Ye Xuan furrowed his sword-like eyebrows. “Xia Zihan, how did you know I was here?”
Xia Zihan chuckled and pointed at Ye Xuan’s chest. “Because of the Golden Dragon Totem! I have a photographic memory for your totem. Little Brother, you really surprised me. I’m starting to idolize you.”
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.
When Ye Xuan left the World Auction House last time, she thought he was as good as dead. To her surprise, the Mou Family issued a widespread wanted poster for him the very next day. This meant that all the Mou Family members who went to assassinate Ye Xuan that night had been killed.
Although Xia Zihan had been surprised at the time, she merely assumed Ye Xuan had a powerful expert protecting him. However, after arriving at the Ye Family’s villa, she learned that Ye Xuan was actually Patriarch Ye! He was the one who had annihilated the Mou Family.
According to the Ye Family members, this young man’s cultivation base was actually at the Demon Spirit Realm. It was simply inconceivable.
Ye Xuan furrowed his brows slightly again. “Why did you come looking for me?”
“To congratulate you, of course!”
“Empty-handed? You call that a congratulation?”
“Who said I was empty-handed? I, Xia Zihan, am not that stingy.”
As soon as Xia Zihan finished speaking, there was a heavy THUD. An earthen-yellow stone appeared in the courtyard. The Spiritual Qi in the area rapidly converged toward the stone, making it seem as though a Spirit Gathering Array had been laid upon it.
“Little Brother, do you know what kind of stone this is? Hehe, you probably don’t recognize it, do you?”
Ye Xuan took one look and said, “This is… Yellow Stone!” His voice betrayed his surprise.
Yellow Stone had a very ordinary name, yet it possessed the innate effect of Gathering Spirit. Its very existence rivaled a natural Spirit Gathering Array. Ye Xuan was no stranger to this type of stone; back in the Profound Cloud Sect, his training room had been constructed entirely out of Yellow Stone.
Not only could Yellow Stone gather Spiritual Qi, but it was also exceptionally sturdy. Earth-tier, and even Heaven-tier weapons, could not leave a single mark on it. Therefore, Yellow Stone was exclusively used to build training rooms. No matter how powerful the Martial Techniques one practiced were, they could unleash their full strength without any reservations.
Even the Gongsun Family couldn’t acquire Yellow Stone. Yet, this girl had casually presented Ye Xuan with a piece. Although it wasn’t large, serving as a cushion or a stone stool would still provide some benefit to one’s cultivation.
“Little Brother, you actually recognize Yellow Stone!” Xia Zihan’s eyes widened. She had only asked casually and hadn’t expected Ye Xuan to actually know what it was.
“Xia Zihan, where did you get this Yellow Stone? Did you steal it from the World Auction House?”
Xia Zihan pouted and explained, “How is that possible? I swiped this Yellow Stone from my grandpa a while ago. It was his stool. But I always felt it was too hard and uncomfortable to sit on, so I might as well give it to you.”
“Your grandpa?” Ye Xuan was shocked inwardly. He didn’t know who Xia Zihan’s grandfather was, but anyone who could use Yellow Stone as a stool was definitely no nobody. This Xia Zihan likely had quite the formidable background. Then again, it made perfect sense. If she didn’t have an impressive background, how could someone with her amateurish skills become a consignment manager? She definitely had powerful backers and got in through connections.
“Yes, it’s my grandpa’s. So you can accept it with peace of mind. Although this stone is small, it’s incredibly useful for cultivation. Sitting on it, your cultivation speed won’t be any slower than if you were in a major city! Oh, I wonder if you’ve ever even been to a major city.”
In just a few words, Xia Zihan had revealed the sheer scale of her background. The World Auction House had branches in every Three-Star Main Town. The faction backing it was undoubtedly tremendously powerful.
However, Ye Xuan shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I cannot accept your gift.”
“Ah? You won’t accept it? Why?” Xia Zihan was flabbergasted. Since Ye Xuan recognized Yellow Stone, he should know just how precious it was. “Is my gift not good enough?”
“No, your gift is excellent. But precisely because it is too good, I cannot accept it. We don’t have that kind of relationship. I would feel guilty accepting such a valuable gift.”
“Oh, Little Brother, it’s just a stool! What’s there to feel guilty about? Didn’t I tell you? Since I’m here, I can’t come to congratulate you empty-handed.”
Ye Xuan replied with a serious expression, “We can be friends, but you must take the stool back. If you refuse to take it back, then forget about us being friends.”
“Little Brother, you really are a weirdo. If it were anyone else, they would have gladly accepted it right away.” As Xia Zihan spoke, she placed her hand on the Yellow Stone. With a flick of her will, the Yellow Stone vanished. “Now, we can be friends, right?”
Ye Xuan finally nodded. “Alright, we’re friends. You should go now; I still have a lot of things to attend to.”
“Ah? We just became friends and you’re already chasing me away? Are you even being sincere?”
Ye Xuan furrowed his brows. “Didn’t I just say I have a lot of things to attend to? How about this: once the Ye Family finishes rebuilding the houses and officially settles down, I’ll have someone invite you over for a meal.”
“Now that’s more like it. Go do your work then. Ling’Er, come over here! Keep telling me the exciting stories about Little Brother Ye Xuan.”
Xia Zihan skipped over to Ye Ling’Er’s side.
Ye Ling’Er smiled and asked, “Where did I leave off?”
“You were talking about how right after Little Brother Ye Xuan returned, you guys offended the Fang Family.”
Ye Xuan was somewhat speechless. It had only been a few minutes—how had Xia Zihan and Ye Ling’Er become so close already? Was this Xia Zihan naturally this overly familiar with everyone?
Shaking his head, Ye Xuan returned to his room. He had already inspected the spoils of war. Since there was nothing particularly exceptional, it was time to begin his Alchemy. He started by refining all the low-grade resources on hand into elixirs. These elixirs would be enough for everyone in the Ye Family to raise their cultivation to the Super Spirit Realm. After all, there weren’t that many members in the Ye Family.
Ten days later, all the low-grade resources had been converted into elixirs. Whether they were elixirs for advancing cultivation, Healing Pills, or Spirit Revitalizing Pills, Ye Xuan had refined a vast quantity of them. Ye Xuan handed all these elixirs over to Ye Zeyun.
“Grandpa, distribute these elixirs evenly,” Ye Xuan said. “There are enough for everyone in the family to break through to the Super Spirit Realm.”
“This… is this true?” Ye Zeyun was overjoyed.
He knew the Ye Family members’ cultivation levels were far too low. Aside from Ye Xuan, there wasn’t a single person in the Super Spirit Realm within the entire family. If any accident were to befall Ye Xuan in the future, the Ye Family would be dismantled in an instant. The Super Spirit Realm might still be relatively weak and entirely incapable of controlling a Three-Star Main Town, but it was a start. It finally gave them a glimmer of hope.
“Grandpa, there are also over five thousand Super Spirit Pills in there. The vast majority are of top-tier quality. It shouldn’t be a problem for five to six people to raise their cultivation to the 9th Layer of the Super Spirit Realm. However, I think it would be better to focus on cultivating two specific individuals and help them break through to the Demon Spirit Realm.”
“Good, I was thinking the exact same thing. Our Ye Family must have other experts besides you. But who should we focus on cultivating?”
“One of them will be Ling’Er. As for the other, you can make the arrangements.”
“Alright. I’ll go arrange it shortly. By the way, regarding the matter of the Secret Realm—I checked the logs. The Mou Family’s Secret Realm was already opened half a year ago.”