Adding Frost to Snow

Alright, it was obvious that Ye Chen's careless remark had struck straight at the little girl's heart.

Feeling somewhat awkward, Ye Chen tossed out a few perfunctory words and hurried away...

Yet when he thought of the growth of the Ye Family's younger generation over the past five years, he could not help but shake his head with a sigh.

Sure enough, the Ye Family's decline was inevitable!

Although his own future was destined to be boundless, relying on himself alone was no long-term solution for such a large clan.

Unless he could directly break through to Dou Di and elevate the Ye Family's bloodline as a whole, he would have to find another way...

"Father!"

In the Ye Family Patriarch's study, Ye Chen met his father, Ye Lan.

Seeing his son enter, Ye Lan forced a trace of a smile onto his originally sorrowful face. "Chen'er, you're here."

The sight made Ye Chen pause slightly, and a bad feeling immediately rose in his heart.

"What happened?"

Ye Lan let out a deep sigh. His once handsome face had taken on traces of age.

"The Yang Fire Ancient Altar... something happened!"

Those few words made Ye Chen's heart jolt.

As the Ye Family's Young Master and the clan's sole hope, Ye Chen naturally understood how important the Yang Fire Ancient Altar was to the entire Ye Family.

Putting everything else aside, the Ye Family's inherited cultivation art, the Heavenly Sun Profound Fire Art, was merely an Earth Tier Low-Level art. Yet when cultivated with the Yang Fire inside the Yang Fire Ancient Altar, its effects were comparable to an Earth Tier High-Level art!

What was more, the Ye Family's series of secret pill formulas all required the Yang Fire Ancient Altar for refinement. Now that it had suddenly failed, did that not mean the Ye Family would no longer be able to refine pills that increased strength?

That was the greatest blow to the Ye Family!

"Where's Grandpa?" Ye Chen hurriedly asked.

For such a major matter, Ye Zhong could not possibly stay out of it. Otherwise, his Old Man, who was only at the Dou Emperor level, would not be able to keep the situation under control.

Ye Lan said solemnly, "Your grandpa has been at the Yang Fire Ancient Altar for three days, trying to find out exactly what caused the Yang Fire to disappear..."

After saying that, Ye Lan paused before continuing, "The news has not spread yet, but something this big cannot be hidden forever. I'm afraid the Ye Family is about to be thrown into turmoil once again!"

The impact of this matter on the Ye Family was no less than the death of the Ye Family Old Ancestor, Ye Xun, five years ago. Even if the Ye Family completely sealed off the news, it would still greatly affect the clan members internally.

Ye Chen silently nodded.

Since he knew the plot of the Original Work, he had already been mentally prepared for this. He simply had not expected it to happen so early, catching him somewhat off guard.

"What does the clan intend to do?" Ye Chen looked at his father, wanting to know how the clan planned to handle this matter.

Ye Lan was somewhat at a loss as well. He replied, "For now, we can only block the news from the outside and reassure the clan members within. With the clan's current reserves, we can still hold out for several years."

Ye Chen nodded. This was a relatively prudent approach.

Although the Ye Family's secret pills could no longer be refined because of the Yang Fire Ancient Altar, and the refinement of other high-grade pills would also be greatly affected, the Ye Family still had some stockpiles. They could still help the clan's core forces improve their strength.

Those most affected would be the younger generation, such as Ye Chen and the others.

Scratching his head, Ye Chen suggested, "We can't keep living off our reserves. The clan must find a new path. We can use the clan's connections to gather more formulas for pills that increase the strength of Dou Wangs and Dou Emperors, making up for the shortage of the clan's pills."

As an alchemist clan with a heritage spanning centuries, the Ye Family had abundant collections, with an enormous number of low-level formulas. What mattered most were the formulas for Sixth Grade Pills used by Dou Wangs and Dou Emperors.

Ye Lan merely nodded silently at the suggestion, showing no particular reaction.

Sixth Grade Pill formulas—especially the highest-quality kind that increased strength—were the foundation of any alchemist. How could they possibly be obtained so easily?

But no matter how difficult it was, he had to try!

Since it was already difficult for the clan to cultivate high-level alchemists, the clan members' strength had to improve. Otherwise, the Ye Family would truly become meat in other people's mouths!

Seeing the sorrowful look on his father's face, Ye Chen could not help but comfort him. "This actually isn't the worst outcome. Doesn't the clan still have a few years to hold on? Give me three years. Within three years, I'll definitely raise my alchemist rank above the Sixth Grade. By then, with my age, entering the Pill Tower won't be difficult. That way, the Ye Family's crisis can be eased somewhat..."

Ye Chen also knew about the issue with the Yang Fire Ancient Altar. The fire vent beneath it had merely been blocked by an Earth Core Pearl.

An Earth Core Pearl, commonly called an Earth Core Fire Pearl, was a type of energy pearl formed from the concentrated energy deep within the earth over countless years. It contained extremely vast energy. It was said that this legendary Earth Core Pearl was used in refining certain Eighth-grade and even Ninth-grade Pills.

Something as special as an Earth Core Pearl was considered one of the rare treasures of heaven and earth. It was generally buried deep underground and extremely difficult to find.

However, when certain volcanoes erupted, Earth Core Pearls hidden deep beneath the ground might be ejected along with them. Generally speaking, more than half of the Earth Core Pearls found on the continent were obtained in this manner...

Although the Ye Family had lost its most important Yang Fire because of this thing, if they could obtain an Earth Core Pearl in the future, it would not be much of a loss.

After all, even if many people wanted to cultivate such a precious treasure of heaven and earth themselves, they would not be able to!

"Unfortunately, if I want to retrieve that Earth Core Pearl from deep underground, my Soul Power must reach at least 1,500 Soul Value!"

According to the Pill Tower's classification of Soul Value, 1,500 Soul Value was enough to reach the level of a Seventh Grade Peak Alchemist and was nearly the limit of a Mortal Realm Soul.

Even with the help of the Star Vein Diagram, Ye Chen would need a long time to reach that level of Soul Value.

On the other side, as Ye Lan listened to his good Eldest Son's comforting words, a bitter smile appeared on his lips. Then he said, "This actually isn't what worries me most right now. What worries me most is that the Pill Tower will soon conduct its assessment of our Five Great Clans...

"Among the Ye Family's younger generation under thirty, the highest-ranked alchemist is Fourth Elder's son, your clan uncle Ye Qing. But he has only just passed the Sixth Grade Initial Alchemist assessment, and he is still far from passing the evaluation..."

Before he could finish, Ye Chen nearly wanted to look up at the sky and let out a long sigh!

Damn it, this really is adding frost to snow... The Ye Family has truly run into terrible luck, to be this unlucky!