Starting Reward – A Three Thousand Assassin Network

Chapter 23 – Ye Dingtian’s Discovery

“Blood surge! Is my melon not meant for regular consumption?” thought Ye Chen inwardly.

Ye Dingtian suppressed the restless blood and avoided discussing this topic, instead admiring the scenery around the Luo Shen Lake, which was indeed pleasant.

“I’ve heard that Luo Shen Residence is where those literati and scholars gather. I didn’t expect the scenery here to be so nice. It seems the Jiang Family has some style,” remarked Ye Chen.

“Grandpa, have you never been here before?” Ye Chen asked, slightly surprised.

“The Ye Family is composed of warriors and doesn’t mesh well with these sour literati who talk all day,” replied Ye Dingtian truthfully.

Indeed, as Ye Dingtian said, in this world, martial arts reign supreme. Martial artists disdain scholars, while scholars think these brutes who engage in violence daily tarnish culture.

Over time, this situation became prevalent in the martial world. Scholars didn’t enter the martial world, and martial artists didn’t frequent scholarly circles.

“Stay well here in Luo Shen Residence, my boy. I need to return to the Ye Family to handle some matters.” The Old Daoist had brought crucial information to Ye Dingtian and he naturally had to investigate it.

Ye Chen nodded, “Take care, Grandpa.”

With a swish, Ye Dingtian vanished from the place, even taking a slice of watermelon with him.

“Uh!” Ye Chen was somewhat speechless. “It’s truly a blessing to have an elder in the family!”

On the other side, upon returning to the Ye Family, Ye Dingtian ate another slice of watermelon and felt a significant surge in his blood and qi.

“This melon has such potent effects! I’ve only eaten three slices, yet it’s hard to suppress this restless blood and qi! And Chen’er ate so much, yet I didn’t notice any anomalies. Could it be …”

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Ye Dingtian’s mind, as if he had discovered a great secret.

“It couldn’t be, could my grandson be stronger than me? How is that possible? He’s only twelve …” Ye Dingtian immediately dismissed this speculation. But then, he recalled the formidable figure behind Ye Chen, feeling that anything was possible.

“My grandson is becoming more and more mysterious. Even I can’t fully understand him! I thought I understood a bit about Chen’er, but what he’s revealed is just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe it’s intentional! Ah, forget it. As long as there’s a guardian by his side, safety shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll just treat everything as usual.”

At this moment, Yang Tianyu slowly approached. Seeing Ye Dingtian deep in thought, he didn’t disturb him.

Sensing Yang Tianyu’s presence, Ye Dingtian immediately snapped back, “Lao Yang, I was just about to find you, and here you are!”

“Brother, what’s the matter?” Yang Tianyu asked.

“Xiaoyaozi came out of seclusion. He passed through Luocheng earlier and told me something: the annihilation of the Divine Flame Sect was orchestrated by a force called Heavenly Net!” Ye Dingtian relayed this news to Yang Tianyu.

“Heavenly Net? This force seems to have never appeared in the Martial world before!” Yang Tianyu pondered seriously in his mind, confirming that he hadn’t heard of this force.

“Now that we know about this force, we must investigate it thoroughly.”

“I’ll inform Yang An later to have the Shadow Guards secretly investigate!”

“Alright, but be cautious. Until we understand their background, we mustn’t antagonize them.”

After Ye Dingtian instructed on a series of matters, Yang Tianyu departed.

Watching Yang Tianyu leave, Ye Dingtian furrowed his brow. He pondered inwardly, “There’s a feeling that this force is somewhat related to the Ye Family. Otherwise, why would they eliminate the Divine Flame Sect for us? This force has never shown up in the Martial world and directly wiped out the Divine Flame Sect. If they aimed to establish dominance, why didn’t they target other sects? Why specifically choose the Divine Flame Sect? Isn’t this too coincidental?”

Suddenly, an image of a woman flashed in Ye Dingtian’s mind, and with this appearance, his hairs stood on end, his face revealing an expression of shock.

“It’s her!!! Ye Chen’s personal maid, Tian Yan!!! At the pinnacle of Transcendent Realm! And no information about her background. This matches the information revealed by Heavenly Net perfectly! If she’s truly part of Heavenly Net, then Chen’er is too terrifying. Just twelve years old and controlling such a powerful force in secret. He’s hidden it too deeply. When did he establish this force in secret? What methods did he use to deceive me? How did he pass on information?”

These questions swirled incessantly in Ye Dingtian’s mind, leaving him deeply puzzled.

Ye Dingtian had a hunch that if he could solve these mysteries, he could uncover Ye Chen’s secrets. However, he wouldn’t act on it. As long as Ye Chen was his grandson and part of the Ye Family, it was enough. But these enigmas continued to trouble Ye Dingtian, leaving him feeling uneasy.

Lost in thought, he slowly arrived at Ye Chen’s courtyard.

At this moment, everything in the courtyard had been removed, making it seem desolate, lacking its usual ambiance, even the air was devoid of its usual liveliness.

Ye Dingtian didn’t enter Ye Chen’s bedroom; he feared discovering Ye Chen’s secrets. As long as this secret remained concealed, his grandson would be safe. After all, a place where someone had lived for twelve years would inevitably leave clues.

He slowly made his way to a pavilion, leaning back in a chair, closing his eyes to rest, yet also digesting the information in his mind. Everything had happened too suddenly.

Currently, Ye Chen had become involved in the power struggle with the Imperial family. Even if he wanted to leave, it was too late.

The exposure of Heavenly Net would undoubtedly lead Emperor Xia to use the entire power of the imperial family to find them, thereby exposing the person behind the scenes. At that point, Ye Chen would be in danger.

Ye Dingtian knew all too well the power the Imperial family possessed; he didn’t believe that Heavenly Net would remain undiscovered. However, once the imperial family discovered Ye Chen, their attention would shift away from Ye Dingtian.

A twelve-year-old who understood how to conceal himself, possessing such cunning, would definitely make Emperor Xia feel threatened by Ye Chen’s existence, posing a severe threat to the imperial family, even more than Ye Dingtian’s threat.

“Ah, my dear grandson, you’ve given me a huge surprise.”

It was more accurate to say that it was a shock rather than a surprise.

Once the imperial family unleashed their entire might, even the Ye Family would find it challenging to resist. Just Xia Cangyun alone was already giving them a headache, not to mention a powerful artifact he possessed.

The retaliatory strike of a pinnacle Transcendent Realm expert was something no one could withstand.

To Ye Chen, he was oblivious to all of this, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t care. It was ludicrous for the imperial family to dream of finding out the mastermind behind the Network.

Not to mention the absolute loyalty of the entire Network toward him. Besides the Heavenly-ranked assassins, no one knew Ye Chen’s identity, let alone his current appearance.

The assassins had met Ye Chen when he was three years old, almost a decade ago. Time was the best eraser of all things, so he wasn’t concerned at all.