112: Chapter 112 Ye Family Villa

"What is this?" Ye Yisong looked the young woman in the room up and down, then cast a scrutinizing gaze at Ye Yiguang.

In truth, there was no need to ask; Ye Yisong already knew who had brought her.

He truly had not expected Ye Yiguang to be so audacious, actually daring to fob him off. Before entering seclusion, he had repeatedly warned him to stay home and focus on his Cultivate, yet Ye Yiguang had still ended up entangled with this young woman.

"This is Lady Shangguan Yunque from the Weinan Shangguan Family. She is also heading to the Cangjiang Prefecture city to watch the Prefecture Examination," Ye Yiguang introduced proactively. "Yunque, this is my Thirteenth Brother, Ye Yisong."

"Young Master Ye." Shangguan Yunque hurriedly stood up, offered a greeting, and then hid behind Ye Yiguang.

"Hmph!" A flash of spiritual light crossed Ye Yisong's eyes, and he took in the cultivation status of everyone in the room.

Ye Yitian had achieved a Breakthrough to become a one-star Martial Master, and Uncle Jiefu had achieved a Breakthrough to become a nine-star Martial Artist; both had made significant progress over these past two months.

Ye Yiguang's cultivation had achieved a Breakthrough to a six-star Martial Artist; if not for the fact that his cultivation had advanced, Ye Yisong would have started scolding him long ago.

Only Ye Yifan's cultivation remained at the three-star Martial Artist level with no progress at all. It seemed this child still wouldn't listen to reason; he would have to find time to have a chat with him after the Prefecture Examination ended.

"What do you mean by 'also'?" Ye Yisong asked, looking at Ye Yiguang after sitting down.

"Yifan and I don't plan on participating in this year's Prefecture Examination," Ye Yiguang explained, his eyes darting away.

"Hmm," Ye Yisong nodded.

"Thirteenth Brother, are you not angry with me?" Ye Yiguang asked, surprised.

"With your meager strength, you'd better not go and embarrass yourself," Ye Yisong said without giving Ye Yiguang a pleasant look, which gave Shangguan Yunque, who was standing nearby, a huge fright.

Catching the scent of Medicinal Pill on Ye Yifan, Ye Yisong knew that he had spent these past two months immersed in the art of Alchemy, which had delayed his Cultivate. Once he caught his breath, his cultivation would naturally catch up. For Ye Yifan, pressing the pause button for ten years was not a bad thing; on the contrary, it might even be a good thing.

But what was going on with Ye Yiguang? This was completely self-inflicted. He had delayed his Cultivate for the sake of a woman he had only known for a few months. He hoped that he wouldn't regret it later.

"Brother Yiguang, I should probably go out," Shangguan Yunque said timidly. The pressure Ye Yisong put on her was simply too great.

"Since you're here, just sit down," before Ye Yiguang could say anything, Ye Yisong spoke up to offer a way out. Even if his younger brother was immature, he was grown up now, and he needed to be given some Face.

It was only about an hour's journey from Luomu Mountain to the city of Cangjiang Prefecture; if they just endured it, it would pass quickly.

During this time, because of the presence of an outsider like Shangguan Yunque, the group was clearly not as relaxed or free to talk as they had been during previous gatherings.

It wasn't until the treasure ship arrived at the city of Cangjiang Prefecture that the group looked at each other and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Yiguang also realized that he shouldn't have brought Shangguan Yunque along. Shangguan Yunque was not suited for this occasion. No matter how much he liked her, it was his own personal affair, and it had nothing to do with his brothers.

If a circle doesn't welcome you, it's best not to force your way in.

After disembarking, the group headed straight for the Ye Family Villa in the city.

The Ye Family Villa was located in the southern part of the city, covering tens of thousands of acres. It had been specially bestowed upon Ancestor Ye Rongming by the Great Wei Imperial Court after he achieved a Breakthrough to Martial King.

Whenever any Martial Artist achieved a Breakthrough to the Martial King realm, the Great Wei Imperial Court would grant them certain rewards: Spiritual Vein, Medicinal Pill, a villa in the city, and it was even possible to receive a high-grade Legacy.

Back then, in order to build this Ye Family Villa, tens of thousands of households in the southern part of the city had been relocated.

Of course, the government had provided them with some compensation, and when the city of Cangjiang Prefecture expanded outward later on, they were given new homes.

The entire Ye Family Villa was laid out in a square shape and was divided into five levels, corresponding to the strength of the first to fifth tiers. The closer one was to the center, the fewer the courtyards, the larger the area, and the denser the Spiritual Qi.

It was said that the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the innermost courtyard could reach the level of a fifth-tier Spiritual Vein.

Ye Family Disciple could use their Family identity tokens to head to the courtyard corresponding to their strength. One hundred courtyards were reserved on the second to fifth levels specifically for direct descendants of the Family. As for the other courtyards, it was first-come, first-served until they were full.

While he was in seclusion in the Family, Ye Yisong had taken the time to go to the Affairs Hall and exchange his two-leaf token for a three-leaf token. It came in handy now, and he led the five of them straight to the first hundred courtyards on the third level.

By the time they arrived, the first fifteen courtyards were already occupied, so the group moved into the sixteenth courtyard.

Ye Yisong placed his identity token into the slot on the courtyard gate, the gate opened automatically, and the group walked in together.

The courtyard didn't have any flashy designs; other than a dozen cultivation rooms and a large martial arts practice field in the middle, there was nothing else.

Ye Yisong chose the largest cultivation room in the center for himself and didn't worry about the others who had come with him; they would arrange things for themselves.

After entering the cultivation room, Ye Yisong took off his outer robe and sat quietly on a meditation cushion in the main hall. Less than a quarter of an hour later, the four of them, including Ye Yitian, arrived at Ye Yisong's room simultaneously.

"Are you all settled?" Ye Yisong opened his eyes and looked at Ye Yiguang.

"Yes," Ye Yiguang replied uneasily.

"I hope you won't regret this later," Ye Yisong said earnestly.

Ye Yiguang had thought his Thirteenth Brother would scold him severely, but he hadn't expected Ye Yisong to simply say, in a calm tone, that he hoped he wouldn't regret it later. This made him feel even worse; he would have preferred to be scolded or beaten!

He knew that he had disappointed Ye Yisong!

But... Yunque was truly the person he liked!

"Yitian, Uncle Jiefu, are you confident about making it into the top one hundred?" Ye Yisong asked with concern.

"Sigh," Ye Jiefu sighed, "The Martial Artist participating in this year's Prefecture Examination are much stronger than in previous years. It's said that there are as many as ten experts at the Late Stage of Martial Master alone. It's going to be difficult!"

"Thirteenth Brother, I estimate that my hopes aren't high either. I originally thought that having achieved a Breakthrough to the Martial Master realm, I would at least have a glimmer of a chance, but... sigh!" Ye Yitian also sighed.

"Is the strength in this year's competition that high?" Ye Yisong frowned. As far as he knew, in all previous Prefecture Examination, there was no shortage of Martial Master experts, but there weren't many at the Late Stage of Martial Master; at most, there were only one or two.

There were an abnormally large number of them this year!

"Yes, Thirteenth Brother. It scared me so much that I didn't dare to participate in this year's Prefecture Examination. I also advised Yitian and Uncle Jiefu to skip this year, but they wouldn't listen to me. There was nothing I could do." Ye Yiguang spread his hands helplessly, and as he spoke, he gave Ye Yisong a meaningful look.

"Yitian, Uncle Jiefu, what Yiguang said makes sense. Would you like to reconsider? There's really no need to waste the opportunity." Knowing the level of strength this year, Ye Yisong also offered a word of advice.

Both of them shook their heads. Ye Yisong didn't try to persuade them further; everyone has their own path to walk, and no one can force it.