“Ocean of Clouds City? What has that got to do with me!?” Yang Ye’s voice was transmitted through the talisman and appeared above the city walls of Ocean of Clouds City.

At this moment, everyone heard him.

All of them were slightly stunned, and then they recalled that Yang Ye wasn’t an instructor of the academy anymore!

Many instantly felt displeased when they thought of that. No, they should be said to be enraged!”

“Why did the academy dismiss Instructor Ye? What exactly did he do to make the academy dismiss him? I refuse to accept that!”

“Instructor Ye did all he could to defend the city, yet all he got in return was dismissal from the academy. The academy’s actions are truly disappointing!”

“Even though we aren’t students of the academy, and we have no right to judge the academy’s actions. But if it wasn’t for Instructor Ye, then the city would have been breached a long time ago. Our lives can be said to have been saved by Instructor Ye! Now, he has been dismissed by the academy instead. The academy’s actions are no different than tossing a pawn away once he completes his duty!”

“Looks like working for the academy won’t end well for anyone….”

“I heard that Instructor Ye was dismissed because he killed the members of the secret court. But even if it was wrong, it shouldn’t have warranted him being expelled from the academy! The academy’s actions are truly disappointing!”

“Make Instructor Ye return!”

“Make Instructor Ye return!”

“Instructor Ye must return….”

Countless cultivators started shouting from above the city walls.

The faces of Instructor Zhuo and the other Saints were quite unsightly, and it was especially so for Instructor Zhuo.

A long time passed before Instructor Zhuo gazed at Yu Wushuang and said, “Send a voice transmission to that kid. Tell him that the academy has reinstated him as an instructor!”

Yu Wushuang glanced at Instructor Zhuo and sent the voice transmission….

A long time passed, but Yang Ye didn’t answer.

Instructor Zhuo and the others revealed gloomy expressions on their faces.

…

Welkin Wolf Mountain Range.

Yang Ye left the cave, and he greedily sucked in a deep breath of air as he looked up at the remaining light in the sky. Needless to say, cultivating was dull and uninteresting, and time even passed really quickly while one cultivated. Actually, he knew that his speed of cultivation was actually very quick. Not to mention a few months, some experts even stayed in closed door cultivation for over 100 years to attain a breakthrough!

Everyone had a different reason behind why they wanted to grow stronger. His reason was very simple, it was to live freely with the people he cared about!

Actually, it wasn’t simple at all.

In this era where only the strong were respected, it wasn’t easy for one to live freely while maintaining one’s dignity. Because the weak would be bullied. If one didn’t possess strength, then not to mention living with those one loved, even one’s survival would be uncertain!

So, Yang Ye had stopped having such childish thoughts from a very long time ago. It was possible to live a free and happy life, but the precondition was possessing sufficiently powerful strength!

Yang Ye withdrew his thoughts and looked at the sky as he said, “An Nanjing, Yuxi, Shaoyao…. Wait for me. It won’t take too long!”

Yang Ye stood there for a moment, and he was about to leave when he suddenly flipped his palm and withdrew a white shield. He’d obtained the shield from that old man from Sky Divine Hall.

The shield had been able to resist an attack from his Herculean Sword, so it was naturally not ordinary. Now that he took a close look at it, Yang Ye was even more certain of that. Because it was actually at the peak of the Saint Rank! Moreover, he noticed that it could absorb damage, just like the Mageforce Shield he once possessed. However, it was much stronger than the Mageforce Shield!

The Mageforce Shield couldn’t endure a single strike from the Herculean Sword. Because the strength it carried while he utilized it had fully surpassed the limits of the Mageforce Shield. But the white shield was different!

“It would be great if this shield was a little smaller!” Yang Ye shook his head slightly. While the shield was great, it was too big. It was even bigger than him. So, it was very inconvenient to utilize. But he hadn’t imagined that the shield would actually become much smaller once he finished speaking.

Yang Ye was extremely surprised, “You can understand me?”

The white shield shook slightly as if it was answering him!

Yang Ye grinned when he saw that and said, “Right, you’re a Saint Rank treasure at any rate, so you should possess intelligence of your own. Can you show me your original form?”

The white shield started moving from side to side.

Yang Ye said, “You’re saying that you still don’t have the ability to transform yourself?”

The white shield started moving up and down, and then it went over to Yang Ye and started shaking incessantly.

A long time passed before Yang Ye understood what it meant. It was asking for Primordial Violet Energy from him! Now, he understood why it was trying to curry favor with him. It was because of the Primordial Violet Energy!

Yang Ye didn’t really understand why the Primordial Violet Energy was so attractive to treasures and demon beasts, but he gained quite an understanding later on. Because Primordial Violet Energy could help Equipment Spirit’s improve their intelligence. To put it simply, it could help them form true intelligence that was comparable to the intelligence of a human!

As for an Equipment Spirit that possesses such intelligence, Primordial Violet Energy could improve their cultivation and allow them to break through their own limits!

In short, Primordial Violet Energy was beyond attractive to such equipment spirits and demon beasts. Just like this very moment. The white shield hadn’t hesitated to submit to Yang Ye in order to obtain Primordial Violet Energy!

It didn’t take long for the white shield to shrink and become multiple times smaller under Yang Ye’s request, and it became round. Yang Ye took the shield in his left hand and held the Herculean Sword with his right hand, and a slight smile couldn’t help but curl up on the corners of his mouth.

If he were to charge into the army of wolves right now, then he could slaughter his way up and down through the army of millions of wolves with the Herculean Sword and white shield is his grasp!

Moreover, if he could improve the white shield to the Divine Rank…. Actually, it wasn’t impossible because Yang Ye noticed that the white shield was like An Nanjing’s Skysplit, and it was a weapon that could grow. That included his Herculean Sword as well because it too was a weapon that could grow. He didn’t know what a Divine Rank treasure was like in the past, but after he experienced the strength of the Dimensional Cube, he’d decided to nurture the Herculean Sword and this white shield to the Divine Rank!

Once both of them attained the Divine Rank, then he could even exchange a few blows with a Saint while relying on his Void Rank sword intent!

Meanwhile, a wave of fluctuation suddenly arose in the space before him.

Yang Ye’s brows knit together tightly. He knew that it was definitely from Ocean of Clouds City. However, he didn’t pay any attention to it and just vanished on the spot.

He wasn’t trying to act like he didn’t care. He really didn’t want to interfere in the matters of the Ocean of Clouds Academy. Because he noticed that it was an arduous but thankless task. As for obtaining the support and protection of the Saints from the academy…. Actually, that was the main reason why he’d helped the academy. But in his opinion, it was naturally good to obtain their assistance, but it didn’t matter if he couldn’t!

He’d never entrusted his fate and hopes on others!

After all, it was best to rely on one’s self!

Yang Ye continued all the way north as he intended to return to the Ancient Sword School. Once he returned to the sword school, he could stop suppressing his cultivation and advance to the Half-Saint Realm!

In his opinion, advancing to the Half-Saint Realm was the most important matter at hand. Because it wasn’t just related to the improvement of his strength, it was related to his lifespan. After all, he only had a few months of life left! Under such circumstances, he didn’t even dare to utilize the Sword Domain against his enemies because if his enemy’s strength surpassed the limits of his Sword Domain, then there would be no need to continue the fight. Because he would immediately die from having his lifespan exhausted!

Because he was still within the borders of Welkin Wolf Mountain Range, Yang Ye didn’t choose to fly on his sword, and he dashed all along the way instead. After all, he didn’t want to draw the attention of Saints over to him!

Just like that, Yang Ye started dashing in the direction of the Ancient Sword School. As for the Ocean of Clouds City, he’d tossed any thought of it to the back of his head!

…

Ocean of Clouds City.

An hour had passed.

The area above the city walls at the main gates was deathly silent, and everyone here had a gloomy expression on their faces.

Seng Yuan was still striking the city gates like a madman, and his frenzied attacks had caused cracks to spread like spiderwebs throughout the city gates and walls. If there weren’t tens of thousands of experts ceaselessly pouring their profound energy to repair the city gates and city walls, they would have crumbled a long time ago.

Shang Qingying gazed at Yu Wushuang and asked, “Has he still not replied?”

Yu Wushuang shook her head lightly, “You should understand his character. Since he has left, then how could he possibly return? Instructor Shang, do you think he regards the position of instructor of the outer court in Ocean of Clouds Academy as something important? No, he doesn’t care about it at all.”

“But does he not care about all of you as well?” Shang Qingying said, “Once the city is breached, then you and the outer court will probably be annihilated!”

Yu Wushuang glanced at her and said, “You still don’t understand him. He does care about us, but everyone has their own path to take. We’re members of the academy, and that’s our path. We have to traverse our own path. So, while he cares about us, it doesn’t mean that he has to be responsible for our lives. Understand?”

Shang Qingying gazed at Yu Wushuang and said, “You’re very smart and understand him well, so you definitely know how to make him come back, right?”

Yu Wushuang glanced at her and said, “Instructor Shang, one can’t act that selfishly. Yang Ye isn’t a member of the academy now. To be blunt, does our academy have any right to make him come back and risk his life against Seng Yuan? Why should he? He doesn’t owe our academy anything!”

Shang Qingying’s figure trembled slightly as Yu Wushuang’s words had reminded her that Yang Ye wasn’t a member of the academy anymore. So, why should Yang Ye risk his life to help the academy? Why? Moreover, the academy had even driven him out of the city. Yet now that the city is in trouble, they want to go looking for him again?

If I encountered something like that, would I come back?

“Everyone in Ocean of Clouds City, the anniversary of your deaths will be a year from now!” Meanwhile, Seng Yuan’s voice suddenly resounded like a thunderclap throughout the sky above the city.

Bang!

As soon as he finished speaking, the city gates and the entire walls around it exploded into pieces!

After that, Seng Yuan transformed into a fiery ray of light that shot into the city.

Bang!

Thousands of experts at the front of the defensive forces behind the city gates were instantly smashed apart by the ray of fiery light.