When the sun rose high in the sky, Ye Guan slowly opened his eyes. He looked down to see Nn Jia curled up in his arms like a soft, satisfied cat. Gazing at her beautiful face, an indescribable warmth pervaded his heart.


    Sensing Ye Guan''s gaze, Nn Jia suddenly looked up and gave Ye Guan a yful re.


    Ye Guanughed heartily and flipped over.


    Several "days"ter, Ye Guan and Nn Jia left Ancient Deste City, informing only Ye Xiao and Nn Ming of their departure.


    Ye Xiao and Nn Ming stood at the entrance of a hall. They looked up at the sky, and they stayed silent for a long time.


    After a while, Ye Xiao said, "I wonder when they''re going to return."


    Nn Ming sighed.


    "I heard you’ve dealt with quite a few of your n members recently."


    Nn Ming nodded and said, "If it hadn''t been for Little Jia, I wouldn''t have known how many of us were engaged in illegal activities."Ye Xiao smiled wryly at the remark and said, "Our Ye n has its fair share of delinquents as well, but Little Guan has never mentioned them to me."


    "Although our Nn n and your Ye n appear to be a prestigious n to outsiders, we''re actually walking on thin ice. It''s impossible to know just how many eyes are on us, waiting for the opportunity to pull us down," Nn Ming said.


    "Indeed, we must be cautious. One wrong step can easily lead to our downfall," Ye Xiao replied.


    "It really is exhausting to lead a n."


    "That''s true; it''s incredibly exhausting."


    However, the two couldn''t afford to neglect their duties. Without them, the Nn n and the Ye n would definitely be chaotic.


    They were uncertain about their ns’ futures.


    Ye Guan and Nn Jia held significant power, but the Ye n and the Nn n could provide little support to them.


    In the grand scale of the Guanxuan Universe, their ns were pretty weak despite their high status.


    This massive gap between their status and strength was worrisome in their eyes.


    To make matters worse, many of their n members were bing increasingly arrogant, especially outside the n.


    The elders were particrly concerned about the growing sense of superiority of their young members.


    Fortunately, Nn Jia''s recent actions of dealing with several powerful elders were an effective warning to the Nn n.


    Ye Xiao chuckled and said, "A long and arduous path lies ahead of us."


    Nn Mingughed and replied, "Let''s not dwell on it. Come, let''s have a drink."


    Theyughed and walked away together.


    ***


    When Ye Guan and Nn Jia arrived at the Guanxuan Academy of Nanzhou, they found a massive crowd of people.


    The students and instructors of the Guanxuan Academy of Nanzhou had gathered to wee them.


    Seeing the crowd, Ye Guan and Nn Jia exchanged a slightly exasperated smile.


    Meanwhile, the academy''s students erupted into cheers, waving and moring upon seeing the two.


    Ye Guan and Nn Jianded and were immediately greeted by Academy Chief Song Fu.


    Song Fu led everyone to bow respectfully toward the two.


    Ye Guan said, "No need for formalities."


    The crowd stared at Ye Guan and Nn Jia with curiosity, especially the new students.


    In the eyes of the new students, Ye Guan and Nn Jia were legendary figures, especially Ye Guan. He was a household name in Nanzhou, and it was thanks to his victory over Qingzhou, which brought great honor to Nanzhou.


    Just then, Ye Guan noticed a familiar face and was momentarily stunned.


    "Brother Siao!" Ye Guan called out.


    The familiar face was none other than Siao Ge.


    Siao Ge smiled and replied, "Ye Guan, long time no see."


    Noticing the badge on Siao Ge''s chest, Ye Guan asked, "You''ve be a teacher?"


    "After traveling around for a bit, I realized that I still prefer to stay here, so I came back to be a teacher."


    Ye Guanughed, "How does it feel to be a teacher?"


    "Not bad. You should give it a try."


    The twoughed at that. Siao Ge then asked, "Are you going to participate in the uing Upper Realm Martial Contest?"


    Ye Guan was taken aback, "The Upper Realm Martial Contest?"


    Siao Ge grinned, "Did you forget? The martial contest of the Upper Realm is held every three years, and it''s going to happen again soon. You missed thest one, but since you''re already here, how about you check it out?"


    "So it''s been six years..." Ye Guan murmured.


    "It''s been six years since we went to the Upper Realm for the contest. Feels like it was just yesterday," Siao Ge remarked.


    Ye Guan smiled. "Indeed."


    Siao Ge suggested, "Why don''t you stay for a few more days here?"


    Ye Guan turned to Nn Jia.


    Nn Jia smiled and said, "Let''s stay a bit longer."


    "Alright."


    "Since the two of you are here, this martial contest is definitely going to go down in history as the most exciting martial contest ever," Siao Ge said.


    Ye Guan chuckled. He was starting to feel a bit excited as well, as the martial contest reminded him of his young dreams at the time.


    These young cultivators were working hard in hopes of achieving a high rank in the martial contest, which would allow them to obtain fame and bring honor to their n.


    Ye Guan had also embarked on the journey to the Upper Realm with such dreams in his heart.


    Ye Guan smiled while thinking about the past—being young had its charms as well.


    Ye Guan chatted with Siao Ge and others for a long while before Ye Guan and Nn Jia eventually headed for Mount Banqing.


    Mount Banqing was the residence of their teacher, Fei Banqing.


    Upon arriving at the peak of Mount Banqing, Ye Guan noticed something amiss and asked, "Little Jia, why isn''t Teacher here?"


    Nn Jia calmly replied, "She isn''t in Nanzhou."


    Ye Guan looked at her, puzzled. "She''s not in Nanzhou?"


    "She went to the Xiaoguan Universe."


    Ye Guan was surprised. He didn''t expect that Fei Banqing would end up going there.


    Nn Jia looked around and smiled. "I really missed this ce."


    "Me, too," Ye Guan replied.


    Nn Jia suddenly turned to Ye Guan and said, "If you weren''t the Young Master of the Guanxuan Academy, what do you think you''d be doing right now?"


    "I''d be dead. Haha," replied Ye Guan. If he weren''t the Young Master of the Guanxuan Academy, he wouldn’t survive the An n''s wrath.


    "True," Nn Jia replied. Then, her expression became serious as she asked, "Little Guan, do you really think that we can truly establish a new order where everything is fair? Like when we faced the An n—if the Guanxuan Law existed back then, could it have prevented that incident?"


    "I don''t think so," Ye Guan replied, shaking his head. "Conflict and favoritism exist everywhere; no rules orws can ensure absolute fairness."


    Nn Jia fell silent.


    Ye Guan smiled and added, "However, the widespread implementation of the Guanxuan Law will definitely reduce the number of such incidents. It will also make the ns and families more cautious about their actions, which means that evil can no longer be as tant anymore."


    Nn Jia nodded. The An n was daring enough tomit atrocities in front of hundreds of worlds; they were truly audacious.


    Absolute fairness? It was impossible.


    After all, selfish desires were a part of human nature.


    Nn Jia turned to Ye Guan and said, "No matter what you do, I''m going to support you."


    Ye Guan held her hand and said, "I know it''s exhausting, but I believe we should do something. Even if we can''t make it fair for everyone, we can consider it our win as long as we can ensure fairness for the majority."


    The two silently held each other''s hands.


    After a while, Ye Guan said, "Let me take you somewhere."


    He led Nn Jia to the trial tower of the academy.


    Nn Jia looked puzzled.


    Ye Guan saw her confused face and exined, "When I was training here, I met ady from the Ye n, Ye Yu. She gave me a badge at the time."


    Ye Guan took out the badge and said, "I was so happy back then. I was so happy because it felt like I was finally acknowledged."


    Ye Guan opened his palm, revealing a wisp of sword intent.


    Nn Jia smiled at the sight and asked, "You want to leave an opportunity here?"


    "Yes."


    Nn Jia didn''t reply and simply held Ye Guan''s hand.


    Ye Guan chuckled and said, "I wonder who''ll stumble upon my sword intent here."


    "Whoever it is, they''ll surely be thrilled and excited upon recognizing your sword intent," Nn Jia replied.


    Ye Guanughed boisterously at that.


    After leaving the trial tower, they returned to Mount Banqing.


    They sat on arge boulder in each other''s arms, admiring the sunset that painted the sky with its beautiful hue.


    They chatted endlessly, as they truly felt like they had endless topics to talk about.


    Late at night, Nn Jia rested her head against Ye Guan''s chest as the twoy under a sky full of stars.


    Just as she was about to fall asleep, Nn Jia whispered, "I''m really happy these days."


    "Me, too."


    Nn Jia smiled sweetly at Ye Guan. Then, she hugged him tightly and soon fell asleep.


    Ye Guan held her gently, gazing into the depths of the starry sky. <em>Humanity? Divinity?</em><em>I definitely prefer humanity, but emotions and family bonds are all going to fade under the ruthless passage of time. However, there are always exceptions, like Father, Mother, and in-Skirt Aunt. They''re incredibly powerful, but they didn''t abandon their families. I guess it all depends on the person.</em>


    After spending two days at the Guanxuan Academy of Nanzhou, Ye Guan and Nn Jia traveled to the Upper Realm with Song Fu, Siao Ge, and the other representatives of Nanzhou.


    The students and instructors of the Upper Realm''s Guanxuan Academy were already waiting for them.


    Ye Guan was stunned upon seeing the Academy Chief of the Upper Realm''s Guanxuan Academy, as it was none other than Zhao Su.


    Ye Guan could still remember meeting her a couple of times before.


    Zhao Su bowed respectfully toward Ye Guan, saying, "Greetings, Young Master."


    A hodgepodge of emotions shed in her eyes as she bowed. The two of them were unchanged, but their positions had changed drastically.