After breakfast, Ye Chen left the Heavenly Wind Tower Inn with his father, mother, and Tao'er, and continued on their way to Qingyang City.
The young maid Tao'er's expressive eyes kept sizing up Ye Chen until finally, she couldn't help but speak up, "Young Master, you seem a little different today."
"What's different?" Ye Chen asked with a smile, looking at Tao'er.
"It's just... It feels like you have a more commanding presence and more of the aura of a martial cultivator." Tao'er struggled to describe it, then turned to Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin and asked, "Master, Madam, don't you think so?"
Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin both nodded.
"Yes, Chen'er, it feels like you have changed again after just one night."
After one night of quiet cultivation, Ye Chen had successfully broken through to the seventh layer of the True Qi Realm, completing half of the entire twelve layers of the True Qi Realm, and officially entering the second half of cultivation in the True Qi Realm.
True Qi Layer Seven was not only about having one more True Qi Vortex in the Qi Sea compared to Layer Six, but the bigger change was that, after reaching Layer Seven, due to the quantity of True Qi in the seven True Qi Vortices within the Qi Sea, a qualitative leap had been made from the early stage to the latter stage, and Ye Chen's skin radiated with a faint aura of True Qi naturally circling to protect his body.
This change in the aura of a martial artist was certainly noticeable to his parents and Tao'er.
Ye Chen, of course, would not hide this from his family and said with a smile, "Dad, Mom, Tao'er, last night, I successfully broke through to the seventh layer of the True Qi Realm."
"True Qi Layer Seven?"
"Young Master, weren't you at Layer Six of the True Qi Realm just a few days ago? You've already cultivated to Layer Seven?"
Tao'er's mouth fell open in astonishment.
Every time she saw her young master these days, she was constantly shocked; even at True Qi Layer Six, he could defeat experts of the ninth and tenth layers, and yesterday, effortlessly subdued nine opponents all by himself.
Now, her young master had broken through once more, reaching True Qi Layer Seven!
The little maid could no longer comprehend just how formidable her young master had become.
"Chen'er, is your strength now greater than those from our clan who have cultivated for over a decade?" Lin Rin's eyes also contained joy upon hearing that Ye Chen's level had risen again.
Her child becoming more powerful filled her with immense pride!
"Those martial artists from the clan?"
Ye Chen thought about how his family was one of the three major families in Qingyang City, alongside the Bai Family and the Qian Family, with the strongest cultivator in his family being the three clan leaders at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, and most others being below the tenth layer.
Unlike sect cultivators, family martial artists did not have access to many Cultivation Techniques and generally practiced Yellow Class Martial Skills of middling to lower quality.
Ye Chen, on the other hand, had not only cultivated several Yellow Class Martial Skills of middling quality, but he also achieved Minor Accomplishment in two Profound Class skills, "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills," mastered three Sword Intents, and cultivated "Gang Yuan True Qi" with the Primordial Star Scripture.
Indeed, his power now far surpassed that of most martial artists in his clan!
"I should be able to defeat most of them," Ye Chen replied to his mother with a smile.
He was now setting his sights not on the martial artists of his clan, but on proving himself against the Taixuan Sect's Outer Sect geniuses in the True Disciple selection in four months.
Surpassing those disciples of the True Qi Twelfth Layer in the Taixuan Sect and securing one of the top three spots in the True Disciple selection to enter the Taixuan Sect was a must for Ye Chen.
At present, he had some way to go to reach that goal.
However, having smoothly advanced to True Qi Layer Seven, Ye Chen was one step closer to that goal, and with four months to go, he was confident he could achieve it!
"My Chen'er, you really make your parents proud."
"Even us ordinary mortals have managed to raise a powerful martial artist, and now, the martial artists of our clan will probably be shocked."
Ye Chen's father, Ye Xiaotian, was filled with pride and laughed heartily.
The four of them chatted as they made their way to Qingyang City.
After a little over two hours, they finally arrived within the city walls of Qingyang City.
"We've arrived at Qingyang City!"
"We're back to the family, the Master and Madam have returned safely, and the Young Master has returned too!"
Upon entering Qingyang City, the little maid Tao'er called out with immense excitement.
Ye Chen also looked outside the carriage at Qingyang City; it hadn't changed much from his memory, the same familiar streets, the same familiar sights.
This was the place where he had lived for twelve years—his hometown!
He had finally returned!
When he left his hometown, he was just a twelve-year-old boy at the first layer of the True Qi Realm; now, three years later, he had cultivated to True Qi Layer Seven and mastered extremely powerful Martial Skills, making him one of the top figures in the city!
With increased power came a broader perspective.
Ye Chen's feelings upon returning home were completely different from when he had left!
After entering the city, the carriage headed towards the residential area of the three major families.
"Huh, why does it feel like there are a lot more people in the family area?"
"So many young people have returned!"
"Isn't it not yet the end of the year? Why have those cultivating outside returned?"
The closer they got to the residential area of the three major families, the more people they encountered on the street, and Ye Chen's parents, Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin, noted the anomaly in the family area and wondered aloud.
"Yes, the family area seems much busier than usual," the little maid Tao'er also noticed the change.
Ye Chen looked outside, where young members of the three great families could intermittently be seen walking along the streets of the family district.
"Has something happened with the family?"
Ye Chen and his companions were unaware of the opening of the Ancestral Land, as they had been traveling back to their clan all these days and had not yet received the news of the Ancestral Land opening or the advance of the tri-clan competition.
"Is that... Xiaodong, Yun?"
At this moment, as Ye Chen was surveying the outdoors, he suddenly caught sight of two familiar figures.
These two figures were two teenagers about the same age as Ye Chen, who were currently walking outside while talking to each other.
Recognizing the two youths, Ye Chen immediately knew who they were; one was called Bai Xiaodong and the other Qian Yun. Before he had left the family, Ye Chen used to hang out with them every day!
Ye Chen opened the carriage curtain and called out directly to the two of them.
Turning their heads, the two boys looked towards the carriage following the sound of his voice. When they saw Ye Chen's face on the carriage, both teenagers rubbed their eyes in disbelief, "Ye Chen?"
"Ye Chen, is it really you? You're back?"
Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun ran straight towards Ye Chen.
Ye Chen also had the carriage stop, jumped out, and met with the two youths.
"Ye Chen, I heard from my mother that you stirred up big trouble, and even your uncle and aunt were captured by a Spirit Sea Realm expert. Are you all okay?" Bai Xiaodong hurriedly asked as soon as he reached Ye Chen.
"We're fine, my dad and mom have come back this time," Ye Chen pointed to the carriage, where his father Ye Xiaotian and mother Lin Rin were lifting the carriage curtain and peering out at the group. Seeing Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun looking over, they smiled and greeted the two youths.
As Qian Yun was about to speak, he suddenly noticed Ye Chen's aura and said in surprise, "Ye Chen... you, you've cultivated to the seventh level of True Qi?"
"True Qi seventh level?!" Bai Xiaodong also jumped in shock.
The three of them used to hang out together frequently because they were similar in age and almost equal in all aspects of their cultivation talent. Before the age of twelve, none of them had opened their Qi Sea Acupoint.
It was in the year they turned twelve that all three of them successively opened their Qi Sea Acupoint and entered into the Sects.
Ye Chen was admitted into the Qingyun Sect, an eighth-rank Sect, while Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun each entered the eighth-rank Tiegang Sect and Ten Thousand Swords Sect, respectively.
Three years had passed, and Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun were now at the fourth and fifth levels of True Qi, which they considered quite good.
However, they did not expect that their friend Ye Chen would now possess such a strong aura, strikingly reaching the seventh level of True Qi!
"True Qi seventh level?" Ye Chen smiled, nodded, and said, "Yes, I've finally cultivated to the seventh level of True Qi."
"Ye Chen, you really cultivated to the seventh level of True Qi!"
Hearing Ye Chen's confirmation, Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun jumped up excitedly.
"It's only been three years since we've seen each other, and you've improved so much!"
"True Qi seventh level, among our family's younger generation, that would rank towards the top. Ye Chen, you might even snatch a spot in the top thirty of the clan competition and get into the Ancestral Land!"
"Ye Chen, did you come back this time because you received the news of the family's Ancestral Land opening and specifically returned to take part in the tri-clan competition?"
Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun chatted back and forth, leaving Ye Chen with no chance to interject.
However, their words left Ye Chen startled.
"The Ancestral Land opening?"
"The tri-clan competition?"
As a member of one of the three great families, Ye Chen certainly knew of the Ancestral Land.
When he was a child, he had sneaked near the Ancestral Land with Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun; afterward, their parents severely scolded them, forbidding them from recklessly nearing the Ancestral Land again.
The Ancestral Land, the most mysterious and forbidden area where the three great families performed their ancestral sacrifices, left a deep impression on Ye Chen.
He knew even more that the opening of the Ancestral Land was a legend among the three great families. It was said to have been opened hundreds of years ago, and Ye Chen had thought the opening was just a jest among the ancestors. He never expected that the Ancestral Land could truly be opened.
This time, it had opened?
About the tri-clan competition mentioned by the others, Ye Chen was much more familiar. As a child, he would watch the older youths in his family battle in the competition every year-end, which was one of the most anticipated events of his childhood.
After he started his training in the Qingyun Sect, he feared returning to take part in the year-end competition, worried about being ridiculed if his realm was too low—this kept him from returning to his family for three years.
Unexpectedly, not only had the Ancestral Land opened this time, but the year-end tri-clan competition had also been brought forward.
"Ye Chen, you don't know about the Ancestral Land opening?"
"The news was spread a few days ago; the younger generation of the family is all rushing back, and many have already returned!"
Seeing Ye Chen's expression, Bai Xiaodong was somewhat surprised.
"I just left the Qingyun Sect a few days ago, and I've been on the road since then—I haven't received any news."
Now Ye Chen finally understood why the family seemed busier than before upon his return and why there were so many more youths.
It turned out to be because of the news of the Ancestral Land opening that many had hurried back from their outside cultivation.
"Xiaodong, Yun, tell me all about the news of the Ancestral Land opening," Ye Chen said to the two.
Ye Chen was naturally very interested in the news of the Ancestral Land opening, a place he remembered so vividly.