Ye Xuan nodded honestly. "Yes, I want to go. The Gongsun family should have a Secret Realm, right?"
Gongsun Wenjin rolled his eyes at him. "Of course we do, and more than one. Our Gongsun family has a total of three Secret Realms, ranging from One-Star to Three-Star."
Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up. "Is there a difference?"
"In a One-Star Secret Realm, the highest level of Beasts is only level four, which is equivalent to the Super Spirit Realm.
"In a Two-Star Secret Realm, the highest level for Beasts is level five.
"The Three-Star Secret Realm is terrifying. The highest level for Beasts there is level six, which is equivalent to a Cultivator in the Earth Spirit Realm."
The light in Ye Xuan’s eyes grew even more intense. "Grandfather, does the Three-Star Secret Realm have the most Wild Beasts?"
"It does have quite a few, because the Three-Star Secret Realm only opens once every ten years."
"Ten years?"
The light in Ye Xuan’s eyes burned even brighter. Opening once every ten years was fantastic! This meant there had to be an abundance of Wild Beasts. He asked again, "Then when is the next opening?"
"What, you want to go to the Three-Star Secret Realm? You young people all want to head there. But unfortunately, the Three-Star Secret Realm isn’t a place you can just enter whenever you please. When the opening day arrives, it is generally the Elders and high-ranking members of our Gongsun family who go in. They capture high-level Wild Beasts for you, obtain Beast Pills, and then place them in the reward treasury. Everyone in the Gongsun family can then use their family points to exchange for the resources they want."
"Family points..."
Ye Xuan had been staying with the Gongsun family for a while now, so he had a general understanding of their management system. Whether one was from the Direct Lineage or the Side Branches, obtaining resources required Contribution Points!
There were many ways to earn Contribution Points. For example, entering a Secret Realm to hunt Beasts would yield Contribution Points corresponding to the Beast’s value. However, the number of times one could enter a Secret Realm each year was limited; too many entries would disrupt the ecological balance within. Therefore, one could also earn Contribution Points by completing tasks.
These tasks could range from cultivating a Spirit Grass or delivering a letter, to hunting down bandits in a certain area. The Contribution Points rewarded depended on the difficulty of the task. The highest level was an SSS-rank task, which, once completed, could be exchanged for a massive amount of Contribution Points.
For a Cultivator, completing tasks was like a schoolchild doing homework. Gifted children with good grades could finish their assignments at lightning speed, knowing the answer with just a glance. Meanwhile, untalented children could rack their brains and still only manage to write down a single word. As a result, geniuses grew increasingly stronger, while the mediocre struggled just to march in place.
"Grandfather, are you saying that even if I go to a Secret Realm, I can only enter the Two-Star one?"
"Correct, but it will still be some time before the Two-Star Secret Realm opens."
"Still some time? I understand. Grandfather, is there anything else? If not, I’ll be taking my leave."
This time, Ye Xuan had only come to inquire about the Gongsun family’s Secret Realms. It would be best if he could enter, but if not, he could only wait.
"Nothing else. You may go."
"Then I’ll be off, Grandfather. Please have someone loosen the soil in Second Uncle’s courtyard. When the time comes, I’ll try to see if I can store the tree directly into my Storage Ring."
Gongsun Wenjin laughed. "With your cultivation base, you want to store such a massive object? You really have no self-awareness, kid."
A Cultivator’s Storage Ring or Qiankun Bag could indeed store items, but most of them were small objects. Moreover, one had to physically touch the item so that their Mental Power could attach to it. The larger the item, the higher the requirement for Mental Power. Generally speaking, the stronger a Cultivator was, the stronger their Mental Power would be. A cultivation base at the Super Spirit Realm might not be considered weak, but it was definitely not strong either. Attempting to store a twenty-meter-tall tree with such a cultivation base was simply a pipe dream! A twenty-meter-tall tree with luxuriant foliage was so massive that even Gongsun Wenjin’s Mental Power could not completely cover it.
Hearing Gongsun Wenjin’s words, Ye Xuan didn’t retort. He didn’t want to draw too much attention anyway. He simply replied, "In that case, Grandfather, please find someone to transport it back to the Ye family for me."
"I knew it. I guessed you would want to transport the tree back to the Ye family. What, can’t my place keep you here? Is a city really inferior to a tiny One-Star Main Town?"
Ye Xuan smiled. "A city is great, but at the end of the day, it isn’t my home."
Gongsun Wenjin glared at him. "Who says this isn’t your home? As long as you wish, you can live here from now on. Your grandfather’s home is your home too."
"I appreciate your kindness, Grandfather. But as the saying goes, be it a golden palace or a silver mansion, there’s no place like one’s own humble home. Besides, my dream is to develop the Ye family. If possible, I also want the Ye family to govern a city."
Ye Xuan’s voice was firm and resonant. Having seen the prosperity of a city, how could he be confined to a mere Main Town?
PFFT.
After Ye Xuan finished speaking, Gongsun Wenjin ultimately failed to hold back and burst out laughing. "You want to govern a city?"
Ye Xuan asked in confusion, "What is it, Grandfather? Is it impossible?"
"It’s an ambitious goal. But do you have any idea how difficult it is to govern a city?"
Ye Xuan merely replied calmly, "If I can’t even accomplish this, what right do I have to go to that place..."
He turned his gaze out the window, looking toward the direction of the Profound Cloud Sect.
"That place?" Gongsun Wenjin didn’t know what Ye Xuan was talking about, but he didn’t probe further. Instead, he shook his head and said with absolute certainty, "You really won’t be able to do it."
"Why?" Ye Xuan frowned, not understanding why his grandfather was so sure.
"Didn’t I just say it? It’s too difficult! Do you know how many cities there are in the Moyue Kingdom?"
"I think it’s over a hundred, though I haven’t looked into the details," Ye Xuan replied honestly. He truly didn’t know how many cities the Moyue Kingdom had. His current level was far too low, so even if he knew, it wouldn’t be of any use.
Gongsun Wenjin shook his head. "Let me tell you. The Moyue Kingdom has a total of one hundred and sixteen cities. There are eight Main Cities and one hundred and eight Sub-Cities."
"There are Main Cities too?"
"Of course. The eight Main Cities control the resources of the realm, and all Sub-Cities are governed by them. Those who can become Main City Lords are not only incredibly powerful but also deeply trusted by the royal family. Otherwise, how could they become regional lords? As for the remaining one hundred and eight Sub-Cities, they are ranked from One-Star to Three-Star based on their strength, with One-Star being the weakest and Three-Star being the strongest. Even though our Dapeng City is powerful, it is still only a One-Star City! Even so, do you really think you have the qualifications to replace the Gongsun family and take control of Dapeng City?"
Ye Xuan replied calmly, "Not right now, but that is only for now."
"Oh, so confident. Then do you know that even if you possess the strength to defeat the City Lord of a One-Star City, or even the power to wipe out their entire family, you still wouldn’t be able to replace them and become a Sub-City Lord?"
"Hm? Why? Isn’t this a world where the strong rule? Even after wiping out their entire family, one still can’t take control of a city?" Ye Xuan was clearly baffled.