Ye Kui

Four or five figures stood beneath the archway, surrounding a wooden table and trying every possible way to enter Peach Blossom Garden Ancient Village.

Chen Xuan walked up from the foot of the mountain and stood behind the crowd, observing the situation.

"This is the token."

A young cultivator drew a Lineage token from his robes and respectfully handed it to the ancient scholar.

He appeared to be in his twenties, with an imposing bearing. He came from some qi-refining Aristocratic Clan in Red Crow City. With one glance, Chen Xuan could tell that the man's blood and qi were quite extraordinary. He was a Second Ascension cultivator.

"My father met your ancestor twenty years ago and received the judgment, 'Dao Repository Talent.'"

As he spoke, the young man pointed at the book on the table and said with a rather proud expression, "His name should be recorded in this book."

"Oh, how impressive."

The ancient scholar gave a perfunctory reply. He took the token, glanced at it twice, and let out a scornful laugh. Then he flipped through the book, quickly found a name, and asked:

"Lin Fang, is it? There is indeed such a person. Twenty years have passed. Has he become a great Dao Repository cultivator by now?"

"Not yet, but there is already a full sixty percent chance."

"Oh, so he's trash after all."

The ancient scholar sneered. He drew a huge cross over Lin Fang's name, then turned to order an ancient guard beside him:

"Go to the storeroom later and throw out the things Lin Fang used twenty years ago to those isolated savages outside the mountain... Exchange them for whatever you can."

Chen Xuan was stunned when he heard this. Could my fish spear and fishing net have also ended up in the hands of the ancient people outside the mountain this way? They really would have become junk.

But he felt that the fish spear's material was extraordinary and cold to the touch. Its origins should not have been too shabby.

The young man's face turned ugly, and he retorted in a low voice, "My father isn't trash..."

"You're even more useless."

The ancient scholar's expression was scornful. Then he impatiently waved his hand and continued, "Go into the village. Tomorrow, tell the ancestor about your father. Heh, the ancestor probably won't be interested in listening... Your descendants won't have such a good opportunity in the future."

After finishing, the ancient scholar turned toward the remaining people and was just about to speak when his gaze suddenly froze on Chen Xuan's face.

"Huh, you..."

The ancient scholar scrutinized Chen Xuan and muttered to himself, "Your Root Bone aptitude bears a trace of the ancient appearance..."

He himself was an ancient person, and his eye was exceptionally sharp. With one glance, he could distinguish the weight of a cultivator's Root Bone. For instance, the young man he had called even more useless had a Root Bone weighing less than five thousand catties, far inferior to that of the ancient people.

But Chen Xuan was different. His Root Bone weighed more than eight thousand catties. Though slightly inferior to that of the ancient people after three Feather Transformations, he was already very close.

Some ancient people with slightly weaker physiques might not even surpass Chen Xuan.

Possessing an ancient appearance definitely meant having excellent Root Bone aptitude.

"I have an ancient appearance too?"

Chen Xuan was delighted. He knew that Yan Yushu was considered to have an ancient appearance, but he had not expected himself to receive the same description.

Hearing this, the other ancient people holding weapons also turned their astonished gazes toward Chen Xuan. They were shocked because people like this were exceedingly rare. In the future, through qi refinement, they could temper their bodies to a level comparable to that of the ancient people.

The ancient scholar nodded, then sighed with emotion. "Among all the people I've seen today, your Root Bone ranks in the top two for now."

As he spoke, he turned the book around and placed it before Chen Xuan.

"Please write down your name, as well as your token... In the future, regardless of their aptitude, your descendants may use the token to meet the ancestor once and recount the stories of your life."

The young man from earlier had not received such treatment.

"Good."

Chen Xuan nodded. He lowered his head and glanced over the book, only to see that quite a few names had already been written in it.

"..."

"Yan Yushu. Token: Never mind."

"Ye Kui. Token: There are too many grudges in this world. How could I dare have descendants? I'll pass as well."

"Xie Cheng. Token: The Xie House token of Red Crow City."

"Wang..."

"..."

Chen Xuan picked up the writing brush. After a brief moment of thought, he wrote directly:

"Chen Xuan."

"Token: Everyone else is passing, so I'll pass too."

The ancient scholar took it and looked at it. He was immediately dumbfounded. "Pass? You people of later generations are really interesting. None of you are considering your descendants, are you?"

The future was uncertain, and no one knew where they would end up.

How could one form bonds in this dark era? Bonds were weaknesses. They were not worth even thinking about.

Soon, Chen Xuan passed beneath the archway and walked toward the mountain.

Behind him, Crimson Fox stood on tiptoe, gripping the edge of the table with both hands. She poked out her adorably dazed head, raised her foxlike face, and chattered away, "A token? Little Fox's face is the token..."

The ancient scholar pulled out a book from beneath a stack of volumes, seemingly found a name, and then sent it up the mountain.

Peach trees shaded the mountain path. In the ancient village halfway up the mountain, stretches of mulberry trees and bamboo exuded a lush green hue.

Children with lotus-root-like limbs chased chickens and dogs along the path. Each step carried them several meters, sending the chickens flying and dogs leaping, while women and children in the courtyards pulled millstones with the strength of oxen, making them rumble loudly...

Chen Xuan entered the ancient village, his gaze sweeping around.

By then, quite a few cultivators and ghosts and monsters from the Southern Wilderness had arrived. Their landing points had been closer to Peach Blossom Garden Ancient Village than Chen Xuan's, so they had arrived first.

In the distance, a large group of young talents surrounded a woman whose black hair flowed like a waterfall as she toured the village's local customs.

Yan Yushu wore an eye-catching black dress, yet her exquisite, flawless face was free of makeup—pure and ethereal. The intense contrast created a stunning beauty, as if she were an immortal lotus rising unstained from the mud, washed clean by clear ripples yet never gaudy.

She stood among the young talents, her figure slender and graceful as a willow branch. She resembled a dazzling pearl encircled by dim stars in the night. The group made a great commotion as they passed by Chen Xuan.

"Make way. Fellow Daoists, please make way." A direct descendant of an Aristocratic Clan shouted on the narrow country path.

"..."

Chen Xuan was very self-aware. He had already stepped aside, leaning against a courtyard wall as the crowd brushed past him.

These cultivators from the territory of Red Crow City were either young prodigies who had entered through their own talent or Aristocratic Clan disciples relying on deep backgrounds and the blessings left by their forebears. All of them were Great Figures whom mountain and marsh Rogue Cultivators could not afford to provoke.

Chen Xuan was not the only one affected. Others also stepped aside to clear the road...

"Heh!"

Not far away, a young man with a saber and sword hanging from his waist held a foxtail grass between his teeth. He watched the backs of Yan Yushu and the others as they left, his expression full of disdain, and commented, "A pack of mud dogs toyed with and used by a pretty girl."

Chen Xuan saw that among the crowd ahead were several Aristocratic Clan disciples, including Xie Cheng, the young genius of the Xie House, an Aristocratic Clan of Dao Repository cultivators. They were deliberately acting foolish and clowning around beside Yan Yushu, hoping to attract the beauty's attention.

Yan Yushu, meanwhile, maintained an elegant and incomparably refined bearing. From beginning to end, a faint smile hung on her face—seemingly warm, but actually perfunctory... She treated everyone this way, yet each person felt that he was the one receiving special treatment.

Word had spread that Yan Yushu had become Lu Zhuan's disciple. Her status had now risen sharply, completely surpassing these Aristocratic Clan disciples in an instant. The disparity in status made them pursue and admire her even more, though they could not obtain her.

"Buzz!"

The blue-violet talisman in Chen Xuan's sleeve trembled with a buzz. A cheerful female voice, clear as wind chimes, rang out in his mind:

"You're here? Where are you staying tonight? I'll come find you right away!"

"..."

Chen Xuan heard her, but did not reply. He even directly ignored her in his mind.

Because something more important was happening at that moment.

Chen Xuan was staring intently at the young man by the roadside who had mocked them.

The young man was around twenty. He had heroic features, narrow, long eyes, and a somewhat lean face. With a wasp waist and mantis legs, his body was well-proportioned and powerful. At a glance, he was clearly a martial arts practitioner.

At that moment, the young man stood casually with his chin raised, arms folded across his chest, and left foot stretched forward. He stared at Yan Yushu's departing back, a strange light flickering in his eyes.

Chen Xuan first gave him a casual glance, then turned away. After a second, he turned back and stared blankly at the young man.

This man's martial skills are formidable. No, incredibly formidable—stronger than anyone I've ever seen.