What was the path of cultivation?
Was it the pursuit of making the impossible possible?
The desire to transcend mortality and attain eternal life?
Or perhaps it was simply the endless pursuit of power.
The answer differed from person to person.
Every cultivator had their own reason for taking the first step.
Fang Yuan was no exception, his reason was neither grand nor profound.
It was simply revenge.
Long ago, when he was only five years old, Fang Yuan had already possessed mories that did not belong to a child.
Though his body was young, his mind was far older than anyone around him could imagine.
And yet, despite those mories, he had still been beaten up by a child.
The cause of the conflict was embarrassingly simple.
A boy from the Wu Family had stolen his kebab.
Fang Yuan naturally fought back.
Unfortunately, the boy had friends. Worse, he had adults willing to shalessly interfere on behalf of a child.
The result was a one-sided beating.
To an ordinary child, such an incident might have been forgotten after a few days.
Fang Yuan was not an ordinary child.
Precisely because he possessed the ntality of an adult, the humiliation stung even deeper.
Being beaten by a seven-year-old was one thing.
Being beaten by a seven-year-old who needed help from others was another.
The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he beca.
Thus, for the sake of revenge and perhaps to recover a shred of his wounded dignity, he began searching for ways to payback.
That was when he found out that the townsfolk often spoke of a strange beggar who wandered through the streets selling cultivation manuals.
Most people dismissed him as a fraud and a swindler.
Nobody took him seriously.
Fang Yuan decided to seek him out anyway
.
When he finally found the old beggar, he imdiately realized sothing was wrong.
The man’s face changed.
One mont he was a ragged old beggar.
The next, a peerless fairy whose beauty seed capable of toppling nations.
Before Fang Yuan could recover from his shock, the fairy transford into a bald, overweight man.
Then a scholar.
Then an elderly woman.
Then countless other appearances.
Only after cycling through nurous identities did the stranger finally return to the appearance of a beggar.
Before Fang Yuan could ask a single question, the old man spoke first.
"Why do you wish to cultivate?"
At the ti, Fang Yuan’s answer had been simple.
Revenge. There was nothing more to it.
Yet as the years passed, that answer gradually lost its aning.
After obtaining his revenge, he had expected satisfaction.
Instead, he found emptiness.
The goal that had driven him forward vanished, leaving behind a hollow feeling he could never quite explain.
Life continued as usual and years passed.
Then tragedy struck and both his parents died.
And in the end, only he and his younger brother remained.
The emptiness that had once lingered quietly in the background suddenly gained weight.
Despite being a child, he was suddenly given responsibility and a duty to take care of his brother.
Those things slowly replaced revenge as the reason he continued moving forward.
Unfortunately...
Not every story had a happy ending and not every promise could be fulfilled.
And not every older brother was capable of protecting the people he cared about.
As Fang Yuan looked back upon his life, there was a regret that never truly faded.
A regret he carried for longer than he cared to admit.
He had failed many tis throughout his life.
But among all those failures, one stood above the rest.
He had failed as a brother.
.....
The room was quiet and serene.
Fang Qingyue lay comfortably between Fang Yuan and Lin Zhaoyue, occupying the safest position in the entire world.
anwhile, Lin Zhaoyue had one arm wrapped around Fang Yuan while the other gently rested on Qingyue, ensuring she maintained physical contact with both of them at all tis.
Fang Yuan stared at the ceiling in silence.
Just as his thoughts were beginning to sink deeper, a small voice interrupted him.
"Papa?"
Fang Yuan blinked.
Looking down, he found Fang Qingyue staring up at him with curious eyes.
"What are you thinking about?"
For a mont, Fang Yuan remained silent.
Then he reached out and gently stroked her head.
Qingyue imdiately leaned into the touch with a happy smile.
"I’m thinking about the future."
"The future?"
"Mhm."
Fang Yuan glanced toward Lin Zhaoyue before returning his gaze to Qingyue.
"Qingyue."
"Yes?"
"If one day you have younger brothers and sisters, will you take care of them?"
The little girl puffed out her chest proudly.
"Of course!"
The answer ca so quickly that Fang Yuan couldn’t help smiling.
"I’ll protect them!"
"And if they make mistakes?"
"I’ll teach them."
"And if they don’t listen?"
Qingyue frowned seriously as she pondered the difficult question.
After several seconds, she finally gave her answer.
"Then I’ll tell mother."
Fang Yuan stared in silence and then beside him, Lin Zhaoyue’s eyes instantly opened.
"Good child."
The smile on her face beca noticeably brighter.
Fang Yuan looked at the mother and daughter, then silently looked back at the ceiling.
For so reason...
He felt even more worried than before.
"Ow!"
Fang Qingyue suddenly rubbed her forehead and looked at Lin Zhaoyue in confusion.
"What was that for, Mother?"
Lin Zhaoyue stared at her for a mont.
And then, without a single word, she reached out and grabbed the little girl by the shoulders, before gently but firmly sliding her to the side of the bed.
Fang Qingyue blinked.
"Huh?"
Before she could react further, Lin Zhaoyue calmly moved into the space she had just vacated.
The little girl watched as her mother settled herself directly beside Fang Yuan.
Right in the middle.
Lin Zhaoyue then wrapped an arm around Fang Yuan’s waist and closed her eyes with complete satisfaction.
Fang Qingyue looked at the new arrangent.
"...Mother?"
"Mhm."
"Didn’t you tell sleeping in the middle is the best spot?"
"It is."
"Then why am I over here now?"
Lin Zhaoyue opened one eye.
"Because I am your mother."
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