Clan Cultivation: The Ye Clan

Ye Shibai invited the three clan leaders to sit down and had his disciples serve tea.

Looking at the three clan leaders, he took the initiative to ask, "The three clan leaders have come at the right time today. Amber, quickly present the prepared invitations to the three of you. This way, you won't have to make another trip."

The three clan leaders had just sat down when they heard this news, and they were completely dumbfounded. What invitation?

Just as he was wondering, Ye Anbo stood up, walked over to the three clan leaders, respectfully placed the invitations from the three families in their hands, and returned to his seat.

The three clan leaders each picked up their own invitation, opened it, and read:

Presented to: Zheng Clan Head

We cordially invite the Zheng clan head and his family to attend the foundation-building ceremony for Ye Shiqing of the Ye family on the first day of next month.

The Ye Clan Chief cordially invites you

The three clan leaders were momentarily taken aback upon seeing the contents, but they managed their expressions well, and no one else noticed.

When Chief Zheng saw the invitation, he thought to himself, "They've already given out invitations before I've even spoken. Is this a way of putting me in a difficult position?"

Clan Chief Qi was also puzzled. Was the Ye family preparing to start a war with us?

When Chief Zhou received the invitation, his heart sank. The timing of the invitation was terrible.

Clan Chief Zhou glanced at the other two clan chiefs out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that their expressions were not good, he said sternly, "Clan Chief Ye, what do you mean by this? Your Ye family has only just had a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and you already look down on the three Foundation Establishment families?"

I'm anxious, and I've already given you this opening line, so hurry up and explain.

Chief Ye looked at him with a "what are you talking about? I don't understand" expression and said, "What are you saying? Our Ye family has devoted all its resources to cultivating such a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so we just wanted to hold a ceremony to celebrate."

"How dare we disregard the three Foundation Establishment families? What makes you say that?!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Chief Zheng and Chief Qi softened slightly.

Chief Zhou was slightly relieved; at least he knew how to speak properly and seemed to be quite sensible.

Clan Chief Zhou did not continue speaking, but looked at Clan Chief Zheng, who was leading the group.

Seeing the expression on Clan Chief Zhou's face, Ye Shibai and Ye Anbo realized that Clan Chief Zheng was the key figure among the three.

He adopted an expression of listening attentively and looked at Chief Zheng.

Chief Zheng was fairly satisfied with Ye Shibai's humble and respectful attitude, and asked directly, "I heard that you wiped out the He family of Qingzhu Mountain a few days ago, is that true?"

Ye Shipai and Ye Anbo exchanged a bewildered glance, realizing that this was the main event of the day, so they decided to bring out their prepared speeches.

Ye Shibai directly denied it: "Absolutely not."

The three clan leaders were puzzled when they saw Ye Shibai deny it without the slightest hesitation.

The three exchanged glances, wondering what was going on. Was the information wrong?

Chief Qi asked first, "How do you explain that Ye Shiqing of your Ye family is still stationed at Qingzhu Mountain?"

Ye Shibai: "Shiqing is indeed stationed at Qingzhu Mountain, but the He family was not destroyed by our Ye family."

The three clan leaders were completely bewildered and felt like they were about to get dizzy from all the explanation.

Clan Chief Zhou asked impatiently, "Clan Chief Ye, just say it directly. I don't understand what you're saying."

Ye Shibai calmly picked up the tea from the table next to him, took a sip, put down the cup, covered it with the lid, and then began to speak.

"The He family was wiped out by a man in black. At the time, my Shiqing was leading a junior member of the clan on an expedition when they happened to run into him, but it was too late."

"When my Shiqing saw it, almost all the He family cultivators were already dead. After settling the younger generation, Shiqing went straight for the man in black."

"That man in black is at the late Foundation Establishment stage."

At this point, both Chief Zheng and Chief Qi turned to look at Chief Zhou. Could this be the assassin the He family hired that you mentioned?

Then Ye Shibai continued, "Our Shiqing was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, but he rushed over without any regard for the consequences."

"Fortunately, the man in black had used most of his spiritual power when he killed the He family members, and he was also injured, so he was lucky enough to be killed by Shi Qing."

"Otherwise, I don't even dare to think about the consequences."

At this point, Ye Shibai's face was full of reproach and worry for Ye Shiqing, perfectly portraying the image of a good older brother who cares deeply for his younger brother.

The three clan leaders, seeing that Ye Shibai's expression didn't seem fake, each began to ponder their own thoughts.

After a moment's thought, Chief Qi said, "That's not right."

Upon hearing this, Ye Shibai's heart tightened. Was there something wrong with his explanation?

Then they heard Chief Qi continue, "Then why didn't you report this to the City Lord's Mansion? Are you planning to keep it all for yourselves?"

The atmosphere in the hall became tense in an instant. The three clan leaders shot sharp glances at Ye Shibai, waiting for his answer.

Ye Shibai breathed a sigh of relief; he had already prepared an answer to this question.

He smiled and said, "We'll be holding the Foundation Establishment Ceremony in half a month. All the families will be there. I was thinking of discussing the ownership of Green Bamboo Mountain then."

"I also have a selfish reason. Our spiritual vein is only a mid-grade first-order spiritual vein. It won't be enough once we reach the Foundation Establishment stage. I'm thinking of asking the clan leaders for help with the second-order spiritual vein issue."

After listening to the explanation, the three clan leaders felt that it was reasonable.

A first-grade high-quality spiritual vein is no longer enough to satisfy the Ye family's development. The Ye family probably wants to use Green Bamboo Mountain to exchange for other resources.

Chief Zheng glanced at Chief Qi, as if to ask, "Do you have any more questions?"

Chief Qi shook his head silently.

Seeing this, the clan chief Zhou shook his head.

Chief Zheng said, "In that case, you should send people to keep an eye on Green Bamboo Mountain for now. As for the second-tier spiritual vein, let's think about it first and discuss it again in half a month."

"If there's nothing else, we'll take our leave now."

After saying this, the three of them stood up together, cupped their hands in farewell, and took their leave.

Ye Shibai smiled and personally saw the three clan leaders off. Only after they were out of sight did he turn around and walk back.

The smile had vanished from his face as he returned to the council chamber.

Ye Shilan and Ye Anbo were already sitting inside waiting for him.

Seeing Ye Shibai's unpleasant expression, Ye Shilan asked, "What's wrong? Did something not go well? Did they see through you?"

Ye Shibai shook his head. "It's hard to say, but we should have passed this hurdle today."

Ye Shibai took out a sound transmission talisman and sent a message to Ye Shiqing, instructing him to use the Breath Concealment Technique to adjust his cultivation level to the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Slightly relieved, she looked at Ye Amber and asked, "What do you think their purpose is in coming here today?"

Ye Amber pondered for a moment, "They're probably here to test us. If our strength increases too quickly, they'll probably join forces to deal with us first."

Ye Shilan nodded, agreeing with Ye Anbo's words.

Ye Shibai thought the same thing. "Then our response today should be fine. Make arrangements to keep a low profile and have the family disciples act cautiously."

Ye Anbo nodded and went out to make the arrangements.

Ye Shilan went to Ye Zhenzhen's courtyard to find her.

Upon hearing that someone had arrived early in the morning, Ye Zhenzhen immediately entered the Life Bead and brought Ye Shilan out, just in case.

Ye Zhenzhen was unhappy when she was refused permission to go and listen to the story, and went back on her own.

Looks like I need to go and coax this little girl first.

The three clan leaders who left did not fully believe it, and each sent their own men.