Guanxuan Dao!

Ten days later.

Ye Tianming arrived at the Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy.

Qingzhou Mountain stretched for a thousand miles, peak embracing peak. Clouds and mist often wreathed its slopes, making it look like a land of immortals.

More than a hundred million people lived throughout Qingzhou, and countless young people dreamed of entering the Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy. For countless ordinary people, joining the Guanxuan Academy was the only way to change their fate. But gaining admission to the Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy was extraordinarily difficult; those chosen were truly one in ten thousand.

Ye Tianming had passed a special written examination and had therefore been granted special admission. Had he taken the ordinary examination, he would have had no chance at all, because every admission slot had already been assigned in advance.

A short while later, Ye Tianming arrived before a great hall at the foot of the mountain. The hall had three entrances. The one on the left was for special admissions, and he was the only person there at present. The one on the far right was for ordinary admissions, where a long line had already formed.

As for the entrance in the middle, it was the legendary Guanxuan Dao.

This path had been left behind by the Guanxuan Sword Master, Ye Guan, himself. If a candidate suffered unfair treatment at the academy, he could walk this path. Once he passed its trials, the entire Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy would immediately enter a "self-investigation" procedure, and all the Guanxuan Guards and Qingzhou Realm Guardians in Qingzhou would immediately enter the academy to protect the challenger. If the challenger died without cause, the Guanxuan Realm's main academy would immediately enter a "self-investigation" procedure. At the same time, the head of the academy in the challenger's province and every elder of its Council of Elders would be suspended on the spot pending investigation, and all Guanxuan Guards and realm guardians in that province would be dismissed immediately...

Every province had a Guanxuan Dao, but in the past thousand years, only one person across all Wan Prefecture had passed its trials. That had happened nearly a hundred years ago.

When the people at the ordinary admissions entrance saw Ye Tianming, they all looked at him with curiosity and admiration.

Special admission!

That was no ordinary feat.

Amid the envious gazes of the crowd, Ye Tianming entered the hall. A young man sat before him, around twenty years old and quite handsome, dressed in a long robe. He stood and looked at Ye Tianming, saying warmly, "Someone's finally here. Hello, my name is Zhang Nan. I'm in charge of receiving special-admission students."

Ye Tianming took a sheet of paper from his robes and handed it to the young man. The young man accepted it and read it carefully. After confirming that everything was in order, he smiled. "Welcome to the Guanxuan Academy."

With that, he picked up a seal and was about to stamp the paper when a black-clad youth hurried to his side, bent down, and whispered a few words in his ear.

The young man's brows immediately furrowed. After a moment's silence, he looked up at Ye Tianming. "Wait."

He put away his seal, then rose and hurried off with the black-clad youth.

Ye Tianming glanced at the departing pair and put away the paper in front of him, his brows furrowing. Could the Zhao Family have influence here? That should have been impossible.

He couldn't help feeling a trace of worry.

Meanwhile.

Zhang Nan raced up the mountain and entered a great hall. As soon as he stepped inside, he heard an old man roaring, "What the fuck is this? Someone's using their privileges right under my nose!"

A middle-aged man beside the old man kept his head lowered, too afraid to speak.

Zhang Nan entered, his face full of bewilderment. "Teacher, what's going on?"

The old man's face was livid. "We just received word that the Xiao Family wants a special-admission slot. They want us to cancel a special-admission student's place."

Zhang Nan was stunned. "How can they do that? The special-admission slots have already been decided. How can they cancel one? What kind of joke is this?"

The old man's gaze was icy. "The order has already come down from above."

Zhang Nan's face immediately darkened. Above... that meant the order had come from the academy's Council of Elders. He hesitated, then asked, "Teacher, is that Xiao Family the one in Nanzhou?"

The old man nodded, his face livid.

Zhang Nan's expression darkened completely. The Nanzhou Xiao Clan was a second-tier great family, and its ancestor and the Guanxuan Sword Master had once addressed each other as brothers.

Puzzled, Zhang Nan asked, "Teacher, the Xiao Family is in Nanzhou. Why have they come to Qingzhou to compete for this special-admission slot?"

The old man's face was covered in frost. "Someone squeezed the Xiao Family out of their slot in Nanzhou."

Zhang Nan was shocked. "Someone managed to take the Xiao Family's slot?"

The old man shook his head. "I don't know the details. All I know is that those above want us to cancel one special-admission student's place. It must be canceled."

Zhang Nan said gravely, "That's unfair to the student. Extremely unfair."

The middle-aged man beside them sighed softly. "It's unfair, but what can we do? This order came directly from the Council of Elders..."

The old man wore a sullen expression and said nothing.

Zhang Nan asked, "Whose special-admission qualification do they want us to cancel?"

The middle-aged man said, "We only have two special-admission students here this time. One is Ye Tianming from the Ye Family, a lowest-tier family, and the other is from the Tuoba Family..."

Hearing that, Zhang Nan understood at once.

The Tuoba Family's slot could never be canceled. What a joke—they were a second-tier family too, with people in the Outer Pavilion, and they also had some ties to the Guanxuan Sword Master's father, the Mortal Sword Master.

Clearly, Ye Tianming's special-admission qualification would have to be canceled, because he wasn't from the Qingzhou Ye Clan, but merely a lowest-tier family.

"No!"

Just then, the old man suddenly slammed the table and sprang to his feet. "This is an outrage against heaven! How dare they do something so filthy and shameless in broad daylight? I'm going to the Council of Elders. If they don't withdraw this order, I'll take my complaint to the Inner Council in the Guanxuan Realm."

With that, he rose and headed outside.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man hurriedly stopped him. "Lord Fang Xiao, you absolutely mustn't. The Council of Elders has already given the order. You..."

Fang Xiao shoved the middle-aged man aside. "At worst, I'll quit this damn post."

By the time he finished speaking, he had already rushed outside.

The middle-aged man sighed softly. "Lord Fang Xiao's temperament... no wonder he was repeatedly demoted from the Outer Pavilion and eventually banished from the Guanxuan Realm."

Zhang Nan's face was grim. "Things shouldn't be this way. We should at least fight for him."

The middle-aged man shook his head. "We can't beat the Xiao Family. Unless Ye Tianming has a more powerful background than they do, no one can change this."

Zhang Nan was somewhat angry. "But how unfair is this to Ye Tianming?"

The middle-aged man's expression remained calm. "There are countless unfair things in this world. Without the ability or a backer, all you can do is endure."

Thinking of the Xiao Family's terrifying strength, Zhang Nan also let out a deep sigh, his eyes full of helplessness.

Fang Xiao rushed straight to the Council of Elders. Only one elder was there. When he saw Fang Xiao enter, his brows immediately furrowed, and he said with great displeasure, "What are you doing here?"

No place liked a troublesome maverick who refused to fit in.

If Fang Xiao's own background hadn't been somewhat special, the Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy would have kicked him out long ago.

Fang Xiao knew the elder disliked him, so he wasted no words and went straight to the point. "What the Xiao Family is doing is unfair to that child, Ye Tianming, and against the rules. The academy shouldn't open this back door for them, either."

The elder stared at Fang Xiao and said darkly, "This order came from the Council of Elders. All you need to do is carry it out."

"I won't."

Fang Xiao looked the elder straight in the eye. "If you insist on doing this, I'll lodge a complaint. I'll take it to the Guanxuan Realm, to the Outer Pavilion. If that doesn't work, I'll take it to the Inner Council. If that doesn't work, I'll take it to the young master..."

The elder forced down his anger. "Fang Xiao, don't stir up trouble."

Fang Xiao said angrily, "The academy's admissions concern the Guanxuan Universe's grand selection of talent. If we don't act impartially and instead allow great families, sects, and the powerful to do as they please, what hope will the countless ordinary people of this world have left?"

He drew a deep breath and softened his tone. "Elder Yu, Ye Tianming comes from a lowest-tier family. He may be the hope of his entire family. If we strip him of his special-admission qualification this time, it won't just affect his personal prospects and future; it may also leave his entire family without hope."

Elder Yu stared hard at Fang Xiao. "Fang Xiao, you're defending Ye Tianming so fiercely. Is he a relative of yours?"

Fang Xiao held back his anger. "I don't know him. I only want to say that our academy should be fair and just, giving more young people and ordinary people hope and a future. That was also the Guanxuan Sword Master's original purpose in founding the academy."

Elder Yu was about to say something when his brows suddenly furrowed. A moment later, he said, "You may leave for now."

Fang Xiao glanced at him, then turned and left.

After Fang Xiao left, a trace of disgust flashed in Elder Yu's eyes. "Stubborn man. No wonder he was ostracized in the Guanxuan Realm."

At that moment, an old man stepped out from nearby and said with a smile, "I've long heard that the Fang Family's people are hard to get along with. Now that I've seen it today, it's true."

The old man was none other than Xiao Yun, the current head of the Xiao Family.

Elder Yu said gravely, "Brother Xiao, I'm afraid this matter won't be easy to handle."

If Fang Xiao were an ordinary man, the Council of Elders would have had a hundred ways to make him disappear. But his background was anything but ordinary: the Fang Family stood behind him. Though the Fang Family was now only a third-tier great family, its ancestor, Fang Yu, had enjoyed an extraordinary relationship with the Guanxuan Sword Master. Moreover, Fang Yu had not only been in charge of the Inspection Court, but had also risen to the position of second minister of the Inner Council.

The reason for the family's later decline was that the Guanxuan Sword Master had stipulated that no term of office could exceed a hundred years. Of course, the Fang Family's decline was not entirely due to Fang Yu stepping down, but because its people followed his ancestral precept: be clear of conscience.

In other words, the Fang Family's people were too upright, so upright that others couldn't stand them. Thus, the Fang Family began to be ostracized. But because of their ancestor, the super clans of the Guanxuan Realm did not wipe them out; they merely pushed them out of the core circles of power. By now, the Fang Family's highest-ranking member held only a deputy post at the Guanxuan Realm's "Literary Academy."

The position was quite high, but it held no power whatsoever.

Xiao Yuan naturally understood the Fang Family's special position as well. He smiled. "Of course we can't touch Fang Xiao."

Elder Yu looked at Xiao Yuan. "What do you have in mind, Brother Xiao?"

Xiao Yuan smiled faintly. "What if that youth called Ye Tianming voluntarily gave up his special-admission slot?"

Elder Yu paused briefly, then understood. "What if he's unwilling to give it up?"

Xiao Yuan smiled lightly. "If he doesn't want to leave with dignity, we'll help him do it."