Expelled from the Academy!

"Know your crime?"

Beishan Xuantang looked utterly bewildered. "This disciple does not understand what Headmaster Uncle-Master means, nor does this disciple know what crime he has committed."

"Still putting on an act."

Jade Sea Daoist said coldly, "By the rules of our Black-White Academy, fellow disciples are forbidden from harming one another!"

"While serving as a guardian for the entrance examination, you violated Academy rules by launching a sneak attack from behind with a magic treasure beyond the prescribed limits, intending to kill Xia Manggan, who had already passed the examination."

"Later, after being punished, you maliciously distorted the truth among your fellow disciples and stirred up conflict between the new and old disciples."

"Now, when I ask whether you admit your guilt, it is because I hoped Heaven would leave no path entirely closed and wished to give you one final chance to confess and repent."

"But you remain stubborn and deeply corrupt, still trying to disguise yourself even now!"

Jade Sea Daoist shook his head. "Enough. From this day onward, you shall have no further ties with the Black-White Academy. You are no longer a disciple of this Academy..."

"But if you dare rely on your cultivation to run amok outside—" Jade Sea Daoist said sternly, "If Heaven does not take you in hand, the Black-White Academy will send someone to take your life!"

...Beishan Xuantang's face turned pale, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"I... I've been expelled from the Academy?"

He looked toward his master, Iron Hand Daoist.

Iron Hand Daoist merely kept his eyes closed, seemingly unable to bear looking at him.

He then looked at the fellow disciples he had once been close with.

Every senior and junior brother looked at him with contempt and disgust.

Even without Jade Sea Daoist publicly announcing the matter, the older disciples had begun doubting the "facts" Beishan Xuantang had previously described after seeing Xia Manggan's performance in the Dao discussion.

And now, with the headmaster confirming it, Beishan Xuantang was revealed as scum who had sneak-attacked a newly admitted junior brother from behind.

Who would not despise such character?

"I..." Beishan Xuantang dropped to his knees with a thud and looked pleadingly at Jade Sea Daoist and the assembled uncle-masters.

Yet every gaze he met was stern and cold.

"Alas, let's go."

A familiar voice rang out. Beishan Xuantang felt himself pulled up by a palm as hard as iron, then his master took him away via Teleportation.

In the final instant before leaving, he saw Xia Manggan emerging from the battlefield.

He wanted to hate him.

But when he thought of the overwhelming strength Xia Manggan had displayed during the Dao discussion, he felt utterly powerless.

For a moment, he did not even dare resent him in his heart.

This man is finished.

Xia Manggan withdrew his gaze, and the trace of killing intent that had risen within him faded away.

If he had sensed even the slightest malice from Beishan Xuantang just now—

Now that the restraints of the Black-White Academy's rules and the Heavenly Dao Blood Oath were gone, Xia Manggan would not have minded personally acting after Beishan Xuantang left the Academy, or instructing Beishan Hu to take Ah Huang and erase him completely.

After all.

Allowing someone who hated him and harbored malice toward him to remain alive was itself the greatest disregard for his own safety.

But since the other man did not even dare harbor resentment and had already lost all spirit, Xia Manggan had no need to waste any more thought on an ant.

"Senior Brother Xia Mang!" A cheer rang out.

Xia Manggan looked over.

Mu Zishuo came rushing toward him in extreme excitement.

"Senior Brother Xia Mang, you're too powerful! You're invincible!"

Mu Zishuo's face was flushed red, and he was so excited he seemed drunk. "Even the Eldest Disciple among the Academy's third-generation disciples lost to you! This time, us new disciples have truly held our heads high!"

"I merely got lucky and won by one move." Xia Manggan smiled and looked toward a corner of the Dao Discussion Hall.

A ripple of spatial fluctuations had just appeared there.

Did Master and the other Immortals leave?

At this moment.

The Primordial Spirit Daoists gathered around him.

"Xia Mang, my Daoist title is Wu Xiu. I was the one who assessed your aptitude when you entered the Academy..."

"Xia Mang, you remember me, don't you? I'm Shuimo..."

"Xia..."

"Greetings, Uncle-Masters." Xia Manggan smiled as he bowed, responding to each enthusiastic Primordial Spirit Daoist.

"What uncle-masters? In the future, simply address us by our Daoist titles." Wu Xiu Daoist laughed. "Though you are a third-generation disciple, your master is someone we must address as Uncle-Master. Properly speaking, we are all about the same."

"Exactly, exactly."

"If Xia Mang wishes to discuss the Dao or spar in the future, just come find us..."

"Then I must thank you all." Xia Manggan replied with a smile.

Seeing Jade Sea Daoist leave alone with Ji Ning, knowing that he was going to explain the hierarchy of the Dao and the difference between the Great Dao and Lesser Dao to Ji Ning, Xia Manggan began conversing with the Primordial Spirit Daoists.

The path he would take in the future was to fuse all Daos into the Wheel of Life and Death of the Heavens, ultimately forming a Heavenly Dao, and even a Chaos Heavenly Dao.

He therefore needed to comprehend and experience all kinds of different Daos.

And these Primordial Spirit Daoists of the Black-White Academy, even the weakest among them, had completely mastered a Lesser Dao. Their Dao Comprehension Realm was enough to rival the top elites among outside Void Return Earth Immortals.

These more than twenty Primordial Spirit Daoists represented over twenty Lesser Daos that had been fully comprehended and mastered, as well as various Great Daos that had only just been entered.

The help they could provide in allowing him to rapidly absorb and accumulate experience in Dao comprehension was likely no less than the Black-White Academy's treasured Black-White Diagram.

In the distance, after the third-generation disciples heard the headmaster reveal the truth and expose Beishan Xuantang's true face—

Some of the older disciples who felt they had wrongly judged Xia Manggan wanted to come apologize.

They also wanted to exchange a few words with Xia Manggan, at least introduce themselves and make an impression for future dealings.

Because everyone understood that Xia Manggan had only just entered the Academy, yet was already so formidable in Dao discussions and sparring that even Eldest Disciple True Person Sloppy had suffered a bitter defeat.

In just a few years, once Xia Manggan's Qi Refining and Fiendgod Body Refining cultivation rose, he would surely become a renowned figure throughout Anchan Commandery, perhaps even the Great Xia Dynasty.

After all, he was a member of the imperial clan.

But seeing Xia Manggan surrounded by second-generation uncle-masters, the older third-generation disciples looked at one another and could only leave regretfully for the time being.

Upon a colorful cloud.

Yu Wei and Jiu Lian flew together toward the eastern side of the Academy.

As they neared Xia Manggan's cave estate, Di Ta Peak, Yu Wei saw Jiu Lian merely glance downward without any intention of descending. Unable to help feeling puzzled, she asked, "Little sister, don't you plan to visit Junior Brother Xia Mang? Weren't you very curious about him before?"

"There will surely be many fellow disciples visiting Young Master Xia Mang today. Even if I went, there would be too many people to speak much. It would be better to wait a few days." As Jiu Lian spoke, she glanced once more at Di Ta Peak below.

Already, seven or eight Streamers had flown directly toward the residence atop the peak.

Yu Wei also saw the escaping lights of their fellow disciples below and lightly laughed. "After today, I'm afraid even more people will want to visit Di Ta Peak. Junior Brother Xia Mang will be quite busy lately. If little sister wishes to go when there are fewer people, you may have quite a wait ahead."

Their Black-White Academy was the strongest of the eight great peak powers within Anchan Commandery, aside from the Beishan Clan of the Anchan Marquis Mansion and the Yinglong Guard branch.

Moreover, the Academy grounds were located in Anchan City, the center of the entire commandery.

Thus, any small disturbance within the Academy would swiftly spread through all of Anchan City, and even throughout Anchan Commandery.

Now that Xia Manggan had first defeated Fire Saint and then True Person Sloppy in the Dao Discussion Hall, it was equivalent to reaching the pinnacle among the younger generation of disciples in Anchan Commandery.

At least, that was how the various outside powers saw it.

Coupled with Xia Manggan's imperial status, even the usually arrogant Yinglong Guard's Anchan Commandery branch would likely send high-ranking members to pay him a visit.

At this thought, Jiu Lian became somewhat lost in thought as well.

The timing of this visit truly needed careful consideration...

The second update is here. We'll continue tomorrow morning at 11:45. Gentlemen, please give your support—cast whatever votes you have, and when you reach the last page, please light up the little red hearts for the two characters as well. Suifeng offers his thanks.