"The Ten Thousand Swords Pay Homage to the Sovereign... I have lived for over three hundred years, and have only seen a description of this state in ancient texts."
The Ancestor's voice was low, every word sounding as if it had drifted over from the depths of time: "Wushuang, do you know what this means?"
Ye Wushuang stood holding her sword, neither deferential nor arrogant: "This disciple does not know."
The Ancestor spoke slowly: "It means you have the qualification to become a supreme powerhouse of the Sword Path."
The entire venue fell completely silent.
The Ye family disciples held their breath, their gazes toward Ye Wushuang so complex they were almost impossible to parse.
There was shock, jealousy, utter disbelief, and deep, unspoken wariness.
Ye Wuming's face was livid. The split wound on his tiger's mouth was still oozing blood, but he paid it no mind, only staring fixedly at the Dragon Emperor Sword that should have rightfully been his.
Ye Wuxin frowned slightly, the Cold Jade Ice Soul Sword in her hand trembling with waves of unsteady unease.
The next moment.
The Ye Family Ancestor's gaze swept over Ye Wuming, then settled back on Ye Wushuang: "This Dragon Emperor Sword was originally meant to recognize Ye Wuming as its master. He is your own younger brother, the legitimate heir of the Ye family, and his Sword Path talent is far from mediocre."
After a short pause, the Ye Family Ancestor continued slowly: "I can take you as my personal disciple, and pass down the Ye family's highest sword scripture, the *Sutra of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin*. But there is one precondition."
His tone shifted sharply: "You must return the Dragon Emperor Sword to Ye Wuming."
The moment the words landed, a wave of sharp intakes of breath rippled through the Sword Tomb.
The Ancestor was going to take a disciple!
This was something that had never happened in the Ye family for three hundred years!
Even the two top talents, Ye Wuxin and Ye Wuming, had never once had the chance to receive personal guidance from the Ancestor!
Forget a Profound Grade Top-tier Dragon Emperor Sword — following the Ancestor, one might even have the chance to obtain an Earth Grade sword artifact!
"Ancestor..."
Ye Qingtian could not help but speak up, only to be silenced by a single sharp glance from the Ancestor.
Every pair of eyes was locked on Ye Wushuang.
This was a heaven-sent opportunity, a blessing countless cultivators would have dreamed of.
As long as she handed over the Dragon Emperor Sword, she would become the Ancestor's personal disciple, and rise to prominence in a single leap from that day onward.
Hearing this, a flicker of smug delight flashed across Ye Wuming's eyes. He looked at Ye Wushuang, the corners of his mouth tugging up into a cold sneer.
As the Ye family's legitimate heir, he had been fawned over by everyone since he was a child. Even though his talent was inferior to that of his elder sister Ye Wuxin, the elders had always doted on him preferentially.
Ye Wuxin's expression remained calm, only the fingers wrapped around her hilt tightening slightly.
She did not like Ye Wushuang, but she disliked this blatant unfair favoritism from the family elders even more.
Was it true that if you were not born the legitimate heir, you were doomed to suffer unfair treatment?
Under the gaze of every single person present, Ye Wushuang slowly lifted her head.
She glanced at the Dragon Emperor Sword in her hand, then at the full of expectation Ye Wuming, and finally fixed her gaze on the Ancestor.
"I refuse."
Ye Wushuang's answer was crisp and decisive.
The entire venue turned dead silent.
Even the Ancestor froze for a moment, clearly having not expected her to reject him so bluntly.
"What did you say?" The Ancestor's voice sank.
"I said, I refuse."
Ye Wushuang repeated, her tone as calm as still water: "Now that the Dragon Emperor Sword has recognized me as its master, it is my sword. Why should I give it away to someone else? What's more, I barely know Ye Wuming."
"Even if it means giving up the chance to be my disciple? You'd better think this through. That mere Profound Grade Top-tier sword artifact is nothing — I have plenty of such things."
The Ye Family Ancestor said in a deep, heavy voice.
"I do not need this opportunity."
Ye Wushuang declared once more, unyielding and resolute.
She knew full well that if she became a disciple of the Ye Family Ancestor, she would gain access to the greatest possible support of resources, allowing her to grow at a rapid pace.
But Ye Wushuang could not bring herself to agree.
Better to stand and live than to kneel and die — this unyielding pride was a belief Ye Wushuang had held fast to across two lifetimes.
She also found it absurd. The original owner of this body seemed to have been targeted from every side. Even after displaying such astonishing talent, she was still being blindly singled out and treated unfairly by her own family.
There was something very wrong with this whole situation.
The Ancestor fell silent. The air seemed to have frozen, and no one dared make a sound.
"Good, good, very good."
The next moment, the Ancestor spoke three "good" words in a row, his tone revealing no hint of emotion.
"Young one, it is a fine thing to have backbone."
He gave her a long, deep look, and his figure began to fade away: "I hope you will not regret the choice you have made today."
"On the Sword Path, talent is certainly important. But without sufficient resources, one will eventually fade into obscurity among the masses."
As the last words fell, the Ancestor's figure had vanished from the spot, as if he had never been there at all.
After the Ancestor departed, the atmosphere in the Sword Tomb instantly turned eerie, and whispers rose like a surging tide.
"She actually refused the Ancestor's offer to take her as a disciple!"
"She's gone mad. Ye Wushuang must have completely lost her mind!"
That's the Ancestor's personal guidance! How many people would beg for that opportunity!"
"All for the sake of a single sword? The Dragon Emperor Sword is nice, but what is it compared to the Ancestor's personal instruction?"
"Ungrateful, she is simply utterly ungrateful!"
Words of condemnation, mocking laughter, and voices of pity tangled together, and everyone looked at Ye Wushuang as if she was a complete fool.
Ye Wuxin shook her head slightly, muttering to herself in a low voice: "Foolish."
Ye Wuming's face was dark with rage, staring so hard at the Dragon Emperor Sword in Ye Wushuang's hands that the hatred in his eyes was almost spilling over.
On the high platform, Ye Qingtian and the other elders had ugly, sullen expressions.
The Ancestor had personally appeared to offer to take a disciple, an honor that had not graced the Ye family in a hundred years, and Ye Wushuang had rejected him outright. This was nothing short of a slap to the entire Ye family's face!
"Ye Wushuang!"
Ye Qingtian thundered, his voice laced with suppressed fury: "Do you have any idea who it was that you just turned down? Do you have any notion of what opportunity you just threw away?"
Ye Wushuang turned to face the high platform, her expression calm: "So what if I do?"
"If you know, why on earth did you refuse?" Ye Qingtian forced his anger down, "The Ancestor taking you as his disciple is a blessing you could never deserve! The Dragon Emperor Sword may be precious, but it is not worth even mentioning compared to the Ancestor's guidance!"
"If the First Elder thinks it is worthless, that is the First Elder's business." Ye Wushuang said coolly, "The opportunity that has come to me is mine. There is no reason for me to give it away to someone else."
"You!" Ye Qingtian was so enraged that his beard began to tremble.
The Second Elder Ye Qingshan quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Wushuang, you are still young and do not understand these things. The Dragon Emperor Sword was prepared specifically for Wuming. His sword intent has just matured, and he needs a fine sword like this. Even though you were acknowledged by the Sword Tomb, your cultivation level is still shallow, and that sword would be wasted in your hands anyway."
"How about this," Ye Qingshan put on a kindly, friendly expression, "you return the Dragon Emperor Sword to Wuming, and the family will compensate you with a Profound Grade High-tier spirit sword, plus three extra bottles of Huang Grade Top-tier Yuan Gathering Pellets. Would that not be a fair deal?"
As soon as these terms were offered, many of the surrounding disciples showed looks of obvious envy.
A Profound Grade High-tier spirit sword, and Huang Grade Top-tier Yuan Gathering Pellets.
That was a sum of resources an ordinary disciple could not save up even in ten years of hard work.
Yet Ye Wushuang only let out a soft, faint laugh.
There was undisguised mockery in that laugh.
"Second Elder, have you conveniently forgotten something?" Ye Wushuang lifted her eyes to meet Ye Qingshan's gaze, "All these years, every single time the family was supposed to allocate cultivation resources to me, they have been embezzled, and in the end, they all ended up in the pockets of Wuxin and Wuming."
Ye Qingshan's face froze in embarrassment.
"When I was thirteen, the family was supposed to give me a bottle of Huang Grade Mid-tier Qi Refining Pellets. But what was delivered to me was only half a bottle of Huang Grade Low-tier ones."
"When I was fifteen, my monthly spirit stone allowance was cut from thirty to ten, on the excuse that my talent was insufficient and I was wasting resources."
"Last year, even the low-tier Mystic rank Green Edge Sword my mother left me on her deathbed was taken away by you all under the excuse of family needs, only to be handed right over to Ye Wuming later."
With every word Ye Wushuang spoke, the look on Ye Qingshan's face grew a degree uglier.
