Practically everyone there was waiting for something amusing to happen! They wanted to see how far the piece of trash would embarrass himself in front of everyone for overestimating his powers.
Regarding all that, Li Ye came to the awareness that he was actually very calm. He glanced across those people and felt as though they and he were in different worlds altogether. In his eyes, their jeers were laughable and did nothing to incite his anger.
"A bunch of sad and pitiful people."
His voice was not very loud but it was picked up by almost everyone there. Many began feeling unhappy.
"The hell is this? Pretentious much? What are you waiting for, Sixth Uncle? Chase this piece of trash off the stage! Don't let him bother us in an event as important as our clan's tournament!"
A young yet pride-filled voice was heard coming from among the main family descendants. Li Ye looked over and saw a fourteen or fifteen years old young man who looked very immature yet had the arrogance of a peacock.
If memory served him right, the boy was Li Huangran's second son—the younger brother of Li Xuan!
"Like father, like son; that saying seems to hold water."
Li Ye chuckled. He directed his gaze toward Sixth Master Li, curious as to what the oft-praised, honest, and impartial Sixth Master would do in such a situation.
"Get lost, you trash! You're not worthy of coming here!"
Another voice resounded once more. Li Ye looked to the direction of the voice. Instead of being from the main family, it was from one of his distant relatives. The person was one of the show-stealers earlier, as he was considered the second-best among all the distant descendants, having cultivated up to Level Six at the mere age of eighteen!
If Li Ye remembered correctly, the person's name was Li Zhongren, well-known amongst the distant descendants and reputedly one of the leading characters of that faction. Li Zhongren may be slightly weaker than one of the other distant relatives who was also at Level Six, but that other person was already twenty while Li Zhongren was only eighteen! The disparity between their ages was blatantly obvious!
Weak was not an apt description of Li Zhongren's talent even when comparing him to the main family's descendants. If anything, he ranked among the top!
Sixth Master Li was pushed to a tight spot. The demands to send Li Ye off the stage were growing in volume, making him feel rather reluctant to make a decision.
"Sixth Uncle, your humble nephew remembers that clan rules allow for anyone between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one to take this test. Have I made a mistake? Do advise, Sixth Uncle."
Li Ye spoke frankly and calmly without losing his cool from all the insults thrown at him. On the contrary, he looked unperturbed.
A bright spark appeared in Sixth Master Li's eyes after hearing what Li Ye said, but unfortunately, his voice turned gloomy as he said, "You remembered correctly. Those are the rules in the clan, but have you really given this proper thought, Li Ye?"
"Sixth Uncle, why are you talking nonsense with him? The trash is obviously here just to cause trouble. Why not just chase him away and wrap everything up already? Uncle and Grandfather are still waiting for us to return!"
The person who said that was Li Xuan's younger brother, whose name Li Ye did not know. There were too many descendants in the Li clan and not everyone knew who everyone was. In addition, Li Ye was too powerless in the past to receive any sort of recognition from the main family. They treated him as nothing more than a house dog.
"Li Ye, perhaps it's better if you get down."
Sixth Master Li advised gently without lowering himself to the standards of those youngsters. That action showed that he was not arrogant like most of the other clan members. His intention was to persuade Li Ye to leave the stage.
The crowd waited in anticipation for Li Ye's answer. Li Xuan's eyes were chock-filled with derision, as did many of the main clan's descendants. Everyone smiled mockingly and most of them from the crowd of distant descendants were awaiting a good show.
For them, it was a rare opportunity to see someone from high up in the main family hierarchy fall from grace.
Li Ye took a deep breath. With his cold gaze, he swept his eyes across the raucous crowd, leaving the majority of them feeling an indescribable coldness and sending an uncontrollable shiver throughout their bodies.
"Sixth Uncle, since the clan rules are so, is it not possible for you to give your nephew a chance?"
Li Ye's insistence caused Sixth Master's Li's expression to dim down. Feeling slightly unhappy, he flung his sleeves and said nothing more.
"Humiliating himself!"
Li Xuan chuckled coldly to himself as the situation progressed.
As for Li Ye, his expression seemed to be in a convoluted state once he stood before the huge piece of obsidian.
Although the memories in his mind were merely the result of two souls merging, he still felt as though the events of many years past were flashing before his eyes.
A stubborn young man sent punch after punch onto the obsidian. The mangled, bloody mess of his wounded hands did not stop him from continuing his punching.
Li Ye knew that those flashbacks were from his earlier soul's past experiences. The clan gave him his last chance back then but his frail body and weak constitution could not even accomplish what those Level Three descendants managed to do.
Both hands were nearly rendered useless but not a single one of his elders took pity. They ruthlessly threw him out of the clan!
A strong feeling of reluctance made Li Ye feel a shiver, and even though the soul had dissipated or perhaps subsumed into himself, it did not affect Li Ye too much.
"Now, I'm going to do it."
Li Ye uttered that. It was unknown as to who he was trying to convey that message to. Clarity and determination, however, returned to his eyes. Time changes all things, and he was no longer the same person he was in the past. His failures in the past would not necessarily carry on to the future.
"As for the things that you were unable to complete back then, I'll help you complete them now!"
The two servants then took a step back. They looked respectful, but their contempt-filled expression was rather obvious as they said to Li Ye, "Third Young Master, if you can leave a palm print here, you'll pass this round."
As the saying went, a dog threatens based on its master's power. That was the basis for why the slaves at a feudal prime minister's door had much more authority than a Rank-Four Official. They may be slaves, but some distant relatives who were not weak themselves may even fawn over the servants and try to curry favor.
"You may do so!"
Sixth Master Li urged from behind. The others fell silent, eagerly waiting for the so-called piece of trash to embarrass himself to the fullest.
"Say, do you think the trash will keep crying again like last time?"
A good few members of the crowd were having private discussions at that moment, while some snickered.
"I have no idea. Maybe he's got mental after all the provocation these past few years."
Be it the three hundred distant relatives who managed to pass the first round, or the thirty young masters and young madams that breezed through the test, everyone on stage was sneering coldly as if they were watching a clown.
"Come on now, trash! Don't waste time! Every second is precious to us young masters. We do not want you to delay us needlessly!"
Some main clan's descendants were getting impatient and began urging him.
Ignoring those people, Li Ye walked over to the obsidian and touched it—the stone was a very significant item whenever it was that time of the year.
Many uneven palm prints were stamped onto the obsidian, densely packed among one another. The prints covered practically half the stone. Generations after generations of the clan have left their legacies there.
In a conspicuous corner was a palm print that was about five or six-inches deep, and thus the clearest.
"That was left behind by your father. He wasn't even twelve yet! He's truly the most outstanding member of our clan but sadly…"
Sighs and laments were heard from behind. Li Ye said nothing and simply stretched out his hand to touch the deep palm print.
Li Kainian was barely even twelve-years-old, yet he had already left such a lasting impact toward the clan. Miracles then happened all around him, like comets bursting into existence. The curtain, however, did not close for him as fast as comets would fall.
"What state was my father in at that time?"
Li Ye knew hardly anything about that man because his memories did not reveal much.
"Martial Spirit Level Seven! And he didn't use any battle skills."
Twelve-years-old! Martial Spirit Level Seven!
Without a doubt, the most prodigious person Wu Prefecture City had seen in the last thousand years!
Li Ye nodded without much reaction. If Li Kainian had not achieved such heights, it would truly have been odd indeed.
"I only need to leave a palm print? Regardless of whether it's shallow or deep?"
"Regardless of whether it's shallow or deep!"
A question and an answer... No one believed he could succeed.
"Stop yapping! Do you really think trash like you can do that? Stop dreaming! HAHAHAH!"
Mocking laughter was heard and among the most maniacal cackling came from Li Xuan's younger brother. He was a young boy whose words were already cutting. He and his brother were clearly quite unsavory characters.
"Shut up!"
Sixth Master Li warned. He was angry and the crowd no longer dared to hurry Li Ye up. Nevertheless, they continued looking at Li Ye with contempt and scorn.
"Are you going to leave your palm prints?"
With his current level of strength, he could leave a print on the obsidian without any difficulty.
All of a sudden, he stretched out his hand and placed it on top of the obsidian, positioning it right beside the palm print that Li Kainian left all those years ago!
At that moment, those who had been laughing at him were curious to see what would happen.
Li Xuan and the rest—in particular, Li Xuan himself—seemed to be thinking about something, as a flash of acuity graced their eyes briefly.
"I'm done. Sixth Uncle, can you see if this is okay?"
Li Ye retracted his hand and commented casually, as if it was merely something trivial.
"That's all? HAHA! What a joke! This little piece of trash doesn't seem to have improved at all these past few years!"
Someone shouted without waiting for Sixth Master Li to speak up. At the same time, the two fierce-looking servants walked over and gave Li Ye a malicious smile, saying, "Third Young Master, let's go! We do not want to hurt you!"
The words from those two Level Two servants induced a burst of laughter from the crowd.
"Scram, trash! You're not fit to be here!"
Li Ye kept quiet and merely looked over to Sixth Master Li.
By then, the crowd came to their senses. Sixth Master Li's expression seemed to suggest that he was ruminating over something.
"What are you waiting for!"
Another person then shouted, prompting the two servants to make their move.
"HOLD IT!"
An abrupt loud shout was heard. The servants felt as though their ears were ringing. They saw stars but stopped short of collapsing.
"Sixth Uncle?"
A few of the main family's young masters sounded astonished as the person who ordered the servants to halt was none other than Sixth Master Li himself!
Li Ye was the only one that seemed unaffected. When he saw Sixth Master Li looking over to him, he immediately asked, "Sixth Uncle, I wonder if I've managed to pass this round?"
Sixth Master Li inhaled sharply and even the most idiotic of people would notice that something was not quite right!
Li Xuan jumped onto the stage and pushed those two servants away. Etched into his eyes was a sight that caused a dramatic change in his expression!
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Li Xuan exclaimed in shock!
The next moment, everyone noticed a palm print beside Li Kainian's. Even more surprising was the fact that the new print was nearly as deep as Li Kainian's!
The thousand-strong crowd fell into complete silence almost immediately!