her hair being put up by a wooden hairpin.

“Who is she?” Ye Guan asked.

Song Fu and Zhao Su remained silent.

Ye Guan cast a confused gaze at them.

Zhao Su hesitated for a while before finally replying, “She’s from the An Clan. An Qinghan.”

Ye Guan was stunned. “An Clan? The An Clan from Qingzhou?”

“Yes.”

Ye Guan was instantly intrigued, and he stared deeply at An Qinghan.

An Qinghan's eyes were closed; the mysterious pressure clearly had no effect on her whatsoever.

Zhao Su and Song Fu surreptitiously glanced at Ye Guan’s face.

Ye Guan noticed that and asked, “Do you really think that I'm

that

petty?”

Ye Guan's strength had reached an unimaginable level in Zhao Su and Song Fu's eyes, so there was no way their tiny movements would go unnoticed by him.

Zhao Su revealed a forced smile and replied, “Of course not...”

“It's true that there's bad blood between the An Clan and me, but they've already been punished. Moreover, what happened between me and the An Clan has nothing to do with the younger generation of the An Clan.

"Why would I punish her for that?” Ye Guan asked. He then looked at An Qinghan and asked, “Is she the An Clan's representative?”

Zhao Su nodded and explained, “An Qinghan is an extraordinary talent. She's number one among the younger generation of Qingzhou. And we still aren't sure just how outstanding she really is, but it seems that this contest might force her to reveal her true strength."

“I'm looking forward to that,” Ye Guan said, nodding. He then looked up at the sky, where hundreds of Cloud Projection Orbs were rotating above Cloud City.

Clearly, every single state throughout the Upper Realm was watching everything that was happening here.

It made sense, after all, becoming the champion of this martial contest meant building a better reputation for oneself, one's academy, and one's state.

Ye Guan turned to Song Fu and asked, “How is Nan Feng's confidence level? Does he have faith in himself”

“Yes, his confidence is definitely pretty high.”

Thanks to Ye Guan, Nanzhou was enjoying the best resources possible, allowing Nan Feng to cultivate with the goal of becoming the champion of the Upper Realm's martial contest.

Upon becoming champions once again, Nanzhou had no plans of being relegated to second or third place.

Zhao Su smiled and chimed in, “Li Yu said he’s confident, too.”

“Then let’s wait and see,” Ye Guan replied.

About an hour later, there were only around ten people left among the contestants.

The first round's assessment finally ended.

Ye Guan was about to announce the start of the second round when An Qinghan's eyes snapped open. She stared straight at Ye Guan and said, “Academy Master, I think there's no need to waste time. Let’s just go straight to the final round.”

With that, she turned to her fellow contestants standing behind her and exclaimed, “Come at me, all of you!”

A deafening silence descended upon everyone.