This voice was extremely abrupt, and more than half of the Ye family heard it. Ye Xuan frowned. Although the Ye family had only just occupied the Three-Star Main Town, it shouldn’t be to the point where someone would be this brazen, right? He let go of his fishing rod and rushed to the front courtyard.
At this moment, at the main entrance of the Ye family’s compound, a man around forty years old was riding on the back of a beast. The beast was fully five meters large, with a head like a bull and a body like a fierce tiger.
“May I ask who you are?” Ye Zeyun’s voice rang out. Although he didn’t know who the man was, if he wasn’t mistaken about the mount, it should be a Level Five, Rank Six beast—a Tiger-Backed Mad Bull.
“You are Patriarch Ye. Interesting. The last time I came here, this was still the Mou family’s estate. I didn’t expect it to change hands so quickly. Since you are Patriarch Ye, why haven’t you knelt yet?!”
“My Lord, this…” Ye Zeyun hesitated for a moment.
The man’s gaze suddenly turned icy. “If I tell you to kneel, you kneel!”
A terrifying pressure bore down directly onto Ye Zeyun. He felt his legs turn to jelly and instantly fell to his knees. He hit the floor so hard it cracked, and a mouthful of blood spewed from his lips.
“Grandpa!” The surrounding Ye family members were startled.
Ye Zeyun waved his hand, signaling that he was fine. He wiped away the blood and looked up at the middle-aged man. “My Lord, who exactly are you?”
The middle-aged man didn’t answer. Instead, he asked in confusion, “You coughed up blood just from that? It’s mind-boggling that someone as weak as you actually managed to wipe out the Mou family. Whatever, I can’t be bothered to waste words on a piece of trash. I am an envoy from Hero City, here to announce something special. For you, it is a tremendous stroke of good fortune.” As he spoke, a scroll appeared in his hand. Embroidered on the back of the scroll was a black bear. The black bear—the symbol of the Sun family.
“I won’t read it. See for yourself.” The middle-aged man threw the scroll directly to Ye Zeyun and continued, “I’m tired from my journey and don’t plan to leave today. I’ll stay in the town for a night. You know what to do, right?”
Ye Zeyun immediately replied, “Understood, understood. I’ll make sure you are well served. Yiwei, take the Lord to the official posthouse and arrange a few beautiful women for him.”
The middle-aged man said flatly, “A few? No, I need at least ten.”
“Understood, understood. My Lord, this way please.” Ye Yiwei led the middle-aged man away.
Only after the man had left did Ye Zeyun look at the scroll. As he read it, his eyes lit up. It really was good news!
“Grandpa, what happened? Has the person left?” Ye Xuan’s voice rang out. He had arrived a step too late. The Town Mayor’s Mansion in the Three-Star Main Town, although not comparable to the City Lord’s Mansion, was definitely much larger than that of a One-Star Main Town.
“Ye Xuan, come take a look.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a good thing. It might be helpful to you.”
Ye Xuan took the scroll, which had text written on it.
“The Sun family is newly established, and the entire city celebrates! As it coincides with the opening of the Two-Star Secret Realm, all Three-Star Main Towns may select three elites to enter the Two-Star Secret Realm for training. The time is set for half a month from now. Those who are late will be disqualified.”
“A Two-Star Secret Realm!” Ye Xuan had once asked Gongsun Wenjin about it, and she had said the Two-Star Secret Realm wouldn’t open for a while. In the blink of an eye, over two months had passed. Time truly flew by. In just half a month, the Two-Star Secret Realm would open.
In the Two-Star Secret Realm, the highest level of beast was Level Five. Although there were Level Five beasts in the Mou family’s secret realm, the Mou family’s secret realm was definitely nowhere near as large as the City Lord’s Mansion’s. The quantity and quality of the beasts inside were also vastly inferior. The strongest beast in the Mou family’s secret realm was probably around Level Five, Rank Four. But in the City Lord’s Mansion’s secret realm, there were absolutely Level Five, Rank Nine entities. The numbers might not be massive, but there were definitely more than in a Three-Star Main Town.
If Ye Xuan could hunt beasts above Level Five, Rank Six, it would be of immense help to his current cultivation base. If resources were lacking, beast pills could make up for it. He had to utilize the advantage of the Dragon Capturing Cauldron.
“In half a month?” A sharp light flickered in Ye Xuan’s eyes.
Ye Zeyun asked, “Have you decided to go?”
“Yes, I definitely have to go.”
The Mou family’s secret realm had just been opened. The City Lord’s Mansion’s Two-Star Secret Realm was coming at the perfect time. Originally, the City Lord’s Mansion’s secret realm would not be open to Three-Star Main Towns because the City Lord’s Mansion had a large population and their own quotas were already in short supply. However, with the New City Lord taking power, he had to give some benefits to the subordinate towns. It was also a convenient way to make the Town Mayors of the Three-Star Towns recognize who their true master was.
“I guessed you would go. Grandpa is just worried—will there be danger? Does anyone from the Sun family recognize you? After all, you stayed at the Gongsun family’s estate for some time.”
Ye Xuan nodded. “Indeed, there are people who recognize me.”
“Who?”
“Many of the Sun family’s direct lineage have seen me. Including Patriarch Sun, who is also the City Lord of Hero City.”
On that day when the Sun family carried a coffin to the Gongsun family to demand an explanation, Ye Xuan had shown his face. Many people had seen him. The Sun family had also lost many people in the battle for the city, but the ones who went that day definitely hadn’t all died. Sun Zhenwu hadn’t died. That Sun Hang, who hated him to the bone, was probably alive too.
“What? Even the City Lord knows you? That makes things tricky. How about you don’t go? Resources are important, but what use are they if you lose your life?” Ye Zeyun’s face was full of worry.
Ye Xuan, however, remained calm. “How can you get resources without taking risks? Don’t worry, Grandpa. I’ll be fine. Even if I go, I’ll disguise myself. I wouldn’t be so stupid as to go with my real face.”
“But it’s still risky.”
“The risk shouldn’t be too big. Grandpa, do you think people from the city would even look us straight in the eye?”
“You have a point. But I’m still worried. What if…”
“Grandpa, there are no ‘what ifs.’ No matter what, I must make this trip. Besides, I also want to find out if anyone from the Gongsun family is still alive.”
“It’s been so long. I’m afraid no one is left alive.”
“But what if there is?”
Ye Xuan had actually never been certain whether Gongsun Xin was dead or not. Although his eldest uncle had been buried, in reality, the falling scrap steel couldn’t have crushed him to death. As long as his spiritual qi wasn’t depleted, that weight wasn’t enough to kill him. His eldest uncle was not necessarily dead.
Ye Zeyun didn’t say anything more. He knew that if Ye Xuan insisted on going, he wouldn’t be able to stop him. There weren’t many things in this world that Ye Xuan wouldn’t dare to do. Young people were indeed bold and daring. How could you win without fighting?
“Grandpa, was the person who gave you the scroll from the Sun family?” Ye Xuan asked again.
Ye Zeyun shook his head. “The emblem embroidered on his chest wasn’t a black bear. He wasn’t from the Sun family; he was just a messenger.”
“That’s good. I was really worried he was from the Sun family. If he had recognized our clan crest, that would be terrible. It seems I was overthinking things. Why would anyone from the Sun family personally come to a rustic town? Has he left?”
People from the city were always arrogant. In their eyes, a Three-Star Main Town was just a tiny speck of land. Unless there was something major, they would absolutely never visit a small town with sparse spiritual qi.