Blood Origin Realm

"Who dares to ambush me!" Ma Yan cried out in pain.

From within the crowd, Ye Xiwen no longer concealed his presence and pushed his way out. Seeing Ye Xiwen, Wang Lie excitedly stepped forward and said, "Brat, you're back! You disappeared without a word for a month, where did you go?"

"I went to the back mountain to train!" Ye Xiwen replied.

"Huh? I can't see through your cultivation now!" Wang Lie said, looking at Ye Xiwen with some surprise. In terms of talent, he and Ye Xiwen were evenly matched, with him being slightly stronger. Therefore, he had always been a bit stronger than Ye Xiwen since childhood. But upon seeing his friend again, he found that he couldn't fathom his friend's cultivation level.

While he couldn't see through Ye Xiwen's cultivation, Ye Xiwen could see through his. Wang Lie's seclusion had been very successful; he had successfully broken through from the Houtian Third Stage to the Houtian Fourth Stage, instantly reaching the middle tier among Inner Disciples.

"We'll talk about that later. What happened to you? How did you get extorted by him!" Ye Xiwen said, staring coldly at Ma Yan.

"I just broke through to the fourth stage and wanted to buy a secret manual here. Who knew I'd get extorted by him. What kind of trash manual costs five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones!" Wang Lie said, his plump face full of indignation. "I'm not buying it, but who knew he'd falsely accuse me of having already read it!"

If it were truly a Xiantian cultivation technique, then five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones wouldn't be expensive at all, let alone fifty thousand. But it was clear that it was likely incomplete, otherwise, it wouldn't have been priced at five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

This kind of situation was common. Not everyone who obtained a secret manual would get a complete one; some were incomplete. The larger the incomplete portion, the less valuable it became. This was why a dignified Xiantian cultivation technique was only being sold for five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"You're asking for death! You're the bastard who ambushed me!" Ma Yan's face contorted, his hand still faintly aching, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

He stomped his foot, his tall, sturdy body instantly leaping out, lunging towards Ye Xiwen and throwing a punch.

"Bang!" How could Ye Xiwen not guard against his surprise attack? He immediately spread his palm, catching his punch.

"Rumble!" Ye Xiwen grabbed Ma Yan's fist and, with a rumbling sound, twisted it forcefully.

"Crack!"

"Ah!" Another pig-like scream echoed. Ye Xiwen had directly snapped Ma Yan's wrist. Ye Xiwen's current strength surpassed that of nineteen fierce tigers, while Ma Yan's strength was at most that of four tigers. How could he possibly compare in strength to Ye Xiwen?

"Get lost!" Ye Xiwen roared and raised his foot, kicking forcefully.

"Bang!" Ma Yan took the kick squarely. His sturdy body flew high like a kite with a broken string, falling heavily to the ground. He immediately foamed at the mouth and fell unconscious.

The surrounding onlookers stared at Ye Xiwen with disbelief. Ma Yan, who ranked among the top twenty Inner Disciples, was actually kicked into unconsciousness by Ye Xiwen. Who was this person?

Since Ye Xiwen was usually very low-key, or rather, not very strong, and few people paid attention to him, no one actually recognized him.

Everyone around was wondering where such a fierce person had appeared from, capable of knocking out Ma Yan, a peak Houtian Fifth Stage cultivator, with a single move. He was definitely a formidable individual!

Of course, given Ma Yan's notorious reputation here, no one spoke up for him. Most people were secretly cheering.

Ye Xiwen searched Ma Yan's body and found the manual, "Heavenly Immortal Steps." Without looking closely, he put it away. He didn't use his spatial ring in front of the crowd; otherwise, it might attract the envy of some people, which wouldn't be good.

"Let's go, we're leaving!" Ye Xiwen turned and said to Wang Lie.

The two quickly left the market. Wang Lie impatiently asked, "How did you get so strong? Tsk tsk, that Ma Yan, you kicked him flying!"

"Heh heh, I was always this strong!" Ye Xiwen replied with a laugh. Of course, he wouldn't reveal anything about the special space.

"Hmph, I know you, you brat!"

The two bickered and joked all the way back to their respective homes.

Not long after Ye Xiwen returned home, Ye Kongming also came back from outside. Seeing Ye Xiwen, a smile appeared on his face as he said, "You're back!"

He didn't say anything about Ye Xiwen not returning home much for the past month. Martial artists were like that; they might travel to a place and be gone for months, or even years or decades. Before he settled down, he too had traveled extensively, so it wasn't strange.

Moreover, Ye Xiwen had informed them before he left.

"Good, you've become much more steady!" Ye Kongming nodded approvingly. He paid a lot of attention to his adopted son.

"Look at you, you've lost weight. You must not have been eating properly!" A mother's concerns were always different from a father's.

"It's good that you're back. You can participate in the Sect Internal Competition in two days!" Ye Kongming said. "The rewards for this Sect Internal Competition are very generous. The top hundred will receive substantial rewards!"

"Yes, Father!" Ye Xiwen nodded. He had returned precisely to participate in the Sect Internal Competition, but not for the top hundred as Ye Kongming hoped. He aimed for at least the top five, to contend for the championship.

"Why did the sect summon you this time?" Mother Xia Chunxue asked Ye Kongming.

"It's just that the Zhang Family wants to hold this year's Core Disciple competition together with us!" Ye Kongming said. "The Zhang Family proposed that this year's Core Disciple competition be held in the Blood Origin Realm!"

"What, the Blood Origin Realm!" Xia Chunxue said with some surprise.

Ye Xiwen was also slightly taken aback. He naturally knew what the Blood Origin Realm was. In this world, besides the True Martial Realm, there were always various large and small dimensional spaces. Some were opened by powerful individuals, while others were naturally formed. They ranged from vast areas exceeding ten thousand miles to mere few miles.

After countless years of proliferation, these small spaces had each developed their own life forms.

The Blood Origin Realm was one such small world, filled with all sorts of exotic beasts and spiritual herbs. Its entrance was located within Green Peak Mountain. The key to opening the entrance to this small world was held by two major powers: the Yi Yuan Sect and the Zhang Family. Legend had it that many years ago, the founder of Yi Yuan Sect on Green Peak Mountain and the ancestor of the Zhang Family discovered it together, gaining immense benefits from it, which allowed them to establish the current foundations of the Yi Yuan Sect and the Zhang Family.

The Blood Origin Realm was opened periodically. The reason it wasn't always open was due to its small size and weak self-recovery ability. Closing it for a period before reopening it was considered sustainable development.