Volume 1, Chapter 81 – Replace the Main Branch

When Gu Han and the other two landed in the plaza before the Ye family’s towering gate, which resembled the gatehouse of a city, the Ye family had already been alerted.

The heavy gates remained shut, but dozens of figures instantly appeared atop the gatehouse and along the high walls surrounding the estate.

They wore matching Ye family guard uniforms. Even the weakest among them was at the Golden Core stage, while the leading commanders had reached the Nascent Soul realm.

At that moment, every one of them looked as though they were facing a formidable enemy. Swords and sabers were drawn, artifacts were in hand, and their tense gazes locked onto the three figures who had suddenly appeared in the plaza.

The leading commander, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, stepped forward with a grave expression and called out in a voice like a great bell:

“Who are you? This is the Ye family estate. No one may trespass without being announced! State your names at once!”

His voice was infused with spiritual power. It echoed through the surroundings, carrying an unmistakable warning.

At the same time, several nodes of the Ye family’s clan-protecting grand formation were quietly activated.

A faint formation glow flowed above the estate, giving off obscure yet powerful fluctuations.

Ye Ling’er gazed at the familiar Ye family gate before her, a place that had once made her feel unbearably stifled and alienated.

As she looked at the cold-faced, vigilant guards, not the slightest ripple stirred in her heart.

She took half a step forward and stood beside Gu Han. Her cool voice carried just as clearly across the plaza:

“Ye Ling’er of the Falling Star City Ye family, disciple of Yaochi Immortal Palace, has come to request an audience with the person in charge of the Ye family.”

Her voice was not loud, yet it seemed to possess a strange penetrating force. It reached the ears of every guard with perfect clarity.

It even passed through the gates and entered the depths of the estate.

“Ye Ling’er?!”

“Is it really her?!”

“Doesn’t she have the Nine Yin Severed Meridians? How… how can she possess cultivation?!”

“A disciple of Yaochi Immortal Palace? What kind of power is that?”

The guards atop the gatehouse immediately broke into uncontrollable cries of shock and hushed discussion. Disbelief appeared on many of their faces.

The leading commander’s pupils also contracted. Naturally, he had heard about Ye Ling’er.

A descendant of a branch line who had been diagnosed with an incurable condition and deemed incapable of cultivation had now actually reached the peak of Qi Refinement!

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How was that possible?!

Clearly, given his rank and status, he still knew nothing about Ye Ling’er’s transformation or what had happened in Falling Star City.

However, he was a guard commander after all. He quickly suppressed his shock and said in a deep voice:

“So it is Miss Ye Ling’er.”

“However, even though you are a young lady of a branch line, you must still follow the rules and be announced before meeting the family head. You may not…”

Before he could finish, Gu Han swept a calm glance toward him.

Her gaze was completely tranquil, yet the late-stage Nascent Soul commander instantly felt as though a bucket of icy water had been poured over his head.

The rest of his words lodged in his throat. A chill rising from the depths of his soul left him almost unable to breathe.

He felt as though he had become an ant beneath the gaze of a primordial behemoth. Whether he lived or died depended entirely on a single thought from the other party.

“I did not come here today as a guest, nor do I need to be announced.”

Gu Han’s voice remained calm, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

“Tell Ye Lingyun to come out and see me.”

She had addressed the family head by his full name!

And she had done so in such an indifferent tone, one that even carried a hint of command!

The expressions of the guards atop the gatehouse changed at once, shock and anger filling their faces.

Even when the heads of other first-rate powers in the Eastern Region visited, they had to treat their family head with courtesy and address him as “Family Head Ye” or “Fellow Daoist Ye Lingyun.”

How could this silver-haired woman be so arrogant?!

“Impudent!”

“How dare you address the family head by his name!”

Several hot-tempered guards could not stop themselves from shouting in rebuke.

However, the instant their shouts left their mouths…

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“Noisy.”

Gu Han did not even look at them. Her lips merely moved as she uttered a single word.

An invisible force swept past.

The guards who had shouted, together with the weapons in their hands and the armor on their bodies, vanished without a trace in an instant, like writing wiped away by an eraser.

There were no screams, no struggle, and no fluctuations of spiritual power. It was as though they had never stood there at all.

The gatehouse fell deathly silent.

The faces of all the guards turned paper-white in an instant. The anger in their eyes was replaced by boundless terror.

The leading commander was drenched in cold sweat. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

What kind of technique was this?!

Was it the ability to make one’s words law, or some supreme divine ability beyond their understanding?

Just what level of cultivation did this silver-haired woman possess?!

“Can Ye Lingyun be invited out now?”

Gu Han’s gaze fell upon the commander once more. Her tone remained calm, as though she had merely brushed away a few mosquitoes and flies.

“S-Senior, please calm your anger! This junior… this junior will report it at once! At once!”

The commander could no longer hold out. He hurriedly bowed, then took out a specially made communication jade talisman with trembling hands and prepared to crush it.

At that moment…

“Who dares cause trouble before the gates of my Ye family?!”

A cold, dignified shout rumbled out from the depths of the Ye family estate like a thunderclap.

Immediately afterward, several powerful auras surged into the sky and sped toward the gates.

The person at the forefront was none other than the Ye family head, Ye Lingyun.

He wore a purple-gold robe and had an imposing face. He released his early-stage Mahayana cultivation without the slightest restraint.

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A heavy pressure like a mountain enveloped the entire plaza as he attempted to suppress Gu Han and the other two.

Five figures with equally vast auras followed behind him.

They were the Ye family’s Grand Elder, Ye Mingyuan, and four other core elders at the Body Integration stage.

The six hovered in the air, looking down from above as they coldly scrutinized Gu Han, A-Yao, and Ye Ling’er in the plaza.

When Ye Lingyun’s gaze landed on Ye Ling’er, he sensed her cultivation at the peak of Qi Refinement and saw the vivid moon-wheel mark between her brows.

A trace of shock involuntarily flashed through his eyes.

She really could cultivate now!

Moreover, this aura… was far beyond that of an ordinary Qi Refinement cultivator!

He suppressed the storm raging in his heart and finally fixed his gaze on Gu Han.

His divine sense swept toward her, just as Ye Zhenyue’s had before. Yet it likewise disappeared without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea, unable to detect even the slightest thing.

Ye Lingyun’s heart sank completely.

Unfathomable!

The cultivation of this Palace Master of Yaochi Immortal Palace was undoubtedly far above his own.

She was probably at least at the late stage of Mahayana, or perhaps… even higher!

“Are you Gu Han, the Palace Master of Yaochi Immortal Palace?”

Ye Lingyun spoke in a deep voice, his tone grave.

“You have come to my Ye family and even killed our guards. What is the purpose of your visit?”

He was the head of a family, after all. He still had to maintain appearances and first claim the moral high ground.

Gu Han raised her eyes and calmly met Ye Lingyun’s gaze.

“Why ask when you already know the answer, Family Head Ye?”

“Ye Zhenyue, the Third Elder of your Ye family, attempted to take my disciple away by force and even spoke disrespectfully to me.”

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“I erased him as a minor punishment and a warning to others. I came here today to ask you one thing, Family Head Ye.”

She paused, her tone turning slightly colder.

“Does your Ye family intend to make an enemy of me?”

Her words were clear and directly revealed her purpose. She even spoke of erasing Ye Zhenyue as though it had been nothing of consequence.

When the elders behind Ye Lingyun heard this, anger immediately appeared on their faces.

Grand Elder Ye Mingyuan stepped forward and said in a deep voice:

“Even if Ye Zhenyue acted improperly, he was still an elder of my Ye family!”

“You killed him simply because you wished to. Are you not being far too overbearing and showing far too little regard for my Ye family?”

“Overbearing?”

When Gu Han heard this, she suddenly let out a soft laugh. Her smile was breathtakingly beautiful, yet it carried the indifference of one looking down upon all living beings.

“That is how I have always acted.”

“My disciple will naturally be taught by me. It is not anyone else’s place to point fingers, much less use force or coercion against her.”

“Since your Ye family dared to reach out its hand, you should be prepared to bear the consequences.”

Her gaze swept over Ye Lingyun and the others, and her voice abruptly turned cold.

“Today, I will give you two choices.”

“First, we let the matter end here. The Ye family must never interfere in Ye Ling’er’s affairs again, nor may you make things difficult for the Ye family in Falling Star City.”

“Second, if you believe Ye Zhenyue died unjustly, if you think I am overbearing and wish to ‘seek justice’ for him…”

The smile at the corner of Gu Han’s lips turned icy.

“Then I would not mind having the Ye family choose a new family head, or even… a new main branch.”

A new family head? A new main branch?!

The threat and killing intent within those words swept across the entire plaza in an instant, like the bitter winds of winter.