"Shut up!"
Ye Chen had wanted to act long ago, but he did not know what this generation of the Ye Lineage was like, so he had watched for a while.
If the Ye Lineage's people were not to his liking, he would stop bothering with them.
After all, the ancestor had only told him to teach them, not how many he had to teach.
He had just found Ye Yan a master, so his task could be considered complete.
But the outcome was somewhat unexpected, different from the novels he had read in his previous life.
They had a little fire in their blood, but not much.
So he had made a slight move. It was just that the damned elder could not take a hit, not that he had used too much force.
The Ye Lineage disciples looked at Ye Chen in disbelief, the shock in their eyes even greater than when they had learned of Ye Yan's breakthrough.
"Holy shit!"
"So badass!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"..."
Ye Yan was also deeply shocked. Although he knew Ye Chen's origins were mysterious and his strength extraordinary,
he had never expected him to slap a Breeze Sect elder to death with a casual palm strike.
Ye Xuan and the lineage elders were even more frightened out of their wits.
Elder Chen had been an expert in the late Qi Sea stage, while Ye Xuan, the strongest in the Ye Lineage, was only in the middle Qi Sea stage, several levels below him.
It could be said that Elder Chen alone could fight all the Ye Lineage's senior members, or even wipe out the entire Ye Lineage.
Yet such an expert had actually been dealt with by a young man of about eighteen, and with a single slap at that.
What kind of strength did that take?
The peak of the Qi Sea stage?
Or even that unattainable Origin Core stage?
But how old was he? Had he started cultivating in his mother's womb?
Towering waves churned in their hearts.
Wang Shuiyan was so terrified that she wet herself, a bright yellow liquid flowing from beneath her skirt.
The impact of this scene on her was simply too great.
"Impossible, impossible." She shook her head frantically, murmuring, "How could Elder Chen have been slapped to death!"
Her voice grew louder and louder. "It's all fake, it's all fake!"
Her expression gradually turned deranged as well. "You're all trash! Everyone in the Ye Lineage is trash! The Clear Water Sect, my master, will definitely kill you all!"
"Yes, kill you all, kill all you pieces of trash!"
Unable to accept everything that had happened today, she had gone outright insane.
Ye Chen frowned and swung out another slap.
Wang Shuiyan's head fell to the floor, her face filled with madness, resentment, terror, and regret buried deep in her eyes.
Only then did Ye Xuan recover and order someone to clean up the hall.
Then he turned and looked cautiously at Ye Chen, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily. "Young friend, may I ask who you are?"
Ye Chen had entered without a sound. Unless one looked carefully, one would not notice him at all.
So Ye Xuan had not noticed him.
To his eyes, Ye Chen seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
Hearing this, Ye Yan was just about to introduce him with a smile, but Ye Chen spoke first.
"I am your ancestor, Ye Chen!"
Ye Chen spoke calmly.
Mortals had very short lives. Even Great Emperors only had lifespans of around a hundred thousand years.
Thus, the Ye Lineage in the lower realm had already continued for countless generations.
Naturally, his seniority was frighteningly high.
His voice was not loud, but everyone heard him clearly.
Ye Xuan: ???
Even if you helped us, do you have to be so arrogant and insult me outright?
He felt somewhat embarrassed, but at the thought of the other party's strength, he still drew his head back and said awkwardly, "What do you mean, young friend?"
"Exactly what I said!" Ye Chen glanced at him and continued, "The Heavenly Profound Ye Lineage has continued for countless generations, each worse than the last!"
Then he abruptly turned to stare straight at Ye Xuan, his gaze sharp and unstoppable. "Do you still remember your ancestors' glory?"
Hearing this, Ye Xuan's expression changed dramatically.
He quickly dismissed everyone and brought Ye Chen to a secret chamber deep within the lineage grounds.
"Are you truly an ancestor of the Ye Lineage?"
Inside the secret chamber, Ye Xuan looked at Ye Chen with burning eyes.
Ever since the Ye Lineage had gone into seclusion, only its successive patriarchs and lineage elders had known of its glorious past.
Yet today, this young man before him had laid it bare.
There were only two possibilities: either the Ye Lineage had been exposed, or, just as Ye Chen had said, he was an ancestor of the Ye Lineage.
Unable to gauge Ye Chen's true strength, he had brought him to the secret chamber while secretly ordering the lineage elders to evacuate the Ye Lineage disciples.
For the spirits of generations of ancestors were here. Although little of their power remained, it was enough to slay experts above the Origin Core stage.
If Ye Chen truly was an enemy, he could borrow the ancestors' power to kill him. If he could not kill him, he could still buy time for the lineage's disciples to retreat safely.
Of course, if he truly was an ancestor of the Ye Lineage, nothing could be better.
It was just extremely unlikely.
"You needn't be nervous. I am indeed from the Ye Lineage, but not the Heavenly Profound Ye Lineage. Do you understand?"
Of course, Ye Chen had seen through Ye Xuan's thoughts. Even every blade of grass and every tree in the Ye Lineage lay fully exposed to his divine sense.
He looked at Ye Xuan and revealed a faint smile.
To be able to serve as patriarch and keep them hidden right under so many forces' noses, he truly did have some ability.
When Ye Xuan heard Ye Chen say that he was not from the Heavenly Profound Ye Lineage, his mind felt as though it had been struck hard by a massive hammer, buzzing and going completely blank.
His body began trembling uncontrollably, and he bowed down in worship.
"This unworthy descendant of the Ye Lineage's 4,652,893,148th generation pays his respects to the ancestor!"
He knew all too well what "not the Heavenly Profound Ye Lineage" meant.
This was the Ye Lineage's greatest secret, one that only each successive patriarch was entitled to know.
Back in the primordial era, the Ye Lineage's first ancestor had risen on the Heavenly Profound Continent. After setting foot on the path of immortality, he had led most of his clansmen to the upper realm, leaving only a small portion of the branch families to guard the ancestral land.
Countless years later, the first ancestor had become a supreme powerhouse whose might shook the past and dazzled the present, and had descended to visit the small portion of his clansmen who had stayed behind.
Before leaving, he had given them vast quantities of cultivation resources.
Over the next several eras, the Ye Lineages of the upper and lower realms had also interacted frequently.
However, after the last era ended, the upper realm's Ye Lineage had never sent anyone down again.
In the brutal war a hundred thousand years ago, the Ye Lineage had barely held out even after committing everything it had. To win, they had activated the communication formation left by the first ancestor, yet received no reply.
They had thought they had been abandoned by the upper realm's Ye Lineage.
They had never expected that, in his generation, the upper realm's Ye Lineage would actually send someone down.
At this thought, tears mingled with excitement, heartache, and other nameless emotions poured out all at once.
"Get up!"
Seeing him like this, Ye Chen shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"How did the Ye Lineage's situation become so terrible?"
Ye Chen was somewhat curious.
As soon as he arrived at the Ye Lineage, he had noticed that everyone's cultivation was pitifully low, with even the strongest only at the Qi Sea stage.
For a lineage that had enjoyed glory for hundreds of millions of years to fall so low in merely a hundred thousand years was truly rather inconceivable.
Even with multiple forces secretly intervening to suppress it.
Hearing this, a trace of anguish appeared on Ye Xuan's face.
"A hundred thousand years ago, many spatial black holes appeared on the Heavenly Profound Continent, and countless members of other races invaded.
The Ye Lineage's founding master, Heavenly Emperor Ye Ming, led the Human Heavenly Court in a battle to the death against the other races' experts.
The Heavenly Emperor's strength reached through heaven and earth, his imposing might unrivaled beneath the heavens, and he drove the other races into retreat after retreat.
But for some unknown reason, after a battle with the other races' experts, he returned defeated and gravely wounded. With his lifespan also nearing its end, he soon passed away, and the Human Heavenly Court fell apart as well.
Then, at the Heavenly Emperor's funeral, the other races attacked together with some scum of the human race..."
At this point, Spiritual Qi surged around Ye Xuan, his body trembling uncontrollably, his face filled with boundless hatred.