Du Family

"I'm sorry, Senior Brother Fang. I didn't heed your advice, and in the end, you still had to save me."

Xiao Yan barely propped himself up and spoke with difficulty.

"You're taking this too seriously, Junior Brother. Natural disasters are easy to avoid, but man-made calamities are hard to escape. My intention had been to keep you from fighting demonic beasts, but I never expected someone to plot against you."

Fang Xiao checked Xiao Yan's condition. He had merely exhausted his energy and had not damaged his foundation. After giving him a pill to restore his spiritual power, Fang Xiao comforted him.

"That Senior Brother Du they mentioned—do you know his identity? He seems to have quite a background."

"Among this batch of Nominal Disciples under Master's command, there is indeed a Senior Brother surnamed Du. But I don't know much about his identity or origins."

Xiao Yan knew little about the mastermind behind this as well.

Fang Xiao had some guesses, but he would need to ask Yan Tingyun before he could be certain.

While waiting, Fang Xiao gathered the unconscious men together. He did not touch their belongings. Every one of them was at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. The person capable of directing them likely wielded considerable influence. Although his Master was a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, he could not casually provoke trouble.

A moment later, a streak of escaping light arrived from afar. It landed and revealed Yan Tingyun.

"Junior Brother Fang, is Xiao Yan all right? Are these the people?"

"Rest assured, Senior Brother. Xiao Yan merely exhausted his spiritual power and is in no serious danger. However, I have crippled the cultivation of everyone here."

"For plotting against fellow disciples, having their cultivation crippled is already a light punishment. I've notified the Enforcement Hall disciples. They will be waiting for us in Linyuan City."

The two decided to use a flying artifact to bring these men back to Linyuan City and hand them over to the Enforcement Hall.

"On my way here, I heard them say that Xiao Yan had blocked the path of a Senior Brother Du. This person is also one of Elder Long's Nominal Disciples and should be the one behind it. The Enforcement Hall can begin with that disciple surnamed Du."

Along the way, Fang Xiao mentioned the information he had learned.

"A disciple surnamed Du? Could he be from the Du Family?"

"The Du Family?"

"Junior Brother, do you know that within the sect, aside from disciples like you and me who entered the sect and took masters, there is another faction?"

"Senior Brother means the family faction. This disciple surnamed Du is from the Du Family? What sort of background does this Du Family have?"

Fang Xiao asked curiously.

"The Du Family is far from ordinary. You should know about the sect's Thirty-Three Peaks, right?"

"I know a little."

He did not mention that he had taken a master on Heavenly Outer Peak.

"The Du Family is a great clan that occupies two peaks by itself. Do you understand now? The Du Family has two Nascent Soul Realm ancestors. Even so, there is no need to worry. No one can protect him for harming fellow disciples."

By the time the two returned to Linyuan City, Xiao Yan had mostly recovered. Three sect members dressed in Enforcement Hall robes were already waiting for them at the outpost.

The Enforcement Hall members had clearly learned the full course of events from Yan Tingyun. After exchanging a few words with them, they found Yan Tingyun familiar and mainly questioned Fang Xiao and Xiao Yan about their identities. Upon learning that Fang Xiao was a disciple of Heavenly Outer Peak, they were somewhat surprised. They said they would notify the three involved parties once there was a result, then took the six men back to the sect.

"Junior Brother Fang actually entered Heavenly Outer Peak. Your future is truly boundless."

Having heard this from the side, Yan Tingyun was filled with envy and admiration.

"Master leads one through the door; cultivation depends on the individual. No matter how formidable one's background, without personal effort, it is all in vain."

"Junior Brother has spoken the true essence of cultivation in a single sentence, yet some people remain deeply trapped within it."

The saying from his previous life also left Yan Tingyun deeply moved.

"With this matter concluded, I plan to return to the sect and enter seclusion for a time. I hope that when we next meet, Senior Brother will have formed his Golden Core and cultivated divine abilities."

The reason Yan Tingyun had delayed forming his Golden Core was that he wished to lay a deeper foundation, ensuring that his Golden Core would be of a higher grade.

Ever since Fang Xiao had entered the sect, Yan Tingyun had taken good care of him. Naturally, Fang Xiao sincerely hoped that he would succeed in forming his Golden Core.

After bidding farewell, Yan Tingyun departed directly.

"Senior Brother has shown Xiao Yan great kindness time and again. I truly do not know how to repay you."

As a Qi Refining disciple, Xiao Yan had found it difficult to interrupt. Seeing that only the two of them remained, he immediately knelt before Fang Xiao.

"What are you doing, Junior Brother? We've known each other for so long. There is no need for this."

"It was because I failed to heed Senior Brother's words that this disaster came to pass. I am truly too ashamed to face you."

Xiao Yan covered his face and bowed to the ground. Fang Xiao forcibly pulled him back up.

"You must know that while one must not harbor the heart to harm others, one must guard against the hearts of others. In the Cultivation World, one must be even more cautious. Even if only to deal with the man-made calamities that may come knocking at any time, you should cultivate diligently. I, too, do not wish that when I stand upon the peak in the future, there will not be a single familiar person at my side."

"Junior Brother will remember Senior Brother's teachings today and will certainly cultivate diligently."

Xiao Yan had long been moved to tears.

After soothing Xiao Yan's emotions, Fang Xiao sent him back to his residence. He also learned that Xiao Yan had long since successfully refined Spirit Feeding Pills and had stockpiled a large batch in his Storage Bag, waiting only for Fang Xiao to collect them.

Worthy of being a Pill Dao genius. It seemed there was indeed a reason people had tried to harm him. When a tree stands out in the forest, the wind is bound to topple it. But this little sapling had been raised by Fang Xiao for himself—he could not let anyone break it.

Taking the Spirit Feeding Pills, Fang Xiao did not linger and headed straight for the Teleportation Hall, intending to return directly to the sect. Before leaving, he sent a message to Yan Tingyun, asking him to look after Xiao Yan a little. Yan Tingyun agreed.

White light flashed within the Teleportation Hall, and Fang Xiao vanished within it.

"Fool! If you were going to do it, you should have done it cleanly and thoroughly. You left clues everywhere. The two True Lords already favor the Master-Disciple lineage. If matters like this are exposed too often, how will our Du Family lineage maintain its footing in the sect?"

Within the great hall, an elderly cultivator was so furious that his beard bristled and his eyes bulged. The table before him was overturned and shattered by the force he unleashed.

"Patriarch need not worry. It is merely some petty squabbling among Qi Refining cultivators. At worst, we can hand Du Yuan, who committed the offense, over to the Enforcement Hall. The sect merely wants to see our attitude. With the two ancestors here, as long as it is not betrayal of the sect, everything else can be suppressed."

A rather young cultivator spoke to comfort him.

"Leave this matter to you. However, your cultivation has fallen behind recently. Although you have the two ancestors and your cousin Yuan Jun, you must also work harder. Your cousin Yuan Jun has devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation and has no interest in family affairs. The position of future Patriarch of the Du Family will most likely be yours. You should cultivate diligently and show cultivation and strength worthy of the Patriarch."

This elderly cultivator was in fact the Patriarch of the Du Family. One of the Top Ten True Inheritors was also from the Du Family.

"Rest assured, Patriarch. At the next ranking of the Top Ten True Inheritors, I will certainly have a seat among them. Then Cousin Yuan Jun and I will occupy two of the Top Ten True Inheritor positions, and the family faction within the sect will surely take the Du Family as its leader."

The young cultivator confidently assured the Patriarch.

"Furthermore, this matter was originally intended to allow Du Yuan to enter Elder Long's service. Perhaps one or two people would not be enough to sway him, but if there were enough family disciples under him, sooner or later he would stand on our side. Yet it was ruined by an Inner Disciple."

"I know. That disciple is the disciple of the one on Heavenly Outer Peak. Do not touch him. Set this matter aside for now. If an opportunity arises, we must repay it."

Fang Xiao knew nothing of the Du Family's affairs, nor would he spare them a thought. Before absolute strength, all schemes and intrigues would collapse without a fight. He only needed to improve his cultivation and strength.