Chapter 76: It’s the Thought That Counts

Time to get on the list! Ye Guan made up his mind and headed toward the Guanxuan Academy. He would get on the list first before anything else. He reckoned that he wouldn’t really achieve anything if he were to go to the Undying Clan right now.

The Qingxuan Sword was the Sword Master’s personal sword, so why would they lend it to him?

If he wanted to borrow the Qingxuan Sword, the best way was to ask the Sword Master for permission to borrow it. Of course, Ye Guan knew that the chances were low, but he still had to try for Nalan Jia’s sake.

Ye Guan looked at Qin Feng and asked, “Brother Qin, what are the prerequisites to get on the list?”

“There are two prerequisites: the candidate must be below twenty-five years old, and they mustn’t have done any heinous deeds,” Qin Feng replied with a smile.

“All right.” Ye Guan nodded. “I understand.

Qin Feng asked hesitantly, “Brother Ye, are you not going to challenge the martial list anonymously?”

“Anonymously?” Ye Guan asked, seemingly astonished.

Qin Feng nodded and explained, “One can anonymously challenge the martial list!”

“But why did you suggest that to me, Brother Qin?” Ye Guan asked.

Qin Feng shook his head and explained, “The waters of the martial list are murky and deep, Brother Ye. You’re going to participate in the upcoming Destiny Contest, and I’m sure your competitors will play dirty. The Destiny Contest involves the vested interests of many organizations and clans, after all.

“I suggest that you compete anonymously so that you can avoid being targeted by malicious actors. I’m sure they won’t let you go the moment they set their eyes on you.”

Ye Guan nodded in understanding. “All right, I will compete anonymously!”

“You must also be careful of the An Clan and the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Clan, Brother Ye!” Qin Feng added.

Ye Guan frowned.

Qin Feng explained, “The An Clan is indignant about the punishment that Representative Ye had meted out to them.”

Ye Guan was puzzled, so he asked, “Representative Ye? Are you referring to Lady Ye Guanzhi?”

“Indeed,” Qin Feng answered, “She’s the Representative of the Main Guanxuan Academy’s Department of Arts, and she’s an incredibly powerful cultivator in her own right.

”She stripped Lu Chaowen of his status as the Academy Chief of Zhongtu Divine Continent’s Guanxuan Academy in addition to meting out punishment to the An Clan.”

Qin Feng’s expression suddenly turned heavy. “She punished them heavily. She executed An Fei and dismissed their clan’s current clan leader. You could say that she didn’t give them any face at all.”

Ye Guan was silent. He didn’t expect that Ye Guanzhi was from the Main Guanxuan Academy, not to mention the representative of their Department of Arts!

Qin Feng hesitated.

Ye Guan smiled at him and said, “Brother Qin, I was born in a tiny rural city, and I don’t understand the power struggles of the great clans at all. I would be immensely grateful if you could give me some guidance and pointers along the way.”

“Honestly, I don’t really wish to comment on such topics, Brother Ye. However, let’s just say that I’m a talkative man today because the matter concerns you as well,” said Qin Feng.

After a few moments of hesitation, he finally said, “It seems that the An Clan have already contacted their clan members in the Main Guanxuan Academy. I’m sure they’re going to join hands and retaliate against Representative Ye.”

Ye Guan’s face fell.

However, Qin Feng wasn’t done just yet. “Unfortunately, everyone knows that Representative Ye was trying to take advantage of your situation to curb the great clans’ influence and power.

”In other words, Representative Ye ended up provoking those great clans, and they will definitely join forces to attack her.”

Ye Guan asked, “Will she be in any danger?”

Qin Feng shook his head and replied, “She won’t be in any immediate danger. Aside from the An Clan, the ancient clans of the Zhongtu Divine Continent wouldn’t dare to go against her.

”As for the great clans of the Main Guanxuan Academy, I don’t think they’re daring enough to actually murder her because of her relationship with Academy Chief Qingqiu and the fact that she’s Department Head Shuxian’s disciple, but…”

Qin Feng stared deeply at Ye Guan and added, “It doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be able to do anything against her. She only has two outcomes—she could either prevail over the great clans and become the host of the Destiny Contest, or she could either lose her status and get transferred elsewhere.”

Ye Guan was silent. He had never expected that the matter concerning him would become so complicated. To be honest, he had a rather good impression of Ye Guanzhi. He didn’t want to implicate her.

“I’m sure that the An Clan and the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Clan will come after you if Representative Ye ends up getting transferred elsewhere. If they care about their reputation, they will attack you discreetly, but you will have a hard time if they decide to abandon their reputation and attack you in the open.

“I suggest you keep your head low for the meantime, and you should be able to buy enough time for yourself to become even stronger. You should also hide your progress because they would definitely throw all caution to the wind and kill you the moment they notice your extreme growth rate,” Qin Feng advised.

Ye Guan nodded his head slightly. “I understand!”

“Brother Ye, I will be here for a while. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come to me,” Qin Feng said.

Ye Guan shook his head with a smile.

“You’ve already done so much for me, Brother Qin!”

“No, I don’t think so. I simply told you what I know. The Immortal Treasures Pavilion has the best intelligence network in the universe, so if you need anything, especially information—don’t hesitate to come here and look for me.

“I can’t fight, but I can definitely give you information. It won’t be that difficult for me as well,” Qin Feng insisted.

“Thank you, Brother Qin!” Ye Guan grinned and cupped his fists. “I actually want to buy a few items with your help.”

Qin Feng’s curiosity was piqued.

“What are they?” he asked.

Ye Guan leaned over and whispered into Qin Feng’s ears.

Qin Feng chuckled and said, “All right, no problem. Give me a moment.”

Qin Feng left, but it didn’t take that long for him to return. He took out a storage ring and handed it over to Ye Guan.

“I’ll give you a discount; this is yours for only a million gold spiritual crystals!”

A million?! Ye Guan almost keeled over from a heart attack, but he still paid Qin Feng a million gold spiritual crystals.

Qin Feng boisterously laughed before putting the storage ring away.

Ye Guan proceeded to ask Qin Feng a few questions about physique reconstruction.

They talked for roughly thirty minutes before Ye Guan cupped his fists and said, “I’ll see you soon, Brother Qin.”

With that, Ye Guan finally departed.

Qin Feng wordlessly stared at Ye Guan’s back.

He initially wanted to become Ye Guan’s acquaintance. He had no plans of forming a deeper friendship with him. After all, Ye Guan’s opponents were the An Clan and the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Clan!

However, Ye Guan’s display of talent made Qin Feng change his mind. Ye Guan is too talented! His potential is limitless!

Qin Feng decided to stand on Ye Guan’s side.

It had to be known that the Immortal Treasures Pavilion’s current success was born from one decision, and it was their decision to invest in the Sword Master back then.

A business had to make investments to succeed, and they also had to invest in people, not just in many different industries.

If Ye Guan managed to become a Sword Sovereign, Qin Feng had everything to gain by having a Sword Sovereign as a friend. Qin Feng would also enjoy a meteoric rise in position within the ranks of the Immortal Treasures Pavilion as well!

The Immortal Treasures Pavilion had internal struggles as well, so a Sword Sovereign friend would definitely increase his Qin Feng’s value by an amount that he didn’t even dare to imagine for now.

…

Ye Guan went to look for Mo Ya rather than leaving. He had come here to personally express his gratitude to her, after all.

Mo Ya smiled at Ye Guan and said, “I’ve heard that you’ve become a Sword Immortal, Young Lord Ye! Congratulations!”

Ye Guan shook his head. He sounded serious as he said, “Lady Mo Ya, I really appreciate your help back then. I currently have no power nor status to speak of, but I will do my best to help you if you need anything in the future.”

Mo Ya was overjoyed.

A connection with a Sword Immortal was simply too valuable for someone like her.

“Young Lord Ye, you’re too polite!” she said.

Ye Guan opened his palm, revealing a box that flew toward Mo Ya.

“What’s this?” asked Mo Ya, slightly puzzled.

“It contains five Dragon Pills!” Ye Guan answered.

“I—” Mo Ya was about to reject the offer.

However, Ye Guan beat her to the chase. “It’s my token of appreciation for your help back then, so please accept it.”

“All right!” Mo Ya could only oblige. She accepted the box, and her chest became filled with warmth. She had an ulterior motive for what she had done back then, but she had to admit that it was worth being Ye Guan’s friend because of his character.

“I won’t take up any more of your time, Lady Mo Ya,” said Ye Guan.

Mo Ya nodded and replied, “Stay safe, Young Lord Ye.”

Ye Guan cupped his fists before turning around to leave.

Mo Ya stared deeply at Ye Guan’s departing figure.

“He’s strong, handsome, and kind…” she muttered to no one in particular as she stood there and blushed at her silly thoughts.

…

Ye Guan didn’t head over to the Guanxuan Academy upon leaving the Immortal Treasures Pavilion. He went back to the Daoist Sect, and Nanling Yiyi ambushed him.

Nanling Yiyi grinned and asked, “Were you cultivating these past few days?”

“Yeah,” said Ye Guan with a nod.

Nanling Yiyi examined Ye Guan from top to bottom.

“I can see that you’ve become even stronger.” She pointed out.

Ye Guan chuckled before taking out a storage ring and extending it over to her.

“This is for you!” he said.

Nanling Yiyi was baffled. “What is this?”

“Take a look,” Ye Guan replied before walking away.

Nanling Yiyi examined the storage ring to satisfy her curiosity, but she froze over where he stood upon seeing at least ten ancient scrolls in the storage ring.

The ancient scrolls depicted spells, and they were at least Sky-grade.

There was even an ancient scroll that contained a Divine Mage-exclusive cultivation method, and Nanling Yiyi was stupefied to find that it was a Sky-grade cultivation method as well, just like the spells!

Nanling Yiyi had always loved to analyze spells, and she was a Divine Mage as well.

Unfortunately, the Daoist Sect was too poor, and Monk Dao wasn’t that knowledgeable about spells. Cultivation had always been too difficult for her because she had no references that she could use against her cultivation bottlenecks.

She never even had any high-grade spells until now, not to mention a Divine Mage-exclusive cultivation method.

Nanling Yiyi stood rooted for quite a while as she examined the ancient scrolls in disbelief. Soon, she grinned vibrantly and caressed the scrolls gently. She vowed to take care of these scrolls that her junior disciple had painstakingly obtained for her.

She could still remember casually mentioning her wish to Ye Guan, but to think that he would treat her words seriously and fulfill her wish one day.