Chapter 314 - 286: The Pinned-Down Ye Family

Chapter 314: Chapter 286: The Pinned-Down Ye Family

"What’s going on? Why haven’t we heard anything yet?"

The cultivators of the Ye Clan, following close behind, were all bewildered.

They had traveled all this way without a single sign of a struggle.

"Has he still not caught up?"

Ye Xingwang, his face filled with Evil Qi, ground his teeth.

The plan was for Ye Leyou to go on ahead, partly to intercept Chen Che early, and partly to make their target lower his guard, thinking only one person was in pursuit. Meanwhile, the rest of them would follow behind, deploying their forces to cut off any escape.

"Could something have gone wrong?"

As they flew at high speed, Ye Juming’s brow furrowed.

An ominous feeling bloomed in his heart.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Third Brother’s strength is plain for all to see. Even if he’s no match for that brat, he should be able to hold him up for a while. Maybe he just hasn’t found an opening to strike. We need to hurry and catch up! We can’t let that brat escape!"

Ye Leyou’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was burning with impatience.

Without waiting for a response, his True Essence flared and he shot off in pursuit.

Seeing this, the others also channeled their True Essence and followed suit, crossing the mountain ridge in the blink of an eye.

’They really think highly of me. This is quite the reception.’

Chen Che’s expression was calm as he watched them fly overhead.

In addition to Ye Juming and the other Elders from before, there were over a dozen Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer Great Cultivators with them.

Including the Foundation Establishment Great Demons that followed them, their forces were several times larger than the group he had faced when he killed Ye Jiuming.

Clearly, after being extorted by him, the Ye Family was desperate to take him down.

’Originally, I’d planned to wipe them all out if the Ye Family sent a smaller pursuing force.’

’But a force of this size is beyond my current capabilities.’

’Still, killing one of them makes it worth it.’

He glanced at the lifeless body of Ye Leyou and swiftly looted the corpse. Then he summoned a ball of Spiritual Fire, incinerating even the man’s Divine Soul before soaring into the air.

...

「More than half a day later.」

Chen Che took a long detour before returning to Jinyun Valley.

He did not go to the Primordial Sect.

The Ye Clan had been established for ages and had vast connections; they were sure to have spies within the Primordial Sect.

’Anyway, I have the body. I can turn it in for the reward whenever I want.’

He had barely returned to Jinyun Valley when Ye Juming arrived, having heard the news. But Ye Juming didn’t enter the valley. He merely circled in the air a few times, his expression so grim it looked like it could drip water.

Clearly, he knew about Ye Leyou’s death.

When Chen Che spotted him, he enthusiastically invited Ye Juming into the valley for a chat.

Ye Juming, however, refused every invitation. He had no intention of staying and wasn’t even in the mood for small talk. With a curt "farewell," he departed in a fury.

’What a pity!’

Chen Che clicked his tongue.

’If Ye Juming had entered the valley, I could have killed him without a trace. A shame he refused to come in, no matter what. I had no reason to force him to stay, either; that would just give others ammunition against me.’

’Those are the rules in this world. If you want to attack someone, you first need to have the moral high ground.’

’Those who don’t are just Evil Cultivators.’

’The Ye Family definitely won’t let this go, but they can’t do anything to me openly.’

Chen Che sank into thought as he watched the man depart.

’That’s without factoring in their Golden Core True Master... but if a Golden Core cultivator were to launch a direct assault on Jinyun Valley, it would certainly draw the intervention of the Primordial Sect.’

’I should focus on the present. If either Jinyun Valley or the Meng Family could produce one more Core Formation Cultivator, it would make the Ye Family think twice.’

’Aside from my own Cultivation, I need to figure out how to refine the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill as soon as possible.’

...

「Half a month later.」

Seated cross-legged, Chen Che exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Through relentless practice, he had finally managed to increase his success rate with the Yang God Pill to seventy percent, but he’d made no progress on the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill.

The materials for the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill were expensive, and he had to gather them all himself.

That wasn’t the case for the Yang God Pill.

The Great Chen Royal Family supplied its materials.

However, by using the Yang God Pill as a foundation, he gradually gained some experience in refining Tier Three Middle Grade Elixirs.

Of course, the past half-month had not been entirely peaceful.

The very night he killed Ye Leyou, the Wuyin Ore Mine was attacked. Hundreds of Loose Cultivators were killed, leaving behind nothing but desiccated corpses.

Clearly, his opponents intended to commit all sorts of atrocities under the name of "Xiao Chan."

In response, Chen Che had no choice but to increase the bounty on Xiao Chan.

The very next day, a force of forty to fifty Foundation Establishment Great Demons and hundreds of Qi Refining Spiritual Birds stormed the Ye Family’s third-largest spirit garden. The Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer Major Cultivator guarding the Spirit Medicine Garden was killed in the line of duty.

All the Medicinal Herbs in the garden were plundered, and less than ten percent of the clan members stationed there survived.

To the low-level Loose Cultivators...

...these two tragedies—one man-made, the other a natural disaster—seemed completely unrelated.

They became a topic of idle gossip.

During these discussions, people couldn’t help but sigh:

"Even a family as powerful as the Ye Clan can fall victim to a beast tide..."

...

「Meanwhile.」

In the Ye Family’s Jade Pavilion.

"What should we do? Do we keep fighting?"

"Fight how? The Demon Beasts for a thousand li around Wangxian Ridge were wiped out long ago; a beast tide is impossible. Besides, the attackers were all Spiritual Birds. Everyone knows Chen Che’s Spirit Pet is a raptor! This is obviously his retaliation!"

"Assassination?"

"You want to try? Ancestor Jiuming is dead, and now Third Brother is missing. To kill him, the four of us would have to go together, at least."

"So... we just swallow this?"

No one spoke.

A long silence was broken only by a sigh.

...

「Ze State, Marsh Forest.」

Fluorescent runes danced in the air like a celestial canopy, blanketing the surroundings.

Two Soul-Calling Banners, one black and one gray, rippled as if in a phantom wind.

The black banner seemed domineering.

The Ash Banner seemed rather eerie.

Xiao Chan sat cross-legged before them, his hands a blur as he formed one Seal Technique after another.

With a WHOOSH, the black banner flew up and swallowed the Ash Banner whole. Streams of gray light poured from its surface as if in a desperate struggle, but it was no use. The gray light was relentlessly consumed.

With a RUSTLE, the banner’s surface grew darker still, becoming as black as ink or the night sky itself. A Cultivator below the Foundation Establishment Realm would have their Divine Soul devoured instantly just by looking at it.

The banner’s pole then twitched, spitting out a few impurities.

At the same time, the jade pole grew even more translucent and lustrous.

Xiao Chan grasped the Soul-Calling Banner. After examining it for a moment, he waved it sharply. From beneath the Marsh Forest, countless phantoms—some transparent, some fractured—surged upward like a river. They swirled in mid-air before being devoured by the banner.

’It’s done!’

He put away the Soul-Calling Banner, carefully wrapped it in a length of Black Silk, and transformed into a black streak of light, speeding out of Ze State.

...

"Mother, my Realm has stabilized."

「Shuzhou.」

Lu Ping’an opened his eyes. His Soul Body had solidified.

He no longer feared sunlight, and his appearance was even beginning to revert to a more youthful state.

Sixth Layer Qi Refining in just half a year.

His progress was astonishingly fast. Clearly, the battlefields of the Mortal World were fueling his Cultivation speed.

"This is a Magical Artifact I brought back from Jinyun Valley. Given your current Cultivation Realm, you might not be able to use it yet, but wearing an artifact like this will help condense your Soul Body."

Lu Qinglian reached out and hung the Bone Bell around Lu Ping’an’s neck.

"Mother, I..."

Lu Ping’an choked up, unable to speak.

Lu Qinglian patted his shoulder and said in a heartfelt tone,

"You don’t have to say anything. Just focus on your Cultivation from now on."

...

「Hunzhou, the Imperial Mausoleum.」

Chen Yin continuously formed Seal Techniques, sending one rune after another onto the Yin Dragon Skeleton.

Each rune seared itself into the bone as if it were an engraving.

Ever since returning from Ze State, he had been refining the Dragon Bone he’d obtained from Ye Jiuming.

The runes were pitch-black. The Yin Dragon Skeleton before him, once the color of white jade, was now turning an inky black. He didn’t stop until his energy was completely exhausted.

He gazed at the Yin Dragon Skeleton, his fists clenching as he mused to himself,

’I will achieve Core Formation!’

...

’They stopped just like that?’

In the blink of an eye, another half-month went by.

During this period, Chen Che had ordered the various clans to remain vigilant to avoid further attacks.

But as time went on, the Ye Family’s second wave of retaliation never came.

As he stepped out of his courtyard...

...Meng Changyuan arrived, riding a large snake. He brought a message from Meng Changtu.

The message stated that:

The Ye Clan members who had been recalled had returned to their posts, and their state of combat readiness had been lifted. It was clear they weren’t planning to continue the fight. The message also advised Chen Che to quit while he was ahead and not to push the Ye Family to the breaking point.

Ultimately, Jinyun Valley’s retaliation had been far more swift and vicious than they had anticipated, which was what forced the Ye Family to back down. If the counterattack had been even slightly delayed or less ferocious...

...the Ye Family would certainly not have given up so easily.

Of course, there was another reason the Ye Family had backed down: the Meng Family had started to mobilize.

The Meng Family had immediately recalled their scattered Foundation Establishment Cultivators. This move made the Ye Family realize that if they pressed on, they would likely face a combined assault from two great Foundation Establishment Races.

With the Ye Family’s resources, they would surely win in a protracted conflict.

But they would suffer grievous losses in the process.

After hearing the message, Chen Che couldn’t help but wonder,

’Are they waiting for the Ye Family’s old ancestor to return? But by then, Thousand Eyes will be back too...’

The Ye Family’s decision was a good thing for him.

Because he also needed enough time to refine the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill.

And so, before the outside world could even react, both sides came to a tacit understanding and ceased hostilities.

Of course, the feud between them had been irrevocably forged.

Should they ever drop all pretense of civility, a bloodbath between the two—or even three—factions would be inevitable!