Five Years

This wager ended with Ye Chen's victory.

To the former, this victory had not merely slapped the Bai Clan in the face. More importantly, it had shown the Danta and the four great clans that the Ye Clan still had hope of rising again, which could also recover some of the status the Ye Clan had lost because of the fall of the Old Ancestor, Ye Xun.

This could be seen from the fact that, when they took their leave, Danta Elder Mu Rong specifically held a secret conversation with the Ye Family Patriarch, Ye Zhong...

After seeing off all the guests, Ye Zhong looked at this grandson of his, his heart filled with joy and emotion.

As if remembering something, Ye Zhong put on a smile and said, "Oh right, Chen'er, Bai Wei lost a mid-tier Sixth Grade Pill to you for this victory. Take it."

As he spoke, a purple jade box appeared in Ye Zhong's hand.

"Although this Nine Profound Azure Spirit Pill isn't considered the highest grade among Sixth Grade Pills, it can increase a peak Dou Wang strong person's chance of breaking through to Dou Emperor by ten percent. It's also an extremely sought-after item outside. Mm, its effect is only slightly worse than our Ye Clan's Spirit Emperor Pill..."

Among medicinal pills, those that could directly raise one's strength were naturally the most precious. Next came pills like this, which could help people break through bottlenecks.

Although it only increased the chance by ten percent and seemed as if it was not very useful, to those who had been unable to break through for a long time, this one pill was worth more than their lives!

This was also the fundamental reason alchemists held such a high status on this continent...

However...

Ye Chen was not very interested in this so-called Nine Profound Azure Spirit Pill.

If it had been the formula, that would have been fine, but it was only a single pill. To an alchemist family with a long inheritance like the Ye Clan, a single Sixth Grade Pill was truly too ordinary.

During the three years he had cultivated under the Ye Family Old Ancestor, Ye Xun, he had seen Ye Xun refine high-grade pills above the seventh grade more than once. Ye Chen had even personally witnessed Pill Lightning...

One had to know that among Seventh Grade Pills, only those of the highest level could draw down Pill Lightning.

Even though Ye Xun himself had long been a veteran Seventh Grade Peak Alchemist, in those three years, he had only refined a pill of that level once.

However, that had also caused no small amount of harm to Ye Xun's already battered body. After he held on until Ye Chen successfully became an alchemist, he finally could not hold out any longer...

Thinking of that old man who had given everything he had for the clan, Ye Chen could not help feeling another surge of sorrow in his heart, but it vanished in an instant.

For him now, working hard to grow was the most important thing!

Five years.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

To the Middle Continent, five years was nothing more than a fleeting moment. Even if there were some small waves, they could not stir up any ripples in the boundless sea.

Ye City was still as bustling as ever. It was just that the once glorious and flourishing master of Ye City had inevitably declined over these five years...

Deep within Ye Family Manor, inside a quiet bamboo house, gentle light shone through the window onto a youth's handsome face...

Ye Chen opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, and woke from his cultivation.

Over these five years, Ye Chen had changed greatly as well...

Name: Ye Chen

Age: 13

Realm: Nine Star Peak Dou Master

Star Vein: 35

Star Soul: 4 points (Note: Special Hidden Star Soul, Primary Fire Secondary Wood.)

Essence: 10; Qi: 12; Spirit: 15+5; Fire Control: 2; Soul Control: 2

Star Region Skill: None

Star Track Skill: None

When Star Tracks within the same Star Region are connected, a Star Track Skill can be produced; fully filling the same Star Region can grant a Star Region Skill.

After moving his body a little, Ye Chen opened the window, letting the warm morning sunlight spill over him. The cozy feeling made him feel slightly lazy, and also brought his state of mind to tranquility, making it difficult for any ripples to rise.

"I've finally accumulated my Dou Qi to the limit. Looks like it's time to break through..."

For the past five years, Ye Chen had hardly taken a single step out of Ye Family Manor. He had been cycling back and forth between cultivating Dou Qi, refining medicine, and absorbing Star Vein.

Because of his age, his cultivation speed over these five years had not been fast, nor had he used the clan's medicinal pills to forcefully raise it. Everything placed the foundation first!

Now, although he was still young and still had a long time before adulthood, he felt that his foundation had already been accumulated sufficiently over these five years. From here on, there was no longer any need for him to keep himself trapped inside this tiny Ye Family Manor...

"Break through to Da Dou Shi, obtain a Star Vein Diagram, and then I should travel around the Middle Continent for a while to broaden my horizons..."

Ye Chen looked at the bamboo forest outside the window, planning in his heart the path he would take next.

Although he could still rapidly improve every aspect of his strength in the Ye Clan, flowers in a greenhouse could never truly grow into towering trees. So whether they were willing or not, after reaching adulthood, the Ye Clan would send its clan disciples out...

Ye Chen merely wanted to move that time forward a little.

As for the Star Vein Diagram...

Ye Chen had already had the clan keep an eye out for it long ago.

However, finding a Magical Beast with sufficient bloodline was not easy. After all, Magical Beasts with powerful bloodlines often possessed even greater strength. Even with the Ye Clan's power, they could not capture one. And so, this wait had lasted all these years.

Without a Star Vein Diagram, the Star Vein Ye Chen could absorb each day was fixed and could not be increased. So even after five years, he had only lit up the fourth Star Soul, spending 150 points of Star Vein.

Moreover, because he had no Star Vein Diagram, there was no division of the Star Domain either. After a Star Soul was lit, aside from its most basic attribute, none of its other bonuses could manifest. It was basically the same as crippling half of Ye Chen's Golden Finger...

And that was a major reason why he no longer wanted to stay cooped up in the Ye family, bitterly cultivating.

As the protagonist, shouldn't he at least have something like a Protagonist Halo? Since the Ye family couldn't find a Magical Beast that met his requirements, then he would just go find one himself!

He stood quietly by the window. Only after a long while did Ye Chen turn around. No emotion could be seen on his calm face as he slowly extended his hand. A black ring on his finger flashed with Ethereal Light, and a White Jade Medicine Bottle appeared in his palm.

Mysterious Yang Breakthrough Pill, Fourth Grade Pill, a pill unique to the Ye family, refined through the Heavenly Yang Profound Fire Art together with the Yang Fire within the Yang Fire Ancient Altar. It could guarantee that a Peak Dou Master would break through to the Da Dou Shi realm with one hundred percent certainty.

This was one of the Ye family's secret transmitted pills. Only the direct line of the Ye family could come into contact with the formula. However, the one in Ye Chen's hand had not been refined by him personally. After all, even with all kinds of bonuses, he had only reached the level of a high-rank Third Grade alchemist right now, and his Soul Power was still quite a distance away from Fourth Grade...

This pill had been specially refined for him five years ago, when Ye Family Old Ancestor Ye Xun was still alive. Aside from this, there were also Spirit Ascension Pills for breaking through to Dou Ling, Honored King Pills for breaking through to Dou Wang, and so on. It could be said to be an entire series, pointing straight toward breaking through to Dou Zong!

So, for an alchemist family like theirs with such an ancient inheritance, raising one's Dou Qi realm in the early stages really wasn't difficult...