Chapter 89: Who Dares?

Ye Guan blinked his eyes and wondered, “Why?”

Little Pagoda remained silent. Please stop talking about it. I’m afraid I’ll be reduced to ashes in the future!

He couldn’t allow Ye Guan to continue speaking ill of his father.

I’m done! Little Pagoda sighed to himself. He felt like he had dug his own grave.

Ye Guan could sense Little Pagoda’s dejection. Master Pagoda must still be hiding something from me!

Meanwhile, Qin Feng smiled and said, “That’s the teleportation array, Brother Ye!”

He pointed at a teleportation array not too far away from them.

Ye Guan erased his thoughts and cupped his fists together. “Many thanks, Brother Qin!”

Qin Feng smiled. “It’s nothing!”

Ye Guan nodded, but he didn’t say anything. He headed to the teleportation array, and he was soon whisked away.

Left all alone, Qin Feng muttered, “It seems that I had made the right decision licking his boots.”

Qin Feng chuckled. “He’s already treating me as his brother, and when that fellow becomes a Sword Sovereign, I really want to see the looks on the faces of those bastards in the headquarters by then!”

…

There were about a hundred thousand teleportation arrays in a valley somewhere in the Profound World. One of the teleportation arrays gave off a dazzling light before dimming down to reveal a figure clad in black.

The figure was none other than Ye Guan. He tidied his clothes and walked out of the teleportation array. He looked up and saw a tall tower. It was none other than the Profound Tower.

Rumble!

Ye Guan was about to make a move, but a teleportation array not too far away from him trembled. It gave off a burst of dazzling light before dimming down to reveal a man.

The man was dressed in a luxurious robe, and a jade pendant that was as large as a hand was hanging from his waist. The man had a ring on every finger, and it seemed like he was trying hard to flaunt his wealth.

Noble and grand! The man gave off that impression in Ye Guan’s eyes.

The man found Ye Guan and smiled. “What’s your name?”

Ye Guan calmly said, “Ye Guan!”

The man nodded and continued. “I just arrived here, so I’m not familiar with the surroundings. I need a few bodyguards. Are you interested in becoming one of my bodyguards?”

Ye Guan was stunned. “Bodyguards?”

The man smiled and said, “The remuneration will be ten thousand gold spiritual crystals per day!”

Ye Guan stared deeply at the man. “Aren’t you here to cultivate?”

The man burst out laughing. “Yes, I’m here to cultivate!”

Puzzled, Ye Guan asked, “Why would you need bodyguards, then?”

The man chuckled and admitted. “I don’t want to get hurt.”

Ye Guan fell silent. I think he’s from the Guanxuan Universe. Is he here to show off?

“Are you interested?” the man asked.

“No thanks.” Ye Guan shook his head and said, “I’m off to cultivate. I’ll see you later!”

With that, he hopped onto his sword and flew toward the Profound Tower.

The man was astonished by Ye Guan’s Sword Travel. “Damn, so he was a Sword Immortal? What a loss!”

…

Ye Guan marveled at the sheer size of the Profound Tower. It seemed to be around three thousand meters tall, and its highest floor pierced the clouds. It was wide as well, seemingly a few dozen meters wide.

Ye Guan arrived at the entrance and saw an old man by the door. The old man wordlessly stared at Ye Guan.

“I would like to enter the combat trial,” said Ye Guan.

The old man calmly explained, “The combat trial is split into six ranks, Human-rank Trial, Earth-rank Trial, Sky-rank Trial, Royal-rank Trial, Immortal-rank Trial, and Emperor-rank Trial.”

Ye Guan thought for a while before asking, “Which trial do you think is suitable for me?”

The old man snapped. “Why are you asking me?”

Ye Guan scoffed and said, “I’ll just start on the Sky-rank Trial, then.”

“The Sky-rank Trial costs fifty thousand gold spiritual crystals per day.”

Ye Guan’s expression fell. “Fifty thousand gold spiritual crystals per day?”

The old man wordlessly nodded.

Ye Guan was dumbstruck. “Goodness! Master Pagoda, the Profound Tower must be rich! I feel like robbing them!”

Little Pagoda didn’t know what to say.

The old man calmly asked, “Is it expensive?”

Ye Guan nodded.

The old man remarked, “You must be a rogue cultivator!”

Ye Guan was slightly confused. “A rogue cultivator?”

The old man nonchalantly explained, “Rogue cultivators have no family backgrounds, and they can only rely on themselves.”

Ye Guan stared at the old man for a moment before giving him a storage ring.

The storage ring contained exactly fifty thousand gold spiritual crystals.

The old man asked, “Are you only going to stay there for a day?”

Ye Guan nodded without saying anything.

The old man shook his head and sighed. “Young man, this sounds harsh, but I want you to listen to me. You shouldn’t spend your money here. This tower was created for the rich. It’s a waste of money to those who can’t really afford it.”

“I’m afraid your parents will treat you as a good-for-nothing son and disown you. This tower isn’t worthy of such a huge headache!”

Ye Guan smiled amicably and said, “I appreciate your advice, Senior, but I came here with my savings.”

The old man stared deeply at Ye Guan before giving him a piece of paper.

It was the death liability waiver.

The old man explained, “You are responsible for anything that happens in the trial once you’ve signed this document. Do you understand?”

Ye Guan nodded. “Understood!”

“Give it a drop of your blood.” Ye Guan nodded slightly and stretched his finger toward the piece of paper. His skin split and a drop of his blood landed on the death liability waiver.

However, the death liability waiver abruptly vanished upon consuming his blood.

The two were stunned. What just happened?

They exchanged looks.

Ye Guan asked, “Is there something wrong with your paper?”

The old man explained, “The paper contains a trace of the Heavenly Dao. Signing it is equivalent to being bound by the Heavenly Dao. How could there be something wrong with the paper?”

Ye Guan asked, “Why don’t we try it again?”

The old man’s gaze deepened as he stared at Ye Guan. He took out another piece of paper, but the same phenomenon occurred. The old man’s frown deepened.

Meanwhile, Ye Guan was staring innocently at the old man.

The old man took out another death liability waiver and snapped, “Here, another one!”

Ye Guan nodded and gave the piece of paper a drop of his blood.

The old man stared intently at the blood as it landed on the piece of paper. The piece of paper disappeared right in front of his eyes upon making contact with Ye Guan’s blood!

The old man’s face turned solemn, and his lips were pressed into a firm line. Why is the Heavenly Dao in the death liability waiver rejecting his blood?

The old man looked at Ye Guan and asked, “Who are you?”

Ye Guan calmly replied, “I’m just an ordinary person!”

The old man snapped, “How can an ordinary person’s blood reject the Heavenly Dao?”

Ye Guan insisted and said, “I really am just an ordinary person!”

The old man glared at Ye Guan for a long time.

“What about your father? What was your father’s name?” he asked.

Ye Guan shook his head. “I don’t know!”

The old man’s frown deepened, and he questioned, “You don’t know your father’s name?”

Ye Guan nodded.

“What does your father do, then?” asked the old man.

Ye Guan hesitated before saying, “Master Pagoda told me that he’s a womanizer…”

“Shit!” Little Pagoda’s voice echoed in his head. “Brat! Your father is a good man; I’m not kidding!”

Ye Guan blinked his eyes innocently and asked, “Really?”

Little Pagoda was about to speak, but the mysterious voice interrupted him.

“You fool! He’s trying to trick you into answering!”

Little Pagoda came to his senses. Damn it, I almost fell for this kid’s scheme!

Ye Guan urgently asked, “Master Pagoda?”

Little Pagoda fell silent, leaving Ye Guan at a loss.

He wanted to pry some information out of Master Pagoda, but Master Pagoda saw through his scheme. Nonetheless, Ye Guan managed to confirm one thing—Master Pagoda was hiding a lot of things about his father from him.

Meanwhile, the old man asked, “So what does your father do?”

Ye Guan snapped back to reality and calmly answered, “Since my blood is being rejected by the Heavenly Dao, how do I sign the death liability waiver?”

He had answered the old man’s questions just now because he wanted to trick Master Pagoda into defending his father. Unfortunately, Master Pagoda had already seen through his scheme, so Ye Guan no longer had to waste time.

The old man frowned. He obviously still wanted to ask more questions.

Ye Guan noticed that and said, “Senior, I really don’t know what my father does, but I know one thing for sure. He left me with some words while I was still young.”

The old man grew curious and asked, “What did he say?”

Ye Guan’s expression turned grim, and he sounded serious as he said, “He told me to cultivate properly because the Guanxuan Universe will rely on me in the future!”

The old man was stunned, while Little Pagoda was at a loss for words.

Ye Guan sighed to himself and said, “I finally understood what he meant now that I have grown up. My father isn’t just my father, he’s the father of the Guanxuan Universe!”

Ye Guan signed the death liability waiver with a pen before walking into the Profound Tower, leaving the old man speechless and rooted where he stood.

The old man recovered moments later, and he stared at the Profound Tower before shouting, “You imbecile! How shameless you are for lying to an old man! To think that you would claim the Sword Master as your father… young people these days really like to brag, goddamn it!”

“Y-y-you… what did you just say?” Little Pagoda stuttered.

Ye Guan chuckled and said, “I was just bragging, Master Pagoda! I had to brag, or he would have continued interrogating me.”

Little Pagoda fell silent at that. You’re even better than your father. Your father always lies whenever he brags, but you only brag about the truth! Yes, the truth!

Little Pagoda was at a loss for words. He finally realized that Ye Guan was capable of springing up traps in his seemingly thoughtless words. It was troublesome, and Little Pagoda felt troubled. Why were the members of the Yang Family so smart?

Little Pagoda sighed helplessly. It was becoming harder and harder to fool Ye Guan, but Little Pagoda couldn’t allow Ye Guan to learn of his true identity just yet.

If he were to learn of his true identity so early, Ye Guan could become complacent and start going down the wrong path.

Complacency was the very reason the Young Master encountered difficulties making that certain breakthrough, and why was the Old Master invincible back then? It was all because he had tasted despair and had resolved to face his destiny.

That was the difference between the Old Master and the Young Master.

The Old Master had witnessed the Freedom Swordsman’s helplessness against destiny, and it was a bottomless abyss of despair.

Despair could stimulate enough power to allow a cultivator to make certain breakthroughs, and the Old Master had done it.

The Old Master had fought until the end of his life. His Dao was stable as a boulder, and even destiny couldn’t shake his Dao.

The Young Master didn’t have the same experiences as the Old Master, but it was a good thing that he was enlightened about how complacency could bring a cultivator to ruin.

Little Pagoda wasn’t trying to bully Ye Guan by hiding so much information. He wanted Ye Guan to roam the world first and visit every corner of it, and it was his father—the Sword Master’s wish.

He had to start at the bottom of the ladder and climb his way up to the top. If he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t be able to see the issues plaguing the Guanxuan Academy and the Immortal Treasures Pavilion.

If he were to directly become the Academy Chief of the Guanxuan Academy, the elders and everyone else in the Guanxuan Academy would hide their corruption from him.

The Guanxuan Academy and the Immortal Treasures Pavilion needed to change.

This time, Ye Guan would stand at the helm of that change.

Just then, the mysterious voice suddenly asked, “Little Pagoda, are you not worried that someone has already taken that seat?”

“Who would dare take that seat?” Little Pagoda coldly snorted. “I know that it has already been thirty million years, but who would be daring enough to take that seat?”

The mysterious voice fell silent.

Little Pagoda continued. “I don’t think even those geniuses would dare to even think about taking that seat for themselves.”

The mysterious voice muttered, “What if… what if the academy itself gives that seat to someone else?”

“Then the academy no longer has any reason to exist,” said Little Pagoda.

The mysterious voice went silent.