In the same year, after returning to the Ye Family, you broke through to the Earth Origin Realm Initial Stage. The fluctuations from your breakthrough were sensed by the Ye Family Elders, who came one after another to offer their congratulations. You became the Ye Family's third Heaven-tier Elder. The other family Elders were somewhat puzzled by the Ancestor's arrangement for you, but they did not investigate too deeply. Your talent was plain for all to see; perhaps one day, you would become the next Ancestor to lead the Lineage to glory.
The reason the Ancestor had made you a Heaven-tier Elder was not your talent. Rather, they understood that, with both of your Yellow Grade Martial Skills having reached Peak Attainment, there were already very few martial artists in the entire Earth Origin Realm who could threaten you. Even against a Heavenly Origin Realm Initial Stage martial artist, you would most likely be able to exchange blows.
This was because most Heavenly Origin Realm Martial Artists had generally only comprehended Minor Accomplishment intent. Many who had only recently broken through and had not had time to settle their foundations had not even comprehended Minor Accomplishment intent. Even Heavenly Origin Realm Martial Artists from major powers, possessing Mysterious Grade Minor Accomplishment intent, still faced an enormous gulf in difficulty when compared to Great Accomplishment Realm intent. Otherwise, the First Generation Ancestor of Ye Family could not have fought three Late Heavenly Origin Realm Martial Artists at once by his own strength.
After breaking through to the Earth Origin Realm, your financial pressure increased once more. Yellow Grade spiritual herbs and spiritual pills had already become negligible in their effect on your cultivation speed. If you wished to cultivate as swiftly as before, you needed to purchase Mysterious Grade Treasure pills. Treasure pills were exorbitantly priced. Even with your status as a Heaven-tier Elder, the Mysterious Grade Treasure pills the Lineage could provide you were extremely few. Although some funds remained from the paintings you had sold before, using them to purchase Mysterious Grade Treasure pills and Precious Herbs was still but a drop in the ocean.
You were different from the others in the Ye Family. Your talent dictated that if you wanted to cultivate quickly, you could not do without pills. Thus, after becoming unable to enter the Blessed Land, you decided to head to Yicheng City. Yicheng City was a large city of Jiang State. Though it was not as prosperous as the thirteen great cities of the thirteen prefectures or Jiang State's National Capital, you could buy the Mysterious Grade Treasure Pills you needed there. It was impossible to purchase Mysterious Grade Treasure Pills in large quantities while remaining in Fengyuan City. The entire Fengyuan City was facing a shortage of Mysterious Grade Treasure Pills, and very few entered circulation.
Before leaving, you summoned Ye Ping'an. You took away all the paintings he had made over the years and gave him two Sky Flame Gold Coins, treating the money as payment for those paintings. The funds were more than ample. Since it was a purchase rather than a direct gift, Ye Ping'an accepted the money you gave him. You also warned him that he still needed to conceal his talent in the Painting Dao. Until the Lineage had grown strong enough to protect him, he could not expose it.
Now a father himself, Ye Ping'an was no longer the child he had once been, and he understood your advice. Although Ye Ping'an's talent in the Painting Dao could not compare to yours, with a vast gap between you, and he could currently produce only Mortal Grade High Rank paintings, there was still a chance that he would be taken away by a major power and enslaved without compensation.
In the one hundred and fifty-sixth year, you established yourself in Yicheng City. That year, you pretended to discover a batch of paintings while exploring a Secret Realm and sold them, easing the pressure of your insufficient funds.
In the one hundred and eighty-second year, a large auction opened in Yicheng City. You purchased a Profound Grade High Rank treasured saber, several bottles of Profound Grade Low Rank Treasure Pills, and some Mysterious Grade Precious Herbs for which the Lineage already possessed pill formulas. After the auction ended, you handed the Precious Herbs to a trusted Ye Family Deacon, who brought them back to the Ye Family.
In the one hundred and eighty-fifth year, because of your humble nature and harmonious relationship with your neighbors, a Direct Lineage disciple of the Liu Family, a Renowned Family of Yicheng City, invited you to join the Liu Family as a Guest Family guard. The offered price was passable for an Earth Origin Realm martial artist. But you did not regard that money highly, so you refused him. Still, it did not affect your friendship with him.
In the two hundred and sixteenth year, you painted your first Mysterious Grade Middle Rank work, named Sky Thunder Eagle Diagram. It was a beast-type pseudo-real painting that could summon the Pseudo Beast Sky Thunder Eagle to aid in battle. This beast's Thunder Art was extremely powerful, and it excelled at attacking and killing, particularly against Evil Spirits. The Thunder Art it unleashed could easily blast a great mountain to pieces, its power rivaling that of the Earth Origin Realm Late Stage.
In the two hundred and sixty-seventh year, you learned from your friend Liu Yue'er that a small Copper Ore Vein resource site had been discovered at the border between Yang Prefecture and Jingzhou of Jiang State. The Liu Family and the Min Family, a Renowned Family of Pingcheng, happened to be located near this junction. The two powers fought without end over the Red Copper mine.
In the two hundred and eightieth year, the conflict between the Liu Family and the Min Family grew increasingly frequent, and Direct Lineage descendants had already entered the fray to compete for it.
In the three hundred and second year, two Heavenly Origin Realm experts of the Liu Family's Direct Lineage died in the struggle over the Red Copper mine. The Liu Family's high-level figures flew into a towering rage and swore to take revenge. At this time, the struggle over the Red Copper mine still continued.
In the three hundred and tenth year, rumors spread that a resource site of the Min Family had been massacred by an evil cult two years earlier, causing the Min Family tremendous losses and leaving dozens of Direct Lineage descendants dead or wounded. Someone revealed that it had actually been the work of the Liu Family. As soon as this news emerged, the other powers broke into a flurry of hushed discussion, while also sensing a dark cloud gathering. More and more people from both sides entered this struggle. The two families had begun recruiting cultivators in large numbers for battle, offering no small price. Yicheng City and Pingcheng also saw the prices of vast quantities of combat supplies soar rapidly due to the battle between the two top powers. Seizing this opportunity, you sold part of your paintings at high prices and obtained several rare Mysterious Grade Treasure pills that were seldom seen in ordinary times.
In the same year, your Liu Family friend Liu Yue'er came to invite you to assist the Liu Family in battle. Even you were somewhat tempted by the remuneration she offered, but you still declined on the grounds that you were not skilled at fighting. Liu Yue'er was somewhat displeased by this, and you did not see her again for the following several months.
In the three hundred and fifteenth year, your realm rose to the Earth Origin Realm Middle Stage. Having lost the boost of the Fengyuan Small Blessed Land, your cultivation realm had continued to advance slowly over these years, even with the support of pills. Even someone with talent and Bone Structure such as yourself found it so difficult; you could better feel just how arduous it was for ordinary Martial Artists to cultivate to the Heavenly Origin Realm.
In the four hundred and ninety-sixth year, your realm rose to the Earth Origin Realm Late Stage. The war between the Liu and Min Renowned Families had erupted completely, and Great Powers of the Void God Realm had already entered the battlefield, reducing the surrounding region to utter ruin. For ordinary Martial Artists and small Lineages, these years had become increasingly difficult to endure. Quite a few Martial Artists had already moved to other regions, and some Lineages had even undertaken Clan Relocation.
In the five hundred and second year, as the war between the Liu and Min Families intensified, both families began forcibly conscripting men for battle. The Ye Family was also ordered to participate in this war, requiring at least one Heavenly Origin Realm martial artist and three Earth Origin Realm martial artists.
In the five hundred and fifth year, the Second Ancestor of Ye Family died on the battlefield, and your father, Ye Changming, was dispatched into the war.