Zhao Tie gave Fang Yuan's shoulder a heavy pat, putting considerable force into it, though his tone carried heartfelt emotion and a trace of complicated relief.
"Junior Brother Fang, it seems it won't be long before this Senior Brother of yours is no match for you."
He was not merely being polite. He had truly felt Fang Yuan's astonishing rate of growth. That day might genuinely not be far off.
Fang Yuan replied modestly, "First Senior Brother overpraises me. There is still much I need to learn from Senior Brother."
The Martial Arts School's internal disciple-acceptance ceremony had settled into the dust. Chen Zhengyang did not linger. His gaze swept over the core disciples,
as though he wished to say something, but in the end, he merely waved a hand and said gravely, "Dismissed. Cultivate diligently."
Then he turned away. There seemed to be an imperceptible heaviness in his retreating figure as he quickly left the front courtyard.
Watching their master's departing back, Zhao Tie frowned slightly and said in a low voice,
"Master has... been showing himself less and less lately. His aura also seems less harmonious than before."
He could clearly sense that his master seemed to be tightly bound up by some thorny matter.
As soon as he said this, a trace of worry surfaced on the faces of Wang Pangzi, Zhou Chen, and even Chen Yin beside them.
Clearly, they too had noticed Chen Zhengyang's recent abnormality.
"Father..." Chen Yin opened her mouth, but in the end, it became only a worried sigh, a thin veil of melancholy shrouding her brows.
Fang Yuan listened quietly, understanding inwardly.
It seemed that during the days he had left Qinghe County to escort goods, some subtle and unknown changes must have taken place in the county seat.
As the