A Page of His Own in the Family Register!

No one would have expected the matter at Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy to end just like that.

Yes, it was completely over.

Not only in Qingzhou, but throughout the entire Guanxuan Realm, no one dared investigate the matter further, or even ask about it.

Everything was calm and peaceful.

That was absolute power!

Without a doubt, the Xiao Family had the last laugh. After this incident, their prestige in the Guanxuan Universe had also risen considerably, because no one had expected them to settle the matter so effortlessly.

Inside the Xiao Family's main hall.

The Xiao Family's experts were all beaming with pride, as though they had just won a great victory.

One elder suddenly said, "We have to get rid of that bastard."

"Right!"

Another elder immediately chimed in, "We must get rid of that bastard. We can't leave trouble for the future."

Everyone nodded. How could they allow a genius who had made it through the Guanxuan Dao, and who was now a mortal enemy of the Xiao Family, to grow stronger?

"Fools."

Xiao Feng, the family head seated at the head of the hall, suddenly shouted.

The Xiao Family experts were puzzled and turned to look at Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng's face darkened. "We could call in our ancestor's favor once, but not necessarily a second time. Don't you understand?"

The elders all fell silent.

Xiao Feng said gravely, "If our Xiao Family goes after that bastard now, it would be far too blatant."

He saw it clearly: the Xiao Family had escaped unscathed this time entirely thanks to their ancestor's standing. From now on, the family had to be more cautious than ever in its actions.

One elder said unhappily, "Are we just going to let that bastard go?"

Xiao Feng remained expressionless. "There are many ways to kill someone. We don't have to do it ourselves. For example, we can borrow a knife to kill..."

Borrow a knife to kill!

Hearing this, the elders exchanged glances and smiled.

Ye Tianming returned to Qingzhou, because he was still, technically, a student of Qingzhou Academy. Nanling Zhao had not left, and followed him all the way.

When Ye Tianming arrived at the academy again, Ji Shi, the head of Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy, appeared before the two of them.

Ji Shi looked at Ye Tianming. "Our Qingzhou Academy has revoked your special admission. From this moment on, you are no longer a student of Qingzhou Academy."

Ye Tianming was not surprised. He looked at Ji Shi. "Will Lord Fang Xiao ever come back here?"

He had returned not to join Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy, of course, but to see Fang Xiao one last time.

Ji Shi said calmly, "Fang Xiao has resigned. He no longer holds any official post, and he can never return here."

Ye Tianming fell silent, his heart filled with guilt.

Ji Shi said, "You could have made another choice, but you insisted on meeting force with force. Are you satisfied now?"

Ye Tianming looked at Ji Shi. "I, Ye Tianming, was not the one in the wrong. It was this world."

With that, he turned and left.

Ji Shi watched Ye Tianming and Nanling Zhao leave without a word.

Just then, an old man appeared beside him. It was Elder Ling, who said gravely, "That man cannot be allowed to live."

Ji Shi remained expressionless. "The Xiao Family wants him dead even more than we do."

With that, he turned and left.

Just as Ye Tianming and Nanling Zhao were about to descend the mountain, a young man was watching him from the side. It was Zhao Yu of the Zhao Family, and another young man stood beside him.

The young man stared at Ye Tianming in the distance and said viciously, "Second brother, that man cannot be allowed to live..."

Zhao Yu turned and slapped him.

Smack!

A crisp slap rang out, and the young man's right cheek immediately swelled up.

The young man stared at Zhao Yu in bewilderment. "Second brother..."

Zhao Yu turned to look at Ye Tianming in the distance. "Someone who made it through the Guanxuan Dao... is that someone our Zhao Family can afford to provoke?"

As he spoke, he slowly closed his eyes. "Go back at once and tell the family head to return every bit of land taken from the Ye Family. Then have our Zhao Family leave Qingzhou immediately. Go as far away as possible, and never return to Qingzhou..."

The young man was stunned. "Second brother, this..."

"Go!" Zhao Yu snarled.

The young man said in a trembling voice, "What if the family head and the others refuse..."

Zhao Yu remained expressionless. "Then I, Zhao Yu, will leave the Zhao Family and have a page of my own in the family register."

With that, he turned and left.

The young man said, "..."

Ye Tianming walked down the mountain. Suddenly, a heavy rain began to fall.

Ye Tianming gripped the Sword of Upholding the Dao tightly in his left hand and continued down the mountain. Watching the rain strike the ground before him, he suddenly felt a little lost.

Heaven and earth were vast, yet there was no longer a place for him, Ye Tianming, to call home.

Just then, an umbrella appeared over him.

Ye Tianming turned to see Nanling Zhao. She looked at him and said, "Let's go to Yongzhou."

Ye Tianming was a little puzzled.

Nanling Zhao said, "If you want to take part in the Myriad Provinces Grand Competition, you must join a province. Otherwise, you won't be qualified to compete."

Ye Tianming shook his head. "Lady Zhao, I've already dragged Lord Fang Xiao down with me. I can't drag you down too."

Nanling Zhao stared at Ye Tianming. "As an inspector, this is my duty. I should..."

Ye Tianming interrupted her. "You've already done enough, truly, Lady Zhao. Let me walk the rest of the way on my own."

With that, he turned and walked away.

Holding the umbrella, Nanling Zhao watched him slowly walk into the rain.

Amid the pouring rain, Ye Tianming slowly disappeared from sight at the foot of Qingzhou Academy's mountain.

Ye Tianming did not return to the Ye Family. How could he face his family if he returned like this?

Just as he reached the foot of the mountain, a voice suddenly called from beside him. "Hey."

Ye Tianming turned and saw Nanling Zhao standing not far away, holding an umbrella and looking at him. She smiled. "I wasn't deliberately following you. We just happen to be going the same way."

Ye Tianming was about to speak when Nanling Zhao walked up to him and held the umbrella between them, sheltering them both.

Nanling Zhao looked intently at Ye Tianming. "I want to help you, but I know you feel you already owe me too many favors, so you're embarrassed to accept any more help from me. I also know you're thoroughly disappointed in Guanxuan Academy now, that you have no goodwill toward it and even hate it. And I know your heart is full of resentment and anger, wondering why the world is so dark. I also know..."

She shook her head slightly and continued, "What I want to say is, I understand all these feelings of yours. I understand them very well. I'm not going to put on a righteous air and tell you to look on the bright side and accept all this injustice, because I believe from the bottom of my heart that you should be disappointed, you should be angry, you should hate..."

Ye Tianming looked at her without speaking. His eyes were very wet, though he could not tell whether it was tears or rain.

Often, you could understand certain things, but when those things actually happened to you, understanding them did not necessarily mean you could let them go.

Only a sage could be forgiving toward those who had hurt him so deeply.

Nanling Zhao said, "You should take part in the Myriad Provinces Grand Competition. You should meet the Guanxuan Sword Master and ask him what exactly is wrong with this world. There's nothing wrong with what you're thinking. That's what you should do, but before that, you should join a province."

Ye Tianming looked at Nanling Zhao. "Lady Zhao, please help me one more time."

Nanling Zhao smiled. "My help doesn't come for free. Of course, I know you're poor, so let's say you owe me a favor. When I ask you to do something for me in the future, you mustn't refuse. Anything at all."

How could Ye Tianming fail to understand her intention? His feelings were complicated, but he nodded. "I won't."

Nanling Zhao broke into a smile. "Come on, let's go to Yongzhou."

The two walked away beneath a single umbrella.

An hour later, they arrived at the Immortal Treasure Pavilion. To reach another province, they naturally had to use a teleportation array.

After Nanling Zhao and Ye Tianming entered the Immortal Treasure Pavilion, Nanling Zhao paid the spirit crystals. But soon, a steward hurried out. He glanced at Ye Tianming, then said respectfully, "Your subordinate Huo Yan greets Lady Zhao. Lady Zhao, you may use the teleportation array, but this Young Master Ye cannot."

Nanling Zhao's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Why?"

The steward, Huo Yan, said carefully, "My lady, Young Master Ye has been placed on our Immortal Treasure Pavilion's blacklist. From this moment on, he can no longer use any of our services."

The blacklist!

Nanling Zhao's gaze instantly turned cold.

Ye Tianming was also rather surprised.

Nanling Zhao stared at Huo Yan. "Who did it?"

Huo Yan smiled bitterly. "My lady, I truly don't know."

Nanling Zhao fell silent. She naturally knew who had done it. Without a doubt, it was either the Xiao Family or Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy, or perhaps the two of them working together.

Huo Yan stood with his back bowed, feeling extremely uneasy.

Nanling Zhao suddenly said, "Let us go. Just say I forced you. Once they hear that, they won't blame you."

Huo Yan hastily nodded. "All right, all right. This way, please."

Nanling Zhao and Ye Tianming walked toward the teleportation array in the distance. Soon, they disappeared into it.

Just then, a little boy walked over. "Grandpa, letting Ye Tianming go like that breaks the rules..."

Huo Yan rubbed the little boy's head and smiled. "Rules can be bent."

He looked toward the teleportation array in the distance and said softly, "If our superiors question us about letting them go, we'll say Lady Zhao forced us. They know who she is, so they probably won't blame us. But if we didn't let them go, we'd offend Lady Zhao beyond repair. She's an inspector. If she came to investigate us on a whim... we'd be finished."

The little boy was puzzled. "Why would we be finished?"

Huo Yan sighed quietly. "The Immortal Treasure Pavilion has so many departments. Which one doesn't have dirty accounts? Here alone, there are more than forty people drawing salaries for doing nothing, to say nothing of all the other messy business... If those things came to light, your grandpa would have to kill himself immediately."

The little boy still did not understand. "Why would you have to kill yourself, Grandpa? You weren't the one who took the money."

Huo Yan rubbed the little boy's head. "When certain things come to light, someone has to come forward and take the blame for those big shots. As for why it would be your grandpa, you'll understand someday."