52: Chapter 52 The Ye Family

Eastern Region. Tianshui City.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty and fishy scent, blew through the long streets.

Ye Yuan walked upon the bluestone slabs. His dark bronze skin shimmered with a metallic luster under the sunlight. His Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivation was locked within his body by the Ancient Desolate Magic Body; from the outside, he appeared to be nothing more than a robust Body Cultivator.

Gu Sheng's Divine Sense was connected to this body. The chessboard in the Central Province had already been laid out; it was time to make a move here in the Eastern Region as well.

The System's mechanical voice rang out in his mind: [Host, you threw your Clone into this godforsaken place just to find a few loaches? The Spiritual Qi concentration in the Eastern Region isn't even a third of what it is in the Central Province.]

Gu Sheng retorted, "Loaches? Those are the Dragon Clan. They possess the Ancient True Dragon Bloodline. If I get a few to pull my carriage, it'll have much more prestige than a purple-gold flying boat."

[True Dragons pulling a carriage? Why don't you just ask the Jade Emperor to light your cigarette?] the System mocked. [The Dragon Clan's Secret Realm is a legend in the Eastern Region; there aren't even any exact coordinates. How do you plan to find it? Hand out flyers?]

"I'll find someone to ask." Ye Yuan came to a halt.

Ahead of him was a three-story tavern. Haiyue Pavilion. It was the largest intelligence trading hub in Tianshui City.

Ye Yuan stepped into the tavern.

The main hall was noisy. Cultivators gathered in groups of three or five, drinking spiritual wine and discussing the strange occurrences of the Eastern Region.

Ye Yuan walked to the counter. The shopkeeper was a fat man at the Golden Core Early Stage, currently fiddling with an abacus.

"I'm looking for information," Ye Yuan said, tapping his fingers on the wooden counter.

The fat shopkeeper looked up and sized Ye Yuan up. Seeing his ordinary clothes and lack of any obvious School insignia, his attitude was perfunctory: "Haiyue Pavilion's rules: pay the Spirit Stones first, ask questions later. It starts at ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

Ye Yuan didn't waste words and slapped down a Top-Grade Spirit Stone with one hand.

The crystal-clear Spirit Stone rolled halfway across the counter, emitting a dense Spiritual Qi.

The noise in the hall died down significantly. Many greedy gazes were cast his way. Top-Grade Spirit Stones were a rarity in the Eastern Region.

The fat shopkeeper's eyes lit up as he reached for the Spirit Stone. "What would you like to ask, honored guest?"

"The location of the Dragon Clan's Secret Realm," Ye Yuan stated.

The fat shopkeeper's hand froze in mid-air. The hall fell silent.

"You must be joking, guest." The fat shopkeeper withdrew his hand and pushed the Top-Grade Spirit Stone back. "The Dragon Clan is just a legend. There are no dragons in the Eastern Region."

"You're lying." Ye Yuan looked into the shopkeeper's eyes. "Your pupils contracted, and your breathing missed a beat. You know the inside story."

The fat shopkeeper's face stiffened. "Guest, Haiyue Pavilion does not deal in this business. Please leave."

"What if I insist on asking?" Ye Yuan did not budge.

Four Cultivators in black robes stood up from a nearby table. They were all at the Nascent Soul Early Stage. Embroidered on the chest of their clothes was a black flood dragon churning the sea.

The Black Flood Dragon Gang. The local bullies of Tianshui City.

The leader, a man with a scarred face, walked up behind Ye Yuan. "Kid, don't you understand the principle of not flaunting your wealth? You show off a Top-Grade Spirit Stone and even dare to ask about the Dragon Clan's taboo. Are you tired of living?"

Ye Yuan turned around. His Ancient Desolate Magic Body was a head taller than the scarred man, looking down on him from above.

"Taboo?" Ye Yuan asked back. "Who set this taboo?"

"The Black Flood Dragon Gang set it!" The scarred man drew the ghost-headed greatsword from his waist. Spiritual power poured into it, causing the blade to glow with a black light. "Leave the Spirit Stone, break both your arms, and crawl out of Tianshui City."

Ye Yuan looked at the sword. He didn't use his spiritual power; he simply raised his right hand and caught the blade between two fingers.

The scarred man pulled the sword with all his might, but it didn't move an inch.

"Too weak." Ye Yuan applied pressure with his fingers.

The greatsword, a Magic Treasure forged from refined iron, snapped in half. The crisp sound echoed throughout the hall.

Ye Yuan followed up with a slap to the scarred man's face.

Relying solely on physical strength, he sent the scarred man flying sideways. He smashed through a weight-bearing pillar of the tavern and rolled out onto the street, his life or death unknown.

The remaining three Black Flood Dragon Gang Cultivators froze in place.

Ye Yuan brushed the iron shavings off his hands and looked back at the fat shopkeeper. "Now, can you talk?"

The fat shopkeeper swallowed hard. A Nascent Soul Early Stage Body Cultivator who could slap away someone of the same rank... this was definitely no ordinary Loose Cultivator.

"Guest... Senior." The fat shopkeeper changed his form of address. "It's not that I'm unwilling to speak, but I truly cannot. Behind the Black Flood Dragon Gang is the East Sea Dragon Palace. They claim to be descendants of the Dragon Clan. Anyone who dares to ask about the Dragon Clan in Tianshui City is making an enemy of the East Sea Dragon Palace."

"East Sea Dragon Palace?" Ye Yuan mulled over the name. "A bunch of mixed-blood flood dragons dare to call themselves the Dragon Clan?"

The sound of rapid footsteps came from outside.

Hundreds of Black Flood Dragon Gang members surrounded the Haiyue Pavilion.

A middle-aged man wearing flood dragon brocade robes stepped out from the crowd. Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivation. The leader of the Black Flood Dragon Gang, Jiao Batian.

"Your Excellency has quite the mouth." Jiao Batian walked into the hall, staring at Ye Yuan with cold eyes. "You injured my Black Flood Dragon Gang's people and dared to insult the East Sea Dragon Palace. State your name. This seat does not kill nameless nobodies."

Ye Yuan walked out from behind the counter.

Gu Sheng set the script for his Clone in his mind. The Everlasting Gu Family had already established a foothold in the Central Province. In the Eastern Region, he needed an equally ancient and mysterious power to mirror it.

"The Ye Family. Ye Yuan." He announced his name.

"Ye Family?" Jiao Batian racked his brain but couldn't find this name on the power map of the Eastern Region. "What kind of low-grade Family is that? I've never heard of it. Take him down!"

Over a dozen Nascent Soul Stage Elders attacked simultaneously. The light of Magic Treasures illuminated the entire hall.

[Host, it's time to show off,] the System chimed in at the right moment. [Use your Physical Body to tank it; don't use spiritual power. The Ancient Desolate Magic Body is meant to showcase the violent aesthetic of fist-to-flesh combat.]

Facing the sky full of Magic Treasures, Ye Yuan advanced instead of retreating.

Flying Swords struck his dark bronze skin, producing the crisp sound of metal clashing, without even leaving a white mark.

Ye Yuan grabbed a Flying Sword and threw it back, piercing through an Elder's chest.

Then, he charged into the crowd. Fists, elbows, knees. Every movement carried a destructive force.

There was no brilliance of clashing Spells. There were only the dull thuds of breaking bones and the sight of splashing blood.

In just ten breaths of time...

All dozen or so Nascent Soul Stage Elders were lying on the ground. Severed limbs were scattered everywhere.

Jiao Batian retreated to the threshold. The Gang elites he was so proud of were as fragile as paper before this man who claimed to be the Divine Son of the Ye Family.

"You... what kind of monster are you?" Jiao Batian's voice trembled.

"The Divine Son of the Ye Family." Ye Yuan walked up to Jiao Batian. "Take me to the East Sea Dragon Palace."

"In your dreams!" Jiao Batian bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which transformed into a streak of bloody light that soared into the sky. Blood Escape Technique.

Ye Yuan did not give chase.

He bent down and picked up a blood-stained Black Flood Dragon token from the ground.

[Host, you let him go on purpose?] the System asked.

"If I don't let him go, who will lead the way for me?" Ye Yuan walked out of the Haiyue Pavilion.

The streets of Tianshui City were deserted. The residents and Loose Cultivators had long since hidden themselves far away.

Ye Yuan tossed the token in his hand. "The waters of the Eastern Region are too shallow. I need to go stir things up in the ocean."

The East Sea. Vast blue waves stretched for ten thousand miles.

A bloody light sped across the surface of the sea. Jiao Batian pushed his Blood Escape Technique to the limit and finally saw the massive underwater vortex ahead.

The entrance to the East Sea Dragon Palace.

He dove headfirst into the vortex.

Half an hour later, Ye Yuan arrived, treading on the waves.

Without the help of any Magic Treasure, he ran across the sea surface using only his physical strength. With every step, he left a depression on the water's surface.

He stopped above the vortex.

"System, scan the terrain below."

[Scan complete. Three thousand zhang beneath the sea, there is a Crystal Palace. Detected a large number of Soul Transformation Stage energy fluctuations. There is also a weak but high-level Bloodline aura.]

"True Dragon Bloodline?"

[Purity is less than ten percent. It's just a crossbred four-legged snake,] the System evaluated.

Ye Yuan leaped into the vortex.

The water pressure increased sharply with depth. But for the Ancient Desolate Magic Body, this pressure was insignificant.

At the bottom of the sea, a palace made entirely of crystal emitted a soft glow.

The perimeter of the palace was filled with patrolling Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals.

Ye Yuan's arrival shattered the tranquility of the seabed.

"Who dares to trespass in the Dragon Palace!" A squad of Yakshas holding tridents surrounded him.

Ye Yuan did not reply. He raised his right foot and stepped heavily on the seabed rocks.

The water rippled. A powerful force was transmitted through the rock layers.

A violent earthquake occurred on the seabed for a hundred miles around. The Crystal Palace's defense Formation flickered wildly.

"Ye Yuan of the Hidden Ye Family, here to pay a visit."