The air within the Ye Clan was stifling.
Ye Jiangshan and Liu Xiu looked grim beyond measure.
The elders and disciples around them wore complicated expressions.
The faces of several elders who held power were especially cold!
After all, the union between the Ye Family and Lu Li concerned the Lineage's future.
Lu Li came from a formidable background!
That Ye Qiu... had jeopardized the Lineage's future!
Just then,
"Clan Leader, something terrible has happened!" a guard cried, rushing over.
Ye Jiangshan was already seething. How had Ye Qiu dared?
Back then, Ye Qiu had been so obedient. A single look from him, and the boy had not dared move.
I'm your father!
At the guard's shout, he turned a frosty gaze on him. "Why are you yelling? Has Heaven fallen?"
The guard trembled with fright, but Ye Jiangshan only grew angrier. "Even if Heaven fell, what would the Ye Clan have to fear?"
Sweat dripped from the guard's forehead. "The... Ye Clan Ancestral Tablet... exploded!"
Ye Jiangshan froze, then strode forward. "What did you say?"
The guard shook harder. "The tablet exploded. King Ye's Mansion exploded..."
Whoosh—
Ye Jiangshan's expression changed violently. Around him, the elders and disciples all went pale.
The next instant, Ye Jiangshan swept out of the residence like a gust of wind.
A crowd followed close behind.
Outside the Ye Mansion, many people had gathered on the Street, their faces filled with shock.
As Ye Jiangshan and the others arrived, whispers spread rapidly through the Street.
Ye Jiangshan stared at the shattered tablet. The three characters on it had split apart, their glow utterly extinguished.
His face was grim, his heart unbearably heavy!
This was no ordinary tablet!
It was the Ye Clan Ancestral Tablet!
King Ye himself had left it behind.
It held a wisp of King Ye's aura.
One could even say it was tied to the Ye Clan's Fortune!
The ancestral tablet had exploded... The Ye Clan's Fortune...
In truth, the Ye Clan had been declining for years. It could barely call itself part of the Royal Family anymore.
Nor could it gain the recognition of Central Province.
If this continued, the branch in Southern State might be abandoned entirely by the one in Central Province!
Worse still, the very survival of the Southern State Ye Clan might already be at stake!
That was why Ye Jiangshan placed such importance on Ye Rudí's Heavenly King Body!
Only he had any hope of restoring the Ye Clan.
As for Ye Qiu...
Ye Jiangshan had once examined him from head to toe, but Ye Qiu's constitution was ordinary, with nothing special about it. He had suffered injuries while still in his mother's womb.
To Ye Jiangshan, Ye Qiu was far too ordinary. Forget shouldering a great responsibility; he could not even compare to the Lineage's ordinary direct descendants!
"Clan Leader, this..." At the sorry sight, panic gripped everyone in the Ye Clan.
This concerned the Lineage's Fortune.
Could the Ye Clan already be...
Liu Xiu narrowed her eyes. "Ye Qiu had barely left when the tablet exploded... Could it be..."
"He cannot affect the Ye Clan's Fortune!" Ye Jiangshan waved her off. Ye Qiu had no such ability.
In a hundred years, no one had managed to resonate with King Ye. Not even Ye Rudí, with his Heavenly King Body.
What made Ye Qiu think he could?
Even if he carried a curse, he could not shake the Ye Family in the slightest!
"Clean it up." Ye Jiangshan said nothing more. At this point, the Heavenly King Body mattered more than ever.
They had to do everything they could to help Ye Rudí grow stronger.
And there was the marriage to Lu Li...
Lu Li's origins were mysterious. Though they knew little, her background was certainly connected to Central Province!
It might even reach as far as Divine Province!
Ye Rudí had the Heavenly King Body, while Lu Li's constitution was terrifying too—possibly even more so.
And with the connections her background brought...
This would help the Ye Clan tremendously!
They had to settle it soon!
After all, they were not the only ones with their eyes on Lu Li!
Ye Qiu—
Even if the engagement remained, he would have no chance!
In truth, they had not summoned Ye Qiu today to break the engagement. They had meant to make him yield his bride!
After all, they were all members of the Ye Clan!
As long as the Marriage Contract stood, they held the initiative!
Ye Qiu returned to Nanzhou Academy and first visited Green Moon Mountain. Nan Qingyue must have come back; a little leftover food still sat on the table. But she seemed to have left again.
Lu Li had yet to appear.
Ye Qiu descended the mountain and returned to the Gravity Tower.
The Eighth Layer!
Boom—
He drove a fist into the great bell on the Eighth Layer. It shuddered and let out a deafening roar.
That Fist Might was powerful!
Far stronger than before!
Perhaps it was because he had resonated with King Ye. He cared nothing for that sword art, but it had cleansed him in ways he could not see. And he had broken through King Ye's aura!
King Ye had failed to suppress him.
He had shattered that aura!
So he had been transformed!
Then again, it might also have been the pill. A Fourth-Grade Spirit Pill was quite effective; his Qi and Blood and Cultivation Level had both grown considerably.
His Qi and Blood had definitely passed 110,000.
And his Cultivation Level had all but reached the threshold of Mystic Passage Third Level!
But those were only secondary reasons. What mattered most was... the great bell no longer looked like Lu Li to him. It looked like... Ye Jiangshan!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ye Qiu hammered the bell with punch after punch. It shook without pause, roaring as faint cracks appeared.
He kept at it for an entire day.
Even the searing pain in his fists could not make him stop.
He truly wanted to grab Ye Jiangshan by the head and smash him again and again!
He understood.
But he could not understand
why...
Why had Ye Jiangshan gone this far?
What had Ye Qiu done wrong?
Or rather, had he done anything at all?
He had done nothing.
Nothing right, nothing wrong!
The only possibility... His mother had left, and he was the legitimate son. Perhaps his presence would tarnish Ye Rudí's reputation. After all, Ye Rudí's birth was hardly respectable—he was an illegitimate son...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He kept punching, each blow more tyrannical than the last, venting the fire raging in his heart.
As he let it out, his Qi and Blood and Cultivation Level surged. He absorbed the last of the pill's energy.
His Qi and Blood rose.
Then, after another ten punches, his Cultivation Level surged forward in one breath and broke through the barrier.
Mystic Passage Third Level!
Boom—
His final punch struck, and the bell rang louder than ever before. Its cracks spread visibly.
At last, it exploded with a boom!
Ye Qiu lowered his fists and let out a ragged breath. The image of Ye Jiangshan vanished completely from his sight.
He turned and climbed the Stairway from the Eighth Layer to the Ninth Step Layer!
Three days and three nights later,
The great bell on the Ninth Step Layer exploded!
That pent-up fury had truly pushed him a long way!
He sat down cross-legged.
Ye Qiu recovered his strength.
Once his Qi and Blood and Cultivation Level had steadied, he asked inwardly, "Brother Snake, how did those punches feel?"
The Great Serpent said, "They had some flavor."
Ye Qiu stood. Despite the crushing pressure on the Ninth Step Layer, he could move freely. He headed for the Tenth Layer.
It was the summit of the Gravity Tower!
But when Ye Qiu reached the Tenth Layer, he found its pressure terrifying—at least three times greater than the Ninth Step Layer's.
His body trembled again. He struggled to the great bell, yet could not budge it at all.
"I've gone past my limit!" Ye Qiu panted hard. Cracking sounds kept coming from his body.
His joints were grinding together.
He turned to look ahead, then suddenly froze. A figure had appeared there.
A White Skirt!
Before you continue