Chapter 53

When Ye Feng heard this, a tall figure suddenly appeared in his mind, though it was rather blurry. The only thing he could remember was that he often rode on the neck of this tall figure.

"Are you really my father?" Ye Feng stared at Ye Chenshan, his expression tinged with a hint of coldness.

All of today's events had given him too many surprises. His father, who had been dead for over a decade, suddenly appeared before him, making it impossible for him to believe.

Seeing his elder brother's gaze, Ye Hao nodded at him.

"Xiao Feng, your father didn't die back then. He had his reasons..." Ling Wanrong sighed slightly when she saw Ye Feng's puzzled look.

Ye Feng ignored his mother's words and continued to stare intently at Ye Chenshan.

"Yes, I am your father, Ye Chenshan!"

Seeing Ye Feng's gaze, Ye Chenshan straightened his back and looked directly at Ye Feng.

Actually, Ye Feng didn't have much feeling for Ye Chenshan, but this was a lingering obsession from his previous life. When Ling Wanrong said that this was his father, a surge of anger suddenly rose in his heart.

"I need an explanation!"

Ye Feng looked at Ye Chenshan, suppressing his anger, and said coldly.

Seeing Ye Feng's expression, both Ye Chenshan and Ling Wanrong sighed inwardly. Especially Ye Chenshan, who now knew how Ling Wanrong and the two sons had lived over the years, couldn't blame his eldest son for his deep resentment.

For so many years, his eldest son had truly risked his life! Thinking about it, he felt a pang of sorrow.

Moreover, Ye Feng was a body cultivator. When Ling Wanrong mentioned that Ye Feng had joined the Flying Tiger Team and had trained his body desperately to gain more resources, even binding iron sand to his body while walking, which eventually led to his dry and withered qi and blood, almost causing his death, Ye Chenshan had an impulse to kill himself.

"Feng'er, it's like this..."

Looking at his stubborn son, Ye Chenshan began to tell him everything without any concealment.

Originally, Ye Chenshan was a direct descendant of the Ye family, one of the eight major families in the Central Empire of the Tianlang Continent. Back then, he came out to train and was ambushed and lost his memory, with his dantian destroyed. Later, he was saved by Ling Wanrong, and over time, they fell in love and got married, having two sons, Ye Feng and Ye Hao. When Ye Feng was five years old, a beast tide attacked the village, and Ye Chenshan was killed by a fierce beast. In fact, he was in a state of apparent death at that time, and later, when he woke up, he recovered his memory.

At that time, he returned to the Ye family to find out who had attacked him. However, in just five years, everything had changed, and the Ye family was shrouded in a strange atmosphere. The family head, his father, had disappeared, and his uncle had taken over as the head of the family.

His father and uncle had always been at odds, so the investigation into the attacker was impossible.

Seeing no hope of finding the attacker, Ye Chenshan decided to return and secretly investigate the disappearance of himself and his father. However, his uncle stipulated that if a Ye family disciple had no talent in martial arts, they must serve the family for ten years before leaving.

Everything seemed strange, so he stayed in the family for ten years, hoping to find his father and fearing that his return would bring disaster to his family.

Therefore, Ye Chenshan diligently did business for the Ye family for ten years. It wasn't until his uncle's position was firmly established and his own cultivation had not progressed for ten years that he was able to leave.

Of course, he did have some gains over the years. His father's disappearance was likely related to his uncle. Back then, he was considered a genius in the Ye family, reaching the ninth stage of a martial artist before the age of twenty. However, after being injured, although his meridians had healed, he had no hope of breaking through.

A ninth-stage martial artist was dispensable to the Ye family. It was precisely because of this that he was still alive and able to leave after serving the family.

After hearing Ye Chenshan's story, Ye Feng's anger gradually subsided, and his expression softened.

Seeing Ye Feng's change, Ling Wanrong, Ye Chenshan, and Ye Hao all breathed a sigh of relief. They knew Ye Feng's temper and were afraid that he would leave in a fit of anger.

"Father!"

With his anger gone, Ye Feng knew that the last obsession of his previous life had also disappeared. He respectfully greeted Ye Chenshan.

"Good, good! Good son!"

Hearing Ye Feng's address, Ye Chenshan was moved and repeatedly said "good."

For so many years, he had endured the cold eyes of the Ye family. The only things that kept him going were the search for his father and his family.

But he couldn't bring disaster to his family, so he endured the longing and served the Ye family for ten years.

After handing the horse to the coachman, the family entered the carriage and began to chat freely.

Ye Feng and Ye Hao, who hadn't seen Ye Chenshan for ten years, had developed some estrangement. Ye Hao, in particular, had no memory of his father. However, under Ling Wanrong's guidance, they gradually accepted Ye Chenshan.

"From now on, our family will never be separated again!" Looking at his two sons and then at his wife, Ye Chenshan said solemnly.

"Shan-ge...!"

Hearing Ye Chenshan's words, Ling Wanrong's eyes welled up with tears. She had waited for this day for ten years, and now that it had finally come, how could she not be moved?

"Rest assured, Father! We will definitely return to the Ye family, find the one who tried to kill you, and find out why Grandfather disappeared!" Ye Feng naturally saw the trace of unwillingness in Ye Chenshan's heart when he said those words, so he spoke up.

Looking at his eldest son, who exuded a heroic aura, Ye Chenshan felt very comforted. Although he couldn't see through Ye Feng's cultivation, when he saw that Ye Feng's qi and blood were vigorous and showed no signs of dryness, he knew that his son had found a solution, which relieved him.

"Sigh, don't mention this matter again. Let's just live a good life as a family. The Ye family is much stronger than you can imagine. A ninth-stage martial artist is just a minor existence. Without reaching the True Martial realm, you have no status in the Ye family. I'm not trying to discourage you, but to tell you that the Tianlan Kingdom and Qing Shuang City are too small. The outside world is vast..."

Hearing Ye Feng's words, although Ye Chenshan didn't want to discourage them, he still explained.

In fact, there was much more he didn't say. Body cultivation had no future, and even if one could practice martial arts, what was the point? Breaking through to the first stage of a martial artist before the age of sixteen was considered a minor genius in Qing Shuang City, but in the Ye family, it was just a minor existence. In the Central Empire, not breaking through to the fifth stage before the age of sixteen was considered mediocre.

Like him, he broke through to the sixth stage at the age of sixteen, advancing one stage each year, reaching the ninth stage at nineteen and the peak of the ninth stage at twenty, just a step away from the True Martial realm. Even so, he was only considered a genius in the Central Empire, not a top genius.

Ye Hao's previously confident gaze dimmed. He had thought that breaking through to the quasi-martial artist stage at ten and reaching the second stage at sixteen would be impressive, but now, hearing Ye Chenshan's words, he realized that a second-stage martial artist was nothing.

"Xiao Hao, don't worry. You lacked resources before, which slowed your cultivation. In the future, that won't be the case. You're just one step away from the first stage. With effort and resources, reaching the fifth stage by sixteen is not impossible!"

Seeing Ye Hao's gaze, Ye Feng patted his shoulder and said.

As for himself, Ye Feng said nothing, but his gaze became even more determined.

"Yes, Xiao Hao, your elder brother is right. When I was ten, my cultivation wasn't much higher than yours!" Looking at his younger son and hearing his elder son's words, Ye Chenshan nodded and said to Ye Hao.

However, when he looked at Ye Feng, a trace of regret flashed in his heart. Although Ye Feng had solved the problem of dry and withered qi and blood, he had missed the best time for cultivation.

If he knew that Ye Feng had cultivated to the peak of the third stage in just over two months and had killed four fourth-stage martial artists without any martial techniques, and that his strength was already comparable to that of fifth or sixth-stage martial artists, he might not have thought so.

"Um, Father, Elder Brother, I will definitely work hard!"

Encouraged by the two, Ye Hao's gaze gradually became more determined.

Ling Wanrong watched all this, feeling a faint sense of satisfaction. Although the past ten years had been very hard, seeing the family together now, what more could she want?

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

While they were talking in the carriage, a sudden sound of galloping hooves came from the official road.

"This is the carriage of the Tianbao Pavilion. I hope you do not bring disaster upon yourselves!" Just as they were about to go out to see what was happening, the coachman's loud shout came from outside.

"Hmm?" Hearing the coachman's words, Ye Feng and his family all frowned.

"You wait in the carriage, I'll go out and see what's happening!"

At this moment, Ye Chenshan stood up and said to Ling Wanrong and Ye Feng.

"I'll go too!"

"I want to go too!"

Ye Feng and Ye Hao naturally didn't want to be left behind and stood up as well.

"Xiao Hao, you stay in the carriage and take care of Mother!" Hearing Ye Hao's words, Ye Feng turned and said to him, then followed Ye Chenshan out of the carriage.

Ye Hao didn't dare to disobey. He increasingly felt that Ye Feng was very authoritative, and he instinctively wouldn't contradict him.

On the official road, opposite their carriage, more than ten people on horseback stood facing them. Each of them was dressed in black and masked, with a cruel look in their eyes.