Chapter 166: Academy?

A majestic, crushing aura of the Divinity Separation tier forced countless heads to bow across the Academy.

Patriarch Corvinus, ecstatic only moments ago, watched the Primeval Obsidian Sword slip from his grasp, his eyes wide. He didn’t dare speak. Only one Divinity Separation expert existed in the Academy’s history who was still alive. The intervener was obvious.

Looking up into the spatial void, he saw the true Ancestor of the Academy—Grand-Patriarch Corvinus. The younger Corvinus’s face was a mask of disbelief. He hadn’t coerced anyone; Sylvia had willingly offered the sword to settle her karmic debt! She was simply leaving the Academy! Why had the Ancestor stopped it? Was his own bloodline less valuable than Sylvia?

Theo frowned. *Meddling old man...*

High above, the Grand-Patriarch descended, his eyes flashing like drawn steel.

The elders hastily dropped to their knees. "Greetings, Grand-Patriarch!"

Ignoring them entirely, the ancient man looked solemnly at Sylvia. "Sylvia, Elder Valeriana viewed you as her final and greatest student, passing all her knowledge to you. At the end of her life, she was overjoyed to have you as her legacy. To her, you were far more important than that failure, my descendant Corvinus!"

He pointed a gnarled finger at the Patriarch. "If Valeriana knew you would sever ties with the Academy because of him, she would be heartbroken. There will be no more talk of leaving! The Academy does not belong solely to the Corvinus bloodline—it belongs to all its members. As for the Obsidian Sword, our founders did not leave it to the sect’s treasury; thus, it is not sect property. The Abyssal Sovereign retrieved it from the ruins and gifted it to you. It is yours. No one can take it. I declare this to all present: anyone claiming the Obsidian Sword is Academy property will face my personal purge."

The Grand-Patriarch’s sage-like voice echoed like thunder through the mountain valley.

With a flick of his wrist, the wooden blade flew back, hovering obediently before Sylvia. She stood there, momentarily stunned.

The Academy elders were dumbfounded. What was wrong with their Grand-Patriarch? Siding with logic over his own family? Was he not the most staunch supporter of the Corvinus bloodline? This sudden fairness felt... incredibly unfamiliar.

They didn’t understand. But Theo did. He instantly guessed the reason.

*Damn it,* Theo thought. *I shouldn’t have given that old man those Primeval Lifespan Elixirs last month...*

Patriarch Corvinus could not accept it. The Obsidian Sword had been within his reach, yet his own Ancestor had stopped him. Despite the Grand-Patriarch’s overwhelming presence, he couldn’t hold back his fury, shouting, "Ancestor! The Obsidian Sword is our clan’s legacy! Why can’t I take it? As for Oracle Sylvia, let her leave if she wants! Plenty of others can take her place!"

He pounded his chest. "I am the Academy’s brightest prodigy, standing at the peak of sword mastery, a Supreme-tier Holy Master! Am I less important than her? If you insist on keeping her and denying me the sword, I will leave the Academy, change my name, and cut all ties with the Corvinus clan!"

The Patriarch’s hands trembled with rage. Returning to his own sect, he felt betrayed by his own blood. He laid down his ultimate threat.

The Grand-Patriarch glanced at him impassively. "Then change your surname. The Academy does not keep outsiders. Pack your belongings and leave today."

The Patriarch’s face froze. He stared at his ancestor in sheer disbelief.

The surrounding elders were equally dumbfounded. The Patriarch was young, with vast potential. With the path to the Primeval tier opening, he could surpass the Grand-Patriarch, perhaps reaching the Divinity Separation peak. Such a prodigy was the pillar of any sect. With the Grand-Patriarch nearing the end of his lifespan, without a new Divinity Separation expert, the Academy would decline into ruin.

Yet, for Sylvia, he told his own descendant to change his name and get out? Was the Ancestor possessed by a primeval demon?

Amid the uproar, the Grand-Patriarch ignored the stunned Patriarch, addressing the puzzled Sylvia instead. "Though you are not yet at the Supreme tier, I will pass you the final Chapter of our scripture: The Obsidian Nine-Fold Matrix! It is the only thing our first Founder left us before ascending, the true pinnacle of human Aetheric mastery..."

He sighed wistfully. "Sadly, I heard that after ascending, the Founder felt he had peaked in standard swordsmanship, abandoned his blade, and created the Aether-Reversing Eight Stances, a technique that surpasses even immortal scriptures. But that is just a legend. Whether true or not, who knows? Otherwise, our Academy might have risen even further!"

The Grand-Patriarch tossed out a jade slip, shocking everyone a second time. The Obsidian Nine-Fold Matrix was the sect’s core technique! Only Corvinus bloodline members at the Supreme tier were permitted to study it. Now, he was granting it to Sylvia. This was too absurd.

Sylvia was bewildered, hesitation clouding her eyes. She feared no malice, but the Ancestor’s sudden, extreme enthusiasm left her at a loss.

Theo, listening quietly, raised an eyebrow. He had heard of the Aether-Reversing Eight Stances in the Syndicate’s archives. A technique beyond Primeval grade, its power was unimaginable. The first Founder of the Academy had disappeared before the Old Dynasty fell, and was said to be shining in the upper realms.

Legends aside, this Grand-Patriarch was dead-set on keeping Sylvia at the Academy. And he was doing it for a very specific reason. The longer one lived, the less they accepted death. The Grand-Patriarch saw clearly: Theo’s Lifespan Elixirs weren’t given out of respect for his Divinity Separation status. The Abyssal Syndicate had no shortage of experts. Theo had given them solely for Sylvia’s sake.

And Theo’s effortless gifting of the elixirs proved he had a sustainable source. For true lifespan extension, the Grand-Patriarch desperately needed Theo. But if Sylvia severed her ties and left, would Theo ever look back at the Academy?

Thus, Sylvia had to stay.

Seeing Theo’s unimpressed expression and Sylvia’s hesitation, the Grand-Patriarch doubled down. "Every thousand years, the Academy’s valley gathers an Obsidian Aether-Origin. Refining it advances your psychic intent, aiding in the mastery of the Nine-Fold Matrix. The next gathering is just over a year away. I declare it now: no tournament is needed. The spot is yours, Sylvia."

His words sparked another monumental uproar.

Patriarch Corvinus’s face turned sickeningly green. Hadn’t that exact spot been promised to him a century ago?