<h4>Chapter 1039: Long Time</h4>
Commander Shi and his men werepletely dumbfounded.
<i>What was going on? Why was Pavilion Master Nn here?</i>
After the initial shock and confusion, Commander Shi quickly led the Guanxuan Guards to kneel, and their voices were trembling as they eximed, "Greetings, Pavilion Master!"
They knelt and pressed their heads on the ground.
Nn Jia, however, ignored them and walked over to Ye Guan.
"You''re back."
Today, Nn Jia was dressed in a long cloud-white gown, and her abdomen was bulging slightly. Her peerless beauty radiated a glow of maternal warmth that Ye Guan had never seen on her face.
Ye Guan''s appearance returned to normal. He held Nn Jia''s hand and smiled gently. "Yes, I''m back."
At the sight of Ye Guan''s face, Commander Shi''s pupils contracted. His knees gave up on him, and he copsed to the floor.
Nn Gu copsed to the ground and lost control of his dder, but he was still awake.
The rest of the Guanxuan Guards turned ashen and slumped to the floor.
Ye Guan!
The Ruler of the Guanxuan Universe!
Ye Guan paid no attention to the unconscious Commander Shi or Nn Gu. He held Nn Jia''s hand and led her outside.
Countless powerful figures knelt in unison, shouting, "Greetings, Academy Master!"
Their voices boomed like thunder, shaking the skies.
Ye Guan smiled lightly. "Rise, everyone!"
The powerful figures stood up, looking at Ye Guan with overwhelming excitement.
Ye Guan!
In fact, this group of experts was unfamiliar with the Sword Master, as the Sword Master had disappeared a long time ago. However, these powerful figures had either been nurtured by Ye Guan and the Nn n or recruited by Ye Guan from the outside, so they felt a closer connection to Ye Guan.
However, Ye Guan had been away for many years, rarely staying in the Guanxuan Universe. As a result, those who had just joined the Guanxuan Academy had never met him, so some of them looked at him with curiosity.
Ye Guan turned to the side and saw ady in white standing a bit farther away.
An Qinghan was a supreme genius who had be the Head of the Martial Department, but she could only stand at the edge of the group.
The core members of the Guanxuan Universe and the Immortal Treasures Pavilion stood next to Nn Jia; they were individuals whose personal power or family backgrounds were terrifying, such as the leaders of great ns like the Sword Sect.
An Qinghan smiled slightly upon meeting Ye Guan''s gaze.
Ye Guan chuckled, asking, "Did you discover my identity?"
He hadn''t informed Nn Jia, so someone else had to have figured it out, and only An Qinghan could have done so.
An Qinghan stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Yes."
"How did you figure it out?"
An Qinghan suddenly opened her palm, and a wisp of sword intent floated out of her be andnded in her hand.
Seeing the wisp of sword intent, Ye Guanughed. It was the sword intent he had left with An Qinghan a long time ago. He hadn''t expected it to be the reason she recognized him.
Ye Guan opened his palm, and the sword intent flew into his hand, trembling slightly. Smiling, he willed the sword intent to evolve, and then he handed the transformed sword intent back to An Qinghan. "Take this. I hope it will help you."
Upon hearing this, An Qinghan immediately knelt down, reverently epting the sword intent with both hands. The sudden gift made her feel overwhelmed.
Ye Guan was like a mentor to her.
Ye Guan then looked at an elderly man standing not far from Nn Jia and smiled. "Elder Zhang, it''s been a while."
Elder Zhang smiled back. "It''s good to see you home, Young Master."
Ye Guan smiled warmly. As he scanned the crowd, he saw many familiar faces, but he couldn''t greet everyone individually as countless influential figures were rushing toward them. The Guanxuan City[1] was inplete chaos.
Holding Nn Jia''s hand, Ye Guan smiled lightly and said, "Everyone, disperse."
As soon as his words fell, he and Nn Jia vanished into thin air.
The experts nearby began leaving in an orderly fashion, but news of Ye Guan''s return to the Guanxuan Academy had already spread like wildfire throughout the Guanxuan Universe.
***
Today, the Guanxuan Hall was quiet; only Ye Guan and Nn Jia were present.
Ye Guan sat at the entrance of the hall, and Nn Jia was sitting in hisp. He gently stroked her belly and asked, "Why hasn''t this little onee out yet?"
"Soon." Nn Jia smiled and held Ye Guan''s hand. "I heard you recently went to the Tianxing Civilization?"
Ye Guan nodded and briefly recounted his experience.
After hearing his story, Nn Jia gazed into the vast starry sky and said, "So our Guanxuan Universe is just a tiny speck of dust in the boundless vast expanse."
Ye Guan nodded. "The vast expanse is infinite. Aunt and Father should be at the top of the vast expanse, but unfortunately, they don''t want to take me along to y."
At this, Nn Jia chuckled. Then, she remembered something and turned to look at Ye Guan. "About Commander Shi..."
"I know," Ye Guan replied, "I know You weren''t aware."
Nn Jia nodded. "The Committee''s focus has been on external affairs, as every now and then, some external powers woulde to us and surrender."
Nn Jia nced at Ye Guan with a smile. "That''s all thanks to you, isn''t it?"
Ye Guan smiled. "You''ve worked hard."
n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Nn Jia shook her head. "I''m just a bit concerned."
"Concerned that the Guanxuan Academy''s territory is expanding too quickly?"
"Yes."
"I''ve been thinking about this, too. However, I have an idea, which is to govern by dividing the civilization into their own universe region. Each universe is different, and if we try to centralize them all, there will eventually be chaos."
He had discussed this with Zhou Fan. Each universe region had its own ns and families with unique customs. Forcing them all together would surely lead to conflict.
The best solution was regional governance. Of course, the key was that the Guanxuan Academy had to remain powerful. If there came a day when it lost strength and authority, the entire civilization would plunge into chaos.
Nn Jia nodded in agreement. "Your n makes sense. A division is necessary, as gathering so many forces together will create many problems. Even now, Guanxuan City is already bing overcrowded..."
Ye Guan nodded. "We''ll propose a n and let the Committee deliberate on how to divide the universe."
"All right."
"How about Commander Shi and the Nn n?"
Ye Guan calmly replied, "Severe punishment, strict governance."
Nn Jia nodded. "Understood."
As it had been a while since theyst saw each other, they naturally spent time together doing what they loved. Fortunately, as cultivators, their fleshly bodies were stronger than ordinary people''s, so as long as the activity wasn''t too intense, there wouldn''t be any issues.
The next day, Fang Yu was led into a grand hall by an elderly man.
Fang Yu was confused. He thought his fate was sealed upon getting arrested.
The next day, an old man appeared and told him that he was going to meet someone, much to his surprise.
<i>Who could it be?</i>
Fang Yu was full of doubts.
When he entered the hall, he saw Ye Guan.
Fang Yu was overjoyed. "Brother Yang! Are you—"
"<i>Ahem!</i>" the old man beside him interrupted, "It''s the Academy Master."
<i>The Academy Master?</i>
Fang Yu felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his mind went nk.
Ye Guan smiled. "Brother Fang."
Fang Yu snapped out of it and tried to kneel, but a gentle force held him up.
Ye Guan smiled. "No need for that."
Fang Yu hesitated for a moment and then said, "Brother Yang... Academy Master Ye..."
Naturally, Fang Yu was overwhelmed with excitement. He was staring at the legendary Academy Master of the Guanxuan Academy. Even the old man beside him could annihte his family a thousand times over with a mere nce, so what could the Academy Master do?
Ye Guan chuckled. "Just call me Brother Yang. My family name is indeed Yang, so you weren''t wrong."
Fang Yu still seemed hesitant.
Ye Guan walked over, patted his shoulder, and smiled. "Don''t be so stiff."
Seeing Ye Guan''s warm and approachable demeanor, Fang Yu rxed a bit and smiled. "Brother Yang..."
The old man standing nearby nced at Fang Yu but said nothing before quietly stepping aside.
Ye Guanughed heartily. He took out two bottles of wine and handed one to Fang Yu. "Let''s chat!"
Ye Guan''sck of formalities made Fang Yu rx. He grinned and eximed, "Sure!"
The two sat at the entrance of the hall and chatted with each other. Ye Guan asked about what had been happening so far, as he knew that only someone like Fang Yu would truly understand the darker realities and the unwritten rules.
Fang Yu held nothing back. He could tell that Brother Yang was nning reforms.
The two chatted for several hours.
The old man nearby silently took notes.
When dawn finally approached, Ye Guan stood up and looked at Fang Yu with a smile. "Brother Fang, the Guanxuan Guards will hold another examination next month. Go back and prepare. Then,e again next month. Don''t worry; there isn''t going to be anything shady any more next time."
Fang Yu quickly cupped his fist and replied, "Alright!"
"We''ll meet again!"
"Brother Yang, until we meet again!"
After Fang Yu left, Ye Guan softly said, "Elder Zhang, I have a goal now."
Elder Zhang looked at Ye Guan.
Ye Guan smiled and said, "I hope that one day, every youngster out there will feel hopeful for the future. We can''t let the youth feel disappointed in this world, not under the rule of the Guanxuan Universe."
Elder Zhang looked at Ye Guan and smiled.
***
After leaving the main hall, Fang Yu set off for Yongzhou, as he needed to prepare and also wanted to bring more of the Fang n''s disciples to participate in next month''s examination.
Thanks to the teleportation array, the journey from the Guanxuan Universe to Yongzhou took less than fifteen minutes.
Upon returning to the Fang n, Fang Yu was immediately surrounded by a group of Fang n members. A man in elegant robes stood at the helm and smiled before asking, "Brother Yu, I heard the Academy Master is back. Is it true?"
Fang Yu smiled. "It''s true!"
The elegantly dressed man quickly asked, "Did you see him? Did you?"
The Fang n members looked at Fang Yu with anticipation.
Fang Yu hesitated for a moment before saying, "I did. Not only did I see him, but I drank with him!"
The elegantly dressed man blinked. "You drank with the Academy Master?"
"We even became sworn brothers!"
The elegantly dressed man hesitated for a moment before chiding, "Keep bragging like that, Brother Yu, and I''m never going to talk to you again."
Fang Yu had no idea what to say.
1. Little Guan City and Guanxuan City are the same; the author just uses both terms sometimes to refer to one ce ?