The Leaves of the Ye Sect

Ye Sect, inside the Assembly Hall

Ten cultivators of varying ages and genders—all clad in pure white robes with a golden leaf insignia embroidered on their chests—sat facing each other in the center of the hall.

On the long table were freshly-brewed pots of tea, but there were no servants present to pour them and the tea was cold and untouched after sitting there for hours.

In an elevated seat in the middle, an old man with silvery white hair and strong, muscular features listened with a solemn face to the reports of those below him. It was exactly Patriarch Ye Wuqing who was presiding the closed-door meeting.

"The Purple Plumed General told us that they want every major school, big sect and great clan from third-tiered cities and above to contribute in the front lines and coordinate with the local military. We must pass down this order to those under our jurisdiction," a middle-aged man seated near the head of the table politely spoke. "As for our Ye sect, the Wu Family and Ravenrise Mercenaries, they want us to send our strongest experts to the Imperial Capital and be deployed under the Purple Plumed General's banner."

This middle-aged man was Li Yun Tian, the Second Elder of the Ye Sect, who happened to be also the Patriarch of the Li clan and the father of Protector Li Xiao Yang, who clashed against Yin earlier when he was escorting the delegates of the Qing Imperial Family.

He was the external affairs elder, in charge of dealing with important guests and dealings that involved other groups and major powers.

From this, it could be seen that him putting his son to substitute Ye Mo in welcoming the delegates from the Imperial Capital was not only a way to expand his son's network, but also his form of training so that in the future, his son would be skilled enough to take over his position in the sect.

"We can not even put out the fire in our own backyards, yet they want us to put out theirs? Is this even reasonable?" the Third Elder, a white-haired woman that goes by the name of Old Woman Xia, grumbled under her breath.

Old Woman Xia was known for her temper and frankness, but nobody had the mind or heart to rebuke her words, lest they risk offending her. She was the elder in charge of the sect's Alchemy Hall, and was known as one of the most excellent alchemists in the Leaf City, recognized to be second only to the Great Elders of the Ming Yue Sect branch.

The other elders threw their own opinions.

"Yes, we are yet to secure Leaf City. We cannot divide our forces at this time."

"We do not need to send over our experts. I'm afraid that if we do, not even half can return with their corpses intact."

"Maybe we can compromise with quantity over quality."

"It's not like you do not know this is a scheme of the Qing to make sure all powers are kept in check. With the balance already struck, they wouldn't want any influence to grow more than they should."

"With the Demonic Faction basically at their footsteps, would they even have time to spare to think of these things?"

Hearing the elders argue, Patriarch Ye Wuqing closed his eyes as he rhythmically tapped his fingers over the wooden table.

"Even if we do not want to, we have to," he stated with a wry smile. "Tenth Elder, what are your thoughts on this?"

Although Ye Mo was the youngest elder, he was highly acclaimed as the most promising younger generation in the sect, being the only cultivator to reach the Divine Awakening Stage at the age of thirty. Not only that, but as a pure sword cultivator, his attack power allowed him to jump levels and fight those at the early Divine Profound Stage.

It was also because of this trust and expectation that the city defense and training of the elite disciples of the sect was handled by Ye Mo.

Even those elders of the Li Clan could not say anything. After all, the glory that Sword Flash Ye Mo brings allowed the Ye Sect to stand over the heads of the Wu Family and the Ravenrise Mercenaries.

Fighting within the sect was one thing; at least, they were reasonable enough not to lose face against external powers.

Roughly two thousand years ago, the Leaf City was founded by three experts with the surname Ye. Together, these blood brothers also created the Ye Sect, and from their descendants, three lineages were formed.

The first lineage of the Eldest brother was currently headed by Patriarch Ye Wuqing. The First Elder, the strategist of the clan, also belonged to this lineage.

The second lineage, once the most powerful of the three, had now dwindled to only having two males having this bloodline. It was currently headed by the Tenth Elder, Ye Mo.

The third lineage was under the administration of Old Woman Xia, together with the Fifth Elder who manages the businesses of the sect. Having both the Alchemy Hall and the Commerce Hall, the third lineage could be said to be the wealthiest of the three.

History-wise, the entire Leaf City belonged to the Ye. However, the passage of time proved to be cruel. The descendants born, in general, were more inferior than the generation before them.

As such, Leaf City was now governed by three main influences.

Even the Ye Sect was now divided into the control of two families: the Ye Clan and the Li Clan.

The Li Clan happened to be once servants to the Ye, but as a genius once appeared among their ancestors, that genius was allowed to be married to the daughter of the Ye Clan and thus, the Li Clan prospered hugging his fat thighs.

"I propose a competition."

All elders stopped bickering at the sound of Ye Mo's voice. Patriarch Ye Wuqing signaled him to continue.

However, Ye Mo wasn't and would never be good with words. He tried as much as he could to explain his thoughts.

"Within the Leaf City, we can invite experts to fight it out and the strongest can go to the Imperial Capital."

As the rival of his son, the Second Elder would take all opportunities to ridicule him. He immediately shot his idea down. "What? You think everyone would willingly clean their necks and go to their deaths just because we ask them to? You even want them to compete for that?"

"If we use the name of the Imperial Family..."

Seeing that Ye Mo was struggling, the First Elder, who was the oldest among those in the present and was also Ye Mo's greatest supporter, decided to intervene on his behalf.

He was the clan strategist. With merely a few words from Ye Mo, he could already formulate several benefits from his suggestion.

"I think what the Tenth Elder means, by proposing a competition, we can say that we are choosing the 'strongest' within the city to participate and shows that we support the cause of the Imperial Family. They will not be able to find fault with us.

"The other powers would also bring in a majority of their experts, even if they're not their most powerful, as being not part of the said 'strongest' would be a slap on their faces. Imagine, if all the top ten have the surname Ye and Li, wouldn't people laugh at the Wu Patriarch and Mercenary Leader Yang?

"Using the banner of the Purple Plumed General, the competition can also be a way for the cultivators to showcase in front of the Qing Imperial Family. With this, we can fill the quota with not only the disciples of our sect, even rogue cultivators will be pulled in.

"This is also a good training for the younger generation. As long as sufficient Nascent Divinity Realm experts are left behind in the Leaf City, I think we can manage even in the case of emergency. The important thing is that we give an opportunity for our juniors to earn merit and have real battle experience. Every cultivator needs to be baptized by war and blood some time in their lives in order to grow."

As the First Elder spoke, inwardly, Ye Mo was crying.

This was why he hated meetings!

This was why he chose the way of the sword!

All these talking and scheming breaks the gears in his poor head... maybe if he can find someone else to talk in his stead...

After this, he still needed to report the Ming Yue Sect incident to the Patriarch... with the Patriarch's eye, could he even lie...?

Suddenly, everyone in the Assembly Hall stood up in alarm. They felt a very powerful evil fluctuation in the east.

Ye Mo had an ill feeling because... that was the direction of his manor!

A warm sensation in his chest caused him to bring out his communication talisman. It was a message from Ye Hua.

"The first-ranked assassin Ghost Blade is here!"

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*The title of the chapter refers to a play on the leaves (Ye) of a great tree, a metaphor for the descendants of the Ye Sect