51: Chapter 51 Yuanwu Academy

The azure flying sword descended silently, without stirring up even a speck of dust.

Lin Yuan's feet stepped onto the grounds of Yuanwu Academy.

What met his eyes was an ancient academy so magnificent it felt surreal.

Palaces and halls stretched endlessly; every brick and stone seemed salvaged from the river of time, steeped in an unspeakable, heavy history.

But that was all.

On the massive martial arts arena, the wind was the only sound, swirling up withered leaves with a lonely howl.

In the cracks between the hard obsidian floor tiles, wildly growing weeds used their vigorous vitality to openly mock the desolation of this place.

It was too quiet here.

Quiet like a city abandoned by the gods.

The Azure Nether Sword Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, explaining nothing, and simply led Lin Yuan deeper into the academy.

His steps were light, treading on the thick layer of withered leaves with a faint "rustle."

In this dead silence, the sound was infinitely amplified.

“Yuanwu Academy, faculty and staff, sixty-seven people in total.”

As they passed through an empty martial arts lecture hall, the Azure Nether Sword Emperor's voice rang out flatly.

Lin Yuan's gaze swept over the prayer mats covered in thick dust, but he did not respond.

Sixty-seven people.

For a former top-tier institution, this number was no longer just sparse; it was pathetic.

But at least there were still people.

The Azure Nether Sword Emperor seemed to see through his thoughts; he paused his steps and turned his head.

“As for the students...”

He paused for a moment, uttering a fact sufficient to shake even those with the firmest resolve.

“Counting you, one.”

One!

In the vast Yuanwu Academy, there was actually only one student!

This was no longer just a decline.

This was having half a body already buried in the earth, just waiting for someone to fill in the last shovel of dirt.

Lin Yuan's expression did not change at all.

One?

That was even better.

No constraints, no rules, and certainly none of those buzzing flies.

“Yuanwu has failed to recruit any new students for three consecutive terms.”

The Azure Nether Sword Emperor continued forward, his words betraying no joy or sorrow.

“According to the iron law of the Yan Country Ministry of Education, two months from now will be this year's 'Freshman Grand Competition.'”

“If Yuanwu still has no new students to participate and dominantly suppress those outside the top ten...”

“Yuanwu will be stripped of its status as a Top Ten Martial Arts University.”

So that was it.

Lin Yuan understood instantly.

This was a high-stakes gamble on the survival of the academy's legacy.

And he was the only chip the Azure Nether Sword Emperor had revealed to place on the table.

Pressure?

Lin Yuan only felt that this stage was perfectly to his liking.

The two finally stopped at the deepest part of the academy, before an ancient stone tablet engraved with the school motto.

“Trace the source of martial arts, knock upon the truth of the Dao.”

“Exhaust the essence, prove the only one.”

“Control the myriad phenomena, define immortality.”

A few brief lines, yet they exuded a supreme dominance that defined rules and looked down upon the world.

One could imagine how glorious the Yuanwu of the past had been.

The Azure Nether Sword Emperor finally turned around to face Lin Yuan officially.

“Here, there are no rules.”

His voice was clear and firm.

“As long as you do not die, the academy's treasury is yours to use as you please.”

“When you break into the Ninth-Star Heaven Realm, I will personally perform an empowerment for you, passing on all of my sword martial Dao intent and 'One Thought Transforms into Heavenly Sword' to you.”

This was a promise that no one could refuse.

The lifelong learning of an Emperor Realm powerhouse, an unreserved inheritance!

This stake was enough to make every genius in the entire Yan Country suffocate and go mad with desire!

Lin Yuan reached out, his fingertips brushing over the deeply carved characters on the stone tablet, feeling the sharp Dao charm that had endured through the ages.

He withdrew his hand, his tone as indifferent as ever.

“Two months from now, I will make Heavenly Dome Academy understand exactly what they threw away.”

“Their ranking—I'm taking it.”

A sincere smile finally appeared on the Azure Nether Sword Emperor's usually calm face.

He had not misjudged the person.

This kid's arrogance was bred into his very bones.

“Conventional cultivation is too slow.”

Lin Yuan cut straight to the point; he had no time to waste.

The guixu black lotus within his body was emitting an extreme hunger for energy, like a squalling black hole waiting to be fed.

Lin Yuan changed the subject, his gaze sharp.

“Principal, I want to enter the ‘Ancient Desolate Secret Realm’.”

The smile on Qing Ming's face vanished instantly.

He scrutinized Lin Yuan deeply, confirming that he was not joking.

“Are you sure? It is impossible to cultivate in there now. The environment mutates at any time—poisonous swamps, lightning prisons, ten-fold gravity zones... anything is possible.”

“The most terrifying thing is that the space has been completely contaminated by violent Primeval Baleful Aura. Staying too long will erode a martial artist's sanity, turning them into a madman who knows only slaughter.”

Lin Yuan's response was simple and direct.

“I need energy.”

“Massive, endless amounts of energy.”

With the Netherworld Prison Suppressing Scholar Tree guarding his sea of consciousness, and the guixu black lotus's trait of devouring all things...

The Ancient Desolate Secret Realm that everyone feared might just be the most perfect cultivation holy land for him!

“Fine.”

Qing Ming did not try to persuade him further.

What he wanted was a tiger that could tear through the era, not a flower in a greenhouse.

He turned and led Lin Yuan through layers of palaces to a black cliff at the deepest part of the academy.

Beneath the cliff was a giant stone gate over a hundred meters high.

The stone gate was cast from an unknown black rock, wrapped in dark gold chains as thick as arms. At every intersection of the chains, a talisman with dim spiritual light was attached.

A wicked wind, mixed with sulfur, dried blood, and ancient ferocity, seeped through the cracks of the door in thin wisps, drilling into the soul.

“Stand back,” the Azure Nether Sword Emperor cautioned.

He walked to the front of the door, pointed his fingers like a sword, and made a stroke in the air toward the massive stone gate.

There was no world-shaking commotion.

Sshhh!

The indestructible dark gold chains, along with all the suppressing talismans on them, were actually severed simultaneously by an invisible, sharp force!

Rumble—!

The stone gate, which had been sealed for unknown ages, let out a heavy groan and slowly opened inward.

Roar—!

A visible black storm, mixed with the most resentful bellows of billions of creatures before their deaths, erupted frantically from behind the door!

The entire sky was instantly dyed an ominous dark red!

The Azure Nether Sword Emperor waved his sleeve, and a gentle sword intent transformed into a barrier, blocking all the black wind in front of him.

He took out a warm jade plaque and pressed it into Lin Yuan's hand.

“This is a Spatial Stone Plaque. Crushing it can forcibly teleport you out.”

His expression revealed a solemnity never seen before.

“Remember, everything inside is unknown. Once you feel your spirit being eroded and you can't hold on anymore, come out immediately!”

“Staying alive is more important than anything!”

Lin Yuan took the still-warm stone plaque and, without even looking at it, casually stuffed it into his pocket.

He turned around to face that bottomless darkness from which terrifying roars constantly echoed.

That place was hell.

It was also his... heaven.

He stepped into that darkness without looking back, leaving only a bone-chilling sentence to slowly dissipate by the Azure Nether Sword Emperor's ear.

“In my dictionary, there is no such thing as ‘can't hold on’.”