Chapter 207 - Onwards
“This should be everything!” Ye Wei exclaimed as he swept the last corner of the room.
It took more than two hours for Ye Wei to work out the logistics and clear the vault. He left the valley after making sure he had concealed his tracks.
‘It’s ridiculous how well Supreme Ye Yu’s transportation array worked. If people found out how much I’ve taken today, my family is probably going to be in trouble…’
Meanwhile, a few thousand miles away.
“What is this?! I want an explanation! Anyone!?” The Skeleton Demon King’s rage echoed in the cave, while his subordinates were shivering in fear.
“Your majesty, we have no idea! This is all we foun...”
The squad leader’s head fell off his neck as the Demon King swiped his arm right. He was less than amused by the common Qi stones and gems.
“I fought and searched for days, and this is what I’m getting?” The green glow in his eyes intensified. ‘A Supreme's treasure should be more and better than this!’
“Maybe someone was at the treasure spots before us.” He muttered and tried to deduce. “Huyan Haoze… I don’t know how you did it, but well played.”
***
A few months later the area around and including Green Moon City returned to peace. Furthermore, the Lu’s did nothing to pursuit the Ye’s.
It was the coldest winter in decades, and the Ye mansion was covered by a thick blanket of snow. The study was lit by arrays of runes, the runes that made up the original Falling Star form created by Supreme Ye Yu.
Surrounded by small piles of scrolls, Ye Wei had been working all day and night for a whole week, jotting down the runes for the formula and a tutorial on practising it. The young Runemaster had decided to leave the low-level Earth Formula and a collection of stances to the Ye family.
Since the Ye family was yet to be strong enough to defend the whole treasure, he decided to leave just a portion of the findings behind just in case the family’s enemies end up learning about the acquisition.
Before Ye Wei started writing, he had put his iron talisman aside with a piece of Supreme crystal and it was now completely recharged.
“That’s about it…” Ye Wei yawned and stretched his back, “I think I am ready to leave.”
It had been a known fact for Ye Wei that he needed to go to the outside world to get inspired if he wished to successfully achieve a breakthrough to the returned prime level. But when it came time to say goodbye, he was not too sure about leaving his family behind.
“Butler Fu!” Ye Wei called.
“Young master?” The caretaker gently opened the door.
“Would you mind telling Grandpa and the others to meet me in the main hall?” Ye Wei requested as he looked around the room he grew up in, feeling nostalgic but yearning to exploring the world.
“Sure, master,” Butler Fu could easily read the teenager’s intention. The young master’s childish face was slightly scrunched up as if he was already homesick. “So you are going to leave after all?”
The butler was unsettled. He sighed and looked at the narrow shoulders in front of him that had been carrying the Ye family’s burdens in these last few years. ‘You were so small and considered untalented not so long ago, but look at you now…’
Ye Wei’s contribution did not just make the Ye family the strongest family in Green Moon City undisputedly, it was recently also gaining state-wide attention, glorified due to the recent events regarding the dispute with Lu Qianhuan.
The butler had served long enough to tell when someone was prioritizing the family over their lives. He knew Ye Wei was the reason why the mansion was now often visited by the influential.
“The Zhou Dynasty is vast, I am still not strong enough compared to many. I have to travel when I am young so that I can become as great as Supreme Ye Yu!” Ye Wei exclaimed, trying to lift the wrinkles on Butler Fu’s face, to make the old man smile. “I will return, so I will need you to tidy and clean the room for me once in awhile!”
“Don’t tell me how to do my job!” The butler laughed and replied. ‘He is all grown up now…’
Minutes after, the Ye’s all stopped what they were doing and headed to the main hall, leaving trails of footsteps in the snow on the open hallways.
“Grandpa, this is the blood of the late Supreme Ye Yu. It is extremely strong and cannot be harvested by normal methods, sorry I didn’t have time to experiment with it. I am sure you can figure something out.” Ye Wei greeted the patriarch, discreetly handed over the vials, and then whispered into his ear.
“Thank you for coming everyone. I have something I would like to give to you all!” Ye Wei pointed at the scrolls he had placed on the long tables. “I have refined the Falling Star form to low-level Earth grade, and selected twelve high-level Myst stances; you should all look at them and study them when Grandpa says you’re strong enough.”
He reached to his inside pocket into an interspatial bag, emptied some of the contents on another table, and said, “These pills should last ten years. Use them and do not take shortcuts while cultivating, Grandpa will be assigning these resources as fairly as possible, as he always does.”
“Learn to use these scrolls and arms, take them if you need to complete a high risk mission. Our family needs to grow and that means everyone of us will have to work harder.”
“Little Wei, are you sure about going to the Helian’s?” The Ye Patriarch took a deep breath, saddened and faintly nervous.
“Yes!” The young Runemaster nodded determinedly. “I need diversion. I need to see and experience the world. Without inspiration, I will never breakthrough to returned prime level.
“Okay. I respect that. But when you are out there, please be careful. Remember, there is always sinister where there is good.” Ye Zhengqing patted Ye Wei’s shoulder and spoke in a tender, worrying tone. “No matter where you are, what you face, this house will always be your home and root. These gates will always open for you for whenever you decide to return!”
“Thank you so, so much, Grandpa!” The young Runemaster closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his grandfather.
“Little Wei, take care of yourself please!”
“Wei, if things don’t go your way, don’t push it! You can come back to rest any time you like!”
While his uncles and aunts bade farewell, his parents were speechless. They walked up to join him next to the patriarch with teary eyes.
“We are so proud of you, and we will miss you.” His mother whispered in his ear.
After a minute long hug, Ye Wei walked towards Ye Zhong. He punched his cousin’s shoulder and said: “Cousin Zhong, take care of everyone when I am away please!”
“Idiot, that goes without saying. Don’t be too reckless out there!” Ye Zhong nodded and slightly shuddered.
After bidding everyone goodbye, Ye Wei left the hall with master Yi. His master led him to one of the remote courtyards.
“Since you are heading off, I should fill you in.” Master Yi said in a gentle tone.
“The royal families work in a rotation. Since thirty years ago, the Lins have been in charge of governing and general policy; the Huyan are controlling the Green Army, maintaining order within the borders; and finally the Helians are in charge of finance and exploration.”
“Although the Lins are in power, they are keeping a rather low profile. They have been spending their resources on expeditions together with the Helians instead of having a tight grip over the dynasty.” Master Yi continued.
“Huyans and Helians are not friends, considering they fell out a while back when the Green Army failed to report some treasure findings.”
Ye Wei frowned and said, “that means I should beware of the Huyans?”
Master Yi nodded, “You have been given a great opportunity, but you’ve also been dragged into a very delicate and complex situation...”
The Master and apprentice paced in the courtyard and spoke about other related matters. About an hour later, Master Yi walked Ye Wei into a customized Runicle.
“Send me a message on the badge whenever you want to talk to me or need me, otherwise just let me know when you’ve arrived. I shall be at the capital in a few weeks, we can catch up then.” Master Yi proudly placed his arm around his legacy apprentice’s shoulder and spoke gently.
“Thank you for all these years of taking care of me, Master.” Ye Wei smiled while nodding, and stepped into the luxury compartment.
Flakes of white were covering the sky and the ground. Ye Wei’s Runical took the quickest route out of town, the hovering vehicle leaving no trail on the carpet of snow.
Ye Wei sat in the warm seat on an exotic beast skin, looking through the walls with his will-force empowered eyesight. He gazed at his home town dressed in white, and his eyes followed the main road out of town to the skyline afar as his mind wandered.
‘I have to use the connections I made, the opportunities I’ve been given. The Helians will help me climb the ladders without a doubt. I will be a fool to not try to get stronger and climb higher through them.’
‘I am not just going away, I am entering a new world. A world where class and standing matters, where I come from a family of a Supreme. I’ve inherited the Glacial Emperor’s legacy, so I will use those to my advantage in the future. And maybe then, when I’ve gained a better status, I will win Ziyan…’
Ye Wei clenched his fist, determined since he learned from his master that Lin Ziyan was the only daughter of the Lin Patriarch, the dynasty’s emperor.
He now understood why she had to keep a distance; the reason she left was to protect him from a dangerous world.
“I will become unstoppable.” Ye Wei muttered, his eyes glittering with determination. His thirst to become powerful was dominating his mind.
“I will not shut myself in a room and train—that is just sheer folly. I will learn from the Helians, interpret their wisdom, and incorporate their methods to suit my cultivation. I will not become one of their pawns!”