The Immortal Against the Gods

As an old Chinese saying goes, "fifteen-minute practice every morning saves ten years of cultivation."

The morning was the best time for cultivation.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

From an open beach of Yinsha River, which was 500 meters away from Chiyun City, there were bursts of flapping sound. The sky was just becoming bright.

The surging Yinsha River looked like a moving python, entrenched on the east of Chiyun City. The rolling river was covered with fog, like the swinging back of the python.

On the beach, a topless boy was using a fist-thick iron bar to slap his shanks, thighs, waist and abdomen, arms, wrists, shoulders, and lastly, the top of his head.

The boy was about 15 years old. With an adult-like figure, he was strong and tall. His body was full of bruises. His skin was dark, dry, and peeled off. He held the bar in his right hand, beating every part of his body hard. His muscle was trembling with every beat.

Body Butt!

How dare he cultivate the famous kungfu of invincible body! If it was found out by somebody, he or she would definitely report to Castellan secretly. By then, the boy would incur a fatal disaster. That was because this kungfu was originated from Xuanwu School, the orthodox school of Immortal Taoism.

This kungfu could only be learned by those young successors selected by Xuanwu School. And they could only cultivate this kungfu in the forbidden place of the school instead of cultivating alone in the open field like the boy.

Crack! Crack! Countless violent beatings could not even make the boy blink.

Unsurprisingly, the boy's body was red and swollen from head to toe. Anyone who had beaten himself like that for thousands of times would get swollen.

However, the boy seemed to be accustomed to that. He suddenly stopped and shook his arms, wiping the sweat away from his face. He picked up the water bag and gulped the water. Staring at his body, he thought: "After so many months of studious cultivation, I could finally use the iron bar as before. It seems that thanks to the childhood hard work, my body is still strong even if my cultivation base has been destroyed. Soon, I can become a Flesh Immortal again!"

"Yun, why can't you just give it up?"

The sound was from a tall, middle-aged man with fierce eyes who wore a yellow robe. He walked out of the woods where a thunderous sound of flood suddenly burst out.

This man was tall and strong, nearly two meters in height. He seemed to be in his early fifties. On his square face, there were several tufts of hair on the temples, which displayed a domineering power. Especially, his big hands were full of scars and were strangely red, which was rather appalling.

He was the famous Ye Yuan, the leader of the Ye Clan, who was also the father of Ye Yun. He was renowned as the 'Chisha Hand' because his kungfu of palm was powerful. In his twenties, he had slaughtered 'Eighteen Tiangang Eagles' unscathed only by his hands. After that, he was the world-famous No.1 master of Ye Clan.

Ye Yuan coldly stared at Ye Yun. The domineering atmosphere scared Ye Yun off. Looking around, Ye Yuan was softened and said, "I didn't mean to discourage you. Yun, you have learnt a lot since your childhood and know your physical condition for sure. The inner force of your Dantian(the region in the body where a person's Qi is concentrated) has been decentralized by force. If you still don't give up, not only your meridians will be damaged, but also the Qi of your body will scatter. What's more, your dantian has already ripped and could not circulate Qi and even could not cultivate anymore."

Ye Yun nodded and said, "Yes, I know. But I just can't let it go..." His eyes were filled with hope.

It was heartbroken for Ye Yuan to see his son distressed. He said sincerely, "Yun, I know what you are thinking. The cultivation is also my dream for my whole life. But sometimes we still need to face the fact."

Fact... This word sounded too heavy to accept, which made Ye Yun feel stressful and breathless. He suddenly clenched his fists. His eyes were filled with anger, "Qin Ming...Qin Clan...Damn it!"

Ye Yuan looked dignified and said, "Now the Qin Clan is a large family and possesses huge power. Our Ye Clan is no fighting match for them. As for Qin Ming...cultivating level five of Flesh Immortal at the age of sixteen, he is really a prodigy. It was my fault to be so careless at that time. I didn't expect that Qin Clan could keep their own counsel, not to say this Qin Ming."

"Qin Ming!"

Constantly hearing the name that he didn't want to hear, Ye Yun was filled with anger. He recalled those flashbacks, especially the Xuanwu Gathering six months ago.

There were three main clans in Chiyun City. They were Yan Clan, the recognized largest clan, who controlled the city, Qin Clan who possessed huge power in the city, and lastly, Ye Clan.

Xuanwu School would recruit 10 disciples every 10 years. It was the best way to enlarge the power of the clan. Xuanwu School was the orthodox school of Immortal Taoism and the disciples there were surely superior.

As the genius recognized by Ye Clan for centuries, Ye Yun was undoubtedly on the list of the recommendation. There is no doubt for everyone that Ye Yun would become one of the disciples in Xuanwu School.

At the age of six, Ye Yun started to cultivate Body Butt. And he reached the level one of Flesh Immortal at eight. When he was ten, he successively pulled through the level two and three. Within five years, he had already reached the level four of Flesh Immortal, officially stepping cross the threshold of becoming the cultivator. The inner force was formed in his dantian. It seemed granted for such a qualified candidate to be accepted by Xuanwu School.

However, all changed in a flash.

There were three tests for the recruitment. Ye Yun passed the first two tests smoothly. The last one was a random draw. He needed to draw for a contest with another candidate. The winner would pass the test, while the loser would be weeded out.

Ye Yun's opponent was Qin Ming who was unknown to the public. Before the contest, Ye Yun thought that it was impossible for Qin to defeat him. It has been 30 years that no one could reach the level four of Flesh Immortal in the history of three clans, except for Ye Yun. He thought he was sure to win.

However, at the moment of the move, Ye Yun could not even see the rival clear and he fell down. At that time, Ye has already lost his power to hit back. What's more, Qin hit Ye's dantian so hard that all the inner force was damaged. "Crack!" Ye's dantian split. But Qin seemed unwilling to stop. He meant to disable Ye by hitting Ye's dantian and making him not capable of cultivating forever. At that moment, Ye Yun felt overwhelmingly hopeless. Fortunately, Ye Yuan spared no effort to bail him out.

With destroyed cultivation base and disabled dantian, the genius Ye Yun fell from heaven to hell. All he felt was spite. Instead of praise, jealousy and flattery, all he heard was scoff. Even his father Ye Yuan was implicated.

Later, Ye Yun heard that Qin Ming was the real genius. He was nothing compared with Qin.

Qin reached the level four of Flesh Immortal at the age of twelve, and five at sixteen. He was the first talent who broke the level five at sixteen for hundreds of years in the history of three clans.

Qin Clan... Qin Ming...

Sixteen... Level five... What a dazzling achievement!

"Yun, it's not your fault. Well, tomorrow is your coming-of-age ceremony. According to the rule of our clan, we need to clean up our ancestral temple and kowtow for the whole night, worshiping and awing our ancestors. These are important traditions. After that, I will arrange some work for you. From then on, you need to pay attention to the affairs of our clan."

After that, Ye Yuan walked away. His tall figure disappeared in the deep of the woods.

"Everything has changed. Father doesn't care about me as much as he used to... He once placed all his hope on me. But I... I used to be able to reach the level four of Flesh Immortal. I can do it now. I will definitely let the world look at me with new eyes!" Staring at the quiet woods firmly, Ye Yun was absorbed in meditation. He was the kind of stubborn man who would never give up.

After a random wash of his body, he dressed up and left the bank of Yinsha River.

Chiyun City, one of the numerous cities of Baiyu Dynasty, was a borderland city that could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people. It was located on the northern border of the dynasty.

Chengbei Area, the northern part of the city, had the smallest population and worst economy. Ye Clan was the largest clan there, controlling almost all the shops and stud-farms in Chengbei Area.

Shengzu Court, an old courtyard with a history of nearly a thousand years, was the holy place where Ye Clan worshiped their ancestors.

With grey tiles and red bricks, the court was covered with lush trees, surrounded by tall walls. Two mighty stone lions were placed at the gate. The whole court looked simple but majestic. However, the stone lions were full of lichen and even had fissures. It seemed that they were seldom cleaned up.

The pitch-black iron gate was closed but unlocked. Everyone in this area knew that here was the private place of Ye Clan. The person who dared to break in would expect nothing but death.

The bluestone steps were covered with fallen leaves. The cobweb covered the door plank and the gap, which showed that it had been a long time since they were cleaned up.

Whirr!

Suddenly, a gust of strong wind swept the fallen leaves. Ye Yun trudged to the gate and looked around with no other expressions. He slightly pushed the creaking door and entered.

Shengzu Court was not unfamiliar to Ye Yun. He had been there several times. When he walked into the main yard, he saw a court in a ruin with withered plants, dilapidated houses and fallen leaves all over the ground.

Ye Yun passed through two yards and entered a grand scarlet palace. There was a brown plaque inscribed "Shengzu Hall" on the beam. The door was open. Incense burner tables could easily be seen from outside. On the table, there were full of memorial tablets for ancestors. Behind the tables, there were statues of sculptures which were estimated one ruler in height (a Chinese unit equals to 33.3 cm), as vivid as life.

After roughly walking around, Ye Yun started to clean up the cobwebs and dust from attics to corridors and eaves. And then he replaced the plants, stone tables and desks. Finally, he swept up leaves in the yards.

After the clean-up work, it had been afternoon. Ye Yun got a bite to eat and swept the front gate again. He also mopped up the stone lions and gate clean. And he also polished the corridors, windows, beams and pillars, and also the stockade. When he finished these, it was already dusk.

When Ye Yun entered the Shengzu Hall, sweating heavily, the first thing he did was to kowtow three times. Next, he put the memorial tablets in order and carefully cleaned every sculpture. After clearing away the main hall, he came to the back hall. All he could see were a mess. Tables and desks were piled up casually and there were even plants filled with fallen leaves. It seemed that someone heaped them up on purpose.

"How could such a holy place turn into such a wasteyard! Worshiping ancestors? Everything is just lip services!"

Ye Yun was really angry that such a holy place was ruined.

He muttered a curse and moved away those heavy things. After clearing up mountainous wastes, he finally emptied the back hall. However, Ye Yun felt depressed about an accumbent sculpture in the corner which had the same size as a real person.

Ye Yun gasped in shock. Usually, he could lift up about 100 kg. But he never tried such a heavy thing.

"Ah!"

Ye Yun squatted and gave a loud shout, lifting the stone sculpture up slowly with both hands. Blue veins stood up on his whole body with an exploding tendency. After taking several deep breaths, the stone sculpture was finally set right. The sculpture was one head higher than Ye Yun, but as tall as Ye Yuan.

"I can hardly breathe just now. My whole meridians, muscles and bones are still feeble now, especially the fissures in my dantian. At this rate, the remaining Qi in my body will become ashes..." With a tired expression, Ye Yun felt his arms and shanks trembling slightly. After a short break, he began wiping the sculpture.

Being abandoned in the sundries, the stone sculpture was covered with dust. It took him three times to wipe it clean. Then, a grey sculpture was unfolded in front of him.

The sculpture looked like a man in his forties with a head of soft long hair. This man was wearing a robe, hands at the back like a scholar. He was staring into space stonily. The eyes seemed to see through the secular world, giving people the impression that he saw something strange.

At that moment, Ye Yun was completely attracted by the sculpture.

But the sculpture was nothing but a normal stone. The material was also common among all kinds of rock instead of precious jade. The sculpture didn't have any weapons, which meant that he was not a cultivator.

Somehow, a sense of strange awe fell on Ye Yun. Although it was unknown, it must be one of the ancestors of Ye Clan as it was placed in the ancestral hall. Staring at the nameless stone sculpture with awe, Ye Yun was fascinated by it.

Suddenly, the sculpture moved with a hum sound. He seemed to feel the deep respect of Ye Yun and his eyes were shining with a green light. The light then transformed into smoke, hovering above Ye Yun. The scene was so strange that it seemed like a master passing on his cultivation methods to his disciple.

However, Ye Yun didn't notice these at all.

Crack!

The eyeballs of the stone sculpture fractured under the green light and fell off. At the same time, a divine white light was shot up from the hollow eyes. Then the eyeballs started to transform in the air. The stone shell dropped layer by layer, leaving the fractions on the ground. Finally, there were only two drops of silver liquid floating in the air, like tears.

"What?"

Ye Yun was suddenly alert. He thought he broke something before he looked up and found the two silver tears.

"Tears? In the stone eyeballs?"

Ye Yun was not stupid. He was shocked and grasped the tears at once.

Whoosh!

All at once, two silver tears flickered with white lights and merged into one. Not until the lights faded away, the whole tear melted into the space between Ye Yun's eyebrows and disappeared.

With his eyes wide open, Ye Yun could not believe what just happened. Sweat ran down his forehead. He seemed to see a sharp sword coming at him. Without reacting to come over, the silver tear was gone. Experiencing a chill, Ye Yun felt a sense of warmth sending out from the space between eyebrows.

A series of mysterious changes struck terror into Ye Yun.

"Broken but reborn, nirvana to be immortal!"

As Ye Yun took a breath and felt confused, the stone sculpture said in a deep sound.

"Are you talking?"

Ye Yun stared up at the stone sculpture with the expression of astonishment. Then he felt incredible because the sculpture closed his eyes and giving out subtle lights. Meanwhile, Ye Yun felt burning hot between his eyebrows and there was a shining white light.

Looking at the sculpture and touching the space between his eyebrows, Ye Yun felt quite confused without discovering anything. Except for the closing eyes, the stone sculpture was still very common. And his body didn't change.

Ye Yun rechecked the sculpture for more than ten times in vain.

The sculpture was still ordinary and cold.

"The epiphanies of ancestors? Yeah, it must be the epiphanies of ancestors!" Long after Ye Yun calmed down, he finally realized what happened. But he was still surrounded by questions.

After another careful observation, Ye Yun felt even more confused. The stone sculpture looked quite lively. But it wasn't the case when he touched it. It was just a normal sculpture. "There must be some relations between the sculpture and the tear. And I have a feeling that... there seems to be other secrets beyond the sculpture."

"Nothing special."

Suffering a setback in the sculpture, Ye Yun looked at the window subconsciously but found nothing. He then found a piece of satin to cover the sculpture and came back to the main hall, kowtowing to the memorial tablets without interruption.

The next morning, on the bank of Yinsha River.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Among the thick fog, Ye Yun was using the iron bar to train his body as always. But it was unusual that his body didn't have any scars and his skin remained ruddy. Even if the bar hit heavily on the waist, the redness vanished in a moment.

"Wow! What a surprise! My physical strength soared overnight. And even the pain in muscles disappeared. It must be the power of the silver tear. I finally cultivated the Body Butt! Finally, I can re-enter the level one of Flesh Immortal! Next is level two!"

Ye Yun was ravished with joy. Such a magical change in his body was definitely delightful.

Whirr!

Ye Yun suddenly squatted and stepped out his right foot powerfully. At the same time, he stretched out his right arm. Neatly done. Two actions ended simultaneously and even made a sound of whirring wind. Then comes to the left foot and left arm. The movement looked easy, but it was powerful and domineering.

Zhenfeng Fist, also known as Seven Steps Fist, was the fists position passed down by Ye Clan. And it was said that this kungfu also passed on to the Xuanwu School. The fists' position was easy to learn. The legs and feet needed to corporate with the body. And then the body drove the fists to throw the punch. One step, one punch. This was Zhenfeng Fist.

Under the power of Zhenfeng Fist, Ye Yun's body was full of muscles as if it was going to be torn down. Stable as pine was the token of level two.

The cultivation of the Flesh Immortal included ten levels.

Level one was the base, while level ten was the zenith.

Level one laid the solid foundation for future cultivation. First, the cultivators needed to exercise the methods of sprint, robes, jump, horse stances, mountain climbing and so on to warm up. Then they could master the strength to generate and transfer the power. For example, they could control the strength of their legs, shanks, waists, arms, wrists and even necks, powerful but also skillful, embracing the harmony of both motion and stillness.

Level two was to learn some moves, including fists position, legs techniques, palm methods, weapons like spear, sword and staff. The cultivators would perfectly use the physical strength to master the moves so that they could experience the first exploration of Flesh Immortal and condensed the Qi in the dantian.

Level three was weightlifting. Through previous cultivation, the body would feel nothing when lifting heavy things. All the movements would demonstrate boldness. The external cultivation of the body had been completed. The power of dantian had transformed into the internal power of the whole body.

Level four was to refine the Qi. It was the beginning stage of internal cultivation. The world was full of mysteries. And the cultivators should sense the Qi of the outside world and refine it with the internal Qi. The Qi and the body supplemented each other. The internal Qi passed through eight extraordinary meridians and ran through the dantian to syncretize both the inner and the outer. Then the internal Qi could form into the internal power. This was the key step for cultivation to transform from outside to inside.

Level five was to internalize the Qi so that the cultivators could control both the inner force and outer Qi together and let the power really merge with the body. They could respond to outer power at any time. And the most important was that they could transform the inner force of dantian into the Principal Qi.

Level six was the beginning of the perception of heaven and earth. Cultivators at this level could master the most mysterious vibe in the world and enable themselves to become more flexible when using the inner power. And finally, they might be capable of dominating part of their Principal Qi.

Level seven enabled cultivators to refine their spiritual roots. The inner cultivation had almost been completed. The Qi was used to nourish the body and unchoke the meridians. Cultivators could start to refine all the Principal Qi and finally reach the supreme realm of harmony between heaven and earth.

Level eight implied the completed refinement of Principal Qi. The body would master the Qi of heaven and earth, which made it indestructible.

Level nine contained supernatural power, which meant that cultivators at last stepped into the realm of immortals. They would possess spiritual power to cultivate primary methods, including flying through standing on the sword, splitting mountains and cutting off streams, and killing people at a distance.

Level ten was the final stage. By refining the Principal Qi, cultivators could condense the seed of spiritual power. This was an essential step for cultivation. Once they succeed, they could become true cultivators.

Boom!

The fractions of stones fell from the sky and scattered in the woods.

Ye Yun took back his fist. All he could see was half a piece of the rock. Surprisingly, the powerful punch just now shattered a one-ruler-long rock.

"This punch depends merely on physical strength without inner power. It is too weak. Although my meridians and bones recover a lot, the dantian still could not condense any inner power..." Ye Yun got dressed and then stared at the Yinsha River where he stayed and cultivated for almost one year, unwilling to leave. From now on, he won't need to come here only to practice Zhenfeng Fist. He clenched his fists and thought, "Now my physical strength is as strong as normal people. However, if my dantian still could not condense Qi, I will stay in the stage of level two forever. What's more, the moves of level two could only be reached by the power of ordinary people instead of a cultivator."

After a few moments of silence, Ye Yun rushed towards the Chiyun City. Because he was going to attend the most important feast in his life, the coming-of-age ceremony.

As long as a person had reached sixteen, he or she must hold the coming-of-age ceremony. It was significant, especially for those who were struggling to become cultivators. The age of sixteen was the golden but final age for cultivation. If they did not cross the threshold of becoming the cultivators, they would never achieve that in the future.

At noon, an old servant was helping Ye Yun dress on red robes in one room of Ye Mansion. He dressed like a bridegroom with a joyful look. And then he followed the servant to the main yard.

There were dozens of tables in the yard. However, only six or seven tables had people. And not all seats were taken.

On the central table, several businessmen were discussing with Ye Yuan. Meanwhile, there were people coming to bestow gifts constantly. Some servants recorded them and shouted out loud to inform people.

Ye Yun passed through the inner yard to the main yard. He glanced at the empty tables, sighing. When he set out to attend the test one year ago, all seats were occupied by guests and friends. Almost all the big shots in the Chiyun City came together to flatter him. At that time, he was regarded as the disciple of the supreme Xuanwu School.

But now... Even an ordinary person could have a much more boisterous ceremony than him!

"Yun, come and sit down. The feast is about to start." Ye Yuan saw Ye Yun coming, waving to him and called him. Ye Yun behaved himself and sat down without saying anything.

At that time, a servant came to Ye Yuan with an account book in his hands and said with great respect, "Master, all the clans in the city have sent servants to bestow gifts. But no envoy attends."

Ye Yuan calmly looked at the empty yard and said, "Call the cooks to serve the dishes. And order every servant to attend the feast."

"Yes, master." The servant turned away.

"How superficial the human relationships is!" The self-mockery of Ye Yuan depressed Ye Yun. Maybe he was the only clan member who invited nobody but servants to his coming-of-age ceremony.

"I think we are not late, are we?"

At the entrance of the main yard, an old man in his seventies and two middle-aged people led a group of descendants to the courtyard.

Ye Yun darted an angry look at them and thought, "Three elders of the clan! Are they going to laugh at me?"

These three people were the backbones of the Ye Clan. The old man in his seventies was Ye Wentian, the first elder master of the Ye Clan. On his left, the dark-skinned man was the second elder master Ye He. And the other one was Ye Xinghe, the third elder master. Ye Wentian strode rapidly. He had a wide forehead and thick eyebrows, looking like a man of action. The other two elders looked amiable with benign facial expressions.

Ye Yuan clasped hands towards all the guests and politely guided them to their seats. Then, some other clan members arrived. In a moment, some tables were full of people, while most were still empty.

Soon after, nearly a hundred members of Ye Clan gathered in the yard. The atmosphere was then warmed up. Meanwhile, servants began to serve the dishes.

"Here comes the envoy from Yan Clan!"

When it was about to lay the cloth, a servant rushed to the yard in excitement and shouted loudly.

"What? Yan Clan?"

All members of the Ye Clan quieted down. Everyone was waiting excitedly and nervously.

Among all people, only Ye Yun was calm. But he felt uneasy and thought, "Really? Does Yan Clan really come? I wonder if she would come!"

Ye Yuan stood up and walked towards the main yard at once. He glanced at Ye Yun, and the latter immediately followed up. But when they just walked a few steps, a servant showed up.

Everyone was surprised and disappointed.

However, Ye Clan dare not slight the guest from Yan Clan, even if he was a servant.

Ye Yuan and Ye Yun walked towards the servant with quick short steps. However, the servant did not even glance at them. He just drew out a letter and read out loud indifferently, "As everyone knows, Ye Yun, the young master of Ye Clan, has lost his cultivation base and was rejected by Xuanwu School. He is not qualified to marry the daughter of Yan Clan. The engagement of them has been cancelled by Yan Clan. From Yan Zhan."

Whirr!

Silence spread out the Ye's yard.

"Damn you! Even if I am disabled, you cannot treat me like that! How can you break the engagement on my big day? What do you take me for? Damn it!"

The accumulated anger finally burst out. Ye Yun could not bear it anymore. He raised his fist towards the servant of Yan. Surprisingly, the servant looked death calmly in the face.

"Boom!"

Just as the fist was about to fell on the servant, a strong power suddenly drove off Ye Yun. There were silent in the yard. The dust and sand were blowing in the air. Ye Yun looked up after falling off, trembling. All he could see was blood. Finally, he found out all the indifferent look around him, while his father, Ye Yuan, just put down his hands.

However, the one who punched him was exactly his father, Ye Yuan.

"Why..."

Ye Yun roared with all strength. But the sound was heard as a hoarse groan, weak as fly. His body shook violently. The blood ran down his jaw and incarnadined his clothes. Even the silt on the ground turned bloody red.

"Yan Clan... Damn you, Yan Linlang..."

Ye Yun reached out his bloody hands and painfully climbed towards the servant of Yan Clan. However, he was in a dead faint after saying the words.

"Water..."

Ye Yun laid on the bed. The red robe was dyed bloody red, which was especially obvious on the chest. He felt mouth parched and tongue scorched. His whole body was weak and tired. His mind was disordered and could not remember anything.

He just...wanted to drink water.

Dehydration. Severe dehydration. There was one explanation: massive hemorrhage.

For a moment, he felt someone was feeding him water. Then he fainted again.

"Ah..."

Not knowing how long it took, Ye Yun suddenly groaned with pain. Before he opened his eyes, he heard the call of a servant: "Master, childe seems to awake."

"Ok, you can go now." Another familiar sound. It no longer sounded indifferent. Instead, it was magnetic and hoarse with an amiable tone.

Ye Yun suddenly opened his eyes and looked up. As expected, he saw a familiar figure. He called difficultly, "Father..."

Ye Yuan immediately stood up and strode to the bedside. He pressed on Ye Yun's shoulders and said, "Yun, don't move. You just took a hemostasis elixir. You still need some days to recover."

"How long have I fainted? And, I remember that Yan Clan sent someone to.. to cancel the engagement. Yeah. I remember that." Ye Yun felt extremely tired and droopy. He asked some casual questions. But suddenly, he looked at Ye Yuan with wide-opened eyes filled with hope.

With just a look, Ye Yuan seemed to know what Ye Yun was thinking. He sat beside Ye Yun and fetched the glass aside to feed Ye Yun water. After Ye Yun calmed down, Ye Yuan started to talk. "Yun, I had no alternative but to hit you. You know the situation of our clan. Although we still have a place in Chiyun City, Yan Clan, Qin Clan and many other clans all have their eyes on us. If you hurt that servant that day, Yan Clan would definitely look for trouble. To say the least, the Yan Clan dare to send a servant, which means there must be some conspiracies. I have observed the servant carefully, but I couldn't perceive his cultivation base."

Ye Yun was startled, mouth open. "What? You are the level nine of Flesh Immortal. Even you could not perceive. Could it be..."

"Yeah, it is exactly what you are thinking. He is not a servant. Instead, he may be a cultivator of Yan Clan. As for the reason they sent him here, I can't figure it out." Ye Yuan nodded.

"Yan Clan is the magnate in Chiyun City. Why did they choose us as an alliance?"

"Seemingly, people in the Chiyun City respect the Yan Clan. Actually, Qin Clan has united many other clans to replace the Yan Clan. And the Yan Clan as well has drawn many clans over to their side. Everyone knew that you reached level three at the age of ten. So, Yan Clan saw your potential and sent people as matchmakers. In order to contend against other clans, I had no choice but to accept. Besides, Yan Linlang, the third daughter of Yan Zhan, is also a talent. I thought you two would be well matched."

"I see... So my marriage was just a transaction."

Ye Yun sighed. The gloom and pain left by the hit suddenly disappeared.

Silence occupied the room. After a good while, Ye Yuan exhorted him, "Yun, just stay here and recuperate for several days. Don't lose your temper. As for the engagement, I will definitely ask the Yan Clan for a reasonable explanation."

Ye Yun saw Ye Yuan off. At that moment, he was heartbroken and filled with self-accusation. He felt guilty about causing trouble for his father.

So many things had happened to Ye Yun within six months, even much more than what he had experienced in fifteen years. Firstly, the genius flattered by the clan and even the whole city was demoted to an ordinary person with almost no cultivation base. Next, he experienced an abyss of disgrace at his coming-of-age ceremony: the cancel of engagement. Everything came too fast.

A few months seemed like a whole life for Ye Yun, and even longer. Maybe this was his true coming-of-age ceremony.

He felt extremely tired. He wanted to fall asleep forever. He had been practiced Body Butt ever since he was six regardless of the season. He had gotten over such hard years.

But all his effort had gone like a flash in the pan. Thinking of that, Ye Yun felt overwhelmed with sorrow and pain.

"You, youngster. Want to withdraw from such a little difficulty? How dare you say that you are the descendant of Ye?"

Suddenly when Ye Yun felt depressed, he sensed the constant changes of hot and cold between his eyebrows. And a somehow familiar sound floated to him.

"Who? Who is talking?" Ye Yun bore the pain and sat up. He vigilantly looked around, feeling like been torn apart.

But there was no one in the room. As Ye Yun felt confused, the sound came again, "I'm in the place between your eyebrows. Calm down and think. That tear. It contains part of my consciousness."

"Ah!"

Ye Yun gasped out and immediately touched his between the eyebrows. What happened in the ShengZu hall came to his mind. Suddenly, he asked with great awe, "Immortal, are you the ancestor of our Ye Clan?"

"Well, you are clever." The person praised him.

Ye Yun scratched his head and asked, "Immortal... Eh... Ancestor, how shall I address you?"

"It doesn't matter. We are both cultivators. The name, time, status, fame. Everything doesn't matter. You can just call me 'Uncle Han'."

"Uncle Han!" Ye Yun called him in reverence. At that moment, Ye Yun has made clear the name of uncle Han. As he was the ancestor of Ye Clan, his name must be Ye Han. Ye Yun eagerly asked, "Uncle Han, does the stone sculpture look like you?"

The sound of uncle Han lingered in his mind, "That's right. This was made with my own hand before my degeneration."

"Degeneration? Uncle Han, you...?" Ye Han was shocked.

The sound came out, "I have already died for a thousand years. Before I died, I locked all my remaining forces into this sculpture and sealed it with a trick, waiting for a special person. Any descendants who devoutly worship the sculpture could unlock the trick and get part of my power and my relict consciousness. I feel comforted but also disappointed. Thousands of years have passed. I only met you with enthusiasm and devotion. Most importantly, you have the quality that others do not have. Anyway, this is fate."

Ye Yun was extremely shocked. He was awed by the imposing power. Suddenly, something occurred to him, "Uncle Han, I still feel there are some other secrets in your sculpture. But I can't tell what they are."

"That's why I said you're clever. You can sense the power that even cultivators could not. Well, that sculpture does hide an extraordinary secret. That secret has once brought wholesale slaughter to Ye Clan. To put it another way, the decline of Ye Clan is ascribed to that secret. Otherwise, Ye Clan could have been a supreme clan on a par with Bai Clan."

"What's that secret?" Ye Yun could not help asking, overwhelmed by the waves of his emotions. Bai Clan, the No.1 clan in the world, controlled the Dynasty of Baiyu.

"Considering your current cultivation base, I'd better not tell you. The Flesh Immortal is the most important stage of practicing the foundation of immortal. Knowing too much could only be a burden for you. As long as you become the Celestial Immortal one day, you would be qualified to know."

"Celestial Immortal!" Ye Yun had never heard of this word. But he could understand that Celestial Immortal must be more powerful than Flesh Immortal and even Earth Immortal.

Uncle Han said with aloofness, "Ye Yun, the world you perceive is too small. Flesh or Earth Immortal is nothing. Only Celestial Immortal could be called a true cultivator. And the true powerhouse is Human Immortal. Above Human Immortal, there is even Future Immortal. A future immortal could destroy the whole Xuanwu School with just one move."

Ye Yun felt creepy, "Future Immortal? Destroy Xuanwu School with one move?"

"There are four realms of immortal cultivation: Flesh Immortal, Earth Immortal, Celestial Immortal, Human Immortal. Flesh Immortal is just a refined human. Earth Immortal could be called the beginning of cultivation. Celestial Immortal could refine the Qi in the world to make the elixir, with a long life span of thousands of years. What's more, Human Immortal could live for at least more than ten thousand years. After the Heavenly Tribulation, Human Immortal could become Future Immortal, entering another world." Uncle Han continued.

"Another world?" Ye Yun felt impossible.

"I don't know what that world is. It's just a rumor."

"Uncle Han, are you Future Immortal?" Considering the power of uncle Han that could act as if he was still alive, Ye Yun felt curious.

Uncle Han hummed, "Naïve! It's extremely hard to become Future Immortal. It is a one-in-million chance. I'm just an ordinary cultivator who knows a little more than others. Besides, I used to be the disciple of Xuanwu. Compared with those million-year master, I'm just a thousand-year master."

Ye Yun was astonished with eyes wide open, "A thousand-year master? You must be at least Celestial Immortal, uncle Han!"

"Well, you are indeed clever. OK, I need some rest. I have healed you. You could walk tomorrow. For me, this is a piece of cake." Uncle Han praised him.

However, Ye Yun suddenly laid down and said weakly, "Unfortunately..."

Uncle Han asked, "Youngster, what are you sighing for? You make me feel that you're older than me."

"If I could meet you earlier, I may be able to become a powerful person like you. But my dantian... What a pity!" Ye Yun said, putting his hands on his lower abdomen subconsciously.

Uncle Han immediately scolded him, "So what? That's all you could do? In those days, I have practiced the Body Butt for ten years without any progress. And there was even a hole in my dantian. I could still cultivate and become Celestial Immortal. There is nothing more than several wounds in your dantian."

"You could cultivate with leaks in your dantian?" Ye Yun admired uncle Han more instantly.

Uncle Han said in an attitude of nothing special, "Usually, it's impossible. But I have learned an ancient method to repair the flaws in our body."

After hearing that, Ye Yun felt lifted and was extremely excited, "It could repair the flaws in our body? Then my dantian..."

"Of course."

"Finally!"

"But..."

"What's wrong?" Hearing the pause, Ye Yun was anxious that it seemed hard for uncle Han to speak out the hidden information. He was itching to know everything.

After a good while, uncle Han started to talk, "That method is abnormal. The days you spend on cultivating that method would be counted and taken away from your life span. It equals to chronic suicide. But at the same time, the effect is amazing. It could improve the strength of cultivator for several times. If you are in the level two of Flesh Immortal, your power could be lifted up several times, even ten times. Your power would be equivalent to ten people of your level."

Chronic suicide?

Improving the strength for several times?

The provoking but blood-boiling words made Ye Yun confused. "What exactly is it?"

Suddenly, Ye Yun could not hear the sound of uncle Han anymore. He stayed quiet and then called several times for uncle Han. But there was no reply. It seemed that uncle Han disappeared for a rest.

Ye Yun lay on the bed, staring at the beams with a complicated expression. It seemed that he had made up his mind.