At that moment, Ye Chen was still enjoying sweet dreams, unaware that several ancestors had held a meeting because of him.
Beside him, a maid was massaging his feet.
Of course, she was only a maid as far as Ye Chen was concerned. Her true identity was Xu Miaoyin, the current Holy Maiden of the Ethereal Heavenly Palace.
The Ethereal Heavenly Palace was one of humanity's foremost sacred lands, with experts as numerous as clouds, and its Holy Maiden was the palace master's direct successor.
Xu Miaoyin wore a long white dress. Her exquisitely sculpted face was a work of natural perfection, her skin fairer than snow, her bearing cool and aloof, like an immortal fairy.
It was no exaggeration to say that, with such a background and beauty that could captivate all living beings, Xu Miaoyin was the dream of countless men across the myriad worlds.
Yet now, she worked hard at massaging his feet while stealing occasional glances at Ye Chen, her beautiful eyes filled with admiration and respect.
In her eyes, Divine Son Ye Chen was not only exalted in status and gifted beyond compare, with no one who could surpass him, but also possessed brilliant literary talent and a transcendent bearing. He was someone high among the clouds whom she could gaze upon but never reach.
Yes, she felt inferior, profoundly so.
Before Ye Chen, the head she held so proudly before others was always lowered.
She did not even dare meet Ye Chen's eyes, afraid she might displease him and he would no longer let her massage his feet.
Of course, to make her massages comfortable for Ye Chen, she had specifically spent several years studying foot massage techniques. After all, countless pairs of eyes watched her from behind.
One careless moment, and some little slut from another sacred land might replace her.
Still, who knew what the Holy Sons and heirs of other top Lineages pursuing her would think if they saw her like this?
After all, she had always shown everyone a cold face before.
Just then, several knocks sounded at the palace doors.
"Come in!"
Awakened by the knocking, Ye Chen spoke lazily.
The doors opened, and a square-faced man walked in.
He was Ye Chen's father, Ye Zhantian, who was also the young patriarch of the Ye Lineage.
Ye Zhantian was delighted today, because the Seventh Ancestor had just sent him a message informing him that the ancestor had decided to send Ye Chen to the ancestral grounds in the lower realm for tempering.
He had nearly wept with joy on the spot.
Fathering this great devil incarnate had been the mistake of his life.
He would never forget what Ye Chen had said to him at just three years old: "Dad, you're the young patriarch, so I must be the patriarch. Since I'll be patriarch sooner or later anyway, why not just let me become patriarch now, and you can retire?"
Had the Seventh Ancestor not been present, he would have beaten the little brat's backside raw.
He only regretted being too young and foolish that night, acting on impulse instead of splattering that bastard straight onto the wall, resulting in the unfilial son he had today.
But even more terrifyingly, the Seventh Ancestor had actually agreed, all to get the brat to cultivate properly.
Fortunately, this unfilial son disliked cultivating. Otherwise, how could he ever show his face before the other fairies?
Now that the ancestor had personally ordered this unfilial son sent to the lower realm, he probably would not return for at least ten thousand years.
As for why ten thousand years, the ancestor had stipulated that this unfilial son had to reach the Immortal King realm before returning to the Ye Lineage.
Inside Ye Chen's palace, Ye Zhantian fought back his smile, his face filled with grief.
Seeing this, Ye Chen immediately grew wary.
Did he not know exactly what kind of man his father was?
That expression meant nothing good could possibly be coming.
"Chen'er, the Seventh Ancestor just sent me a message telling you to get ready. You're going to the lower realm for tempering tomorrow, and you can only return once you become an Immortal King."
At these words, Xu Miaoyin's heart trembled.
Immortal Kings were already titans of the myriad worlds. Even the lords of the great sacred lands only possessed Immortal King cultivation.
Without some heaven-defying fortune in this life, she would most likely go no further than Immortal King herself.
Yet the Ye Lineage required Ye Chen to become an Immortal King before he could return to the Lineage.
What was a simple requirement for them was the finishing line of her entire life.
This could not help making her feel even more inferior.
Now, she would rather spend her whole life as Ye Chen's maid than return to the Ethereal Heavenly Palace as its Holy Maiden, or even its palace master.
Meanwhile, Ye Chen's heart leaped with joy at the news. He was sick of this damned place and had long wanted to go out and look around.
But the Lineage had always refused to let him leave, citing his safety.
Now that he could finally go out, and to the lower realm at that, he was naturally thrilled.
Yet his face also took on a grief-stricken expression as he said, "Dad, I won't be able to see you anymore!"
Hearing this, Ye Zhantian felt something was not quite right.
But since the brat would be leaving soon anyway and he could finally sleep without a care, he could not be bothered to think about it.
Ye Chen continued, his voice choked with tears. "Dad, I'll miss you!"
Then he looked at Ye Zhantian with an expression that said, "You know what I mean." "Since I'll miss you so much, shouldn't you give me a hundred-million-ish little immortal stones, pills, immortal artifacts, and things like that?"
Ye Zhantian had thought this unfilial son had turned over a new leaf, only to discover he had his sights set on him instead.
Veins throbbed on his forehead, and he longed to unleash a three-hit combo of choice curses at this unfilial son on the spot.
But remembering that this unfilial son would soon be leaving, he held himself back.
He turned and gave Xu Miaoyin a stern look.
Xu Miaoyin trembled inwardly, immediately understood, and withdrew at once.
Then Ye Zhantian furtively removed his left boot, and a peculiar odor immediately wafted out.
Under Ye Chen's utterly horrified gaze, Xu Zhantian painfully took out a storage ring and reluctantly tossed it to Ye Chen. "Make it last. Your father had a hard time saving all this up."
Then he guiltily glanced around again and whispered, "Also, don't let your mother find out. Remember that!"
When Ye Chen saw his father take off his boot, he had been about to say, "Please don't, please don't!" Then he saw a storage ring flying toward him and caught it with a beaming smile.
"Dad, you're the best! You really know your stuff. Don't worry, I'll think of you all the time!"
"Just don't let your mother find out!" Ye Zhantian reminded him again.
"Of course, of course. I definitely won't tell Mother!"
Ye Chen eagerly sent his divine sense into the storage ring and found tens of thousands of immortal crystals of various colors, over a hundred million immortal stones, and ten billion spirit stones, piled into a small mountain.
He had never expected his father to save up such a fortune under his mother's strict supervision.
Still, if someone hid the thing under their foot and it stank this badly, he certainly would not check either.
Sure enough, old ginger was still the spiciest!
Just then, an anxious woman's voice sounded outside.
"Chen'er, are you still sleeping? Mother needs to talk to you!"
At the voice, Ye Zhantian shrank his neck, glanced guiltily toward the door, then shot Ye Chen a fierce glare and hurriedly used a divine ability to make his getaway.
The very instant Ye Zhantian vanished, a woman as beautiful as a heavenly fairy walked in.
She was Ye Chen's mother, Di Wanrou, a direct-line daughter of the Di Lineage, one of the Eight Archaic Clans.
"Chen'er, Mother heard you're about to go to the lower realm for tempering. I'm afraid we won't see each other for a very long time!"
Di Wanrou spoke sadly.
"It's all right, Mother. I'll become an Immortal King as quickly as possible, and then I'll be right back!"
Ye Chen comforted her.
"If anyone else said that, Mother wouldn't believe them, but if my Chen'er says it, I certainly do!"
Di Wanrou lovingly stroked Ye Chen's head, then took out a storage ring and said, "Chen'er, this is the little bit Mother has saved up over the years. I'm giving it all to you today. Cultivate hard and strive to return to the Lineage soon."
"Thank you, Mother!" Ye Chen's eyes lit up at the storage ring, and he immediately accepted it.
He eagerly sent his divine sense into the storage ring and sucked in a sharp breath.
There was nothing inside except immortal crystals.
Heaps upon heaps of immortal crystals filled the storage ring's space as though they cost nothing. The entire space was practically stuffed full, and their multicolored light nearly blinded Ye Chen's titanium-alloy dog eyes.
By a rough estimate, there were over a hundred million five-colored immortal crystals, billions of four-colored immortal crystals, tens of billions of three-colored immortal crystals, and trillions of the other varieties combined.
The exchange ratio between colored immortal crystals was 1:10. In other words, one five-colored immortal crystal could be exchanged for ten thousand one-colored immortal crystals, while one one-colored immortal crystal could be exchanged for a hundred immortal stones.
Of course, that was only the basic exchange ratio. In reality, very few people would exchange five-colored immortal crystals for four-colored ones, much less immortal stones.
The higher an immortal crystal's grade, the rarer it was, and once one's cultivation reached the level of an Immortal King titan, only five-colored immortal crystals were effective for cultivation.
At that very moment, Ye Chen wanted only to shout, "Wow, a rich woman!"
Compared with his father, his mother was practically dripping with riches.
It seemed his father had suffered no small amount of fleecing at his mother's hands over the years!
At that thought, Ye Chen could not help observing another 0.000-countless zeros omitted here-1 seconds of silence for his father.
"Mother, you're so good to me that I have no way to repay you. Let me tell you a little secret!"
Ye Chen spoke with a smile.
"Oh? What secret?"
Di Wanrou's interest was piqued.
"Dad has been secretly stashing away private money all these years. He keeps it in a storage ring under his foot. Also, Dad often sneaks looks at a yellow book, and he always puts it inside your pillow when you aren't paying attention!"
Ye Chen's conscience would not let him keep this secret from his mother, so he could only sell his father out.
At his words, Di Wanrou's face became covered in frost.
At that moment, Ye Zhantian, who was discussing matters in a palace, suddenly shivered.
"What's going on? Have I been reading too much lately?"