I Have A Sword

Ye Guan's gaze became cold as he stared at the young man.

At that moment, the young woman wearing a light blue dress stepped forward and slapped the young man.

Smack!

A crisp noise reverberated, and the young man was blasted hundreds of meters away, crashing heavily into a boulder. Shockingly, the young man's fleshly body exploded upon contact with the boulder, scattering blood and flesh everywhere.

Everyone present was stunned.

The young woman grabbed the young man's soul and dragged it in front of her. Before the young man could react, she pressed his soul down, forcing the young man to kneel. Then, the young woman in the light blue dress knelt before Ye Guan as well, astonishing everyone. However, she wasn't done yet as she turned and glared at the others.

"Kneel!" she shouted, her voice echoing like thunder. The killing intent in the young woman's eyes told them that she was not in the mood for jokes.

Thus, they dared not say anything and simply followed her order.

The young woman in the blue dress faced Ye Guan and bowed deeply, saying, "I apologize. He's still young and is still ignorant. If you wish to punish him, you may do so as you please."

Ye Guan's cultivation base wasn't as high as theirs, but he exuded a natural aura of authority that felt as heavy and as oppressive as a mountain for them.

The young woman in the light blue dress seemed to be the leader of the group, and she was still kneeling with her expression hidden from view.

Meanwhile, the youngsters behind her revealed looks of dissatisfaction and resentment. However, they dared not rebel in the face of the young woman in the light blue dress' formidable strength.

Ye Guan chuckled. He turned around and waved his sleeve, moving everyone out of the tiny pagoda.

The young woman and the others were still kneeling even outside.

Ye Guan stared at the young woman in the light blue dress and calmly remarked, "I saved you all out of respect for that man with the saber, and it's also because I accepted his gift of storage rings.

"I've done my part, so we no longer owe each other. You're free to go now."

The kneeling young woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath before bowing to Ye Guan. "Sir, can you please tell us your name? We—"

"You don't have to know that," Ye Guan interrupted her. He then turned to Zhou Yuan and the others, saying, "Let's go back."

Zhou Yuan and the others returned to the tiny pagoda, while Ye Guan's figure trembled, and he transformed into a beam of sword light that vanished into the distant starry sky.

Once Ye Guan was no longer in sight, a young man in luxurious robes stood up and said, "Nan Qiao, he took the storage rings of our Cangyun Civilization experts. In the end, he still profited handsomely. On the other hand, we're—"

"Stupid!" Nan Qiao yelled. A powerful wave of pressure erupted from her, instantly pinning the man in luxurious robes to the ground.

Everyone's expressions changed drastically, but the majority of them were confused. They had no idea why she was so furious.

Nan Qiao glared coldly at the young man in luxurious robes and the young man in his soul form.

"You people have truly been living a sheltered life all these years. Your arrogance and pride have blinded your eyes and mind," Nan Qiao said. A disappointed light flashed in her eyes before she turned to look at the distant starry sky and continued, "In the face of the Universe Tribulation, we were utterly useless and could only wait for our demise. However, he managed to save us all. And did you not notice that the flow of time inside his tiny pagoda is different compared to the flow of time outside?"

The flow of time inside the tiny pagoda? The majority of them remained confused.

And that was when another young man stepped forward and said in a low voice, "I calculated it. Ten years inside the tiny pagoda are roughly equivalent to only one day outside."

Everyone was stupefied. They had been too worried about their lives to pay attention to time.

After hearing Nan Qiao and the young man's words, however, they finally realized that their benefactor was no ordinary person.

Nan Qiao said, "I know you're looking down on him because his cultivation base is lower than yours. You underestimated him and even disrespected him, but have you ever considered the fact that he must have crossed countless star fields in the blink of an eye to successfully escape a Universe Tribulation? And those blood corpses... they were half-step Path Creation Realm experts. The aura of that tall blood corpse was even stronger than the Saber Master's aura, yet they were all incredibly respectful to him, behaving like his subordinates. He has to be from a Tier Four civilization at the very least."

A Tier Four civilization?!

Everyone was dumbfounded. The Cangyun Civilization was barely a Tier Three civilization.

"We could have relied on the goodwill that the Saber Master had earned for us to stay by his side. We could have ensured a better future for us. If he's from a Tier Four civilization, then we had just missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it's all thanks to..." Nan Qiao trailed off and glared at the young man in his soul form. "all thanks to your stupidity. The goodwill that the Saber Master managed to earn for us has vanished without a trace. You truly deserve to die."

The young man quivered, and he dared not speak in the face of Nan Qiao's killing intent.

Upon hearing Nan Qiao's revelation, they were filled with regret. Now that they thought about it, Nan Qiao was right.

The young swordsman was indeed an extraordinary person. It was also highly likely that he came from a Tier Four civilization. They would have been able to change their fates through him.

Unfortunately, their golden opportunity was no more.

Nan Qiao's eyes were filled with regret as well. The Cangyun Civilization was no more, so following Ye Guan was the best chance they had at reviving it, but their opportunity was no more! It was truly maddening!

Nan Qiao looked around and fell into deep contemplation. How should we proceed now?

***

Cangyun Civilization.

A spacetime rift manifested not too far away from the hunchbacked old woman. The shadowy figure fighting Zhou Yuan not too long ago emerged from the spacetime rift.

The hunchbacked old woman frowned and asked, "What happened? You failed?"

The shadowy figure said in a low voice, "There are strong, mysterious individuals following that young man. They're extraordinary cultivators, and there are too many of them for me to handle."

The hunchbacked old woman scoffed, "No wonder he dared to intervene in a Universe Tribulation, disrupt the Dao, and become entangled in its karma. Xuan Yin, go and investigate the background of that young man."

Xuan Yin hesitated briefly before saying, "Evil Granny, I think that young man's background is extraordinary."

The hunchbacked old woman stared indifferently at Xuan Yin and replied, "Could his background be more extraordinary than our Evil Dao Alliance? Go and investigate him. Get the Heavenly Daos of the universe regions and the guardians of the universe boundaries to assist you. Once you know which universe region he's from, I want you to order the Evil Dao of that universe region to bring forward the Universe Tribulation. It doesn't matter which civilization he's from."

Realizing that the hunchbacked old woman was truly furious, Xuan Yin dared not say anything and simply bowed before leaving.

The hunchbacked old woman's face was grim as she muttered, "One by one... they all want to rebel."

***

In an unknown star field, a spacetime rift suddenly manifested.

A beam of sword light flew out of the rift.

When the radiant sword light dissipated, Ye Guan's figure was revealed. There were still cracks all over his skin, but he was meticulous in his control over the duration of his spacetime traversal, so even though he still ended up getting injured, his injuries weren't as severe as the first time.

Ye Guan took a deep breath and used the Divine Tree of Nature and Life Force Heart to recover. In no time, he was fully recovered.

Ye Guan examined himself and was surprised to discover that his fleshly body seemed to have become even stronger.

A spacetime traversal can actually temper one's fleshly body? Ye Guan was both shocked and delighted upon realizing that even traveling could be a form of cultivation.

With that in mind, he took out a few strands of Ancestral Origin and absorbed them. He then used the Qingxuan Sword to perform another spacetime traversal.

Soon, Ye Guan appeared in yet another unknown star field. He sprawled out and began healing himself almost immediately upon exiting the spacetime rift.

His way of cultivating was indeed expensive, but he had plenty of money and resources to spend, so he couldn't care less.

Once he was sure that he had recovered completely, he hopped onto the Qingxuan Sword and disappeared into a spacetime tunnel.

Ye Guan repeated the same routine of spacetime travesal and healing himself before doing another one. Ye Guan's fleshly body improved significantly under his rigorous and torturous cultivation method.

At first, he could barely last ten minutes before getting severely injured, but now, he had no issues lasting for fifteen minutes.

Ye Guan decided to intensify his training.

Rumble!

A spacetime rift manifested, and Ye Guan came shooting out of the rift. His fleshly body still had cracks, but they were healed instantly.

Ye Guan took a deep breath and examined himself. His fleshly body had grown stronger by severalfold.

It was a great improvement, as the improvement of his fleshly body meant he'd become even stronger overall. Ye Guan looked down at the Qingxuan Sword in his hand.

The Qingxuan Sword could actually take him directly to that mysterious civilization's ruins, but his fleshly body had to be strong enough to withstand the adverse effects of spacetime traversal.

In other words, Ye Guan could go wherever he wanted as he pleased as long as his fleshly body could withstand the journey there.

The Qingxuan Sword was far stronger than Ye Guan thought, but Ye Guan was still too weak to make full use of the sword.

Ye Guan smiled and hopped onto the Qingxuan Sword, disappearing into the starry sky.

In just a month, Ye Guan had already traversed a myriad of universe regions and star fields. He encountered a few robust civilizations along the way, but they were too weak for him, so he chose not to disturb them.

His fleshly body had undergone a qualitative change. By his own estimation, his fleshly body could probably be compared to a Divine Dao Realm expert at this point.

In other words, Ye Guan was now a Physique Cultivator in the Divine Dao Realm.

Ye Guan's lips curled up into a smile. He truly didn't expect that his journey to the mysterious civilization's ruins would allow him to obtain such unexpected boons.

Ye Guan raised his hand and was about to cut open a spacetime rift when a spacetime rift opened in the distance.

A tall man holding a halberd walked out of the spacetime rift.

The tall man stared at Ye Guan for a few moments before opening his palm and taking out a transmission talisman.

"Found him," the tall man said to the transmission talisman.

Ye Guan asked, "And who might you be?"

The tall man walked slowly toward Ye Guan. "Saving people from a Universe Tribulation and violating the laws of the Dao. I've come here to apprehend you for those crimes. If you feel aggrieved, just keep it to yourself."