Chapter 46 – Set Off for the Elite Prefecture War

Five days later, Grey City.

The eight guards standing in front of the Castle, were watching people passing nearby. Suddenly, the side gate was opened, and several luxurious carriages slowly rolled out. In order to show their respect to the guests, the eight guards straightened their spines, and smiled flatteringly. Recently, they had witnessed so many guests coming out of the Ye Castle, that they had become tired of being polite or wearing a fake smile. The carriages went out one after the other…

“Four, five… nine, ten.”

The guards counted the carriages out of curiosity. Each of the carriage could accommodate at least twenty passengers; so mathematically, there should be roughly two hundred people. Given the extent of the luxurious decoration of the carriages, the passengers must be important people in the Ye Family. But where were they going?

Interestingly, an hour later, another twenty carriages arrived at the gate and left the Ye Castle, after which they disappeared in the spacious streets of Grey City.

Another hour later, the third group appeared at the gate…

“Big brother, what’s going on? It seems as if the Ye Family has dispatched five- to six hundred advanced cultivators. Why?” As they saw the third group of carriages disappear in the distance, one of the guards couldn’t contain himself anymore and asked his big brother.

“What’s going on? How should I know? We don’t have a position in the family that allows us to know the family secrets...” The big brother of the guards replied in a low voice, warning his fellow men not to gossip over this matter. However, when he turned his head around and reassured himself that there was no one in the vicinity, he murmured like a thief, “The Elite Prefecture War.”

“Errr!”

The rest of the guards, after they heard these words, held their breaths for a second. Some of them raised their head again, looking into the distance with an even more puzzled expression.

In the past, only about three hundred people were sent out for this war. So, why would the number of soldiers have doubled this time? As for the Elite Prefecture War, most of the young, competent cultivators had been asked to take part in it. Maybe there was some kind of secret, which had led the Ye Family to send more participants?

……

In the rear hill of the Ye Castle, two figures stood side by side beside the pool.

“Your Highness, I have a question. Why did you send almost all of the young cultivators to the Elite Prefecture War. Plus, is Qinghan really competent enough to lead the whole team and return in triumph? Do you believe in him?” The grey-bearded Ye Baihu raised his concerns, as he doubtfully gazed at Ye Tianlong.

“Baihu, I thought that you could read my mind, haha. Anyway, you asked a question that left most of the family members confused, but didn’t dare to ask me.” Ye Tianlong smiled.

“Yes, you’re right.” Baihu nodded.

Five days ago, Ye Tianlong had imprisoned Ye Jian, and expelled Qingkuang, which had solidified the people’s impression of him as a fierce and powerful leader. Now, since Ye Tianlong had regained his power, he had declared a series of new rules and regulations, which had raised growing suspicions among the elders. However, no one dared to challenge the authority of their leader by asking him questions, the only thing they could do was to do what their leader told them to do. Today, about thirty carriages had been sent out, and Ye Baihu finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Well, in fact, this is quite simple. I have sent someone to buy the soul-nourishments. I bet you already know this. Although that girl has used Soul Sacrifice once, to Qinghan, she’ll still play a vital role to enhance his cultivation ability. Plus, personally, I really appreciate that girl.”

“As for the reason why I have sent all the young, competent cultivators out to the Elite Prefecture War… This has two reasons: firstly, the most effective way for young cultivators to improve their fighting ability is to participate in a war of this magnitude; secondly, I plan on giving Qinghan a chance to build comradeship with his fellow counterparts in this war of life and death, which will also increase the chance of him staying in the Ye Family.”

“However, I have to say, that it’s an expedient strategy to send Qinghan out. You know, Qinghan is infuriated with Ye Jian, to the extent that he refuses to recognize his identity as a descendant of the Ye Family. It’ll take a long period of time to change his current attitude. Think about it, if he breaks through the Realm of the Saint and becomes an immortal in the future, he won’t contribute to our family if he doesn’t feel any affection towards the family. Anyway, I try to spur his cultivation speed under the pressure of saving his sister. Meanwhile, it might be helpful for him to leave the Ye Castle for some time. At the very least, he won’t be stuck dwelling on his sorrows all the time.”

Ye Tianlong spoke with fervor and assurance, as though he already had an ace up his sleeve. Because of his imposing manner, his dwarf figure seemed to be taller than before.

“However, your highness, it’s highly likely that Qinghan will be injured, or even killed by accident. After all, presently he isn’t an advanced cultivator. Once his holy-grade battle beast is revealed, he’ll probably be added to the killing list of the Demon Prefecture and the Barbarian Prefecture.” Ye Baihu pondered and raised another concern.

“I believe in Qinghan, he won’t let me down. I predict, that he’ll make a breakthrough in cultivation even before he arrives at Dragon City.” Ye Tianlong chuckled, and turned to Ye Baihu, “Do you know, before Qinghan summoned that battle beast, what realm he was in? The first level of the Realm of the Elite!”

“What?!” Ye Baihu was stunned to learn how low Qinghan’s cultivation was a few months ago, for he had been isolated from the outside world in the rear hill. He widened his eyes, and asked Ye Tianlong unbelievably, “Your highness, pardon me for speaking frankly, but it doesn’t make any sense, since Qinghan has already entered into the second level of the Realm of the Commander. How can anyone jump from the first level of the Realm of the Elite to the second level of the Realm of the Commander within roughly three months? It sounds much more likely, that Qinghan has cheated us by concealing his true ability previously…”

Nevertheless, Ye Tianlong waved his head disapprovingly, while his eyes were lit up with excitement, “Nope, according to my investigation, he did stay in the first level of the Realm of the Elite, however, when he came back from Wild City, his cultivation level had surged to the Realm of the Commander. I believe, that this young man will have much more surprises for us. Talking about his safety, I have sent Ye Shisan, and Ye Shiqi. Also, the sub-team of two hundred people are all members of Qingniu’s Death Squad. Moreover, I have ordered to forbid anyone from leaking any information about Qinghan to the outsiders.”

It took a while for Ye Baihu to mollify from the shock. He never thought that Qinghan had so much potential.

“Ye Shisan and Ye Shiqi are both capable cultivators, are they willing to serve under Qinghan’s leadership? Plus, are you confident that we can get the Spirit Immortal Dan in the end? As far as I know, Immortal City only presents one pill as a reward; we have to compete with the other families in the continent, who are, too, eager to obtain it. I remember, over a hundred years ago, the Feng Family had paid a brutal price for the Spirit Immortal Dan! Even if we get that thing, we still need another one.”

Hearing this, Ye Tianlong replied gravely, “I really hope that Qinghan will be a competent leader. As for the Spirit Immortal Dan, I’ve sent Qingniu to Immortal City to get the initial exchange right. As long as our team gets enough credits in the war, we will have the right to exchange the Dan. Half a month later, I’ll go to the sea area to ask for the other pill. During my absence, you’ll be in charge of Grey City.”

“The sea area...” The mention of the sea area made Ye Baihu nervous, “Your highness, I hope that everything will go smoothly…”

……

Sitting on a luxurious carriage, Qinghan was in a rather bad mood. Even though he had never enjoyed such treatment, he didn’t feel happy about it at all.

The luxurious seats in the carriage were enough for more than twenty people, however, Qinghan sat alone behind the curtain. The decoration and structure of the carriage was also one of a kind. The carriage was led at lightning speed by Four Black Winged Horses, which were bought from the Wild Mountain Range. In front of the curtain, two men in black clothing were seated – they were the secretly-trained “death warriors”, named Ye Shisan and Ye Shiqi respectively. Both of them had already entered into the Realm of the Prince, with one in the second level and the other in the third level.

Given the extent of extravagance of the carriage, it was fair to say, that Qinghan was treated like a Prince. However, Qinghan, who had already seen a great deal of this cruel world, was not flattered or honored by this. If he was still a piece of garbage, and showed no talent at all in cultivation, would the Ye Family treat him like this? Would his grandfather be so lenient to him?

Therefore, Qinghan felt neither excitement nor gratitude towards this privileged treatment. Actually, his head was full of worries over his sister, who was still lying in bed in one of the pavilions. He knew, that it would take at least a whole year to finish this task. Indeed, Ye Tianlong had guaranteed that he would take care of Qingyu and keep her alive during Qinghan’s absence. However, Qinghan still felt uncertain and sullen.

Out of misery, Qinghan grabbed the goblet of liquor from the desk, and started drinking like a fish. The wine was called Monkey Liquor, which cost ten purple crystal coins per bottle. Glancing through the curtain, Grey City was becoming more and more distant, and currently even the liquor left a bitter taste in his mouth…