Chapter 38 - Ye Chen’s Prowess (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Little Tanuki leaped from Ye Chen’s lap and assumed its rightful spot on his shoulder. Glaring at Ye Rou’s joyful smile seemed to have put it in a sour mood as it puckered its lips.

Ye Chen and Ye Rou chatted on the way as they headed to the clan’s meeting hall.

“Big Brother Ye Chen? I was wondering, are you going to attend the Grand Martial Tournament of the Eighteen Houses on the day after tomorrow?” Ye Rou raised her head and looked into his eyes, her dilated pupils reflected a deep-seated concern for his wellbeing.

“Yeah,” Ye Chen replied with a swift nod. Now that she mentioned it, Ye Chen was reminded of how close that momentous day was.

“Can’t you just, well, not go?” Ye Rou mumbled and lowered her head.

“Come on, Rou. I have to go,” Ye Chen asserted determinedly as he burst out in hearty laughter and patted her head before continuing, “Don’t you worry about me! I’m going to be just fine.”

“Big Brother Ye Chen, if you really “have to” go, then I’m coming with you!” Ye Rou looked up again with yearning eyes. “I’m already at the Mid-Seventh Stage. I won’t slow you down at all!”

Ye Chen understood the enthusiasm in her eyes but he was sure that it would be unacceptable to bring Ye Rou to the House of Yun. Since he did not have the heart to refuse her request right there and then, he automatically deflected the decision to the one person he knew that would be able to stop her. “Er, you’ll have to… ask my father about this!”

After all, there was no way his father would have allowed her to go.

Ye Rou did not seem to be bothered. In fact, she held on confidently as if she remembered something important from their discussion.

“Big Brother, you’re the Chief now, aren’t you?” She reminded clearly. “Everything that happens in the clan is ultimately based on your permission, isn’t it?”

Ye Chen had forgotten that he recently become the Chief of the Ye clan! It was announced by his father a few days ago, though apparently, the young Chief had not mentally updated himself on his new job since the announcement.

Ye Chen forced a smile. “Oh. Right. Um, I know I’m the Chief. It’s just… I think you should ask my father regarding matters like these.”

“Oh.” Ye Rou quietened and her expression sank. If she had to seek Uncle Zhantian’s permission, she knew better than to try.

It was at that moment when both Ye Chen and Ye Rou had arrived at the large square before the clan’s meeting hall.

“My Chief.”

“Good day, Chief.”

Every clansman present in the square immediately stopped in mid-action before obediently standing on Ye Chen’s sides, greeting the duo with heavy-handed respect as they passed.

Ye Chen admitted that he still found the tonal shift in his clansmen’s behavior to be uncomfortable and now he was visibly squirming under their excited looks again. He smiled uneasily as he turned to Ye Rou for some form of support only to be greeted by the sight of the girl cheekily grinning behind her hand, obviously enjoying his awkwardness.

The girl was beaming so widely, her lovely dimple began to show like dew resting on a leaf. Ye Chen felt that if he poked it, it might just melt in his finger.

He could understand the difference in his people’s tone and manners. It stimulated a brand-new sense of dutiful purpose within him.

Ye Meng, who had been present in the square that day, stopped his training to greet him with a stern yet solemn “Chief.”

“Hey now, that’s not necessary Ye Meng. A simple ‘Big Brother Ye Chen’ would have sufficed,” Ye Chen said upon hearing him as he turned to the boy.

“No, that won’t do. The seniors had made it a point that a proper display of respect is asserted towards the Chief. Our clans’ codes emphasized just as much too,” Ye Meng replied. His face wore a serious expression, while the last traces of childlike innocence still lingered.

Ye Chen could only admit defeat after hearing the kid’s rationale.

To the clan, the Chief was the closest thing they had to a protective deity. He was their guardian and benefactor, one who would ensure their survival in this socially Darwinian environment, so that the clan’s bloodline would never perish. To many of the clansmen, the chief was their surrogate for the archetypal father figure; the Chief’s age hardly mattered

This was why his father and granduncle readily passed the position to him at such an early stage. They had hoped to teach Ye Chen about the responsibilities of being the Chief as early as possible.

Now that Ye Meng joined them, they entered the clan’s meeting hall. There, sixty to seventy people were already waiting for him with his father and granduncle sitting right at the back.

It took Ye Chen’s astral senses only a split second to instantly gauge everyone’s current power level. His father was just one small step away from breaking into the mid-Ninth Stage, while Uncle Ye Zhanlong, who had been stuck at the Mid-Eighth Stage for a long time, was at the peak of the Eighth Stage. His other uncle, Ye Zhanxiong, as well as three other Zhan-cohort seniors, even managed to break through into the Eighth Stage as well.

In other words, the family was now backed by two Ninth Stage and five Eighth Stage masters, who were supported by seventeen Seventh Stage and thirty-one Sixth Stage fighters!

Ye Chen shifted his attention to his two older brothers, Ye Peng and Ye Mu. He was pleased to see that they had progressed to the Mid-Sixth Stage too.

Ever since adopting the Thunder Emperor Technique as their cultivation system, the House of Ye’s combative abilities was twice as powerful as its previous strength!

However, what Ye Chen found most surprising was the fact that he could now easily assess everyone’s powers through his astral senses under such a short amount of time. He was quite delighted with the versatility of his astral powers.