Preparing for Travels

Although a Dou Grandmaster could hardly be considered a strong person in Ye City, let alone in the even more dangerous Central State and Pill Domain...

Still, as the first true threshold on the path of cultivation, breaking through to Dou Grandmaster held great significance for Ye Chen.

Sensing the incomparably abundant power within his body, Ye Chen smiled in satisfaction. His fist slowly clenched as dense silver Star Light swiftly covered its surface, before a surging flame rose up.

The instant the silver Starfire appeared, the temperature throughout the room rapidly rose, until even the air itself faintly warped.

Over these five years, the thing that had changed the most was actually Ye Chen's Starfire!

"With the enhancement from my Star Fire, which rivals a fifth-tier Beast Fire, I can now easily defeat even a Three-Star Dou Grandmaster..."

Feeling the changes in his strength, Ye Chen assessed his current combat ability.

His only flaw was that he had not cultivated any Dou Skills during these five years...

Unlike independent cultivators like Xiao Yan, who had to rely on themselves for everything, Ye Chen came from a proper alchemist family and followed the traditional path of an alchemist.

What traditional alchemist would roll up his sleeves and fight personally?

Come to think of it, both Yao Chen and Xiao Yan possessed incredibly formidable combat strength. Yet the real reason for that was precisely because they had needed to fight for everything themselves from the very beginning.

There was no need to mention Yao Chen. Although he had been born into the Yao Clan, not only had he received no training from them, he had instead been driven out...

Xiao Yan might have had a father who was a Clan Leader, but the Xiao Family was simply too weak. They could not even rank among the notable factions in a remote place like the Jia Ma Empire, much less provide him with any help.

Of course, although Ye Chen had devoted himself wholeheartedly to alchemy, that did not mean that, as a traditional alchemist, he would be weaker than others at the same level!

An alchemist's way of fighting was completely different from that of ordinary people...

Having begun learning the Ye Family's inherited Flame Control Art at the age of six or seven, even though his Golden Finger did not grant him much of a boost in this regard, Ye Chen's control over flames had already reached an extremely high level.

If he truly encountered a battle, Ye Chen could currently control two types of Beast Fire in combat. Including his own Star Fire, that made three. This would be an exceedingly terrifying level of combat power!

Ye Chen looked toward the distant sky and dispersed the Star Fire in his hand. He sighed softly. "Unfortunately, the Ye Family has not inherited any methods for Soul attacks. Otherwise, even a Dou Spirit level strong person would be no match for me."

His Soul Power far surpassed his Dou Qi cultivation. If he possessed a method of Soul attack, then with the strange, formless and intangible nature of Soul attacks, would it not be easy for him to kill a Dou Spirit or two by surprise?

Why were the legendary ancient alchemists so powerful? A large part of the reason lay in their terrifying Soul Power!

Unfortunately, none of the Pill Domain Five Great Families seemed to possess such an inheritance. If he wanted to obtain training related to the soul, he could only wait until he entered the Pill Tower in the future for a chance to encounter it.

Ye Chen shook his head slightly and temporarily put those thoughts aside...

What mattered most now was finding his Grandpa first and making his plan to go out and gain experience a reality.

Over the course of five years, the Ye Family had also changed considerably.

The most obvious change was that the Ye Family Patriarch had become Ye Chen's nominal Old Man, Ye Lan. As for Ye Zhong, he bore the title of Great Elder and had spent these years cultivating in seclusion, improving his strength and his alchemist rank.

During these five years, Ye Zhong's strength had improved considerably, and his alchemist rank had risen to Seventh Grade Advanced. However, this seemed to have already reached his limit, and it was also the major reason everyone in the Ye Family was so worried.

The level of a Seventh Grade Advanced alchemist alone was not enough to secure the Ye Family's position within the Pill Tower!

Leaving his room, Ye Chen finally stepped out of the bamboo grove where he had lived for years and headed toward the family's core area.

Seeing their young master, who rarely ever left his home, actually emerge from his small courtyard, the Ye Family members he passed were all mildly surprised...

The truth was that, over the past five years, Ye Chen had almost never left the bamboo grove where he lived. Many servants had not even seen him in over a year.

This was what a true shut-in should look like!

Ye Chen was currently headed toward the courtyard where the Ye Family Patriarch lived.

Since he was already out, he had to visit his parents at the very least. Besides, given his identity and importance to the Ye Family, going out to travel was not something he could simply decide to do and leave immediately.

However, after entering the area where the direct line of the Ye Family Patriarch resided, familiar faces gradually became more numerous...

"Brother Chen!" A girl in a moon-white gown curtsied to Ye Chen from afar and called out to him in a crisp voice.

Ye Chen turned toward the sound and saw the girl's somewhat timid appearance. His mind briefly wandered before he finally recalled who she was.

"It's... Xinyue!"

Ye Xinyue, Ye Chen's younger sister.

Yes, his biological younger sister from a different mother...

The Dou Qi Continent had no rule stating that a man could marry only one wife, nor was there any concept of concubines, much less any distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.

For a family, the more descendants they had, the better. Only with sufficient numbers could they ensure sufficient quality...

Yet although there was no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, talent alone created a vast difference in status between people!

It could be seen from the Original Work that, if not for the anomaly that was Ye Chen, the overall talent of the Ye Family's next generation would have been extremely mediocre.

This was true for Ye Xinlan, Ye Chen's full-blooded younger sister, and Ye Xinyue, his half-sister, was no different.

Ye Xinyue was two years younger than Ye Chen. Perhaps because the world's level was different and children matured faster, this eleven-year-old girl already appeared graceful and poised.

Yet unlike Ye Chen, this younger sister of his had been an inconspicuous little figure since childhood. Moreover, Ye Chen had carried all the Ye Family's hopes from a young age and had even begun memorizing the Medicinal Scripture at two years old, so he had almost no impression of this younger sister.

In his mind, she was still a little brat of three or four. Now that she had suddenly become a young lady, Ye Chen had not even recognized her at first.

Still, since they had met and she was his sister in name, Ye Chen naturally could not act too coldly.

"I never expected Xinyue to grow into such a young lady in the blink of an eye. How has your cultivation been going these past few years?"

Since they truly were not close, Ye Chen could only awkwardly make small talk and ask about her recent circumstances.

Yet what he had not expected was that his casual question would instantly make the timid girl dejected, as though even the backdrop around her had turned gray...