"I understand. In other words, Ye Xuan’s life or death, as well as the Elders’ answer, are both very important to you. I will arrange for someone to check if Ye Xuan is alive or dead. If he is dead, naturally, none of this matters."
Liu Yan stood up and slowly walked away.
As if recalling something, she suddenly turned her head and spoke to Liu Ruoxi.
"Ruoxi, I still want to advise you. If Ye Xuan is alive, you shouldn’t harbor such deep hatred toward him."
"Are you taking his side? I know you’re gentle, but you can show that to anyone except Ye Xuan. He is a pervert... Anyway, you don’t understand. I just hate him!"
"I don’t understand? You’re the one who doesn’t understand."
Liu Yan sighed and turned to leave.
Liu Yan was intelligent and observant. She knew that in this world, there was no love without a reason. Even love at first sight stemmed from a sudden acceleration of a heartbeat.
Conversely, there was no hatred without a reason, either.
Liu Ruoxi’s hatred for Ye Xuan was far too abrupt.
Hatred was a very mysterious thing sometimes. There was a saying: when hatred reaches its peak, love begins. People usually wouldn’t fall in love with someone they despised.
If you hated him, why would you love him?
But if you really did fall in love with someone you hated... would that be considered true love?
Love simply defied logic.
Meanwhile, at the Ye Family.
Ye Xuan began consuming the Night Moon Fruits.
The annihilation of the Gongsun Family had left a profound impact on him. Having personally participated in the battle for the city, he understood a truth more deeply than ever: on the Beast Soul Continent, no one could afford to live in comfort.
For fifteen hundred years, the Gongsun Family had grown accustomed to living high above others, ruling a city. But in reality, the status of City Lord was also a shackle. Their desire to improve their cultivation was far less intense than it had been in the beginning.
However, on the path of a Cultivator, one must progress or perish.
This was the root cause of the Gongsun Family’s destruction.
One by one, he quickly swallowed the Night Moon Fruits. The energy within his body gathered more and more densely.
Two hours later, all the Hidden Veins inside Ye Xuan’s body were glowing brightly. The Spiritual Qi in his Dantian was so full it seemed ready to condense into a solid state.
His 9th Layer cultivation had finally reached its peak.
There were less than five hundred Night Moon Fruits left in his Qiankun Bag. His consumption was simply too massive; the resources of an entire tree had almost all gone to him alone.
If he had used Super Spirit Pills, he would have needed over twenty thousand top-quality pills to push his cultivation to the peak, only then earning the right to attempt a breakthrough into the next major realm.
The next major realm was the Demon Spirit Realm.
To reach the Demon Spirit Realm, the Hidden Veins he needed to clear were called the Mountain Range. Just from the name alone, one could tell it was extraordinary. Once cleared, it would undoubtedly grant him unparalleled strength.
"Break through!"
Ye Xuan took out the Demon Soul Crystals, feeding them into his mouth by the handful. Guided by the crystals, all the power in his body surged toward the entrance of the first Mountain Range vein.
As the impact hit, excruciating pain caused Ye Xuan to curl up on the ground. At times, the pain was so severe that he wanted to temporarily give up.
But he clearly understood the principle of pushing through in one go, knowing that momentum would wane with every pause. No matter how much it hurt, he had to grit his teeth and endure.
The tragic scenes of the Gongsun Family’s final battle flashed through his mind.
The Supreme Elder, killed instantly in just two palm strikes...
The members of the Side Branches, willingly using their bodies as a wall to protect their families...
Those unfamiliar yet fearless faces gave Ye Xuan unprecedented motivation. Having experienced life and death, what did other pains and hardships amount to? He had to become stronger quickly. He couldn’t let the Ye Family follow in the footsteps of the Gongsun Family.
Time flowed on, and a day passed.
Even though Ye Xuan was in immense agony, he only slowed down his pace of clearing the Hidden Veins. He still intended to succeed on his first try.
He had to endure the pain, no matter how great.
At this moment, Ye Xuan had entered a delirious state. His consciousness was no longer fully intact. Only a sliver of sheer obsession remained, driving him to continue clearing the Hidden Veins.
Fortunately, he could already feel the entrance of the Hidden Vein loosening.
Right at this critical moment, a horn blast suddenly echoed from the town entrance.
Hearing this sound, everyone in the Ye Family was stunned.
It was the battle horn. Once blown, it meant someone was attacking the Ye Family at the town gates.
"What’s going on?" Ye Zeyun and the others immediately rushed out of their rooms.
"Old Patriarch! A large contingent of people suddenly appeared outside the town. Without a word, they slaughtered their way in! The guards at the gate have almost all been killed or wounded!"
Ye Zeyun’s expression changed dramatically. "Who are they?!"
Could the Sun Family from the city have chased them all the way here? But that was impossible. This place was remote, just a tiny speck on the map. How could the enemy possibly know that the Gongsun Family members were here? Furthermore, they had already become the new City Lords. There was no need to hunt them down so relentlessly.
"We don’t recognize them, but one of them seems to be from the Zhang Family. The clan totem on his clothes is a Flaming Lion."
"The Zhang Family? It’s them. But they actually dare to attack the Ye Family? Such insolence!" Ye Zeyun furrowed his brows.
The Zhang Family and the Ye Family had always been enemies, but the Zhang Family had never dared to invade the Ye Family’s territory because last time, Ye Xuan had taught them a bitter lesson.
The Zhang Family was no match for Ye Xuan at all. For them to suddenly attack—wasn’t this courting death? Even in the past, destroying the Zhang Family would have been incredibly easy for Ye Xuan, let alone now.
"Where is Ye Xuan?" Ye Zeyun asked again.
"According to Hua, the Patriarch is in seclusion, clearing his Hidden Veins. He cannot be disturbed right now."
"Clearing Hidden Veins indeed cannot be interrupted. Where are the Zhang Family members right now?"
"They just entered the town. The people from our affiliated forces tried to block them, but they couldn’t hold them back at all. Everyone who stood in their way had their bodies utterly obliterated."
Ye Zeyun narrowed his eyes. The Zhang Family was absolutely not this strong. Could they have hired experts?
At this moment, at the town entrance, Patriarch Zhang Jingqi spoke with a respectful expression to an elderly man beside him.
"My lord, I didn’t lie to you, did I? The Ye Family truly uses the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon as their clan totem."
"You indeed did not lie. In that case, the person I’m looking for really is this Ye Xuan."
"My lord, it is definitely Ye Xuan!"
"Good. After I kill Ye Xuan and wipe out the Ye Family, this town will be rewarded to you."
"Thank you, my lord!" Patriarch Zhang was overjoyed.
He laughed wildly in his heart, "Ye Xuan, to think you actually offended the Mou Family’s Three-Star Main Town! Hahaha, your doom is finally here!"
The elderly man beside him was none other than the Mou Family Patriarch, Mou Sanjie.
These past few days, Mou Sanjie had been continuously investigating Ye Xuan’s identity and background. He had investigated the Two-Star Main Towns under his control, and even the nearby Three-Star Main Towns. Yet, there was no family or faction that used the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon as their totem.
Nor did anyone know of Ye Xuan.
In the Two-Star Main Towns, the only person who knew Ye Xuan was Xu Shaoqiang from Xu Family Town. Ye Xuan had saved his life that day. But Xu Shaoqiang had only crossed paths with Ye Xuan twice. He had no idea who Ye Xuan was or where he came from.
Just as Mou Sanjie was furiously cursing his subordinates as useless trash, Zhang Jingqi had appeared.