Winning Odds

P.S.: A belated update!

Dinner was lavish, though eating was not the main purpose.

"Chen'er, why didn't you join the Southern Luo Sect back then? If you had gone there, your mother could have looked after you." Shen Yuqing was an Outer Sect Elder of the Southern Luo Sect. Though her authority was not as great as that of an Inner Sect Elder, she could return home often, and the Southern Luo Sect was only two or three days' journey from Luocheng City.

Ye Chen said, "I just wanted to experience living on my own outside. Isn't everything going well now?"

Shen Yuqing sighed. "You're right. If you had gone to the Southern Luo Sect, perhaps you wouldn't have achieved what you have today. I nearly held you back."

Ye Tianhao took a sip of wine and smiled. "Do you have any hope of breaking through to the True Condensation Realm soon? The Flowing Cloud Sect's Inner Sect Disciple Ranking Match will begin in a few months."

"Probably by the end of this month."

"You're that confident?" Shen Yuqing set down her chopsticks.

Ye Chen explained, "I've already condensed a thread of True Qi within my body, and I cultivate the Pure Origin Skill. I've already reached the peak of the fifth layer."

Gasp!

Ye Tianhao and Shen Yuqing both sucked in a cold breath. Many Human-Grade Cultivation Methods within the Five Great Sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom were duplicates of one another. The Southern Luo Sect also possessed the Pure Origin Skill, but very few could cultivate it to the fifth layer while still in the Qi Cultivation Realm, much less to the peak of the fifth layer.

With a bitter smile, Shen Yuqing said, "Back when I was an Outer Sect Disciple of the Southern Luo Sect, I cultivated the Pure Origin Skill as well, but I only reached the peak of the fourth layer. Who would have thought that the green would surpass the blue? My son has achieved even more than I did."

Ye Tianhao nodded. He finally understood just how talented Ye Chen was—at least in cultivating Martial Arts, he was exceptionally gifted, no worse than the vast majority of geniuses.

"Oh, right. Let me tell you some bad news. Ye Tang and Ye Xuan have already broken through to the True Condensation Realm," Shen Yuqing said gravely.

She had not intended to tell him, afraid it would dampen Ye Chen's enthusiasm. But both emotionally and logically, it was better to tell him now, lest the contrast hit him even harder later.

Ye Chen nodded. "I already know that Ye Xuan advanced to the True Condensation Realm. But there's something else you don't know: Ji Xueyan has already gone to the Flowing Cloud Sect and asked to annul our engagement."

"Annul the engagement!" The chopsticks in Ye Tianhao's hand snapped in two. His expression turned exceedingly ugly as he snorted coldly. "Yuqing, I told you long ago that this marriage was unreliable. Now the consequences have come. Being publicly cast aside like this, how is Chen'er supposed to face people?"

Shen Yuqing was stunned for a long while before coming back to herself. "Her mother and I are as close as sisters. After some time, I'll go speak with her."

"What is there to say? Is my Chen'er so unwanted that no one likes him?"

Ye Chen remained composed. "You don't need to worry. This hasn't affected me. If she wants to annul it, then let her annul it! I wasn't planning to marry so early anyway."

Shen Yuqing was, after all, his mother. Seeing her son suffer such humiliation left her feeling miserable as well. She said mockingly, "In a few years, she'll realize that her choice was wrong."

"She's already wrong now. My son is already a genius. What kind of woman won't he be able to have in the future?" Ye Tianhao was even more extreme than Shen Yuqing.

Not wanting to continue the subject, Shen Yuqing said, "Let's put Ji Xueyan's matter aside for now. The most important thing at present is the year-end Clan Gathering. Eighteen Ye Family descendants will participate in total. The top three will receive the family's full support, and first place will receive a Low-Grade Storage Spirit Ring."

A Low-Grade Storage Spirit Ring. Ye Chen's heart stirred. The Mid-Grade Storage Ring he currently possessed was far too conspicuous. Not only would True Condensation Realm martial artists desperately want it, even Primal Origin Realm martial artists would be tempted by it. It was extremely unsafe. If he had a Low-Grade Storage Spirit Ring, he could avoid much trouble.

"At the year-end Clan Gathering, first place will be mine." To outsiders, Ye Chen's words sounded arrogant, but he did not think so himself.

"Good, that's the spirit. I like it. Whether or not you take first place, your mother and I have already decided to buy you a Low-Grade Storage Spirit Ring."

Shen Yuqing nodded. "As long as you make us proud, you can have whatever you want. After serving as an Outer Sect Elder of the Southern Luo Sect for so many years, I've still saved up a little."

Ye Chen smiled. Having parents like these was his blessing. Still, he preferred to gain things with his own hands. Of course, he could not say too much now. He knew his parents did not hold much hope that he could take first place. After all, the Qi Cultivation Realm and the True Condensation Realm were entirely different concepts, separated by an enormous gap.

After dinner, Ye Chen returned to his own courtyard.

Outside, the moonlight flowed like water, and the entire Ye Family was so quiet that not a sound could be heard.

Inside the room.

Ye Chen sat cross-legged on his bed, his breathing steady and powerful.

In contrast to the stillness outside, a storm raged within Ye Chen's body. His Internal Energy circulated through a grand cycle at three times its usual speed.

With every completed grand cycle, another thread of liquid True Qi appeared in the vortex within Ye Chen's Dantian, gathering at its center.

An hour later, Ye Chen opened his eyes and muttered to himself, slightly weary, "No wonder so many people remain stuck at the peak Qi Cultivation Realm Tenth Layer for over half a year. Converting True Qi is simply too exhausting. No matter how talented someone is, they can't achieve it in a single leap."

"Still, at this rate, I should be able to advance to the True Condensation Realm in ten days."

Strictly speaking, few people could know exactly when they would break through. But Ye Chen was different. His Soul Force was twice that of an ordinary person's, and the Internal Energy from his Pure Origin Skill, cultivated to its highest realm, was incomparably pure. He could accurately grasp the timing and opportunity of a breakthrough, with very little margin for error. He had already tested this during his previous breakthroughs.

Slowly exhaling a breath of stale air, Ye Chen rolled out of bed and went into the courtyard to practice his swordsmanship.

The next day, the Ye Family became thoroughly lively.

It was not because the year-end Clan Gathering had begun, but because the Ye Family's two great geniuses had returned.

Ye Tang and Ye Xuan—these two were known as geniuses not only throughout the Ye Family, but across all of Luocheng City. One had reached the initial stage of the fifth layer of the Qi Cultivation Realm at twelve years old, while the other had reached the middle stage of the fifth layer. One had joined the Seventh-Rank Great Sect North Snow Manor, while the other had joined the Heavenly Wind Kingdom's number one great sect—the Seventh-Rank Great Sect Jade Valley. They were two brilliant jades of their generation, impossible to rank above one another. Besides them, Ye Feng was also quite famous, though he fell somewhat short compared to the two.

Beyond those three, the Ye Family had quite a few other descendants. Some had joined sects years earlier, some were training abroad and wandering the martial world, while some had taken masters and traveled the four seas with them.

Now, they too returned to the Ye Family one after another, preparing to participate in the year-end Clan Gathering a few days later.

For the Ye Family servants, guessing who would take first place was currently their greatest source of entertainment. This year was no exception; it was said that a gambling pool had even been secretly opened.

The highest odds naturally belonged to Ye Tang and Ye Xuan. Unexpectedly, Ye Feng was not ranked third, but fifth. Third place was taken by Ye Hai, who had traveled the four seas with his master, while fourth went to Ye Ming, who had been training abroad. Ye Chen, meanwhile, was ranked dead last—eighteenth.

Ye Chen knew nothing of this, but even if he had, he would not have cared. First place was not something one could obtain merely by talking; it depended on strength.