Chapter 56: The Tragic Wan Yuan

In this life and the past, this was Ye Yuan's second time shedding tears!

The first time was when his father Zhengyangzi was killed by that traitor while protecting him.

That scene, even after going through the cycle of life and death, was still so vivid.

That unforgettable pain also drove the current Ye Yuan to cultivate diligently, hoping one day to fight his way back to the Divine Realm and slay that traitor with his own hands.

This was Ye Yuan's second time crying. Though it was not a life-or-death moment, Ye Hang's selfless fatherly love deeply shook Ye Yuan.

This feeling, Ye Yuan had only experienced with Zhengyangzi. Whether Ye Hang was his real father or not, his unconditional love for him was real.

Qingyunzi had inherited Ye Yuan's body, and influenced by this body, he naturally felt very close to Ye Hang.

Moreover, since Ye Hang treated the newborn Ye Yuan quite well, Ye Yuan felt guilty and thus acknowledged him as his father.

But deep down, Ye Yuan only regarded him as a relatively close person, without true father-son affection.

In Ye Yuan's heart, his only true father was Zhengyangzi, which was why he did not immediately pass on these teachings to Ye Hang.

But now, Ye Yuan had recognized this father from the bottom of his heart.

Having lived two lives, the mountain-like fatherly love from two fathers melted Ye Yuan's heart.

In fact, when he first took out these two techniques, Ye Yuan was still somewhat hesitant. But thinking that if Ye Hang were to be exploited by Wan Donghai, his future cultivation path would face many troubles.

Given Wan Donghai's character, he would certainly not let a fallen Ye Hang have an easy time. Ye Yuan was still weak in strength and could not protect himself.

After much deliberation, Ye Yuan finally made a decision.

But now, Ye Yuan was completely at ease.

Seeing Ye Yuan with tears in his eyes, Ye Hang was startled and quickly said, “Yuan’er, what’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

Ye Yuan shook his head and said, “I’m fine, Father. I was just moved by emotion. I was immature before and made you worry. From now on, I will become your pride!”

Ye Hang was relieved and said with emotion, “Haha, silly son, you’ve learned to be sentimental. We are father and son; saying such things is too formal! But do you know, Yuan’er, what makes me most gratified is not that you obtained the inheritance of a peerless expert, but that you’ve grown up and become sensible! A man never looks back; he must press forward until he breaks through this world!”

Ye Yuan was slightly moved upon hearing this. It was rare for Ye Hang, in a small mortal kingdom, to have such ambitions.

Ye Yuan knew that Ye Hang’s talent was not poor; what he lacked was resources.

As long as he had sufficient cultivation resources, Ye Hang’s future achievements would surely be considerable!

Ye Hang was not yet forty, still young on the path of martial arts, with great potential.

Ye Yuan bowed to Ye Hang and said, “I have learned my lesson, Father. But you should still learn these two techniques; there’s no harm. The expert imparted them to me without saying they couldn’t be passed on, so he clearly left them at my disposal. Besides, I’m not teaching them recklessly—you are my closest kin. Teaching you, I believe he won’t object.”

“This… are you sure it’s fine?” Ye Hang was still hesitant.

“Father, think about it—how could such a lofty expert make such a low-level mistake? If he didn’t want me to pass these things on, he would have warned me sternly, but he didn’t say a word, so he likely left it to my discretion. If he truly wanted to find an heir, he wouldn’t discard me over this. At worst, when he contacts me next time, I’ll inform him. If he finds it inappropriate, we’ll face it together!”

Ye Yuan’s words were bold and heroic, dispelling Ye Hang’s doubts.

“Good, we’ll face it together!” Ye Hang said with equal boldness.

Though he said this, Ye Hang thought to himself: If that expert really comes to trouble Yuan’er, I’ll cripple my own cultivation to atone for it! No matter what, I can’t let Yuan’er bear this alone.

Of course, Ye Hang had no idea that the so-called expert didn’t exist at all…

……

In the following days, both Ye Yuan and his father went into seclusion and did not come out.

Ye Hang devoted all his time to comprehending the Thousand Soul Art, while Ye Yuan focused on consolidating his own cultivation.

Before entering seclusion, Ye Hang instructed that the Medicine Fragrance Pavilion should continue business as usual, and no matter how Drunken Star Tower stirred things up, they should not act rashly—everything would wait until he emerged from seclusion.

Now that he had the Explosive Yuan Pill, he was in no hurry to make a move. He would let Wan Donghai cause trouble for a while, then strike him down with one blow!

Given the foundation of the Medicine Fragrance Pavilion, even if Wan Donghai had the Gathering Yuan Pill, it was impossible for him to completely crush them in a short time.

Ye Hang used this time to improve his strength as quickly as possible!

In this world where the weak are prey to the strong, strength is the only truth.

Ye Hang understood that the potency of the Explosive Yuan Pill was several times that of the Vital Qi Pill, but once it was revealed, its impact would be far more than several times!

Without sufficient strength, the Explosive Yuan Pill would instead become a root of disaster!

Previously, Ye Hang had focused all his attention on the Thousand Soul Art and had little interest in the Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art. However, upon practicing it, he realized how terrifying the Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art was.

In just three days, his long-stagnant cultivation showed signs of loosening, and this was even while he was simultaneously cultivating the Thousand Soul Art.

With the aid of the pill, Ye Hang broke through the barrier and advanced one minor realm.

Above the Liquid Spirit Realm was the Crystal Coagulation Realm. In the Crystal Coagulation Realm, breaking through a minor realm was no less difficult than cultivating from the first to the ninth level of the Vital Qi Realm!

Some people could not break through a single minor realm in five or even ten years—the difficulty was imaginable.

Moreover, Ye Hang discovered that since practicing the Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art, the Yuan force in his dantian had become much denser, and the crystallized Yuan force even showed signs of liquefying and re-coagulating!

As for the Thousand Soul Art, it was the soul art Ye Hang had cultivated in his previous life, and its preciousness naturally needed no further elaboration.

Similarly, within three days, Ye Hang's soul power achieved a breakthrough, smoothly reaching the level of a mid-grade Grand Alchemist.

However, Ye Hang still had no intention of ending his seclusion. He would continue to cultivate, focusing all his efforts on the Lingzhe Nine Yang Divine Art to increase his strength as much as possible.

Because Ye Hang was uncertain what kind of sensation the Explosive Yuan Pill would cause once it appeared in the world.

……

Four days later, the day of the assessment finally arrived. Ye Yuan emerged from seclusion and headed to the Alchemist Guild to join the group.

When Ye Yuan arrived, the hall of the Alchemist Guild was already packed with people.

Most of them he did not know, but there were a few he recognized: Feng Ruoqing and her niece, as well as... Wan Yuan.

Wan Yuan truly came from a learned family; he had long been a mid-grade alchemy apprentice and was here this time to take the assessment for high-grade alchemy apprentice.

Moreover, it was said that Wan Yuan's soul power was quite strong, so becoming an alchemist was well within his reach. Because of this, Wan Yuan received a great deal of attention at the Alchemy and Martial Academy.

At that moment, Wan Yuan was saying something to Feng Zhirou, but Feng Zhirou was as cold as ice, barely responding.

Wan Yuan did not seem annoyed by Feng Zhirou's attitude; instead, he wore a smile.

Feng Zhirou then spotted Ye Yuan, suddenly showing a delighted expression. She left Wan Yuan behind and strode toward Ye Yuan.

"Ye Yuan, why are you so late? My aunt and I have been waiting for you for a long time. We thought you were afraid of failing and wouldn't come!" Feng Zhirou said with familiarity.

Ye Yuan knew that Feng Zhirou was doing this to get rid of Wan Yuan. He couldn't help but glance at Wan Yuan and indeed saw a face as red as a pig's liver and a murderous glare.