Ye Xinlan: The feeling of being carried

"Three-Star Da Dou Shi!?" Ye Xinlan sprang to her feet and stared wide-eyed at Ye Qingzhou. "Cousin, did you take drugs?"

Drugs? That was far more potent than drugs.

"Xin Lan." Ye Zhong looked at Ye Xinlan. "Be more dignified."

"Oh." Ye Xinlan obediently sat down, pushed up her glasses, and folded her hands on her knees, looking every bit the refined young lady.

Ye Qingzhou found the contrast rather amusing. After sitting down on a stone stool, he explained, "While I was cultivating last night, I made a breakthrough in my cultivation method. For some reason, the energy of heaven and earth suddenly gathered, and when I woke up this morning, my cultivation had risen to this level."

Perhaps because of the immense pressure they faced, or because the clan rules were strict and the elders placed great importance on propriety, the Ye Clan's disciples occasionally competed with one another, but the overall atmosphere was very good.

Apart from a few trump cards he couldn't reveal, Ye Qingzhou didn't mind showing his talent at the right time to gain more training and resources.

On the Dou Qi Continent, the weak were prey to the strong. He had to compete.

"Oh?" Ye Zhong's interest was piqued. With his strength, he could forcibly examine Ye Qingzhou's condition, but he wouldn't do that. Instead, he asked, "Boy, would you let this old man examine you?"

"Please, Elder." Ye Qingzhou held out his hand.

If the man before him could really uncover the diary's secret, he wouldn't lose out even if he dropped to his knees on the spot.

The Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python and the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame seed could both hide in the diary space, and their ability to probe was stronger than the diary's.

He had no secrets of his own to hide. In fact, he was also curious about just how outstanding his body and soul were after being tempered by the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame seed.

"Hmm?"

Ye Zhong placed his hand on Ye Qingzhou's wrist and released Perfected Mortal Realm soul power to examine him. A few breaths later, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he sprang to his feet.

Ye Xinlan, who was opening the food box, jumped in fright and couldn't help saying, "Grandpa... Elder, didn't you say to be dignified and stay calm?"

Dignified?

Calm?

The chance for the Ye Clan's revival was right before his eyes. He couldn't be dignified or calm in the slightest.

"Hahaha, good, wonderful!" Ye Zhong withdrew his hand and casually set up a barrier against sound and probing. "All his meridians are open, pure and flawless. Not only has his Soul Realm reached the Late Mortal Realm, but it has even acquired a trace of spiritual essence. As long as nothing goes wrong and he obtains a soul cultivation method, breaking through to the Spirit Realm in the future is as certain as a nail hammered into a board."

"You're a qilin child bestowed upon the Ye Clan by the heavens!"

Over the past two days, Ye Zhong had dug up everything there was to know about Ye Qingzhou.

Ye Qingzhou's grandfather was his younger cousin, with whom he shared a grandfather. Back then, he had also been a direct-line disciple of the Ye Clan.

Both Ye Qingzhou's grandfather and his parents had sacrificed their lives during an exploration of some ruins that had been crucial to the Ye Clan at the time.

Though Ye Qingzhou belonged to a branch family, his family's death compensation and the clan's care had kept him from falling behind the direct-line disciples, who had more resources.

In terms of blood ties, Ye Qingzhou belonged to one of the branch families closest to the clan head's line. Looking back through his family, they could all be called loyal and heroic.

"Starting today, your treatment will be raised to the seed tier on the surface." Ye Zhong's expression grew serious. "That way, no one will dare treat you lightly."

"But in private, I will discuss it with the other elders and raise your treatment to the highest tier."

"This is so that, like a tall tree catching the wind, you don't attract too much attention from ambitious people while you're still weak."

Hearing this, Ye Qingzhou looked puzzled. He stood and bowed. "Thank you, Elder, but..."

Ye Qingzhou didn't say the rest, but both Ye Zhong and Ye Xinlan understood what he had left unsaid.

He was wondering whether Ye Zhong had the authority to make that decision.

Ye Zhong raised his head and puffed out his chest, then looked at Ye Xinlan. She understood and stuck her tongue out at Ye Qingzhou. "Cousin, this is my grandfather."

"Your grandfather?" Ye Qingzhou froze, then immediately understood. "The Grand Elder?"

"But I've seen the Grand Elder. He didn't look like this."

He had suspected that the elder Ye Qingzhou brought was no ordinary person, perhaps even a Dou Emperor elder or a sixth-tier alchemist of the clan, but he hadn't expected Ye Xinlan to bring Ye Zhong himself.

Besides, he had seen Ye Zhong from a distance several times when he attended clan meetings before, and he wasn't the man before him.

"Ahem." Ye Zhong coughed lightly and casually removed his disguise. "I didn't want to put pressure on you, so I concealed myself a little."

A little?

You changed into a completely different person!

"This junior, Ye Qingzhou, greets the Grand Elder." Ye Qingzhou promptly bowed.

Ye Zhong, the Ye Clan's Grand Elder, a Six-Star Dou Zong expert and a seventh-tier alchemist.

In the Jia Ma Empire, a beginner village, he was someone utterly beyond anyone's reach. He could easily wipe out the entire empire just by calling on others.

"Calling me Grand Elder is too distant." Ye Zhong reached out and patted Ye Qingzhou on the shoulder with a smile. "Your grandfather was my younger cousin. I met your father back then, and he called me eldest uncle. You can call me eldest granduncle."

Ye Qingzhou knew Ye Zhong was showing him favor. Rather than put on airs, he immediately addressed him warmly as "Eldest Granduncle."

"Haha, good." Ye Zhong clapped his hands and laughed. "Let's have breakfast first, then you can teach Xin Lan to cultivate the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture. At noon, I'll summon the other elders to discuss your situation."

"Yes, Eldest Granduncle." Ye Qingzhou readily agreed.

Originally, he had wanted to use the diary's stacking effects to slowly reveal his "true" talent and strength, gaining a higher status and more resources step by step through Ye Xinlan.

When the time was right, he would go cultivate at Jia Nan Academy for a while. Once his strength had improved, he would return and use the Ye Clan as his foundation to enter the Pill Tower, climbing to a higher platform.

But now his plans couldn't keep up with the changes. The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame seed had truly raised his talent to a monstrous level.

If I were the protagonist, I would have been a fake prodigy in an ordinary genius's leveling-up-and-fighting-monsters story.

Now it's a genius story. I just don't know whether I can become invincible.

With a cheat like the diary, it's something to look forward to.

After breakfast, sunlight slanted over the courtyard wall and fell on the flagstones.

Ye Qingzhou set down his bowl and chopsticks, took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and looked at Ye Xinlan, who was already sitting upright to one side, cultivating on her own.

He walked over and sat cross-legged opposite Ye Xinlan. As before, he placed his hand above her dantian, his gaze calm.

The girl formed a seal with both hands, closed her eyes, and focused. Reddish-green Dou Qi surged from her dantian and slowly traveled through her meridians along the route of the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture.

Ye Qingzhou released his soul power and focused on guiding her. "Slow the Dou Qi in the three yang meridian by thirty percent."

"Don't rush when it passes through this acupoint. Let the Dou Qi flow through on its own."

Ye Xinlan adjusted as instructed, and sure enough, the Dou Qi flowed more smoothly through the three yang meridian. The faint sense of blockage vanished without a trace.

A little pleased, she continued following Ye Qingzhou's directions, completing the circulation step by step.

"Very good." Ye Qingzhou's voice remained steady. "In the next section of the meridian, when it reaches the Quchi acupoint, compress the Dou Qi to seventy percent, then slowly release it."

Ye Xinlan was like an obedient doll, letting Ye Qingzhou move her as he pleased.

She was also like a little boat, drifting with the current.

The stronger the current around her, the faster the little boat moved forward.

At one point, a thought suddenly occurred to Ye Qingzhou. If I send Purifying Lotus Demon Flame Qi into her, will it affect her?