"Yes," both of them replied respectfully with a bow as they saw Elder Lei’s figure leaving the residence the next moment.
The very next moment, Yi Chen pulled out his status panel with anticipation in his heart.
======Cultivation Arsenal ======
#Weapon Arts
1) Basic Swordsmanship [Progress: 37.1 / 1000]
#Cultivation Arts
1) Crimson Fire Arts [Comprehension:17.16 -> 27.67%]
#System Items
NIL
============ END ===========
’It rose by a whole 10 per cent!’ Yi Chen exclaimed in his mind.
Even though he knew that the knowledge he had just received had benefited him greatly, when he saw it from a numerical perspective, he couldn’t help but be surprised, and his gratefulness towards Elder Lei increased substantially.
Seeing that Elder Lei had left the residence, Qin Yao turned towards Yi Chen and asked with hopeful eyes, "Brother Chen, since there’s still time until lunch. Would you mind helping me with cleaning the house?"
The reason why the interior of Elder Lei’s residence looked so well taken care of was all because of Qin Yao’s diligent efforts.
"Sure," Yi Chen nodded. Now that he was living here, he found no reason to refuse. On second thought, he even found it beneficial for his comprehension.
Elder Lei’s words were still running wild in his mind, so doing a monotonous task would help him absorb a little more from it.
"Great!" Qin Yao rejoiced when he heard Yi Chen’s response and began introducing him to the tasks that needed to be done one by one.
’...he had been doing all this by himself?’
Yi Chen was at a loss for words when he heard the series of tasks that needed to be done.
At the same time, respect rose in his heart for Qin Yao, who had been doing all this by himself all this while.
"Let’s start then,"
The two of them divided the tasks among themselves and devoted themselves to doing it.
Meanwhile, Elder Lei, who had been walking towards the clan’s exit gate, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Has the Fourth Elder followed me enough?"
Turning towards his right, Elder Lei directed his words at the wall next to him.
"Hahaha, it’s good to see that the Ninth Elder’s perception has not turned rusty." A chuckle came from inside the stoned wall, and the very next moment, a human figure walked out of it.
It looked as if the wall around him had turned into liquid all of a sudden to give him an easy passage out.
"What was the reason for your sudden visit? I don’t think you would have any reasons to come to my place," Not wanting to waste his time, Elder Lei asked directly.
"I believe the Ninth Elder is aware of the incident that happened last night," The Fourth Elder stated.
"I heard it in passing," Elder Lei didn’t deny.
"It’s related to that," The Fourth Elder said and continued, "Since we were unable to gather any clues as to who the perpetrator or the victim was, the enforcement hall is checking whether all the clansmen are safe or not.
Being at the farthest corner, I was worried that the Ninth Elder’s residence would be forgotten, so as the Enforcement Hall’s head, I personally came to check your place."
A meaningful smile formed on the Fourth Elder’s face the next moment as he spoke the next set of words.
"However, I never expected to witness the Ninth Elder trying to make things difficult for a young cultivator. While I’m not going to say much about how you’ve divulged the art to someone who is not yet part of the clan, thus going against the clan’s rules...
...Do you really think that he would be able to comprehend the Crimson Fire Arts to that degree in just three months? Even that genius disciple of yours would take a year to be able to form one such ring.
Having nothing else to do in the clan, are your old bones craving for entertainment? If yes, then I don’t mind complaining about your actions to the Patriarch to make things more fun for you. What do you say?"
Hearing the Fourth Elder’s mocking tone, Elder Lei didn’t react at all and just said, "I don’t owe any explanation about personal matters to the Fourth Elder. As for divulging the clan’s secrets is concerned, it was already divulged the moment the current patriarch was appointed,"
The Fourth Elder’s countenance turned ugly when he heard Elder Lei’s words, and his voice rose, "Do you dare say that to his face?"
"No, I don’t." Elder Lei wasn’t affected by his provocation and said the next moment, "I believe we are done with the conversation. I’ll be going."
With that said, Elder Lei left towards the clan’s gates, his footsteps as steady as ever.
Glancing at Elder Lei’s back, the Fourth Elder mockingly laughed towards himself with a disappointed expression apparent on his face, "So it wasn’t him, huh? It was too much for me to expect anything from him in the first place..."
A sigh escaped from the Fourth Elder’s mouth the next moment, and his figure disappeared from the spot.
At Elder Lei’s residence, both Yi Chen and Qin Yao were diligently cleaning the entire place.
From sweeping the courtyard to cleaning the bathhouse.
Everything was taken care of by them, and thanks to their effective distribution of work, the tasks which used to take Qin Yao almost two hours to complete were completed in less than an hour.
"Ah...so relaxing," Yi Chen almost moaned inappropriately when he soaked his body in the warm water.
"Indeed, I always enjoy taking a relaxing bath after physical labour." Qin Yao muttered from the opposite side while massaging his neck with the warm water.
After dipping and enjoying themselves for a full twenty minutes, they entered the kitchen.
The rice had already been prepared in the morning, so they didn’t have to do much. After preparing a suitable side dish, the two savoured an appetising meal.
"So what are you going to do now?" Yi Chen asked while washing his plate.