15: Chapter 15 Family Meeting (Part Two)

Sighing, Ye Tuanbang continued, "During the last great war, our Family grounds at Luomu Mountain were ambushed, and the losses among the fifth and sixth generation Family Disciples were too great. Among the current sixth and seventh generation Disciples, only a handful have truly grown up."

"Due to the restrictions of the Martial Examination, one can only participate in the same stage of competition once. Therefore, only 15 sixth-generation Disciples and 23 seventh-generation Disciples can participate in this County Exam."

"Among them, only Jiekang, Jiehua, Yimin, Yisong, and others have reached the level of Tier 2 Craft Master. The remaining 7 are still lingering at Tier 1, and the rest of the Disciples have no talent for Talisman Making; it is unlikely anyone will achieve a Breakthrough in the short term."

Even without Ye Tuanbang saying it, the Elders present knew what he meant. Relying on Tier 1 skill levels to take first place in the skill assessment was basically impossible.

The other two great families with a thousand-year Legacy in Cangjiang Prefecture—the Wei Family and the Wang Family—were not inferior to the Ye Family in strength. Cultivating a few Tier 2 Craft Masters should not be a problem for them; a thousand-year foundation is not just for show.

In the previous century, the Ye Family's total score in the Martial Examination only ranked second, and that was only because Ye Jiesheng fiercely fought his way into the top 100 of the National Examination. Otherwise, the Ye Family's points might not have even cracked the top five.

"Hmm, the current situation of the Family is not optimistic. In this century's Martial Examination points, the Wei Family and the Wang Family have already reached over five thousand points," Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui said, pulling everyone's thoughts back. He continued, "Yet our Ye Family has only obtained three thousand eight hundred points. The gap is vast; I have failed our ancestors... cough, cough."

Ye Tuanbang supported the Clan Leader's trembling body and asked with concern, "Clan Leader, your injuries?"

"It's all the fault of those bastards in Linhai Prefecture. If the Clan Leader hadn't single-handedly held off three Tier 4 Sea Beasts, he wouldn't have been injured so severely. The last great war was supposed to be us three great families helping them resist the Sea Beast invasion, yet we were backstabbed by those scoundrels, forcing our Cangjiang Prefecture to charge the front line. If the City Lord hadn't arrived in time, our Cangjiang Prefecture would have..." the hot-tempered Grandfather Ye Tuantu said furiously.

"Enough, I am fine. This old man won't die just yet." Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui gently patted Ye Tuanbang, then coughed a few more times. "Last time, it was also our own fault for being too greedy. Let's not talk about it anymore; let's continue the discussion."

Ye Tuanbang looked at the Clan Leader with worry and continued, "The biggest problem now is that the fourth-ranked Qi Family's total score has also reached three thousand five hundred points..."

"What?"

"Impossible!"

Before Ye Tuanbang could finish, the other Elders showed expressions of shock. Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui was also very surprised; when did this Qi Family become so powerful? As one of the three giants of Cangjiang Prefecture, they knew the Qi Family all too well. In this past century, the Qi Family hadn't had many outstanding juniors.

"In recent years, while we weren't paying attention, the Qi Family has been secretly recruiting a large number of low-level Loose Cultivators before every Martial Examination, marrying them into the Family, and then using the Qi Family's name to participate in the Martial Examination. For decades, we haven't noticed that a large number of the rankings between 50 and 100 contained Loose Cultivators recruited by the Qi Family."

"When there are enough ants, they can bite an elephant to death."

Hearing Ye Tuanbang's explanation, everyone understood the Qi Family's underhanded tactics. Participating in the Martial Examination does not strictly require one's own Family Bloodline Disciples; recruiting live-in sons-in-law is also acceptable. Of course, they must be recruited and registered before the Martial Examination to count, so the Qi Family was not violating any rules.

Ye Jiesheng frowned and said, "The Qi Family certainly knows how to exploit loopholes. What does the Family plan to do now? The difference in resources between fourth place and third place is vast."

Hearing Ye Jiesheng's words, the other Elders nodded and looked at Ye Tuanbang in unison; clearly, none of them were fools.

They knew that calling them to a meeting at this time must mean the Clan Leader had made a decision and wanted them to discuss its feasibility and the Family's subsequent course of action.

"I discussed it with the Clan Leader. For the next two months, the stipend for Family Disciples will be doubled, and each skill hall will accelerate the cultivation of the seventh-generation Disciples' skill levels to prepare for the upcoming Martial Examination." As expected, Ye Tuanbang stated the results of his discussion with the Clan Leader.

"Agreed. Spirit Stones were meant for these little brats anyway. When I go back, I'll do a crash course to see if Yisong can achieve a Breakthrough to Tier 3 Talisman Master." Ye Jiexin, the wealthy one, was the first to stand up and express his support.

Ye Jiesheng rolled his eyes and said to Ye Jiexin, "Take it easy."

It's not your son, so you don't feel the pain, right?

Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui also spoke up, "Do not try to rush success by pulling on the sprouts."

"Clan Leader, rest assured, Jiexin understands." Ye Jiexin respectfully bowed to Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui and said.

After thinking for a while, Ye Jiesheng said to everyone, "Let's recruit some Loose Cultivators this year too. We cannot let the Qi Family continue to act like this, or this Martial Examination will be truly dangerous."

"Good, let's arrange for Jiesheng to handle this, but be careful not to recruit too many," Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui said with a smile.

Ye Jiesheng was confused. I just proposed an idea; Clan Leader, you are too eager. You didn't even consider it and made such a hasty decision. Isn't this a bit like child's play?

Ye Jiesheng actually proposed this idea because he wanted to do it himself; after all, he was the only one in the Family currently free and hadn't learned any skills.

In this time of Family crisis, he should take the initiative to contribute. He was just taken aback by the Clan Leader's quick decision. Who are you looking down on? I also make a living by my own abilities.

However, Ye Jiesheng looked at his own burly figure and sandbag-sized fists, wondering if this image was good for sales.

Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui did not consider whether Ye Jiesheng's tough-guy image was good for recruiting Loose Cultivators because he knew that hidden beneath Ye Jiesheng's rugged exterior was a heart of seven orifices—exquisitely clever.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been the first Disciple of the Ye Family to break into the National Examination.

After Ye Jiesheng proposed a feasible plan, Ye Tuanbang continued, "Does anyone else have any suggestions?"

The remaining ones, like Alchemy Elder Ye Jiefang and the others, looked at each other; they couldn't come up with any good ideas for the time being.

Seeing their expressions, Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui waved his hand. "Let's end today's discussion here. After you go back, everyone take action. The Family's glory depends on you."

Everyone stood up together and bowed to Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui, saying, "Yes."

Just before everyone was about to walk out of the Dali Courtyard, Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui's voice came again, "Tomorrow, tell Training Instructor Ye Jiechen to come see me. From now on, let Jieming take over as the morning training instructor."

Because Ye Jiesheng was quite familiar with Training Instructor Ye Jiechen, Ye Jiesheng answered towards the inside, "Yes."

Training Instructor Ye Jiechen was only forty-eight years old, yet he had already Cultivated to Nine-Star Martial Master, and his Mental Energy had reached Tier 4. It could be said that one of his feet had already stepped onto the threshold of the Martial Ancestor Realm. Given some time, he would definitely be able to enter this Realm.

Now that the Clan Leader had called Training Instructor Ye Jiechen to see him, it seemed he wanted to personally instruct him to see if this kid could achieve a Breakthrough to Martial Ancestor before the Provincial Examination. If successful, the Family would not only lock in the top three in advance, but second place might also be possible.

Now it just depends on whether this kid can step up.

Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui was the Martial Artist who had Cultivated the longest in the entire Family, besides the Grand Elder, and his strength had reached the Nine-Star Martial Ancestor Realm. With the guidance of such a powerful expert, Training Instructor Ye Jiechen had a good chance of achieving a Breakthrough.

Thinking of this, the various Elders who had just been worried couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The Clan Leader is worthy of being the Clan Leader; old ginger is still the spiciest!

As for how many Grand Elders were in the Family, only Clan Leader Ye Tuanhui knew. This was also an unwritten rule that the Ye Family had followed for so many years of its Legacy.

Walking out of the Dali Courtyard, Array Master Ye Jieguo, who had been silent the whole time, awkwardly bowed to Ye Jiexin and said, "Ninth Brother, regarding the money, could you please give me a few more days?"

Ye Jiexin rolled his eyes. He had just been joking; he wouldn't really make him pay back the money at such a critical moment.