Dragon Blood Saint Emperor

Ye Xiong and the others’ expressions darkened. They knew Ye Xuan was putting on a show for them.

’Ye Xuan, enjoy this while you can. You won’t be gloating for long.’ Ye Xiong sneered inwardly. ’The position of Patriarch will soon be mine. He won’t be able to act so arrogantly for much longer.’

BANG!

The Fourth Elder’s face turned ashen as he was forced back into his chair. With rage flaring in his heart, he instantly crushed the armrest with one hand.

"Hmph!" Ye Xuan snorted. ’If I can’t even secure this small privilege for my own son, what use am I as Patriarch?’

"Shuang’er, sit down," Ye Xuan called out to Ye Wushuang, his voice firm. "As long as I am Patriarch for one more day, I’d like to see who dares to utter a word of protest." ’If anyone objects today, I will not let it rest!’

But just as Ye Xuan finished speaking, a voice suddenly rang out. "Patriarch, if it were anyone else, my father would indeed have no right to object. But *he* is different. I refuse to accept him sitting there."

Following the voice, a young man in black robes ascended the high platform.

This young man was Ye Mu, the Fourth Elder’s son, with a Cultivation at the Qi Vortex Fifth Layer!

"Ye Mu, you are too insolent!" Seeing Ye Mu provoke her father, Ye Rou grew furious, her beautiful eyes turning frosty.

"Insolent?" Ye Mu chuckled mockingly. "This seat is for the family’s geniuses. If any piece of trash can just sit there, it would surely dishearten the true talents. I’m just speaking the truth. Or am I not allowed to do that anymore?"

As he spoke, Ye Mu walked over, shot a contemptuous glance at Ye Wushuang, and sat down in the seat right in front of him.

This act was full of disrespect, provocation, and contempt!

Ye Mu showed no regard for Ye Wushuang, nor for Ye Xuan, the Patriarch of the family.

’For a disciple to so openly disregard the Patriarch in front of everyone... My father’s authority has really fallen this low. His title is in name only.’ Ye Wushuang couldn’t believe it.

He was utterly enraged, an icy coldness filling his heart. He slammed a hand down on Ye Mu’s shoulder.

Ye Mu froze. His eyes narrowed as he glared sharply at Ye Wushuang. "This seat is for geniuses. A piece of trash like you is unworthy!"

"Off!"

Ye Wushuang spat out the single, cold word. With a sudden exertion of force, his hand yanked Ye Mu into the air as if he were a sandbag.

THUD! Ye Mu was thrown more than ten meters, landing on the very edge of the high platform and nearly tumbling off.

The crowd could hardly believe what they had just seen. Ye Mu was at the Qi Vortex Fifth Layer, yet Ye Wushuang had thrown him aside with such ease!

"Ye Wushuang, how dare you!"

Seeing his son get attacked by Ye Wushuang, the Fourth Elder’s face grew terrifyingly dark, and he immediately roared.

"*I* dare?" Ye Wushuang shot back, turning to glare at the Fourth Elder. "Your son, Ye Mu, has no respect for his elders. He provoked the Patriarch—his own senior—in front of everyone. Tell me, who is the one acting insolently?"

"You..." The Fourth Elder’s face flushed red, killing intent flashing in his eyes.

"You what?" Seeing the flash of killing intent, Ye Wushuang grew even colder and retorted bluntly, "Like father, like son. Your son Ye Mu has no respect for his elders. And you, a dignified Elder of the Ye Family, have no respect for your superiors, having offended the Patriarch time and time again. So tell me, who is truly being insolent? What right do you have to accuse me?"

Ye Wushuang’s words were sharp and barbed, yet every one of them was justified. Everyone knew that Ye Mu and his father had started the provocation. But no one had stepped in, because the Fourth Elder was part of Ye Xiong’s faction. That alone was reason enough for them to stay silent.

The Fourth Elder’s face flushed, but he had no rebuttal.

Seeing this, Ye Xiao gave Ye Wushuang a look of surprise before stepping in to smooth things over. "Alright, everyone is waiting. Let’s begin the clan meeting."

"Hmph!" Hearing this, the Fourth Elder snorted coldly.

Ye Xuan shot a cold glance at the silent Ye Xiong, then said to Ye Wushuang, "Go ahead and sit."

Ye Wushuang nodded and sat down.

Ye Mu scrambled to his feet, his face dark with rage from the public humiliation. ’Damn you, you waste. When we get on stage, I’ll cripple you for sure.’

"Let the clan meeting begin!" Ye Xuan announced, his gaze sweeping over the crowd below. Everyone was present—about a hundred disciples, all with decent potential. ’If they could only be united and properly nurtured, how could the Ye Family fail to rise?’

But Ye Xiong and his followers, in their lust for power, had fractured the clan’s unity and squandered these chances.

This left a bitter taste in Ye Xuan’s mouth, but he was helpless to change it.

Seeing the bitter expression on his father’s face, Ye Wushuang clenched his fists, his mind made up about something.

As Ye Xuan announced the start, the people below grew excited.

The clan meeting was divided into three rounds.

The first round was a battle royale, where over one hundred participants would fight until the top thirty were decided.

The group of geniuses seated on the high platform did not participate in this round. Their status as geniuses had already allowed them to stand out from the crowd, so they had no need to participate in a battle royale they considered beneath them.

Ye Wushuang also did not participate. However, in the eyes of the crowd below, he had just gotten incredibly lucky. Otherwise, they were confident they could have eliminated him in the very first round.

They were extremely jealous, but didn’t say much more, instead focusing on passing the first round. ’I’ll just get to the second round and teach Ye Wushuang a lesson,’ they thought, eager to vent their frustrations on him.

Soon, the battle royale ended. Only thirty people advanced.

Next was the second round.

The Rules for the competition were as follows: the thirty winners, plus the ten geniuses from the high platform, made for a total of forty participants. Each person would draw a number, and then odd numbers would be matched against even numbers for one-on-one duels.

"The second round, begin!"

On the Martial Arts Stage, an Elder acting as referee immediately shouted, "First match: Number Four, Ye Qing, versus Number Eleven, Ye Yuan!"

BOOM!

The moment the referee’s voice fell, two figures flew onto the stage. Both were at the Qi Vortex Third Layer. Without a word, they immediately clashed.

Ye Yuan hailed from the Fiery Sun Sect, and his techniques were as domineering and aggressive as fire itself. Ye Qing’s style, in contrast, was gentle and versatile, allowing him to handle attacks with ease.

"Ye Qing’s style is deft and versatile. He uses his opponent’s momentum against them and handles attacks with ease. Ye Yuan is relying on brute force alone; he’ll exhaust himself sooner or later. He’s probably going to lose."

The crowd, as if they had already seen the outcome, began to mutter amongst themselves.

Sure enough, after several dozen exchanges, Ye Yuan was on the verge of exhaustion. Ye Qing seized the opportunity, shifting from a defensive to an offensive posture, ready to defeat Ye Yuan.

But, to everyone’s surprise, the seemingly exhausted Ye Yuan suddenly erupted with a burst of domineering power, knocking Ye Qing right off the Martial Arts Stage in a shocking reversal.

"Ye Yuan knew he couldn’t outlast Ye Qing, so he played a little trick. Not bad!" Seeing his performance, the Elders on the high platform nodded in approval.

’A little trick?’

A corner of Ye Wushuang’s mouth curled up. ’How could that be a mere trick? Ye Yuan won because of his precise control over his power. He calculated exactly how much energy to conserve for a successful counterattack. Few people are capable of that.’

"This match, Ye Yuan is the victor!"

"Next match: Number Three, Ye Wei, versus Number Fourteen, Ye Jiang."

The referee announced again.

Immediately, Ye Wei and Ye Jiang walked onto the fighting stage.

"Just concede," Ye Wei said contemptuously, staring at Ye Jiang.

"We don’t know who will win or lose until we fight!" Ye Jiang replied angrily. He threw a punch that seemed to make the air explode, stirring up the violent True Qi of the Qi Vortex Second Layer as he charged toward Ye Wei.

"You’re asking for it!" Ye Wei sneered. He took a single step forward, a massive palm of energy rapidly materializing and blasting Ye Jiang right off the stage.

"Trash!" Ye Wei spat contemptuously, striking a pose as if he were the greatest in the world. He then turned to glance at Ye Wushuang, who was still seated on the high platform.

However, he saw Ye Wushuang looking back at him with a smile.

That faint smile immediately reminded Ye Wei of the humiliation he had suffered at the Ancient Spirit Sect, when he had been forced to kneel. His face instantly flushed red. Dropping his arrogant posture, he scurried off the stage in disgrace.