Just as n Leader Jing was about to leave, Fang Yu said, "No."


    <em>No? </em>Ye Guan looked up sharply with his hands clenched tightly.


    n Leader Jing paused in her steps.


    Gan Xiao frowned. "Fang Yu, you…"


    Fang Yu gripped the document tightly, shaking his head. "This isn''t right."


    Gan Xiao''s expression changed drastically upon realizing something. "Fang Yu, don''t overthink it. Right now, you have limitless potential. If you''re willing to show some goodwill and make the right choices, you and your family will rise to be a new noble n. Don''t throw that away."


    Fang Yu took a deep breath and shook his head again. "Elder Gan, this is wrong."


    Gan Xiao''s face darkened, ready to speak further, but Fang Yu beat him to the chase, saying, "Do you know how I felt when I first came to take the Guanxuan Outer Guards assessment?


    "''Back then, I was filled with passion and hope. When I learned about the internal dealings, do you know how devastated I was? I wasn''t asking for much, only for a fair chance. However, I found out that even such a simple wish was too extravagant."Then I met the Academy Master. That day, he talked with me for a long time, and in the end, he said something I''ll remember for the rest of my life. He said, ''We should never let the young lose hope.''"


    "The Academy Master is full of nonsense!" Gan Xiao scoffed bitterly and eximed, "Fang Yu, the Academy Master is an idealist. He doesn''t understand how the world truly operates.


    "The Guanxuan Universe was built on his personal connections. To survive in this Academy, you have to learn how to blend in, be one with the crowd, and form an alliance with the top families and ns.


    "Only then will your path be smooth. Otherwise, you won''t be able to take a single step forward…"


    Fang Yu nodded. "I understand, Elder Gan. Following your advice would certainly lead to great sess for me, but it doesn''t change the fact that it''s wrong. I''ve suffered injustice before, and I know the kind of pain it brings. I should not let others experience that same unfairness."


    Gan Xiao''s face turned darker. "Fang Yu, do <em>not</em> do anything foolish."


    Fang Yu looked down at the document in his hand, his voice soft. "In the Academy Master''s eyes, I''m not more than an ant. I''m less than an ant, but… he still treated me like an equal, drank with me, and discussed the Academy''s future with me.


    "I can never repay him, and I can''t change the current state of the Academy, but I can at least make sure that I do not let him down…"


    With that, Fang Yu tore the piece of paper in his hand.


    The document was torn to pieces.


    Ye Guan broke out into a smile, and his eyes were no longer dazed.


    What he had been doing mattered all this while, and it wasn''t a surprise. The world was boundless, after all.


    <em>Boom!</em>


    His sword intent and Sword Dao realm surged, seeminglying back to life.


    n Leader Jing stood silently in ce, and her expression was unreadable as she looked at Gan Xiao and Fang Yu.


    "I—" Ye Guan started to speak to her.


    "Keep watching," n Leader Jing interrupted.


    Ye Guan frowned.


    Gan Xiao looked at Fang Yu for a long while before shaking his head. "You''ll regret this! You''ll regret this!"


    Gan Xiao then left in a huff.


    However, Fang Yu smiled as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.


    He had been torn as he could have easily be a core member of the Academy. By agreeing to their arrangement, he would gain ess to countless resources, and the Fang n would rise rapidly as well.


    However, he could not bring himself to do it. He hoped that one day, when he faced the Academy Master again, he could look the Academy Master in the eye and proudly call him "Brother Yang."


    Soon, Gan Xiao returned to the hall, letting out a quiet sigh. He took out a scroll and handed it to Fang Yu, saying, "This is a transfer order. The gist of it is that the Cultural Department needs a Deputy Supervisor, and they want you to go."@@novelbin@@


    Fang Yu fell silent. Although the position was technically a step up in rank, itcked any real power, and it was a ce where one could be easily overlooked.


    For all intents and purposes, it was a dead-end position, typically reserved for people without connections or those who had offended the wrong individuals.


    Fang Yu wasn''t surprised at all. He epted the scroll and then turned around to leave.


    Watching Fang Yu disappear at the end of his line of sight, Gan Xiao shook his head and sighed, a hint of regret shing in his eyes. "I guess he''s still too young."


    Just then, an elderly man appeared next to Gan Xiao. ncing at the distant hall, he sneered, "He''s not young; he''s stupid. He has yet to experience the harsh reality. He had wasted such an opportunity for the so-called justice in his heart. How foolish!"


    Gan Xiao sighed again, genuinely feeling it was a waste. He knew exactly what Fang Yu was forfeiting—a chance to change his own and the Fang n''s future.


    An opportunity like this woulde only once in a lifetime.


    The elderly man''s gaze flickered thoughtfully. "The higher-ups, will they…"


    "No," Gan Xiao said, shaking his head. "He has met with the Academy Master personally, so it''d be shortsighted to do something like that. However, they certainly won''t let someone like him rise to power. They''ll keep him far away."


    "What a waste," Gan Xiao said, sighing once again. "If only he knew how to adapt, he could have had a limitless future."


    The elderly man said, "He''ll regret his decision today."


    ***


    Fang Yu soon made his way to the Cultural Department. It was a department focused on clerical tasks, and everyone here had a heavy workload, as the Guanxuan Academy highly valued cultural education.


    However, this department was different from the Literary Department, where the top leaders could be seen. The Cultural Department existed to serve those higher-ups, more or less functioning as their support staff.


    Fang Yu''s arrival caused quite a stir. After all, he was one of the Academy''s rising stars, so no one expected a prominent figure like him to end up here.


    It seemed that he had offended someone he couldn''t afford to offend.


    He entered a grand hall and saw an elderly man.


    The elder was wearing a gray robe and had a bed full of white hair that was exceptionally neat and clean.


    The elder''s intense and thoughtful gazended on Fang Yu.


    The elder''s name was Yang Ji, and he was the Department Chief of the Cultural Department. A young man looking to be around twenty years of age was standing next to him in a clean robe.


    Fang Yu bowed slightly. "Greetings, Department Chief."


    Yang Ji stared deeply at Fang Yu. "Got on someone''s wrong side?"


    Fang Yu was a bit taken aback at the frankness, leaving him speechless.


    Yang Ji said calmly, "To be honest, I was quite surprised when I found out that you''reing here. Didn''t you attend the Immortal Treasures Pavilion''s banquet?"


    Fang Yu nodded.


    Yang Ji continued to scrutinize him. "Everyone assigned here is essentially on the path to retirement. Are you aware of that?"


    Fang Yu nodded again. "Yes, I''m aware."


    After a long silence, Yang Ji said, "Go and do your work well."


    Fang Yu gave a slight bow and then turned to leave.


    Aplex light shed in Yang Ji''s eyes as he stared at the leaving Fang Yu. He turned to the young man beside him and asked, "Do you know why he ended up in this position?"


    The young man nodded. "He was inflexible."


    "I was the same way back then," Yang Ji replied. He revealed a smile tinged with sadness. In my youth, I was filled with passion and ambition, especially when the Academy Master had just proposed building a world founded on fair principles.


    "I had embraced that vision as a guiding faith, a goal to strive for my entire life. After joining the Academy, however, I soon realized how deeply intertwined the Academy was with theplex alliances of the noble ns and families.


    "The political waters ran far deeper than I had ever imagined."


    To aplish anything, one needed a backer. Otherwise, one wouldn''t be able to get a single thing done. Principles? He once tried to stick to his principles, which was why he had been relegated from the Academy''s inner circle to his current position here.


    No one would care if one stayed put and simply did nothing, but if one tried to enforce any changes, one would soon find oneself attacked by those who wished to maintain the status quo.


    "Grandfather, do you regret it?" asked the young man.


    Yang Ji replied, "I''m filled with regrets. If I had understood how to be more flexible back then, our family wouldn''t have been suppressed to this extent, and you could have gone to the Academy instead of this ce.


    "I harmed the family and your future…"


    The young man lowered his head slightly and fell silent.


    The young man Yang Yue was talented enough to be a student of the Main Guanxuan Academy. After all, he reached the Dao Immortal Realm at just eighteen years old. He would be considered a genius there, but because of some incidents in the past, those in power didn''t want anyone from their n to enter the Main Guanxuan Academy.


    They tried their best, but their efforts were all in vain.


    The young man looked up and said, "The Academy Master wants the Academy to improve."


    Yang Yue shook his head slightly. "The Academy Master is still too young. Everyone who follows him is not doing so because they want to make the world better but because they want to profit from it…"


    After a long silence, the young man asked, "What kind of person do you hope I will be in the future?"


    Yang Yue also fell silent for a long time. Finally, he looked up at the sky outside the hall and said softly, "I hope you will be a good person, but I know that in this world, good people cannot get by.


    "Fang Yu is a great example of it. He''s a good person, but what has he obtained in exchange for it? Many times, the worse a person is and the more ruthless their heart, the better they will fare. In contrast, the better a person is and the kinder their heart, the worse they will fare.


    "I really am wondering—just what has happened to this world?"