Wei Yang stared at Yama for a moment, trying to determine whether the boy was joking.
But Yama's expression was completely serious.
That only made Wei Yang more confused.
Why would someone unrelated to the Heaven Pill House want to pay respects to their ancestor?
"Why do you want to honor our ancestor?" Wei Yang asked.
Yama answered without hesitation.
"Senior, someone who raised the Heaven Pill House to such heights must have been an extraordinary genius, perhaps even a seven-star alchemist. Such a person deserves my respect."
He lowered his tone slightly and added,
"That is why I asked. I hope Senior can grant me this wish before I begin preparing to refine the pill. It would be a blessing for me."
Yama was speaking pure nonsense, of course.
How could he possibly know the true rank of the Heaven Pill House's ancestor?
Only Wei Yang and a handful of others knew that the ancestor had actually been a nine-star alchemist.
Yet when Wei Yang heard Yama's words, his expression softened immediately.
"Brat, I was prepared to punish you if you failed to refine that pill," he said. "But after hearing what you just said, I may let you off even if you fail."
He nodded with satisfaction.
"You have good judgment. Very good judgment."
Yama's eyes flickered.
"Senior… then may I see the ancestor's burial coffin?"
Wei Yang nearly choked.
"Coffin?!"
He stared at Yama as if he had said something absurd.
"Brat, do you think our ancestor lived his whole life in this kingdom like your clan's ancestor did?"
"Our ancestor traveled the continent. He even entered the Unknown Lands. The Heaven Pill House began there before expanding into the kingdoms."
He gave Yama a sharp look.
"So of course we don't have his coffin here."
The moment Yama heard that, his heart sank.
His original plan had been simple.
Find the ancestor's remains.
Touch them.
Let the Judgment Book pull up the ancestor's details.
Then steal his alchemy skills the same way he had stolen Ye Yong's cultivation art.
But now that plan had fallen apart.
Wei Yang noticed the disappointment on Yama's face and misunderstood it completely.
This brat really did want to honor the ancestor that much?
His impression of Yama improved slightly.
He isn't such a bad child after all. At least he respects his seniors properly.
After a brief pause, Wei Yang spoke again.
"Although we don't have his coffin here, we do have something else."
"Our ancestor left behind a Soul Pill containing a trace of his remnant soul."
"It is preserved in a glass case in memory of him."
"If you wish, you may pay your respects to that instead."
Yama's eyes lit up.
"Thank you, Senior. I would like that very much."
Inwardly, he was already calculating.
If the Judgment Book could not pull up the ancestor's details from the Soul Pill, then he would have no choice but to touch Wei Yang instead and steal the abilities of a mere three-star alchemist.
That would be enough to avoid becoming a glorified errand boy, but it was nowhere near ideal.
After all, Yama would rather die than spend his days collecting herbs and assisting a human in a pill shop.
Ye Ming, who had been silently watching all of this, remained utterly perplexed.
He still did not believe that Yama truly wanted to pay respects to the Heaven Pill House's ancestor.
From everything he had seen over the past few days, this "Ye Ji" behaved nothing like the boy he knew from the Ye Clan.
At times, Ye Ming even wondered whether he had somehow brought the wrong person out of the kingdom.
Yu Yan, meanwhile, remained unusually quiet.
She walked obediently beside them without asking any questions.
Wei Yang led them through the inner courtyard of the mansion.
At the center of a protected pavilion sat a glass container, and inside it was a golden pill that emitted a soft, radiant glow.
It was mesmerizing.
Even without understanding anything about alchemy, one could tell from a single glance that it was an extraordinary treasure.
And surrounding the glass case was a protective array.
The moment Yama saw the array, his expression tightened.
Damn it.
If he could not touch the case, then the Judgment Book would not be able to lock onto the Soul Pill.
Which meant his whole plan would fail.
Then suddenly, Yama clutched his head and let out a cry.
"AHHHH!"
Wei Yang and Ye Ming both jolted in alarm.
"What happened?" Ye Ming asked hurriedly.
Yama staggered back and shouted in pain,
"Senior! Senior! Someone is calling me!"
His face twisted as if he were suffering greatly.
"They're telling me… to touch the glass box!"
Then he dropped to the ground and held his head tightly.
"AHHH!"
Wei Yang's face changed immediately.
"Quickly! Deactivate the array!" he shouted to the elder guarding the pavilion.
"Yes, Patriarch!"
The elder hurriedly disabled the formation.
Wei Yang turned to Yama.
"Ye Ji! Quickly, go and touch it!"
Yama continued acting.
"AHHH… I can't! My mind won't let me move! It keeps repeating… touch it…"
Wei Yang did not hesitate any longer.
"Then I'll bring you there myself."
He picked Yama up and rushed him toward the glass case, convinced that the ancestor's remnant will was somehow calling to the boy.
Yama inwardly relaxed.
Finally.
All that acting wasn't for nothing.
The moment his hand touched the glass, he felt the Judgment Book react.
Excitement surged through him.
It had worked.
He summoned the book silently and checked the page that had appeared.
Name: Wei WangAge: 12,580 years, 5 monthsCultivation Rank: 7th Stage – Heaven RealmWarrior Rank: 1st Stage – Saber HeavenAlchemist Rank: 9-Star AlchemistCause of Death: Murdered
Yama frowned.
Murdered?
If that were true, then Wei Yang clearly did not know the real cause of death.
But before checking the life story, Yama's eyes locked onto the words that mattered most.
Alchemist Rank
Without hesitation, he pressed his finger against it.
A flood of information rushed into his mind.
Countless formulas.
Techniques.
Alchemy principles.
Refining methods.
Medicinal compatibilities.
His mind nearly exploded from the sheer volume of knowledge.
At the same time, he felt a faint change within his body, though he could not immediately identify what it was.
Still, one thing was clear.
He had just inherited the skills and abilities of a nine-star alchemist.
Yama's heart pounded.
He could not wait to examine everything in detail.
But first, he needed to know how Wei Wang had died.
So he pressed his finger onto the name.
Illusions filled his mind once more.
Yama skipped through most of them quickly, but even in fragments, he could feel how much effort Wei Wang had poured into building the Heaven Pill House.
The man had devoted thousands of years of his life to raising it into a powerful force.
That made what came next even more infuriating.
When Yama finally reached the last scenes of Wei Wang's life, his expression turned cold.
Then, without warning, a terrifying wave of killing intent burst from him.
Wei Yang and Ye Ming both shuddered.
Cold sweat broke out across their backs.
They had been watching Yama stand dazed and silent, convinced he was communicating with some mysterious presence.
But the sheer density of the killing intent that exploded from him left them shaken.
Ye Ming was especially disturbed.
Even he could not emit such terrifying killing intent.
And yet this was supposed to be a boy who had once been crippled and unable to cultivate.
At that moment, Ye Ming truly began to wonder whether he had ever known Ye Ji at all.
The reason for Yama's fury was simple.
The people responsible for Wei Wang's murder were none other than the Chen Clan.
And they had acted in coalition with the Sun Pill House.
This was the second time Yama had uncovered a major killing tied directly to the Chen Clan.
By now, he was certain.
The Chen Clan's enemies were not chosen at random.
They targeted people connected, directly or indirectly, to the Ye Clan and its network.
In that instant, Yama made a firm decision.
One day, he would personally erase the Chen Clan from existence.
Not a single one of them would be allowed to ascend to Heaven.
And if even one slipped through…
He would go to Heaven himself and drag them back down.
If the Heaven Hall had heard that vow, they would probably have banned everyone with the surname Chen on the spot. Better a bad omen than Yama himself.
After a few moments, Yama suppressed his killing intent and returned to his senses.
He turned to Wei Yang and gave a respectful nod.
"Senior, thank you for allowing me to pay my respects to your ancestor."
This thank-you, of course, was not just for the act itself.
It was also for the inheritance.
Wei Yang stared at him gravely.
"Ye Ji… what happened?"
"Why did you suddenly release such dense killing intent?"
Yama knew he could not avoid the question.
So he looked directly at Wei Yang and said,
"Senior, let me ask you something first."
"What do you believe was the cause of your ancestor's death?"
Wei Yang answered at once.
"He exhausted his lifespan."
"That is how he passed away."
Yama shook his head.
"No."
"Senior, he was murdered."
Wei Yang's face changed violently.
"What did you say?!"
He grabbed Yama by the shoulders and shook him.
"Murdered? How do you know that? Who did it?!"
Yama answered immediately.
"It was the Chen Clan."
"They acted together with the Sun Pill House."
"Chen Clan?" Wei Yang's expression twisted.
Before he could continue, Ye Ming suddenly shouted,
"Senior!!"
Wei Yang turned sharply toward him.
"What? You still haven't told him?"
Ye Ming gave a stiff nod.
Yama, of course, already understood what they meant, but he stayed silent.
Wei Yang exhaled slowly.
At this point, he had no reason not to believe Yama.
If the boy had not known the hidden situation with the Chen Clan beforehand, then there was no way he could have fabricated such an answer.
After a long pause, Wei Yang said,
"Ye Ji… leave it for now."
"You should go and rest."
"We'll talk about this later."
Yama did not argue.
He left silently with Yu Yan.
Her room had been arranged right next to his, so they walked together through the same corridor.
After making sure Yu Yan entered safely and telling her to rest well, Yama hurried back to his own room.
The moment the door closed behind him, his eyes lit up.
Finally.
Now I can begin cultivating… and properly sort through everything I've obtained.