The Grand Elder hadn’t yet bound the flying sword to himself, so the Second Elder was able to channel his spiritual energy into it as well.
The moment the flying sword touched his hand, he knew it was no ordinary object.
The Second Elder stammered, “A t-treasure-grade artifact?! Grand Elder, where did you get this treasure-grade artifact?!”
He was, of course, aware of the clan’s heirloom treasure-grade artifact, but he was certain this wasn’t that one.
“I’m telling only you about this—Shaohua forged it. Her talent is far greater than I ever imagined,” the Grand Elder said solemnly, looking directly at the Second Elder. “Until she’s fully grown, I hope you’ll keep this to yourself.”
The Second Elder had already been shocked once before by her spiritual power.
Now, hearing that Ye Shaohua had actually forged a treasure-grade artifact, he was at a complete loss for words.
He thought back to how Ye Yuan had come to the Ye family flaunting a single treasure-grade artifact like she’d won the lottery.
At this moment, his feelings were… complicated.
That complicated feeling would reach its peak three months later, when every single member of the Elders’ Council had a treasure-grade artifact in hand.
But that’s a story for another time.
“Also, let’s not talk about Ye Yuan anymore,” the Grand Elder said with a cold laugh. “There’s something I need to tell you. Before Ye Yuan left the Ye family, she’d already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining. She thought she was hiding it well, but she never escaped my notice. That girl’s full of schemes and trouble—she was never suited to stay in the Ye family. That’s why I didn’t stop her when she wanted to leave. She’s indeed a rare genius, I won’t deny that.”
The Grand Elder still possessed what little remained of the Ye family’s legacy. Ye Yuan, believing herself to be reborn and thinking no one could see through her, had no idea that the Grand Elder still had some tricks up his sleeve. Her little deceptions were child’s play in his eyes.
In truth, the Grand Elder hadn’t let Ye Yuan leave because of Ye Shaohua at all.
Hearing this, the Second Elder was stunned by Ye Yuan’s cultivation speed.
But now, it was just a moment of surprise. There was no trace of envy or anything else in his eyes. Instead, he chuckled. “So what if she’s a genius? Our family has a forger!”
The cultivation world had been in decline for a long time now, and the number of forgers on the continent was dwindling.
These days, there were hardly any who could even forge spirit-grade artifacts.
And yet, right here in their Ye family, there was one—not even sixteen years old—who could already forge treasure-grade artifacts.
The Second Elder couldn’t even begin to imagine what heights she would eventually reach.
“Ye Shuang must have known Ye Yuan was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, which is why he followed her when she left,” the Second Elder mused, then chuckled. “But he certainly has no idea what he missed out on by walking out of the Ye family.”
The Grand Elder glanced at the Second Elder, who had come in looking so worried but was now wearing a rather smug expression. He rolled his eyes and couldn’t be bothered with him.
With her formidable spiritual power, Ye Shaohua made astonishing progress in the art of formations.
Thirty years later—three years in the outside world—she had forged a spirit-grade artifact.
She had since moved out of her old courtyard.
She’d built herself a temporary dwelling inside a mountain within the city, and no one dared disturb her within a radius of ten meters.
Scattered all around her dwelling were piles of discarded weapons.
If any cultivator were to see them, they’d be absolutely stunned.
Every single one of them was a treasure-grade artifact!
And not just any—high-quality ones at that!
However—
To Ye Shaohua, they were all failed spirit-grade artifacts that hadn’t turned out right, so she’d tossed them aside without a second thought.
In front of her dwelling was the training ground where the younger members of the Ye family practiced. She’d also set up formations there, and half of those young disciples now wielded treasure-grade artifacts.
To be honest, when the very first person got a treasure-grade artifact, the younger Ye family members had gone completely wild with excitement.
After all, before that, only Ye Yuan had received one as a reward from the Xuan Yue Sect.
But they never expected that outside Ye Shaohua’s dwelling would be littered with so many top-grade treasure-grade artifacts!
These were top-grade treasure-grade artifacts—the kind that even Golden Core cultivators would fight tooth and nail over!
Their offensive power could even surpass lower-grade spirit artifacts!
And every month, these young disciples had a chance to challenge the formations Ye Shaohua had set up. If they could clear the formations and pass the trials, they’d be allowed to pick up one of the treasure-grade artifacts scattered outside her door.
Because of this, the younger disciples trained like mad. Compared to their lazy, aimless days before, they now had a clear goal.
Not to mention that this time, spirit-grade artifacts had also appeared outside her dwelling.
Those who already had treasure-grade artifacts were itching to make their move too—everyone wanted to be the first to claim a spirit-grade artifact.
By now, they were no longer surprised that the Ye family had spirit-grade artifacts. After all, something as precious as a treasure-grade artifact was treated like garbage and tossed outside Ye Shaohua’s door.
If one day their Ye family produced an immortal-grade artifact, they probably wouldn’t even bat an eye.
The younger disciples were all thinking the same thing: no matter what, they had to get a spirit-grade artifact or a treasure-grade artifact this time.
Meanwhile, back at the main Ye family estate.
Three years had passed. Ye Yuan had already reached Foundation Establishment and was now pushing toward the Golden Core stage.
This time, she’d come back with Xuan Yuanche to celebrate the City Lord of Xuan Yuan’s birthday. At her current level, she looked down on the Ye family.
And Ye Shuang, who had hitched his wagon to her star, had brought his son back to the Ye family, ostensibly to visit relatives and offer gifts. But everyone knew he was really just showing off—because his son, Ye Tian, had followed Ye Yuan and managed to obtain a lower-grade treasure-grade artifact.
How could Ye Shuang not be smug?
He’d been a nobody in the Ye family before, so he’d followed Ye Yuan without a second thought. And it turned out he’d made the right bet.
“Why is the Ye family entrance so deserted?” Ye Tian glanced at the two guards at the gate, each holding a flying sword, and let out a scoff. “Don’t tell me everyone’s left the Ye family? I didn’t realize that without Yuan’er, the Ye family would fall this low. If they’d known this would happen, they should’ve treated her better. And Yuan’er’s still kind enough to have us bring two magical artifacts as gifts.”
Ye Shuang chuckled as well. Though he wasn’t as terrifyingly powerful as Ye Yuan, he’d still risen to a position far above the Ye family.
Now, he wasn’t even afraid of the Grand Elder.
With that thought, he looked down his nose at the two gate guards. “You two, go inform the Grand Elder that I, Ye Shuang, have returned—and that I’ve brought two precious mid-grade magical artifacts for the Ye family.”
