Ye Yizhou nodded and said, "Indeed. No matter how strong you are on your own, you cannot kill all the Zhang Family members in a single strike. All the Zhang Family needs to do is send a Super Spirit Realm expert, or even just an expert at the 5th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm or above, and they could easily slaughter our Ye Family. You can threaten them, but they can threaten you too."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Xuan’Er, I heard you ordered the Zhang Family to prepare tributes for our Ye Family, but I suspect they won’t comply. That’s because they’re guessing you wouldn’t dare attack the Zhang Family directly. If you went to the Zhang Family, the Ye Family would be left completely undefended. You don’t possess a Clone Technique, after all."
Ye Xuan smiled. So this was why Ye Yizhou had come looking for him.
"Dad, I’m not a child anymore. I’ve already considered everything you’re worried about. Since I crushed the Life and Death Jade to bring you all here, it proves that I can protect you."
"How are you going to protect us?"
"Dad, since you want to know, I’ll tell you. The original Ning Family had a Clan Protection Array right here in the main courtyard. This Array could be used for both offense and defense. The Zhang Family thought they had broken and destroyed it, but last night, I found its runic lines. I discovered that the Array wasn’t destroyed; the Ning Family simply ran out of the energy needed to activate and maintain it."
"Xuan’Er, how do you know this? Do you understand Arrays?"
"I didn’t before, but now I know a little. If the Ning Family’s Array had truly been destroyed, I would be powerless to fix it. However, since it has existed for a thousand years and just lacks an energy source, I can reactivate it."
In Ye Xuan’s Storage Ring, he might have been short on many things, but he had plenty of Array Banners. Array Banners were exactly the items used to provide energy for Arrays. Ye Xuan didn’t know who had set up the Array for the Ning Family, but that person possessed some real skill to allow the Array’s power to last for a thousand years.
Unfortunately, it had encountered Zhang Wuzong, who possessed Group Attack Martial Techniques. Group Attack Martial Techniques were the most effective at draining an Array’s energy. As the energy maintaining the Array diminished, its power naturally grew weaker until it could no longer be activated.
"Xuan’Er, does this mean that even when you aren’t around, our Ye Family won’t be in danger?"
"Yes, exactly. I’ve already taught Grandpa how to activate the Array."
"Xuan’Er, you truly think things through more thoroughly than I do. Then I..." Ye Yizhou hesitated, the words dying on his lips.
"Dad, is there something else you need to tell me? You’ve been beating around the bush this whole time."
"I..." Ye Yizhou frowned, still appearing hesitant. After a long while, he finally spoke. "Xuan’Er, there are some things I originally planned to keep hidden in my heart forever. But ever since you returned, you’ve given me so many surprises that I’ve actually started harboring certain hopes for you. Yet, I don’t know if these hopes will end up harming you."
Ye Xuan was bewildered. "Dad, what does that mean? What are you hoping I can do?"
"I... forget it. We’ll talk about it later. Perhaps now isn’t the right time."
"Dad, the more you act like this, the more I want to know. What exactly is it that gives you hope, yet could bring me harm?"
Ye Xuan’s curiosity was thoroughly piqued.
"Xuan’Er..." Ye Yizhou pondered for a long time before finally gritting his teeth. "Fine, I’ll tell you now. After all, I truly see hope in you."
"Tell me, Dad. What do you expect me to do? As long as it’s within my ability, I definitely won’t let you down."
Ye Yizhou looked up at the sky. Tonight, the moon was full and round. "Xuan’Er, ever since you were little, haven’t you constantly asked me where your mother went?"
BUZZ!
Ye Xuan had been quite calm, even wearing a faint smile. At this moment, however, he only felt his mind reeling, a loud buzzing ringing in his ears.
The word "mother" held a strange, mesmerizing power in his mind. For as long as he could remember, he had never had a mother. Her image had only grown increasingly illusory over the years. Since he was five, it was Ye Yizhou who had painstakingly raised him and his sister single-handedly.
It took a long while before Ye Xuan finally managed to speak. "Dad, you mentioned... my mother?"
"Yes, your mother." Ye Yizhou’s gaze became gentler than ever before. The figure of a woman appeared in his mind. Twenty years had passed; he thought he had forgotten what some people looked like, but the truth was, he could never forget. Her appearance had long been etched into the deepest depths of his memory. "When you were a child, I always told you that your mother went far away. Did you think she was dead?"
"Dad, what do you mean? Is my mother not dead?"
"No, she isn’t."
Ye Xuan furrowed his brows tightly, asking subconsciously, "Dad, since she isn’t dead, why did she abandon me and even abandon my sister? My sister was just a baby back then. How could she be so heartless?"
Ye Xuan had always believed his mother was dead, only to find out now that she was still alive. His father said she had gone far away when he was five. Since she was alive, why hadn’t she returned once in twenty years?
Did she really not care about her own children at all? Could it be that he and his sister weren’t her own flesh and blood?
But that was impossible. In this world, a father might not be biological, but the mother who carried you for ten months was undoubtedly your birth mother! A mother who hadn’t come back to see her children in twenty years... How ruthless.
The fact that she was still alive brought Ye Xuan even more pain than if she were dead!
"Xuan’Er, are you cursing her in your heart? You shouldn’t. Abandoning you and Ling’Er was never her intention, but she had no choice. Otherwise, both you and Ling’Er would have died. Your mother’s maiden family would absolutely never allow her to have illegitimate children!"
"Illegitimate children? What does that mean? Was my mother already married to someone else? Dad, did you sleep with another man’s wife?"
Ye Xuan’s words left Ye Yizhou, who had been immersed in memories, caught between laughter and tears. "What are you spouting? Your mother only ever had me as her man. At least, she only had me twenty years ago. As for now... I don’t know anymore."
"Dad, then why did you say illegitimate children? And what exactly is going on? Explain it clearly."
"I said illegitimate children because your mother married me secretly and then gave birth to you. Her family didn’t know at all. Xuan’Er, your mother actually comes from a city."
"Hmm?" Ye Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
A city—a place all weak Cultivators yearned for. People from a city were inherently more noble than others, simply because they hailed from the city. When Ye Xuan killed Zhang Wuzong, he had to worry about offending a Three-Star Main Town. But a Three-Star Main Town paled in comparison to a fully-fledged city.
Of course, Ye Xuan wasn’t afraid of the people from a city. In his eyes, a city was nothing at all. He was, after all, someone who was going to carve a path of slaughter to the Profound Cloud Sect.
Only Ye Xuan, who was a disciple of the Profound Cloud Sect, knew just how powerful the sect truly was. Ye Xuan had achieved the cultivation base of the Super Spirit Realm ten years ago—wasn’t that enough to reflect the Profound Cloud Sect’s formidable might? The foundation of the Profound Cloud Sect was simply far too profound.
Let alone a mere city, even the King of the Moyue Kingdom had to bow in respect when meeting the Sect Leader of the Profound Cloud Sect. Ye Xuan remembered very clearly that an outer-ring odd-jobs disciple of the Profound Cloud Sect was apparently a Prince from the Moyue Kingdom. A Prince, yet he was only fit to do odd jobs. This alone was enough to illustrate the Profound Cloud Sect’s supreme status.
"Surprising, isn’t it? But your mother isn’t just a simple city-dweller. She’s the daughter of the City Lord."