“A few days ago, Ye Yuan was still sending people to the Ye family regularly, but ever since the Cangyan Sect set their sights on us, she hasn’t come back at all,” the Grand Elder said with a shake of his head. “Still, I suppose I can understand. The Qianyuan Sect is on a whole other continent—even a Transcendance Tribulation stage expert would need a full month to make the round trip. She’s afraid of offending the Cangyan Sect, and even more afraid of getting tangled up with the Ye family again. I get it.”
If Ye Yuan hadn’t acted this way this time, the Grand Elder might have still been able to forgive her past mistakes.
But now? He wanted nothing more to do with her.
“I won’t forget that you took the risk to come warn us,” the Grand Elder said, fixing his gaze firmly on the City Lord of Xuan Yuan. “But this time, the Ye family will not be forced to uproot and flee like we did before!”
In the past, the Grand Elder wouldn’t have had this kind of confidence.
But things were different now—they had Ye Shaohua!
He had witnessed her progress over the years. Setting aside immortal artifacts, even the spiritual tools she forged would send the cultivation world into a frenzy the moment they surfaced.
Leave this place?
The Grand Elder let out a cold laugh. Why should they leave?
The ancestors were watching over them, blessing the Ye family with a once-in-a-generation genius.
Twenty thousand years ago, the Ye family couldn’t survive on this continent. A clan of ten thousand was reduced to just a few hundred souls, and their ancestral treasures were plundered!
The Cangyan Sect!
Of all people, it was the Cangyan Sect again!
A flash of maddening bloodlust crept into the Grand Elder’s eyes.
If the Cangyan Sect thought they could force the Ye family into hiding once more, they were sorely mistaken!
The cultivation world was no longer what it had been twenty thousand years ago, when divine artifacts still existed. After that great war, even immortal artifacts numbered only a handful. But the Ye family… the Ye family would still be the clan that possessed dozens of immortal artifacts!
The City Lord of Xuan Yuan didn’t know why, but the Grand Elder—usually so aloof and detached from worldly affairs—was now showing such raw emotion. He stood there, stunned for a long moment before finally snapping out of it.
In a daze, he made his way back to the City Lord’s residence.
Meanwhile, Ye Shuang and Ye Tian had been keeping a close eye on the City Lord of Xuan Yuan.
The moment they found out he had secretly visited the Ye family, they rushed to tattle to Ye Yuan.
“Let him talk,” Ye Yuan said dismissively, waving a hand. Her eyes turned cold. “The Cangyan Sect has already surrounded the Ye family. And those people have never been known for their patience—anyone who provokes them usually doesn’t last ten days.”
They might hesitate because of Liu Yunchen, but Liu Yunchen definitely wouldn’t make it back in time.
By the time he returned, the Cangyan Sect would have already wiped out the Ye family.
And would a Transcendance Tribulation stage cultivator like Liu Yunchen really go to war with the Cangyan Sect over a minor family like the Ye family?!
Ye Shuang let out a breath of relief upon hearing Ye Yuan’s words, then quietly withdrew.
Watching their expressions, Ye Yuan let out a low chuckle.
A flicker of mockery crossed her eyes.
This time, no one could blame her. In her past life, Ye Shaohua had married Xuan Yuan Che, and they became a legendary immortal couple. But in this life, without Xuan Yuan Che, Ye Shaohua was going to marry a Transcendance Tribulation stage cultivator instead!
Ye Yuan had schemed and plotted so much, all to crush Ye Shaohua beneath her feet.
And yet, in the end, Ye Shaohua still managed to stand above her!
In this life, Ye Shaohua was inferior to her in every way—so what gave her the right?
The Grand Elder and the others were so biased!
Ye Yuan simply refused to believe that the Grand Elder and the others didn’t know about Liu Yunchen’s true strength. If they had told her the truth back when she was about to get together with Xuan Yuan Che, she never would have made that choice!
But no—the Grand Elder had just watched her get engaged to Xuan Yuan Che without even trying to stop her!
Still, having been reborn once, Ye Yuan wasn’t the hysterical type anymore. She kept most of her emotions buried deep inside.
This time was no different.
With Liu Yunchen away, the Ye family was doomed against the Cangyan Sect—and Ye Yuan had no intention of lifting a finger to help.
She was secretly hoping Ye Shaohua would die, so she could finally step into the spotlight. Having lived a second life, she knew the locations of many ancient caves and ruins, and she was convinced that with her charm, she could make Liu Yunchen see her in a whole new light.
Ye Yuan had all sorts of grand visions running through her head—but the Ye family had no clue about any of them.
“That Ye Yuan—the moment she left the Ye family with Ye Shuang, I knew she had ill intentions,” the Second Elder said with a cold sneer. “Good riddance. Now no one in the clan who still associates with her will even think about bringing her back!”
At those words, the younger members of the Ye family standing in the hall lowered their heads in shame, not uttering a single word.
A faint sense of guilt toward Ye Yuan stirred in their hearts.
They remembered how she had abandoned the Ye family back then. If not for Ye Shaohua, who knew where they’d be now?
All the goodwill they’d once felt toward Ye Yuan—who had always been so eager to curry favor—evaporated in an instant.
Seeing the shift in the younger generation’s eyes, the Grand Elder finally looked away. “Alright, everyone go back. These next few days will be tough—sleep on the floor in the main hall and don’t go outside.”
“Thinking about all that now is probably too little, too late.” The Grand Elder had barely finished speaking when an elderly man with ashen hair and eyes as sharp as a viper’s stepped in through the main entrance.
Several imposing figures followed close behind him.
“You’re from the Cangyan Sect?” the Grand Elder asked, staring at the old man.
This old man was an elder of the Cangyan Sect. He was immensely powerful and paid no heed to the Grand Elder or the younger members of the Ye family.
He didn’t even bother acknowledging the Grand Elder’s question.
“I sense a dense, potent aura,” the Cangyan Sect elder said, his gaze fixed directly on the direction of Ye Shaohua’s secluded cultivation chamber. He turned to the Grand Elder and said, “I’d rather not force my way in—it wouldn’t be pretty. I suggest you cooperate and tell me how to get inside. If I have to use force, I’m afraid not a single member of the Ye family will be left standing.”
Ye Shuang—who had led the Cangyan Sect elder in—peeked out from behind the group. “Grand Elder, just tell him. Do it for the sake of the Ye family.”
“A traitor! Another traitor!” The Grand Elder let out a booming laugh, his eyes reddening. “Cangyan Sect, I should thank you! Without you, we never would have uncovered all these snakes hiding among us!”
“But what a pity! If you think you can lay a finger on Shaohua, you’re sorely mistaken!” The Grand Elder’s eyes were now so bloodshot that tears of blood were starting to form.
Even the Second Elder beside him noticed something was wrong.
Before he could react, the Grand Elder had already summoned a defensive spiritual tool that Ye Shaohua had left him. He declared with solemn resolve: “I offer my very soul to this artifact! May its spirit protect the Ye family!”
“Shaohua, I know you can hear me! Remember this—do not grieve for my death! Your Grand Elder has only one wish in this life: to take back the Annihilation Sky Spear—the ancestral immortal artifact that the Cangyan Sect stole from our Ye family!”
This declining cultivation world was due for a reckoning. The Ye family had once dominated the cultivation world, and they would do it again!
