Chapter 608: Ye Family Village

"My Tianyuan Sect will hold a grand disciple recruitment ceremony in ten years, with benefits superior to those of the Xuantian Sect..."

"My Huangfu Immortal Clan will hold a grand recruitment ceremony for guards and patrons in ten years, offering excellent treatment and lower requirements than the Xuantian Sect..."

The announcement of the Xuantian Sect's recruitment ceremony had not yet covered the entire Eastern Region.

The announcement waves of the Tianyuan Sect and the Huangfu Immortal Clan holding their recruitment ceremonies in ten years immediately followed, sweeping across the Eastern Region from their respective bases.

The thresholds for the recruitment ceremonies announced by the two major powers were much the same as the Xuantian Sect's; most of the content was directly copied, and the language even subtly overshadowed the Xuantian Sect.

When the announcement voices of the Tianyuan Sect and the Huangfu Immortal Clan reached Cen Zhe's ears.

Cen Zhe's face immediately darkened. He looked toward the directions of the Tianyuan Sect and the Huangfu Immortal Clan and let out a cold snort.

After hesitating for a moment, Cen Zhe did not launch any counterattacks or engage in further verbal disputes with the two major powers.

As time passed.

After the announcement waves of the Xuantian Sect, the Tianyuan Sect, and the Huangfu Immortal Clan holding their recruitment ceremonies in ten years passed through.

The other major powers in the areas they passed by, having heard the announcement content, were instantly stunned.

"Didn't they say they would only broadcast the information about the recruitment ceremony after all the provincial-level arrays were renovated? Why is it happening early?"

"They are hegemonic powers, yet they are so... so... well... lacking in immortal virtue."

"Forget it. We can't fight them. I won't scold. No, I won't say anything."

"Quick! Transmit my order as Sect Master: vigorously promote the news that our Liuguang Sect will hold a recruitment ceremony in ten years throughout Liuguang Commandery."

"I do not care about areas outside Liuguang Commandery, but within Liuguang Commandery, we must recruit as many geniuses as possible into our Liuguang Sect."

Immediately following this, other powers of all sizes in the Eastern Region that had heard the announcements from the three hegemonic powers also began urgently promoting news of their own disciple recruitment in ten years.

After cursing internally for a while, these medium and small powers did not harbor much dissatisfaction.

Because in the Di Li Xuan Realm, any power with some foundation has mortal cities under its banner. The descendants of the residents living in these mortal cities will basically only participate in the spiritual root testing of their affiliated power, and those who meet the requirements will directly join that power.

The reason why the major powers in the Di Li Xuan Realm still frequently hold large-scale recruitment ceremonies.

Is simply to recruit some disciples with outstanding talents from areas outside the mortal cities under their banner.

Such as geniuses from villages and towns scattered everywhere, and from cities established by scattered cultivators after they grew up.

There are also the scattered geniuses overlooked by other powers, and the prodigies of medium and small families that they themselves are powerless to cultivate.

All of these are among the targets recruited when the major powers hold their recruitment ceremonies.

Therefore, even if the major powers cannot compete with the three hegemonic powers for recruits across the entire Eastern Region, as long as their basic foundation remains, they can still recruit a batch of disciples every year.

It is just that under these circumstances, the quantity and quality of the recruited disciples might be slightly lower than in previous years.

At the same time.

At the border between Ling Yunhai Province and Qing Province, in a hidden valley with scarce spiritual energy, vast internal space, and a gourd-like shape.

A massive village, isolated from the world, was nestled and living in seclusion there.

At this moment, smoke rose from chimneys within the village, filled with the sounds of children playing and laughing, occasionally interspersed with the shouting and scolding of adults.

In the central area of the village, an old man with white hair was lying on a recliner, closing his eyes to bask in the sun.

The scene looked very pleasant, but upon closer inspection of the old man's perpetually furrowed brows, one could faintly sense a strange sorrow in his heart.

Just then, accompanied by the sound of hurried running, a clear voice followed closely behind:

"Grandpa Village Head, Grandpa Village Head, I have broken through to the seventh layer of the Qi Refining realm."

Hearing this, the old man who had been lying on the recliner with his eyes half-closed suddenly opened them wide and sat up straight.

Looking toward the direction the voice came from, the old man could not suppress his inner excitement and shouted happily, "Good, good, good! Heaven blesses our Ye Family Village!"

"I never expected Ming'er to break through to the late stage of the Qi Refining realm so quickly."

"With Ming'er's terrifying speed of drawing in spiritual energy, even in this place with thin spiritual energy, there may be a chance in the future to break through to the Purple Mansion realm and protect our Ye Family Village for hundreds of years."

Not far from where the voice came, a boy who looked only twelve or thirteen years old, with bright eyes and white teeth, ran over with a face full of excitement.

When the boy arrived beside the old man, he could not help but clench his fist, then spoke with excitement mixed with a faint sense of determination, "Grandpa Village Head, rest assured. When I grow up, I will definitely break through to the Purple Mansion realm and continue to protect our Ye Family Village for you."

Indeed, this valley was the place where the remnants of the Ye Family had lived in seclusion back then.

And Ye Family Village was the village established by the remnants of the Ye Family back then; the residents of the village could all be said to be of the Ye Family bloodline.

No wonder the old man on the rocking chair was so delighted.

It was that the current Ye Family Village desperately needed a new generation to grow up in the resource-scarce village and take on the heavy burden of protecting it.

Therefore, the current Village Head of Ye Family Village, upon learning that Ye Jingming had broken through to the late stage of the Qi Refining realm so quickly in the spiritually thin Ye Family Village, was so delighted.

Now, more than seven hundred years have passed since the initial construction of Ye Family Village.

As times changed, among the Ye Family cultivators who had escaped from that Void Penetration realm Green Demon Clan and survived back then.

Except for the only Golden Core realm cultivator who escaped at that time, Ye Ye Xiji, everyone else had exhausted their lifespan and perished after leaving descendants.

Even the then Young Master of the Ye Family, Ye Ye Wenqiu, due to the extreme scarcity of spiritual energy in the valley, had exhausted a portion of the remaining spirit stones to raise his cultivation base to the peak of Foundation Establishment, only to fall during the process of breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm.

But Ye Ye Xiji, who had survived thanks to the lifespan of the Golden Core realm, after witnessing the successive deaths of familiar Ye Family members and the demise of her own son, Ye Ye Wenqiu.

Plus the insufficient spiritual energy in the valley, which could not sustain her Golden Core realm cultivation.

In a state of despair, Ye Ye Xiji ultimately chose to seal herself deep within the earth where Ye Family Village was located, becoming the last trump card of Ye Family Village.

Unless the forbidden formation was triggered at a moment of life and death for Ye Family Village, Ye Ye Xiji would not actively revive, until her own lifespan was exhausted in the future, silently perishing within her self-imposed slumber.

The surviving Ye Family cultivators at that time had not failed to consider making changes before they perished.

However, that era was too chaotic. Any place in the outside world that was weak yet had a large gathering of humans had almost all suffered bloody attacks from the Green Demon Clan.

Ye Family Village had also dispatched Foundation Establishment, and even Purple Mansion realm cultivators to leave this area and investigate news in other human gathering places back then.

What they saw was basically scenes of chaos.

Because there were no human powers above the Soul Transformation realm guarding the surroundings of this region.

Facing the bloody attacks by the Green Demon Clan that occurred from time to time, human gathering places with some self-defense capability were also in a state of sharpening weapons and tightening nerves at that time.

The cultivators dispatched by Ye Family Village to investigate back then even encountered the Green Demon Clan due to bad luck, nearly indirectly exposing the location of Ye Family Village. Had it not been for the fact that the Ye Family Village cultivator, who was about to be captured by the Green Demon Clan, upon realizing escape was hopeless, decisively issued a final warning message and then immediately self-detonated on the spot.

The location of the Ye Family Village had very likely already been exposed to those Qing Demon Clans back then.

It was precisely after that incident, filled with fear, that the Ye Family cultivators, following discussion, established a clan rule in the Ye Family Village to isolate themselves from the world and strictly forbid descendants from leaving.

After all, they did not know how long the demon calamity in the Earthly Profound Realm would continue to rage.

At that time, the despairing Ye Family cultivators had also abandoned the thought of restoring the Ye Family to its former scale.

They only hoped that the Ye Family bloodline could be passed down within the Earthly Profound Realm, waiting for the future.

After they passed away one by one, every village head of the Ye Family Village's descendants, upon learning the truth, strictly adhered to the clan rules they had set.

Over seven hundred years, passed down through generations, made the Ye Family Village appear increasingly prosperous.

But in reality, the cultivators born in the Ye Family Village through the ages had become increasingly declining.

Although the Ye Family Village followed the clan rule, hiding in this valley through the ages and never going out.

Moreover, the valley where the Ye Family Village is located is remote, and mountain ranges within a thousand li are rarely visited by people.

The spiritual energy in the region where the valley is located is very thin compared to other areas; the spiritual veins born in the surrounding areas and inside the valley are at most first-rank.

Plus the concealment formation arranged by the ancestors in the valley.

Therefore, the people of the Ye Family Village did not need to worry about cultivators from the outside world coming here and posing a danger to them.

However, in the mountain ranges surrounding the valley where the Ye Family Village is located, wild beasts occasionally transform into demon beasts.

The Ye Family Village is situated in the valley, built against the mountains.

Although in recent years, according to the clan rule, the Ye Family Village has been completely isolated from the world, it did not forbid the villagers from going up the mountain to hunt.

Over time, even though the great concealment formation blocked the life aura of the Ye Family Village.

In the mountain ranges surrounding the Ye Family Village, those demon beasts knew more or less of the existence of the Ye Family Village.

Thus, in the years that followed, occasionally some demon beasts from the surrounding mountain ranges would break into the valley where the Ye Family Village is located and attack the villagers.

If the mountain ranges contained only first-rank demon beasts, even if the Ye Family Village was now so down and out, the old man would not feel worried.

But in the surrounding mountain ranges, there existed second-rank demon beasts comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Perhaps the demon beasts in the mountain ranges were too weak, too few, and had too low a presence, plus this place was too remote.

Therefore, basically, no cultivators from the outside would specially come here to exterminate the demon beasts in the mountain ranges.

Over time, even though the spiritual energy in the mountain ranges was relatively thin compared to other areas, several Foundation Establishment demon beasts were born in the mountain ranges.

Even this was the effect after the Ye Family Village's ancestors cleared out the demon beasts in the surrounding mountain ranges back then.

Otherwise, there would be at least a dozen second-rank demon beasts comparable to Foundation Establishment in the mountain ranges surrounding the Ye Family Village.

It was precisely because of the potential danger of second-rank demon beasts in the mountain ranges surrounding the Ye Family Village.

That for the Ye Family Village to continue to live in peace and seclusion here, it must possess a Foundation Establishment cultivator to guard it.

But for the current Ye Family Village, producing a Foundation Establishment cultivator is an immense tribulation.

It is not that the descendants of the Ye Family Village lack talent, but the limitation of resources caused some Ye Family members with the potential for Foundation Establishment to fall before reaching the Foundation Establishment realm.

When the Ye Family Village's ancestors fled the Ye Family back then, they could only hastily bring out a small amount of resources.

Plus the consumption over these years.

To this day, the Ye Family Village can basically only obtain some low-rank resources from the surrounding mountain ranges.

If it were not for the fact that a first-rank spiritual vein still exists in the valley where the Ye Family Village is located, the current situation of the Ye Family Village would probably be even worse.

But even so, even if the Ye Family Village occasionally produces geniuses with three-element spiritual roots, reaching the peak of the Qi Refining realm is easy.

But breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm under conditions of scarce spiritual energy and insufficient spirit stone supply remains extremely difficult.

Let alone the Ye Family Village cultivators with two-element spiritual roots.

Plus, the scale of the Ye Family Village is simply too small, far inferior to the former Ye Immortal City.

As the number of Ye Family Village cultivators decreases, the number of geniuses with spiritual roots in the new generation of the Ye Family Village also decreases.

Just then, an old man with equally gray hair suddenly appeared behind a boy with an excited expression, looked at the boy with complex eyes, and then

finally made a certain decision in his heart. Looking at the old man sitting on the recliner, who was the current village head of the Ye Family Village, he said in a deep voice: "Send Ming'er out of the village! The Ye Family Village will only delay Ming'er's talent."

Upon hearing this, the old man sitting on the recliner's eyes narrowed, and the smile on his face turned to shock and anger. He angrily scolded: "Li Ye Xuanyun, have you gone mad? Our Ye Family Village's clan rule: isolate from the world, strictly forbid going out. Have you forgotten?"

Seeing the village head so enraged for the first time, the boy nearby was instantly frightened and dared not make a sound.

The old man named Li Ye Xuanyun, looking at the shocked and angry village head, kept a calm expression and replied coldly: "You should know that with Ming'er's talent, if he were in the outside world, he would surely be a figure of the genius level."

"Trapping Ming'er in our small Ye Family Village will only waste Ming'er's peerless talent bestowed by heaven."

Hearing these words, the shock and anger on the face of the current village head of the Ye Family Village paused, but after a moment's hesitation, he still resisted strongly: "You have also seen the things recorded by the Ye Family Village's ancestors."

"Sending Ming'er out is not a good thing for either the Ye Family Village or Ming'er. I do not want Ming'er to face those 'demons' recorded by the ancestors."

"Nor do I want the Ye Family Village to be exposed before those demons."

Hearing the word 'demon', a trace of fear also flashed in the eyes of the old man named Li Ye Xuanyun, but after taking a deep breath, he still unwillingly refuted: "But that was seven hundred years ago. Seven hundred years is enough to change many things. The 'demons' outside may no longer exist."

"Why don't we try to establish contact with the outside world, but instead keep shrinking in this tiny place, gradually heading towards extinction?"

"If Ming'er had not appeared this time, how much longer could our Ye Family Village last?"

Upon hearing these words, the current village head of the Ye Family Village immediately fell into silence.

Because he knew the other person was speaking the truth.

But... just as the two fell into silence and the boy nearby cautiously blinked his eyes.

A very majestic voice suddenly rang out from above the Ye Family Village:

"In ten years, my Li Xuan Tian Sect"

(End of this chapter)