[You no longer wished to dwell on the question of justice and evil. Just as Zhang Quanjian, the Grand Elder of Sky Domain Sect, had said before, it was merely the law of the jungle. If you had been the one to lose today, the Ye Family would already have ceased to exist.
Although you did not wish to make enemies, with some people, it was not a matter of whether you wanted to—it was whether they were willing. Since that was the case, you would beat those people into submission, beat them until they no longer dared lay a hand on your family and friends.]
[Before long, you collected every treasure of Earth Grade and above from Sky Domain Sect. At the same time, you took away the original manuals of Yellow Grade and Mysterious Grade Martial Skills before leaving. As for the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and wealth below Earth Grade, there was simply too much for you to take away. You could only notify Ye Ping'an and have the Ye Family members move them into the Ye Family treasury, adding to the family's foundations.
Although the treasury seemed to hold many things, there were very few truly valuable items. At the very least, you did not see a single Heaven Grade treasure, making it far inferior to what you had gained within the ruins. As for the Earth Grade treasures, most were Treasure Pills that enhanced Bone Structure, Lifespan, and cultivation speed, along with materials for forging Earth Grade Treasure Artifacts.
Treasure Pills of this level could no longer improve your Bone Structure. Nor did you intend to consume Earth Grade Lifespan Pills. After all, if you truly reached the point of lacking Lifespan, you would certainly need to consume Lifespan Pills of Heaven Grade or above to maximize their effects. A person could only benefit from five Lifespan Pills in their entire life.
Although Earth Grade Lifespan Pills were quite good, they were not truly that rare. If you wished to find them, you could still buy them at auctions. That did not mean they were entirely useless, however. You could give them to your parents instead. They needed Lifespan more to prolong their lives, in hopes of breaking through to higher realms.
In the end, among the pills that increased cultivation speed, only five Earth Origin Pills and two Heavenly Origin Pills were fairly good. They could be given to your great-grandson. Such pills were relatively universal and broadly applicable, suitable as rewards for Sons and descendants.]
[...]
[In the 1,132nd year, no matter what you did, you could not fuse Mountain Shaking Fist with Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow. However, you raised all the Yellow Grade Martial Skills you had obtained to the Consummation Realm of Peak Attainment. You then deduced them one by one, incorporating every trait compatible with Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow into it. At last, you raised Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow to a Profound Grade High Rank Martial Skill.]
[In the 1,147th year, the Ye Family's sole remaining Third Ancestor broke through to the Void God Realm. Previously, in the 1,006th year, the Second Ancestor of Ye Family had exhausted his Lifespan and passed away.]
[In the 1,163rd year, your father, Ye Changming, broke through to the Void God Realm.]
[In the 1,165th year, while cultivating as usual, you suddenly felt a surge of heart palpitations in your heart. It was inexplicable, impossible to put into words. You sensed that some important relative seemed to have left you, while at the same time, you felt a danger closing in on you, giving you the sensation of a drowning man.
Though that bout of heart palpitations lasted only briefly, you keenly caught hold of it. As someone who had reached the Spirit Condensation Realm, your physical condition was exceptionally good; such emotions should not have appeared without reason. Unless something truly significant had happened, unless something was warning you. You did not dare take it lightly.]
[Very soon, you took out the Half-Saint Artifact, the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard, intending to predict the cause of these heart palpitations. The Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard foretold that you would indeed face danger soon, but because your opponent was too powerful, it could not predict the specific circumstances or your chance of escape. Your current strength was simply too weak, and you had yet to reach the Half-Saint Realm, so you could only wield a tiny fraction of the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard's power. The heavenly secrets involved in this deduction concerned an enemy whose cultivation might be exceedingly formidable, and the portion of its power you had activated was insufficient to deduce the whole picture.
Unless you were willing to use your lifespan to fully activate the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard and allow it to display the true power of a Half-Saint Artifact for deduction, there might perhaps be a sliver of life. Learning that even the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard could not immediately predict a path to survival, you realized that this incident might not be so easy to escape.]
[You immediately took out an Earth Grade Longevity Pill and a Longevity Pill, then used your lifespan as fuel and poured it into the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard. Soon, the chessboard shone brilliantly, dazzling to the eye, revealing the true appearance of a Sacred Artifact.
At the same time, the scene before your eyes began to shift, changing from your room to a place an immense distance away. You saw a dignified middle-aged man dressed in a dark crimson Daoist robe, embroidered with a great sun. You recognized him as an Elder of Blazing Sun Holy Land, though you did not know which Elder he was. You wanted to see his face clearly, but discovered that the more you tried, the faster your lifespan drained away. You immediately cut off that thought and turned to examine the other scenes.
Before long, a young man appeared in the main hall. He too wore a red Daoist robe, but his was light crimson, embroidered with a golden flame that appeared exceptionally noble. You saw this young man's face clearly. He resembled you by seventy percent. He was none other than your youngest son, Ye Chen. From Ye Chen's words, you inferred that the middle-aged man was likely the Third Elder Ye Chen had mentioned before—Ye Chen's master.
[...]
[Then the scene shifted again, arriving somewhere else. Twelve people lay on the ground, Ye Chen among them. Beside the Third Elder stood five others, all dressed in the same Elder robes of Blazing Sun Holy Land as he was.
The Third Elder was the first to speak. "This is my fifth disciple, Ye Chen. He received the inheritance of the Water Attribute Great Saint. All these years, I have fed him according to the prescription. Though he seems to have noticed something, he has still obediently done as I told him. He is now mature and can serve as the Water Attribute main ingredient for this pill refinement."
After the Third Elder finished speaking, the person opposite him did not speak, merely nodding slightly as if agreeing with him. Then a young man beside the Third Elder, dressed in the same Daoist robe as him, said, "This is my third disciple. His name is... Although he has not been very cooperative, he can still serve as a substitute medicinal catalyst."
Listening to their words, you realized that the holy lands might not be as righteous as they appeared on the surface. The people facing these Elders of Blazing Sun Holy Land were clearly not righteous cultivators of the Eastern Alliance Kingdom. Judging from the aura they exuded, they were most likely members of the demonic path. Yet Blazing Sun Holy Land traded with them without the slightest scruple, even treating their own disciples as merchandise. From what those demonic cultivators said, it seemed that they intended to refine all twelve people, including your son Ye Chen, into "pills"—using humans as medicine!]
[At the same time, just as you looked at that fiendish demonic cultivator a little longer, she seemed to sense something and looked in your direction. Previously, in your eyes, her face had been as blurry as the Third Elder's. But the moment she looked toward you, the mosaic-like obscurity on her face vanished, revealing her true appearance.
She was actually a woman!]
[You died. The simulation ended.]
Before you continue