[An Unclaimed Treasure]

Another week passed, but the beautiful woman's husband, Yue Ling, still had not returned. He had only sent back a servant.

According to the servant, Yue Clan Castle was bustling with celebration, lanterns and colored banners hanging everywhere, its gates packed with guests.

The reason was that Yue Feng, the youngest son of Yue Ling from the Second Branch, had successfully contracted a Codex at merely six years old. Three of the four great sects had now sent people to recruit him, each hoping to take him as a disciple. Crystal Palace of the Eastern Sea, Misty Sect of the Southern Ridge, Lion Tower of the Western Prison, Northern Moon Spirit Immortal Pavilion—apart from Spirit Immortal Pavilion, which accepted only female disciples, all the others had sent representatives. Even the Emperor and Empress had dispatched palace attendants to offer congratulations. Ministers and generals throughout the court had gathered there, while the entire Yue Family was busy receiving guests. Even Yue Ling had to stay behind and help.

As for the Beast-Spirit Enlightenment Pill bought for a thousand gold, the old master of the Yue Family had taken it and given it to Yue Feng as a gift.

"Since Little Ninth has caught the eye of the three great sects of the east, south, and west, why didn't Grandfather and Second Uncle send someone to inform us?" Yue Bing, dressed in black, went slightly pale after hearing this. Though she was young, she already understood a little about the ways of the world.

"It's all right. It's only a banquet; it doesn't matter if we don't attend. So long as our Third Son makes something of himself in the future, that will be enough." The beautiful woman's eyes reddened slightly.

The clan was plainly slighting their Fourth Branch now, but she did not lose heart.

Even though the Beast-Spirit Enlightenment Pill she had exhausted their entire fortune to buy had been intercepted by the Second Branch halfway through, she did not feel discouraged.

Because she felt she had already obtained what she desired most: her Third Son had successfully contracted a Codex. So long as the contract succeeded, there was hope for the future. As for whether the old master of the main family invited them to the celebratory feast, she simply did not care. Though this slight left her feeling somewhat wronged and saddened, she had long been used to swallowing hardship, and she could let it go and see through it.

"..." Yue Yang was rather surprised. He knew very well what contracting a Codex at six years old meant on Dragon Soaring Continent.

If students were used as an analogy, successfully contracting a Codex was like passing the college entrance examination and getting into a prestigious school such as Harvard or Cambridge. Unless something unexpected happened, one would be destined for great things in the future.

Of all the gifted young people on Dragon Soaring Continent, ninety-nine percent could not form a contract. Only a small number of geniuses had a chance of succeeding.

Moreover, among Codex owners, the overwhelming majority only successfully contracted a Codex after turning fifteen.

To put it another way, it was like passing the college entrance examination only after fifteen. Yet that Yue Feng had passed it at six—he truly was an extraordinary prodigy! No wonder the entire clan was celebrating, the imperial family had offered congratulations, and four sects had come to recruit him. Of course, Student Yue Yang did not envy him. He also knew what he possessed: the Twin Star Talent, the secret to evolving the Golden-Crowned Thorn Flower Queen, and Phantom, his Life Guardian Beast, whose summoning duration lasted as long as ten days.

Most importantly, Yue Yang possessed an innate cultivation method that only peak warriors among the strong of Dragon Soaring Continent had begun to touch upon: Innate Formless Body-Breaking Sword Aura.

Once he mastered its first level, he would truly step into the Innate Realm.

On Dragon Soaring Continent, Level Seven powerhouses, if aided by Sacred Beasts or Divine Beasts, could also begin to touch upon the Innate Realm. But only powerhouses above Level Eight dared claim they were true Innate powerhouses. And how many true Innate powerhouses were there in the world? There were practically no old monsters whose strength allowed them to look down upon all living beings. Even if there were, they would be several-hundred-year-old immortals who refused to die...

If Yue Feng, the genius who had passed the college entrance examination at six and received the celebration of his entire clan, congratulations from the imperial family, and recruitment from four sects, was considered someone who had gotten into Harvard or Cambridge, then Student Yue Yang had not even taken the college entrance examination. He had not attended Harvard or Cambridge either; he had graduated straight away and directly begun a master's degree!

"Fourth Madam, Fourth Master's luck was rather poor. When he drew a battle beast for Third Young Master, he only drew this." The old servant delivering the message seemed uneasy. He first knelt and kowtowed several times, then held up an embroidered box with trembling hands.

"Five-Element Puppet Rats? Th-this is going too far! These Five-Element Puppet Rats are all Level One special-type battle beasts. Apart from scouting the way, they are utterly useless, and one contract means five of them, wasting pages in the Codex. There are countless high-grade puppet battle beasts in the clan: Level Three Bronze War Wolves, Level Four Silver War Tigers. Why did Grandfather give us this? Was this Uncle and Second Uncle's doing? Why should Third Brother accept something like this?" Yue Bing, dressed in black, took the box and opened it. Her face grew even paler, and her voice rose sharply with fury.

"Bing'er, do not be disrespectful to your elders!" the beautiful woman softly rebuked.

Then she turned to Yue Yang and gently said, "Third Son, if this battle beast is no good, then we need not contract it. Do not harbor too much resentment in your heart. As descendants of the Yue Family, whatever our elders bestow upon us is a blessing. Accumulate blessings and virtue, rely on no external strength, and strive unceasingly for self-improvement—this is the duty of being human."

Yue Bing, dressed in black, lowered her head. She still felt that the clan was being unfair to her family, and she felt wronged inside.

When Yue Yang took the embroidered box, a strange stream of information suddenly flashed through his mind, and he had a sudden realization.

The Five-Element Puppet Rats had been created six hundred years ago by the eccentric genius Yue Gong, one of the Three Heroes of Yue Family's Revival. The Yue Family had gradually declined from generation to generation after most of its spear technique and battle skill manuals were lost. Then three extraordinary figures emerged and revived the family; later generations called them the Three Heroes of Yue Family's Revival. They had turned the tide against the raging waves and rebuilt the Yue Family into one of the Four Great Families, unshakable as a mountain. Of them, the special-type puppet battle beasts invented by the eccentric genius Yue Gong were the most renowned throughout the world. Outsiders might not know Yue Family Spearmanship, might not know the Earth Bear enhancement-type battle beast passed down through the generations, and might not know Wumu Military Strategy, which only successive family heads could learn—but they certainly knew that the Yue Family was the world's master house of puppet battle beasts.

Mercenaries, warriors, blacksmiths, merchants, and even low-ranking soldiers in the army all held this eccentric genius Yue Gong in the highest respect.

This was because the eccentric genius Yue Gong had invented hundreds of types of puppet battle beasts, allowing them to choose and use them with great ease. Whether in daily life or in battle, they offered immense convenience.

This outstanding Yue Gong was honored by the imperial family as one of the Two Saints enshrined in the Hall of Divine Craft. Among the common people, he was regarded as the founding patriarch of puppets and machinery.

Yet such an outstanding figure had invented a useless kind of Five-Element Puppet Rat, leaving the clansmen unable to puzzle it out no matter how they racked their brains.

Unfortunately, this eccentric genius had been frail and sickly, then worn himself down through overwork. He had died from exhaustion in the Puppet Palace while still young, before he could compile the Puppet Codex, one of his lifelong wishes. As a result, he left behind many strange puppet battle beasts that the clansmen could not understand. The most baffling was this Five-Element Puppet Rat, which the eccentric genius had dearly loved during his lifetime despite its utter uselessness.

Later generations of the clan did not dare make overly malicious guesses. They only dared assume that it had been one of Yue Gong's earliest creations before he became famous, and that he had cherished it because of a special attachment.

For six hundred years, no one had been willing to accept these Five-Element Puppet Rats, which were useless yet took up an excessive number of Codex summoning slots.

Until today, when Fourth Uncle Yue Ling had unfortunately drawn them, and they fell into Yue Yang's hands.

"As the saying goes, what elders bestow, one dares not refuse! I accept these Five-Element Puppet Rat battle beasts. Thank you, Fourth Uncle, and thank you, Fourth Aunt, for your instruction!" Student Yue Yang put on the appearance of a well-behaved child. If he had not already used Keen Eye to discover that these Five-Element Puppet Rats were treasures, why would he have wanted them? Now that this treasure he had been seeking had fallen right into his outstretched hand for free, of course he was secretly delighted.

"With our ancestors watching over us, they will surely bless my Third Son with a future without bounds." Seeing how obedient Student Yue Yang was, the beautiful woman was truly overjoyed. She nodded repeatedly and praised him again and again.

"Third Brother, you absolutely must not contract them! The Five-Element Puppet Rats may look like the same summon beast, but once the contract succeeds, there will be five of them—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—and they will take up five summoning slots. A beginner Bronze Codex only has ten pages. Your first three pages have already been used, and there is even that useless Saliva-Spitting Thorn Flower. If another five pages are taken, only two pages of space will remain. Listen to me, Third Brother, this must have been deliberately arranged by certain people... They are afraid you will rise again; they fear our Fourth Branch will contend for power in the future. You must never contract these Five-Element Puppet Rats!" Yue Bing, dressed in black, grew anxious. She grabbed Yue Yang's hand and would not allow him to contract the Five-Element Puppet Rats.