Chapter 52: Joining the Alliance (Part 1)"A small token of my appreciation, please kindly accept it."Ye Feng stepped forward, handed over the wooden box, and the guards at the door took it.Afterwards, he cupped his hands in farewell to Ye Lingling and left without looking back.Ye Lingling's figure paused. Watching Ye Feng's departing back, she hurriedly called out,"Ye Feng, Mother has something important to discuss with you. Please do not decline."With that, she lifted her skirt and ran toward Ye Feng.Pretending not to hear, Ye Feng continued walking toward the Dugu Mansion.During this time, Ye Lingling followed closely behind Ye Feng like a maid, saying nothing and sticking right to him.Feeling the footsteps closely following behind him, Ye Feng bypassed the Dugu Mansion and walked toward the bustling market, wanting to shake her off.However, Ye Lingling stuck to him like glue and could not be shaken off no matter what.Ye Feng's competitive streak flared up. Since he couldn't shake her off, he would make her give up in the face of difficulties.He then took Ye Lingling to restaurants, alleys, hotels... and even visited a brothel in the end.At this moment, inside the brothel, listening to the intimate sounds of men and women intertwining echoing in her ears, Ye Lingling's body trembled slightly, and a blush rose to her pretty face.At that moment, a drunken guest arrived, caught a glimpse of Ye Lingling, and looked her up and down with a lecherous expression.That blatant gaze made Ye Lingling feel somewhat uncomfortable. A flash of disgust crossed her eyes, and she hid behind Ye Feng.Seeing this, Ye Feng sighed, shook his head, and smiled self-deprecatingly.Why was he getting worked up over a little girl?Besides, bringing a young maiden to a brothel was going way too far no matter how one looked at it.Thinking this, Ye Feng left the brothel, seamlessly kicking out through the air at the drunkard, and a pig-slaughtering scream echoed from behind him.Well, judging by his feel, it should be shattered...Leaving the brothel, Ye Lingling finally breathed a sigh of relief.Attracted by the drunkard's miserable screams behind her, Ye Lingling glanced back.Then she looked at Ye Feng walking ahead, looking thoughtful.Was it him?Her beautiful blue eyes lit up, the corners of her lips beneath her veil curled upward, forming a faint smile.She quickened her pace and caught up, though her steps were noticeably much lighter.Not long after, the two returned to the entrance of the Ye Residence.Ye Feng turned around and said to Ye Lingling,"Lead the way. Didn't the Head of the Ye family have something to find me for? I'm free now."Ye Lingling nodded and walked to the front of Ye Feng.Tacitly, both of them refrained from mentioning that journey along the way, treating it as if nothing had happened.Ye Feng followed Ye Lingling into the living room.At this moment, Ye Qingyi was sitting in the main seat, drinking tea and waiting.Seeing the two arrive, Ye Qingyi chuckled softly, without asking why Ye Lingling had been late to return."Ye Feng, we meet again."Ye Feng sat down in the guest seat, took the tea handed over by Ye Lingling, thanked her, looked at Ye Qingyi, and said bluntly,"Head of the Ye family, let's get straight to the point. Why did you call me over today?"Perhaps due to the confidence brought by his enhanced strength, he no longer had any scruples when doing many things nowadays.Take right now, for instance; he just spoke directly about business, omitting the usual pleasantries.He worked hard at cultivation and improved his strength precisely so he could live as he pleased.If he still played by those worldly rules of human relations and sophistication, wouldn't he just be asking for trouble for himself?Ye Qingyi chuckled softly, not minding Ye Feng's bluntness.She had seen plenty of geniuses, and Ye Feng could be considered one with a relatively good temper."Yesterday, School Master Ning went to Heaven Dou Academy with you as his target, but I don't know what happened after you and School Master Ning went to the Soul Fighting Stage. Could little friend please clear up my confusion?"Ye Feng nodded and told the truth, as there was nothing much to hide.Even if he didn't say anything, Ye Qingyi could get the results by asking the education committee members of Heaven Dou Academy.He wouldn't be foolish enough to think that the three committee members would really keep the secret well. Not to mention anything else, their ultimate superior, Emperor Xue Ye, definitely knew.To put it bluntly, as long as the benefits were in place, their bottom line could certainly be lowered a bit.After listening to Ye Feng's account, Ye Qingyi could hardly conceal her shock, and Ye Lingling felt even more as if she were listening to a heavenly book; her beautiful eyes flickered as she looked at Ye Feng in disbelief.It was unimaginable that someone could contend against a Titled Douluo at the age of 14.Neither of them doubted the truth of everything Ye Feng said. Ye Lingling had spent some time with Ye Feng and knew that he hated deception.As for Ye Qingyi, she had investigated Ye Feng's past and understood his character, knowing that Ye Feng was a sincere, magnanimous, and selfish person. As long as his reverse scale wasn't touched, such a person generally wouldn't lie.Compared to Ye Lingling's unconcealable astonishment, Ye Qingyi was much calmer.She was equally happy; at least she had invested in the right person.But she knew clearly that at this moment, Ye Feng had only agreed to a single opportunity for action at the level of a Titled Douluo. There was no deep, unbreakable relationship between him and the Ye family, and there was still the possibility of him being poached away.Even if it weren't for the fact that Ye Feng deeply valued his disciple, mere medical books could not buy the protection of a future Titled Douluo.She needed to establish a closer connection between both parties and keep him in the Ye family.Seeing Ye Qingyi fall silent, Ye Feng couldn't help but speak up:"Head of the Ye family, if there are no other matters, I will take my leave first."Ye Qingyi also snapped back to her senses from her thoughts, chuckled softly, and sighed with emotion:"Apologies, Ye Feng, your strength is simply too unexpected. I have never seen such an outstanding young man like you. Truly, heroes come from the youth!""However, there is still one more matter I would like to ask your opinion on."Ye Feng patiently waited for what came next. Ye Qingyi didn't beat around the bush and quickly spoke:"My parents had an old acquaintance with Senior Dugu, and once helped treat the Spirit defect of their family. That is also the reason why our two families are close.""But because of this, Senior Dugu owes our Ye family a favor.""A few days ago, through this favor, I obtained some intelligence from Senior Dugu, regarding... your alliance."Hearing this, if Ye Feng still couldn't figure out her purpose, he might as well just find a piece of tofu and crash into it to die.At the same time, he thought of Dugu Bo's unusual behavior when the Ye family was mentioned earlier, and he understood the reason, cursing him internally as unreliable.Ye Feng looked up and happened to meet Ye Qingyi's gaze. He could see the hope and yearning in her eyes."May our Ye family also join the alliance?"Ye Feng did not hesitate in the slightest and resolutely shook his head in refusal.Ye Qingyi didn't expect to be rejected so bluntly; the smile on her face became a bit difficult to maintain."Could you... state the reason?""Hmm, dare I ask, Head of the Ye family, how many people are there in total in the Ye family? When there are many people, conflicts easily arise, and I am a person who hates trouble very much."Ye Qingyi breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled softly:"Our Ye family only has the two of us, Lengleng and myself."Ye Feng was astonished and asked:"With such a big family of yours, how is it possible that there are only two people?""The Nine Heart Begonia Spirit is passed down through a single lineage. Only two people can possess this Spirit at the same time in any given generation."But the descendants of a Nine Heart Begonia Spirit Master do not necessarily awaken the Nine Heart Begonia Spirit; it might appear in the branch lineages.There had been such a case in the past. The Nine Heart Begonia was the foundation of the Ye family and was extremely important. The main branch could not allow it to remain in the branch lineages, and the branch lineages could not hand over their own children. Thus, an extremely tragic struggle broke out between the main branch and the branch lineages, nearly resulting in the extermination of the clan.Later, the head of the Ye family at that time deeply reflected on it and established a family rule: the Ye family could only pass down through a single lineage, and only if the first child did not awaken the Nine Heart Begonia could they give birth to a second child.""What were your Ye family's ancestors thinking? Establishing such a family rule, weren't they afraid that an accident would happen one day and lead to extinction?""That ancestor valued familial affection very much. In his view, the so-called Spirit inheritance was far less important than family. However, overnight, his home was destroyed, his family was torn apart, and he was the only one left in the entire family. In extreme inner pain, he established this family rule."Later, the Ye family always followed this rule. At first, some people questioned it, but after a few generations, no one brought it up anymore, and it has continued to the present."Influenced by this family rule, compared to the inheritance of the Spirit, our Ye family values family even more.If the inheritance of the Nine Heart Begonia truly breaks one day, that would only be a loss for the Spirit Master's world, not for our Ye family."
