He returned, placed the scroll gently on the table in front of her, and tapped it once.
"morize this. It’s our Fang family’s core cultivation manual. Low Heaven Grade, it’s incredibly stable and sharpens foundational qi perfectly.
But if anyone asks, you’re practicing a mid Earth Grade manual. Understood?"
Fang Lian’s eyes widened. "Yes, Family Head!"
Her hands trembled slightly as she touched the scroll, as though it were so sacred relic.
Was this the privilege of learning directly under the clan head? She felt like she had stepped into a dream.
Fang Yuan wasn’t done.
He turned again, this ti to a hidden compartnt behind his desk.
With practiced ease, he withdrew a jade box and a small, glowing ring.
One by one, he laid out the items before her:
– A Bone Marrow Pill, glimring faintly gold.
– A jade bottle of Qi Realisation Pills, still cool to the touch.
– Twenty pristine high grade spirit stones, dense with energy.
– And lastly, a small spatial ring.
"These are your initial supplies," Fang Yuan said, his voice calm but commanding.
"Tonight, take the Bone Marrow Pill. Ask Doctor Mu to prepare a proper dicinal bath, you’ll need it."
He tapped the jade bottle lightly. "These Qi Realisation Pills will support your early cultivation. Use them well. When you run out, co back to ."
Fang Lian nodded quickly, lips parted in awe. "Y-yes! Thank you!"
Fang Yuan looked at her again, expression neutral but his tone gentler. "Take them."
She reached forward slowly, reverently, hands cupping the items as though they were priceless treasures, which, in a way, they were.
As she held them close, Fang Yuan pulled one last item from within his sleeve: a carved wooden access token, shaped like a tiny raven with a lightning pattern etched in gold.
"This," he said, placing it carefully on the table, "is your access pass to the Spirit Pond. You may enter freely. Cultivate there, Lian’er."
Her hands shook.
Then, without a word, she dropped to her knees, tears pooling in her eyes.
She kowtowed once.
Twice.
A third ti.
"Thank you... thank you, Family Head. I will never forget this kindness. I swear it."
Fang Yuan sat quietly, watching her with unreadable eyes.
But inwardly?
He couldn’t help but nod.
A divine root, loyal, sincere, with drive... and a damn good head on her shoulders.
He couldn’t have asked for more.
Fang Lian bowed one last ti, her arms full with the scroll, pills, stones, and the carved wooden token nestled safely in her hand.
"I’ll do my best!" she promised, her voice soft but radiant with conviction.
Fang Yuan gave a quiet nod. "Go on then. Cultivate well, Lian’er."
She turned and left, walking briskly, her steps light and filled with purpose, like soone who had just glimpsed a new future for the first ti.
The door clicked shut behind her, and silence returned, familiar and heavy.
Fang Yuan let out a long breath.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes tracing the lines of the wooden ceiling, the dim lanternlight flickering across his features.
"Tonight, huh..." he murmured, voice low.
He rose from his seat, stepped toward the window, and pushed it open.
The breeze outside was cool, brushing against his skin with the faint scent of river mist and distant lotuses.
The sun had dipped just enough to paint the sky in hues of amber and violet.
He looked out toward the distant horizon.
"Riverlight Bridge..."
His gaze darkened slightly.
"...Lake Frost."
That cursed na brought with it old mories, bitter, jagged, and buried deep.
The lake where his parents had died.
The night when the family had almost splintered completely.
Fang Yuan clenched his jaw, fingers tightening slightly on the window ledge.
"So we’ve co to this again, Lanyue," he whispered. "I suppose we can’t avoid the inevitable."
He stood there in silence for a while longer, letting the wind pass through him, brushing aside the weight in his chest, if only just a little.
Then, with a deep breath, under the soft silver gleam of the moon, Fang Yuan stepped out of the Phoenix Soul Pavilion, robes swaying lightly with each asured step.
The night was crisp and windless, and the stars scattered across the sky like spilled jade fragnts.
A perfect night for flying or maybe... a fight.
With a flick of his sleeve, a sharp whistle split the air as a streak of light surged beneath his feet.
His sword, elegant and deadly, hovered into place, and Fang Yuan stepped onto it without pause.
He ascended smoothly, his sword gliding through the night sky like a silent phantom, trailing faint ripples of spiritual energy in its wake.
The wind whispered past, cool and clear beneath the stars, but even the purity of the night couldn’t ease the weight pressing against his thoughts.
He was heading for River Light Bridge, the agreed eting point.
A place etched with old blood and older mories.
And waiting for him there was a na that soured his mood.
Gu Lanyue.
The grandfather of Gu Xin.
The man who had, long ago, thundered his disapproval of the engagent between Fang Tian and Gu Xin.
Despite his protests, the engagent was finalized, paperwork signed by Gu Jian and Fang Wei, sworn brothers who had stood side by side for years.
But everything changed when Fang Yuan’s father died.
With Fang Wei’s death, the Fang clan’s prestige plumted out of the five Great families, and it was Fang Yuan, barely in his twenties who picked up the shattered mantle.
The Gu family suddenly disappeared.
They made no ntion of the wedding nor their alliance.
Just silence without an ounce of support when the Fang family was at its lowest.
Until years later, on his thirtieth birthday, Gu Xin ca herself to formally cancel the marriage pact with the help of the Divine Ice Sect.
With that, all formal ties with the Gu clan should have ended.
After all, Gu Jian had been sworn to his father, not the clan.
Yet the mont Gu Lanyue stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm, he had imdiately sought out the Fang family.
...The Gu clan had left when they were needed most. Yet sohow, they returned now when they were not wanted at all.
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