Chapter 319: My Family Is Mean To Me
Tian He bowed slightly and turned around to leave. Chen Wu gazed at his departing figure with a light smile and eyes filled with a subtle appreciation.
…
Nangong Xue guided Ye Guan through the starry sky. Thanks to the Tribulation Avoiding Stone, the two of them were able to ward off the tribulations and navigate through them unscathed.
Ye Guan and Nangong Xue strolled toward the distant horizon.
Just then, Ye Guan asked, "Where are we going?"
Nangong Xue replied, "We\'re going to the Starry Sea Secret Realm!"
Ye Guan stared at Nangong Xue and repeated, "The Starry Sea Secret Realm?"
Nangong Xue smiled and explained, "The sacred grounds of the ancient sects and powers that had perished after the battle during that era became forbidden zones, all thanks to the tribulations and calamities that had settled there.
"Even Great Sovereigns won\'t dare to enter them unless absolutely necessary. In addition, they\'re long gone, but no one can guarantee that they didn\'t manage to leave behind any traps or experts to protect their precious inheritance."
Ye Guan pondered for a moment before asking, "Are we going to cultivate there?"
Nangong Xue nodded and said, "Yes, we\'ll find a safe spot to cultivate once we enter the secret realm. I\'m sure the Xue Clan will hesitate at the idea of entering a secret realm just to pursue us."
Ye Guan chuckled and replied, "All right, then."
However, he recalled something and asked, "The Martial Sect and the Holy Sect..."
Nangong Xue explained, "The Martial Sect and the Holy Sect were established during the Eternal Civilization, and they\'re the only forces from that era that are still alive. A myriad of ancient powers and sects perished in that fateful battle, but they somehow survived, so their heritage is incomparable to any other forces."
Ye Guan nodded slightly. "I see."
Nangong Xue made a sidelong glance at Ye Guan and asked, "From what I know, the True Universe is the current ruler of the outside world. Are you... from the True Universe?"
Ye Guan shook his head and said, "I\'m from the Guanxuan Universe."
Nangong Xue nodded slightly, not saying anything more.
Ye Guan then asked, "You know the True Universe?”
Nangong Xue\'s expression became solemn as she said, "Of course, I know. The True Universe had once attacked the Chaotic Star World. The Martial Sect and the Holy Sect joined forces to fight a common enemy, even though they\'re archenemies.
"Thankfully, the True Universe\'s troops faltered in the face of the Chaotic Star World\'s tribulations. Otherwise, we would have suffered defeat at the time."
Nangong Xue\'s expression became even more solemn as she continued. "The Expedition Army is truly formidable. Great Sovereigns went one-on-one against their troops. We lost thirty-six Great Sovereigns while they only lost twenty-two!”
The Expedition Army! Ye Guan went silent.
The Guanxuan Universe had yet to encounter the True Universe\'s Expedition Army, so they still didn\'t have an exact idea of their strength. However, Nangong Xue\'s words just now made him realize that the Expedition Army\'s strength was far beyond what he had imagined. Great Sovereigns were held in high regard almost everywhere, but they seemed weak compared to the Expedition Army.
The two continued talking about a variety of topics until they found themselves standing in front of a ruin. There was an expansive dark cloud hanging above the ruins, and lightning flashed incessantly within the cloud, which made the entire stretch of the sky above the ruins feel eerie at sight.
Ye Guan and Nangong Xue were struck by a wave of something ominous as they walked into the ruins. Ye Guan gazed at the dark clouds with a grim look. The tribulations here were extremely terrifying. The tribulations in the Guanxuan Universe and the True Universe were mere child\'s play in comparison to it.
Pointing into the distance, Nangong Xue said, "That\'s the Starry Sea Secret Realm, and I have no idea what dangers are inside of it.”
"I guess we\'ll find out once we get there," said Ye Guan with a smile.
The two walked away. The closer they got to the lightning region, the stronger the lightning became. In fact, the lightning had become so strong that Ye Guan found it difficult to breathe just staring at them.
Ye Guan felt uneasy.
The lightning here was much stronger than the lightning at the Shangqing Sect. Ye Guan reckoned that if every single lightning bolt within the expansive dark clouds were to strike down at once, even Master Pagoda would die.
They had a Tribulation Avoiding Stone, but they still felt uneasy at the terrifying sight.
Just then, dozens of powerful auras appeared behind them.
Ye Guan turned and saw Xue Feng along with his group.
Xue Feng\'s gaze was as sharp as a sword as he glared at Ye Guan.
The Xue Clan members behind him were furious as well. Their eyes were filled with killing intent that was so thick it made Ye Guan feel like these people would eat his flesh and consume his blood just to assuage their fury.
However, their fury was justified. After all, a brat had deceived them into voluntarily giving up their storage rings. It was a disgrace that couldn\'t be overwritten by a simple, run-off-the-mill revenge.
Ye Guan\'s eyelids twitched. He grabbed Nangong Xue’s hand and ran into the secret realm.
Upon entering the lightning region, dozens of lightning bolts plummeted toward them. Ye Guan and Nangong Xue\'s expressions changed. Xue Feng and his group came to a halt right in front of the lightning region.
Evidently, they didn\'t dare to enter the lightning region.
Xue Feng stared intently at the falling lightning bolt, but shockingly, the lightning bolts avoided Ye Guan and Nangong Xue when they were just a few meters away from the latters\' heads.
Ye Guan and Nangong Xue sighed in relief, and they ran as fast as they could away from Xue Feng and his group.
Xue Feng and his group members were stunned.
An old man exclaimed, "He has a Tribulation Avoiding Stone!"
Xue Feng and the others exchanged shocked looks.
They didn\'t expect that Ye Guan would have such a rare spiritual treasure.
Another old man spoke with a heavy tone of voice, "He entered the Starry Sea Secret Realm. Are we going to follow them?"
Xue Feng looked into the distance and said, "Let’s wait."
The Xue Clan members were solemn. Ye Guan was just right in front of them, but they weren\'t daring enough to chase after him. Xue Feng glared at the secret realm, and he growled through gnashed teeth. “They\'ll eventually come out!”
…
Ye Guan and Nangong Xue finally found themselves inside the ruins they had seen earlier. A solemn atmosphere hung in the air around the ruins, and judging from the marred walls, a great battle had to have unfolded here.
Nangong Xue walked briskly to a stone stele. With a wave of her sleeve, the dust on the stone stele vanished, revealing three emboldened words—Starry Sea Sect!
Nangong Xue turned to Ye Guan and muttered, "The Starry Sea Sect must have been annihilated..."
Ye Guan nodded. He looked around until his gaze finally settled on a dilapidated hall hundreds of meters away. Half of the hall was missing, and it looked like it had been ripped apart.
"Let\'s go there and take a look," Ye Guan suggested.
Nangong Xue nodded, and the two started walking to the grand hall. Along the way, Ye Guan discovered quite a few corpses strewn across the ruins. Ye Guan was awestruck upon discovering that the corpses were preserved impeccably, making them appear as though they were alive, even though they had died long ago.
Nangong Xue remarked, "They must have been Great Sovereigns when they were still alive.”
Ye Guan\'s curiosity was piqued, and he asked, "Why do you say so?"
"The fleshly bodies of Great Sovereigns will last for an eternity," Nangong Xue explained.
Ye Guan nodded thoughtfully. The two continued talking until they arrived at the dilapidated grand hall.
The grand hall had retained only half of its former glory, and they only found a statue of a woman in white. An ancient book covered in celestial stardust glimmered in multiple colors in the woman\'s right hand.
All of a sudden, Nangong Xue bowed deeply toward the statue.
Ye Guan was astonished.
Nangong Xue smiled at him and said, "You told me to be respectful in places like this!"
Ye Guan chuckled upon hearing that.
Just then, the statue quivered, and a woman dressed in white emerged gracefully from the statue. Ye Guan\'s expression stiffened, and Nangong Xue quickly moved even closer to Ye Guan before directing a wary gaze upon the woman.
The woman in white\'s gaze was on Ye Guan, and she frowned in confusion upon seeing him.
Ye Guan recovered his wits and bowed. "Greetings, Senior!"
The woman in white examined Ye Guan and chuckled. "You\'re an interesting young man.
Ye Guan couldn\'t understand her cryptic words.
The woman in white leisurely stepped out of the grand hall.
Sweeping her gaze across the ruins before her, a fleeting light of bewilderment shone in her eyes. After a while, she asked, "What happened to the Divine Dao Civilization of the Great Daoist Brush Master?”
Ye Guan replied, "It\'s gone."
The woman in white turned to Ye Guan and asked, "It\'s gone?"
Ye Guan nodded and said, "The True Universe destroyed it."
The woman in white squinted her eyes. "The True Universe?"
Ye Guan nodded and explained what happened between the True Universe and the Divine Dao Civilization.
The woman in white laughed boisterously and exclaimed, "So even the Great Daoist Brush Master has met his end!"
Ye Guan was silent as he stared at the woman in white. The woman in white obviously harbored deep resentment toward the Great Daoist Brush Master.
The woman in white laughed for quite a while before she composed herself and muttered, "It\'s a shame that I couldn\'t witness the collapse of the Divine Dao Civilization.”
Ye Guan remained quiet. The Great Daoist Brush Master was a peerless supreme elite, so he didn\'t dare to disparage the latter.
The woman in white suddenly looked at Ye Guan and examined him intently. After a while, she shook her head slightly and said, "You already have your own path. It is meaningless for you to take someone else\'s legacy. It\'s meaningless!"
Ye Guan quickly pulled Nangong Xue over to him and said, "She\'s the right fit!"
The woman in white stared at Nangong Xue, but she remained quiet.
Honestly, she wasn\'t particularly fond of Nangong Xue. Nangong Xue\'s talent was inferior when compared to Ye Guan. Moreover, Ye Guan possessed a Great Dao Destiny, so he was perfect—the perfect inheritor of legacies.
Nangong Xue grew rejected upon seeing the woman in white\'s silence. It wasn\'t that difficult to deduce the latter\'s thoughts after seeing her go silent the moment her eyes landed on Nangong Xue.
Nangong Xue held Ye Guan\'s hand and lowered her head.
The woman in white\'s expression changed drastically upon seeing Nangong Xue holding Ye Guan\'s hand. She chuckled and exclaimed, "I guess that works as well!"
Nangong Xue raised her head in confusion.
The woman in white asked, "Are you willing to become the Sect Master of the Starry Sea Sect?"
Nangong Xue didn\'t immediately reply. She glanced at Ye Guan, and the latter nodded instantly.
Nangong Xue grinned and said, “I\'m willing.”
The woman in white stared at Ye Guan and said, “Protect us.”
Ye Guan was confused. “Protect you two?”
The woman in white nodded and explained, "I\'m going to give her the Starry Sea Sect\'s remaining Starry Sea energy, and she\'ll instantly become a Great Sovereign once I\'m done!"
She\'s going to instantly become a Great Sovereign? Ye Guan froze and went silent at the remark. Eventually, he asked carefully, “There\'s a way to instantly become a Great Sovereign?”
The woman in white nodded and said, “Of course.”
Ye Guan was stupefied. What the woman in white was about to do was similar to a supreme elite handing over their cultivation base to their disciples. Ye Guan hesitated for quite a while before asking, “Can you give me some, too? My family is mean to me, and they even left me to fend for myself at such a young age. I had to gather and eat leftovers just to survive.”