Ye Family

Biodata

Background / History

The Ye Family held paramount influence in Taihang Market, maintaining enforcement cultivators and a heavily guarded main peak. Its direct line enjoyed substantial resources, while tensions with collateral branches were already severe beneath the family's outward authority. 69 79

The divide became public when collateral-branch steward Ye Quan ambushed direct descendant Ye Hongling in Misty Valley, intending to seize her Foundation Establishment resources. Ye Quan accused the family of withholding cultivation resources from collateral branches despite his decades of service; he was subsequently killed by the bandit cultivator Blood Vulture. Ye Hongling's survival allowed the family to investigate the attempted assassination. 79 81

Ye Hongling's successful Foundation Establishment greatly expanded the family's standing. The family publicly celebrated for three days, opened its gates to visitors, and displayed its new Foundation Establishment Ancestor before Taihang Market's cultivators. 90

Following her advancement, the family issued the Pioneering Order, mobilizing cultivators into Black Wind Forest under the stated aim of clearing demon beasts and opening new spirit fields. The campaign also targeted Everlasting Spring Valley and its spiritual herbs; many recruited rogue cultivators suffered heavy casualties. 98 101 103 105

The Black Wind Forest operation exposed the family's vulnerability. A Golden Sun Sect night raid succeeded after the Four Symbols Warning Array was disabled from within by Ye Qing, a collateral-branch traitor. Ye Hongling was later injured in the conflict, while the family withdrew patrols, sought items capable of repairing Spiritual Sense, and faced further internal unrest. 108 116

Ye Hongling's failed attempt to enter the False Core realm left her mortally wounded. As collateral elders prepared to divide the family and the Golden Sun Sect pressed for control of Taihang Market, she entrusted Chen Ping with a fragment of the family's Golden Core cultivation technique, a secret-realm map, and the safety of her niece Ye Linger. 122 123

The family finally collapsed when Golden Sun Sect elder Zhao Wuji demanded Taihang Market as dowry and arranged a coup with surrendering collateral elders. During the alliance banquet, loyalists were massacred, the mountain-protecting formation activated, and the Ye Family's treasury became the object of a scramble. By Chen Ping's later reunion with Ye Hongling in Celestial Star City, the family's destruction was treated as an established fact. 126 127 155

Organization and Resources

Internal Structure

• Direct line — Included Ye Hongling, the family's eldest daughter and later Family Master; direct descendants received the family's most valuable protection and cultivation resources. 79 90 126
• Collateral branches — Managed many external and operational duties but developed deep resentment toward the direct line. Ye Quan's rebellion and the later surrender of collateral elders were decisive factors in the family's fall. 79 120 126
• Enforcement Squad — Conducted inspections, investigations, conscription, patrols, and missions in Black Wind Forest. 70 82 105
• Guest Elders — External specialists recruited for protection and assigned production or service obligations. Chen Ping was required to provide thirty zhang of first-tier high-grade talismans monthly in return for Ye Family protection. 96

Known Assets and Facilities

• Ye Family main peak — Site of Ye Hongling's Foundation Establishment ceremony; protected by the second-tier low-grade Thick Earth Bearing Array. 90
• Moon Gazing Pavilion — A meeting place used by Ye Hongling to recruit or negotiate with cultivators. 91
• Scripture Repository / Scripture Pavilion — Contained miscellaneous records, technical texts, second-grade talisman inheritances, and restricted core cultivation-method areas. 100 101
• Qilin Jade Pendant — The key to the Ye Family treasury, thrown into the banquet-hall chaos by Ye Hongling during the coup. 127
• Azure Water Bell — Ye Hongling's top-grade defensive spiritual artifact; it could automatically protect its owner and nourish the soul. 79 90

Notable Members

• Ye Hongling — Eldest daughter of the direct line, Foundation Establishment cultivator, and later Family Master. She drove the family's expansion, recruited Guest Elders, and ultimately faced betrayal by her own collateral elders. 90 96 126
• Ye Quan — Collateral-branch steward who conspired with bandit cultivators to murder Ye Hongling and steal her Foundation Establishment resources. 79
• Ye Qing — Collateral-branch member who infiltrated the Ye Family camp for the Golden Sun Sect and disabled its defenses from within. 108
• Ye Linger — Ye Hongling's seven-year-old niece. Her survival was entrusted to Chen Ping when the family's collapse became imminent. 123 128
• Ye Family Patriarch — Issued the Pioneering Order requiring Taihang Market cultivators to join the Black Wind Forest campaign. 105
• Collateral elders — Internal faction that opposed Ye Hongling, collaborated with Zhao Wuji, and participated in the coup against loyalist family members. 120 126 127

Relationships

• Taihang Sect — The Ye Family was identified with the Taihang Sect and operated as its foremost family in Taihang Market. 69 81
• Golden Sun Sect — Rival force that infiltrated the family, attacked its Black Wind Forest camp, and ultimately engineered its takeover and destruction. 108 126 127
• Chen Ping — Recruited as a Guest Elder and talisman supplier; received family protection, access to the Scripture Pavilion, and later Ye Hongling's personal entrustment. 96 100 123
• Taihang Market rogue cultivators — The family recruited and conscripted them for the Pioneering Order, treating their labor and lives as expendable in the Black Wind Forest campaign. 94 103 105