Chapter 53 - The Second Challenge (2/2)

Initially, Yun Yiyang had intentionally crippled Ye Chen’s meridian channels for a specific cause. Given that Ye Chen was Ye Zhantian’s beloved son, he had hope that doing so would enrage Ye Zhantian further and cause him to go on a revenge spree, which would put the Ye and Yun Clan at a decisive battle. With Ye Chen crippled, Ye Zhantian would have ingested countless pills which meant that the Ye Clan would have little resources and therefore, little power to retaliate. Yun Yiyang would have never guessed that karma would bite him in the back.

Yun Yiyang was a little disturbed by the fact the Ye Clan had a powerful figure backing them up. Regardless, he chose not to believe the claims at this point, for now at least!

“If Ye Chen is placed under Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s protection, we’ll never be able to mess with the Ye Clan ever again.”

“Ye Chen’s already at the top of rank eight. If we let him escape alive, our clan will pay the price!” Yun Yiyang added. He now realized just how much danger the Yun Clan was in and was beginning to take things very seriously.

“What are we going to do?” Yun Yixuan had an idea of his own but he was waiting to hear Yun Yiyang’s thoughts.

“The best defense is a good offense. No time to waste. Get Niu Er and the rest to inform the Second-Rank Prince of Donglin of the ongoing situation as well as get the prince to send us some strong reinforcements. Ye Zhantian went to the palace to request for some medicines but the prince has brushed him off. That alone is a massive humiliation to the Ye Clan. If Master Apothecary Xuanyi notices Ye Chen, the clan will prosper, which means the Second-rank Prince of Donglin would be in deep trouble too!” Yun Yiyang’s voice was stern. No matter what happened, he was going to involve the prince!

“At once.” Yun Yixuan nodded his head and made his way hastily.

Ye Chen glanced at Yun Yixuan from the back. He had heard the conversation between Yun Yixuan and Yun Yiyang very clearly. Ye Chen was worried. It looked like the Yun Clan had been coming up with plans for days to take down the Ye Clan. First, they crippled his meridian channels, causing the clan to suffer a great loss in their finances. They also created a rift between the two clans by murdering Yun Laoliu and taking away the clan’s mines. Now, the Yun Clan was trying to assassinate either one of them during the Grand Martial Tournament of the Eighteen Houses of Lianyun. Regardless of whether Yun Yiyang had shown his true power, the Yun Clan would still make their move in the few days to come. Ye Chen wondered who Niu Er was and what business did he have with the Yun Clan. Were they looking to assassinate him and grandpa or are they looking to siege the Ye Castle?

Whatever it was, Ye Chen and his grandpa had to return, fast!

The Yun Clan may have planned things through but they certainly would not be able to execute them in a mere day or two. Plus, those powerful reinforcements sent by the Second-rank Prince of Donglin would take two to three days to arrive. For now, the plan was to ace Master Li’s test, get the remaining Earth Quintessence Pill, and then plan accordingly!

The crowd placed their focus on the test before them. Apart from the few insiders who knew about the feud between the Ye Clan and the Yun Clan, the rest were oblivious to their conflict, which had gone to the point of no return.

The test was rather peculiar. It consisted of placing some powder on the table, lifting one’s hand two inches above the powder, and using their Celestial Chi to draw a picture. The more detailed and intricate the picture was, the more likely the person would win. The test may seem easy but it was certainly difficult to perform. Even those who had displayed great control over their Celestial Chi would find it difficult to gather their Celestial Chi and draw a picture mid-air.

Upon hearing the manner of the test, the crowd broke into a cold sweat. They wondered if anyone in the crowd could meet Master Li’s requirements. Celestial Chi could be cultivated and boosted through the use of medicinal pills but possessing a great control over Celestial Chi was a strict case of raw talents.

A group of youngsters took their numbers and were separated into seven groups. Ye Chen was placed in the sixth group.

“Let’s begin. The first group to the front!” A Yun Clan member called out.

A group of ten youngsters walked toward their designated table and placed their hands two inches above the table.

“You have a time limit of a hundred and twenty breath counts. You may begin.”

The bunch of youngsters channeled their Celestial Chi. Attempting to condense their Celestial Chi into a localized spot was an extremely difficult task, what more with using the chi the draw. Beads of sweat began to appear on each youngster’s forehead.

Not one in the crowd dared breathe heavily as they feared that a single breeze would easily destroy the youngsters’ artwork.