Great Wei, Wangxian Tower.
Wangxian Tower stood east of the Great River and was one of the most renowned ancient towers in Great Wei.
Wangxian Tower had seven floors, each with its own unique scenery. Few members of the Great Wei Imperial Family could climb to the Seventh Floor and take in the view.
At that moment, two well-dressed young men in the prime of their lives sat beside an Eight Immortals table inside Wangxian Tower.
The one on the left was a Man in Green, with an extraordinary bearing and handsome, easygoing looks. A jade flute hung at his waist, and he held a folding fan in his hand.
Though he was high above the river, where the breeze was cool, he still often fanned himself.
The one on the right was a white-robed youth, with a touch of childishness in his face. He was just as striking in appearance, but his eyes held a trace of cruelty, utterly lacking a child's clarity and innocence.
"Third Brother, we've been searching all across Great Wei for a month, and there hasn't been the slightest trace of that Innate Dao Body."
For the past month, the white-robed youth had followed the Man in Green all over the Great Wei Dynasty, but they still hadn't found any sign of the Innate Dao Body their Clan Leader had mentioned.
"Third Brother, strange phenomena have been occurring everywhere in the world, and spiritual energy is gradually returning. Why don't we head back? Otherwise, we'll miss the Hidden Dragon Secret Realm."
"Winning the favor of the Ye Imperial Clan is certainly important, but the Heaven and Earth Cataclysm is growing more intense by the day. Is it really worth it for the Ye Imperial Clan's illusory reward?"
A look of reluctance and impatience flashed through the white-robed youth's eyes. He didn't want to keep wasting his effort.
The Man in Green glanced at him, still calm and composed as he swayed his folding fan. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Wencheng, you're still too young. You don't know just how powerful the Ye Imperial Clan is, or how deep its foundations run."
"Our Li Clan Ancient Clan may have a long lineage, but compared with the Ye Imperial Clan, we're like a fisherman casting nets in the river beside the ruler of Great Wei. The difference is as great as heaven and earth."
Li Wencheng had grown up in the Taixu Profound Realm. If his great-grandfather hadn't ordered him to accompany his Third Brother on this trip, he never would have thought of stepping beyond the Taixu Profound Realm, even as the Heaven and Earth Cataclysm grew more intense.
He had often heard his elders speak of the Ye Imperial Clan's power, but Li Wencheng was proud. He felt the elders were simply singing the clan's praises too much.
The Li Clan Ancient Clan had a long lineage and was undeniably one of the great clans across the entire Eastern Continent.
The Ye Imperial Clan was a Great Emperor Dao Lineage, and by the First Heaven and Earth Cataclysm, it had already become the undisputed overlord of the Eastern Continent.
But ever since the Second Heaven and Earth Cataclysm, the entire Ye Imperial Clan had shut its Mystic Realm. Even as the world underwent great changes, it rarely opened the realm or sent its disciples out to compete for opportunities.
Thus, throughout the endless ages, every Ancient Clan in the Eastern Continent had retained the same impression of the Ye Imperial Clan it had formed during the First Heaven and Earth Cataclysm.
Powerful Ancient Clans had risen over the long years, some harboring ambitions to replace the Ye Imperial Clan as overlord of the Eastern Continent. But none had ever dared to test it directly.
Even today, few among the Ancient Clans of the Eastern Continent knew the true depth of the Ye Imperial Clan's power.
Li Wencheng thought the Ye Imperial Clan was now merely bluffing. Perhaps it no longer possessed the divine might it once had.
"Third Brother, you all say the Ye Imperial Clan is so formidable, but ever since the Second Heaven and Earth Cataclysm, the whole clan has kept its Mystic Realm shut. Its people are rarely seen anywhere in the Eastern Continent."
"In my view, it may have already declined. Otherwise, through all these Heaven and Earth Cataclysms, why hasn't the Ye Imperial Clan come out to seize those heaven-defying opportunities?"
"Third Brother, I've never understood just how powerful the Ye Family is, or why you and the elders keep praising it so much!"
The youth everyone called Third Brother smiled faintly. Looking at the conceited boy before him, he thought of his younger self.
"Wencheng, what do you think of me?"
The Man in Green didn't answer Li Wencheng's question directly. Instead, he suddenly asked one of his own.
"Third Brother, you're so young, yet you've already reached the Great Grandmaster realm. Not just in our clan—even across the whole Eastern Continent, you're certainly a peerless prodigy."
Even with all his arrogance, Li Wencheng looked up to the Man in Green.
"A peerless prodigy!"
The Man in Green gave a cold laugh and said self-mockingly, "Wencheng, three years ago, I became a Great Grandmaster before I was twenty. Every elder in the clan called me a once-in-a-millennium prodigy among the Ancient Clans. Among the younger generation of the Eastern Continent's Ancient Clans, few could match me."
"Back then, I was so sure that no one in the Eastern Continent could rival me. Then, three years ago, I left the Mystic Realm to make my way in the Eastern Continent and ran into a disciple of the Ye Imperial Clan."
A trace of pain flashed through the Man in Green's eyes, as if he were recalling an unpleasant memory. He continued, "That person was only eighteen, yet even after I used every trick I had, I lasted just ten moves against him."
"That encounter nearly shattered my Dao Heart. Later, when I told one of the clan elders about it, he finally told me about the Ye Imperial Clan. He said I had most likely encountered one of its disciples."
"Third Brother, so that's why your Dao Heart shattered three years ago! What happened afterward? What exactly did the clan elder tell you?"
Thinking of how despondent his Third Brother had been three years earlier, Li Wencheng finally understood the truth.
The Man in Green pondered for a moment, then answered frankly, "The clan elder didn't tell me much. But Great Emperors are beings with what kind of Great Divine Abilities?"
"The First Heaven and Earth Cataclysm was when spiritual energy in this world was at its most abundant. Immortal Herbs and Immortal Treasures, each of which might appear only once in ten thousand years, could be found everywhere then."
"It's said that the Great Emperor of the Ye Family plundered countless resources from this world during that Heaven and Earth Cataclysm."
"The opportunities you've been yearning to seize in the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm are nothing at all before the Ye Imperial Clan."
The Man in Green glanced at Li Wencheng. After a brief pause, he continued, "You say the clan elders don't know the true depth of the Ye Imperial Clan's power? Do you know that the Ye disciple I met back then was only from a collateral branch? Otherwise, why would he have come to the Eastern Continent looking for opportunities?"
Li Wencheng felt as if lightning had struck him. He'd never imagined that his Third Brother, hailed as the family's once-in-a-thousand-years genius, couldn't defeat even a collateral disciple of the Ye Imperial Clan!
Could the Ye Imperial Clan really be that powerful? Li Wencheng's eyes were filled with shock.
Seeing how dramatically Li Wencheng's expression had changed, the Man in Green looked satisfied. He gazed at Li Wencheng and said quietly, "I heard from the elders that the Ye Imperial Clan has given birth to a Dao Body Holy Embryo this time."
"If we can find this Innate Dao Body, and the Dao Body Holy Embryo devours it, the one in the Ye Imperial Clan may well gain an Innate Dao Body Sacred Fetus."
"Tell me, how lavishly will the Ye Imperial Clan reward us for such a great achievement?"
After hearing the Man in Green's words, a fiery gleam flashed through Li Wencheng's eyes.