Guixu's First Lesson: No Causing Trouble

After the Bureau of Cause and Effect was established, order in Guixu City indeed improved greatly.

Conflicts between the various clans noticeably decreased.

Because everyone knew the Book of Cause and Effect before the Northern Darkness Dao Palace was no mere decoration.

If you bullied a weaker clan today,

the Book of Cause and Effect could dig up all your dirty secrets tomorrow.

If it was merely an ordinary verbal dispute, you could still be sentenced to work in the Spirit Fields.

But if you had committed grave slaughter, you might even be expelled directly from Guixu.

For those clans that had only managed to flee into Guixu after great difficulty, being expelled was practically a death sentence.

Thus, within just a few decades, the atmosphere in Guixu City had been completely transformed.

Lu Chen was quite pleased with this.

He even felt somewhat fortunate that he had chosen the Book of Cause and Effect.

This thing was truly useful.

With the Book of Cause and Effect, Lan Shuang could handle affairs.

If Lan Shuang could handle affairs, he did not need to.

If he did not need to handle affairs, he could continue his seclusion.

That was called a virtuous cycle.

However, the nature of Primordial World beings was not so easily suppressed.

Especially not those young prodigies.

On the eastern side of Guixu City.

The Martial Practice Arena.

This place had originally only been where young members of the Sea Spirit Clan practiced water-element spells.

Later, as more and more clans arrived, young cultivators of every clan began coming here to compete.

To prevent private fights, Lan Shuang simply designated the place as an official Martial Practice Arena.

Sparring here was permitted.

Injuring others was not.

Trying to kill them was even less acceptable.

At first, the various clans had remained fairly restrained.

Until Han Jue, the young master of the Ice-Scaled Tribe, arrived at the Martial Practice Arena.

The Ice-Scaled Tribe was one of the thirty-six clans of Guixu with the strongest talent for combat.

They were born with ice scales upon their backs and could absorb the frigid aura of the Northern Sea to cultivate.

Han Jue was also the most outstanding young prodigy of this generation of the Ice-Scaled Tribe.

Though still young, he had already reached the Mid-Stage Golden Immortal realm.

Among Guixu's younger generation, he had virtually no rivals.

And geniuses always had tempers.

Han Jue had long resented the Sea Spirit Clan's control over Guixu's affairs.

In his view, the Sea Spirit Clan had merely been among the first clans to enter.

In terms of combat strength, the Sea Spirit Clan was far inferior to the Ice-Scaled Tribe.

In terms of bloodline, the Sea Spirit Clan was also inferior to the Cold Whale Tribe and the Dark-Armor Tribe.

Why should Lan Shuang wield the Book of Cause and Effect and oversee Guixu's internal affairs?

That day.

Han Jue defeated seventeen Realm Guard members in succession at the Martial Practice Arena.

The last Sea Spirit Clan cultivator was sent flying several hundred zhang by a single palm strike, crashing into the edge of the formation before vomiting blood and falling unconscious.

An uproar rose around the Martial Practice Arena.

"Han Jue, you've gone too far!"

A Realm Guard commander shouted angrily.

Han Jue wore ice-blue battle armor, the scales on his back gleaming with a cold light.

He raised his head toward the Realm Guard commander and sneered. "This is sparring at the Martial Practice Arena. If they're inferior in skill, is that my fault?"

"You knew they were no match for you, yet you still struck so heavily."

Han Jue's gaze was disdainful.

"If they cannot endure even such minor injuries, what right do they have to be Realm Guards?"

"If Guixu is to protect all clans, then true experts should hold power."

"I, Han Jue, refuse to accept a bunch of Sea Spirit Clan members who can only keep records, farm, and register people ruling over us."

The expressions of quite a few young cultivators nearby changed slightly at those words.

Some of them had entertained such thoughts before.

But none had dared say them aloud.

After all, Lan Shuang controlled the Book of Cause and Effect and was the chieftain of the Sea Spirit Clan, the first clan protected by the Emperor.

For Han Jue to make this clear in public was no longer ordinary sparring.

He was challenging Guixu's existing order.

The news quickly reached the Northern Darkness Dao Palace.

After hearing it, Lan Shuang did not become angry.

She merely gently closed the jade slip in her hand.

"Han Jue finally couldn't hold himself back."

Lady Mingzhu sat nearby, her brows faintly furrowed.

"This boy has decent talent, but his arrogance is too great."

"If this is not dealt with, I'm afraid Guixu's younger generation will all be influenced by him."

Lan Shuang nodded.

"I understand."

"But the various clans of Guixu have only recently established themselves. If I suppress him personally, he will certainly refuse to accept it."

"This matter still needs to be reported to the Emperor."

In the depths of Guixu.

Lu Chen had just been preparing to immerse himself in the Chaos Shell-Shedding Method when he heard Lan Shuang's report.

His first reaction was—

Throw him out.

Yes.

Throwing him out was simplest.

This place was a refuge.

Not some hot-blooded youths' tournament.

If you refused to accept this and refused to accept that, then go outside and fight the Dragon Clan.

Why make trouble inside his turtle shell?

But just then, the system's voice sounded.

"An internal conflict among Guixu's young prodigies has been detected. Please make a choice, Host."

"First: Personally suppress Han Jue and establish the Emperor's majesty. Reward: Ice-Soul Divine Spear."

"Second: Allow the conflict to continue. The strong devour the weak, and the fittest survive. Reward: one wisp of Baleful Fiendish Aura."

"Third: Suppress both sides with the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation, establish Guixu's rule against fighting, and receive one Northern Dark Spirit Vein as a reward."

Lu Chen glanced over the options.

The first one—no.

Personally suppress him?

Han Jue was merely a young Mid-Stage Golden Immortal. He was not worthy of Lu Chen acting in person.

The second was even less acceptable.

Allow the conflict to continue?

Then Guixu would sooner or later become like the Primordial World outside.

Lu Chen hated this sort of fighting and killing most.

The third was best.

Formation suppression.

Trouble-free.

And it even rewarded him with a spirit vein.

"I choose the third."

"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one Northern Dark Spirit Vein."

The next moment.

The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation slowly lit up above Guixu City.

Within the Martial Practice Arena.

Han Jue was still sneering.

Looking at the Realm Guard commander before him, he said coldly, "If you refuse to accept this, you can all come at me together."

"I would like to see just how capable this so-called Realm Guard is."

Several nearby Realm Guard members looked grim as they prepared to form a formation.

Suddenly.

Heaven and earth sank.

A massive phantom of the Black Tortoise emerged above the entire Martial Practice Arena.

The Black Tortoise bore a black sea upon its back, its four legs suppressing heaven and earth.

The instant that aura descended, everyone felt their mana stagnate.

Han Jue's expression changed drastically.

He instinctively tried to activate his Ice-Scale Bloodline.

But the moment his mana began to circulate, the Black Tortoise phantom slowly lowered its head.

Boom!

A terrifying pressure descended.

Han Jue's knees buckled violently.

Bang!

His entire body dropped directly to its knees in the center of the Martial Practice Arena.

The ground cracked.

Frigid aura exploded outward.

Yet he did not have even the slightest room to resist.

Han Jue's pupils contracted sharply.

How was this possible?

He was a Mid-Stage Golden Immortal!

The young master of the Ice-Scaled Tribe!

Among Guixu's younger generation, he had almost no rivals.

Yet now, the pressure of a single formation had forced him directly to his knees.

Forget standing up.

He could not even raise his head.

All the young cultivators around him fell silent.

They stared in shock at the Black Tortoise phantom.

The next moment, Lu Chen's voice descended from above.

"Those who enter my Guixu must obey the first rule."

"No causing trouble."

"If you want to fight, go to the Martial Practice Arena."

"If you want to kill, get out."

"Sparring at the Martial Practice Arena is permitted."

"But using sparring as a pretext to injure others and establish your authority is not."

His voice was not loud.

Yet every word fell clearly into everyone's ears.

Han Jue was pinned to the ground, his face shifting between green and white.

Humiliation, shock, unwillingness.

And a trace of awe he could not suppress.

He finally understood just how absurdly wrong he had been.

He had thought the Sea Spirit Clan managed Guixu because the Emperor was in seclusion and could not be bothered.

He had thought that as long as he displayed his talent, the various clans would see the Ice-Scaled Tribe's strength.

But only now did he realize that in the true Emperor's eyes, his so-called talent, arrogance, and combat strength were things that could be suppressed with a single thought.

The Emperor was not ignoring matters.

He simply could not be bothered to deal with them.

If the Emperor truly wished to intervene, no one in all of Guixu could resist.

Han Jue gritted his teeth and pressed his forehead to the ground with difficulty.

"Han Jue knows his mistake and is willing to accept punishment."

Lu Chen had originally wanted to punish him by sending him to farm in the Spirit Field.

But on second thought, sending such a troublemaker to the Spirit Field might result in him freezing the whole place over.

So he said, "Your punishment is to join the Realm Guard and start from the very bottom."

"When you learn to follow the rules, then we can talk about strength and weakness."

Han Jue froze.

The Realm Guard?

The Emperor had not expelled him.

Instead, he was letting him join the Realm Guard?

Was this a punishment?

Or was it an opportunity?

Han Jue's heart jolted.

He felt that he understood the Emperor's deeper meaning.

The Emperor had seen both his talent and his pride.

That was why he was using this method to temper him.

Starting from the bottom was not humiliation.

It was to make him truly understand what it meant to protect Guixu.

The last trace of defiance in Han Jue's heart completely vanished.

He kowtowed heavily.

"Han Jue is willing to join the Realm Guard!"

"From this day onward, I am willing to stand guard over Guixu for the Emperor!"

Lu Chen: "..."

I just wanted you to stop causing trouble.

Why did you suddenly get so fired up?

The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation slowly dispersed.

Han Jue rose from the ground. Though his face was pale, his eyes had never been more resolute.

He walked over to the Realm Guard member he had injured and bowed deeply.

"I struck too heavily earlier."

"I will personally compensate you with healing spirit medicine."

"Once you recover, I will spar with you again."

The Sea Spirit Clan cultivator was taken aback, then nodded with a wry smile.

"Fine."

The young cultivators around them watched the scene with complicated feelings.

Han Jue's suppression did not make them look down on him.

Instead, it made them realize for the first time that the Guixu Guardian Team was by no means a gathering place for weaklings.

They were the guardians of order personally acknowledged by the Emperor.

If even Han Jue could start from the bottom, why couldn't they?

Just a few days later.

The number of applicants for the Realm Guard surged.

Young cultivators from the Ice-Scaled Tribe, Cold Whale Tribe, Water Ape Tribe, and Merfolk Tribe all applied to join.

Lan Shuang stared at the application jade slips piled across her desk and remained silent for a long time.

Lady Mingzhu chuckled. "It seems the Emperor's suppression not only crushed Han Jue's arrogance, but also brought out the spirit of Guixu's younger generation."

Lan Shuang slowly nodded.

"If that is the case, the Realm Guard needs to be formally expanded."

"There are more and more young people. We cannot rely on the Martial Practice Arena alone."

"Guixu needs a place to teach them cultivation, rules, and how to avoid tribulations."

Lady Mingzhu's eyes shifted.

"You mean?"

Lan Shuang looked toward the Northern Darkness Dao Palace, her expression solemn.

"Establish Guixu Academy."

Deep within Guixu.

Lu Chen suddenly had an ominous feeling.

He had just been about to enter seclusion when the system chimed softly.

"Detected that Guixu Academy is about to be established."

Lu Chen opened his eyes.

"Who? Who told you to start a school?"