Invincible Soul Emperor

On the other side, Ye Qingchen and Elder Yang returned to the Divine Wood Academy.

"Elder Yang, what exactly is your cultivation realm?" Ye Qingchen asked curiously, helping the elder sit down in a slightly flattering manner.

Elder Yang, putting on the air of an enlightened master, stroked his grease-stained beard and replied, "As for my realm, let’s just say it’s higher than yours."

Ye Qingchen pursed his lips. I already know your realm is higher than mine, even if you won’t say it.

However, Ye Qingchen was truly curious. His Dual Pupil Martial Soul had been completely repaired, and its probing ability had increased by dozens of times. Yet, when he observed Elder Yang, it was still like a stone sinking into the ocean, without a single ripple.

Moreover, Elder Yang could suppress President Liu, a high-level Martial Emperor, with just his aura. His strength must be at the peak of the Martial Emperor Realm, at least, right?

Now that Elder Yang was unwilling to say, Ye Qingchen knew that no matter how much he pestered him, the elder would not divulge any information.

Ye Qingchen brewed some tea for Elder Yang and handed him the teacup, continuing his questions. "Elder Yang, you’re so powerful, and I’m the only disciple here at the Divine Wood Academy. Don’t you think you should focus on training me? You could teach me some of your Divine Level Cultivation Techniques or Heaven Rank Martial Techniques. That way, when I’m out in the world, I can say I’m your disciple. It’d bring you honor, right?"

Elder Yang was so exasperated by Ye Qingchen’s words that he almost choked on his tea. He laughed and scolded, "Divine Level Cultivation Techniques? Heaven Rank Martial Techniques? You could grind up these old bones of mine and sell them, and you still couldn’t afford something like that. Besides, I’ve told you many times: the other disciples of our Divine Wood Academy are all out training. The task of bringing glory to the academy falls to your senior brothers and sisters. As for you, just stay obediently by my side. Make me tea and chat with me when I’m bored. That’s all I ask."

Seeing Elder Yang’s impervious demeanor, Ye Qingchen knew it would be difficult to get anything worthwhile from him. He changed the subject, saying, "Elder Yang, you mentioned last time that you could take me in and out of the Ten Ancient Clans whenever you wished. When do you plan on taking me?"

Elder Yang gave Ye Qingchen a meaningful look and stated calmly, "You’ve been going on about the Ten Ancient Clans since we first met. Why are you so eager to visit such a trashy place?"

Ye Qingchen pursed his lips. Probably only someone of Elder Yang’s stature would call the Ten Ancient Clans trash. But on second thought, given who he is, he must know a lot about them. He might even have news about Qin Yue. With this realization, he asked directly, "To be honest with you, Elder Yang, my fiancée was abducted by a Saint Heir from one of the Ten Ancient Clans. As a man, how could I face the world if I can’t even protect my own wife? That’s why I came to the Central Region—to investigate the Ten Ancient Clans and find clues about my fiancée."

Ye Qingchen was being completely honest with Elder Yang. Ever since the elder’s domineering appearance in the Training Mountain Range, Ye Qingchen could tell that Elder Yang genuinely saw him as a disciple, so there was no need to hide things from his mentor.

Elder Yang nodded and said, "You have spirit. I like that. However, with your current strength, if you managed to get into the lands of the Ten Ancient Clans, forget a Saint Heir—even their subordinates could kill you hundreds of times over. To prevent our Divine Wood Academy’s legacy from being cut short, I won’t agree to let you go until your strength meets my standards!"

Ye Qingchen was speechless, so angry his teeth itched. He had hoped Elder Yang would help, but the old man had just cut off that hope entirely. Meet his standards? The man can suppress a high-level Martial Emperor with just his aura! By the time my strength meets his standards, it will be an eternity from now!

Elder Yang naturally noticed Ye Qingchen’s dissatisfaction and said with a light laugh, "Don’t worry. Knowing the nature of those Saint Heirs, your fiancée won’t be in any real danger with them. You should just focus on your cultivation."

Ye Qingchen sighed. He knew Elder Yang wasn’t joking about this, but he couldn’t suppress his yearning for Qin Yue for even a moment.

Besides, all he does is tell me to cultivate, but he doesn’t teach me anything! The Spiritual Energy in this Divine Wood Academy isn’t even as rich as it was in the Training Mountain Range. How am I supposed to cultivate under these conditions?

Full of grievances, Ye Qingchen muttered, "Elder Yang, our Divine Wood Academy is in decline. We have no resources and poor Spiritual Energy, yet you’re so carefree. How do you expect a disciple to cultivate like this?"

Elder Yang laughed heartily. He passed his teacup to Ye Qingchen, gesturing for a refill, before speaking. "To hear you talk, you’d think my Divine Wood Academy is completely worthless! Alright, kid. Do you really think I don’t know what you’re scheming?"

After speaking, Elder Yang held out an ancient-looking token. Ye Qingchen first refilled the teacup and placed it in front of Elder Yang, only then accepting the token.

The token was pitch-black and felt like a piece of rotting wood in his hand. Ye Qingchen even suspected that he could crush it with a little bit of force.

Carved in regular script on the front was the character for "wood," and the back was covered in various mysterious patterns. The craftsmanship looked decent enough that, if sold on the market, it might fetch a low-grade Spirit Stone.

Ye Qingchen looked disdainfully at the token and complained, "Elder Yang, are you giving me this token so I can go buy you some better tea? If so, I have some Spirit Stones on me; I don’t need this."

"You clueless boy!" Elder Yang glared, exasperated. "You have no eye for treasure. This is the Divine Wood Order, which serves as the identification for a senior disciple of Central Celestial Academy. Normally, with your talent and strength, you’d have to cultivate for another decade before you could even hope to earn the status of a senior disciple from me. However, it’s not a big problem to lend it to you for a while."

Ye Qingchen was even more unimpressed. Seeing how casually Elder Yang treated it, he figured this "senior disciple" status was probably as common as something sold at a street stall. And it was just a loan, so what good was it to him?

"Fool!" Elder Yang said, growing even more irritated at Ye Qingchen’s skeptical expression. "As a senior disciple of Central Celestial Academy, you can go to the Contribution Hall and exchange for whatever cultivation resources you need. With the academy’s vast collection, if you can think of it, you can trade for it—and without spending a single Spirit Stone! You still don’t appreciate its value? Fine, forget it. Give it back."