Leaving

With their business discussed, Ye Chen dragged his somewhat weak legs and left City Lord Manor.

In the pavilion, the still alluring and beautiful Lin Qingyue gently stroked her long, fair legs and said with a touch of self-pity, "Sigh, looks like I really have gotten old. Even a little fellow doesn't fancy me anymore..."

Of course, if Ye Chen heard that, he would definitely run even faster!

That rotten old woman was wicked to the bone. All she knew was how to plot against a pure, innocent little youth like me!

But there was one thing Ye Chen had truly never expected, and that was Lin Yutong's background...

"Heaven Frost Child. Isn't that the Great Elder of Ice River Valley? A Dou Venerate-level Strong Person?"

In the Original Work, Ice River Valley had two great Dou Venerates in total. Aside from the Valley Master of Ice River Valley, Ice Venerable Bing He, a Four Star Peak Dou Venerate Strong Person, there was also the Great Elder Heaven Frost Child, a One Star Dou Zun-level Strong Person.

However, judging from the information Ye Chen had obtained over the years, Ice River Valley had always only had Ice Venerable as its sole Dou Venerate. As for Heaven Frost Child, it was said that he had not shown himself in many years.

Only...

"That woman Lin Qingyue really isn't simple. She actually managed to hook up with a Strong Person of Heaven Frost Child's level..."

He did not know if it was because she had reached that age where people liked reminiscing about the past, but Lin Qingyue had even shared a bit of her "romantic history" with Ye Chen.

Fine, calling it romantic history was a little careless. In truth, back when that woman had been trying to break through to Dou Zong, she had deliberately hooked Heaven Frost Child, then relied on the other party's Peak Dou Zong strength to break through in one stroke to the level of a Two-Star Dou Zong...

Tsk. Ye Chen was not actually interested in this kind of dual-cultivation anecdote. But he was rather curious about the special cultivation method Lin Qingyue practiced.

It was just that, unlike dual cultivation in those immortal-cultivation stories, Lin Qingyue's method could only be used with someone stronger than herself, and the price was that it was very easy to become pregnant with the other party's child...

Looking at her seven sons and daughters now, Ye Chen suddenly felt that having this cultivation method was not necessarily a good thing. After all, after Lin Yutong, there were still four more children, yet Lin Qingyue had only risen by two stars all these years!

Should he say those later pieces of material were all too useless...

Of course, after saying so much, Lin Qingyue also had a purpose.

Remembering how the other party had said she wanted to betroth Lin Yutong to him, Ye Chen could only shake his head helplessly.

Although Lin Yutong had fully inherited her mother's looks, and her personality was good too, the age gap between them was far too large. Ye Chen did not like it.

Most importantly, she did not have any special traits either—like the Queen's snake tail or something—so her appeal dropped sharply.

Still, not fancying her was one thing, but the relationship still had to be maintained. After all, it was a decent connection. If he needed something in the future, it might not be impossible to contact the Heaven Frost Child behind her through them, or even Ice Venerable...

Although they were all Dou Venerate-level Strong Persons, with the Ye Family's current foundation, they could still afford to invite people of this level to handle matters.

Day after day passed, and the final test finally arrived.

However, Ye Chen had long since lost interest in it... After all, from Lin Qingyue's previous behavior, it had already been confirmed that the successor to Clear Moon City's City Lord position had long since been decided internally. As for the other few foolish sons still kept in the dark, they were probably just there as accompanying readers for the crown prince.

Although Ye Chen did not participate on the day of the arena match, judging from the commotion coming from the city, the battle should still have been quite intense.

After all, even if those three foolish sons were willing to admit defeat, the people behind them might not be willing to give up.

Unfortunately, with Old Hu present, even if the other side sent out a Strong Person of the same Half-Step Dou Zong level, they might not necessarily be his match.

As someone who had followed Old Ancestor Ye Xun for several decades, Old Hu had obtained quite a few benefits. Not only was his cultivation method good, even the grade of his Dou Techniques was not low.

Added to that was his violent lightning-attribute Dou Qi. He originally far surpassed Strong Persons of the same realm in both speed and Attack Power, so Ye Chen was very confident that this battle was certain victory!

As for Lin Yutong, this usually gentle Young Lady was not inferior at all when fighting. She raised her hand and condensed six blue Ice Dragons, standing proudly atop the Dragon Head, and really did have a bit of the bearing of a female dragon god.

Standing in his own courtyard and looking at the Ice Dragon in the distant sky, Ye Chen also sighed softly. "So everything in the anime from my previous life was true. Ice Emperor Hai Bodong's move was far inferior to Lin Yutong's current one..."

On a hill three li outside Clear Moon City.

Ye Chen slowly walked over from the mountain path in the distance, looking at that slender figure amid the morning dew and rising sun.

"Miss Lin..." Ye Chen looked at Lin Yutong, who had now become the City Lord's successor, and said softly.

Turning slightly, Lin Yutong looked at this Young Master before her, whose face still carried traces of immaturity, and revealed a gentle smile, even warmer than the morning sun in the sky...

"I originally thought you would leave directly..."

There was a trace of resentment in her gentle words, and Ye Chen actually heard it.

"Since Miss Lin invited me, I naturally could not fail to accept. Would that not be discourteous to a beauty?" Ye Chen answered with a smile.

"Hehe." Lin Yutong turned her head and looked once more at the rising sun. "Should I call you Song Chen, or Ye Chen..."

Clearly, she had already learned Ye Chen's true identity from her mother.

"Either is fine." Ye Chen showed no awareness of having deceived anyone and said calmly, "'Song' is my mother's surname, so it's only natural for me to use the alias Song Chen. After all, when away from home, necessary caution is still needed."

Hearing this sophistry, Lin Yutong merely smiled and let it pass.

"All right, I'll count that as reasonable."

When the words fell, another silence followed.

Lin Yutong's feelings were very complicated right now, especially after learning from her mother that her mother had originally wanted to betroth her to him, only for him to refuse without the slightest hesitation...

Even the gentlest woman was still a woman. This kind of action, almost like humiliation, still made Lin Yutong very angry.

But after learning the other party's identity, especially his age, Lin Yutong suddenly felt she was not that angry anymore.

After all, he was just a thirteen-year-old brat, even if he was a little handsome and looked a little mature...

As she thought and thought, Lin Yutong could not help stealing another glance at him.

"Ahhh! What on earth am I thinking about!" the somewhat bashful Young Lady went completely mad in her mind.

When the two of them spent time together normally, there was never that much messy confusion. Although Lin Yutong admitted she had a good impression of the Youth, it was still far from the point of romantic feelings between a man and a woman.

But ever since she had heard her mother's words, she felt as if she had suddenly become somewhat at a loss.

Quickly steadying herself, Lin Yutong tried hard to calm down. "May I ask where Young Master Ye plans to go next?"

Ye Chen had no intention of hiding it and said with a smile, "That? I'm planning to visit Sacred Pill City next. After all, as an alchemist, never having seen the sacred land of alchemists would be a great regret."

"Sacred Pill City... Then I hope that next time, if fate allows, we'll meet again."