"Grandfather's inheritance?" Fang Ping'an's pupils contracted slightly, and he could not help but ask, "Dad, that four hundred thousand you gave me back then—didn't you say it was the very last of your savings?"
Back then...
His business had failed, leaving him saddled with debt. At his most desperate moment, it was the father he had viewed as a "spendthrift" who reached out, wiring four hundred thousand to his account and giving him the chance to make a comeback.
Because of that!
Even though for decades he still believed his father had squandered Grandfather's family fortune, he nonetheless respected his father and had brought him home to take care of him in his old age.
"That was my retirement money, the very life savings of our Fang family! While I'm still breathing, could I just tell you everything?" Fang Zhiyuan gave a dry grunt.
"Then back then...?" Fang Ping'an was somewhat bewildered.
"Back then, you graduated from junior college in your twenties. Listening to what your grandfather had said, your head was stuffed with nothing but schemes to return to New Moon," Fang Zhiyuan said, shaking his head. "You didn't stop to think: how much money does returning to New Moon take? To gain a foothold, you need at least a hundred million Star Coins. If you marry and have children, the expenses are even greater.
"The inheritance your grandfather left amounted to only eight million and some Star Coins in total.
"Yes! He told me to give it all to you.
"But why did you think that an ordinary Martial Junior College student in his twenties could multiply that by dozens of times in the business world?" Fang Zhiyuan sneered. "If I had given it all to you back then, let alone returning to New Moon, do you think you would be where you are today?
"Besides, did I not give you a chance to try?"
Fang Ping'an calmed down.
Yes!
When he had just graduated from junior college, his father had given him one million Star Coins, claiming it was the remainder of Grandfather's "inheritance" that hadn't been spent yet. At that time, he had still harbored resentment toward his father, thinking him a profligate.
Back then, his ambitions had reached for the heavens. He essentially eyed whatever promised big money—futures, energy, precious metals, stocks... At first, he had made a great deal, turning over one million Star Coins into more than eight million.
His father had cautioned him that paper profits weren't real gains.
Yet he hadn't listened, ultimately leveraging himself heavily to trade futures, and even borrowing a sum of money... In the end, he lost everything, plunging into deep debt.
It was his father who gave him another four hundred thousand Star Coins to clear the debts.
Precisely because of that severe tumble, he finally settled down, started learning management, and began nearly a decade of working for others... In the end, he chose to open a supermarket, slowly building it into what it was today.
If his father had handed him all the money back then, he likely would have suffered an even more devastating fall.
"Ping'an.
"Your grandfather didn't think much of me back then, and indeed, I failed to live up to expectations," Fang Zhiyuan sighed. "I truly am an incapable man. I tried my best, too, but later I realized that rather than driving myself into a corner, it was better to let myself off the hook... Returning to New Moon simply wasn't something I could do.
"Nor did I want my children to shoulder such a crushing burden.
"You have more drive and ambition than I ever did, but you are also far more impatient than me." Fang Zhiyuan looked at Fang Ping'an. "So, from the moment you went out to make your way in the world, I told myself: between us father and son, you would decide our ceiling, but I had to protect our floor.
"Because of that, I didn't gamble, and I didn't chase women.
"I saved all the money, telling outsiders I had squandered it all, which also spared us from relatives coming to sponge off us." Fang Zhiyuan spread his hands with a smile.
Fang Ping'an could not help but smile as well, though a wave of heartache washed over him immediately after.
He understood his father's hardships.
He also knew how difficult it was for his father to do what he had done... Enduring a lifetime of being cursed as a spendthrift and a good-for-nothing was not something just anyone could bear; it required immense inner strength.
"Dad.
"Since that's the case, why bring it all out now?" Fang Ping'an asked in a low voice.
"This was your grandfather's money. Your martial arts talent wasn't enough; even if you went to New Moon, I didn't think you could stand firm there, which is why I hid it from you," Fang Zhiyuan said bluntly.
Fang Ping'an did not argue.
Violence was the root of all social rules; so-called power and wealth were merely derivatives of violence.
And in this era, martial artists commanded the greatest violence.
New Moon was a paradise only for powerful martial artists... If one merely had money, unless that wealth reached an astonishing magnitude, gaining a foothold in New Moon was exceedingly difficult.
"However..."
"That little girl Bai Qing truly bore you a few remarkable children," Fang Zhiyuan said with deep emotion. "Especially Fang Yu... His temperament, willpower, and drive are all first-rate.
"A pity he failed to awaken a Void Star Aspect.
"Still, his martial technique talent is exceptionally high, likely on par with students from elite universities. There's still a chance for everything."
Fang Ping'an could not help but nod.
Among the three children, the one who resembled him most was Fang Yu... What was most precious was that Fang Yu lacked the impatience and impulsiveness of his own youth, carrying himself with steady composure.
"The martial path is the Grand Dao.
"At their most critical moment, it's time to stake the Fang family's nest egg," Fang Zhiyuan said slowly. "As for you, don't sell the supermarket for now... No matter how tough business gets, it's still manageable.
"Once you sell the supermarket, all you'll think about is taking risks in stocks and futures again."
No one knew a son better than his father.
Fang Zhiyuan understood his son all too well... What method existed to multiply one's capital several times over in the shortest possible time? The capital markets, naturally.
Fang Ping'an fell silent.
"With what I gave you, the money in your hands is enough to support their cultivation for the coming year," Fang Zhiyuan said. "Siyue and Xiaolong should be able to sign contracts with martial artist groups, and the school will provide some rewards as well."
Fang Ping'an nodded.
Every year in Wuling City, several dozen individuals awakened Upper-Rank Star Aspects, and the Eight Great Martial Artist Groups were generally willing to sign them early and provide resources for their cultivation.
The state would also grant considerable rewards.
However!
At the very beginning, neither the martial artist groups nor the state would invest too heavily... After all, looking across the entire civilization, the absolute number of people who awakened Upper-Rank Star Aspects every year was substantial.
An Upper-Rank Star Aspect merely guaranteed a ninety-nine percent probability of becoming an Advanced Martial Artist.
To become an even stronger Earth Martial Artist or Sky-Patrolling Martial Artist depended on martial technique talent, temperament, willpower, and many other facets...
One had to be sufficiently outstanding in every aspect to reach the pinnacle.
For instance, over the years, half of Wuling City's martial arts zhuangyuan possessed only Mid-Rank Star Aspects, and there had even been a martial arts zhuangyuan who had awakened merely a Lower-Rank Star Aspect.
"Then what about a year from now?" Fang Ping'an asked, quite worried.
Business was deteriorating.
He feared that a year later, if he wanted to sell the supermarket, it wouldn't fetch the same price.
"Then we'll see when the year is up," Fang Zhiyuan said, shaking his head. "What's the rush? You're not young anymore. Sometimes, waiting a bit isn't necessarily a bad thing...
"Tomorrow, after you buy the foundation building treasures for Siyue and Xiaolong, don't rush to give them over. Wait one day."
Fang Ping'an hesitated for a moment before deciding to listen to his father for once. "All right."
"Fine.
"Get some rest early." Fang Zhiyuan turned to head upstairs, speaking as he walked: "Health comes first. Look at how old you are, yet you have more white hair than I do..."
Fang Zhiyuan's voice gradually faded away.
In the basement, a faint smile appeared on Fang Ping'an's face.
...
Late at night.
Lying in bed wearing reading glasses, Fang Zhiyuan stared at the graph on his tablet, muttering softly to himself, "That boy of mine is in such a rush. Business? What business is he talking about?
"Eight million.
"I spent over five million of it.
"Yet holding shares in Star Radiance Group for all these decades... hasn't it brought back several million more?" Fang Zhiyuan thought.
A spendthrift? True!
Lying flat? True!
Wanting to rely on his son for retirement? That was true as well!
Yet he had never expected to lean entirely on his son; stock dividends and the pension he had bought over the last twenty years were his greatest assurance for a peaceful old age.
The 5.1 million Star Coins he handed over today were merely savings accumulated from decades of dividends... The shares remained firmly in his grasp.
As the largest martial artist group in the entire civilization, Star Radiance Group's profits were exceptionally stable; its stock price fluctuated very little, and its dividends were relatively consistent, making it something many speculators looked down upon.
"Old Man.
"Back then, you couldn't wait long enough.
"I waited for decades, and finally, my time came." The aged Fang Zhiyuan's gaze suddenly dimmed. "Using your money to do your bidding... I hope you watch over your great-grandchildren from above."
...
At three o'clock in the morning, the alarm sounded, and Fang Yu woke right on time.
"My technique has reached Entering the Minute, and my mental strength is potent enough. Using the Deep Sleep Method taught by the school, five hours of sleep is enough to sustain a whole day of cultivation." Fang Yu got up and put on his clothes. "I've heard that decades ago, during the initial excavation of the Primordial Star, certain special medicines emerged that allowed Primary Martial Artists and even ordinary people to go without sleep while suffering no mental damage, all to maximize their cultivation time.
"They dressed it up as 'not wasting life.'
"Four extra hours of cultivation a day meant more than a thousand extra hours a year..."
That theory had once been widely popular.
It was highly praised back then; many key high schools and even universities had experimented with it, sparing no expense to release gases containing these agents into classrooms, dormitories, and the general campus air... all to give students more time to study and cultivate.
In the short term, it was indeed effective.
Later, however, it was strictly banned by the Blue Moon Alliance.
"Before one's mental strength reaches an exceptionally high level, sleep is the best form of rest for a living organism... No medicine can substitute for it," Fang Yu reflected.
Moreover...
Cultivation required a balance of exertion and rest; humans were not machines... When martial technique hit a bottleneck, breaking through did not rely solely on diligent, bitter practice. Relaxing and resting after an extended period of arduous training might instead lead to a sudden enlightenment and breakthrough.
If sheer bitter cultivation alone worked, the streets would have long been filled with martial artists who had achieved Entering the Minute.
"Still..."
"Hard work might not guarantee success, but without hard work, failure is certain." Fang Yu got up and soon arrived in the basement, switching on only the dimmest light.
Stance training.
After loosening his muscles and bones, Fang Yu began pairing breathing techniques with the Basic Twenty-Four Fist Forms to temper his body... Two hours later, he proceeded to train his footwork and saber technique in turn.
Cultivation was divided into training methods and combat methods.
Whether stance work or the Basic Twenty-Four Fist Forms, both belonged to training methods, meant to solidify the foundation; but in life-and-death combat, the crux lay in combat methods.
Footwork and saber technique were both critically important.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!* Fang Yu wielded a long saber, rays of saber light bursting forth in elusive, unpredictable arcs.
This was precisely one of the two saber manuals he currently practiced—*Flowing Light Saber*, famed for its swiftness.
Soon.
Fang Yu began practicing his other saber manual, *Thousand Mountains Saber*. Each move and stance was precise and methodical, the continuous sheets of saber light crashing forward like rolling boulders, utterly unstoppable.
This saber art centered on momentum, emphasizing an upright, frontal suppression of opponents through absolute power.
"Facing different opponents with different styles demands different saber techniques," Fang Yu pondered. "My technique has achieved Great Accomplishment of Entering the Minute, but that is merely the harmony of body and mind.
"Footwork primarily involves control over the body, and it has already reached the realm of Entering the Minute.
"Yet saber technique requires the harmony of body, mind, and weapon, which has yet to reach Entering the Minute." Fang Yu thought to himself that physical technique was divided into many levels, as the human body possessed boundless potential after all.
According to the *Martial Canon*, if martial technique reached the pinnacle of Inner Vista, activating the power of every cell in the body, even an ordinary person could unleash a thousand jin of force.
As for techniques like saber or spear arts, their categorization was straightforward.
There were only three levels.
Basic, Entering the Minute, and Outer Vista.
"Achieving Great Accomplishment of Entering the Minute in physical technique allows me to unleash Dark Force, drastically boosting the might of my saber art." Fang Yu harbored his own ambitions. "Once my saber technique achieves Entering the Minute, my blade will become even more enigmatic, unpredictable, and unstoppable."
...
At midday, the family gathered for a rare lunch together.
"Fang Yu, come with me," Fang Ping'an said, standing up. Fang Yu promptly followed.
The two arrived at the study on the second floor.
"This morning..."
"I went to Star Radiance Group's municipal headquarters." Fang Ping'an pointed to the ornate, large box on the desk and said softly, "This is something I prepared for you."
Chapter 12