Yang Ye felt complicated emotions well up inside him when he heard this. Of course, he was mostly touched.

As he sensed how their figures trembled slightly, he knew that this entire period where he was gone was definitely torture to them.

Yang Ye took a deep breath, wrapped his arms tightly around them, and said, “I’ll try my best not to act impulsively again from now on, just so that you don’t have to be so worried about me!”

Yu Wushuang suddenly raised her head to look at Yang Ye, “Remember what you said!”

Yang Ye nodded and smiled, “Alright, let’s not continue putting on a show for everyone here.”

Yu Wushuang and Lu Wan’er hurriedly left Yang Ye’s arms when they heard this. They’d been too excited just now and had actually forgotten that so many were in the surroundings, so they immediately started blushing a little.

“You’re back!” Shang Qingying walked over to Yang Ye and said, “They really were worried about you!”

Yang Ye replied, “I know. I don’t dare guarantee that I wouldn’t make them worry again, but I’ll work hard on making them not worry that much!”

Shang Qingying nodded slightly and said, “Now, you can deal with the matters here!” She moved to the side once she finished speaking.

Yang Ye glanced at the crowd. All of their expressions changed slightly when they saw Yang Ye. Compared to the Saints of Ocean of Clouds Academy, they actually feared Yang Ye more. At the very least, those Saints would be reasonable, but Yang Ye was completely unreasonable sometimes. Moreover, he even liked to act against convention.

They could be said to fear Yang Ye!

The middle aged man who stepped forward earlier hesitated for some time, and then he said, “Instructor Yang, we just want to leave the city. We hold no ill intent towards the academy, Miss Yu, or anyone else.”

Yang Ye nodded, “I know. If you did hold ill intent, then we wouldn’t be talking right now.” He glanced at them at this point, and then he said, “I understand why all of you don’t want to risk your lives and fight the demon beasts. After all, most of you don’t belong to the academy. Coupled with the fact that there’s no enmity between all of you and the demon beasts, even I wouldn’t force all of you to stay!”

The middle aged man and the others behind him instantly heaved sighs of relief.

Meanwhile, Yang Ye continued, “I won’t stop all of you from leaving, but I’d like to remind all of you that the city will always be open to all of you. All of you can come back whenever you want!”

The middle aged man and the others were visibly astounded when they heard Yang Ye, and even Yu Wushuang and the others were quite surprised. Obviously, they hadn’t expected Yang Ye to say that.

Yang Ye continued, “All of you don’t owe me anything, nor do you owe the academy anything. Strictly speaking, the academy owes all of you a debt. Because the city would have been breached a long time ago if it wasn’t for all of your presence here. Allow me to give all of you a promise. So long as the city is standing and all of you are willing to return, then the gates of the city will always be open for all of you!”

When he spoke up to this point, Yang Ye turned around and shouted, “Open the gates!”

There was naturally no one who dared to disobey Yang Ye, and it didn’t take long for the gates to be opened slowly.

However, no one here left once the gates had been opened. Quite some time passed before the middle aged man from before suddenly bowed slightly to Yang Ye, “Instructor Yang, farewell!”

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure shot out of the city.

Once the middle aged man left, the others behind him started to flash out of the city as well. In less than an hour, just a few tens of thousands of cultivators were left here. Most of them were at the Monarch Realm, and there were some Half-Saints.

Yang Ye asked, “Aren’t all of you leaving?”

Meanwhile, an old man at the Half-Saint Realm suddenly stepped forward and said, “I planned to leave before this, but I don’t want to anymore. There’s a very slim chance of survival if we leave. After all, the army of demon beasts have surrounded the area, so where can we flee to? The reason we wanted to leave earlier was because there was a slim chance of survival out there, but there was no chance of survival in the city. However, once I saw Instructor Yang again, I think that we have a very good chance to survive with Instructor Yang here. At the very least, we have a 30 or 40% chance to survive!”

“Indeed!” Another black robed old man stepped forward, “Chaos is coming to the south, and while it’s a calamity to us, it’s also an opportunity. My lifespan is about to be exhausted, so I wouldn’t be able to live for long if I were to flee. So, isn’t it better to stay here and fight? Perhaps I might even be able to attain a breakthrough!”

Yang Ye nodded slightly, and then he gazed at the others behind the 2 old men, “What about all of you?”

“We intend to fight by Instructor Yang’s side!” One of the young men said, “Just as that Senior said just now, it’s a calamity, but it’s also an opportunity. I believe that the academy won’t treat us unfairly if we stay behind and fight by its side. Moreover, we won’t just be able to temper ourselves by staying here to fight the demon beasts, we can even obtain their inner cores. So, we intend to fight!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the others around him immediately nodded and displayed their agreement.

Yang Ye glanced at them and said, “I represent the academy to promise that the academy won’t take a single inner core from the demon beasts. Every one of them will be divided to all of you. Besides that, all the cultivation facilities of the academy within the city will be provided for free to all of you. So long as you’re from the city, you can use those facilities to cultivate. Moreover, the academy will arrange for experts to provide guidance to all of you, and you can seek them out for any questions about your cultivation that you have.”

Yang Ye paused for a moment when he spoke up to this point, and then he continued, “Besides that, allow me to represent the academy to give all of you another promise. If any mishaps are to occur to any of you, then your children and grandchildren will be taken care of and fostered by the academy. So long as they remain in the city, they’ll be protected by the academy for generations to come!”

“Instructor Yang, is that true!?” The Half-Saint standing before Yang Ye was quite excited. Most of them were independent cultivators that had no backing. So, they fully understood the pains of being an independent cultivator. They had no resources or protection, and they could only suffer the fate of being humiliated when they encountered the disciples of the various sects. It could be said that the lives of independent cultivators was extremely difficult.

Of course, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to join a power, it was that most had become independent cultivators because they didn’t possess sufficient natural talent and no power was willing to accept them. That was why they’d become independent cultivators. Yet now, what did Yang Ye’s promise represent? It represented that Ocean of Clouds Academy would protect their children and grandchildren!

It was an umbrella of protection that included Saints! Moreover, they would be fostered by the academy! That was temptation which was absolutely impossible for them to refuse.

Yang Ye said, “I always keep my word!”

The others here immediately seethed with excitement when they heard him, and countless people started cheering with excitement and joy.

“We’re willing to live and die with the academy!”

“Live and die with the academy!”

“Lie and die with the academy….”

It didn’t take long for Yang Ye’s promise to spread throughout the city. In an instant, the entire city was seething with excitement. At this moment, they were truly willing to stay and defend the city, and it was also this moment that they truly treated Ocean of Clouds City as their future home!

…

Cloud Ocean Pavilion.

Yu Wushuang and Lu Wan’er sat before Yang Ye in the room, and their gazes were locked firmly onto Yang Ye. Yang Ye smiled slightly unnaturally from being stared at by them, “Is there something on my face? Why are both of you constantly looking at me like that?”

Lu Wan’er said, “Did you kill Li Yun?”

Yang Ye nodded, and then he waved his right hand. Li Yun who’d been refined into a Sword Servant appeared within the room.

The two of them exchanged glances upon seeing Li Yun, and there was shock in their eyes. They’d never imagined that Yang Ye had actually killed a Saint!

After all, it was a Saint! Yet Yang Ye was only a Half-Saint!

Yang Ye suddenly said, “Have Dean Shang and the others not finished their battle?”

Yu Wushuang knew what Yang Ye meant, and she immediately glanced at Lu Wan’er and said, “I’ve looked through the academy’s library, and I found a way to rebuild a Dantian.”

Yang Ye hurriedly asked, “What is it!?”

Lu Wan’er gazed at Yu Wushuang as well.

Yu Wushuang remained silent for a long time before she said, “There’s a treasure called the Fruit of Creation, and it’s said to possess the ability of creation. I don’t know what exact abilities of creation it possesses, but I know that once it’s swallowed, it can store profound energy just like a Dantian. Moreover, it’s said to be even more terrifying than a human Dantian because it’s capable of storing a practically unlimited amount of profound energy, and it can even grow with its owner. So, even Saints seek to obtain it and change their own Dantians!”

“The Fruit of Creation!” Yang Ye frowned a little and said, “Where can I get one?”

Yu Wushuang replied, “You can get it in Pine Prefecture itself!”

Yang Ye gazed at her to indicate that she should continue.

Yu Wushuang glanced at Lu Wan’er who had quite a bit of excitement on her face, and then Yu Wushuang hesitated for a moment before she continued, “There’s an ocean a few million kilometers away from here, and it’s called the Zither of Love. It’s a boundless ocean, and there’s an island there called Immortal Island. There’s a tree on that island called the Tree of Creation, and it’s the tree that bears Fruits of Creation!”

Lu Wan’er suddenly spoke, “It’s dangerous, right?”

Yu Wushuang nodded, “Zither of Love is under the territory of one of the 12 Demon Kings of Pine Prefecture, Asura Queen!”

When she spoke up to this point, Yu Wushuang raised her head to gaze at Yang Ye, “At the same time, she’s the strongest amongst the 12 Demon Kings. According to rumor, she’s extremely hostile towards humans because her older sister was deceived by a human and suffered a miserable end. Any human who dares to step foot onto that ocean would be instantly annihilated by her. There was once a Saint who desired to obtain a Fruit of Creation, and he’d headed to the Zither of Love, but he never came back!”

Yu Wushuang suddenly grabbed Yang Ye’s hand and said, “The reason I told you all of that is because I wanted you to know that there still is hope for Big Sister Wan’er. However, I similarly wanted to tell you that you can’t rush it, and you can’t be impulsive about it. Understand?”

Lu Wan’er suddenly gazed at Yang Ye and said, “Promise me that you won’t be impulsive. Otherwise, I would rather die!”

Yang Ye took a deep breath, and then he grabbed both of their hands and smiled, “Don’t worry, I’m not a brainless person.”

Yu Wushuang was about to say something, but Shang Qingying suddenly entered the room. She glanced at Yang Ye with a strange gaze, and then she said, “Yang Ye, there’s a woman outside the city who’s looking for you. She said that she’s a friend of yours, and she has been searching for you for a long time.”

A woman?

Yu Wushuang and Lu Wan’er gazed at Yang Ye, and their gazes were slightly hostile.

On the other hand, Yang Ye was slightly stunned. A woman is looking for me? A friend of mine? She has even been looking for me for a long time?

Who is that?