Chapter 13 - Primordial Thunder Body! (2/2)

“Chen, are you alright?” Ye Zhantian asked in concern.

“I’m very fine, Father.” Ye Chen flashed him a bright, wide smile. He was very much elated that Ye Kongyan had finally received his comeuppance for the scorns and mockery he had thrown at Ye Chen throughout those three years.

Hearing his son’s reply, Ye Zhantian’s heart finally calmed.

The Chief looked at Ye Kongyan’s motionless body that lied at the corner of the ring and sneered coldly, “Take him to the infirmary.”

He then turned to the crowd before him. Raising his voice, he declared, “Ye Kongyan, one of the Ye family’s Kong Cohort members, had secretly practiced a forbidden technique and used it on his own clansman. I decree that he’ll face the wall for ten years as his punishment. Meanwhile, his father, Ye Moyang has committed a grave vice by teaching his son travesties. I decree that his position as the Elder of the clan be abolished as well as receiving one hundred lashes in the Tribunal as his punishment. Are there any disagreements?”

Ye Zhantian knew that he must seize this opportunity to punish Ye Moyang or he might not have a chance to do so in the future. Ye Moyang should be glad that nothing came to Ye Chen, or else Ye Zhantian would not possibly let him off with such light punishments!

Practicing Shadow Storm Talon may not be seen as evil to a few of the clansmen, but to use it on your fellow family member — that was going too far!

“No disagreements whatsoever!”

Ye Moyang’s face fell. He looked at the other Elders but they simply turned their heads as if they did not see him. Ye Zhantian had shown himself to be a Ninth Stage fighter just then. This meant that his prestige within the family was elevated to the same status as the Former Chief. No Elders would be foolish enough to make an enemy out of a Ninth Stage fighter.

Ye Moyang turned to Ye Changxuan and knelt in desperation. “Uncle, I am willing to be punished but my son is merely ignorant. Please give him another chance!”

Ye Changxuan smirked. “You astound me with your presumptuousness, Ye Moyang. You want me to believe that you have nothing to do with teaching your son the Shadow Storm Talon? Did you honestly forget about our ancestral ruling that has been passed down for hundreds of years? Your son’s punishment is light enough for his crime.”

Ye Moyang knew that he had lost every option. Hence, he gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger back into his chest.

Seeing Ye Moyang and Ye Kongyan being brought away, Ye Zhantian was relieved that he had a chance to remove Ye Moyang from power. He had wanted to do so for ages, but as one of the Great Elders of the clan and as he had lacked more concrete evidence of Ye Moyang’s collusion with the House of Yun, he had not been able to do so sooner. Even now, with the chance he had, the most he could do was strip off Ye Moyang’s position.

“It’s a shame that such an incident has occurred during the Grand Ancestral Worshipping Ceremony.” Ye Zhantian turned his attention to the crowd once more. “Are there any disagreements to have Ye Chen take the mantle of Successor Chief?”

“None whatsoever!” the clansmen exclaimed in unison. It had always been their dream to have Ye Chen as their Successor Patriarch. Besides, the young man had just defeated a Sixth Stage fighter who was Ye Kongyan; this was enough to prove the young man’s martial arts prowess.

Ye Meng, Ye Ming, Ye Peng and the rest were extremely happy with the news.

Watching the victor as he stood handsomely on the stage, Ye Rou’s beautiful eyes beamed with joy. “Congratulations, Big Brother Ye Chen,” she muttered under her breath.

At this moment, a gleeful, boisterous voice suddenly spoke.

“Congratulations on attaining the Ninth Stage, Big Brother!” It was Ye Zhanlong.

The crowd was effectively stirred into a loud furor.

“The Chief advanced a stage?! Really?”

“Didn’t you hear Zhanlong say it? If he said so, it must be true!”

“Now that the Chief has joined the rank of the Former Chief, we have two Ninth Stage masters with us now! We don’t have to fear the House of Yun anymore!”

“Congratulations, Chief!”

“My most sincere congratulations, Chief!”

The clansmen bowed immediately before Ye Zhantian in deference. The older generations of the clan were even more touched as they cried happily at the emergence of two Ninth Stage fighters within the clan after many years. More than anyone, these senior generations knew what it meant to have two Ninth Stage masters in their clan at the same time.

Although Ye Changxuan was powerful, he was also very old; he could have passed away at any given moment. Therefore, placing the duty of protecting the family onto someone like him was not as insured as one would have hoped for. Now that Ye Zhantian had proven himself to be just as powerful, all of the dismay the clan had felt due to Ye Moyang and Ye Kongyan’s fiasco had all dispersed.

A Ninth Stage fighter would always serve as a threat to the enemies of the family. Nobody would dare lay a finger on the House of Ye because they fear the wrath of a Ninth Stage master!

Ye Changxuan, Ye Zhanlong and the rest leaped onto the ring as well.

“Uncle,” Ye Zhantian addressed Ye Changxuan solemnly.

The old man nodded and smiled. “Congratulations on attaining the Ninth Stage! I can already feel my burden as the guardian of the family lessen by half because of it!” Then, quite abruptly, he turned to Ye Chen and asked, “Chen’er, did you use Primordial Thunder Body to defeat Ye Kongyan?”

As Ye Zhantian had been too preoccupied with any harm that might have befallen Ye Chen’s body, he had forgotten about this. Now that Ye Changxuan reminded him about it, Ye Zhantian recalled that at the very moment Ye Chen defeated Ye Kongyan, the young man’s body was coated in golden-yellow light — that was the unmistakable color of the Primordial Thunder Body. Could it be that Ye Chen had indeed mastered the technique?

However, that could not be possible, could it? He had only given the secret discourse to his son a few days ago! This would mean that Ye Chen had mastered an advanced technique — so advanced that Ye Zhantian himself had to take three years to actually succeed in performing it — in a span of a few days!

Finding himself becoming the subject of everyone’s anticipating stares, Ye Chen knew that he could no longer hide it. So, he nodded and said, “Yes. The technique I used was indeed the Primordial Thunder Body!”

Hearing his confirmation, the crowd drew in a sharp breath.

The process taken to master the Primordial Thunder Body had always been arduous: one must be in at least Celestial Chi Seventh Stage or above to start, and secondly, not everyone could truly master it. The only three users in the family were Ye Changxuan, Ye Zhantian, and Ye Zhanlong; not even Ye Zhanxiong had managed to perform the technique. Yet, joining these advanced masters now was Ye Chen, who was only at the peak of the Fifth Stage.

“Oh, Big Brother, you’ve been playing favorites, haven’t you? Teaching Primordial Thunder Body to Chen’er without letting us know!” Ye Zhanlong slapped Ye Zhantian’s shoulders as he said, his expression joyous.

Ye Zhantian gave him an awkward smile. “I didn’t teach him at all. I gave him the secret book detailing the technique just a few days ago. All I had hoped that it might provide him insights in his cultivation, but little did I expect the boy to even master it!” As one who had trained with that technique before, Ye Zhantian knew from experience just how difficult it was to execute Primordial Thunder Body. That was why he had not expected Ye Chen to perform it at all!

“You only gave it to him a few days ago?” Ye Zhanlong and the rest asked pointedly as they once again glued their attention to Ye Chen. This time, their stares reflected absolute astonishment.