"This... this had to be at least a hundred million spirit stones!"
Ye Yan's mouth twitched wildly.
He suddenly felt that this world was insane.
A few days ago, he had still been a poor boy with no more than ten spirit stones in his pocket. Today, he had over a hundred million.
Shaking his head, he stopped dwelling on it and hurried to the main hall to discuss the distribution of the spirit stones with the Lineage elders.
On a spiritual mountain in the Clear Wind Kingdom, Spiritual Qi drifted mistily amid the surrounding peaks.
Countless palaces lay hidden among them.
This was Breeze Mountain, the home of the Breeze Sect.
At that moment, inside a grand hall, a middle-aged man and a white-haired old man were discussing matters.
They were Zhao Si, the current sect master of the Breeze Sect, and its ancestor, Zhao Heng.
"Ancestor, Yan'er and Elder Chen went to the Ye Lineage in Clearwater Town yesterday and still haven't returned."
Zhao Si's expression was grave.
"They still haven't returned?"
Zhao Heng's white brows furrowed slightly.
Zhao Si pondered for a moment, then said, "Ancestor, could the Ye Lineage in Clearwater Town really be... that lineage?"
"There should be no mistake! The Ye Lineage in Clearwater Town suddenly arrived here several decades ago."
"I paid them no mind at the time, until someone from the Huayun Sect came a few days ago and asked me to help investigate the Ye Lineage."
"You know what the Huayun Sect has been doing all this time!"
Sharp gleams flashed through Zhao Heng's eyes from time to time.
"So when you learned that Yan'er had ties to the Ye Lineage, you deliberately had Elder Chen accompany her there to probe their strength?"
Zhao Si looked at Zhao Heng in surprise.
He had wondered why Elder Chen needed to be sent along merely to break off an engagement with the Ye Lineage.
He had never expected this additional consideration.
"Exactly. Only now, neither of them has returned, so they're very likely dead!"
Zhao Heng gazed out the window, his presence abruptly changing. A terrifying pressure beyond the Origin Core realm instantly enveloped the entire hall. "That means there's very likely something amiss with the Ye Lineage!"
Feeling the presence emanating from the ancestor, Zhao Heng's expression changed drastically, and he was overjoyed.
"Ancestor, you've broken through?"
"That's right. And I can advance another step within my lifetime, but I'll need vast amounts of resources!"
Zhao Heng spoke indifferently.
Zhao Si immediately understood. "You mean... we should strike first and devour the Ye Lineage?"
"Exactly. All these years, why has the Huayun Sect clung to the Ye Lineage like a dog that refuses to let go? Aside from orders from above, isn't their real goal the things left behind by the Ye Lineage's ancestors?"
Hearing this, Zhao Si began to have ideas of his own.
Rumor had it that although the Ye Lineage had been defeated back then, their treasury had vanished without a trace, never to be heard of again.
Among its contents were several imperial artifacts whose fame had shaken the Heavenly Profound Continent.
Many suspected that the branch of the Ye Lineage that escaped back then had taken them away to prepare for a future comeback.
Zhao Heng glanced at Zhao Si and continued, "Since the Ye Lineage is now on our territory, why should we hand the meat to someone else?"
"As long as we devour the Ye Lineage first, find those things, and hand them over to those above, even the mouthful of soup left for us will be enough for me to advance another step!"
"When that happens, we won't need to fear even the Huayun Sect!"
"We might even be able to destroy the Huayun Sect and make our Breeze Sect the undisputed overlord of the Heavenly Profound Province."
After hearing this, Zhao Si's eyes lit up. He could only marvel at the ancestor's foresight.
If they truly seized this opportunity, the Breeze Sect would surely rise in the future, and perhaps he could advance another step himself.
"Then what should we do now?"
Zhao Si could hardly wait to devour the Ye Lineage.
"This is still far too risky. The slightest carelessness could bring destruction upon the Breeze Sect. We need to consider our plans carefully."
Zhao Heng's face was grave.
"Ancestor, with your current Spirit Refinement strength, who in the entire Clear Wind Kingdom could possibly be your match?"
Zhao Si was somewhat puzzled.
"Fool! If the Ye Lineage could kill Elder Chen, that proves they must still have hidden reserves!"
"Even the slightest sliver of power unleashed from the reserves of a lineage like that would be beyond our ability to withstand!"
"Then what do we do?"
Zhao Si was growing anxious.
Zhao Heng glared fiercely at Zhao Si. He really was every bit the fool he had called him.
"Have our old friends next door test the waters for us!"
Hearing this, Zhao Si knitted his brows tightly, feeling that his brain could not keep up.
Then he abruptly raised his head and looked at his ancestor with admiration.
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
The Clearwater Kingdom bordered another small kingdom, the Falling Snow Kingdom.
The Falling Snow Kingdom was also controlled by a third-grade sect, the Falling Snow Sect.
Although the Ye Lineage still had hidden reserves, they certainly could not have much left. One Falling Snow Sect should be enough. If that failed, they could find another.
Even if the Ye Lineage had no reserves left, the Falling Snow Sect certainly could not withstand the ancestor's current strength.
When the time came, they could not only devour the Ye Lineage but also destroy the Falling Snow Sect along the way.
It was simply killing two birds with one stone, shooting down two eagles with one arrow.
Seeing that Zhao Si had finally understood, Zhao Heng smiled in satisfaction. "Go handle this. Make absolutely sure not to give anything away!"
"Yes!"
Zhao Si nodded excitedly, imagining the days when he would reign over the Heavenly Profound Province.
Meanwhile, Ye Chen felt that cultivating all the time was too boring. If he progressed too quickly, he would have nothing left to cultivate.
So he went to the Ye Lineage's library, found some books introducing the Heavenly Profound Continent, and began casually reading them.
After finishing them, he had gained some understanding of events on the Heavenly Profound Continent two hundred thousand years ago.
Heavenly Emperor Ye Ming had been born in a golden age two hundred thousand years ago.
At the time, monstrous geniuses emerged in droves, and heavenly prodigies stood side by side, while the Heavenly Emperor had initially been the least talented disciple in the Ye Lineage.
In a top-tier lineage like the Ye Lineage, poor aptitude meant receiving no resources.
But the Heavenly Emperor had been exceptionally tenacious and never accepted defeat, earning the appreciation of an elder of the Ye Lineage at the time, who took him as a disciple.
After that, the Heavenly Emperor defied heaven and changed his fate through one brush with death after another. He defeated heavenly prodigies and slew monstrous geniuses, rising step by step from a disciple at the very bottom of the Ye Lineage to the supreme figure of his era, whose brilliance shook the past and dazzled the present.
Finally, at the age of five hundred, he attained the Dao and became an emperor.
After becoming an emperor, he slew the demonic sects' three emperors with a single sword strike, suppressed the four sects and four lineages with one hand, and quelled the turmoil of tens of thousands of years, sweeping through the world without an equal.
He fought until no one in that era dared call themselves supreme, and no one dared claim the title of emperor!
Afterward, at his command, forces gathered from all directions. With the Ye Lineage at the head and the great holy lands of the Heavenly Profound Continent in support, he established the Human Heavenly Court, ruling the four seas and eight wildernesses, his mighty name celebrated through the ages.
The world respectfully called him Heavenly Emperor Ye.
"To think the Ye Lineage once produced such an outstanding figure!"
Ye Chen closed the book and murmured softly.
He shook his head, somewhat disappointed.
Most of the Ye Lineage's books described events from over a hundred thousand years ago, with virtually no mention of the great war a hundred thousand years ago or of events afterward.
"I forgot to take their scripture pavilion when I went to the Huayun Sect. What a loss!"
Ye Chen felt rather helpless. In his fury, he had struck too hard, leaving nothing there.
Of course, other places would certainly have records.
Now that he had awakened the Sign-In System, he needed to travel around anyway, and he could investigate the events of those days along the way.
Several gains with a single move.
However, he still needed to finish dealing with things before leaving.
Through soul searching, he had already confirmed the identities of the people who had ambushed Ye Yan that day. As for the person behind them, that would soon become clear.
As for the Breeze Sect, if they obediently kept their tails tucked between their legs from now on, he could not be bothered with them. He would let the members of the Ye Lineage deal with them once they had grown stronger.
After all, a lineage's growth had to involve a baptism of blood.