Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Empress of Qingqiu!

 

Sensing the vigilance of those divine senses, Ye Tianming remained silent. Evidently, as Gu Qi said, the people in the shadows were afraid he would go to the Guanxuan Sword Master to report the situation.

Ye Tianming glanced calmly at the surroundings in the distance without speaking, then walked toward the great hall.

Beside him, Gu Qi was fuming, “This is fucking bullying.”

Li Zheng shook his head slightly, “Let’s not talk about it.”

He knew some of the academy’s bigwigs were afraid Ye Tianming would report to the Guanxuan Sword Master. The Qingzhou matter was certainly not a small issue. After all, it wasn’t just this generation of elders in Qingzhou Academy who were corrupt, but every generation had been, and it wasn’t just Qingzhou, but almost every state was the same… Most importantly, after Ye Tianming successfully challenged the Guanxuan Path, this matter was suppressed by the higher-ups. If Ye Tianming met with the Guanxuan Sword Master and the Sword Master investigated, it would implicate far too many people.

Fu Cang glanced indifferently at the statue of the Guanxuan Sword Master, then followed Ye Tianming toward the distant hall.

After entering the hall, Ye Tianming discovered that behind it was a huge plaza surrounded by ancient stone pillars. Each pillar was hundreds of zhang tall, supporting the dome. In the center, there was a lecture platform made of white stone standing there. Behind the platform, rows of stone seats rose in tiers, forming a natural audience area.

On that platform, Ye Tianming saw the people he had met yesterday. An Yan was also there. Today, An Yan and the others were all dressed in identical black robes, solemn and dignified.

He also saw Nan Ling Zhao, who wasn’t on the platform but sitting in the second row of seats behind the platform on the left.

There were also some other people sitting beside her.

Seeing Ye Tianming, Nan Ling Zhao looked at him and smiled slightly.

Ye Tianming also smiled back in greeting.

“Brother Ye.”

At this moment, An Yan on the platform waved at Ye Tianming.

Ye Tianming turned to Fu Cang, “Senior Sister, please go take a seat first.”

His senior sister naturally hadn’t come for the debate; she only spoke with her fists.

Fu Cang nodded, then walked directly to sit beside Nan Ling Zhao in the distance. Nan Ling Zhao didn’t look at her or speak.

Fu Cang didn’t speak either. Both women’s gazes were fixed on Ye Tianming as he walked toward the platform.

After Ye Tianming reached the platform, Fa Zhen and the others greeted him with smiles. Ye Tianming returned their greetings with a kind smile. The Guanxuan Academy might have treated him unfairly, but these people before him had not.

At this moment, people began to enter the hall one after another. They sat in groups around the hall. From their attire, Ye Tianming knew that these people were all extraordinary, with some having unfathomably deep auras.

However, he noticed that no one was sitting in the first row.

Soon, there were more than sixty people in the hall.

Just then, an elderly man with white hair and beard suddenly walked into the hall. When this elder entered, almost everyone in the hall stood up simultaneously.

Ye Tianming noticed that An Yan and the others beside him were also visibly moved, all straightening their posture.

“Elder Shu!”

At this moment, a man quickly walked up to the white-haired elder and respectfully said, “Why have you come, sir?”

The white-haired elder smiled slightly, “Just came to take a look.”

The man hesitated, then said, “Elder Shu, please come this way.”

Saying this, he respectfully led the elder to sit in the first row.

An Yan and the others all bowed respectfully.

The small pagoda suddenly said, “Little one, you should bow too.”

Ye Tianming said, “I’ll listen to Pagoda Ancestor.”

With that, he also bowed.

At this moment, Elder Shu suddenly looked at Ye Tianming on the platform, “Are you Guanchen’s student?”

Ye Tianming was somewhat surprised, “Elder, you know my teacher?”

Elder Shu nodded, “I met him once and talked with him once. He is a very, very outstanding person.”

Ye Tianming hesitated, then said, “I remember my teacher mentioned that he also had a teacher. Elder…”

Elder Shu shook his head with a smile, “I am not his teacher, nor am I qualified to be his teacher.”

These words shocked everyone present.

Who was Elder Shu?

Shu Xian!

The first dean of the Literary Academy, and reportedly the teacher of the legendary Qingqiu Empress. Yet he said he wasn’t qualified to be Mu Guanchen’s teacher?

But Mu Guanchen was now just a cripple!

Elder Shu looked at Ye Tianming with a complex expression, “You look so much like her!”

Ye Tianming was completely puzzled, “Elder?”

Elder Shu smiled slightly, his face showing affection, “You look very much like a former student of mine.”

Just as Ye Tianming was about to ask something, someone suddenly approached from the distance. Everyone in the hall turned to look. A woman in a light cyan dress with a veil and purple eyes walked slowly from the entrance.

Beside the woman was a stooped old man holding an iron sword.

Ancient Civilization!

Under everyone’s gaze, the woman slowly walked onto the platform, while the old man remained at the foot of the platform.

An Yan looked at the veiled woman, “How should we address you, miss?”

The veiled woman said, “Can we begin now?”

These words caused the talented youths from the Guanxuan Universe to frown. She was completely disregarding them.

An Yan smiled, “We can.”

The veiled woman glanced at everyone present and said unhurriedly, “As I understand, in the early era of the Guanxuan Sword Master, the wealth gap in the Guanxuan Universe wasn’t so large. But later, everything began to change because more and more family clans and sects began to use their ‘rights’ to seek privileges for themselves. Because of this, many things that were originally fair became unfair…”

Hearing this, the expressions of some people in the hall immediately changed.

The smile on An Yan’s face remained, but had diminished considerably.

The veiled woman continued, “This situation arose naturally because resources are limited. After the early wealthy gained their inherent advantages, they began to seize various resources and set up barriers to prevent latecomers from becoming wealthy, which also led to fewer and fewer opportunities for latecomers…”

She paused, then added, “And after they divided up the resources using their advantages, they became increasingly wealthy and powerful, while those below had fewer and fewer resources, becoming increasingly poor and weak. The gap between the two grew larger and larger, making it increasingly difficult for the latter to rise…”

Hearing this, the expressions of some people in the hall had already turned ugly.

The smile on An Yan’s face had disappeared.

But the veiled woman continued, “When those below lack the ability to compete with those above for resources, they can only compete with others at the same level for the few crumbs squeezed out from the teeth of those above… The ordinary people of the Guanxuan Universe today live very, very hard lives…”

She glanced at An Yan and the others before her, “Now that the resources of the Guanxuan Universe have been monopolized by various family clans, sects, and the powerful, you young people of the Guanxuan Universe, who are the most cultured and thoughtful, how do you think these problems should be solved?”

The entire hall fell silent.

Fa Zhen and the others also looked displeased. This woman from the Ancient Civilization had started with a direct confrontation!