After the old man left, you rarely went out for a time, avoiding letting the people of the Blazing Sun Holy Land discover anything. There was no harm in being cautious during this period; you did not want this life to end so early.
In the twentieth year, you divided the second portion of Bloodline Essence secreted by your body into three shares and gave them to the three children. Their realms improved greatly.
In the twenty-fifth year, your Great Compassion Palm comprehended the Great Accomplishment Realm, its proficiency reaching Peak Attainment. At the same time, you painted your first Yellow Grade High Rank painting.
That same year, after finishing the Millennium Jade Slips for Great Compassion Palm and Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow, you gave one to your father, Ye Changming, and made another for Jiang Changtian, bolstering the foundations of the Ye Family and Snow Mountain Sect.
In the twenty-eighth year, your realm advanced to the Mid Heavenly Origin Realm.
That same year, your children's cultivation also progressed rapidly, leaving their peers far behind in the dust. Ye Ping'an had just broken through to the initial stage of the Essence Gathering Realm, while Ye Pingjing's cultivation, thanks to your Bloodline Essence, had reached the mid stage of the Organ Refining Realm. Although your youngest son, Ye Chen, had been born much later than his brother and sister and had missed the first portion of Bloodline Essence, his Special Physique and Mid-grade Earth Grade Bone Structure had already brought his cultivation to the mid stage of the Organ Refining Realm.
Although none of the three children had fully inherited your talent for comprehension, their comprehension was still quite good compared to others. Over the past dozen years, whenever you had time, aside from educating them in knowledge, you had also kept a strict watch over their Martial Skills. With a father like you, who possessed several Martial Skills at Peak Attainment, as their teacher, the children's Martial Skills improved at an astonishing pace.
Because they were boys, Ye Ping'an and Ye Chen both consistently favored the Sabre Technique, especially wanting to learn your Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow. Yet Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow was, after all, a Profound Grade High Rank Sabre Technique. Though Ye Ping'an was already eighteen and had reached Initial Mastery five years ago, he had yet to break through to Initial Proficiency. Ye Chen was only sixteen, but his comprehension was higher, and he reached Initial Proficiency in Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow before his older brother Ye Ping'an.
Your daughter found the moves of Great Compassion Palm more beautiful and highly pleasing to the eye, so she diligently trained it to the level of Initial Mastery.
To cultivate a Profound Grade High Rank Martial Skill to such a level while still in one's teens could absolutely be called extraordinary comprehension.
Yet while the children's comprehension was good, not one of them had inherited your talent, nor did any of them enjoy painting. This left you somewhat disappointed, though you soon let it go. After all, talent in the Painting Dao was indeed difficult to come by.
In the thirty-sixth year, rumors spread through the Pingcheng region that bandits had appeared and slaughtered several small towns. The forces of Pingcheng were doing all they could to capture them.
Upon learning the news, you immediately arranged for people to investigate Pingcheng. According to what you knew from your memories, this was not a bandit outbreak at all. Rather, a Zhang Family had offended one of Pingcheng's top forces, leading to them being slandered and marked for extermination.
But in the previous simulation, a member of the Zhang Family had escaped to Sui State near Jiang State. His talent was exceptional, and his name was Zhang Tianhuo. Not only did he possess a Special Physique, but more importantly, few could compare to his talent in pill refinement. In your memories, in barely a thousand years, he had refined a Heaven Grade Pill before your death. Calling him a pill-refining grandmaster would not have been an exaggeration.
If a small rescue now could earn the service of a future pill-refining grandmaster, you were willing to do it. After all, if someone could refine Heaven Grade Pills for you in the future, then once you had gathered the precious materials, you would not need to beg others for help. This time, you had no intention of sending Ye Chen into the Blazing Sun Holy Land, so that avenue of relying on a pill-refining grandmaster had also been cut off.
Though the Zhang Family of this small city had offended a major power in Pingcheng, you did not intend to save everyone. You only needed to rescue Zhang Tianhuo and those dearest to him. The others did not truly mean much to Zhang Tianhuo.
Even if the other side was displeased and foolish enough to fight you over such a trivial matter, with Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow and Great Compassion Palm—two Profound Grade High Rank Martial Skills, both comprehended to the Great Accomplishment Realm—you could still trade blows with an ordinary Void God Realm cultivator. You were not particularly worried.
In the thirty-seventh year, the Zhang Family Ancestor was slain, and the remaining members of the Zhang Family scattered in every direction. Based on the intelligence you received, you found Zhang Tianhuo, secretly rescued him and his family, and brought them back to Yang Prefecture.
Along the way, some extremely blind Earth Origin Realm and Heavenly Origin Realm Martial Artists tried to stop you, but you injured them all. After being effortlessly wounded by you, they understood that your strength was beyond their ability to contend with and did not continue pursuing you.
After reaching Yang Prefecture, you saw the Yicheng City Lord, Liu Xianyang, the second ancestor of the renowned Liu Family, as well as Snow Mountain Sect's Grand Elder, Jiang Changtian.
However, this operation was meant to remain secret, so you had already disguised yourself. Jiang Changtian knew your identity and did not attack you. Instead, he held back the Yicheng City Lord, preventing him from using his full strength. Though Liu Xianyang was no match for you, you had no intention of fighting him for long. In truth, if you had unleashed your full strength, you would have had a chance to kill him. But you had only come to save people, so injuring him and escaping was enough. You did not want to stir up needless trouble. After all, you were still no match for Liu Yuanjin. That old bastard had cultivated for over four thousand years, and his foundations in the Void God Realm ran deep.
Within the Snow Mountain Sect, after you safely brought Zhang Tianhuo back, he watched as you settled his family down. He could sense that you had come for him, yet he truly could not think of anything he possessed that was worth your intervention. At last, unable to suppress his confusion, he said, "Thank you, Senior, for saving us. I have no way to repay your great kindness. It is only that Tianhuo does not know what I have that could help Senior. If Senior needs anything, please speak freely. You saved my family. So long as Tianhuo knows it, I will tell you everything without holding back."
Seeing Zhang Tianhuo's nervous expression, you gave him a kind smile and said warmly, "No need to be nervous. I had a bit of friendship with your Zhang Family Ancestor and promised him that I would preserve a trace of the Zhang Family bloodline. I think you are quite good. Follow me from now on; as it happens, I have never taken a disciple." Having said that, you paused and looked at Zhang Tianhuo.
Seeing your gesture, Zhang Tianhuo, sharp-minded as he was, immediately understood your meaning. He promptly fell to his knees. "Master above, this disciple Zhang Tianhuo asks to bow before Master."
Seeing Zhang Tianhuo's actions, you laughed freely, your purpose achieved. You immediately helped him up and told him to rest first. Having just endured the destruction of his Lineage, he needed time to recover.
As for your claim that you had been acquainted with the Zhang Family Ancestor, it was merely an excuse to justify why you had saved them. The Zhang Family Ancestor was already dead as a doornail, so no one could expose your lie. Besides, you had indeed preserved the Zhang Family bloodline. Even if that Ancestor climbed out of his coffin, he would still have to thank you.
Before you continue