Eternal Holy Emperor
Chapter 33 - 31: Disdain as an Enemy

Chapter 33: Chapter 31: Disdain as an Enemy

As the foremost among the younger generation of the family, a powerful figure in the Acquired Ninth Layer, Ye Zhengyang was qualified to serve as a Cultivation Guide for other youths.

Not far away, some key members of the Ye Family were present, including an elder with authoritative power, watching Ye Zhengyang with nods of approval.

Within the young generation of the Ye Family, Ye Zhengyang truly was the most outstanding descendant; at a young age, he was already at the Acquired Ninth Layer, and his advancement to the Innate realm was surely not far off.

All young men and women present gazed at Ye Zhengyang with eyes full of fervor, admiration, and respect, feeding Ye Zhengyang’s ego, as his smile grew even broader.

Vanity, the temptation that every young person finds hard to resist.

However, Ye Zhengyang’s gaze would occasionally, intentionally or unintentionally, linger on the beautiful girl who stood out in the Martial Arts Arena, filled with fervency and possessiveness.

This girl, was none other than Ye Zimei.

Within the Ye Family, although all were kin, most were separated by five or six generations, making the blood relations quite thin, and thus allowing intra-family marriages.

And Ye Zimei, being the most beautiful girl in the family and gifted and intelligent, not to mention the beloved granddaughter of the Second Elder, naturally received a lot of affection and adoration from the family’s youths, including the currently top-ranked Ye Zhengyang.

As the leading youth of the family, he felt an unparalleled sense of superiority and had long seen Ye Zimei as his future wife. The close relationship between the three elders made him feel even more entitled.

Regrettably, faced with Ye Zhengyang’s ardent gaze, Ye Zimei kept up her usual aloof demeanor, showing none of the worship or affection that the other girls had for Ye Zhengyang.

Even against his passionate stares, she slightly furrowed her brows and subconsciously averted her eyes.

Several equally beautiful girls beside her couldn’t help but say, "Zimei, I think Cousin Zhengyang is interested in you. He’s the top of our family’s younger generation, handsome and powerful, not to mention the grandson of the Great Elder. You and he are just made for each other."

"Yes, I too wish I had a good man like Cousin Zhengyang to be with."

"You don’t like Cousin Zhengyang at all, even though he’s so outstanding?"

Her female companions were buzzing with talk, but Ye Zimei just shook her head. For some reason, the image of a refined young man kept coming to her mind. Snapping back to reality, her face suddenly flushed a bit red.

This scene left her companions somewhat astonished. Could it be that Ye Zimei was... longing for love?

"Of course, theories are hard to understand, but we can always put them into practice. Watch closely," said Ye Zhengyang as he approached a two-meter-tall boulder, intent on showcasing his true strength before Ye Zimei.

To win over a woman, formidable martial power was often the simplest and most direct method.

He threw a simple and direct punch.

With a loud boom, the boulder was hammered deep into the stone body.

"This is an ordinary punch, only delivering a force of 1,200 pounds, something a Sixth Level cultivator could deliver. But the same force, when used with a Martial Art—" Ye Zhengyang suddenly leapt up and darted to another equally large boulder, his entire demeanor changing, now like a tiger poised to pounce, launching a Tiger Claw strike accompanied by an underlying tiger’s roar.

Boom—

The two-meter-high stone was directly shattered, leaving no suspense and causing all the disciples to light up with admiration, clapping and cheering loudly.

From a distance, a few of the family officials all nodded in approval, saying, " Ye Zhengyang is really impressive. He’s only twenty years old, but already at the Acquired Ninth Layer, and he’s mastered the Tiger Roar Fist to such a proficient degree. It probably won’t be long before he steps into the Innate realm."

"Indeed, the Tiger Roar Fist may only be an Acquired Martial Art, but to cultivate it to such a perfected extent is truly not easy."

The Third Elder said with a smile, "Indeed, Ye Zhengyang has good talent, the most outstanding person of our Ye Family’s generation. In no more than two years, our Ye Family will have another Innate Expert, and he will be one in his early twenties at that."

Obviously, the Ye Family’s upper echelon had high hopes for Ye Zhengyang.

The three elders were all connected by a single lineage, and thus they placed an even greater emphasis on Ye Zhengyang.

"Ye Zhengyang has talent, but he’s not the first. What a pity. If only Ye Chen hadn’t..." Suddenly, an older official let out a light sigh filled with regret.

Although the Third Elder wasn’t too fond of Ye Chen, he too showed a look of regret.

Ye Chen, in his time, had been astonishingly brilliant, reaching the Innate realm at thirteen, far surpassing Ye Zhengyang by who knows how many times. If he continued like this, not to mention the realm of Martial God, even the legendary Heavenly Divine Realm might have been within his reach.

If his talents remained, then the Ye Family might well have been poised to dominate Xia Feng Country as a massive power.

But alas, the world knows no ifs...

Elsewhere, outside the Martial Arts Arena, Ye Chen was also nodding.

Martial Arts, as the name suggests, are techniques that maximize the use of strength in various ways, which are much stronger than mere brute force.

The difference between possessing and lacking martial arts skills can sometimes be significant, to the extent it’s possible to overpower the strong with the weak.

However, to him, these martial arts techniques within the clan held little meaning, or perhaps he simply disdained them altogether.

Ye Chen glanced only once before striding away, but at that moment, a loud shout echoed, drawing the attention of everyone in the Martial Arts Arena: "Ye Chen, you stop right there."

The one who shouted was Ye Hua, practicing martial arts in the arena. Since the last time Ye Chen had publicly humiliated him in the Salary Hall, he had been seething with rage and had constantly been looking for an opportunity to vent on Ye Chen.

But over the past four months, he had not once seen the other party, and the Family Head had strictly forbidden anyone from intruding upon Ye Chen’s separate residence, which left him simmering with pent-up anger. Now that he finally saw Ye Chen passing by, how could he let him leave? He couldn’t help but shout loudly.

As his shout resounded, all eyes turned in unison.

The Third Elder and several of the family’s stewards were stunned, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the young man. It was as if speaking of Cao Cao and Cao Cao had arrived.

Even Ye Zimei, who had been somewhat distracted, couldn’t keep her gaze from drifting toward him, and a slow smile spread across her delicate and charming face.

He had come...

However, Ye Zhengyang, who had been watching Ye Zimei all this time, now had an even colder look in his eyes.

"Look, it’s really Ye Chen, that good-for-nothing. I didn’t expect him to show up here."

"Show up for what? Didn’t you see he didn’t dare step into the Martial Arts Arena? He simply isn’t qualified."

"Hehe, you may not know, but four months ago, Ye Chen humiliated Ye Hua in the Salary Hall. Today, Ye Hua wants to teach Ye Chen a lesson."

"Really? Poor Ye Chen, I heard that Ye Hua broke through to the Acquired Sixth Realm just a month ago, making him much more powerful. Last time, Ye Chen was just lucky. Now, in a direct confrontation, he has no chance of winning."

In the arena, a group of young men and women whispered amongst themselves, with no one looking favorably upon Ye Chen. In their minds, he was nothing more than a wastrel at the Acquired Third Realm with a shattered dantian, unable to cultivate, while Ye Hua had just recently advanced to the Sixth Level.

In any case, Ye Chen was no match for Ye Hua.

Hearing the whispers of the crowd, Ye Hua wore a victorious smile on his lips. Today, he planned to teach Ye Chen a harsh lesson right here, reminding him of the consequences of offending him publicly four months ago.

Ye Chen stopped in his tracks, his brows furrowing: "What is it?"

"Ye Chen, since you’re here, then let’s duel. As a man, are you afraid to face me?" Ye Hua sneered, trying to provoke him.

The Third Elder and several stewards made no move to intervene.

Although Ye Hua had broken through to the Sixth Level and Ye Chen was only at the Third, which seemed to be bullying, they were all somewhat dissatisfied with Ye Chen’s behavior towards the Yang Family in the hall that day. Therefore, they felt it was necessary to slightly reprimand him, as a warning to others.

"Ye Hua, what do you mean by this? You clearly know Brother Ye Chen is only at the Acquired Third Realm while you have recently broken through to the Sixth. It’s evident you want to bully Brother Ye Chen. Don’t you feel ashamed?" At this moment, Ye Zimei stood up for him, her fiery and slender figure attracting the heated gaze of all those present.

Seeing that it was Ye Zimei who had spoken, Ye Hua’s expression changed subtly. He dared not be arrogant in front of this young lady and quickly replied respectfully, "Miss Zimei, this is a private grudge between Ye Chen and me, irrelevant to you, please do not interfere."

Then, Ye Zhengyang also spoke up, his gloomy face instantly changing to one full of sunshine in the presence of Ye Zimei, ambiguously resembling the sunny boy next door: "Zimei, since it’s a private matter between cousin Ye Hua and cousin Ye Chen, we’d better not get involved."

His sunny smile and handsome appearance, coupled with his outstanding cultivation, immediately won the affectionate glares of many young girls experiencing their first awakenings of love.

However, Ye Zimei stepped back and frowned: "Ye Hua clearly wants to take this opportunity to bully Brother Ye Chen. What private grudge? You’ve grown too bold over the years. I must intervene in this matter. Also, Cousin Zhengyang, please call me by my full name in the future, I’m not accustomed to being addressed by my first name."

Ye Zhengyang’s face suddenly darkened considerably, but he remained silent.

On the other side, Ye Hua’s expression also drastically changed. Although he had broken through to the Acquired Sixth Realm a few days ago, he was no match for Ye Zimei at the Acquired Seventh Realm, and immediately turned to Ye Chen, shouting, "Ye Chen, you waste, don’t you have the guts to duel with me? Are you just going to hide behind a woman?"

"Idiot, go away to wherever it’s cool, I don’t have the spare time to play with kids like you!"

After dropping a sentence that shocked everyone and left Ye Hua enraged, Ye Chen left without looking back, ignoring everyone.

Being rejected in such a humiliating manner in front of so many clan members turned Ye Hua’s face the color of iron, and it was an extremely ugly sight. In a flash, he took two steps and charged forward, with a punch whistling through the air as he roared, "Ye Chen, I told you to stop."

Ye Zimei saw this and was about to intervene when Ye Zhengyang stepped forward to block her path, causing her expression to change slightly.

But at that moment, under the astonished gaze of everyone, Ye Chen turned with the speed of lightning for a roundhouse kick, striking Ye Hua directly in the abdomen. With one kick, Ye Hua was sent flying ten meters away, falling into the dust, his face flushing with pain as he curled up, clutching his stomach.

Ye Chen dusted off the nonexistent dirt on his clothes with composure, scoffing, "Roll aside, with such meager strength you dare to challenge me to a duel? It’s simply a waste of time."

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