Ningzhou, Qianqiu City.
Stepping out of the Day and Night Hall once again, Fan Donghe looked back at the towering, pitch-black, square-shaped structure and let out a heavy sigh. Rumors whispered among the populace that the Day and Night Hall was like a coffin; once inside, anyone would sooner or later turn into a corpse.
For days on end, the deacons had asked the exact same questions over and over. If Fan Donghe misspoke by so much as a single word, they would seize upon it relentlessly and cross-examine him without end. Or if someone else's testimony happened to mention him, no matter how trivial the detail, he would have to spend a full two hours explaining it.
After several consecutive days of this, Fan Donghe felt his Dao heart was on the verge of collapsing. Several times, he had been tempted to throw caution to the wind and cut down the deacons sitting across from him. At other times, he wondered if he should simply give in; after all, those people merely wanted him to pay his way out.
Yet even if he wanted to, everything of value in his household had long since been sold.
After Xu Zhongxing's imprisonment, Xu Chunyuan had arrested many of his former confidants under various pretexts, casting quite a few into the Day and Night Hall. To rescue them, Fan Donghe had already liquidated all his family assets. Now that it was his turn, he had no money left to offer.
Fan Donghe hesitated for a moment, then finally changed direction. Before long, he arrived before a grand manor in the eastern city.
After sending word, the gatekeeper soon led him into a cozy parlor. Seated at the head of the room was a woman in resplendent attire. She appeared under thirty years old, possessing peerless beauty.
Yet Fan Donghe knew full well that this woman's cultivation stood merely a step away from True Monarch, with the potential to break through at that. It was for this very reason that, despite being a woman, she commanded the Eleventh Branch of the Xu family. Across the entire Xu clan, she was one of the few figures wielding genuine authority; hardly anyone dared offend her.
Fan Donghe took his seat. Hesitating once more, he finally said, "Someone asked me to pass along a message: if they ensure that person never returns, what might you be willing to pay?"
The woman gave a faint smile. "General Fan truly cares for the clan, not wishing to lose an elder. That is why it took you this many days to seek me out."
Fan Donghe felt a chill in his heart. "You already knew?"
The woman raised her teacup and took a light sip. "It's hardly difficult to guess. Wei Yuan is a ruthless character capable of squeezing oil from a stone. He captured Xu Chunyuan without killing him, clearly intending to trade him for resources. In a clan as vast as the Xu family, even if Wei Yuan didn't know about the grudge between Xu Chunyuan and me, there are bound to be people who would rather he never return. Thus, the moment you returned, I was waiting for you to come to me. But you only came today. Frankly, I am somewhat disappointed."
Fan Donghe smiled bitterly. "Unless there was truly no other choice, I honestly did not wish to let Wei Yuan's scheme succeed."
The woman said blandly, "General Fan is a good man. Very well, I am aware of the matter now, and I will handle what follows myself. In addition, starting tomorrow, the Day and Night Hall will no longer trouble you."
"My former subordinates..."
The woman raised a hand, cutting off the rest of his words, then said, "The value of your message is worth only this much."
With that, she raised her tea to show him out.
After Fan Donghe had left, a dashing young man stepped out from behind a screen and asked, "Mother, this was a splendid opportunity. Why not take him into our service?"
Seeing the young man, a smile appeared on the woman's face. "Had he come straight to me the moment he returned, or had he steadfastly refused to come at all, I would have considered recruiting him. But coming to me only after several days, when he was truly backed into a corner, shows that not only is he blind to the general situation, but he also clings to ridiculous principles and convictions.
"When employing people, one relies either on their loyalty or on their capability—possessing just one of the two is enough. But those who sit somewhere in between are far less useful than they appear. Fan Donghe is precisely such a person. Were we truly to take him in, we would find him ill-suited to serve."
The young man looked thoughtful, then added, "Mother, I want to go to Qingming."
"What would you do there?"
An indignant look surfaced on the young man's face. "That Wei Yuan is utterly arrogant, daring to claim that all the dharma idols of our Xu family are garbage! Isn't he insulting you as well? I want to go confront him and see—since we are both at the perfection of Dao Foundation—what gives him the right to boast so boastfully!"
"Nonsense!" The woman's face darkened, and she snapped, "Someone, take the young master away to face the wall in contemplation for seven days! Also, find out who has been whispering in his ear and beat them to death with staves!"
Two slender, young, and lovely maidservants gracefully walked over, flanking the young man and grasping him on either side. He struggled with all his might, yet could not break free of their delicate white hands in the slightest, and was bodily hauled out.
Still defiant, he yelled repeatedly, "Wei Yuan declared that he would fight one-on-one! Why should I fear him?!"
Once the young man was taken away, the woman walked to the desk, spread out a sheet of letter paper, and began writing a letter to Wei Yuan.
***
Within the palace grounds of Qianqiu City, a heavy greatsword stood planted before a tranquil pond. A young cultivator sat cross-legged before the blade, eyes closed as he observed the sword with his mind's eye.
"Brother Yaowu! Brother Yaowu!" Shouts echoed from outside the courtyard, followed by a tall, burly man walking right in without waiting to be announced.
The young cultivator did not stand, but simply turned in place. Only then could one see that he was actually hovering in midair.
"Have you heard? That brat Wei Yuan spread word declaring that all dharma idols in our Xu family are garbage! He even claimed that if anyone refuses to accept it, so long as it's a one-on-one duel, he'll take on all comers!"
Xu Yaowu replied placidly, "Of course I heard. What, do you want to go challenge him?"
Frowning with hesitation, the burly man said, "He took on several opponents at once and even captured Clan Elder Chunyuan. I'm afraid I'm no match for him."
"Then that's that."
Looking indignant, the burly man pressed on, "I might not be able to, but you can, Brother Yaowu! Didn't you just master that sword strike..."
Two faint glints of sword qi suddenly shot from Xu Yaowu's eyes, and a murderous edge crept into his voice. "Who told you that?"
Greatly startled, the burly man staggered back two steps until his back hit the courtyard wall. He stammered with difficulty, "Once, when we were drinking, I... I saw a sword mark surface between your brows..."
Xu Yaowu slowly retracted the sword qi from his gaze. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "You must never speak of this to anyone else, or my life will be in mortal peril."
"Is... isn't that a good thing? Fine, don't worry, I will never breathe a word. You and I have been through life and death together; how could I ever harm you?" The burly man swore oaths repeatedly.
Once he had taken his leave, the young cultivator gave a self-mocking smile and muttered to himself, "I still can't bring myself to be ruthless and merciless. Sigh! It seems the master was right—I will die of this sooner or later."
***
Meanwhile, late at night in the Qingming Domain, all was quiet.
Wei Yuan sat in his cultivation chamber, where a towering, fierce warrior stood before him. He was fifteen feet tall, his head brushing against the ceiling of the chamber. The scenery around the warrior's body warped ever so slightly, a clear sign that his dharma body was unfathomably formidable.
His visage was peculiar, resembling a hybrid of a dragon head and a human face, with several sharp horns growing from his scalp that looked like wild hair blowing in the wind.
At this moment, every detail of the warrior, inside and out, was mirrored in Wei Yuan's mind.
A five-toed dragon claw lay hidden within the warrior's sea of consciousness, encircled by shifting winds, clouds, mountains, and rivers that constantly transformed and could be manifested externally at will. This was the warrior's dharma idol, and it had remarkably reached the late stage of cultivation already. Moreover, carrying mountains, rivers, clouds, and wind, the dragon claw was of supreme grade even among dharma idols.
After many days, Longying had finally emerged from the pool, transformed into a new dragon guard. He was completely different from the first two dragon guards; with late-stage cultivation coupled with an exquisite dharma body, though he fell short of the living Longying, he was still far beyond what ordinary late-stage dharma idols could match.
When Fan Donghe had left back then, he had expressed reservations about Wei Yuan's one-on-one challenge. What he did not know, however, was that Wei Yuan had actually held back considerably, having made no mention of Longying or Maiden Yin-Yang. Furthermore, when Wei Yuan was within Qingming, his combat power saw an enormous boost. If anyone boldly stormed in under the impression that Wei Yuan merely possessed the strength of three or four dharma idols, that would make for quite a show.
Inside Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, vitality was flourishing. Spiritual plants sprouted from the fertile soil, and people bustled about organizing fields and demarcating plots. Four immortal orchids had also been transplanted into Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, prompting the mortals to split into four more factions to worship the four immortal orchids that had not even had time to sprout yet.
After studying the dragon guard that Longying had become for a while, Wei Yuan sent him back into Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains to recuperate. He then settled cross-legged, preparing to complete two hours of daily cultivation exercises. Although cultivating now would no longer increase his spiritual power, it could still temper his Dao heart and enhance the spirituality of his Dao Foundation.
Just as he was about to lose all awareness of self and surroundings, Wei Yuan was suddenly interrupted by a chorus of bickering within his Dao Foundation.
Fretted by the inexplicable racket, Wei Yuan turned his perception into Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains to investigate. He saw two crowds quarreling, growing more and more heated until they looked ready to trade blows.
The two factions were believers of the celestial laurel tree and the Bingli Divine Wood, respectively. Several hundred people were engaged in the argument, with several thousand more looking on impassively.
To an outsider's ears, both groups were just babbling gibberish, but in truth, they communicated primarily through divine thought. A single cry of "Wa-ya-ya!" could pack a world of meaning, such as: "How can your wild stump compare to our celestial tree? If you don't believe it, just listen to me explain..."
The opposing side fired back with a "Ya-ya-pei!", which meant: "How many days has your wild tree even been in this world? Looking at its shape, it's nothing more than a tea bush!"
The other side was dumbfounded: "How do you know our celestial tree's true origins?!"
Chapter 386