"What? Grandfather, spare me!"
Ye Nantian's face twisted in agony, his expression changing drastically.
"I am your own grandson, your only grandson!"
Ye Yuze recalled what he had just heard, his voice filled with disbelief as he questioned him.
"Good grandson, tell Grandfather. What you just said, that you swore upon the lives of the entire clan to hand over half of the Ye family's treasury to them... was that meant as a joke to amuse Grandfather?"
Ye Nantian's head was being squeezed so hard it felt as though it would split apart. His mind was nearly blank, and he blurted out unconsciously, "It's true, I wasn't trying to amuse you, Grandfather...
Ah! Grandfather, it hurts, it hurts so much, my head is about to explode!"
Ye Yuze's expression darkened, his grip tightening without mercy.
"Grandfather? I have no such unfilial grandson! Swearing on the lives of the whole clan, handing over the Ye family treasury, giving it all away... why didn't I cast you out of the ancestral rolls sooner, you wretched disgrace?!"
Yao Ranran: "..." Was this really grandfather and grandson turning on each other?
Would her promised spiritual materials still be delivered or not?
"Grandfather, Grandfather, I was wrong!"
Ye Nantian screamed, on the verge of fainting from the pain, his features twisted in torment.
"I only thought they would die at Yuchi Hai's hands, who... who could have imagined they would survive!"
Ye Nantian's face was turning purple-blue. Yao Ranran seriously suspected Ye Yuze might actually crush his own grandson's head right here and now.
"Ye family Patriarch, that is your blood grandson! Isn't the Ye family a single line of descent? If you kill him, how will your family continue?"
Come on, don't be so ruthless!
If Ye Nantian died, wouldn't the Heavenly Oath he swore be rendered void?
Of course, Nie Rong noticed Yao Ranran's concern. His sword flashed, stabbing straight at Ye Yuze's hand, forcing him to release his grip on Ye Nantian's skull.
"Ah!" Ye Nantian gasped for breath, rolling and crawling until he collapsed at Yao Ranran's feet, wheezing heavily.
The warmth on Ye Yuze's face was gone, replaced with a look that wanted nothing more than to flay his grandson alive.
Yao Ranran took a few calm steps forward. "Ye family Patriarch, surely you don't intend to go back on your word?"
Ye Yuze's eyes narrowed with a cold gleam. "What a fine hand you play, Fairy. You deliberately hid your cultivation to trick my Ye family treasury at this critical moment, didn't you?"
Yao Ranran blinked, unbothered. "I never deliberately hid anything. It's simply that your eyes were not sharp enough to see."
"Master, there's no point wasting words with him. If the Ye family won't bring out the promised materials, we might as well kill Ye Nantian right here!"
Nie Rong spun his sword, playful yet dangerous, until the point pressed right against Ye Nantian's throat.
Ye Nantian's eyes widened in terror.
Ye Yuze's words suddenly reminded him. His mind flashed back to the scene just before the Dao tablet shattered. That woman had been sitting atop the supreme spirit vein, only to suddenly change her mind and hand it over to him.
And then—when he tried to flee with the spirit vein—the Dao tablet broke, Yuchi Hai appeared, and his followers were slaughtered...
As Ye Nantian replayed the sequence, dread filled his heart.
Could it be that all of this had been her trap from the start?
She had deliberately disguised herself as a low-level cultivator to be overlooked, then handed him the spirit vein to sit back and watch the battle unfold, finally drawing him into swearing that Heavenly Oath...
Ye Nantian's pupils contracted. He had been fooled!
Yu Zhenyan... Yu Zhenyan was most likely already dead beneath the ground!
"It was you, you killed YuDaoyou!" Ye Nantian shouted in horror.
Ye Yuze's eyes sharpened. "What did you say? The daughter of Xing Rui came here as well?"
Nie Rong blinked, realizing that Yu Zhenyan had indeed vanished after diving into the rift below. His mouth opened in surprise, then closed again, understanding dawning. If Master killed her, it must have been because she deserved to die.
But Yu Zhenyan's death meant their Master had now offended both the Yu and Xing families. Add in the Yuchi clan whose elder had just been slain, and now they were confronting the Ye family...
Cold sweat broke out across Nie Rong's back.
Without realizing it, they had already offended the three greatest families of the Central Domain.
And possibly a fourth rising clan—the Yu family.
Nie Rong's eyes went blank for a moment. He had roamed the world for most of his life, stirring up plenty of trouble, but never had he managed to offend so many top forces all at once...
"Yes, Grandfather, Yu Daoyou came here with me. She dove into the crack beneath, intending to subdue the supreme spirit vein, but then..."
"Enough. You can shut your mouth now."
Yao Ranran coldly sealed Ye Nantian's lips with spiritual force.
"What matters now is our transaction. Ye Patriarch, do you still want this grandson's life or not?"
"Mm-mph... mmph..." Ye Nantian's mouth was sealed, his tearful eyes pleading toward Ye Yuze.
Ye Yuze's gaze darkened, his voice low. "Allow me to consider carefully."
"Mmph..." Ye Nantian's tears spilled.
He was terrified that his own grandfather might abandon him.
Zhou Lili frowned, sensing something off in Ye Yuze's expression. She wanted to warn Yao Ranran.
But Yao Ranran met her gaze and gave the faintest nod. Zhou Lili fell silent.
"Ye Patriarch, I'll be taking your grandson first. Once you deliver what I asked for, Ye Nantian will be returned to you."
Yao Ranran had already guessed his thoughts. If he truly didn't care about his grandson, he would have crushed Ye Nantian's head earlier.
But he hadn't.
He was only stalling for time, dragging things out until Ye family reinforcements could arrive and drag them all back by force.
A white glow flickered. Ye Yuze's eyes turned vicious. "Where do you think you're going? You will not leave this place!"
His claws extended, murderous intent exploding outward.
Yao Ranran flung out her flying boat, and the Nine Lotus Rings slashed down casually, cutting off a strand of Ye Yuze's soul into smoke.
"Mm-mmmph!" Ye Nantian shook with terror.
"Go, we leave Duanya Mountain immediately!"
Yao Ranran turned toward the east. She could already sense a wave of high-level cultivators fast approaching.
Nie Rong, Zhou Lili, and Meng Xiangxiang didn't hesitate. Dragging Ye Nantian along, they leapt aboard the flying boat and vanished into the cabin.
"A flying boat! They actually have a flying boat!"
The watching crowd gasped, stunned.
"Who on earth are they? How could that Fairy possess such a powerful treasure?"
"From beauty alone, I'd have thought she was the number one Fairy of the Central Domain, Yao Ranran. But this flying boat, and the speed at which she cut down Yuchi Hai... that can't possibly be something Yao Ranran could do!"
The crowd erupted in chatter, speculation running wild.
Yao Ranran swiftly activated her teleportation staff, pouring in sixty thousand spirit stones. She summoned the supreme spirit vein back to her side.
"Hold on tight, we're going home!"
"Roooar!" The violet dragon raised its head and let out a piercing cry. Light burst across the valley, waves surging through the once-peaceful mountains. In the blink of an eye, the flying boat was gone without a trace.