"Do you know your crime?"
Beishan Xuantang looked utterly bewildered. "This disciple does not understand what you mean, Headmaster. Nor does this disciple know what crime he has committed."
"You are 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 the guardian of the entrance examination, you violated the Academy rules. You even used a magic treasure beyond the stipulated limits to launch a sneak attack from behind, intending to kill Xia Manggan, who had already passed the examination."
"Later, after being punished, you maliciously twisted right and wrong among your fellow disciples, stirring up conflict between the new and old disciples."
"Now, when I ask whether you know your crime, it is because I hoped Heaven would leave no one without a path forward and wished to give you one final chance to confess and admit your mistakes."
"But you remain stubborn and incorrigible, your wicked roots too deep. Even now, you still seek to disguise yourself!"
Jade Sea Daoist shook his head. "Enough. From this day onward, you 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 commit evil acts 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 had his eyes closed, as though he could not bear to look at him.
He then looked toward the fellow disciples he had once been close with.
In the eyes of every senior and junior brother, he saw nothing but contempt and disgust.
Even if Jade Sea Daoist had not come forth to announce the matter, the older disciples had already begun to doubt the "facts" Beishan Xuantang had previously told them after witnessing Xia Manggan's performance in the Dao discussion.
Now that the Headmaster had confirmed it as well, Beishan Xuantang was a scoundrel who had sneak-attacked a newly initiated junior brother from behind.
Who would not loathe and despise someone of such character?
"I..." Beishan Xuantang dropped to his knees with a thud, pleadingly looking toward Jade Sea Daoist and the various martial uncles and senior martial uncles.
Yet every gaze he met was stern and cold.
"Sigh, let's go."
A familiar voice rang out. Beishan Xuantang only felt himself being pulled to his feet by a hand as hard as iron, then his master took him away via Teleportation.
At the very last instant before leaving, he saw Xia Manggan, who had just emerged from the battle arena.
He wanted to hate him.
But once he recalled the overwhelming strength Xia Manggan had displayed during the Dao discussion, he felt utterly powerless.
For a moment, he did not even dare harbor resentment in his heart.
[This man is finished.]
Xia Manggan withdrew his gaze, and the trace of killing intent rising in his heart dissipated as well.
If he had sensed even the slightest hint of malice from Beishan Xuantang just now—
Now that there were no longer the Black-White Academy's rules or the Heavenly Dao Blood Oath to restrain him, Xia Manggan would not have minded personally acting after Beishan Xuantang left the Academy, or ordering Beishan Hu to take Ah Huang and erase him completely.
After all.
Allowing someone who hated him and bore ill will toward him to live was itself the most reckless disregard for his own safety.
But since the man did not even dare resent him and had already lost all his fighting spirit, Xia Manggan had no need to waste any more thought on an ant.
"Senior Brother Xia Mang!" A jubilant cry rang out.
Xia Manggan looked over.
Mu Zishuo came charging over, overflowing with excitement.
"Senior Brother Xia Mang, you're too powerful! You're invincible!"
Mu Zishuo's face was flushed red, and he was so excited that he seemed drunk. "Even the Eldest Disciple among the Academy's third-generation disciples lost to you. We new disciples have finally held our heads high!"
"I only won by a lucky move." Xia Manggan smiled and looked toward a corner of the Dao Discussion Hall.
A ripple of spatial fluctuation had just appeared there.
[Have Master and the other Immortals left?]
At this moment.
The Primordial Spirit Daoists gathered around him.
"Xia Mang, my Daoist title is 'Wu Xiu.' I was the one who conducted your aptitude screening when you entered the Academy..."
"Xia Mang, do you remember me? I am 'Shuimo'..."
"Xia..."
"Greetings, martial uncles." Xia Manggan smiled and bowed, responding to each of the enthusiastic Primordial Spirit Daoists.
"What martial uncles? 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 all address as senior martial uncle. If we truly sort it out, we are all about the same generation."
"Exactly, exactly."
"If Xia Mang wishes to discuss the Dao or spar in the future, feel free to seek us out..."
"Then I thank you all." Xia Manggan replied with a smile.
Seeing Jade Sea Daoist take Ji Ning away alone, Xia Manggan knew he was going to explain the levels of Dao comprehension to Ji Ning, as well as the difference between the Great Dao and Lesser Dao. Thus, Xia Manggan began conversing with the Primordial Spirit Daoists.
The path he would walk 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 needed to comprehend and encounter 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 sufficient to rival the top elites among outside Void Return Earth Immortals.
These more than twenty Primordial Spirit Daoists represented more than twenty fully comprehended and mastered Lesser Daos, as well as all manner of Great Daos they had only just 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 hearing the Headmaster reveal the truth and expose Beishan Xuantang's true face, the third-generation disciples—
Some older disciples who felt they had misunderstood Xia Manggan earlier wished to go over and apologize.
They also wanted to exchange a few words with Xia Manggan, at least introduce themselves and become familiar with him, making future dealings easier.
Because everyone understood that Xia Manggan had only just entered the Academy, yet he 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 towering figure in all of Anchan Commandery, perhaps even the Great Xia Dynasty.
After all, he was a member of the imperial clan.
But seeing Xia Manggan surrounded by the second-generation martial uncles and senior martial uncles, these older third-generation disciples looked at one another and could only leave temporarily in disappointment.
Upon a multicolored cloud.
Yu Wei and Jiu Lian flew together toward the eastern side of the Academy.
As they neared Xia Manggan's estate, Di Ta Peak, Yu Wei saw that Jiu Lian merely glanced downward without any intention of descending. She could not help asking in confusion, "Sister, aren't you planning to visit Junior Brother Xia Mang? Weren't you very curious about him earlier?"
"There will certainly be many fellow disciples visiting Young Master Xia Mang today. Even if I went, there would be too many people to speak properly. I might as well wait a few days." As Jiu Lian spoke, she glanced once more at Di Ta Peak below.
She saw that seven or eight streamers had already flown directly toward the residence atop the peak.
Yu Wei also saw the fellow disciples' escaping lights below and chuckled. "After today, I fear even more people will want to visit Di Ta Peak. Junior Brother Xia Mang will be busy for a while. If you wish to wait until there are fewer people, Sister, I fear you will have quite a wait."
Their Black-White Academy was the strongest among the eight great top powers in Anchan Commandery, aside from the Anchan Marquis Mansion's Beishan Clan and the Yinglong Guard branch.
Moreover, the Academy was located in Anchan City, the center of the entire commandery.
Thus, any slight disturbance within the Academy would swiftly spread throughout Anchan City, and even the entire Anchan Commandery.
Now that Xia Manggan had defeated Fire Saint first and then True Person Sloppy in the Dao Discussion Hall, it was equivalent to reaching the summit among the younger generation of disciples in Anchan Commandery.
At least, that was how the various outside powers viewed it.
Coupled with Xia Manggan's imperial-clan status, even the usually arrogant Yinglong Guard branch in Anchan Commandery would likely have high-ranking members come to pay him a visit.
Thinking of this, Jiu Lian became somewhat distracted as well.
She really needed to carefully consider the right time for this visit...
The second update is here. We'll continue tomorrow morning at 11:45. Gentlemen, please support me—cast your votes, and when you reach the final page, please light up two little red hearts for the characters as well. Suifeng offers his thanks.
Before you continue