Pain!
Unbearable pain!
For the first time, Ye Xuan wanted to die. Previously, it had been just superficial pain, but now, he felt as though his internal organs and meridians were shattering inch by inch. The pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced!
Endure!
Ye Xuan gritted his teeth, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. He desperately wanted to pass out, but he knew he couldn't. If he lost consciousness now, he would never wake up again.
If he didn't survive, what would happen to his sister?
She was only twelve! Would the Ye family treat her well?
Thinking of this, Ye Xuan suddenly tilted his head back and let out an angry roar. He clenched his hands tightly, his face filled with madness. "Come on! Hurt me more! Hahaha, I can take it... I... this hurts like hell, maybe just a bit lighter..."
Time passed slowly, and after who knows how long, Ye Xuan suddenly collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud. His body began convulsing, like someone in the throes of epilepsy. The convulsions continued for about a quarter of an hour before stopping, and by then, his entire body was drenched in sweat.
Lying on the ground, Ye Xuan had no strength left to even move a finger.
Meanwhile, outside the Tower of Trials, above the Ye Mansion, countless clouds suddenly gathered. Soon, rain began to fall over the Ye Mansion, while the rest of the sky remained sunny. Not only that, a rainbow quietly appeared above the mansion, followed by a second one. However, just as a third rainbow was about to form, the Tower of Trials inside Ye Xuan's body trembled slightly, and the third rainbow quietly vanished.
A heavenly omen!
The entire Qing City was shaken.
In this world, there were some extraordinary geniuses whose breakthroughs or epiphanies could trigger heavenly omens, events that were often only spoken of in legends. But now, it had happened in Qing City. At that moment, everyone's gaze in Qing City was focused on the sky above the Ye Mansion.
Within the Ye Mansion, the Great Elder led the other elders and family members into the courtyard, where they knelt down reverently. The Great Elder bowed towards the sky, excitedly exclaiming, "Thank you, heavens, for blessing the Ye family and favoring Ye Lang!"
Countless members of the Ye family knelt and bowed.
In that instant, the entire Ye Mansion was filled with jubilant celebration!
An old man looked at the heavenly omen above the Ye Mansion, his expression somewhat grim. "Ye Lang... he actually triggered a heavenly omen... Someone, summon the Zhang family head and the Li family head for a meeting."
In Qing City, countless messenger pigeons suddenly took flight, spreading out in all directions, creating a magnificent sight.
The emergence of a Chosen One in the Ye family was no secret. While Chosen Ones were rare, those who could trigger a heavenly omen were even rarer. Everyone in Qing City knew that the Ye family was destined to rise—not just in Qing City, but throughout the entire Jiang Kingdom and even all of Qingzhou.
At that moment, everyone in the Ye Mansion was almost delirious with excitement, and the Great Elder generously rewarded every member of the Ye family with an extra month's allowance. Not only that, he bypassed the family head and directly named Ye Lang as the Young Patriarch.
There was a significant difference between the Heir and the Young Patriarch. The Heir represented the younger generation of the Ye family, while the Young Patriarch meant being the true number two figure in the Ye family. Although it was an overreach of authority, the Great Elder didn't care at this moment. Ye Lang was destined to be a dragon among men, so what could the family head do?
In the future, the entire Ye family would depend on Ye Lang.
In a courtyard, Ye Lang looked up at the heavenly omen in the sky, frowning.
He had indeed broken through—from the sixth rank of the Qi Transformation Realm to the Qi Mastery Realm. But he had broken through an hour ago, and this heavenly omen had only just appeared. Thus, he wasn't entirely sure whether the omen was due to him.
After a moment, Ye Lang sneered. "If it's not because of me, who else could trigger such a heavenly omen? It seems that in this lifetime, I, Ye Lang, will surely claim a spot on the Genius Rankings!"
With that, he turned and left.
Inside the Tower of Trials, Ye Xuan lay on the ground for an unknown amount of time, until a mysterious female voice suddenly echoed in the space. "Get up and look at your body!"
Ye Xuan slowly got up and looked at his body. At that moment, he was stunned—his skin now had a faint golden sheen.
"This?" Ye Xuan looked around, confused.
The mysterious woman said, "Golden Body Realm. It means you've tempered your body to the state of a golden body. The body is the foundation. A good foundation determines how far you can go. Most people focus only on external training and ignore the internal. In fact, it's the internal that's most important. Only when your bones, tendons, and internal organs are strong enough can you withstand external destruction. Though you endured inhuman pain, you've gained significant benefits. Not just in the future, but even now, the benefits are evident."
Ye Xuan took a deep breath and slowly clenched his fists. At that moment, he felt a surge of power coursing through his body.
Feeling this, Ye Xuan was overjoyed. As the mysterious woman said, his strength now was at least double what it had been before. Not only that, his physical toughness was on a completely different level. He felt that, if he had to fight the Great Elder now, a pampered Qi Mastery Realm expert, he wouldn't feel any pressure.
As if recalling something, Ye Xuan hurriedly asked, "Senior, my sister has typhoid fever. Do you have a way to cure her?"
The mysterious woman was silent for a moment before saying, "Is it that little girl?"
Ye Xuan nodded quickly.
The mysterious woman said, "I can indeed cure her, but she cannot enter this tower."
"Why?" Ye Xuan was puzzled.
The mysterious woman explained, "The tower spirit of this tower has fallen into a deep sleep. Although it has acknowledged you as its master, you do not possess any power of the tower's laws, so you cannot bring others in. If you force someone in, the tower will instinctively eliminate anyone it has not acknowledged."
Hearing this, Ye Xuan's face darkened. It seemed he would have to take his sister to the imperial capital for treatment.
And now, he had another problem. To advance further in the Qi Mastery Realm, he needed to find spirit swords to absorb, but spirit swords were extremely rare. Not just the Ye family—even the entire Qing City probably didn't have a single one. Only in a place as prosperous as the imperial capital might there be spirit swords.
The imperial capital!
Ye Xuan murmured, "It seems I have no choice but to go to the imperial capital."
After practicing his swordsmanship for a while, Ye Xuan left the Tower of Trials.
After Ye Xuan left, a whisper suddenly echoed in the space. "That little girl... there's something strange about her..."
Ye Xuan returned to his room, and at that moment, Ye Ling walked in, her face a little sullen.
Ye Xuan smiled. "What's wrong?"
Ye Ling came up to Ye Xuan and whispered, "Brother, that Ye Lang triggered some kind of heavenly omen. Everyone in the clan is cheering for him. Plus, the Great Elder has named him the Young Patriarch, which means he'll be the next family head."
A heavenly omen?
Ye Xuan frowned. He had heard the stories—some extraordinary geniuses could trigger heavenly omens during their breakthroughs, but it had always been just a legend. Qing City had never seen such a genius before! He hadn't expected that Ye Lang would actually trigger a heavenly omen. This meant that Ye Lang was indeed exceptional.
Suddenly, Ye Ling snorted. "Whatever heavenly omen, my brother is still the best."
Ye Xuan smiled faintly. "Don't worry. The life-and-death duel between me and him is still ten days away. After that, we'll leave the Ye Mansion."
"Leave the Ye Mansion?" Ye Ling was startled, then asked, "Will we come back?"
Return?
Ye Xuan fell silent. He and Ye Ling had grown up here and considered it home. However, after recent events, he realized that he and his sister had no real standing in the eyes of the elders. If it weren't for his usefulness, they would have been long gone. Now, with someone better appearing in the Ye family, they were discarded immediately.
He had once thought that if he died, the Ye family would surely treat Ye Ling well in return for his sacrifices. But now it seemed that if he died, his sister's fate would be miserable.
Thinking of this, he shook his head with a smile and gently ruffled Ye Ling's hair. "Do you like it here?"
Ye Ling shook her head. "I used to, because you were here. But now, I don't. The family treats you unfairly. You've given so much to the family, but they treat you like this. The Great Elder and the other elders, none of them stood up for you. They're all bad."
Ye Xuan smiled faintly. "Don't worry. The world is vast, and as long as we're together, anywhere can be our home."
Ye Ling smiled sweetly, then hugged Ye Xuan tightly. "As long as I'm with you, anywhere is fine!"
Ye Xuan laughed heartily. After spending some time playing with Ye Ling, he returned to the Tower of Trials.
Cultivate!
With only ten days left until his life-and-death duel with Ye Lang, Ye Xuan didn't dare to slack off, especially now that Ye Lang had triggered the legendary heavenly omen.
Ye Xuan opened his right hand, and in his palm, a silver sword quietly formed. Looking at the sword, Ye Xuan excitedly asked, "Senior, does this mean I'm now a Sword Immortal?"
Sword Immortal?
The mysterious woman snorted. "You're still ten thousand miles away!"
Ye Xuan was stunned. "Why?"
The mysterious woman said, "Only those who comprehend Sword Intent and master the truth of the Sword Dao can be called Sword Immortals. You, right now, are not even a Sword Master. You can barely be considered a Sword Cultivator."
Ye Xuan felt a bit embarrassed.
The mysterious woman continued, "What you need to do now is become a qualified Sword Cultivator. Kid, don't say I didn't warn you—there are many Sword Cultivators, but very few Sword Immortals. In your realm, having ten Sword Immortals is already impressive. As for why, you'll understand in the future. All I can say is that the path of the Sword Dao is extremely difficult."
Ye Xuan nodded. "No matter how difficult it is, I will do my best to walk this path!"
After the events with the Ye family, Ye Xuan realized that he could never rely on the Ye family to take care of his sister.
He had to take care of her himself, and to do that, he needed to become stronger—far stronger than he was now. In this world, if you had no value, no one would care about you.
Ye Xuan gathered his thoughts and asked, "Senior, how can I become a qualified Sword Cultivator?"
The mysterious woman said, "Cut a hair in one stroke!"
Ye Xuan was slightly taken aback. "Isn't that simple?"
The mysterious woman sneered. "Try it!"
Ye Xuan pulled out a strand of his hair and slashed at it with his sword. The sword fell, and the hair shattered!
Ye Xuan was stunned. The hair shattered, but it wasn't cut clean.
At that moment, the mysterious woman's voice echoed. "Having strength is one thing, but learning to control it is another. You must master the angle, speed, and every aspect of a strike. You even have to account for wind speed. I estimate you'll need to cut tens of thousands of hairs to grasp the essence."
Ye Xuan took a deep breath. "I have plenty of hair!"
With that, Ye Xuan began practicing his slashes with fervor.
Meanwhile, outside the Tower of Trials, the Ye Mansion was filled with joy and festivity, inviting almost everyone of importance in Qing City to celebrate. Not only that, the members of the Ye family now often called themselves the number one family in Qing City.
The Ye family was at the peak of its power. Even the City Lord's Mansion, as well as the Li and Zhang families, obediently came to celebrate.
In the Ye family's reception hall, the Great Elder sat in a chair with his eyes closed, seemingly waiting for something.
At that moment, an old man entered. "Great Elder, the City Lord, along with the Li and Zhang family heads, have arrived."
The Great Elder opened his eyes and said indifferently, "Ye Yu, go tell them that I am resting and cannot see guests for the time being. I'll meet them in half an hour."
Ye Yu hesitated. "Great Elder, this..."
The Great Elder slowly closed his eyes again. "It's time they knew who the real master of Qing City is."
...