Chapter 183: Shadow Department
There was no way Ye Guan could forget Qin Feng, who had helped him tremendously on the Zhongtu Divine Continent. Ye Guan wanted to visit Qin Feng, but he was afraid of implicating the latter, so he refrained from visiting.
It had been quite a while since the two saw each other, so Ye Guan was surprised to see that Qin Feng had actually sent someone to contact him. Qin Feng even gave him immortal spiritual crystals!
Ye Guan smiled as he looked down at the storage ring in his hand. He had made many enemies, but he had made friends as well. His friends weren’t as many as his enemies, but they were all incredible people.
Ye Guan stored the storage ring away and looked at Cao Bai.
“Brother Cao, let’s return to the Sword Sect,” he said with a smile.
The two hopped onto their swords and disappeared into the horizon.
After returning to the Sword Sect, Ye Guan went over to a vast expanse of seemingly unending land. It was the cultivation ground of the Sword Sect, and it had an abundance of spiritual energy.
There was one month until his battle with the Chosen One, and Ye Guan wanted to make good use of that time by training and cultivating. This time, he wanted to make a breakthrough by himself.
The rhythmic collision of swords soon echoed across the plains.
Li Banzhi was reading through the memorials when she suddenly looked up.
A blurry figure slowly solidified in front of her.
The figure was An You.
Li Banzhi stared at An You and asked, “How is it?”
An You shook his head and replied. “I couldn’t find anything.”
Nothing? Li Banzhi frowned. After a while, she said, “Stop investigating it. You’ll eventually get in trouble the deeper you dig into it.”
An You nodded. After some hesitation, he said, “Committee Head Li, I have a bad feeling about this. Things might be more complicated than what it seems, and I believe there’s a mastermind behind the scenes.”
Li Banzhi nodded and agreed, “I know, but you really have to stop investigating. You might alarm them, and they might take action against you if you were to dig any deeper.”
An You nodded. “I understand.”
Li Banzhi suddenly asked, “How are the people protecting him?”
An You was slightly surprised, but he quickly said, “Committee Head, don’t worry. The people of the Shadow Department are loyal to the Sword Master.”
Li Banzhi suddenly said, “I want you to send five Time Immortals to Nanzhou. Protect the Ye Clan and the Nalan Clan there. If anything happens, I want you to bring those two clans here.”
An You nodded. “All right.”
Li Banzhi added, “I also want you to send a Time Immortal to look after Lady Fei Banqing of Nanzhou’s Guanxuan Academy.”
An You nodded. “Understood.”
Li Banzhi instructed, “You’re dismissed.”
An You bowed respectfully and left.
The space in front of Li Banzhi split open, and an old man wearing a black robe emerged from the rift in space. Thirty men dressed in pitch-black war armor stood behind the black-robed old man.
They were wearing the Guanxuan Divine Armor—the strongest armor of the Guanxuan Academy. The thirty men were the strongest troops of the Guanxuan Academy—the Ancient Guanxuan Guards.
They survived the Xuzhen Great War thirty million years ago.
These men were second only to a handful of top elites in the Guanxuan Universe, and there were less than ten thousand of them throughout the Guanxuan Universe.
The black-robed old man bowed respectfully toward Li Banzhi.
The thirty men bowed as well.
Li Banzhi stared at the black-robed old man and said, “I’ll leave the Young Master’s safety to you all.”
It wasn’t that Li Banzhi had no trust in An You, but she wanted to be prepared for anything. He wasn’t here, so she had to be prepared to face the worst-case scenario.
The black-robed old man nodded and said, “Committee Head, don’t worry. The Young Master will never be in danger with us protecting him.”
Li Banzhi nodded and said, “All right. You’re dismissed.”
They bowed quietly and left.
Li Banzhi stood up and left the Committee Hall. She soon found herself in a starry sky, and there was a huge palace ahead of her.
The Nether Palace was under the Guanxuan Academy’s governance, but there were only a few people who knew their existence.
Li Banzhi soon arrived at the Nether Palace.
A silver-haired young woman walked out to welcome her. The silver-haired young woman was dressed in a snow-white long skirt.
The young woman stared at Li Banzhi and asked, “Who are you?”
Li Banzhi smiled and said, “You must be Lady Ji Xuan.”
Ji Xuan was slightly surprised. “You know me?”
Li Banzhi nodded. “Yes.”
After some hesitation, Ji Xuan asked, “Who are you?”
Li Banzhi replied, “My name is Li Banzhi.”
Ji Xuan was stunned. The next moment, her face was flooded with surprise, and she cried out, “You’re the Committee Head of the Guanxuan Committee!”
Li Banzhi nodded. “Yes.”
Ji Xuan hurriedly bowed and greeted, “Greetings to Committee Head!”
Li Banzhi shook her head and said, “You don’t have to stand on ceremony. Anyway, how are you doing here?”
Ji Xuan replied, “I’m doing great. My tutor has been treating me really well.”
Li Banzhi nodded and said, “Lead me to your tutor.”
“This way, please,” said Ji Xuan before guiding Li Banzhi into the Nether Palace.
The Martial Tower was in chaos. A cacophony of noises echoed, and the remnant energies of the collisions alone were enough to make space quiver violently.
The Head Military Official was quietly observing what was happening in the tower.
A rift in space that seemed to be at least a thousand meters in length manifested, and a man walked out of it.
Lu Tian brought his hand down, and a thirty-meter wave of energy shattered the spacetime ahead of him.
The Head Military Official smiled in satisfaction.
Moments later, the spacetime recovered. Lu Tian breathed in deeply.
The Head Military Official smiled at him and said, “Congratulations on reaching the Ultimate Realm!”
Lu Tian had just made a breakthrough into the Ultimate Realm!
Lu Tian chuckled and asked, “Should I continue?”
Lu Tian didn’t wait for a reply. He stepped forward, and a terrifying, inscrutable aura gushed out of him, causing the skies to darken.
The aura of Heavenly Tribulation?
The Head Military Official was shocked.
He had just survived the second Heavenly Tribulation of the Ultimate Realm, and he was already prepared to take on the third Heavenly Tribulation of his life?
Thunder boomed as lightning flitted across the dark clouds. An oppressive force bored down on anyone beneath the clouds, and the ground quivered violently as it let out a low, rumbling noise. Witnessing the approach of the Heavenly Tribulation was akin to witnessing the end of the world.
Lu Tian’s expression was dark, but he bravely stared at the lightning up above him and roared, “Come here!”
A lightning bolt went out and made a beeline for Lu Tian.
Lu Tian gracefully waved his sleeve.
Lu Tian cast a powerful spell, and it collided with the lightning in a cataclysmic explosion. The lightning was torn apart, and it was reduced to nothing but a few insignificant sparks as it eventually vanished.
Lu Tian had done it—he had survived through three Heavenly Tribulations!
The Head Military Official grinned.
However, it seemed that the Heavenly Tribulation clouds had another idea as thunder crackled above the dark clouds that had yet to dissipate.
The Head Military Official stared blankly at the dark clouds for a few moments before exclaiming, “It’s the rumored Secret Tribulation!”
Lu Tian looked at the Head Military Official and frowned. “Secret Tribulation?”
“Yes!” exclaimed the Head Military Official. He was obviously thrilled at the turn of events as he explained, “One has to endure three Heavenly Tribulations in total in the Ultimate Realm. Many people are unaware, but there’s actually a Secret Tribulation that is only triggered by top talents.
”Pavilion Master Qin had arranged it herself, and surviving the Secret Tribulation means receiving a gift from the Heavenly Dao as well as receiving a secret award!”
The Head Military Official grew more excited as he explained, “Lu Tian, you truly are a heaven-defying talent. I’m not the only one who had underestimated you; it turns out that the entire world had underestimated you as well!”
Lu Tian sighed deeply, and he stared intently at the dark clouds. He saw an ominous light red lightning bolt forming in the clouds. The lightning bolt was massive; Lu Tian estimated it to be at least three hundred meters in length.
The light red lightning bolt was annihilating the spacetime around it, creating a terrifying sight.
A determined light flitted across Lu Tian’s eyes as he yelled, “Come!”
He stomped forcefully with his right foot and turned into a divine seal that soared into the skies.
The light red lightning shattered upon making contact with the divine seal, and the collision was so powerful that the spacetime in the immediate vicinity was destroyed in a cataclysmic manner.
Moments later, the surrounding spacetime recovered, and Lu Tian finally emerged above the clouds. His hands were behind his back, and the divine seal mark on his glabella slowly faded away.
A white band of light abruptly enveloped Lu Tian.
The Heavenly Dao’s gift was its pure energy.
Lu Tian’s aura burst forth, and the aura he was giving off stirred the surroundings.
The white light soon dispersed, and Lu Tian could finally move once more.
He sighed deeply and waved his sleeve.
A massive lightning bolt flashed, shattering the spacetime at the location where it had burst. The lightning bolt just now had a tinge of light red, similar to the lightning bolt of the Secret Tribulation earlier.
The Head Military Official smiled. “The Ultimate Secret Tribulation Realm!”
Lu Tian closed his eyes and grinned. “A Great Sword Sovereign? I’m afraid that’s not enough to threaten me anymore!”
“Let me tell you a secret!” said the Head Military Official.
Lu Tian looked at the Head Military Official, and the latter said, “I received reports about how Ye Guan is most likely not a Great Sword Sovereign.”
Lu Tian frowned and asked, “He’s not a Great Sword Sovereign?”
“Yes.” The Head Military Official nodded and explained, “The Immortal Treasures Pavillion invited a few elites to analyze the sword might that he had displayed that day. The elites discovered that Ye Guan’s burst of power back then had to have come from his sword rather than him.
In other words, Ye Guan isn’t a Great Sword Sovereign. He just has a special sword. If our presumption is right, you’ll surely win in the upcoming battle. After all, your Dao Imprint is capable of suppressing just about anything in this world, so I’m sure it can suppress Ye Guan’s sword.”
Lu Tian chuckled. “Great!”
The Head Military Official smiled gently and said, “You should keep on cultivating here. I’ll contact the aristocratic family faction and the great clan faction for you.”
Lu Tian bowed deeply and said, “Thank you so much, Tutor.”
The Head Military Official nodded and left.
Lu Tian closed his eyes. A mysterious voice spoke in his head. “I really want to know how they’ll react once they find out that you have a Dual Dao Physique in addition to the ability to control two domains.”
“I’m curious about the reaction of Ye Guan’s Dao Protector in a month’s time,” said Lu Tian with a smile. He suddenly recalled something and said, “She must be special as well.”
The mysterious voice chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. No one else aside from the Sword Master and Empress Qingqiu are strong enough to be my opponents. Of course, Boundless Master and the Great Sword Sovereigns here aren’t strong enough, either. They’re nothing but ants in front of me.”