Ye Chen had thought he left home for ten days only but in reality, it was a month and a half.
The first level of the Sunken Jade Tower was filled with sturdy trees and rocks with many areas being sealed off. Some sealed off areas had passageways and with the help of the memories from Ye Chen’s Astral Body, he began searching for the exit.
Ye Chen’s Astral Body showed there were a ton of bodies belonging to human combatants and mystical beasts. It showed that many people and beasts had perished during the opening of the Sunken Jade Tower.
What Ye Chen saw was merely the tip of the iceberg. As the adage once said, men would die for greed and animals would die for food. Most combatants who had entered the Sunken Jade Tower only returned with disappointment. Those who stumbled upon treasures of any kind were extremely few.
When Ye Chen finally emerged from the Sunken Jade Tower, another three days had gone. It would take him an additional day to reach home.
Ye Chen felt refreshed after inhaling some fresh air and realizing he was away from all those evil spirits. Finally, he was away from that ghastly place.
Ye Chen knew these were sentimental feelings. He was beginning to miss home.
Ye Chen thought of his grandpa and father, Little Rou, First Brother, Second Brother, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and so many others.
“I, Ye Chen will be home soon!” Ye Chen proclaimed. He could not wait to share his accomplishments with his father and grandpa.
Little Tanuki pursed its lips as it saw Ye Chen’s expression like it was smiling too before going back to being a little gloomy. Ye Chen had a home to go to but it did not.
“Don’t be sad, Little Tanuki. From now on, the Ye Castle is your home too.” Ye Chen patted Little Tanuki to console it.
“Squeak, squeak.” Little Tanuki seemed to agree.
After a moment, the Blizzard Leopard, Zephyr White Ape, and Crimson Gold Hound emerged. Meanwhile, the Raven Hawk and Vermillion Spirit Condor circled the skies.
Seeing the five Tenth Level mystical beasts by his side, Ye Chen was reminded of his advancement to the Tenth Level. A spark of joy flashed in his eyes. He kept thinking about how Donglin County would have to obey the Ye Clan’s words from now on. If anyone tried to go against them, he would beat them up!
Any clan in Donglin County would surely be scared out of their living daylights if they saw any of the five Tenth Level mystical beasts – the Blizzard Leopard, White Zephyr Ape, Crimson Gold Hound, Raven Hawk or the Vermillion Spirit Condor.
While Ye Chen was engrossed in his little world, a black silhouette ran toward Ye Chen. He used his Astral Body to investigate the incoming figure and smiled. It was the Lynx.
After Ye Chen had descended into the Sunken Jade Tower, the Lynx had decided to lay low and treat its wound by the entrance of the cave as it waited for Ye Chen to reappear!
Following the battle from before and the Spirit Pill that it had ingested, its power had increased. Now, it was on par with Qiu Ying.
Six Tenth Level mystical beasts were all more powerful than a peak Tenth Level Combatant!
Grandpa and father would surely be as excited if they saw the mystical beasts too! With so many beasts by their side, who would ever dare mess with the Ye Clan from now on?
As the group journeyed on, the surrounding mystical beasts and humans scampered at the sight of them. After all, who else would possibly ever think to mess with Ye Chen save for the Three Major Sects, Celestial Beasts and mystical beasts anyway?
Ye Chen started to pick up his pace as he thought about the Ye Castle. He wished he had wings to fly at that point.
At the Ye Castle.
The Dark Troopers had completely seized the Ye Castle. The place was completely swarmed with squads of well-geared Dark Troopers patrolling the area. There was an even larger group of the Second-Prince’s Palace troops that were stationed outside the Ye Castle for extra fortification.
Atop the performance stage, Ye Changxuan, Ye Zhantian, and the rest spotted heavy shackles to their bodies, legs, and hands. Their clavicles to both sides of their shoulders were locked to prevent them from consolidating any Celestial Chi. They looked dispirited, bloodied, bruised, and pitiful. Meanwhile, Ye Meng, Ye Peng, Ye Mu, and the rest of the slightly lower ranking clan members wore heavy chains as with the old and needy, who were herded into the group of prisoners.
It had been days since their confinement and throughout the period, Liu Xun had ordered his men to provide them with just enough food that neither of them would die.
Days had passed and there was no sign of that rumored powerful figure!
“Get up. His Majesty is coming. I said get up, old man!” A Dark Trooper stopped behind Ye Changxuan and kicked him.
Ye Changxuan stared at the Dark Trooper intensely.
“F*cking old man. You dare to resist even the most low ranking wardens? I’ll give you a good kick!” The Dark Trooper violently kicked Ye Changxuan another time, causing the old man to fall.
The impact had affected the wounds on his clavicle and it caused him great pain. It was so painful that Ye Changxuan broke out in a cold sweat, though he did not groan at all. A Tenth Level combatant would feel just as much pain as a common folk when it came to having their clavicles locked up.
“Granduncle!”
“Sixth Uncle!”
“F*ck you all, we’ll fight you!” Ye Zhanlong, Ye Meng, and some of them got up and rammed into some of the Dark Troopers.
One of the Dark Troopers slapped Ye Meng out of his way. Ye Meng’s mouth was filled with blood. Like a bloodthirsty beast, he stared at the Dark Trooper menacingly.
Another Dark Trooper kicked Ye Zhanlong out of the way. He turned to look at Ye Meng’s terrifying expression and took a step back. He cussed. “I’ve killed many on the battlefield. Don’t think for a second that I’d have qualms about taking a child’s life!”
The Dark Trooper flipped Ye Meng over with his feet. The Dark Trooper was extremely arrogant but the Second-rank Prince had given orders to them to not murder anyone. So, when he hit Ye Meng, he did not incorporate a single trace of Celestial Chi into his attacks.
“These Ye Clan members sure are a bunch of fearless fools!” A Dark Trooper mused before turning to walk away.
After a moment, Liu Kan, Liu Xan, and a group of men walked over. There were about ten plus of them. They scanned the Ye Clan members who sat on the floor, feeling a little sorry for them.
“Your Majesty, no matter how we punish them, they would never move.” A few Dark Troopers walked up to Liu Xun and shared their frustrations.
“Useless fools! You bunch can’t even get a simple matter done!” Liu Xun scolded them and slapped each of them on the face before sending them away.
Days had gone by. Despite the amount of torture they had gone through, neither of the Ye Clan members gave in and that upset Liu Xun greatly. Previously, he had attempted to shove the pill down one of the member’s throats but he would rather die than to take it, even trying to ram into a wall to take his life. Eventually, Liu Xun gave up. Even if he forced them to take the medicine, they would find a way to end their lives. He had to think of a way to get these stubborn people to submit!
Up to that point, the rumored powerful figure had not appeared at all. Liu Xun dared not think to obliterate the family. For now, he chose to ransack the clan’s treasure vault. He went through certain Ye Family Classics and manuals to look for some clues and the more clues he came across, the more he hesitated. Thousands of years ago, the Ye Clan was an extremely large clan with extremely accomplished fighters. Despite having fallen from grace, there were still sub-clans belonging to the Ye Clan that showed that they were involved with certain clans from the Central Empire.
Having thought of how Ye Chen had miraculously managed to recover from his crippled meridian, cultivated certain high tier martial arts techniques, and that he could tame beasts, Liu Xun found the claims of the Ye Clan being backed by a powerful figure rather plausible.
As for the Ye Clan’s cultivation systems, Liu Xun only came across the Heaven Thunder Rend. It was, however, a rather weak martial arts technique and did not interest him at all.
Regardless, Liu Xun had dug himself a deeper hole now though he was not one to cower in fear. The only solution to all of this was to get those stubborn b*stards under his control and make them take the pill. That way, if the Ye Clan truly had a powerful figure who had been looking out for them, he could use the hostages against the said figure.
“I tried to advise you but you wouldn’t listen. It’s been days and you lots are beginning to stink like poops in the toilet. Don’t blame me for being merciless!” Liu Xun was infuriated just seeing the Ye Clan members.
Ye Zhantian spat, his saliva containing traces of blood. He remarked harshly, “Let’s see what you got, Liu Xun. If I, Ye Zhantian ever frown, then I’m a coward!”
“Go ahead and kill us if you wish to do so, Liu Xun. The Ye Clan would never bow to you!” Ye Changxuan shouted.
They were not afraid of anything, only they were worried for Ye Chen. All of them were silently hoping that Ye Chen would never return. So long as he was still out there, the Ye Clan would always have a glimmer of hope.
“Very well, consider me intimidated.” Liu Xun put on an evil smile. “Ye Changxuan, it’s fine for an old man like you to die but what about the future generations of the clan? They have a bright future ahead of them. Are you going to get them involved?”
“As sons of the Ye Clan, we would gladly die without regrets. You can forget about using granduncle’s name to threaten us!” Ye Peng, Ye Mu, and the rest were all equally tired but they still had a fighting spirit in them.
In a world rife with chaos and where beasts roam, death lingered everywhere. Having been hardened to the harsh truths of life as a child, neither of them feared death!
“Hmph. You’re going to force my hands, are you Ye Changxuan?” Liu Xun grew increasingly frustrated. These lots would never bow either way. “Guards!”
“Right here!” A few Dark Troopers showed up.
“Hang them up!” Liu Xun’s expression was fierce. He remarked cruelly, “I’d like to see just how long you can hold!”
A couple of Dark Troopers went over and held Ye Peng, Ye Mu, Ye Meng, and the rest of the boys up. They were brought to a wooden post and were chained up.
“Give them a good beating!” Liu Xun ordered.
“Liu Xun, if you’ve got guts, why don’t you come at us? They’re just kids!” Ye Zhantian and Ye Zhanlong tried to stand but the Dark Troopers kicked them down.
“Hmph. You asked for it. If you’ve made your choice and you’ve decided to take my pill, you belong to me. Only then, I’ll release you. Otherwise, this is merely just the beginning,” Liu Xun spoke with a murderous expression. His black eyes spoke of a certain nonchalance. Having braved countless battles, he had already been hardened long ago. Things had already escalated to this point. There was no way he was going to back down!
Ye Peng and thirty other youngsters were laid in a row, chained to wooden posts. The guards who stood beside took out a long, black whip that seemed to carry thorns around the side.
The Dark Trooper who stood before Ye Meng whipped. It landed on Ye Meng’s chest. His skin tore and blood spilled out.
Ye Meng resisted from groaning, his tender cheeks were so twisted that he was probably going to crush his teeth from the gritting but he merely took in the pain. Like a common folk, he could not channel his Celestial Chi. The next whip would have knocked out an average person but he had managed to go on due to his years of martial arts training and grit.
Ye Meng braced himself as the next whip was delivered.
Ye Meng’s vision dimmed, he was about to pass out.
Smack, smack, smack. Whips rose and fell in the air. The clothes on Ye Meng and the rest were stained with blood.