A Request from Ye Xinlan

"I wouldn't do something like that."

Ye Xinlan pushed up the glasses on her nose, her gaze fixed firmly on the two scrolls in Ye Qingzhou's hands.

"The Ye Clan is in decline. Before long, it may be cast out of the Pill Tower's Five Great Families and carved up by the countless forces eyeing it like tigers watching their prey."

"As members of the clan, I think healthy competition is necessary. We must strive to improve, and the greater our talent, the stricter we must be with ourselves."

"But when it comes to the clan as a whole, we must stand united."

"I stopped you, cousin, only because I wanted the scroll in your hands."

Ye Xinlan spoke openly and honorably, her sincere feelings plain and her bearing righteous.

Those who did not know her might have thought her words were mere high-sounding platitudes, but Ye Qingzhou knew they came from the bottom of her heart.

In the future, Ye Xinlan would sacrifice a great deal for the clan.

"Cousin." Ye Qingzhou used his movement Dou Technique to its fullest, leaving an afterimage in the air before appearing in front of Ye Xinlan. He raised a hand and tapped her between the brows. "You're only fourteen. You don't need to rack your brains over the clan's rise and fall yet."

Ye Xinlan's pupils contracted.

She had already reached six-star Dou Shi, cultivated a High Xuan Grade movement Dou Technique, and received personal guidance from a Dou Ling elder all along.

Yet just now, she had failed to see Ye Qingzhou's movements clearly.

This cousin of hers was even more of a genius than the rumors claimed.

"Cousin, I'm fourteen. I'm not that young anymore, and my coming-of-age ceremony is only two years away." Ye Xinlan stepped back, a serious expression on her delicate little face, and pointed at the scroll in Ye Qingzhou's hand. "I came to find you because of this cultivation method. It was my only goal in coming to the Scripture Repository this time."

"You want me to give you the cultivation method?" Ye Qingzhou's expression remained unchanged, though his gaze sharpened slightly.

"If you're willing, cousin, that would naturally be best for me." Ye Xinlan nodded earnestly. "The clan has its rules, and only by following them can it endure. I can't be the one to take the lead in breaking them."

"If you're willing to give me this Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture, you can still choose one of the High Xuan Tier fire- and Wood Attribute cultivation methods I have."

"Besides that, I can also give you a High-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique and the notes left by a fifth-tier alchemist."

So she had not come to take it by trickery or force, but to throw money at him in exchange.

Ye Qingzhou's gaze softened at once. After a moment's thought, he shook his head. "Sorry, I want to cultivate this method too."

Before obtaining the method, he could have agreed, as long as Ye Xinlan delivered the benefits she promised.

But now he knew that the Pill Tower had a cultivation method of an even higher grade than the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture.

There was no way he would give it up, no matter what she said.

"In that case, there's the second option." Ye Xinlan did not insist. She gave him a perfectly proper salute. "Please allow me to cultivate this method with you, cousin."

Ye Qingzhou raised an eyebrow slightly. From Ye Xinlan's behavior, he could tell that the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture truly was no ordinary method, and that she might know something most people did not.

Cultivating it together would do him no harm, but it did not seem to do him any good either.

"As long as the clan allows it, I have no objection." Ye Qingzhou clasped his hands behind his back, an intrigued look in his eyes. "But cousin, what do I get out of it?"

Ye Xinlan did not seem to think there was anything wrong with his question. "If you'd like, cousin, I can lend you the fifth-tier alchemist's notes to read."

"All right." Ye Qingzhou readily agreed.

It was enough to get something out of it. He could not be too calculating and mercenary with his own family.

Having reached an agreement, Ye Qingzhou and Ye Xinlan went together to register it with the elder guarding the repository.

"Elder, I have one chance to select a High Xuan Tier cultivation method to cultivate. I'd like to exchange it for the chance to cultivate the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture with my cousin." Ye Xinlan saluted obediently.

Ye Fengyun waved a hand. "According to the rules, that's fine as long as the person borrowing the method has no objection."

Ye Xinlan looked at Ye Qingzhou, who immediately said he had none.

Ye Fengyun took a notebook from his Storage Ring and recorded the matter.

Once the formalities were complete, he narrowed his eyes and resumed his nap. "Return the cultivation method and Dou Technique scrolls in three months."

The cultivation method scrolls in the Ye Clan's Scripture Repository were all placed under special restrictions. Without the clan's permission, they could not be taken outside its sphere of influence.

Ye Qingzhou had only three months to study them, after which he would have to return both scrolls intact.

"I understand, Elder."

Ye Qingzhou and Ye Xinlan walked out of the Scripture Repository side by side. By then, dusk had deepened.

Lights came on one after another throughout the Ye Clan residence. Maids and attendants passed along the corridors, bowing their heads in greeting whenever they saw the pair.

Ye Xinlan walked beside Ye Qingzhou, keeping a suitable distance. Seeing that he was about to return to the outer courtyard, she said, "Cousin, you're a Da Dou Shi now. According to the clan rules, anyone who breaks through to Da Dou Shi before twenty can continue receiving the clan's support and devote themselves to cultivation."

"The benefits improve too, including your residence."

Ye Qingzhou knew about the rule, but his mind had been on returning to the practice room to switch cultivation methods, so it had not occurred to him.

Reminded by Ye Xinlan, he immediately said, "Thank you for reminding me, cousin. You know the inner courtyard well, so sorry for the trouble, but could you take me to the Internal Affairs Hall?"

Ye Xinlan readily agreed and led Ye Qingzhou to the Internal Affairs Hall.

With the first elder's own granddaughter helping him, the entire process went exceptionally smoothly.

Even so, with Ye Qingzhou's cultivation talent-breaking through to Da Dou Shi at sixteen-he would not have been treated lightly anyway.

"Qingzhou, lad, this is your new token. Keep it safe." The elder in charge handed Ye Qingzhou a specially made token, several sets of brand-new clan robes, and a few other things.

"Starting next month, your monthly allowance will also be issued at the same rate as an outer sect deacon's. But all you need to do is cultivate diligently, improve your strength, and advance your alchemy skills."

"Thank you, Elder." Ye Qingzhou put everything he had received into his Storage Ring and bowed in thanks.

Next came the choice of a new residence. Ye Xinlan spoke up. "Sixth Uncle, let Cousin stay in Lingxi Courtyard."

"Oh?" The elder was about to take out the register to choose a suitable vacant courtyard house. Hearing Ye Xinlan's words, he gave her a teasing look. "Xin Lan, you've grown up and started having ideas of your own."

Ye Xinlan froze. Then a blush rose on her cool, otherworldly face, and she quickly explained, "Sixth Uncle, Cousin and I are going to cultivate the same method. It'll be more convenient if we live closer. Don't get the wrong idea and go saying things."

"I understand." Sixth Uncle Ye wore the expression of someone who had been through it before. He looked at Ye Qingzhou. "Qingzhou, lad, you mustn't bully Xin Lan."

Ye Xinlan: !

Ye Qingzhou: "..."

"Cousin, I'll come to your courtyard tomorrow at the hour of the dragon to study the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture. I'll bring the fifth-tier alchemist's notes with me then."

Ye Xinlan escorted Ye Qingzhou to his new residence, Lingxi Courtyard.

"All right, see you tomorrow." Ye Qingzhou nodded.

Ye Xinlan gave a slight nod, then turned and left.

The girl's departing figure looked slender beneath the lights of the corridor, yet carried a composure rarely seen among her peers.

Ye Qingzhou watched her enter a courtyard not far away, then turned toward his own new courtyard house.

He took a rough tour of the grounds and was quite pleased with the layout.

After instructing the attendants and maids responsible for the courtyard not to disturb him, he went straight to the secluded cultivation chamber. There, he took out the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture and began switching cultivation methods.

Time slipped by unnoticed as he cultivated.

Whether because the Crimson Flame Art and the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture shared the same origin, or because Ye Qingzhou's cultivation talent was truly exceptional, he quickly grasped the basics. He began converting the Crimson Flame Dou Qi in his body into the higher-quality Crimson Flame Bodhi Dou Qi, fire imbued with the Wood Attribute.

He did not know how much time had passed. Nearly thirty percent of the Dou Qi in his body had been converted when a strange fluctuation suddenly appeared in Ye Qingzhou's mind.

The old-fashioned diary opened on its own, and faintly glowing words appeared on a blank page:

"Today's settlement: cultivation gains doubled."

"Comprehension of the cultivation method, refinement of Dou Qi, nourishment of the soul."

Boom!