Chapter 81: Destiny
The fatty stared at Ye Guan. “Are you poor?”
Ye Guan nodded. The fatty was confused. “You’re such a talented swordsman. Why are you poor? Are you not a student of the Guanxuan Academy?”
“Are you going to bribe me or not?” said Ye Guan. “If not, then I’m leaving.”
The fatty stared at him without saying anything.
Ye Guan added, “I actually think that you’re strong. I’m just too fast. I think I won’t be able to withstand your ultimate move.”
The fatty nodded.
“You’re ruthless,” he said before sending a storage ring toward Ye Guan.
Five hundred thousand gold spiritual crystals! Ye Guan quickly put it away. It seemed that some people in this world truly had too much money.
Ye Guan’s poverty had turned him similar to a frog in a well.
The fatty stared at Ye Guan. “Remember, you have to let me finish casting.”
Ye Guan nodded. “Okay.”
The fatty nodded as well and soared into the air. He stretched his hands out and spoke words that Ye Guan couldn’t quite understand.
Crackle!
A bolt of lightning struck the ground. Ye Guan was shocked, but another bolt of lightning struck the battlefield before he could even recover. Ye Guan’s expression turned serious as more lightning bolts struck the ground. He actually felt threatened.
This fatty has the real deal! The fatty suddenly quivered, and the fat on his face trembled violently.
The fatty eventually put his palms together.
“Lightning God! Smite this bastard!” he shouted, rendering Ye Guan speechless.
Moments later, Ye Guan’s expression changed as dozens of lightning bolts flew toward Ye Guan. They were extremely fast, and they were much faster than Ye Guan’s previous sword moves.
Ye Guan’s eyes narrowed, and he abruptly vanished. He didn’t attempt to confront the lightning bolts head-on.
Instead, Ye Guan turned around and ran.
A strange scene unfolded.
Dozens of lightning bolts chased after the fleeing Ye Guan, creating a strange scene reminiscent of fireworks in the starry skies. The fatty was in disbelief, and his jaw fell to the ground. How is he faster than lightning bolts?
Ye Guan abruptly appeared in front of him, and the former’s sword was inches away from the fatty’s glabella.
“Stop!” shouted the fatty. The lightning bolts chasing after Ye Guan dissipated at once.
The fatty looked at Ye Guan and said, “I admit defeat.”
Ye Guan put his sword away and said, “Thank you for letting me win.”
He then turned around to leave.
“Swordsman!” the fatty shouted and asked, “What’s your name?”
Ye Guan came to a halt and replied, “Yang Guan!”
The fatty stared at Ye Guan. “I’ve never heard of that name. Is it a fake name?”
Ye Guan nodded without any hesitation.
The fatty asked, “What’s your real name, then?”
Ye Guan shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”
The fatty thought about it before asking, “My name is Xu Qin, have you heard of me?”
Ye Guan shook his head. “No.”
Xu Qing chuckled and asked, “How about we become friends?”
Ye Guan nodded. “Sure!”
Xu Qin chortled and praised. “I really admire swordsmen. They’re so cool and stylish!”
“Not really.” Ye Guan smiled and said, “Anyway, I’m a bit busy, so I’ll see you next time, Brother Xu.”
With that, Ye Guan turned around and finally left.
Left all alone, Xu Qin muttered, “I heard that the young talent who killed the True Dragon Clan’s Clan Leader is called Ye Guan, and he’s a swordsman as well…”
…
Ye Guan sat cross-legged on the fourth floor.
The fatty he had fought just now was actually really strong. If it hadn’t been for his speed, the fatty’s lightning bolts would have incapacitated him.
A rift in space appeared, and a man emerged from it. The man was wearing a black robe, and he had an aloof and arrogant demeanor.
Ye Guan stood up.
The man assessed Ye Guan and frowned. “Who are you?”
Ye Guan responded, “Yang Guan.”
The man shook his head and said, “I’ve never heard of that name.”
Swoosh!
Ye Guan abruptly disappeared instead of replying. The man’s pupils constricted. He clenched his fist, but a sword appeared a few inches away from his forehead before he could even do anything.
The man glared at Ye Guan.
Ye Guan calmly said, “You’ve lost.”
With that, he put his sword away and turned around to leave.
A sinister light flashed in the man’s eyes.
“You ambushed me!” he shouted and sent a fist flying toward Ye Guan’s nape.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed. The power behind the man’s fist was strong enough to kill, so he obviously wanted to kill Ye Guan.
Ye Guan turned sharply and dodged the terrifying fist. He avoided the attack and vanished before reappearing behind the man with his sword against the man’s throat.
The man went beyond pallid. “I—”
Slash!
Ye Guan swung his sword and interrupted the man. The man’s head flew away, and blood wantonly spurted into the air as if the headless stump were a geyser.
Ye Guan picked up the man’s storage ring and left.
The man’s eyes were unwittingly transfixed on Ye Guan.
“Why did you kill him?” asked Little Pagoda.
Ye Guan remained calm as he replied, “I’ve always let my opponents here live, but he tried to kill me with a sneak attack earlier. If people are nice to me, I’ll be nice to them. If people are hostile to me, why should I be nice to them?”
Little Pagoda didn’t know what to say.
Ye Guan soon arrived on the third floor. Ye Guan sat cross-legged and took out a storage ring. The storage ring belonged to the man on the fourth floor, and it contained two million gold spiritual crystals.
Ye Guan calculated and realized that he had around twelve million gold spiritual crystals on hand. It was a massive fortune in his eyes, but it was still not enough.
Rumble!
A man emerged in a rift in space in front of Ye Guan.
Ye Guan was about to attack, but the man cried out. “Wait!”
Ye Guan stared at the man with a frown.
The man was wearing a white robe, and he seemed quite wary of Ye Guan.
The man sounded solemn as he asked, “Are you the swordsman who cleared seven floors in one go?”
Ye Guan was slightly surprised as he asked, “Do you know me?”
The man smiled and explained, “I received information that you’re extremely fast and that I have to be careful of your speed.”
Ye Guan was silent.
The man smiled. “There are very few swordsmen in the Zhongtu Divine Continent, and it’s going to be my first time fighting a powerful swordsman like you. I’m probably not your match, but I would still like to see how fast you really are.”
“Let’s fight, then,” said Ye Guan with a nod.
The man nodded as well. “Please.”
Swoosh!
Ye Guan abruptly vanished. A throwing dagger appeared in the man’s hands, and he hurled it at where he thought Ye Guan would appear.
Clang!
Sparks flew as Ye Guan deflected the throwing dagger and thrust his sword forward. Of course, he stopped a few inches away from the man’s forehead. It all happened in a flash; the throwing dagger was still in mid-air, but Ye Guan had already ended the fight.
Clang!
A clear and crisp sound echoed as the throwing dagger finally landed on the ground.
The man’s expression was complex as he stared at Ye Guan.
“I admit defeat,” he said with a sigh.
It took a literal blink of an eye for Ye Guan to deflect the sword into the air and thrust his sword a few inches away from the man’s forehead. In other words, the former was too fast for the latter to beat.
Ye Guan put his sword away and said, “Thanks for letting me win.”
With that, he turned around to leave.
“Pardon me for asking, but…” the man trailed off before asking, “How did you become so fast?”
Ye Guan calmly replied, “I cultivated under spacetime gravity.”
The man was surprised. “How many layers did you manage to endure?”
“The maximum,” replied Ye Guan before disappearing from the man’s eyes.
The man solemnly pondered over something.
Rumble!
A rift in space was torn open, and someone emerged from the rift.
The visitor was none other than the fatty—Xu Qin.
Xu Qin smiled and said, “Li Qian, didn’t I tell you that you’re not strong enough to keep up with him? I told you I wasn’t looking down on you.”
Li Qian shook his head and said, “He’s a monster. I finally understand how he killed those dragons.”
Xu Qin sounded solemn as he said, “His personality is decent, so how about we pull him into our Boundless Mercenary?”
Li Qian thought about it before responding, “Sounds great, but we have to tell our boss first before anything else.”
“All right,” said Xu Qin with a nod.
Li Qian suddenly asked, “What do you think? Can he defeat him?”
Xu Qin was silent for quite a while before he responded, “It depends on his trump cards. If he has no trump cards and he has already shown us his true power, I don’t think he can beat that guy. However, I’m sure that he’s still hiding his true strength.”
“I think his goal is the Great Dao Destiny Contest,” said Li Qian.
Xu Qin’s expression turned solemn. The Great Dao Destiny Contest! Those daring enough to fight in that contest are the true monsters…
…
Ye Guan soon arrived on the second floor.
A man soon emerged from a rift in space in front of Ye Guan, and he was stupefied to find that the man was none other than Nanling Yiyi’s brother, Nanling Ren.
Nanling Ren was also surprised to see Ye Guan. “It's you?”
Ye Guan nodded.
Nanling Ren’s gaze turned complicated. “I should have known that it could only be you! A swordsman strong enough to wipe the floor with eight rankers at once. I think you’re the only one capable of such an abnormal feat.”
Ye Guan didn’t reply. He gazed deeply at Nanling Ren and said, “I’ll let you make the first move.”
Nanling Ren chuckled. “I can’t beat you.”
Most people had no idea that Ao Tian died at the hands of Ye Guan and he died while he was under the effects of the Gift of the Dragon God. It was a well-guarded secret that only a handful of people knew, and Nanling Ren was one of those few people.
“All right.” Ye Guan nodded and turned around to leave.
Nanling Ren suddenly asked, “How’s Yiyi?”
Ye Guan came to a halt and said, “She’s doing great.”
Nanling Ren asked, “Can you convince her to go home…”
Ye Guan shook his head and said. “Young Lord Nanling, you’re a nice person, so allow me to tell you this. You should convince your father rather than Yiyi. Does she even have anything to gain even if she were to return other than the clan members’ disdain?”
Nanling Ren nodded. “You’re right. I didn’t think it through.”
Ye Guan nodded and added, “She’s happy with the status quo.”
He then turned around and walked toward the first floor.
Nanling Ren stood rooted in silence for quite a while before he shook his head and let out a sigh.
…
Ye Guan soon found himself on the first floor. He took a deep breath and sat cross-legged, waiting patiently for his opponent.
Ye Guan waited for quite a while, but the first floor’s defender still hadn’t appeared.
Ye Guan frowned. Does this floor not have a defender?
He decided to wait, and he waited for a long time for his opponent. However, his opponent never appeared. He waited and waited some more, patiently, but rather than his opponent, an old man appeared in front of him. The old man was familiar, and it was all because he was the Martial Tower’s attendant carrying an opium pipe with him.
The old man stared deeply at Ye Guan before throwing a command token toward him.
“The defender of this floor has failed to appear within the required time period. You’ve won because he has forfeited his opportunity to defend his floor. You’re now at the top of the martial list,” explained the old man.
Ye Guan was silent. He didn’t expect that the first-floor defender would forfeit.
The old man continued. “You should go up to the final floor and test your luck. Remember, you can only stay there for two hours.”
The final floor! Ye Guan picked up the command token and headed up the stairs.
The old man stared at Ye Guan’s departing figure with a thought gaze.
…
Ye Guan soon arrived on the final floor and found that it was a vast hall that contained nothing but a portrait.
It was the portrait of the Sword Master.
Ye Guan sat cross-legged in front of the portrait and spoke, “Master Pagoda, will the Sword Master come out to meet me?”
Little Pagoda didn’t respond.
Ye Guan was surprised.
“Master Pagoda?” he called out but was met with silence.
Ye Guan sounded solemn as he spoke once more, “Master Pagoda, say something.”
However, he still didn’t receive any response.
Ye Guan’s expression darkened.
Ye Guan sat for two hours, but nothing really happened. In the end, he sighed and got up to leave.
However, he suddenly stopped just before he reached out for the door.
He turned around and examined the portrait.
“Hmm, the Sword Master and I look a bit similar…” he muttered. Moments later, he let out a chuckle and shook his head. He was disappointed that the Sword Master didn’t come out to meet him, but he didn’t cling to the chance of meeting the latter and left.
A light breeze blew past the Hall of Enlightenment upon Ye Guan’s departure, and a man’s figure slowly manifested. The man was wearing a long robe, and his hands were behind his back. He had a head full of white hair, and his face looked weathered.
A woman manifested next to him. The woman held the man’s hand as tears spilled out of her eyes.
“He’s really talented...” she muttered
The man smiled and nodded. The light in his eyes revealed that he was pleased.
The woman leaned on the man’s shoulder and gripped his hand tightly.
“My heart… it hurts…”
The man hugged the woman and whispered, “I thought that I could handle everything back then…”
The man then shook his head and continued. “I never thought that he would have to go through the same hardships as me. Is this the destiny of our Yang Family? I hope he won’t hate me…”
The couple shared a tight embrace, and they soon disappeared into the wind. The Sword Master’s portrait also vanished with them, and it seemed that the Sword Master would never come back here.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢