Chapter 98: Chapter 89: Entering the Ancestral Land
"Ye Chen!"
"Ye Chen!"
As Ye Chen walked towards his parents and Tao'er, all the clansmen of the three clans greeted him loudly.
They even voluntarily cleared a path for him.
On the faces of the clansmen, smiles were abundant.
Ye Chen, the champion of the tri-clan competition and the most formidable youth of his generation, had defeated a True Qi level eleven expert at merely fifteen years of age. His future was limitless!
Watching Ye Chen, they saw the hope for the three clans, their bright future!
In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where martial arts were revered, Ye Chen was indeed the genius youth of his clan, and of course, everyone in his family was proud and honored by him!
When Ye Chen smiled and returned the salutations to his clansmen, many of them even screamed excitedly!
"Young Master!"
"Young Master!"
When Ye Chen approached his parents and Tao'er, the little girl's face flushed with excitement.
She had witnessed her young master ascend the steep sect entrance alone, facing a Spirit Sea Realm expert without an ounce of fear.
Now, in the clan's grand competition, she had seen her young master unstoppable and sweeping through everything, claiming the championship with ease!
How could Tao'er not be overjoyed by this?!
"Chen'er!"
Ye Chen's mother, Lin Rin, held his hand, her eyes brimming with pride.
Her child had won the first place in the tri-clan competition, and when many clanspeople around her learned that Ye Chen was her son, their praise and envy gave her feelings she had never experienced in over thirty years!
The gentle Lin Rin, under these emotions, also felt her mood intensely stirred!
This was the pride and honor her child had brought to her!
Ye Chen's father, Ye Xiaotian, standing beside them with his broad face full of smiles, was chuckling heartily, but his smile was no less proud and honored than Lin Rin's.
"Alright!"
"The tri-clan competition is officially over, and the rewards for the top ten have all been distributed!"
"In three days, the exploration of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm will officially begin!"
"Everyone go back now, we'll meet outside the Ancestral Land in three days!"
The three old clan leaders stepped out from the Ancestral Shrine, looking at Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, the top ten of the competition, the top thirty, and the countless clansmen who gathered outside the shrine, loudly laughing as they spoke.
Although the clan leaders said so, the excited clansmen were reluctant to leave for a long time.
Only after Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and the others returned to their own homes, making preparations to enter the Ancestral Land, did the crowd around the shrine gradually disperse.
After having a meal with his parents at home, Ye Chen returned to his cultivation.
The numerous battles he had observed and fought in the tri-clan competition had brought him significant gains, especially the last battle with Bai Xiaodie, which was extremely beneficial. He needed to properly reflect on the gains and losses of the fight.
Strength and realm improvements did not fall from the sky; they required daily hard work and diligent practice!
Ye Chen understood this.
In the final three days before entering the Ancestral Land, he remained immersed in his cultivation, continuously enhancing his abilities.
During these three days, countless members of the three clans visited Ye Chen's home, and many even came with marriage proposals.
Ye Chen, at fifteen years of age, with such great strength, kindled romantic feelings in quite a few young girls of the three clans. They shyly expressed their sentiments to their parents, who were of course extremely satisfied with Ye Chen and many sent go-betweens to propose marriage; the more eager even came in person.
This left Ye Chen's parents somewhat at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
They had already heard from Tao'er about Jiang Yao, and they very much liked the girl who had traveled a thousand miles from the Taixuan Sect to stand before Ye Chen, challenging the mid-Spirit Sea Realm expert Zhou Yuntian for Ye Chen's sake, the legendary talent of Heavenly Wind Kingdom's eastern domain Thirty-Six Sects, who was only seventeen years old yet already a Spirit Sea Realm expert and of graceful beauty.
Naturally, they wouldn't presume to engage Ye Chen in another betrothal.
In the end, even Bai Xiaodie's mother came to visit Lin Rin at Ye Chen's home and spoke with her quietly for a long time...
Three days went by in the blink of an eye.
Finally, the day to enter the Ancestral Land arrived.
Early in the morning, the area outside the Ancestral Land was crowded with people. By the time Ye Chen arrived there with his parents and Tao'er, the place was already packed!
From a distance, they could see the entrance to the Ancestral Land, where the clan chiefs and many young people who were to enter the land were already waiting.
Had the clanspeople not recognized Ye Chen and made way for him, he might have had to use his agility to leap into the crowd to get through!
"Chen'er, there are a lot of people here, you go ahead, we will wait outside," said Lin Rin and Ye Xiaotian, carefully admonishing Ye Chen about various things.
"Young Master, after you come out from the Ancestral Land, you have to tell me what it's like inside," said the young maid Tao'er, tugging at Ye Chen's sleeve and smiling as she spoke.
Ye Chen nodded to his parents and Tao'er with a smile. After bidding farewell, he walked into the crowd towards the entrance of the Ancestral Land.
"Ye Chen!"
"Ye Chen!"
Along the way, Ye Chen encountered many of his young friends, including Qian Yun and Bai Xiaodong, who excitedly waved their arms at Ye Chen, and he smiled back, greeting them in return.
When he arrived at the entrance to the Ancestral Land, he found that more than half of the thirty individuals who were to enter had already arrived.
Seeing that Ye Chen had also arrived, the three Patriarchs and the young people all surged towards him.
"Ye Chen."
When Bai Xiaodie saw Ye Chen, her usually valiant appearance flushed with a shy red, clearly aware of the visit her mother had made to Ye Chen's mother.
Ye Chen, however, did not notice Bai Xiaodie's odd expression and smiled as he walked into the crowd.
After a short wait, all thirty individuals who were to enter the Ancestral Land finally gathered.
The thirty looked towards the Ancestral Land, towards the statues of the three forebears on the periphery, and towards the fourth statue shrouded in faint smoke in the center belonging to Great Di Kong. They gazed upon the dark swirl two zhang in diameter that represented the entrance to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, their hearts filled with excitement.
Very soon, they were about to enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, which only opened once every three hundred years!
At that moment, Patriarch Bai stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the crowd outside the Ancestral Land and across the faces of the thirty youths, causing the place to gradually quiet down.
Patriarch Bai raised his voice and proclaimed, "Today is the day when the most outstanding thirty of our younger generation enter the Ancestral Land to seek adventure and search for great opportunities!"
"Regarding the matters to be aware of when entering the Ancestral Land, I need to emphasize again."
Patriarch Bai looked at the thirty youths, "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm is the exclusive secret realm of our three clans, and outsiders cannot enter, only our people can."
"However, do not assume that it's completely safe inside. Although it is much safer compared to other places of adventure, there is still the danger of falling if you are not careful."
"During the first five openings of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, according to the Ancestral Canon, out of one hundred and fifty people who entered, three fell inside due to being overly reckless. You must be cautious on this venture into the Ancestral Land."
Hearing the words of Patriarch Bai, all thirty youths bound for the Ancestral Land solemnly nodded their heads.
Nowhere is absolutely secure, and the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, as a place concealing secret treasures, is no exception.
Patriarch Bai continued, "The great person who established the Ancestral Land left countless secret treasures within the secret realm, but also numerous trials."
"Only those who pass these trials can obtain the treasures. You must strive for the treasures while ensuring your own safety!"
"Lastly, I must stress that once you enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the entrance will completely close behind you and will not reopen until one day after an entire month!"
"When the Ancestral Land Secret Realm entrance reopens, your Pass Tokens will emit a special glow, signaling that it is time to leave. At that moment, you must drop your blood onto your Ancestral Ground Pass Tokens, and you will be transported out of the Ancestral Land."
"Remember, you must leave the Ancestral Land Secret Realm proactively. Otherwise, once the one-day limit for departure ends and you have not actively exited, the secret realm will forcefully eject you, and by then, you could likely be injured!"
"You have only one month to explore the Ancestral Land Secret Realm! Seize that month well!"
"Now, I will distribute the Pass Tokens and ordinary maps of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm to you."
Having spoken, Patriarch Bai sent thirty black tokens and thirty maps flying towards the thirty youths entering the Ancestral Land.
Ye Chen and the others raised their hands and caught the black tokens and maps.
The black tokens were the Pass Tokens for entry to the Ancestral Land.
The map was an ordinary map of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, not like the special Ancestral Ground Secret Map given as an exclusive reward to the top ten, which had special treasure areas marked. This ordinary map only had general information and locations regarding the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.
After Ye Chen and the others had inspected the black tokens and the map of the Ancestral Land, putting them away, the voices of the three Patriarchs came to them, "Enter the Ancestral Land!"
"One month of opportunity and fate lies ahead of you, time will tell what you manage to glean from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."
"One month from now, we will be here waiting for your return!"
"Go ahead!"
Amidst the voices of the three Patriarchs, Ye Chen and the other thirty individuals took one more glance at their loved ones, then took a deep breath before taking big strides into the depths of the Ancestral Land.
"Ancestral Land Secret Realm Entrance!"
"It's through here that we enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"
Upon first setting foot into the mysterious Ancestral Land, the hearts of the thirty youths began pounding violently.
As they reached behind the fourth statue and saw the dark two-zhang-wide vortex, their heartbeats grew even more intense!
The mysterious place of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, with its treasures that have been passed down for a thousand years by the three clans, lay just beyond!
"Let's go!"
After exchanging glances, two of the youths took the lead and leaped into the dark vortex. The moment they jumped in, their Pass Tokens emitted an incredibly mystical light. Then, they vanished from sight.
"Let's go!"
"Let's enter as well!"
After the two disappeared, the others followed suit, jumping into the dark vortex one after another.
"Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"
"A month of exploration awaits!"
Ye Chen stared at the mystical black vortex before him, took a deep breath, and with a leap, also jumped into the dark vortex.