Ye Ming was unaware of what Ye Qingzhu was thinking at the moment, nor did he care.
He merely stared coldly at the grey-robed elder, waiting for the man to speak.
"Young Master Ye, I believe we've had some misunderstanding. This old man..."
"If you're going to spout such nonsense, then I see no need to continue this conversation."
Ye Ming didn't wait for him to finish. His expression grew increasingly indifferent.
To still try and play games with him at this point.
How ridiculous!
From the moment he deliberately arranged for Ye Qingzhu to approach and probe him, some matters had become irreversible.
Yet, Ye Ming had ultimately chosen to give them another chance.
After all, it was an organization founded by his teacher.
It seemed now that he had been too merciful.
Ye Ming controlled the divine soul in his palm, his eyes narrowing, and injected a trace of his power into it.
"Ah!"
As the divine soul was invaded, the grey-robed elder's face contorted, and he let out a scream, falling to his knees, clutching his head.
His body convulsed.
Veins bulged on his forehead.
"Young Master Ye, spare me! Give me another chance, just one more chance!"
"Ah!"
The pain of the soul being torn apart twisted the grey-robed elder's face. He frantically slammed his forehead against the ground, causing the entire imperial palace courtyard to tremble.
In less than a moment, the elder's head was a bloody mess, his eyes vacant, and his expression numb.
The endless torment had pushed this Celestial Human Realm cultivator to the brink of collapse.
Witnessing all this, Ye Qingzhu's face turned pale, devoid of any color.
She retreated continuously, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Before this, she could never have imagined that a mighty Celestial Human Realm expert would be so fragile, utterly defenseless.
But seeing this reality, her Dao heart was shattering.
The youth before her was too terrifying.
"Hmph! You just had to be clever!"
Ye Ming withdrew his hand, not continuing to torment the grey-robed elder.
If he had wanted to kill him, he would have done so long ago.
There would have been no need to wait until now.
As the searing pain of the soul ripping faded, a flicker of lucidity returned to the grey-robed elder's pupils.
Yet, even so, his body would still twitch sporadically.
This was a fear etched into his bones.
He dared not rise. He remained kneeling, head bowed, and rasped,
"Th-thank you, Young Master Ye, for sparing me!"
At this moment, his so-called dignity as a Celestial Human Realm expert was worth nothing.
To survive!
That was his last hope.
"Now, I ask, you answer!"
Ye Ming said coldly.
"Yes! Yes! This subordinate will tell you the truth!"
The grey-robed elder nodded repeatedly.
Ye Ming had no need to worry about him lying.
Because a wisp of the elder's divine soul was still in his hand; any thought of deception would be instantly detected.
"First question: What was your purpose in arranging for her to approach me?"
Ye Ming pointed at Ye Qingzhu and asked.
When Ye Qingzhu saw Ye Ming looking at her, she abruptly lowered her head, clutching the hem of her skirt with both small hands, appearing flustered.
She looked like a frightened rabbit.
As for the grey-robed elder's motive for assigning her to Ye Ming's side, Ye Qingzhu wasn't entirely clear.
The elder had only given her one task: to gain Ye Ming's trust.
"Young Master Ye, in truth, your existence was known to us within the Guardian Sect from the moment you were born."
The grey-robed elder swallowed and said nervously, "And the reason we sent her to approach you was, firstly, to observe your development over the years, and secondly..."
"Hmm!"
Seeing the elder hesitate halfway through, Ye Ming gave him a look.
At the same time, he noticed the wording in the elder's previous statement.
"They!"
This referred to more than just the grey-robed elder alone.
Clearly, there were many secrets hidden within.
"And—and secondly, after Qingzhu gained your trust, we wanted to find a suitable opportunity to retrieve..." The grey-robed elder grew more fearful as he spoke, his robe soaked with cold sweat by the end:
"Retrieve... retrieve the ancestral inheritance!"
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Ming's pupils widened. He hadn't expected their goal to be his teacher's inheritance.
They had actually harbored such intentions.
But if that were the case, many things wouldn't make sense.
"Why didn't you retrieve the inheritance yourselves? Why must you take it from me?"
Ye Ming asked coldly.
Earlier, the elder had said they had been aware of him since his birth.
At that time, they should also have known about the inheritance.
However, why didn't they retrieve it themselves and insist on going through him?
"We... we had no idea where the inheritance was!"
The grey-robed elder trembled. "Within our Guardian Sect, although everyone knew of the inheritance's existence, its exact location was unknown."
"All we knew was that the inheritance would only appear when the destined person predicted by our ancestors emerged."
"So... so..."
Therefore, it wasn't that they didn't want to retrieve it, but that they couldn't find it.
"Then why are you only trying to force it now?"
Ye Ming was still puzzled and continued to ask, "I believe you must have been paying attention to me since I was very young. Why didn't you try to seize it then, instead of waiting until now?"
When he was young, Ye Ming had no power to protect the inheritance.
If they had tried to take it by force, they surely would have succeeded.
Yet, they hadn't.
This didn't seem like their usual behavior.
"This..."
The grey-robed elder shook his head and sighed, revealing the answer: "We did consider that. But..."
"But not everyone within the Guardian Sect had betrayed our ancestors."
"Over twenty years ago, more than half of our members still supported our ancestors, believing in the prophecy and secretly protecting you."
"However, as the movements from the outer realms grew more frequent over the years, our Guardian Sect was infiltrated by them. Over time, more and more people betrayed our ancestors."
"So, in the end..."
No one was left to restrain them from seizing the inheritance.
"Heh! So that's how it is!"
Ye Ming finally understood.
"I'm very curious now: among your Guardian Sect members, how many are left who haven't betrayed our ancestors?"
At the same time, Ye Ming could imagine that those individuals must be in a difficult situation.
If the opportunity arose, Ye Ming was willing to meet them.
"Th-not many!"
The grey-robed elder said, "Within the Guardian Sect, there are currently a total of one hundred and twenty-eight members."
"Those who betrayed our ancestors account for approximately sixty percent."
"Thirty percent maintain a neutral stance."
"Less than ten percent have not betrayed."
This was the current structure of the Guardian Sect.
"And you? Are you among the sixty percent, or are you neutral?"
Ye Ming asked with a cold smile.
"I..."
The grey-robed elder looked up, revealing a wry smile. "If I told you that this old man is not only among that ten percent, but also their leader, would you believe me?"
"???"
Ye Ming.