Ye Zhong believed that with the terrifying Soul Power displayed by his precious grandson, coupled with the nurturing of the Ye Family, becoming a Seven-Rank Alchemist before the age of thirty was absolutely a certainty.
At that time, the Ye Family would no longer have to worry about failing the Dan Tower's assessment and losing the title of one of the Five Great Clans!
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Ye Zhong announced the end of the test.
Then, looking at his precious grandson below, he said in a gentle tone, "Alright, Ye Chen, you can go find your mother now."
"Yes, Grandpa."
Ye Chen bowed respectfully, then turned to look in the direction of his parents.
And then...
Then he saw his mother proudly accepting congratulations from everyone.
His mouth twitched; Ye Chen was not at all surprised by his mother's complete lack of humility.
Having been mother and son for so many years, Ye Chen now knew his mother's personality very well.
Ever since the Soul Power test, Ye Chen's reputation as a Prodigy of the Ye Family had spread like wildfire again.
This time it was even more terrifying than before; even his usually steady father was now telling everyone about his son's achievements...
He looked as if he was about to carry Ye Chen to the top of Ye City's wall and announce to everyone that the Ye Family's Genius was his son!
Although the Ye Family and the entire Ye City were bustling with activity, Ye Chen found himself much quieter than usual.
He had now been personally taken to the courtyard of the Family Old Ancestor, who was supposedly his grandfather's grandfather, to be personally taught, with strict instructions that no one was to disturb them...
This resulted in his mother, Song Chun'er, who used to come every day to spend time with her son, not being able to see him for one or two months.
Now, Ye Chen had to recite medicinal scriptures and familiarize himself with medicinal properties under the supervision of the Ye Family Old Ancestor every day, then observe the Old Ancestor's techniques in processing medicinal ingredients...
In the evenings, he would Cultivate Dou Qi for two hours in a medicinal bath personally prepared by the Ye Family Old Ancestor to aid Cultivation, before he could sleep.
Although this life was a bit boring and monotonous, it made Ye Chen feel very fulfilled.
After all, his Soul was not truly that of a child; for Ye Chen, who was used to the 996 work schedule in his previous life, this was merely normal.
Moreover, there was a daily supply of tonics and various gourmet foods, so for Ye Chen, whose homebody attribute was maxed out, this was now considered an ideal life.
Thus, after more than a year, Ye Chen's strength finally Broke Through to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi...
A seven-year-old at the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi—how should one put it—it was still a frightening Cultivation speed.
After inspecting Ye Chen's Cultivation, the smile on Ye Family Old Ancestor Ye Xun's face became uncontrollable.
Even his originally lifeless eyes now gleamed with a hint of light, showing how excited he was by all of this.
"Good child, although you are now at the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi, do not rush to form a Dou Qi vortex; patiently refine your Dou Qi, it will benefit you!"
Patting Ye Chen's head, Ye Xun said with a solemn tone.
Ye Chen nodded in response.
With the Ye Family's strength, Medicinal Pills like Qi Gathering Pills that help form a Dou Qi vortex were certainly not lacking, but a Breakthrough achieved with Medicinal Pills and one achieved through one's own willpower yielded completely different results.
For the current Ye Chen, Foundation was the most important thing; compared to that, Cultivation was secondary.
However, since there was no need to rush for a Breakthrough, Ye Chen shifted his Cultivation focus to Star Essence...
This year, he had collected a total of 32.5 points of Star Essence, two points more than before, which indicated that the collection speed of Star Essence was not fixed—this was good news.
With these 32.5 points of Star Essence, Ye Chen now possessed 82 points of Star Essence, not far from the 100 points needed to light up the third Star Soul.
Moreover, taking advantage of this time, Ye Chen also wanted to try refining Medicinal Ingredients to accumulate experience for himself.
Ye Xun's first reaction to his request was that this kid was dreaming.
After all, he wasn't even a Dou Practitioner yet, had no Cultivation Technique, and couldn't even control fire. How could he talk about Alchemist?
Facing the Ye Family Old Ancestor's flat refusal, Ye Chen had no choice but to reveal a bit of his trump card in advance...
"Old Ancestor, look..."
A silvery-white flame suddenly rose from Ye Chen's tender palm, flickering unsteadily.
The moment the flame appeared, the surrounding space did not feel the heat of fire; instead, a hint of coolness emerged...
"Oh? This is..." Ye Xun's eyes showed astonishment.
Although this silvery-white flame's temperature wasn't very high, only slightly stronger than ordinary Dou Qi flames, its appearance in the hands of a mere nine-stage Dou Qi child made its significance completely different!
"This is Star Fire; it's like my innate flame..."
Ye Chen pondered, explaining it this way.
"Innate flame?" Ye Xun looked at the little fellow in front of him, speechless.
Do you think you're a Demonic Beast? Born with an innate flame?
Ye Chen chuckled, scratching his head, and said, "Well... I don't know the specifics. Anyway, it's been in my body since I can remember, and it can absorb starlight and slowly improve every day...
When I first discovered it, it was tiny, and its temperature was very low. It's only because I've continuously absorbed starlight every night for so many years that it has grown to its current extent."
Listening to these words, Ye Xun murmured, "Star Fire? Could it be due to the anomaly when Ye Chen was born?"
This was not impossible.
Star Fire, in terms of classification, should belong to cold fire, which happens to be yin to the Yang Fire condensed in the Ye Family's Yang Fire Ancient Altar, complementing and counteracting each other.
Although Ye Chen's claim of an "innate flame" seemed too outlandish, considering the various anomalies this little Prodigy of his Family had displayed over the years, this explanation didn't seem entirely unacceptable.
Nevertheless, Ye Xun remained very cautious about Ye Chen's request to practice refining Medicinal Ingredients.
"In that case, alright... I can agree to let you refine some simple Medicinal Ingredients, but it must be in front of me, so if you make any mistakes, I can guide you promptly."
Naturally, Ye Chen readily agreed to this.
Watching his Old Ancestor take out a red, beast-patterned Medicine Cauldron, over a meter tall, from his Ring, his heart couldn't help but feel a subtle excitement.
After reading medicinal scriptures for so many years, it was finally time for hands-on practice