143: Chapter 143 Settlement

"Indeed. A tiny Qi Family dares to compete with us? They don't even know what kind of trash they are," Ye Yiguang said scornfully.

"This time, our Ye Clan has a total of twenty-five people advancing to the top 100 in the Prefecture Examination tournament. Two of them made it into the top ten, and Thirteenth Young Master even powerfully claimed first place, opening the eyes of the Martial Artists in Cangjiang Prefecture," Uncle Jiefu said, beaming as he shared the competition results with everyone.

"Additionally, eight others advanced to the top fifty, and fifteen advanced to the bottom fifty. This time, our Ye Clan has secured a total of 540 points, while the Qi Family only obtained slightly over 200 points, falling far behind us."

Ye Jiejing and Ye Jielu looked at everyone in the arena with envy. The Cangjiang Ye Clan had obtained over 500 points in a single Prefecture Examination; they truly deserved their reputation as a prefecture-level noble clan. Their strength was formidable.

During times when the Shuinan Ye Clan was struggling with a lack of successors, the entire Family might not even be able to obtain over 500 Martial Examination points in a hundred years.

Ye Jielu realized once again why Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang had been dedicated to pushing for the merger of the two families all these years.

The Cangjiang Ye Clan was simply too powerful. If the two families merged, the Shuinan Ye Clan would inevitably lose all its autonomy, but the rewards gained would be immeasurable.

However, after the Shuinan County County Exam ended, Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang had secretly told them to forget about the merger and never bring it up again.

Ye Jielu felt that after he returned, he should find a time to have a good talk with his grandfather; a merger was still very necessary.

If the two families became one, not to mention anything else, Ye Jielu felt that his success rate for a Breakthrough to the Martial Ancestor realm would increase by at least thirty percent.

Even Ye Jielu and Ye Jiejing were green with envy, let alone the young girl Shangguan Yunque, who was now so shocked she couldn't speak. The strength of the Cangjiang Ye Clan had once again refreshed her understanding of a prefecture-level noble clan.

Shangguan Yunque became even more determined in her resolve to follow Ye Yiguang. She had a premonition that the Shangguan Family would rise because of her.

"A tiny Qi Family daring to compete with us is truly seeking their own death," even the usually honest Ye Yifan said disdainfully. He was just honest, not stupid; everyone tacitly understood what kind of intentions the Qi Family harbored.

If the Qi Family really did push the Ye Clan out, the ones to benefit the most would definitely not be the Qi Family, but the Wei and Wang Families standing behind them, because the Qi Family simply couldn't hold onto such vast resources.

The Wei Family and Wang Family would thus obtain even more Cultivation resources, which would widen the gap between them and the Ye Clan even further.

This was something the Ye Clan would absolutely not allow to happen!

"Thirteenth Brother, there is gossip claiming that the Wei Family's Young Master Qi became a Tier 3 Low Grade Alchemist last month. The rumors about the Wang Family's Wang Xianliang are even more outrageous; it is said he has already become a Tier 3 Medium Grade Alchemist." Ye Yiguang once again demonstrated his role as the god of gossip, though it was unknown how much of this information was true or false.

"What? How is this possible?" Ye Yitian looked completely disbelieving. "If you said Wang Xianliang had a Breakthrough to become a Tier 3 Low Grade Alchemist, I might believe it, but Tier 3 Medium Grade? How old is he even?"

"It is true." Ye Yisong, who had been silent, confirmed Ye Yiguang's news. He had already obtained first-hand intelligence from Grandfather Ye Tuantu.

"How is this possible?" Uncle Jiefu and the others looked towards Ye Yisong, as if verifying the truth of this news.

"Grandfather just told me this." Seeing that they didn't believe him, Ye Yisong had no choice but to bring out the big gun that was Grandfather Ye Tuantu.

Hearing that it was Elder Grandfather Ye Tuantu who told Ye Yisong the news, the expressions on everyone's faces became even more grave. The situation was getting a bit bad!

Elder Grandfather Ye Tuantu had been stationed in Cangjiang Prefecture City for years and had his own mature intelligence network. Within Cangjiang Prefecture City, news that came from his mouth was 99% true.

"Thirteenth Brother, don't be discouraged. They are just bullying you because they are older. In ten years, you won't necessarily be worse than them," Ye Yitian comforted.

"What do you mean 'not necessarily worse'? He will definitely surpass them! With Thirteenth Brother's talent, where would he need ten years? Five years—no, three years is enough!" Ye Yiguang opened his big mouth and blew Ye Yisong's achievements up to the heavens.

"Indeed, Thirteenth Young Master, you are still young; there is no need to compare yourself with those two," Uncle Jiefu also comforted.

"Thirteenth Young Master, your stage is in the future. This time... at worst, we will win it back in five years." Ye Jiejing patted Ye Yisong on the shoulder. Looking at this cousin who was much younger than himself, his eyes were full of pity; in the end, he had suffered from being too young.

"Hahaha." Seeing this scene, Ye Yisong couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Thirteenth Brother, how can you still laugh?" Ye Yiguang asked anxiously. Could it be he hadn't heard clearly what everyone was saying?

"Everyone, how do you know I cannot compete?" Ye Yisong's words stirred up a thousand waves, catching everyone off guard.

"Thirteenth Brother, you mean..." Ye Yitian, who reacted the fastest, had eyes as bright as day and said with pleasant surprise.

"Yes." Ye Yisong nodded affirmatively.

"Thirteenth Brother, you, you, you kept us in the dark for so long!" Ye Yiguang said with surprise. "When did you have your Breakthrough? Why didn't you tell us? You made us worry for nothing."

"I only had my Breakthrough to become a Tier 3 Mid-grade Talisman Master not long ago, so I didn't have time to tell you." Ye Yisong rolled his eyes at him and explained calmly. As for why he didn't say he had already become a Tier 3 High-grade Talisman Master, he had his own considerations. One must always learn to keep an ace up their sleeve to prevent unexpected events.

"Hahaha, this time I want to see how the Wei Family and Wang Family will compete with Thirteenth Brother for this first place." Ye Yitian said happily.

For the technical assessment, Talisman Making was several times better than Alchemy. Talisman Makers often had plenty of time to increase the Rank of their Talismans; even if they failed once or twice halfway through, it wouldn't affect the final result.

The time required for Alchemy was several times that of Talisman Making. One could fail at most once or twice; if the third attempt also failed, it meant the assessment was a complete failure, and the score would basically be zero.

"Thirteenth Young Master is worthy of being Elder Jiexin's closed-door Disciple; his level of Talisman Making is truly strong," Uncle Jiefu said with emotion. The close relationship between Ye Jiexin and Ye Yisong had long spread throughout the Clan. Ye Yisong spent his time year-round at Lingmu Peak, rarely even visiting his father Ye Jiesheng's Luanshi Peak.

While everyone was still immersed in the great news that Ye Yisong had achieved a Breakthrough to become a Tier 3 Talisman Master, the older Ye Jiexuan and Ye Jiejing looked at each other as if by some divine intervention. Both understood the envy and shock in the other's eyes.

How old was Ye Yisong? He was only fifteen years old, and he had already had a Breakthrough to become a Tier 3 Mid-grade Talisman Master. Did that not mean that in a few years, the Ye Clan would produce another Fourth-Rank Talisman Master?

The Ye Clan had produced one Ye Jiexin, and they had gained a foothold in Cangjiang Prefecture. If they produced another Ye Yisong, they wouldn't dare say they could catch up to the Wei Family, but catching up to the Wang Family would be more than enough.