TL: Etude
"Oh? What information are we talking about?" Lin Wanli showed interest.
"Do you know of a person named Ye Tian?" Lin Ze asked.
"Ye Tian?" Lin Wanli pondered for a moment. "I have some impression. Ming Zhi mentioned him to me before. Ye Tian is extremely talented. It seems he hasn't even reached 17 years old yet but already has the strength of an elite warrior. His talent must be high-level cultivation talent, or even higher. Of course, it's also possible that he had some fortuitous opportunities, which is why he advanced so quickly."
"Big Brother, Ye Tian's talent must be above high-level cultivation talent. Otherwise, no matter how many resources he has, he wouldn't be able to improve his cultivation. After all, the lower the talent, the less efficient the refining of resources. Ye Tian is so talented that the Mo family had taken notice of him. Yesterday during the day, the Mo family sent Mo Yuan to invite Ye Tian to their home. According to Mo Yuan, the Mo family wanted to control Ye Tian. However, Ye Tian had no interest in even going to the Mo family's home. He crippled Mo Yuan on the spot and kicked him out! It was precisely because Mo Yuan was crippled that he didn't participate in last night's battle and luckily survived," Lin Ze explained.
"Interesting," Lin Wanli's interest grew. "So, you're saying that the Mo family suffered a setback with Ye Tian and would indeed take further action. But Ye Tian seems fine, while the Mo family was annihilated. Ye Tian couldn't possibly have the ability to wipe out the Mo family, but this incident might be related to him."
"Should we arrest Ye Tian?" Lin Ze asked.
"Foolish!" Lin Wanli said coldly. "Do you think that because Ye Tian is so talented, he will pose a threat to the Lin family in the future, so we should either recruit him or destroy him in advance?"
Lin Ze didn't speak, but that was indeed what he was thinking.
Lin Wanli sighed, "Lin Ze, you must understand that the world will never lack people with high talent. If we destroy everyone we see, and if we miss even one, our Lin family will be finished. For such talents, either recruit them or befriend them. Do you know about the Hai family that ruled Linhai Base fifty years ago? They were even stronger than our current Lin family, boasting ten Grand Warriors, yet they were destroyed overnight."
"The Hai family!" Lin Ze's pupils contracted, finally remembering. The Hai family was said to have been destroyed because they killed a genius with high-level cultivation talent, who was from a major base. In the end, a Grandmaster was sent, and the Hai family was annihilated.
"Big Brother, I understand now," Lin Ze said, his heart pounding.
"Good, as long as you understand," Lin Wanli said, relieved. Then he continued, "However, you should also investigate Ye Tian. Normally, we should have discovered a talent like Ye Tian quite quickly. I didn't expect that we hadn't heard of him until now. Since Ye Tian is a warrior, he must frequent the black market, and the Martial Pavilion should know him best. Our Lin family has a partnership with the Martial Pavilion; we should be able to get some information from them."
"Big Brother, I'll go to the Martial Pavilion right away," Lin Ze said hastily.
Half a day later, Lin Ze returned.
"Big Brother, I spoke to the person in charge at the Martial Pavilion, but..." Lin Ze looked somewhat grave.
"Is it that Ye Tian's identity is somewhat special?" Lin Wanli guessed.
"You're right, Big Brother," Lin Ze nodded. "Ye Tian often hunts ferocious beasts and sells them to the Martial Pavilion. The Martial Pavilion has long known that Ye Tian has the ability to kill mid-level ferocious beasts, but they never disclosed this to our major families. This is normal, as the Martial Pavilion only does business and doesn't get involved in the struggles of Linhai Base. However, this time when I went to investigate Ye Tian, I received a warning from the person in charge at the Martial Pavilion, telling us not to offend Ye Tian."
"What, could it be that Ye Tian has joined the Martial Pavilion?" Lin Wanli was surprised.
"It's not impossible. Ye Tian's talent is so high, at least on par with mine, but Ye Tian is young, highly malleable, and has a talent for speed. He has much more potential than I do. It would be quite normal for the Martial Pavilion to recruit such a talent," Lin Ze said, still in disbelief.
"No, the Martial Pavilion did indeed try to recruit Ye Tian, but he refused. However, a core talent from the Martial Pavilion headquarters in a major base had visited our Linhai Base. Before leaving, she asked the local Martial Pavilion to take care of Ye Tian," Lin Ze reported.
"A core member from a major base's Martial Pavilion? Could it be..." Lin Wanli thought of someone.
"Yes, it should be Miss Yue Ling from the Yue family. The Yue family is a massive clan with multiple Grandmasters. Sending out just one expert would be enough to sweep our Linhai Base. I didn't expect that Miss Yue Ling actually knows Ye Tian, and it seems they have a good relationship. With this background, if anyone in Linhai Base wants to deal with Ye Tian, they might have to face the wrath of the Yue family," Lin Ze said, shuddering at the thought.
"Thank goodness for Big Brother's reminder. Otherwise, if I had tried some small tricks against Ye Tian behind the scenes, our Lin family would be finished," Lin Ze thought, suddenly recalling the Mo family.
"Big Brother, do you think the Mo family was destroyed because..." Lin Ze began, but Lin Wanli quickly interrupted him.
"Remember, let this matter pass. It's not something we can discuss. As for the remaining members of the Mo family, let them fend for themselves. Linhai Base won't miss one Mo family," Lin Wanli ordered.
"Yes," Lin Ze complied.
At that moment, Lin Wanli sighed, "Our real problem is still Tieya Base. Tieya Base is a medium-sized base with two Grandmasters and a population of 600,000. They have countless resources around their base, yet they promised our Lin family many benefits to open this trade route. Their purpose is not so simple. But we can't refuse, otherwise, we'll offend Tieya Base."
"Do you think Tieya Base wants to attack us?" Lin Ze frowned.
"That won't happen. The major bases are not allowed to fight among themselves; it's a rule. Even large bases can't violate it. Tieya Base doesn't have the guts for that. But it's hard to say what else Tieya Base might be thinking. I've already sent people to infiltrate Tieya Base; we should hear news soon," Lin Wanli said softly.
"I hope nothing unexpected happens," Lin Ze hoped.
...
In the blink of an eye, a week passed. Ye Tian found that nothing had happened, not even the Lin family had sent anyone. This was undoubtedly good news; without any trouble, he could focus on his cultivation.
Additionally, during this time, he had purchased many supplements from the black market that could promote the growth of teenagers. These supplements could allow young boys and girls to cultivate a few months or even a year in advance without damaging their foundations. Many large families used this method to allow their talented young members to start cultivating earlier.
Ye Tian had also given quite a few of these to Ye Yu. After testing, it was finally confirmed that Ye Yu could now begin cultivating.