“Mister, I wish that you never stop improving, and I wish that the Divine Sect Seminary is here to stay forever.”

Zhao Ting was the first person to walk on Yong’an Street and into the doors of the Divine Sect Seminary. He stood respectfully before Ye Que, completely devoid of the mannerisms of a young master of the Grand Preceptor’s residence, and he even seemed a little emotional in fact.

Just as he finished speaking, dozens of people came walking in one after another, including Bai Yu, Yun Feihe, Shi Lei and Leng Wuxin. They wore innocent expressions, and they had silly grins that belied their innate pride at the success of their friend.

What they had just done was indeed very cool, but logically speaking, it was also extremely harmful to them.

Zhao Ting could end up losing his authority in Zhao Manor, and Bai Yu could be demoted beyond Judicator. Even Leng Wuxin could be stripped of his post as second in command.

How could they not understand the implications of their actions?

Had they not considered the severity of the issue at stake?

Of course, they were clear and had thought about it well. Even after doing so, they chose to stand up for their friend.

Ye Que remained silent as he looked at their proud expressions. He repositioned his hands from his back to his front subconsciously before lifting them up and cupping his right hand over his left, as a sign of greeting! In fact, he did not have a deep impression of the people in front of him, but it was not important.

They were here.

This was more important than anything else.

The officials and important people that had not arrived were those that were truly dispensable.

“Sect Leader, it’s already three quarters past the Si hour,” Chu Dongnan said softly as he walked silently up to the back of Ye Que and Qian Shuxiao.

“Let’s unveil the signboard then,” Ye Que replied as he raised his head to look at the red silk cover above him.

“Unveil the signboard!”

Qian Shuxiao shouted loudly, before walking up with Qian Shuhua to the signboard, and each of them stood at its respective ends. There were two red ropes prepared for them, and they could pull the red silk cover back with a tug.

The red silk fell back.

The words ‘Divine Sect Seminary’ were presented for everyone to see.

A frenzied burst of firecrackers going off followed closely, and no one knew how many of them Qian Shuxiao had prepared, but it was a long while before the sounds stopped, as if he wanted to attract everyone in Luoyang City.

It was a good idea, but the reality was harsh. The sounds did attract people over, but none of them could enter; they were blocked outside of the seminary.

More and more people were drawn by the firecrackers and crowded over.

“This Divine Sect Seminary is really lavish, and it has organized a grand opening ceremony. It’s a pity that they offended the soldiers of the General’s Manor; how could they expect to survive?”

“I heard that it was the Second Prince who ordered the streets fenced off.”

“Qian Shuxiao’s aunt is the concubine of the prince.”

“I heard that the Divine Sect Seminary wants to teach us commoners in cultivation. Do you know what that is? Isn’t cultivation meant for Immortality Masters? Can we civilians learn that?”

In the crowd.

An old man was pushing another elderly man slowly toward the seminary.

“The kid’s Divine Sect Seminary is in front of us. I heard that he’s even become its Sect Leader. According to my investigation, he should be a practitioner, and his level of cultivation is not low,” said the old man pushing the wheelchair as he walked.

The elderly man in the wheelchair grunted softly as some form of a reply, before lifting his head to look in front of him. “Why are there so many people? Go take a look.”

After a while, the old man pushing the wheelchair returned, and he looked a little troubled. “Old Master, I managed to find out that the Army is in operation and has sealed off the entire street. They won’t allow anyone to pass through until afternoon.”

“The Army needs to seal off an entire street for an operation? When was such a rule implemented? Who sealed the street off?” the old man in the wheelchair asked. He grew animated and lively once they were talking about matters of the state, and he sounded different from before.

“The Ye army,” the old man pushing him said with much difficulty.

“Ridiculous!”

Soon, the two old men had pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Along the way, they could hear all kinds of complaints. Even the Emperor himself had not ordered an entire street to be sealed off during his procession, and such pompous behavior would most definitely draw the anger of everyone.

The expression of the old man in the wheelchair turned increasingly ugly as he heard the crowd complain. By the time he reached the Bridge of Long Life, his face had almost frozen up.

Xiao Lianyue was the highest ranking officer of this obstruction mission, and naturally, he was in charge.

He could hear people discussing and complaining around him, but he filtered them away consciously; he would never bother himself with the complaints of civilians. He had held the same post for nearly eight years, and all this while he believed that his luck was bad, and that he lacked opportunities to shine.

As such, when Ye Yunhai requested for him to accept the mission, coupled with the Second Prince’s hints, Xiao Lianyue had accepted without even thinking.

“As long as I can complete this mission well, my future will be good,” he thought. Xiao Lianyue was long past the age of actual warfare, but he believed that he could climb up the ranks with his resume as part of the Ye army. He felt that he only lacked the opportunity.

As for the implications of this incident, Xiao Lianyue was completely unconcerned. What could anyone do to him, even if something happened? He was a high ranking officer of the Ye army, and only someone unafraid of death would dare offend a 200,000 strong army.

Perhaps, Xiao Lianyue had been carried away by his perfect dream.

“Bam!”

A sharp pain shot upward from his waist area before he had even finished dreaming. It felt like a blunt metal instrument had smashed into him.

“Ah!”

Xiao Lianyue exclaimed in alarm before turning to retreat quickly. He had also drawn the longsword hanging from his waist instinctively.

He immediately opened his mouth to chide his attacker, as if he had already rehearsed the words to say. “Are you sick of living? How dare you attack an officer of the Ye army? Take them away!”

The words never left his lips, however. His eyes were wide open, as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

“Ge-general?”

“Si-sir, wh-why are you…” Xiao Lianyue stammered as he looked carefully at the old man in the wheelchair in front of him, who was holding on a cane with a dragon’s head, before he turned his head with much difficulty to look at the other officers beside him.

The 31 officers of the Ye army stood ramrod straight, and their eyes looked sharp, as if they were generals being inspected by the Emperor himself. None of them exchanged glances with Xiao Lianyue. Evidently, they had already seen Ye Zhengru earlier on, except him.

“What is your name?” asked the old man, or rather Ye Zhengru, who should be bedridden, in a low voice.

“General sir, I’m Xiao Lianyue, and I belong to the Flying Shuttle Scout Battalion of the Ye army’s Feng Division,” the officer replied as he instinctively straightened his back and raised his voice to shout, as if he had poured all of his strength into his words. Unfortunately, the sword that had been drawn a while ago seemed especially glaring at this moment.

“You’re from the Flying Shuttle Scout Battalion of the Ye army’s Feng Division?”

“Good.”

“Very good.”

Ye Zhengru continued to say, “Not anymore.”

“Not anymore!”

They were just a few simple words, but to Xiao Lianyue, it felt as if the skies had collapsed.

“You’re not worthy of being a member of the Flying Shuttle Scout Battalion, and our Ye army doesn’t need an officer like you,” Ye Zhengru said coldly, “Who gave you so much privileges? Why did you seal off the entire street? When has the streets of this city become a battlefield of our army? Since when did civilians have to seek for the Ye army’s approval before they could return home?”

“Have you forgotten all about the rules of the Ye army?”

“Scram!”

“Don’t let me see you again.”

Ye Zhengru said as he glared at Xiao Lianyue. He then turned to the other 31 officers before telling them, “Return back to camp and receive your punishments. On double quick time.”

Ye Zhengru suddenly turned to face the crowd after he finished lecturing the officers, and he bowed his head slightly.

“I’ve failed in leading my men.”

“This has caused everyone to suffer.”

As the sounds of firecrackers exploding in front of the Divine Sect Seminary’s doorstep just stopped, the four checkpoints blocking off all entry to the streets were completely removed.

The crowds surged quickly toward the seminary, and even if they had failed to take notice of it in the past, they could at least remember its name clearly after today.

“All things of this world have natural access to Tao. Everyone’s equal and can begin cultivation. It’s a process that doesn’t differentiate between wealth and status, and only patience and persistence is required. I will follow up with a demonstration of a martial art technique, as well as a breathing technique. Everyone here can go back to slowly comprehend what you’ve seen here today, and those that are fated will definitely be able to step on the path of cultivation.”

Ye Que stood on a circular platform used for demonstration, and his white robes began to move, seemingly due to some profound reason. “Tao refers to the commonality between all beings in this world. Cultivation refers to the act of learning good habits, having an open mind, and self-control. Abandonment refers to the Shuiyue Seminary, and dreaming about Buddha…”