Tower Ancestor, Do You Know the Guanxuan Sword Master?

The Guanxuan Dao had activated!

At the sight of Ye Tianming enveloped in golden light in the distance, Elder Yu's face instantly turned exceedingly grim. He had never imagined that Ye Tianming would attempt the Guanxuan Dao.

The Guanxuan Dao.

Leaving aside whether Ye Tianming could make it through, the activation of the Guanxuan Dao alone meant that someone had suffered an injustice at the academy. This was undoubtedly a huge negative for the academy, and it would seriously affect their political futures.

If the challenger succeeded in passing the Guanxuan Dao... then it was over. Qingzhou would immediately enter a self-inspection process, and the outer court in the Guanxuan Realm would immediately intervene in Qingzhou.

At the thought, Elder Yu's face went pale. He had realized that whether or not Ye Tianming made it through the Guanxuan Dao, he, Yu Lian, would likely have a hard time entering the outer court of the Guanxuan Realm for the rest of his life.

His political future was utterly ruined.

With that thought, a fierce urge to kill surged within him, and the killing intent in his eyes was almost tangible.

Beside him, Xiao Nu had not expected Ye Tianming to attempt the Guanxuan Dao either, but he soon sneered. The Guanxuan Dao was not something an ordinary person could pass. Within it were three trials personally left by the Guanxuan Sword Master: combat, political discourse, and questioning the heart.

When the Guanxuan Sword Master first created the Guanxuan Dao, countless people had challenged it, all hoping to leave their names in the annals of history. Yet the first trial, combat, had eliminated ninety-nine percent of them.

The first trial was brutal and straightforward. The challenger had to defeat ten powerful opponents at the same realm, and there was nothing inflated about their strength.

Most importantly, failure meant death. Real death.

As for the second trial of political discourse and the third trial of questioning the heart, no one knew what they entailed. In the past thousand years, only the person who had actually passed knew the true content of the final two trials.

News that the Guanxuan Dao had been activated again quickly spread throughout Wan Prefecture. After all, thanks to the Immortal Treasure Pavilion, technology was now highly developed in the Guanxuan Universe, so every academy in Wan Prefecture began broadcasting it live.

In Qingzhou City, everyone in the Ye Family suddenly rushed out of the family estate and headed straight for the Immortal Treasure Pavilion's plaza. By then, tens of thousands had already gathered there, and their numbers were still growing. A giant screen of light hung above the Immortal Treasure Pavilion's main hall, showing none other than Ye Tianming standing on the Guanxuan Dao.

"Brother Tianming!"

Among the Ye Family crowd, Ye Zong suddenly waved his fists excitedly and shouted at the top of his lungs. Beside him, the other young members of the Ye Family waved their arms excitedly as well.

Only Ye Nan's eyes showed gravity and worry, for he knew that Ye Tianming's attempt at the Guanxuan Dao meant he had suffered an injustice at the academy.

Just then, a steward of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion suddenly stepped out. "Everyone, those who wish to stay and watch must pay three spirit crystals each..."

The moment he said that, an uproar broke out.

Someone immediately demanded, "It's always been free before. Why do we have to pay today?"

The steward looked at the person who had questioned him and smiled. "What's your name? Where do you live?"

The man said, "..."

Everyone said, "..."

The steward continued, "Don't worry, we're not taking your money for nothing. The Immortal Treasure Pavilion has provided free water for everyone... drink as much as you like. There's plenty."

Everyone was angry but dared not speak.

Somewhere in the shadows, a woman in blue took out a notebook and began writing: In the Guanxuan Era... April twelfth, afternoon. Chief Steward Yuan of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion collected spirit crystals in violation of the rules, provoking public anger...

At Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy, many students had also gathered before the Trial Hall. The place was now a sea of people, and they watched Ye Tianming walking along the Guanxuan Dao, their eyes full of curiosity.

Ye Tianming walked toward the entrance to the hall, his gaze resolute, ready to face death as calmly as going home.

It was not that he wanted to attempt the Guanxuan Dao. Rather, he knew he had no other path left. He could tell that the academy elder and the Xiao Family had already set their hearts on killing him. If he went with Lord Fang, he would very likely drag him into it and cost him his life.

The two of them would never make it to the Guanxuan Realm, so his only path was to attempt the Guanxuan Dao.

Ye Tianming walked slowly toward the entrance and said softly, "Tower Ancestor, do you know the Guanxuan Sword Master?"

Little Pagoda blurted out, "That fucking bastard..."

Having said that, Little Pagoda realized something and hurriedly stopped.

Ye Tianming looked utterly puzzled. "Fucking bastard?"

Although he had read quite a few books from the Milky Way, he still did not understand those words.

Little Pagoda explained, "In my hometown, that's a compliment."

Afraid that Ye Tianming would dwell on the question, Little Pagoda hurriedly said, "The Guanxuan Sword Master is famous throughout the world. How could I not know him? What I'm more curious about is, if you really meet him in there, what will you say to him?"

Ye Tianming said softly, "I want to ask him if he knows this world is so dark."

Little Pagoda fell silent.

Ye Tianming stepped through the door. In an instant, he appeared in a void of space and time. Suddenly, ten illusory figures coalesced before him, each one at the Myriad Law Realm, and there was nothing inflated about their strength.

Ye Tianming looked at the ten illusory figures and felt their oppressive pressure.

Little Pagoda asked curiously, "How are you going to defeat them?"

Even Little Pagoda could see no chance of Ye Tianming winning apart from using the Sword of Upholding the Dao, because the strength of the ten illusory figures had been copied exactly from Ye Tianming's own realm and strength.

Ten against one!

There was no chance at all.

And this fellow still did not know the true power of the Sword of Upholding the Dao.

Ye Tianming looked at the ten illusory figures in the distance without speaking.

Rumble...

Just then, the ten illusory figures in the distance suddenly spread their hands. Twenty bolts of divine lightning fell straight from the heavens into their palms, and powerful waves of lightning might filled the area.

Ye Tianming suddenly circulated his cultivation art, the Heavenly Mandate Art. In an instant, endless Spiritual Qi surged from heaven and earth into his body, and his presence soared. At the same time, dozens of lightning bolts formed above his head.

Little Pagoda cried in shock, "You're going to force a breakthrough... are you mad?"

There was only determination in Ye Tianming's eyes. At this point, only by smashing his cauldrons and sinking his boats could he have a sliver of a chance.

In the Minor Tribulation Realm, one could use heavenly lightning to temper one's physical body, making it as translucent as glazed glass and able to withstand ordinary spells and divine abilities, as well as the natural might of heaven and earth.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been very difficult for him to reach the Minor Tribulation Realm, because he had no place to obtain that much tribulation lightning to temper his body. But now... every one of these Myriad Law Realm experts could use divine lightning!

He intended to use the divine lightning of these ten Myriad Law Realm experts to temper his body. If he could use their lightning to break through his bottleneck and reach the Minor Tribulation Realm, he would be able to firmly suppress them. Of course, if he failed, his body would die and his Dao would vanish.

Besides that, he also wanted to see whether his Heavenly Mandate Art could devour forms of energy other than Spiritual Qi.

The ten Myriad Law Realm experts suddenly attacked. Twenty bolts of lightning blasted toward Ye Tianming at once, their terrifying might converging and pressing down on him until he could hardly breathe.

Ye Tianming circulated his mental cultivation method once more. At the same time, streams of Spiritual Qi energy appeared around him, covering his physical body.

In an instant, he was engulfed by countless bolts of lightning.

Rumble...

The area around Ye Tianming turned into a field of lightning... but soon, the lightning began to disappear bit by bit.

It was being devoured!

Ye Tianming suddenly burst out laughing. He had discovered that his Heavenly Mandate Art really could devour this lightning energy. Although it was very slow and could only devour fifty percent of the energy, with the rest injuring his body, this was already a great and unexpected delight to him.

Because of his cultivation art, when the divine lightning struck him, he devoured and absorbed half of it, while the other half tempered his body. Thus, under the tempering of the divine lightning, his body began to transform, and his presence grew stronger...

In the distance, the ten illusory figures seemed to notice this as well. Although they were all copies without true intelligence, they possessed combat instincts. Sensing that something was wrong, they all charged at Ye Tianming, lightning flashing around them.

As Myriad Law Realm experts, they could command spells and divine abilities and draw upon the natural might of heaven and earth, such as heavenly lightning. The problem was that they had all been copied from Ye Tianming's abilities, and Ye Tianming knew no spells or divine abilities at all. His only move was to control heavenly lightning.

Seeing the ten Myriad Law Realm experts charging at him, Ye Tianming did not meet them head-on. Instead, he fought while retreating, devouring and absorbing as he went.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

Ye Tianming could not beat them, but because he could absorb lightning energy, the power of the ten Myriad Law Realm experts' lightning was halved as soon as it came near him. For that very reason, although the ten Myriad Law Realm experts suppressed him, they could not kill him.

Not only that, after devouring more and more lightning power, Ye Tianming's body had begun to undergo a qualitative change. Countless specks of lightning appeared on his skin, fused with his flesh and blood.

An unknown amount of time passed-

Rumble!

Suddenly, a powerful presence erupted from Ye Tianming. His body was as translucent as glazed glass and incomparably strong.

The Minor Tribulation Realm!

Ye Tianming laughed and swung his sleeve.

Bang!

Two illusory figures were sent flying by a powerful burst of physical strength. At the same time, the lightning power of those Myriad Law Realm experts could no longer hurt him.

The Minor Tribulation Realm!

His body was as translucent as glazed glass, able to withstand ordinary spells and divine abilities, as well as the natural might of heaven and earth...

But just then, the presence of the ten illusory figures nearby suddenly soared. In the blink of an eye, they were about to reach the Minor Tribulation Realm...

Ye Tianming's expression froze instantly.