At this moment, at the entrance, the Fourth Elder spoke to Zhang Wuzong, who had been guarding the area.
"It’s been five days. How could there not be a single trace of him? I truly have no clue where that brat is hiding."
Zhang Wuzong replied with a cold expression, "The kid is indeed good at hiding. With fifty thousand of my men searching the area, he still hasn’t shown a single flaw. By the way, the five days are up, right? Has that Niu Tong not brought the Ye Family here yet?"
"By my calculations, he should arrive sometime today. If he doesn’t, he won’t be able to bear the consequences."
"Then we’ll wait for him. With that kid’s relatives as hostages, let’s see if he still refuses to show himself."
Just as Zhang Wuzong finished speaking, the Teleportation Array suddenly activated. The Third Elder’s Shadow suddenly appeared off to the side.
"Third Elder, why did you come in? Didn’t I ask you to stay outside and manage Wuzong Town in my stead?" Zhang Wuzong asked, frowning.
The Third Elder looked solemn. "Town Mayor, look at this letter."
"A letter?"
"Yes, it’s from Niu Family Town."
Zhang Wuzong immediately took the letter. The moment he opened it and read its contents, he was engulfed in rage. Terrifying Spiritual Qi formed a massive hand that slammed heavily into the ground, instantly creating a deep crater.
"What’s wrong? What happened?" the Fourth Elder asked in confusion.
Zhang Wuzong exhaled sharply. After forcing himself to calm down, he said, "Tell everyone in the Secret Realm to return."
"This... Are we not searching anymore?"
"Search for what?! That brat isn’t in the Secret Realm at all. Niu Tong said Ye Xuan is at the Ye Family’s home!"
"What!" The Fourth Elder’s eyes widened in disbelief. "That’s impossible! We’ve been guarding this place all these days. How did he get out of the Secret Realm? Did he slip out that day? No, that can’t be. We watched everyone leave one by one."
"I don’t know how he got out, but Niu Tong’s letter states with absolute certainty that Ye Xuan is at the Ye Family’s home."
"This kid really is something to have slipped right under our noses. What are we waiting for then? I’ll immediately assemble the fifty thousand men and march straight to annihilate the Ye Family! We’ll slaughter his entire clan."
"There’s no need. Ye Xuan also sent word, telling us to wash our necks and wait for him to kill us," Zhang Wuzong spoke again. This was the exact sentence that had enraged him earlier. As for the part that read, "If you don’t want your clan wiped out, submit to me," he didn’t even want to bring it up.
"What? He wants to take the initiative to kill us? This Ye Xuan is too arrogant, too presumptuous!"
"Indeed he is, but over the years, everyone who dared to act arrogantly in front of me, Zhang Wuzong, has become a corpse! He will be no exception. I’ll wait for him right here in Wuzong Town and see what kind of tricks he can play."
At the Ye Family’s home.
Ye Xuan was still in secluded cultivation. Another three days later, he finally walked out of the training room, a smile gracing the corners of his lips.
"I originally thought that thirteen Level-Four Beast Pills would at most raise my cultivation to the 9th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm, and then I would have to figure out a way to break through to the Super Spirit Realm," he mused. "I never expected they would directly elevate my cultivation to the 2nd Layer of the Super Spirit Realm!"
At this moment, two new veins that resembled vast, rushing rivers had appeared within Ye Xuan’s body. These were the Great River Veins. In front of the Great River Veins, his originally surging Small River Veins seemed as insignificant as a child standing before a giant.
During these six days of secluded cultivation, Ye Xuan had been in excellent condition. On the first day, he consumed another three Level-Four Tier-One Beast Pills and broke through his ninth Small River Vein. After spending two days consolidating his cultivation, he began his breakthrough attempt for the first Great River Vein.
In merely six hours, after taking three Level-Four Tier-Two Beast Pills, the barrier to his first Great River Vein shattered. His cultivation officially returned to the Super Spirit Realm. Following that, he continued to stabilize his realm, spending a full three days and nights to solidify his foundation. Subsequently, he consumed five Level-Four Tier-Three Beast Pills. Just when the power of the Beast Pills was on the verge of running dry, he successfully unblocked his second Great River Vein.
"Dragon Capturing Cauldron, I really have you to thank for this." Ye Xuan was immensely thankful to the Dragon Capturing Cauldron. If it weren’t for its power, which allowed him to absorb one hundred percent of the Beast Pills’ medicinal efficacy, how could his progress have been this smooth?
He had originally only hoped that these Beast Pills would push his cultivation to the peak of the 9th Layer. Yet now, he had stepped directly into the 2nd Layer of the Super Spirit Realm. Similarly, this success also pointed him toward a brand-new path of cultivation. That path was to hunt Wild Beasts and harvest their Beast Pills. To him, Beast Pills were basically ready-made Elixirs for boosting cultivation. While others could only absorb a minuscule fraction of their power, he could absorb it in its entirety.
Suppressing his inner excitement, Ye Xuan left the training room and stepped out into the courtyard. Summoning his Pill Furnace, he began his Alchemy. Before leaving, he needed to refine another batch of Elixirs for his family. Although he didn’t have many medicinal herbs left on him, Wuzong Main Town definitely had the ingredients he needed. Ultimately, the Ning Family’s resources would fall into his pockets anyway.
For an entire day and night, Ye Xuan focused solely on Alchemy. His proficiency grew increasingly higher, and the time it took him to finish a batch became shorter and shorter. What used to take him half an hour per furnace of Elixirs now only required fifteen minutes.
A day later, all of his medicinal herbs were depleted. He had refined 582 Mortal Spirit Pills, all of which were of high-grade and top-grade quality. As for Strong Spirit Pills, he refined 1,300 of them. This yield was far greater than he had anticipated. Because of their immense energy, the fifty-plus stalks of Moonlight Grass could be divided and used three times each. In other words, the Moonlight Grass could be treated as over 160 stalks.
Since Ye Xuan’s yield for every furnace of finished Elixirs was never less than thirteen, this explained how he had managed to produce over a thousand Strong Spirit Pills in total. Unfortunately, he didn’t produce a single Mad Spirit Pill. He lacked the specific Spirit Medicine required for it.
"Once I give these Elixirs to Grandfather Zeyun, it’ll be time to head to the Zhang Family’s home. They must be getting anxious from all the waiting."
Ten minutes later, Ye Xuan bid farewell to Ye Zeyun and rode a fine horse toward Wuzong Main Town.
After Ye Xuan’s departure, Ye Zeyun thought for a moment before deciding to gather the Ye Family together.
"Father, why did you call us all here? I was right in the middle of breaking through my second Twin Vein," Ye Yiwei asked.
Ye Zeyun replied, "Everyone, put your cultivation breakthroughs on hold for now and pack your luggage."
"Pack our luggage? Are we fleeing? Is the Ye Family going on the run again?"
"Did something major happen again? Is it because of the Zhang Family? But didn’t the Patriarch say he was confident in dealing with them?"
The Ye Family exchanged bewildered glances.
Ye Zeyun suddenly let out a chuckle. "Who said packing our things means we’re fleeing? Just a moment ago, Ye Xuan left Hongtu Town and headed for Wuzong Main Town. Before he left, he told me that within three days, Wuzong Main Town will definitely be renamed Ye Family Main Town."
"What! Is that true?"
"We can move into the Main Town?"
The Ye Family were wild with joy.
Ye Zeyun continued, "Whether you believe Patriarch Ye Xuan’s words or not, I believe him. That is why I asked everyone to pack up and be ready to set out at a moment’s notice."
"We believe him too! What are we waiting for then? Let’s hurry back and pack!"
"The Main Town... If our Ye Family can make the Main Town our home, what an incredible honor that would be."
Time flowed on.
The next day, as the sun began to rise, Ye Xuan arrived at the gates of the Main Town once again. This was his third time here. And this time, he had no intention of leaving.