Chapter 15 - Advancing to the Sixth Stage! (2/2)
“Chen’er, now that you have finally reached the Sixth Stage, should you ever face any difficulty or confusion in your cultivation, do not hesitate to ask your granduncle and uncles!” Ye Zhantian said, beaming.
“Oh, I doubt that Chen’er would ever need our advice,” Ye Changxuan remarked with a sigh. He could sense that the Celestial Chi that coursed inside Ye Chen was even purer than his own even though normally, a person’s Celestial Chi would only get purer as they climbed up the Stages. Yet, taking Ye Chen’s current stage into account, it was clear that the state of his Celestial Chi did not follow this orthodox understanding.
Ye Changxuan could not help but wonder if the Ancestor who had visited Ye Chen had left more than just a system of recovered meridian channels and a cultivation system discourse. Could the Ancestor also impart their will inside of Ye Chen?
Of course, this was all just Ye Changxuan’s conjecture.
“Chen’er, you could already defeat Ye Kongyan while he was in the Sixth Stage just by being at the peak of the Fifth Stage. Do you have any idea of how strong you are right now?”
“I don’t know.” Ye Chen shook his head. Without a sparring match, he really could not tell.
“Why don’t we get someone to spar with him?”
“Great idea but, perhaps later? I think we should get back to studying the Thunder Emperor Technique. We could always evaluate Ye Chen some other time!”
At that moment, they had finally found the family’s future shining star. It would not have happened if it was not for Ye Chen!
The group gradually left Ye Chen’s residency until Ye Zhantian was the only one left. He eyed Ye Chen and invited him, “C’mon, Chen’er. Follow me!”
“Alright!” The young man nodded and tailed Ye Zhantian as he entered the Patriarch Residency. They strode through a long corridor until finally, they found themselves in Ye Zhantian’s personal chamber.
Ye Zhantian opened a drawer and rummaged through its content with his head hung low for some time. Then, as he found what he was looking for, he took out an antique stamp seal that was about as large as a thumb. Its color was a clear, shimmering green.
The Flying Dagger was suddenly buzzing uncontrollably at a high frequency inside Ye Chen’s head as if it was triggered by the stamp seal in Ye Zhantian’s hand. ‘Don’t know what that is but it must be a sort of unique treasure!’ Ye Chen thought.
“This is our ancestral stamp seal but it’s the smaller one of the pair. According to our ancestral law, the larger ancestral stamp seal will be held by the current Patriarch while the Successor Patriarch possesses the smaller one.” Ye Zhantian extended his palm to sit the ancestral stamp seal in Ye Chen’s hand. “It’s your responsibility to take care of it now. The stamp seal may not have any practical purposes but it has been our family’s bequest since the days of yore!”
“Understood. It shall be in my possession with utmost care!” Ye Chen replied, holding on to the stamp seal tightly. He could not tell what stone was used to craft it as it was denser than what he had expected. Green and clear, the stamp seal was completely devoid of any impurities in its body.
Ye Chen examined it more closely by placing it in the center of his palm. It looked just like any other stone-made stamp seal without anything outstanding about its looks. Sculpted at the base of the stamp seal was a very intricate ideogram, but from the shape of it, Ye Chen could see that it was the word ‘Ye’. Beside the large ideogram, there were three smaller, fine words the size of a grain. The words were probably ‘Heavenly Astra Seal’.
“Back then, you were just an impulsive child, so I kept the seal for you. Now that you’ve regained your rightful mantle as the Successor Patriarch, it is time for me to bequeath you with what is yours. Should your father be gone, you can rightfully lead your clan,” Ye Zhantian said.
Ye Chen kept the ancestral seal stamp close by tucking it into his inner pocket.
“Father, during the match for the position of Successor Patriarch, I did not control my strength while using the Primordial Thunder Body technique. I think I have wounded Ye Kongyan very gravely,” Ye Chen blurted after some initial hesitation.
“Yet, in that same fight, Ye Kongyan himself had used a forbidden technique of the family, Shadow Storm Talon, on you! He deserved that injury. In fact, he could’ve been accidentally killed back in the match and it would have served him right!” There was a flash of chilly light in Ye Zhantian’s eyes. Ye Kongyan was fortunate that Ye Chen was not harmed in any way, or else Ye Zhantian would have personally killed Ye Kongyan even if it cost him his position as the Patriarch!
“No, I’m not worried about Ye Kongyan. Even if that match repeats itself, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. It’s just that… Now that I think about it, that attack that I had directed to Ye Kongyan’s chest might have crushed his entire meridian channels. I don’t think he would be able to practice martial arts again. Then, considering the fact that we just removed Ye Moyang from his tenure as one of our Elders, I’m worried that a vengeful man like him would plot revenge against us very soon!” Ye Chen explained, his tone was one of concern.
“Very solid point. Ye Moyang was originally one of the Elders of the family. Locking him up just because his son did something wrong isn’t going to hold up. But worry not, Son. I’ve arranged some of my own people to keep an eye on him. Should he show any sign of plotting anything against us, I’ll be sure to nip it in the bud then,” Ye Zhantian replied reassuringly. Then, patting Ye Chen’s head, he added happily, “Chen’er, you have truly matured a lot through your trials! Now that you’re the Successor Chief, let us begin initiating you into your responsibilities!”
Now that he knew his father was already keeping an eye on Ye Moyang, Ye Chen could lessen his worries. Yet, he could not put down the fact that Ye Moyang was still alive. ‘As long as Ye Moyang remains at large, he will always be a source of calamity. After all, Ye Moyang is a fighter with Celestial Chi at the peak of the Seventh Stage!’ Ye Chen thought. ‘Indeed, I should train more to prepare myself for the future.’
After his visit to his father’s Patriarch Residency, Ye Chen returned to his personal courtyard to train again. Now that he had attained the Sixth Stage, he had the Chi Gale State to avail himself. His Primordial Thunder Body could even last all the way up to twenty seconds now, and the longer this technique lasts, the more use it could provide during a battle!
Ever since passing his son the ancestral stamp, Ye Zhantian had been slowly divulging the family’s state of affairs to Ye Chen.
There were two primary sources of revenue for the House of Ye. One, about two-thirds of a mile 1 from the Ye Castle was a series of mountains, with one of them belonging to the family for mining black-iron 2 . There were about a hundred miners working under the House of Ye, with the produce of a year being equivalent to about two hundred Chi-amassing Pills. Meanwhile, the House of Ye operated a shop in the Donglin county that could net in at least a hundred Chi-amassing Pills a year. On the subject of daily living expenses, the House of Ye was still capable of taking care of their own people without help.
In short, the annual gain for the House was only three hundred Chi-amassing Pills. Meanwhile, Ye Chen had consumed more than thousands of Chi-amassing Pills during the three years when he had suffered from the damage of his meridian channels. Needless to say, that consumption amount had exerted a great toll on the family. Back when the House of Ye was in its heydays, it had owned many properties and businesses throughout the Donglin county and the clan was generally very well-off. However, now, many of these businesses had closed down. Hence, the clan was reduced to its current austere state.
Ye Chen immediately felt the burden on his shoulders. As a form of reparations for the sacrifice his clan had made for him, it was his duty to bring the House of Ye back to its former glory!