Within the Celestial Academy, there were various divisions specific to the different paths of cultivation. For example, there is the Alchemy Pavilion, which focuses on studying the myriads of spirit herbs under heaven and concocting medicinal pills using pill formulas from them.
Aside from the Alchemy Pavilion, there are also divisions like the Blacksmith Pavilion, the Formations Pavilion, the Beast Tamers Pavilion, and a bunch of other major and minor paths of cultivation.
With that said, out of all of those divisions, the one with the most fame and prestige is the Sword Pavilion. They’re also the strongest division and they have the power to influence the Academy as a whole.
Despite the Blade Pavilion, which was the Sword Pavilion’s rival, being said to have power that’s close to theirs, in reality, they were way behind.
The Head Master of the Sword Pavilion was said to have reached a terrifying level of cultivation. No one knows this mysterious figure's exact cultivation, but around a hundred to two hundred years ago witnesses have claimed that he went through the Heavenly Tribulation and successfully enter the Heavenly Palace Realm.
Aside from cultivators who have reached that level, no one really knows what happens within that realm of cultivation or how to progress through it. All the cultivation sects/institutes on the Maple Continent only provide cultivation information up to the late Soul Transformation Realm, after that most cultivators within the lower realms just have a blank view of what comes next.
But even though the level of the Head Master of the Sword Pavilion could not be ascertained, every other Pavilion Head Master would still fear to get on the Sword Pavilion's bad side simply because of one fact. The Head Master of the Sword Pavilion's name is Lu Dongmei, and the name of the mysterious Celestial Academy’s Leader, someone who was on par with the Emperor himself in cultivation, was named, Lu Xue Wen.
The Head Master of the Sword Pavilion, Lu Dongmei, was the biological daughter of the Celestial Academy’s Leader Lu Xue Wen.
For all who were in the know, not only did they fear Lu Dongmei’s hidden cultivation base but her shocking status as well. This was the reason why the Sword Pavilion had so much saying with the matters involving the Academy.
The different cultivation divisions in the Academy had different branches located on mountains of their own within the Core Disciples section and the Inner Disciples section, with their main Headquarters being in the Conclave Disciples section of the Academy.
Currently, on the Sword Pavilion mountain in the Inner Sect, there was a rather large and luxurious courtyard that even had a colorful garden in front of the enormous house. No, this was more like a mansion than a house.
Within the main room of that mansion, Xi Shen was seen sitting within a chair that had a small table off to the side. On the said table, was an untouched cup of tea that was releasing a fragrant aroma as the steam rose from it.
“Second prince, is the spirit herb tea not to your liking?”
Ye Fei, who sat across from Xi Shen, paused his sipping and asked that question.
Xi Shen, who was slummed in his chair looked at Ye Fei with an exasperated expression and said, “Vice Head Master Ye Fei, I’m sure the tea tastes amazing but what exactly am I doing here? If it’s because of what happened on the second Outer Disciple mountain, I had nothing to do with it!”
Ye Fei slowly placed down his cup of tea, after which he smiled at Xi Shen and said, “Second prince, I have heard reports of the many stories which involve you one way or another, that have sprung up over the years within the Imperial Palace.”
Hearing that, Xi Shen gave him a quizzical look to show that he had no idea what Ye Fei was talking about.
Seeing this, Ye Fei shook his head, before he lifted his hand that had a violet ring on its index finger. Said ring started to glow, after which a stack of papers appeared in Ye Fei’s hand.
Ye Fei took up the first page and started reading the contents on it.
“Year 45,128 of the Spiritual Era calendar. The second prince of the maple continent on his third birthday was caught stealing two of the Royal Family’s most powerful Cultivation Techniques from the Li Clan Ancestral treasury. The manuals he took were the Li Clan’s Blood Manipulation Art, which was considered to be a Forbidden Technique, as well as the Celestial Star Diagram Scripture, a cultivation method which was created by the first Emperor of the Li Clan.”
Saying that Ye Fei looked up from the paper in his hand at Xi Shen with a rather peculiar expression.
Xi Shen only gave him a blank stare in response to the “accusation” he had received.
Ye Fei then started reading from the same paper again.
“Year 45,130 of the Spiritual Era calendar. The second prince of the Maple Continent at the age of five was caught stealing from the Ancestral treasury once again, however, this time he stole several rare and valuable medicinal pills... Year 45,133 of the Spiritual Era calendar, the second prince was once again caught stealing ancient and mythical weapons from the Li Clan’s Ancestral treasury, including a Pseudo-level Celestial Treasure.”
Reading that last part, Ye Fei almost chocked on air. He couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows as he looked at Xi Shen who was casually sitting across from him. Ye Fei then thought to himself, ‘How hell did he manage to get into Royal Family's treasury in the first place? Wasn’t it said that the Li Royal Family had experts as numerous as the clouds?’
As Ye Fei was thinking that to himself, Xi Shen's voice chipped in and said, “What do any of those false accusations have to do with me being here?”
Upon hearing Xi Shen’s words, Ye Fei said perplexed, “You're saying that all of these reports about you..” Ye Fei lifted the page within his hand which caused several more that was attached to it to rise before he continued and said, “...are all false accusations?”
Those stacks of papers that were about a foot in height, were reports that were collected by the Celestial Academy on Xi Shen.
Some of them Ye Fei had heard floating around the continent, but reading the ones from before was news to him.
Xi Shen looked at Ye Fei and said, “Of course, they’re false accusations, how could I possibly enter probably the most well-guarded place on the entire Maple Continent? It’s blatantly obvious that someone was trying to tarnish my name and the Royal Family by spreading such ridiculous rumors.”
‘That’s true, not to mention he was practically an infant at the time, something as ridiculous as a little child sneaking past all the top experts in the Li Clan to steal from the Royal Treasury sounded too unbelievable that it was bordering on fantasy.’
As Ye Fei was thinking that to himself, he was skimming through the pages when he suddenly paused on a certain page.
His expression then went from surprise, shock, amazement, and then amusement. This went on for several cycles before he started reading from the page.
“Year 45,136 of the Spiritual Era calendar. The second prince had somehow managed to escape his bodyguard's watch during an outing within the capital city. After several days he was eventually found by the crown prince. He had disguised himself as the Vice Sect Leader of a small sect with the help of his two void beasts. The second prince intended to secretly excavate the undiscovered high-grade Spirit Stone mine hidden underneath the small sect."
After finishing reading the small paragraph, Ye Fei looked up at Xi Shen with incredulity. However, Xi Shen could notice a trace of greed in his eyes.
Seeing this Xi Shen thought to himself, ‘Here it comes.’
As soon as he thought that, Ye Fei coughed and said, “To think the second prince would have two void beasts. I heard that they are heavenly creatures blessed by the heavens with special abilities. In the thousands of years, the Maple Continent has existed, we have never been able to locate a void beast, simply because of their wondrous natural ability to hide within pocket spaces and their mystical illusion arts. No wonder you were able to cause mischief anywhere you go.”
Hearing Ye Fei's words, Xi Shen openly rolled his eyes. He couldn’t care less if Ye Fei noticed because he could hear the greed in the latter's voice.
“Ehem..” Ye Fei cleared his throat and then said, “Second prince, could it be that those two void beasts of yours are somewhere around here?”
As Ye Fei said that, his sharp gaze wandered around the room searching for any signs of fluctuations in space.