Clan Tournament Begins

At this moment, the entire Soaring Cloud Peak's atmosphere changed in an instant.

Every cultivator of the Ye Family wore anger on their faces.

Their guardian spirit beast, the Ancestor Turtle, had been driven to death by the other families in such a manner, and those people had then swaggered away.

At this moment, they were all seething with rage.

Ye Xingliu stepped forward as well. As the family head, he had to speak now and salvage the Ye Family's morale:

"From today onward, all family stipends will be raised by fifty percent. At the same time, cultivators who have shown no progress for a long time will have their stipends halved. Furthermore, the top three in the clan tournament will be able to receive a family spirit beast or cultivation technique as a reward!"

"The top ten in the clan tournament may receive spirit stones, or a bottle of spirit pills or a magic artifact as rewards!"

"Also, the specific reward rules and family policies will undergo major changes as well. The detailed regulations will be announced later!"

"In short, cultivate properly for me. Otherwise, when the family truly declines and you become Rogue Cultivators, I need not tell you what those days will be like!"

Ye Xingliu continued speaking, every word carrying great authority, and what he said changed everyone's expressions.

Though the Ye Family was not some great Purple Mansion clan, it was still one of the four major Foundation Establishment families south of Taihang. If they became Rogue Cultivators, that would be a true nightmare!

A sense of tension and urgency began spreading from top to bottom.

Everyone put away their former casual leisure.

Ye Jingcheng was filled with anger as well.

The Bloodheart Pills that had cost tens of thousands of spirit stones to purchase had gone wrong, killing the mountain-guarding spirit beast.

Still, he remained puzzled. Ye Xingliu had not replied to him or given any response, and he felt that everything seemed to fit the intentions of the other four great families a little too perfectly.

From what he had observed, the Ye Family should not have been like this...

While Ye Jingcheng hesitated, the clan tournament had already begun.

Everyone withdrew to the martial arts arena.

It was an enormous open space, with countless huge stone platforms. The Ye Family cultivators normally taught spells here.

Today, it was also being used as the venue for the clan tournament.

Upon arriving at the square, Ye Jingcheng discovered that nearly every member of the Ye Family had gathered.

With one glance, he counted over a hundred cultivators.

Most were at the early or middle stages of Qi Refinement, while only a small portion were at the late stage.

The clan tournament was divided into three arenas: one for early-stage Qi Refinement, one for middle-stage Qi Refinement, and one for the seventh and eighth levels of Qi Refinement.

As for those at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, they were already elders of the Ye Family and did not need to participate.

The competing cultivators were all under fifty years old.

There were more than fifty of them in total: over twenty at the early stage of Qi Refinement, over twenty at the middle stage, and only eight at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refinement.

Prizes would be awarded simply for competing.

Those over fifty were excluded as well. After all, in the cultivation world, the best time to break through to Foundation Establishment was before the age of sixty.

Past that age, one's blood and vitality declined, making the possibility of a breakthrough extremely low.

And if one attempted Foundation Establishment without a Foundation Establishment Pill protecting the heart meridians, failure meant death.

As a Foundation Establishment family, the Ye Family naturally could not accept too many cultivators repeatedly failing their breakthroughs.

Ye Jingcheng was assigned to the middle-stage Qi Refinement group. He was extremely confident in himself. Whether it was his own methods or his Crimson Flame Fox and Golden-Scaled Beast, all gave him the ability to challenge cultivators at the seventh level of Qi Refinement.

At this moment, he wanted to contend for a place in the top three and choose a better cultivation technique from the family.

As for spirit beasts, he thought of the spirit beast egg from the Blood Leech, but then Ye Jingcheng shook his head.

What he lacked now were spirit stones. Raising two spirit beasts was already giving him a headache.

"Everyone, make your preparations. The matches will begin in one hour!" Ye Xinghe was in charge of the middle-stage Qi Refinement arena. At this moment, even the fat on his face seemed to radiate a fierce air.

This was vastly different from the image Ye Jingcheng had always had of his eldest uncle.

Clearly, Ye Xinghe had been the one who purchased the Bloodheart Pills. He was likely feeling terrible inside as well.

Ye Jingcheng obediently sat down on the spot to meditate and rest. Though he had not expended much spiritual energy during the earlier cleanup, maintaining peak condition would still help him seize first place among the middle-stage Qi Refinement cultivators.

Ye Jingcheng looked at his second brother, Ye Jingyong, then at his sixth brother, Ye Jingli. They were his main competitors, both at the sixth level of Qi Refinement.

His second brother Ye Jingyong in particular was widely acknowledged as powerful among the Ye Family's Jing generation. Ye Jingcheng was also deeply wary of that small seal magic artifact.

While meditating, Ye Jingcheng heard Ye Xingliu's voice transmission in his mind once more.

"If you do not wish to be possessed, keep your secret well!"

Ye Jingcheng was greatly alarmed. He looked around, wanting to find Ye Xingliu, only to discover that by the time the clan tournament began, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, Ye Xingliu and Ye Haicheng, had already disappeared.

"Stop looking. Compete properly, and do not think you can let your guard down just because you have the Beast-Link Mark!"

"Also, let today's voice transmission rot in your belly!"

Ye Xingliu's voice rang out once more, then vanished.

At this moment, Ye Jingcheng's heart began pounding wildly.

Ye Xingliu had received his voice transmission, yet he had not allowed him to test it. Now he was even telling him to keep it secret, and Ye Jingcheng could not help growing suspicious.

Had the Turtle Ancestor truly died?

He still wanted to ask, his stomach full of doubts, but when he saw the Ye Family clansmen before him, all of them charged up as though they had been pumped full of chicken blood and cultivating with even greater dedication.

The other three great families and the Xu Family would likely lower their guard as well.

If the Turtle Ancestor had not fallen in this scene, then the Ye Family would be the true victor this time!

Moreover, Ye Haiyun would be able to request leave and return because of it.

Ye Jingcheng did not dare think any further, but he suddenly realized that what he was seeing might not be the truth.

Ye Jingcheng quickly shook his head again. He was merely a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator; there was no need for him to think so much.

Instead, claiming first place among the mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators and choosing a cultivation technique better than the Parting Fire Art were what mattered most to him right now.

With that thought in mind, Ye Jingcheng began to focus and calm his mind.

Since there was no need to recover spiritual energy, he slowly circulated the Parting Fire Art and cultivated his spiritual power for a while longer.

Now that the spirit formation was fully opened, it released even more spiritual energy from the spirit vein, making cultivation even more beneficial for cultivators.

"All right, you've adjusted enough. Come up and draw lots!" Ye Xinghe's grave voice roused everyone.

He then took out countless bamboo slips, each marked with a number.

These numbers would determine the challengers!

Ye Jingcheng also rose to his feet and stepped forward to draw a lot.

"Jingcheng, you'd better be careful. My Flying Cloud Leopard has grown stronger again recently!" Seeing Ye Jingcheng, Ye Jingyong spoke up as well.

This second brother of his was rather talkative and competitive.

Ye Jingcheng merely answered with a smile.

In his heart, he still hoped that Ye Jingyong's Flying Cloud Leopard really had grown much stronger.

Otherwise, he always felt that bringing out the Crimson Flame Fox would be bullying him!

He should perhaps even be competing in the late-stage Qi Refinement group!

But even so, if he could obtain a reward in the mid-stage Qi Refinement group, Ye Jingcheng would still rather remain in the mid-stage Qi Refinement group!