Conspiracy

Morning.

The rising sun climbed slowly, mist shrouding the valley in a haze of vibrant life, grass and trees thriving in abundance.

"Song Zhigao, outer sect comprador of Gui Ling Sect!" "Song Yujie, beloved son of a Gui Ling Sect elder!" "Song Zhong, elder of Gui Ling Sect!"

Fang Yuan held a broom, casually sweeping away the traces of last night, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

The man in black from yesterday had been scared into a mental breakdown by the Flower Fox Ferret, confessing everything without much torture.

According to him, that Eldest Young Master Song Yujie was accomplished in both letters and martial arts, elegant and charming, but the key point was that the moment he saw Lin Leyue, Fang Yuan's former fiancée, he was astonished as if seeing a deity, deeply infatuated and unable to extricate himself.

Elder Song Zhong was happy to see this happen, after all, she was the Sect Leader's personal disciple, with boundless future prospects.

Unfortunately, Lin Leyue herself had no interest in Song Yujie and directly refused him.

Under his humiliation and rage, Song Yujie naturally dared not do anything to the Sect Leader's beloved disciple, but Fang Yuan became the innocent victim caught in the crossfire.

'Perhaps he thinks Lin Leyue still has lingering feelings for me? And that subordinate Song Zhigao, seeing this, had Old Man Tian try to make me leave quietly before, but I didn't take the hint, so this time they sent another probe...'

From the information he'd gathered, plus some guesses, Fang Yuan roughly pieced together the situation, feeling even more speechless.

"What does Lin Leyue have to do with me? I'm more wronged than a fish caught in a pond..."

But in this world, lacking strength was the greatest sin. Song Yujie hadn't even bothered to come personally to step on Fang Yuan; his lackeys below had already eagerly made their move.

"Sigh... I get the feeling the future's going to be a real hassle..."

Fang Yuan tossed the broom aside, stretched toward the rising sun, and squinted contentedly.

According to the man in black, those within Gui Ling Sect who admired Lin Leyue could probably form a reinforced platoon—after all, she was the Sect Leader's personally acknowledged future Martial Ancestor seed!

Even if there was no Song Yujie today, tomorrow a Zhao Yujie or Zhang Yujie would pop up.

This left Fang Yuan feeling quite helpless.

Heaven Have Mercy! He truly didn't want to stir up any trouble, but trouble came to him whether he liked it or not. Even playing the shrinking turtle was useless.

"This Song Zhigao must die!"

A sudden resolve hardened in Fang Yuan's heart.

When his fundamental interests weren't threatened, he could certainly endure.

Like the broken engagement before, or the Zhou siblings' actions—at most, he lost some face. What did that matter?

But now, Song Zhigao harbored ill intentions and tried to probe the secrets of the Hidden Valley, directly threatening Fang Yuan's foundation.

For Fang Yuan, aside from his own attributes, the plantation in the Hidden Valley and the spirit plants within were his reverse scale.

A dragon has its reverse scale; touch it, and it will rage!

"Song Zhigao absolutely has to go, but I can't drag myself down with him and be forced to flee... So I need a foolproof plan... Of course, the most important thing is to raise my martial arts level!"

The man in black last night was Song Zhigao's confidant, knowing him very well.

This outer sect comprador of Gui Ling Sect, though clever, wasn't much in martial arts—only around the third stage.

If he faced the Flower Fox Ferret, he'd have no chance of survival.

But behind him was Elder Song Zhong, who had reportedly broken through the Three Auspicious Gates and Two Level Gates, reaching the Three Dangerous Gates realm. His martial arts were formidable, a notable figure in Qinghe Commandery, and Song Yujie was said to be surpassing his father.

"The Twelve Gates of Golden Lock and Heavy Tower: the first three gates—Open, Rest, Life—are a smooth path, and breaking through them grants a boost, so they're called the Three Auspicious Gates. The Du and Jing Gates aren't too perilous to break, just middling. But the later Gates of Shang, Xing, and Si—failure in breaking them often means severe injury or even death, hence they're called the Three Dangerous Gates!"

The martial path was fraught with difficulty, with so many barriers from the start.

Let alone after breaking the Gate of Si, there were still the final Four Heavenly Gates of the Twelve Gates of Golden Lock and Heavy Tower, and the Martial Ancestor realm! It was like looking up at a towering mountain, enough to make anyone feel discouraged.

"Luckily, for now, I only need to deal with one Song Zhigao. That's nothing at all..."

What did the difficulty of the martial path matter?

With his attributes and proficiency, Fang Yuan had never considered the possibility of failing to break through.

"Perfect timing!"

He glanced at his attribute panel and saw that the first layer of Black Sand Palm was almost fully mastered, with only the last bit of proficiency left—just a few dozen practice sessions.

"Today, I'll break through the second gate!"

Fang Yuan made his decision abruptly.

If outsiders knew how fast he was breaking through, they'd be utterly astounded, even a Martial Ancestor would take notice.

After all, the Twelve Stages of Martial Dao—each stage was a world apart. Even the first three foundational layers required painstaking effort over time.

But for Fang Yuan, as long as he had proficiency, nothing was a problem.

The moment the sun rose was the best time for practice.

"Hah!"

Fang Yuan calmed his mind. The moves of Black Sand Palm were already second nature to him. He executed them one by one, while also using medicinal sand and water to temper his hands.

Before long, in his attribute panel, the progress bar behind Black Sand Palm finally filled to completion.

Crack!

Fang Yuan let out a long roar, feeling as if a certain restriction within his body had been unlocked. In an instant, his energy and vitality surged boundlessly, threatening to burst forth from every pore.

After the proficiency was maxed out, the mark for the next layer of Black Sand Palm suddenly jumped, becoming Layer Two!

Black Sand Palm, Layer Two!

In just a few days, it was fully accomplished!

"Not only that, the Xiu Gate among the Twelve Gates of Golden Lock and Heavy Tower has also been broken."

Fang Yuan looked at his attribute panel, where a change had clearly occurred:

"Name: Fang Yuan Essence: 1.3 Qi: 1.3 Spirit: 1.5 Age: 18 Cultivation: Martial Dao Second Gate Skills: Black Sand Palm [Layer Two] Specialties: Medical Skill [Level One], Planting Skill [Level Three]"

"With Black Sand Palm trained to the second layer, its power greatly increases. Even when circulating the technique, my hands will undergo a change!"

At this moment, as Fang Yuan willed it, his hands immediately underwent a mysterious transformation. The palms took on a gray-black hue, and their resistance to pain rose sharply.

"Of course, the most crucial thing is breaking through the Xiu Gate! Essence Yuan and Qi Yuan each increased by 0.2?"

Fang Yuan looked somewhat surprised at his Spirit Yuan, still at 1.5. "Could it be that the last breakthrough was really just because of the Heart-Questioning Tea? Does an ordinary martial breakthrough only increase Essence Yuan and Qi Yuan? Or is it because my Spirit Yuan is already so high that a small increase is hard to notice now?"

Unfortunately, with his current martial arts knowledge, he simply couldn't figure it out.

But for Fang Yuan, knowing now that his Black Sand Palm could be rapidly improved through proficiency, without even bottlenecks, was enough!

"Song Zhigao..."

Fang Yuan clenched his hands, suddenly feeling a surge of power.

"Wang San still hasn't returned?"

Song Zhigao, at this moment, was finding it hard to eat or sleep in peace.

As an outer sect buyer for the Gui Ling Sect, his face always wore an amiable expression, and his shrewd little eyes carried a hint of cunning. Every matter he handled had always been done properly and without a hitch.

That was, until this time, when he tried to curry favor with Elder Song Zhong of his own faction, ingratiate himself with Song Yujie, and deal with that poor kid from the mountains. After that, everything changed.

"Damn it!"

Thinking of this, Song Zhigao nearly threw his beloved Yuhua porcelain teacup out of his hands.

That kid really gave him a feeling of being ungrateful.

Originally, when he had Old Man Tian cut off supplies and issued a warning, if the kid had just obediently gone far away, wouldn't that have been perfect for both sides? Why did he have to stubbornly stay put?

Now, past noon and nearing evening, Wang San still hadn't returned. Song Zhigao could no longer sit still, pacing back and forth in the living room.

"Even if that kid has some peculiarities, Wang San is always cautious. This time, he only went to scout the situation. He couldn't have been completely wiped out, could he?"

Song Zhigao stood with his hands behind his back, waiting until nightfall. His heart finally turned completely cold, carrying a trace of regret.

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have provoked that kid.

But now that the enmity was set, it was like an arrow on the string—it had to be fired.

If he succeeded in the task, he could naturally claim credit from the master behind him. But what if he messed everything up?

Just thinking about Elder Song Zhong's methods made Song Zhigao's scalp tingle. Suddenly, he looked up, staring in a certain direction within the city, and muttered to himself, "Since it's come to this, don't blame me!"

"Someone!"

With that thought, he immediately shouted loudly.

"What are your orders, Lord?"

A servant immediately entered and bowed, asking.

Don't underestimate Song Zhigao just because he was an outer sect buyer. His authority was actually considerable, and he had raised a group of servants and maids, always ready to carry out his orders.

"Go find Old Man Tian from the Medicine Hall. Tell him that if he still wants to get by in Qinghe Commandery, he'd better come here obediently and listen to my orders!"

A hint of ruthlessness appeared on Song Zhigao's face.

"As you command!"

The servant was a bit surprised but quickly hurried off. Before long, Old Man Tian, cowering and rubbing his hands together, entered and immediately put on a flattering smile for Song Zhigao. "Greetings, Lord Song!"

"Old Man Tian! The various medicinal ingredients from your Medicine Hall are quite good. The sect has decided to increase the purchase volume next year!"

After dismissing the servant, Song Zhigao said casually.

"Ah? Thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord!"

Old Man Tian bowed repeatedly, his smile so wide his eyes disappeared into the creases.

"Of course... this doesn't come without a price. I need you to do something for me."

Song Zhigao stared at Old Man Tian, somewhat confident. As the Medicine Hall's biggest client, holding this leverage meant he had Old Man Tian by the throat—how could he not bend?

"What is it? Please, Lord Song, give your orders. This old man would walk through blades or leap into seas of fire to get it done beautifully!"

Old Man Tian was an old fox. Though inwardly bitter, he kept up a Fired up front, thumping his chest.

"Simple. It's just..."

Song Zhigao whispered a few words in Old Man Tian's ear, and the old man's face instantly changed: "What? This... this..."

"Heh, I know the Heart-Questioning Hermit saved you once, but the Hermit is the Hermit, and Fang Yuan is Fang Yuan..."

Song Zhigao sneered, delivering a direct threat: "If you refuse, starting next month, my Gui Ling Sect won't buy a single medicinal ingredient from you. You and your whole family can starve on the wind!"