Chapter 48: The Hidden Struggle in the Dining Hall

  Just finished writing, no passion at all!

  In Luocheng, if you ask which is the largest mansion, it must be the Ye family's. The Ye family's estate, covering an area of thousands of acres, is even three times larger than the city lord's mansion. Inside, there are pavilions, towers, small bridges, flowing water, bamboo forests and seas of trees, almost everything you can think of, as if it were a miniature version of Luocheng itself.

  After passing through several corridors and crossing a ten-zhang-long white jade stone bridge, what appeared before Ye Chen's eyes was a huge martial arts arena.

  The martial arts arena was bustling with activity, where the Ye family warriors who didn't need to work and only needed to practice their martial skills were all diligently cultivating. Some of them were alone, repeatedly pondering and practicing, while others were seeking guidance from others or engaging in intense battles to hone their skills, creating a lively scene.

  "Good day, Master Ye." Five middle-aged men and women outside the arena greeted Ye Chen with respect.

  Ye Chen nodded, "Is it your turn to teach martial skills today?"

  These five are the martial arts instructors of the Ye family, who claim to have more than 300 cultivators above the Condensing True Realm. Two-thirds of them are direct and collateral members, while the remaining one-third are outsiders who have joined the Ye family. According to their strength levels, their positions also vary. For example, a Hugging Yuan Realm martial artist will become an elder of the Ye family's outer surname, a late-stage Condensing True Realm martial artist will become an executive of the Ye family, and a mid-stage Condensing True Realm martial artist is a martial arts instructor, just like these five people. A beginner in the Condensing True Realm is an apprentice instructor and does not have the qualifications to directly teach others, equivalent to being the deputy of a martial arts instructor.

  "Yes, the martial arts arena has a three-day rotation, and today just so happens to be our turn." A somewhat elegant middle-aged woman on the left replied.

  "I'm just passing by, you guys carry on!" Ye Chen waved his hand and walked away.

  In the middle, a middle-aged Confucian scholar in a gray long gown sighed: "Dust Young Master has broken through to the Condensed Reality Realm, and we few people may not be able to win him steadily!"

  "Geniuses can break through conventions at will; how can we compare?"

  "Alright, stop complaining. One day, when we reach the level of embracing the origin, we can become outer elders of the Ye family and live a life free from worries."

  "That's also true."

  The martial arts arena was four hundred meters away from the cafeteria. After a while, Ye Chen finally walked to the entrance of the hall at a steady pace.

  When Ye Chen entered, some people were already having breakfast.

  "Dust, you're up so early." Ye Tianhao was busy with a million things and always got up very early.

  Ye Chendi said: "I didn't sleep yesterday and have been cultivating until now."

  Ye Tianhao's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, "You've broken through to the Condensed True Realm?"

  "Just broke through."

  "Really broke through?"

  Ye Tianhao was just subconsciously saying it, didn't expect Ye Chen to answer so affirmatively, and for a moment he was stunned, then suddenly overjoyed. If the previous Ye Chen could only be considered a combat genius, but not particularly noticeable in terms of cultivation, then the current Ye Chen is truly a genius in every sense of the word, no one can deprive him of his glory, and he is on par with Ye Xuan and Ye Tang.

  "Let me take a look." Ye Tian Hao reached out to place his hand on Ye Chen's shoulder. Although it was possible to tell from the surface that Ye Chen had made progress, in some special cases, even a peak 10th layer Qi Refining Realm martial artist would emit a faint aura fluctuation, which could easily be mistaken for a newly entered True Essence Realm martial artist.

  The true energy that belongs to the realm of embracing the origin enters into Ye Chen's body, and is immediately met with a fierce counterattack. Afraid of hurting Ye Chen, Ye Tian Hao hastily cuts off his true energy and releases his hand.

  "It's indeed the cultivation of the early stages of the Cong Zhen Realm, and the true energy has already become quite stable. Further progress would mean reaching the peak of the early stages of the Cong Zhen Realm." Ye Tian Hao's face was filled with incredulity.

  Ye Chen wasn't very sure either and guessed: "Could it be the effect of Pure Yuan Skill?"

  Ye Tian Hao nodded, "It should be, very few people like you, who cultivate the Pure Yuan Technique to the highest level, producing internal energy that is extremely pure and refined. Once it's liquefied into True Energy, the foundation will be more stable than most people, without needing to spend too much time consolidating."

  This is not bad, it saved me a lot of hard work, Ye Chen thought.

  "Alright, let's have breakfast first. When I get back, I'll tell your mother and she'll definitely be very happy." Ye Tianhao was already full, but he got excited again and started eating with Ye Chen, chatting as they ate.

  Before long, Ye Hai and Ye Xuan arrived.

  Upon seeing Ye Chen, several people initially didn't notice, but upon closer observation, they immediately discovered that he had broken through to the Condensing Reality Realm, and each of them was extremely shocked in their hearts.

  Ye Tianhao saw it was getting late and said to Ye Chen: "You eat slowly, I'll go first."

  "Alright, Father."

  Yehai walked over and said: "Yechen, have you broken through to the Condensing Reality Realm?"

  "Try it and you'll know."

  "Come on then!" Ye Hai cracked his knuckles.

  Stand up and Ye Chen said: "One punch is enough, come on!"

  Cheers!

  Ye Hai didn't dare underestimate Ye Chen, a fist full of true energy burst out, and ripples spread out in the air, spreading everywhere.

  Ye Chen's body didn't move, and he met it with a similar punch.

  Bang!

  The air was torn apart as two fists collided with a loud crackling sound.

  "No way, you're too abnormal, just breaking through and your true energy is already so stable." Ye Hai retreated ten steps in a row, helplessly smiling wryly.

  Ye Chen sat back down in his chair, "Let's have breakfast together!"

  Two people sat facing each other, without a hint of pretence.

  Not far away, Ye Xuan's face was gloomy. He had thought that after a while, once he broke through to the middle stage of the Condensing True Realm, he would be able to firmly suppress Ye Chen. Who would have thought that his opponent would take the lead, already advancing to the early stage of the Condensing True Realm? Moreover, his true energy was not ordinary stable. At this moment, wanting to win against him was simply a fool's dream. Even if he reached the middle stage of the Condensing True Realm, he still wouldn't have any confidence in winning.

  "Yexun, I forgot to tell you, Xueyan has already entered the late stage of the Condensing Realm." Yexun begrudged being inferior to Yechen and brought up Jixueyan to strike at him.

  "Yexin said casually: 'She is not my pursuit goal, my first goal is to dominate the young generation of Tianfeng country, as for the second goal, I haven't thought about it yet.'"

  "Go ahead and dream on! The Tianfeng Nation has many young and skilled experts, not to mention the four famous princes. Even our inner disciples in the Feicui Valley can easily suppress you. Of course, maybe you think I'm boasting, but just go back and ask your senior brothers and sisters, and they'll tell you that on the Jianghu, who hasn't suffered at the hands of a Feicui Valley disciple?"

  "Yexuan, I don't like hearing you say that. Although you are a disciple of Feicui Valley, first and foremost you are a direct descendant of the Ye family. Why do you always use outsiders to attack your own people?" Yehai chimed in, putting down his chopsticks in disapproval of Yexuan's attitude.

  Ye Xuan coldly snorted, "I just can't stand him."

  Ye Hai Kou said straightforwardly: "I think you can't accept the fact that Ye Chen is stronger than you! It's true, in the past, Ye Chen's talent was ordinary and couldn't be compared to yours. You never thought you'd lose to him, so when Ye Chen showed off his incredible strength, it made you uncomfortable. What I said is right, isn't it?"

  "Don't be too happy yet, the current lead doesn't mean it will continue in the future. Feicui Valley is the number one sect of Tianfeng Country after all, and the disciples they cultivate are all top-notch." Ye Xuan was stunned by Ye Hai's words, his tone laced with excitement.

  "What Ye Xuan said is right, you two are just frogs at the bottom of a well. Beixue Manor and Feicui Valley are seventh-grade great sects, and their strength is far beyond your imagination. Just wait, one year later, I will definitely defeat you." Before he knew it, Ye Tang had arrived at the dining hall.

  Ye Chen sneered in his heart, although the two had good talent, their temperament was far from it. They were fine when things went smoothly, but once they encountered setbacks, they would be more unbearable than ordinary people, and liked to nitpick, grasping onto a certain point and refusing to let go, ultimately leading to mental imbalance.

  To put it simply, it's being blinded by one's own mind.

  "There's no need to get entangled with him," Yedan said calmly. "Everything needs to be proven through actual actions, anyone can just talk about it, alright, don't disturb me from having my breakfast."