Li Zhe snorted coldly and glared at Ye Qingchen, gnashing his teeth. "You got lucky today! If you're smart, you'll stay hidden within the Ye Family for the rest of your life! Otherwise, the moment you step outside, I'll kill you!"
Ye Changyun's cultivation matched his own, and with other members of the Ye Family present, Li Zhe knew a forced attack wouldn't kill Ye Qingchen. He had no choice but to give up for now. Just as he turned to leave, Ye Qingchen spoke up.
"Hold on!"
RIIIP!
Ye Qingchen tore off a large piece of his blood-stained clothing. He bit his fingertip and, with a flurry of motion, quickly finished writing a letter in blood.
WHOOSH!
He flung it far, and the eye-catching blood letter landed right in front of Li Zhe.
Li Zhe's gaze fell on the letter, and his pupils shrank. A bill of divorce! The document Ye Qingchen had written in his own blood was, astoundingly, a formal bill of divorce, and the one being divorced was none other than his precious daughter, Li Susu!
"Today, I've finally realized that my ten years of devotion were wasted on a dog! Today, I declare before you all that I am divorcing Li Susu! From this moment on, the Li Family and I have nothing more to do with each other!" Ye Qingchen glowered at Li Zhe, his dark eyes filled with boundless fury. "And as for the debt of your palm strike, I will repay it a hundredfold one day!"
"You brat! You piece of trash, you dare to divorce my daughter?" Li Zhe's face was a mask of astonishment and anger.
In Qingyun Town, Li Susu was considered its brightest jewel. And today, she had actually been divorced by Ye Qingchen, that good-for-nothing? The surrounding members of the Ye Family were also stunned. Li Susu was both beautiful and talented, the unobtainable dream goddess of countless young men in Qingyun Town! And Ye Qingchen, a piece of trash, had actually divorced their goddess? This was an outright desecration! The audacity!
Overcome with anger, Li Zhe burst into a spiteful laugh. "Good! Very good! Ye Qingchen, you're digging your own grave. You have no one to blame but yourself! Hmph! So you dare to go head-to-head with the Li Family? It seems that dead father of yours left you quite a few treasures! However, you'll need to be alive to use them!"
Having said his piece, Li Zhe stormed off in a rage.
Ye Qingchen watched him leave with a look of displeasure. That old fox, setting a trap for me even as he leaves! I can already sense dozens of malicious gazes from the Ye Family members around me! Clearly, they think that since I could produce a high-grade Yellow-rank Martial Technique, I must be hiding other treasures. It seems my days in the family won't be peaceful either!
"Ye Qingchen, go to the family's medicine hall to bandage your wounds, then come to my room," Ye Changyun said before turning and leaving.
「In the Family Head's room.」
Ye Changyun sat in an armchair. Across from him stood a shirtless Ye Qingchen, his chest wrapped in bandages.
"Thank you for saving my life, Family Head!"
"You don't need to thank me. You presented a treasure to the family, so naturally, I must protect you. But don't think you can always rely on the family's protection! In six months, the youth trial will be held in the Qingyun Mountain Range. All the juniors from the three great families, including you, must participate. Once you're in the mountains, I can't guarantee your safety! Take this Healing Pill and go back to cultivate diligently."
"Thank you for the reminder, Family Head. I'll work hard."
"Very well. You may go."
Just as Ye Qingchen left, a ghostly figure appeared behind Ye Changyun.
"Go to the Li Family. I want all information regarding Li Susu!"
"Yes!"
The ghostly figure vanished from the room, and Ye Changyun's brows furrowed slightly.
Ye Qingchen left the Family Head's room, passed through a long corridor, walked around a rockery, and finally returned to his small courtyard. This was the place where he and his father, Ye Changfeng, used to live.
Just as he stepped into the courtyard, a slender girl of about fourteen or fifteen with pigtails came bounding toward him. "Young Master, you're back? Xiao Xiao has the meal ready!"
Eight years ago, Ye Qingchen had found Xiao Xiao abandoned and fainted from hunger on a street in Qingyun Town. Feeling a deep empathy, he brought her back to the family, and the two had been inseparable ever since.
Xiao Xiao brought a stool for Ye Qingchen to sit on, then took a seat opposite him. On the table were two steaming bowls of rice and a dish of foraged wild vegetables in the middle—their usual meal. As a First-Layer Martial Apprentice, Ye Qingchen received minimal resources from the family, most of which were spent cultivating his Martial Soul, forcing him to live a very frugal life.
To his surprise, however, a fragrant roasted chicken sat next to the vegetables today.
Xiao Xiao gazed at the roasted chicken, licked her lips, and couldn't help but swallow, desperately trying to control her hunger pangs.
Ye Qingchen focused his attention on her, and as his Double Pupils quivered, he heard her inner thoughts.
I even lost a shoe catching this wild chicken, how embarrassing. I must not let the Young Master find out…
Ye Qingchen discreetly glanced down and saw that Xiao Xiao was indeed wearing only one ragged cloth shoe. Her other bare foot was hidden under the table, nervously fidgeting.
I'm so hungry. It smells so good; I really want to take just one bite! No, no, I have to control myself! The Young Master uses up so much energy cultivating his Martial Soul. This chicken is for him, to help him recover!
Ye Qingchen felt a lump form in his throat. This little girl would rather starve than touch the chicken she worked so hard to catch. Her genuine affection was a world apart from Li Susu's treacherous betrayal.
"Don't just sit there, let's eat! We'll split this chicken, half and half!" Ye Qingchen said, tearing the roasted chicken in two without hesitation.
Xiao Xiao immediately waved her hands. "Young Master, I already ate a whole chicken while you were out. This one is all yours..."
GURGLE!
Before she could finish, her stomach betrayed her with a loud rumble. She froze, her face instantly turning beet red. That treacherous stomach!
Ye Qingchen forcibly stuffed half the chicken into her hands. "None of this 'yours' and 'mine'! My chicken is your chicken. I order you to eat!"
Xiao Xiao took a bite of the chicken, and her eyes immediately reddened.
This chicken... it's so delicious! My Young Master... he's so good to me!
They both savored the meal, finding it exceptionally fragrant.
"Xiao Xiao, I'm going to my room to cultivate. If anyone comes by, don't let them disturb me," Ye Qingchen instructed her as she cleared the dishes.
Seeing her nod solemnly, he walked into his room and locked the door.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Ye Qingchen took out a porcelain bottle. It contained the very Spirit Gathering Pill he had gotten from Li Zhe.
A Spirit Gathering Pill was a first-grade Spirit Pill, valued at one thousand silver pieces. It could double a Martial Artist's cultivation speed, making it incredibly precious. In the Ye Family, only those who had reached the Sixth Layer of Martial Apprentice or higher could receive one Spirit Gathering Pill per month. At his current level, Ye Qingchen was not qualified.
He poured out a pill and swallowed it without hesitation.
The Li Family could try to kill me at any moment. Even with Family Head Ye Changyun's promise, the Ye Family isn't absolutely safe. I have to seize every second to cultivate! After being betrayed by Li Susu, I see how naive I was, thinking I could rest easy just because there were powerful people around me. The only way to truly be safe is to become powerful myself!
He began to circulate the Ye Family's foundational Cultivation Technique. In the depths of his mind, his Willow Wood Martial Soul and Dual Pupil Martial Soul trembled in unison. His Soul Power radiated outward, circulating through the meridians in his body in a unique pattern.
As his Soul Power flowed, nature's Spiritual Energy surged into his body like a whale inhaling water. His cultivation speed was now at least ten times faster than before.