"This is the residence the gang has assigned you."
Feng Yue pointed at the courtyard before them on Changyuan Street, at the eastern edge of East City.
After Ye Li had broken through Body Tempering, Feng Yue no longer put on the airs of an old-timer and instead spoke to him as an equal.
When Ye Li saw the quadrangle courtyard, he could not help but draw in a sharp breath.
It was a traditional siheyuan layout formed by two lengthwise courtyards, its floor plan shaped like the character for "sun." As far as the eye could see, the entire compound spanned roughly five hundred square meters.
There was one main house, two side rooms, and two wing rooms for living. The courtyard was exquisitely furnished, and before and after the hanging-flower gate lay an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard for strolling and unwinding.
Whether it was the location or the furnishings, both startled Ye Li. "This courtyard must have cost quite a bit, right?"
"Yeah, around five hundred taels."
Feng Yue narrowed his eyes and reminded him, "Consider this a subsidy for core disciples. The deed is still held by the gang—you can live here, but you cannot sell it."
"As for servants and menial laborers, you'll have to spend your own money to buy them."
"Is that so..." Ye Li found it somewhat regrettable.
Fifty Body Tempering Pills—if he sold them, would he not have enough resources for the middle stage of Body Tempering?
Afterward, Feng Yue showed Ye Li around the entire courtyard, then patted him on the shoulder.
"That's about it for today. Tomorrow morning at the hour of the dragon, wait for me in Spring Return Alley. I'll take you out to see the world."
"Ah! Instructor, are you serious?"
Hearing "Spring Return Alley," Ye Li was a little bewildered. Was he really going to listen to music in the pleasure quarters?
"Of course I'm serious. Every core disciple in the gang has to live in Spring Return Alley for half a year. You'll understand once you've gone." Thinking of what would happen tomorrow, Feng Yue's smile turned somewhat wicked.
"Remember, settle your family affairs quickly. I'm leaving first. You have plenty to do tomorrow, like taking over the post of overseeing ten shops."
Feng Yue gave him a few more instructions before rising to leave.
Silently watching Feng Yue's retreating figure, Ye Li took the courtyard keys and headed toward South City.
His uncle and aunt's family still did not know that he had broken through. Now that his circumstances had changed so drastically, it was time to return home.
The sky was dim now, the sun sinking in the west, and the pedestrians gradually thinning out.
Filled with fond memories, Ye Li sped home with flying strides.
Having broken through to the Body Tempering Realm, his physique had grown immensely stronger, allowing him to run at the legendary speed of a low-ranking primordial saint... ten meters in a single step!!!
Passersby only saw a blur flash past. In the blink of an eye, Ye Li had taken several strides across dozens of meters, shifting a few times before vanishing at the end of their sight.
At full sprint, it took him only the time needed to burn one incense stick to run from East City back to South City.
Within the rundown residence in South City, Ye Cunmang's family of three was having dinner at an Eight Immortals table.
Yet compared with the tension of a month ago, the two adults now carried a touch more ease between their brows.
They did not need to worry about tomorrow, nor did they need to worry about where their next meal would come from.
Both of them knew that the foundation of it all had been laid by the nephew who had never sat at the Eight Immortals table.
As for Ye Duo, at eleven or twelve years old, she remained as carefree as ever. Even while eating, she was still thinking about playing with her companions during the day.
Ever since she had shown off the windmill Ye Li had given her among the girls a few days ago, she had received quite a few envious looks.
Just as the family was enjoying dinner, the front gate was shoved open with a bang. Ye Li strode inside and said, "Uncle, Auntie, I'm back again!"
The interruption left the three of them frozen with their chopsticks raised. When they saw Ye Li enter through the gate, the joy of seeing him again quickly gave rise to concern.
"Why have you come back on the seventh? Were you wronged in the gang?" Ning Qiu asked with instinctive concern.
Ye Cunmang thought less deeply. Slapping the table, he said, "It must be that you've run out of money. I told you one tael a month wouldn't be enough to eat your fill, so you came back to get money."
Looking at the concern from family that would make some unfortunate brat jealous, Ye Li smiled brightly and hid nothing.
"What are you talking about? I'm already a core disciple now, so I won't have to live in the gang anymore."
"From now on, I'll be bringing in dozens of taels every month. The two of you can finally enjoy life properly."
Though Ye Li's heart was as broad as Tang San's and he was incomparably ruthless toward his enemies, he was even more protective of his own.
Ye Li never regarded enemies as people.
But toward the two relatives who had raised him, Ye Li naturally repaid sincerity with sincerity.
Anyone standing on his side—even a rolling pin from the house could earn itself the title of police baton.
If he had the chance in the future, he would also try to lead his uncle and aunt's family onto the path of cultivation.
After all, could people belonging to Ye Li truly be unable to practice martial arts merely because they lacked aptitude?
Clatter!
Upon hearing that their nephew had become a core disciple, as though thunder had exploded in their minds, Ning Qiu and Ye Cunmang's chopsticks slipped from their hands.
Meanwhile, when Ye Duo heard that he would earn dozens of taels each month, her eyes immediately widened. She cried out in astonishment, "Brother, does that mean you're rich now?"
"Not that rich." Ye Li waved a hand modestly.
"The more you earn, the more you spend; the more you have left, the less you have. So the more you earn, the less you earn."
As he spoke, a serious expression appeared on Ye Li's face. "The gang has assigned me a courtyard in East City, but you may not be able to live with me from here on."
Seeing Ye Li's solemn expression, Ning Qiu, who had just been overjoyed, asked anxiously, "Is there some problem?"
"You know it too. The stronger your nephew becomes, the greater the trouble I'll provoke. Your family is my weak point. There is no guarantee someone will not use you to threaten us."
After sitting at the dining table and sending Ye Duo away, Ye Li briefly explained Li Xi's matter.
He then added, "Now that I've joined a gang, there will only be more conflicts like this, never fewer. You must be careful from now on."
"I know a friend in the gang whose family runs a merchant business. If there is no other choice, you can travel with a merchant caravan to another city and stay there for a few years. Once your nephew's divine arts are perfected, I'll bring you back."
At the table, Ye Li laid out every danger and every method of prevention.
After hearing him, Ye Cunmang and Ning Qiu's joy gradually settled. Only then did they realize that even after becoming masters, they still could not control their own fate.
When she heard that her nephew could be in mortal danger at any time, Ning Qiu suddenly said, "Since tomorrow is uncertain, why not take a concubine first, Li'er? Have a child, just in case."
Ye Cunmang, beside her, strongly agreed.
Their thinking was rather conservative. Upon hearing of a life-threatening calamity, their first thought was how to leave behind a bloodline for the old Ye family.
"Take a concubine?" Ye Li was first stunned, then decisively waved his hand.
"I won't consider that for now. Time is tight, so I must work hard at martial arts and break through as soon as possible."
Ye Li had no interest in such a suggestion. He was in the midst of a meteoric rise in his career—where would he find time to waste in the land of tenderness?
He had no method of growing stronger through dual cultivation. Consummating a marriage would only deplete his vital essence, slowing his cultivation and increasing his chances of death.
Even nature knew to lower the birth rate when the environment was poor. Ye Li had not been overcome by lust to the point of being worse than an animal.
Having a child now—would that not be purely forging a weak point for himself?
Of course, it was not that he refused marriage; he was merely postponing it.
When the opportunity came in the future, he would definitely step hard on some backs!
After much persuasion, Ye Li temporarily dispelled the old couple's ideas. After hastily eating two bites, he did not hesitate in the slightest before turning around and running off to train again.