Betrothal

The Lin sisters said nothing more after hearing this.

The two of them knelt before Ye Hao.

All the acupoints throughout Ye Hao's body had long since been opened. Once he reached the Qi Realm, he could project External Spirit Energy, and any part of his body could release it.

The Lin sisters' pretty faces were struck by a bolt of External Spirit Energy from time to time. It did not hurt much, but there was still a slight sting.

The sisters did not know why Ye Hao treated them this way, but Ye Hao had avenged their father's murder, taught them cultivation, and provided them with cultivation resources.

They owed everything they had today to Ye Hao's blessings.

Ye Hao treated the Lin sisters in an almost humiliating manner, yet they quietly endured it, seeming to feel something special.

"Young Master, your servants will serve you for the rest of our lives. We only hope that if you meet women more beautiful than us in the future, you won't abandon us," the Lin sisters said seriously.

Ye Hao did not answer.

An hour later, the sisters passed the test. They did not feel that being prodigies gave them the right to forget their identities and entertain other thoughts.

Throughout the entire process, Ye Hao had deliberately tormented the sisters in a humiliating manner.

Yet the sisters seemed to be enjoying it?

Ye Hao seemed to have discovered an astonishing secret. The sisters had entrusted their minds and souls to him, hoping to find a spiritual pillar?

"You two should cultivate properly. In the future, there will be some minor matters for you to handle. For instance, if every Tom, Dick, and Harry comes to provoke me, I can't be bothered to act, so you can deal with them."

Ye Hao spoke indifferently.

"Yes, Young Master," the Lin sisters replied.

"By the way, Young Master, your father came looking for you five days ago. He said that once you came out, you should go see him," the younger sister, Lin Shiyu, said.

Ye Hao nodded slightly before going to find Ye Wuchen.

Ye Wuchen was currently in the courtyard, lying on a Grand Tutor Chair that rocked gently.

Ye Wuchen looked at Ye Hao and said indifferently, "Hao'er, you actually have a marriage arrangement."

Ye Hao was surprised. He had never known that he had a marriage arrangement.

Ye Wuchen then began slowly, "Seventeen years ago, when you were three months old, your mother and I arranged a marriage for you. The other party was a member of the Song family, a thousand-year-old lineage. The girl is named Song Qingxue. She is a year older than you, and in terms of martial talent, she ranks third throughout the Song family's entire history."

Ye Hao looked calmly at Ye Wuchen and waited for him to continue.

Ye Wuchen went on, "According to the agreement, when you turned seventeen, we should have invited all our relatives and friends to formally announce your engagement to Song Qingxue, and you were to marry at eighteen. But you have already passed your seventeenth birthday. A few days ago, I sent someone to deliver a message to the Song family, and they sent me a letter in reply."

A letter lay on the table.

Ye Hao picked it up and glanced over it.

The letter read:

Brother Wuchen, once your wife returns, invite all your relatives and friends to hold a formal betrothal ceremony for your son, Ye Hao, and my daughter, Song Qingxue.

Brother Wuchen, the sixteen-year deadline is approaching. You have many enemies and possess a high-grade Cultivation Method. All the major forces in the Eastern Region are watching you, waiting only for the Eastern Region and the outside domain to become completely sealed off before attacking you. My Song family truly dares not become involved. After all, I must consider the entire clan.

Ye Wuchen said slowly, "When the marriage was arranged, your mother gave the Song family three Earth-grade Cultivation Methods as the betrothal gifts. According to the agreement, if the Song family could not fulfill the betrothal arrangement when you turned seventeen, they would have to compensate us with a million Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Yet that man surnamed Song did not mention the compensation of a million Mid-grade Spirit Stones at all in his letter!"

A chill flashed through Ye Wuchen's eyes.

Ye Hao's expression remained indifferent. "If we get the chance, ask them for the million Mid-grade Spirit Stones. But does the Song family even have a million Mid-grade Spirit Stones?"

"Even if you emptied the Song family's entire coffers, they still couldn't produce a million Mid-grade Spirit Stones. A million Low-grade Spirit Stones might still be possible."

Spirit stones were also divided into grades.

They were divided into Top-grade Spirit Stones, High-grade Spirit Stone, Mid-grade Spirit Stone, and Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Normally, a thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones were needed to exchange for one Mid-grade Spirit Stone.

There were differences between Low-grade Spirit Stones and Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

First, the purity of the spiritual energy within them differed.

Second, Mid-grade Spirit Stones contained more spiritual energy.

Third, Mid-grade Spirit Stones contained a trace of elemental Dao insight. For example, absorbing the spiritual energy in water-element Spirit Stones would help martial artists who cultivated water-element techniques.

For people with poor martial talent, elemental Mid-grade Spirit Stones could slightly increase their affinity with that element and allow them to comprehend it.

Sometimes, even a thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones could not be exchanged for a single Mid-grade Spirit Stone.

As for High-grade Spirit Stones, they were even rarer and basically did not circulate on the market. High-grade Spirit Stones contained more elemental Dao insight, and unless absolutely necessary, no one would use High-grade Spirit Stones to exchange for other things.

As for Top-grade Spirit Stones, they had never appeared in the Eastern Region. They existed only in historical records.

Compensation of a million Mid-grade Spirit Stones?

Even if the entire Eastern Region were emptied, it would still be impossible to gather a million Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Ye Wuchen said indifferently, "If your mother doesn't return, do you believe the Song family will attack us as well?"

Ye Hao nodded slightly. He did.

"So, I'll go cultivate first."

Ye Wuchen then said slowly, "I have already recovered to the ninth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm. One more step and I will reach the Sixth Realm. Once I enter the Sixth Realm, even if all the forces in the Eastern Region attack, I alone will be able to destroy them!"

"Fine. Then go cultivate first," Ye Hao said.

"Take a look at this. It contains some information about the Eastern Region. Familiarize yourself with it. I'm going into seclusion to cultivate." After Ye Wuchen finished speaking, he left.

He left a book for Ye Hao.

The book was not thick, containing only ten pages.

Ye Hao opened it and read. After roughly half an hour, he finally learned about some events from the past.

To people from the outer domain, the Eastern Region was also known as the Forbidden Domain.

That was because anyone from the outer domain who wanted to come to the Eastern Region had to cross a sea whose end could not be seen at a glance. The seabed, the surface of the sea, and even the sky above were permeated with poisonous gas.

Unless one possessed an extremely high cultivation realm, coming to the Eastern Region was certain to be a narrow escape from death!

Moreover, the Poisonous Barrier along the route between the Eastern Region and the outer domain was becoming increasingly toxic—so toxic that even those with high cultivation realms found it difficult to come to the Eastern Region!

As for why this Poisonous Barrier existed, no one knew.

Sixteen years ago, members of his mother's clan had said that after another sixteen years, even they would find it difficult to come to the Eastern Region.

Now, only a few days remained until the sixteen-year deadline.

Ye Hao also felt a much greater sense of urgency. Once the Eastern Region and the outer domain became completely sealed off, the top forces in the Eastern Region would go mad!

Because they would no longer need to fear his mother!

In addition, some old monsters needed Cultivation Methods to break through again. They would inevitably seize them at all costs.

But that was not the most important thing.

The important thing was that his father truly had life-and-death enmity with the various forces!

And it had reached the point where it was nearly impossible to resolve.

After Ye Hao finished reading, he began cultivating where he stood. Any increase in strength was better than none.

With his current cultivation at the sixth level of Qi Control, fighting experts in the Spirit Sea Realm should not be difficult.