Beast Taming Clan: I Have a Jade Book

Talisman refining was not like alchemy or artifact refining, which required earth fire and large spaces. Talisman refining mainly relied on a talisman master’s comprehension of magic, followed by the influences of the talisman pen, talisman ink, and talisman paper. Thus, a small table was all it took to provide a talisman master with the possibility of talisman making. To ensure privacy for each talisman master, the Ye family had also provided a large-scale array to isolate the cultivators from one another.

Since there were no members of major clans participating among these talisman masters, the Ye family could actually use the array to observe the others during their talisman refining, gathering inspiration and experience. Of course, over the years, Ye Jingting had already collected just about every ordinary talisman refining method there was, so the Ye family did not employ any further tricks.

The talisman conference proceeded in a similarly orderly fashion. Outside, Xiao Shao’en finally grasped the situation after asking quite a few people. Naturally, he was overjoyed that Ye Jingting and the Ye Talisman Sect were safe and sound. In contrast, he inexplicably felt that the Xiao family had brought this upon themselves.

However, when he thought of his father kneeling to apologize and having to pay an astronomical compensation, a sense of pity welled up within him. This feeling inevitably left him conflicted. On one hand was his clan, and on the other was the woman he loved. For a moment, he truly could not weigh one against the other.

Especially since Ye Jingting had ignored him earlier, he began to hesitate. He finally started to wonder if she had approached him with an ulterior motive from the very beginning, or if she genuinely harbored affection for him. A Spirit Inquiry Talisman appeared in his hand, but he quickly put it away. At this moment, his mind was split in two—half filled with memories of his time spent with Ye Jingting, and the other half with moments from his family life.

”Why didn’t you show up earlier?” Right then, Ye Jinghu walked out from inside and led Xiao Shao’en to the side. ”You’d better take out a Spirit Inquiry Talisman to answer my questions because I’m not good at guessing whether someone is lying or not,” he added shortly after.

Ye Jinghu had naturally heard about Xiao Shao’en, and he was quite satisfied with the younger man’s performance. Before coming to the Eastern Domain, Ye Jingcheng had instructed him to test Xiao Shao’en once he arrived at Tianshu Mansion. He wasn’t good at testing people, but that didn’t stop him from using a Spirit Inquiry Talisman.

”Fellow Cultivator Ye Hu... Elder,” Xiao Shao’en called out, initially out of habit. However, he quickly realized that Ye Jinghu was already a Golden Core Cultivator and hastily corrected himself.

”I was imprisoned by my father.” Xiao Shao’en had no intention of hiding anything. He directly took out a Spirit Inquiry Talisman and answered candidly. ”I only managed to escape after breaking the array, and I only found out about the situation after asking around,” he continued.

”That answer is satisfactory enough. You can proceed to participate in the talisman conference now.” Seeing that he wasn’t lying, Ye Jinghu nodded.

For the current Ye family, it was as they always said: they didn’t consider the Xiao family a threat; their only fear was internal disintegration. Ye Jingting definitely had feelings for Xiao Shao’en. If there was a flaw here, the Ye family would either patch it or destroy it entirely. Even though she hadn’t responded earlier, Ye Jinghu knew that her heart had actually been thrown into disarray the moment Xiao Shao’en called out to her.

”Elder Ye, I would like to know what compensation conditions the Ye Talisman Sect would agree to,” Xiao Shao’en asked after a moment of hesitation. He didn’t even know why he was asking this. Even though his family wanted to take back his cultivation technique and arrange a marriage and Dao companion he disliked, it was only at this very moment that he realized he still harbored some attachment to them. Though it wasn’t much, he couldn’t deny its existence. He was even worried about his father.

”You still care about the Xiao family?” Ye Jinghu’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

”To be honest with you, Elder, partially. However, I have already decided to leave the Xiao family. I know I don’t carry enough weight, but I would still like to boldly propose a trade.

”I will perform talisman refining for the Ye Talisman Sect for free for fifty years, solely asking that the sect shows leniency and issues a lighter punishment.” Xiao Shao’en was incredibly anxious, but he had finally made his decision. As for the Xiao family, he still wouldn’t return. He was already disappointed in them, and he remained full of longing for his beloved. Yet, he knew that pleading for mercy was likely the very last thing he could do for his clan.

”Even if you must strike, could you please spare my father...” Xiao Shao’en hesitated for a moment before bowing deeply once more.

”We’ll see how you perform at the talisman conference.” Ye Jinghu waved his hand, neither refusing nor agreeing.

Xiao Shao’en was instantly overjoyed. He knew that the lack of a refusal meant there was a possibility. As Ye Jinghu dispelled the array, Xiao Shao’en noticed that Ye Jingting had arrived at their side at some point. Although her face didn’t betray much emotion, he was well aware that she was worried Ye Jinghu might do something harmful to him. Immediately, that surge of joy bubbled up in his heart once again.

”Fellow Cultivator Ye Ting...”

”Sister Ting, the second stage of the talisman conference is about to begin,” Ye Jinghu reminded her.

Ye Jingting nodded at once and turned to leave. Although she hadn’t said a single word, it was more than enough for Xiao Shao’en.

The talisman competition concluded quickly. Those who received rewards were naturally elated, and even those who didn’t had at least gained another experience in talisman refining. Furthermore, they were allowed to take away the spirit talismans they had crafted.

Following the end of the talisman competition, the second segment of the talisman conference—the exchange—promptly began. Participating in this part of the conference were the Foundation Establishment cultivators, along with four Purple Mansion cultivators. The conference proceeded very smoothly. Ye Yunxuan naturally astounded everyone with his skills; when it came to insights on spirit talismans, no one could debate him head-on. Even Xiao Shao’en quickly conceded defeat. By the time the conference ended, all the Tier Two and above talisman masters felt that the time was too short, wishing they could continue their Dao discussions for another few days or half a month.

Meanwhile, the Ye family had finally received the compensation lists from the various factions. Master Xuan Jing of the Wang family’s Profound Origin Pavilion sent over the land title for a Tier Four shop. The Liu family sent over a set of Tier Four Spirit Gathering Arrays and Spirit-Attracting Stones. As for the Xiao family, they handed over the land title to their Spirit Mountain and their shop in the Tianshu Market. In addition to that, there was a massive amount of spirit stones and spirit medicines.

Their shop was currently only three storeys high. After all, it hadn’t been long since Xiao Yuanquan’s breakthrough, so they hadn’t had the time to renovate it yet. However, its location was naturally much better than that of the Ye Talisman Sect’s shop.

The number of spirit stones was not small either, totaling a full eight hundred thousand. It wasn’t much for a Golden Core Clan, but the Xiao family had just been promoted to one. Not to mention, they had also sent over a significant amount of spirit medicine. Because of his promise to Xiao Shao’en, Ye Jinghu did not take the spirit medicine or the spirit stones, but the Ye family accepted both the Spirit Mountain and the shop.

He had the authority to waive the spirit stone resources. However, the Spirit Mountain and the shop represented the Ye family’s dignity. If they truly rejected them, more families would inevitably try to leech off the Ye family in the future, taking risks in hopes of getting lucky. Ye Jinghu naturally could not tolerate such a scenario. Of course, for both the Spirit Mountain and the shop, the Ye family granted the Xiao family half a year to handle the handover themselves. As for whether the Xiao family would remain in Tianshu Mansion, that was not something Ye Jinghu needed to consider.

While the Ye family in Tianshu Mansion was in full swing, over in Wangqing Prefecture...

At this moment, in front of the Hundred Beasts Mountain, Ye Qingfeng and Ye Haiyan were similarly standing there, leading their clan members. Unlike in Tianshu Mansion, where the Ye family had to pay visits to others, here in Wangqing Prefecture, Prince Wang had personally sent someone to guide them to the former sect grounds of the Hundred Beasts Sect.

After so many years, the spiritual energy here had naturally declined somewhat, but quite a few Beast Valleys remained intact. Moreover, there were also some spirit beasts with decent talent. For the Ye family, both these spirit beasts and the Beast Valleys held considerable value. In their expectations, these should have been long gone by now, but evidently, Prince Wang had been sending people to maintain the area. Because of this, the value of this Spirit Mountain was even greater.

”Uncle Haiyan, how should we handle the spirit beasts in these Beast Valleys?” Ye Qingfeng inquired.

”Keep the spirit beasts suited for spiritual cuisine. As for the rest, send them all to Prince Wang and the Profound Puppet Sect,” Ye Haiyan instructed, waving his hand. Before the Eastern Domain was exposed, the Ye family would not engage in the spirit beast trade. Since that was the case, they might as well give them all to Prince Wang and the Profound Puppet Sect. After all, if not for these two parties, the Ye family probably wouldn’t have been able to keep these assets anyway. The other side had made so many sacrifices. If the Ye family truly kept everything for themselves, it would be highly inappropriate.

”Understood.” Ye Qingfeng nodded.