Chapter 62: Chapter 62: A Worried Frown
"You..." A sneer appeared on Ye Yun’s face. "Just two pieces of trash? How dare you even say that? Even I am only a Six Veins Martial Artist, and Wang Fei is a Spirit Martial Realm Samurai. You think you could defeat him? What’s your motive for making up stories to deceive Grandpa and the others? Spit it out."
It had to be said, as Ye Zhantang’s son, Ye Yun stood firmly by his father’s side.
"Deceive? Do I need to? A mere Spirit Martial Realm Samurai... Open your dog eyes and see what this is!" Ye Xuan didn’t waste words. He directly activated his Profound Qi, and a dense light of Profound Qi erupted from his body, shocking everyone present.
"This is... the light of Profound Qi! Xuan’er, you’ve broken through to the Spirit Martial Realm?" Ye Zhanyun was the first to react. He excitedly grabbed Ye Xuan’s shoulders, his entire body trembling, his piercing eyes filled with tears.
"Xuan’er, you..." Old Master Ye Batian was also stunned.
"Grandpa, Father, I have just broken through to the Spirit Martial Realm."
Given Ye Xuan’s personality, he couldn’t be bothered to bring something like this up, but he had to do it to put his grandfather and father at ease.
"Xuan’er, channel a pulse of your Profound Qi!" Hearing this, Ye Batian, with an excited expression, quickly grabbed the youth’s wrist to test his aura and confirm the matter.
Ye Xuan was a bit speechless, but he could only follow the old master’s wishes and release a burst of Profound Qi.
Feeling the force of the youth’s channeled energy, Old Master Ye’s expression began to change, and a smile spread across his face.
"Haha, he really did break through! My grandson really broke through! The heavens are blessing my grandson! Truly, the heavens are blessing my grandson!" In the end, Old Master Ye couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh wildly, his smile so wide it was like a blooming flower. "Xuan’er, I remember, you’re only fourteen this year, right? In that case, doesn’t this mean you can enter the kingdom’s Profound Spirit Academy next year?"
Ye Xuan rubbed his nose. "It shouldn’t be a problem."
"Hahaha, that’s wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Now who dares call my grandson trash? You? You? Or you? Hmph! A bunch of shortsighted fools! And you wanted to hand my grandson over? You’ve wasted your long lives! The kingdom’s Profound Spirit Academy is the sacred land of martial arts in the kingdom. Geniuses who graduate from there almost all become pillars of the kingdom. With good luck, they can even be ennobled as aristocrats! At that time, our Ye family will no longer be just a powerhouse in Cyan Mountain Town. It’s not impossible that we could become a noble family, no weaker than the three great families!"
The old master’s eyes were wide with excitement, puffing out his beard.
The other members of the family also grew excited.
Unlike the old master’s joy, the younger members of the Ye family standing to the side were completely stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.
This Ye Xuan, whom they had always called trash and trampled underfoot, had now suddenly broken through to the Spirit Martial Realm. This sudden reversal dealt a harsh blow to the young men’s hearts.
This time, they were bewildered.
’Even Ye Xuan has broken through to the Spirit Martial Realm. Could it be that we, the so-called geniuses of the family, are the real trash?’
Just then, Ye Zhantang threw a bucket of cold water on the celebration, sneering, "Father, don’t celebrate too early. It’s true that Ye Xuan has broken through to the Spirit Martial Realm, but his Martial Soul is a dead Martial Soul. Even if someone like him gets into the Profound Spirit Academy, he’ll never be able to graduate. His future achievements will be very limited."
Hearing this, the excited expressions on many of the family members’ faces dimmed.
’That’s right. Ye Xuan’s Martial Soul is just a dead Martial Soul. Even if he broke through to the Spirit Martial Realm and could enter the Profound Spirit Academy, his future achievements would still be very limited.’
A Martial Soul was simply too important for a Martial Artist.
"Oh, right." Amidst everyone’s disappointment, Ye Xuan suddenly rubbed his nose and spoke again. "Grandpa, Father, I forgot to tell you. Not only did I break through to the Spirit Martial Realm, but I also awakened an Earth Martial Soul. It turns out I actually have twin Martial Souls. The old ’dead Martial Soul’ was just the other one."
After saying this, Ye Xuan directly activated his Earth Martial Soul. A hazy yellow light instantly enveloped his entire body.
’Since I’ve already told them about my breakthrough, I might as well give them a little something more to get excited about.’
In an instant, the entire hall fell deathly silent...
After all the commotion, the farce in the main hall finally came to an end.
Old Master Ye immediately gave Ye Zhantang a severe punishment on the spot. He was stripped of his say in Ye family matters for a year, forced to relinquish control of all businesses he managed, and was only permitted to observe family meetings.
If it weren’t for Ye Zhantang’s strength as a First Layer Earth Martial Artist being rather important in this chaotic situation, he likely would have been kicked out of the Ye family’s core leadership by the old master for making such a huge mistake.
Although Wang Tian had left, the Ye family’s troubles didn’t stop there. Late at night, the family’s core leadership convened for a family meeting at the old master’s summons.
The main topic of the meeting was how to deal with the Wang family’s impending retaliation.
The meeting lasted late into the night, but in the end, they couldn’t come up with any solid resolution and had no choice but to adjourn.
Of course, the meeting wasn’t entirely useless. At the very least, Old Master Ye set the tone for the Ye family’s future: they would defend Cyan Mountain Town at all costs. Some non-essential businesses could be abandoned, but their core enterprises had to be held onto tightly.
After a long day of turmoil, Ye Xuan was also a bit tired. He didn’t attend the family meeting. After settling Luo Zhan and the others, he cultivated in his room for the entire night before taking a short nap.
When Ye Xuan woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
After washing up and eating breakfast, Ye Xuan cultivated for a while longer before casually strolling out.
He planned to find the old master to discuss a few things.
However, although he was familiar with the Ye family estate, the family was currently in a precarious situation. He wasn’t entirely sure where the old master would be.
Just then, a steward from the Ye family was passing by his door, and Ye Xuan called out to him.
This steward, dressed in a green robe, had worked for the Ye family for nearly ten years. He could be considered diligent and conscientious. Now that the Ye family was on shaky ground, he hadn’t resigned, but his face was etched with worry.
This was only normal. Ever since the Wang family had united with the Li and Liu families to suppress the Ye family, the Ye family’s situation had worsened by the day. The sounds of laughter among the Ye family servants had naturally vanished. Whenever they met, everyone wore an expression of deep-seated bitterness. In fact, in recent days, quite a few less-resolute servants had already thrown in the towel and quit.
’The Ye family is about to collapse. If we don’t run now, are we just waiting to die?’
"Young Master Xuan, you called for me?"
In the past, when this steward saw Ye Xuan, while he wasn’t dismissive, he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic either. But this time, he was exceedingly respectful, his head bowed lower than ever before.
Word of what had happened in the main hall yesterday had spread not only among the Ye family members but also among the servants.
No one had expected that this Young Master Xuan, who used to be secretly called a waste, had actually become the family’s greatest genius. And the guards accompanying him were each more formidable than the last. To not serve such a person well would be purely asking for trouble.
Seeing the steward’s change in attitude, Ye Xuan just smiled. "What is the old master doing right now?"
"Normally, the old master would be in closed-door cultivation in the rear courtyard. But it seems there was an issue with the clan’s businesses today, so the old master has gathered the Patriarch and the others in the assembly hall for a meeting."
’Another meeting?’
Ye Xuan frowned. They had just held a family meeting yesterday, and now they were having another one first thing in the morning. It seemed the Ye family’s situation was indeed far from optimistic.
He didn’t dwell on it. The reason he was looking for the old master was to offer his help to the Ye family. Otherwise, the small Ye family alone really couldn’t withstand the pressure from the Wang and Zhou families.
Before leaving, Ye Xuan patted the steward’s shoulder. "To have stayed until now, to continue to remain with our Ye family, it seems you are truly loyal. Believe me, your perseverance will be rewarded."
After being patted and spoken to like that by Ye Xuan, for some unknown reason, the steward, who had been gloomy for days, suddenly felt a surge of excitement, as if Ye Xuan’s words contained boundless Magic Power.
He had been hesitating these past few days about whether to resign and leave. After all, he had worked here for nearly ten years. Although his surname wasn’t Ye, he had practically become a part of the Ye family.
Now, with Ye Xuan’s encouragement, all the hesitation in his heart vanished in an instant. He abruptly decided to stay on.
As he approached the assembly hall, he could hear a clamor of voices from within.
"Father, this Pharmacist Hall is going too far! They’re refusing to honor a signed agreement! Our Ye family warehouses are overflowing with medicinal herbs. If we don’t sell them soon, they’re going to rot!"
"The Pharmacist Hall has been working with us for many years. For them to suddenly back out now... it must be the Wang family’s doing."
"The key issue is that it’s not just the Pharmacist Hall. Several other large apothecaries have also suspended their cooperation with us. If we can’t sell these medicinal herbs, the family’s daily losses will be huge."
"The losses are one thing, but the critical problem is that even if we can’t sell the herbs, we still have to pay the herb farmers. Otherwise, those farmers will turn to the Li and Liu families, and our Ye family’s market share will be eaten away bit by bit."
Waves of sighs echoed from within the assembly hall.
"Grandpa, Father..." Just then, Ye Xuan walked in.
"Xuan’er, you’re here! Come, have a seat!"
Normally, given Ye Xuan’s seniority, he wouldn’t be allowed to attend such a family meeting. But now that he was the family’s number one genius and was about to enter the kingdom’s Profound Spirit Academy, he was considered a core figure of the Ye family. So, no one was surprised to see him come to listen in.
"It looks like our Ye family has run into some trouble. Grandpa, can you tell me about it? Maybe I can solve some of it," Ye Xuan said directly after entering.
Everyone gave a bitter smile. ’You can solve it? Right, you seem to have a good relationship with the City Guard, but what can you possibly do about the family’s medicinal herb business?’
’Business isn’t a matter of brawling and fighting. It’s not something you can solve just by being stronger than the other person; there are many other factors involved.’
Although Ye Batian didn’t believe Ye Xuan really had a solution either, he still explained the specific difficulties the Ye family’s business was facing.
