Is He Worthy?

When Li Zheng saw the contents of the storage ring, his expression shifted, and a smile spread across his face despite himself.

The old man, meanwhile, led Ye Tianming away.

Along the way, Ye Tianming tried to remain calm, but he was still immensely excited. Tower Ancestor, I'm going to strike it rich.

Little Pagoda said, "Mm."

Ye Tianming was surprised. "Tower Ancestor, this is the inheritance of a super divine civilization. Your response is so subdued..."

Little Pagoda said, "I'm excited too... The inheritance of the Transcendent Civilization. Kid, you're going to strike it rich. Tower Ancestor is truly happy for you, really."

Ye Tianming was speechless.

After watching Ye Tianming follow the old man out of sight nearby, Gu Qi suddenly said, "Brother Ye is a pretty loyal fellow."

Li Zheng smiled. "Brother Gu, are you interested in joining our United Fellowship?"

Gu Qi asked curiously, "The United Fellowship? What does it do?"

Li Zheng nodded. "It was founded by Miss Nanling Zhao. Its purpose is to unite all young people with goals and ideals, so we can work together with one heart and do something for the Guanxuan Universe."

Gu Qi looked at Li Zheng. "As I recall, your Li Clan has an ancestral rule forbidding you from forming cliques in the Guanxuan Universe."

Li Zheng smiled. "There is such a rule, but we're not forming a clique. We want to unite and do more for the Guanxuan Universe, to make it a better place. If our ancestor learned of it, I'm sure she would support us too."

Gu Qi fell silent.

Although the Other Shore Civilization was an independent cosmic civilization, it was actually still under Guanxuan Academy's jurisdiction. It simply enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, but when Guanxuan Academy's Inner Pavilion issued an order, it still had to obey. Even the monstrous geniuses of the Other Shore Civilization wanted to enter the Guanxuan Academy Main Academy, because the best resources in the entire Guanxuan Universe were at Guanxuan Academy. Moreover, the most monstrous geniuses in the whole Guanxuan Universe were there, and the stage was bigger.

Perhaps joining such a group would not be a bad thing for him, either. From what he could see so far, the people in it were clearly no ordinary people.

After weighing his options, Gu Qi nodded. "All right."

Li Zheng smiled. "On behalf of the United Fellowship, I welcome you."

Ye Tianming followed the old man to a teleportation array. After the old man led him into it, everything before Ye Tianming's eyes blurred in an instant. Then he saw countless stars and galaxies flash past him like lightning and flint sparks.

Soon, everything grew still again, and the scene before him gradually stabilized. He was now amid a starry expanse. Not far ahead of them, hundreds of thousands of stone pillars, each ten thousand zhang tall, stood in the starry void. The pillars supported a magnificent hall of boundless width, an incomparably majestic and spectacular sight at first glance.

Ye Tianming was stunned by the sight. He had seen Qingzhou City before, but compared with the hall before him, the entire city was like an ant beside an elephant.

Ye Tianming marveled inwardly, Tower Ancestor, I've finally seen the wider world.

Little Pagoda was speechless.

The old man led Ye Tianming toward the hall in the distance. "Our Transcendent Civilization has developed for 3.9 billion years, from its beginning to the present. Its most glorious era was during the time of our civilization's founding ancestor. Under her leadership, our Transcendent Civilization flourished as never before, and after the ancestor made a breakthrough, it even reached the level of a supreme civilization. Later, however, the descendants of our Transcendent Civilization grew more and more disappointing, and so we fell from a supreme civilization to a super divine civilization, then a divine civilization..."

He sighed softly, his expression complicated.

Ye Tianming said, "Senior, why did you choose me?"

The old man smiled. "Take a guess."

Ye Tianming thought for a moment, then said, "In terms of talent, Mu Yong and Brothers Li and Gu are all stronger than me. In terms of family background, they surpass me by even more, so..."

The old man looked at him and smiled. "Do you think we chose you because your family background is poor and you're easy to control?"

Ye Tianming nodded. "Yes."

The old man glanced at Little Pagoda at his waist and said meaningfully, "You're right. We chose you precisely because your family background is 'poor.'"

Ye Tianming was somewhat puzzled.

The old man offered no explanation. He looked at the hall in the distance. "All these years, our Transcendent Civilization has wanted to revive itself, but later we discovered that it was truly far, far too difficult. To revive a civilization, there must be a supremely exceptional genius. Although our Transcendent Civilization has produced quite a few monstrous geniuses over the years, a new order and new rules have already been established in this universe. Unless we have a genius capable of breaking every rule and order, it simply won't work."

Ye Tianming said, "Senior, do you think I can break every rule and order?"

The old man shook his head. "I don't know."

Ye Tianming was puzzled.

The old man smiled. "But I think you have a chance."

Ye Tianming smiled bitterly. "Senior, you think too highly of me. To be honest, before I left Qingzhou, I was indeed very confident. I believed my fate was mine to command, not heaven's. But after leaving Qingzhou, I discovered that the world was far more complicated than I'd imagined. Never mind those powerful and noble families-even a lowly administrator at the academy could make life worse than death for people at the bottom like us."

He looked at the old man. "Senior, when you say you think I have a chance, it probably isn't because of me. There are only two things on me that aren't mine: one is the Sword of Upholding the Dao, and the other is my Tower Ancestor."

The old man was silent.

Ye Tianming smiled. "Whatever reason you chose me for, Senior, I'm deeply grateful. And as long as I have a future, I will do everything in my power to help the Transcendent Civilization one day, to repay it for the help it has given me today."

The old man looked at Ye Tianming. "Young fellow, you're a very clever person. I can't lie to you. Indeed, when I first chose you, it was because of another reason. But honestly, from the beginning until now, your actions have surprised me-greatly."

Ye Tianming said, "What are you referring to, Senior?"

The old man said, "Your sincerity."

Ye Tianming was silent.

The old man asked curiously, "I have a question. Is your sincerity genuine, or is there some calculation behind it? For example, the way you treated Mu Yong and those two young fellows just now..."

Ye Tianming said, "I don't know."

The old man was stunned.

Ye Tianming said, "All I know is that no one is a fool. If they don't harm me, I won't harm them. I act according to my conscience."

"Haha!"

The old man suddenly burst out laughing. "Well said-act according to your conscience. Very good, haha!"

As they spoke, the two arrived at the entrance to the hall. Its doors were made of an unknown white jade stone and stood a full hundred zhang high. Two pitch-black statues holding spears stood before them.

The moment Ye Tianming saw the statues, he felt an invisible pressure that gave him an irresistible urge to bow down in worship.

He was startled. Why did he feel this way?

He looked up at the two towering statues, then adjusted his state of mind. His expression soon returned to normal.

The old man glanced at him, a smile appearing on his face. "Let's go!"

With a wave of his sleeve, the doors suddenly opened. The two entered the hall, which was very empty. At the far end stood a statue of a woman, but Ye Tianming could not see her face.

Ye Tianming said inwardly, somewhat excited, Tower Ancestor, have you ever seen a grand sight like this?

After a moment's silence, Little Pagoda said, "No..."

Ye Tianming said with feeling, "Tower Ancestor, today we've truly seen the wider world."

Little Pagoda was speechless.

The old man led Ye Tianming before the statue of the woman and slowly knelt down. Then he respectfully took out a token and placed it on the ground. "Your descendant Huai Shu pays his respects, Ancestor."

The token suddenly rose slowly into the air and flew into the statue's hand. All at once, the statue trembled slightly, and a beam of white light entered it. The statue then came to life.

Ye Tianming still could not see the woman's face.

The woman looked down at Ye Tianming. "He is the one you chose?"

Her voice seemed to come from beyond hundreds of millions of universes.

Huai Shu said respectfully, "He is."

The woman studied Ye Tianming for a moment, then suddenly opened her palm. The Sword of Upholding the Dao flew slowly into her hand. She gave it only a glance before turning back to the old man. "He's the one you chose?"

Huai Shu hurriedly replied with respect, "Yes."

The woman stared at him. "Is he worthy?"

Huai Shu's expression changed at once. He hurriedly grabbed Ye Tianming and said respectfully, "Ancestor, this young man is exceptional in both talent and character. I am willing to guarantee it with my life: if he rises to prominence in the future, he will never let our Transcendent Civilization down. Please give him a chance, Ancestor. I..."

The woman suddenly cut him off. "I mean, are we worthy?"

Huh?

Huai Shu stood there, petrified.