Robbed

It took Yu Yan a long conversation with Hei Ying to understand the situation.

Apparently, Hei Ying was indeed an elf but from a higher world where Fey Races were dominant, she stumbled upon a secret realm where she took a test to inherit a Legacy. At the end of the test, she was offered an opportunity to become the companion of Yu Yan.

What Yu Yan could not understand was why she accepted it. After all, there was little information about who he was, and based on the soul contract she signed, the oath she took put her in a subordinate situation. The only good thing about it was that she could refuse if he made any inappropriate requests or put her life in mortal danger.

"I cultivate battle intent, that's all that matters to me." Hei Ying explained herself and although Yu Yan could understand, he just could not agree with this mindset.

Still, he was glad he had someone who would live as long as him. He would never be lonely with her around.

He also noticed she was cultivating in the Immortal Tome but her technique was one rank lower than his as it was a Chaos tier. She had other techniques he didn't, like mental and body Cultivation techniques, both of which were chaos tiers, too.

"Can you teach me your Cultivation Techniques?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, I can teach you anything, but the oath I swore in the secret realms doesn't allow me to teach others," Hei Ying explained, and Yu Yan was completely fine with that.

Hurrying out of the room, he signaled for Zi Han, who was sitting cross-legged in the hallway a short distance away, to come over.

"Assemble all Red Maidens" he ordered.

Then he led Hei Ying to the yard where they waited for all twelve Maidens to gather.

"Hei Ying, these twelve are my envoys and maids; they will be under your command from now on. They care for all miscellaneous affairs of the courtyard and also gather relevant information for me. If there are any female members of the courtyard in the future, they will also be guards. I'll allow Lu Sheng to explain to you the rest of their responsibilities" Yu Yan explained.

Hei Ying's eyes brightened as she observed the Red Maidens. Simple as they seemed, she could sense that they were Cultivating in a technique of the same rank as hers. And although their cultivation was still low in the Qi Condensation late stage, their soul cultivation was higher in Mid Foundation Establishment.

Glancing at Lu Sheng, her eyes burned with a desire to battle.

Yu Yan noticed this but kept silent. Instead, he said to the twelve Maidens.

"From now on, you no longer need to take instructions from Lu Sheng. Hei Ying will be your Captain; her orders are equal to mine."

Then addressing Hei Ying and Lu Sheng.

"Every year, there will be a competition between both the Red Robes and Black Guards; I will alter resources for each group based on your performance. I'll give you both a year to adjust to your roles, after which the clan will host an event to recruit five members into your groups; this will be done every ten years. They must not have any relationship with the Yu Clan and should be between 10-15 years old"

He continued to give a few instructions and answer questions about the difference in their roles before retreating to his room. A while later, Hei Ying entered, and with her, some Red Maidens started rearranging the furniture in the room.

"What are you doing?" Yu Yan asked curiously.

"You need closer protection, and it wouldn't be very comfortable for a man to share your room, so while Lu Sheng stays at the door, I'll live here with you," Hei Ying replied, her eyes glittering beautifully.

Yu Yan opened his lips to speak but held himself back, she was right. Still, he felt a little troubled by her presence. She was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever set his eyes on and this was adding Mei Hua to the mix.

One had to know that in the whole Divine Blood Empire and Clear Heart Sect, Mei Hua easily ranked among the top five most beautiful girls. Yet Hei Ying seemed like someone from an entirely different league.

Her demeanor of mischief and power, her glittering eyes and rose lips, her ebony hair and muscular yet perky form, she was perfection! The kind of girl every man didn't know they wanted until they saw her.

While he had a sage physique and his demeanor had inevitably changed, he was still Yu Yan, not a sage.

Fortunately, if there was anything the feminism movement accomplished, it was teaching men to keep their desires to themselves and control themselves better around pretty girls.

Yu Yan was soon able to divert his attention from Hei Ying to his system.

He still remembered that Hei Ying came from a milestone reward. Yu Hao had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This made him remember the Patriarch selection; there, Yu Hao was just in Qi Condensation, but he displayed amazing battle prowess by reaching the first layer of Sword Heart, an introductory stage to the Dao of the Sword.

Recalling the update of the system, he opened the Information Update Page.

[After becoming a true Elder of the Yu Clan, Yu Hao decided to pause his sword training and improve his Qi Cultivation.]

[Yu Wei is invited by the Second Prince to a banquet in the Imperial Palace where he is surprised to meet the representative of the Chu Clan again.]

[The First Elder after failing in his schemes decides to empty the Clan Vault and defect to the Chu Clan]

[The Chu Clan is agitated and impatient with all the changes going on in the Yu Clan and begins to plot an assassination on Yu Yan. Only by driving the Yu Clan to despair can they get access to the Yu Mountain without bloodshed]

Reading the messages one after another, Yu Yan was stunned by the information recorded in it. He hadn't opened this page since he unlocked it disregarding it as an insignificant aspect of the system. How wrong he was!

So much was going on around him that he had no idea of!

"Hei Ying," he called out gently, and Hei Ying slowly opened her eyes.

"Contact the Third Elder in charge of the clan vault and have him check it for any abnormalities. Regardless of what you find, lock the area down and do not allow anyone to get wind of it."

Hei Ying was baffled by the instructions, but she nodded in compliance, and right before Yu Yan's eyes, she faded into the shadows of the room.

For a moment, Yu Yan was completely stunned. That wasn't a technique; there were no Qi fluctuations.

Restraining his curiosity, he entered the Pocket world and brought out the Stealth Blood-Wolf puppy to the real world. As soon as the puppy was out, it began wagging its tail wildly, jumping all around the room with its tongue out, asking Yu Yan to play with it.

It wasn't long before Hei Ying returned. Her face wore some amusement as she approached Yu Yan.

"Anything wrong in the Vault?" he asked when he saw her, signaling for the Wolf to calm down.

Despite hearing his question, Hei Ying's eyes were fixed on the Wolf, a small twinkle in her eyes as she stared at it.

The wolf tilted its head, looking back at her with a questioning expression as if asking why she kept staring.

"Do you know what that is?" Hei Ying couldn't hold herself back anymore and asked, her eyes moving to Yu Yan.

"A Stealth Blood-Wolf beast?" Yu Yan replied skeptically.

"Yes, but I don't think you know it's fully sentient like me and you. You're playing with it like a puppy, that's a child," Hei Ying replied, trying to suppress her laughter.

"Say what?" Yu Yan gaped.

"Like me, I'm an elf. That's a beast, but we're both from the Fey Race. It's not a Wilden, It's part of the intelligent races. It's a Stealth Wolf child, the equivalent of a two-year-old human," Hei Ying explained.

Yu Yan paused for a while, stunned by the revelation, and then his face flushed red. He knew why Hei Ying was amused, he was treating the wolf like an unintelligent animal while they played. But how was he to know about all this? This world has no such thing as an intelligent fey race. Sure, there were sentient beasts, but those were animals that gained sentience after a long period of cultivation.

It seemed like what he understood to be the Fey Races was different from what Hei Ying knew them to be.

"What about the vault?" Yu Yan asked changing the subject quickly.

"It's empty" Hei Ying replied quickly.

Yu Yan sighed at hearing that. He still ended up underestimating the Yu Clan enemies. The shield around the clan could protect against all but members of the clan themselves.

"Lockdown this information. We'll wait for all other traitors to make their moves" Yu Yan replied.

He had been waiting for a year now. He wanted to weed out all traitors from the Clan before making any significant changes.

This past few months, he had reared many lower-tier herbs within the Pocket World and raised a few beasts. While he didn't know what the Yu Clan vault contained, he was sure there was nothing in there that could significantly affect the clan in any way.

"It would be best if those Protectors would leave too" he muttered to himself.

"If you mean those old foogies I can sense in the Ancestral Mausoleum, you should be careful of them," Hei Ying warned.

"Why, what did you notice?" Yu Yan looked up at her.

"Their Qi Cultivation is stuck at Qi Sea by a bloodline curse, but their intent is already at Half-Step Soul Forging," Hei Ying replied.

Yu Yan thought about it and realized he already knew that. When he saw the clan Peak Strength in the system information, he had wondered why the Yu Clan was still a small, insignificant Clan, but now he understood.

"How are you compared to them?" he asked Hei Ying curiously.

Hei Ying's expression instantly soured as she stared at him as if she had been insulted.

"I'm in the late stage of Soul Forging Realm" she replied, dragging out her voice like a teenage girl complaining about being looked down on.

"I'm sorry, stupid question" Yu Yan shook his head and apologized.

"With my Bloodline abilities and battle intent, I don't think I have a match in the Soul Forging Realm." Hei Ying added.

"Not to mention, they can't use the strength of Half-Step Soul Forging for longer than twenty breaths before their Qi destroys their body."

"So there's no need for me to hold back within the clan anymore?" Yu Yan asked.

"Go wild; I've scanned the entire mountain. There's no one stronger than Half-Step Soul Forging." Hei Ying shrugged before leaving the courtyard.

"I'll go train my Red Maidens for a bit; if you need me, just speak to your shadow." She winked at him and disappeared through the door.

Yu Yan stared at the the closed door for a while and a smile appeared on his face.

"I wonder what rank the Yu Clan will attain after revealing our strength"