Artificial Monsters and True Monsters

News of the Ye Family Old Ancestor's death spread at the fastest possible speed.

This was not news that could have been kept hidden in the first place. If it had been before, Ye Zhong might still have had to think it over, but now that they had Ye Chen, the Ye Family had no intention of playing any tricks in this regard.

As a Seventh Grade Peak alchemist, the Ye Family Old Ancestor had also held the title of elder in the Pill Tower. Moreover, among the Five Great Families, aside from the Dan Family and the Cao Clan, the Ye Family could be considered middle-ranked.

With the Ye Family Old Ancestor gone this time, the Ye Family's prestige was bound to decline. Therefore, the Bai Clan and Qiu Clan, who had originally been trampled beneath the Ye Family's feet, were the first to lose patience and immediately sent people over to offer condolences...

Of course, though they called it offering condolences, the intention behind it was already obvious.

Seven days later, before the Ye Family Manor, now draped in white, the Ye Family's Young Clan Leader Ye Lan stood at the entrance to receive guests...

Within several thousand miles around Ye City, all the prominent major factions had sent people, and some sects and Strong Persons in the Pill Domain who had good relations with the Ye Family also arrived one after another.

As one of the Pill Domain Five Great Families, the Ye Family had dealings with countless Strong Persons, including quite a few Dou Zun-level figures. Thus, the current Ye City could be said to have experts gathered like clouds.

"Young Clan Leader, the people from the Bai Clan and Qiu Clan have arrived. The ones leading them are elders from their clans..." A Ye Family guard hurried over and whispered to Ye Lan.

Ye Lan, who was already over thirty, had become much steadier now. Hearing this, he frowned and instructed, "Go inform the Second Elder. Have him come over and receive the guests with me..."

For the other families that were also among the Five Great Families, the proper etiquette and respect still could not be lacking, especially at a time like this.

Since the Bai Clan and Qiu Clan had arrived, then the Cao Clan and Dan Family behind them were certainly not far away either, perhaps even the Pill Tower...

These were not people he, a mere Young Clan Leader, could receive on his own, so someone with enough weight had to come forward.

In the rear courtyard of the Ye Family Manor, Ye Chen was staying alone inside his small courtyard.

Over the past few days, he had never once stepped out of his courtyard. This made his mother, Song Chun'er, extremely worried, and she came over every day to keep her precious son company.

It was not that Ye Chen still had not walked out of the grief of the Old Ancestor's passing...

The dead were gone. He was not truly a child, so when it was time to look ahead, he still had to look ahead.

Especially for the current Ye Family. Their Sky-Pillar had fallen, and the only strongest person left was his Grandpa Ye Zhong. Although he also possessed the strength of a four-star Dou Ancestor and had reached the level of a Seventh Grade Intermediate alchemist, if he wanted to support such a large clan all by himself, he was still somewhat unequal to the task.

One could also see this from the extent of the Ye Family's decline in the Original Work.

"In the end, I'm still too young..."

Looking at his own tender little hands, Ye Chen could not help sighing.

On the very day the Ye Family Old Ancestor passed away, his mother, Song Chun'er, had been found to be pregnant again after suddenly feeling unwell...

Although the timing of this child's arrival was somewhat bad, Ye Chen knew in his heart that, barring any accidents, this should be Ye Xinlan...

And when the Ye Family plot began in the Original Work, Xiao Yan was already in his twenties, clearly a little older than Ye Xinlan, who had only just turned twenty at the time. In other words, the current Xiao Yan had already been born as well, and perhaps was not much younger than him.

Of course, this was not important.

To Ye Chen, what mattered most was still the Five Great Families...

If he remembered correctly, in this generation of the Five Great Families, aside from the Ye Family, all the others had monstrous Genius disciples appear!

Especially that enchantress of the Cao Clan...

When the Cao Clan Enchantress made her appearance, she was twenty-two years old, two years older than Ye Xinlan. In other words, although there was currently no news of this Cao Clan Enchantress, she was indeed already one or two years old.

And according to the description of her in the Original Work...

Cao Ying's life was practically filled with legendary color.

When she was born, she directly displayed a shocking Soul Power. Her mother had even nearly been shaken to death on the spot by that spreading Soul Power...

When she was seven, she officially became an alchemist. At fifteen, she caught the Pill Tower's eye and was exceptionally admitted as a Pill Tower Core Disciple. After five years of secluded training in the Pill Tower, at twenty, she became the youngest Seventh Grade Alchemist in the Cao Clan...

Becoming an official alchemist at seven was roughly the same as the current Ye Chen.

However, Ye Chen had achieved this only because of the help of his Golden Finger, which had directly elevated him from the inside out.

Added to that, his soul had originally belonged to an adult, and he had already begun studying the Medicinal Scripture at the age of two. Only then had he been artificially created into the monstrous talent he was now...

Compared to all that, Cao Ying was truly worthy of the name enchantress!

No matter how he thought about it, the Ye Family was bound to enter a period of lying low next. At the very least, before he truly grew up, they had to firmly hold onto the last seat among the Five Great Families.

However, he could not truly allow the Ye Family's reputation to fall too quickly. Otherwise, when the time came, the entire Ye Family would have a hard time, and there might even really come a point where others forced their way to their door to seize their property...

And if he wanted to prevent such things from happening, the key to everything lay with him!

Whether it was an artificially made monstrous bearing or an innate monstrous talent, as long as he displayed alchemy aptitude stunning enough to amaze everyone, he would be able to leave a deep impression on the Five Great Families and even the Pill Tower.

He would let them know that the Ye Family's silence would not continue for too long, and that in the future, they might even surpass their former glory!

Thinking of this, Ye Chen abruptly stood up, returned to his room, put on his special alchemist robe belonging to an official alchemist, and with the appearance of a little adult, walked toward the main hall with a heavy expression.

At this moment, in the main hall, the Ye Family Patriarch Ye Zhong was exchanging pleasantries with the elders from the Pill Tower and the other four great families who had come this time...

Aside from these factions, there were also some Strong Persons at the High-level Dou Ancestor level and above present, all of whom were able to have a seat in the main hall.

When Ye Chen walked into the hall alone, Ye Zhong was suppressing his anger as he faced the veiled barbs of the elders from the Bai Clan and Qiu Clan.

Clearly, with the Ye Family Old Ancestor gone, these two clans could hardly wait to step on this old rival.

The moment they saw Ye Chen walk in, the entire guest hall fell briefly silent. Countless gazes landed on this tender Youth...

More accurately, they landed on the alchemist robe he wore and the First Grade Alchemist's Alchemist Badge...

As one of the Five Great Families, the Ye Family naturally did not need to be like others and travel tens of thousands of miles to a Pill Tower testing point to take an alchemist rank assessment.

Each of the Five Great Families had its own assessment site, and the alchemist ranks obtained through these assessment sites were likewise recognized by the Pill Tower...

This was the fundamental reason the Five Great Families possessed such enormous influence in the Pill Domain.

Because, in an invisible way, they were helping the Pill Tower manage the alchemist population of a region...