Family Secrets

"Come to think of it, the Wangdu Fang Family had chosen this year to contest the position of Main Family head with good reason."

Fang Zhongwu explained, "After all, the blessing of our ancestors' Baptism will descend in just a few days."

"Put simply, the Baptism is the various energies accumulated in the Ancestral Hall over the past hundred years, including the incense offerings of faith and the like."

"These energies are incomparably pure. They can transform the body and even awaken its hidden potential, with endless wondrous uses."

Fang Zhongwu sighed with emotion. "Our Fang Family has endured for five thousand years, making us older than even the Great Zhou Dynasty."

"The Ancestral Hall has been empowered by the strength of generations of experts. Dao Rhythm permeates it, allowing it to absorb the essence of the sun, moon, and heavens on its own."

"After all these years, it's become the equal of a top-tier Spiritual Treasure."

As he spoke, Fang Zhongwu raised his eyes toward the room's exterior, as if he could see through the layers of obstacles and gaze upon the Ancestral Hall.

"I had no idea our Fang Family had such deep foundations." Fang Yuan was astonished.

Spiritual Treasures were already extremely rare, the clan-protecting divine weapons of the great families. Even in the Great Zhou Dynasty, they were as scarce as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

And a top-tier Spiritual Treasure was even more extraordinary.

One could scour the entire Great Zhou Dynasty and still not find a single one.

"Otherwise, why do you think the Wangdu Fang Family has always kept the ancestral rules and returned to pay respects to our ancestors every five years?"

The ancestral rules were important, of course, but nothing stirred people's hearts like the benefits right in front of them.

"The Wangdu Fang Family is far stronger than we are. What if they refuse to follow the rules?"

Fang Yuan voiced the question that had been troubling him.

"They wouldn't dare." Fang Zhongwu sounded confident.

"After the Great Zhou Dynasty was founded, the Wangdu Fang Family once reached great heights."

"I don't know which generation their family head belonged to, but during one ancestral rite, he brazenly tried to seize the position of Main Family head."

"Something like that really happened?"

Fang Yuan was quite surprised. These matters were clearly family secrets known to very few.

Fang Zhongwu nodded. "He used force, trying to take the family head's ceremonial authority and seal."

"He was extraordinarily powerful, one of the handful of people at the very peak of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He gravely wounded the family head and many clan members, then seized the family head's token."

Fang Zhongwu paused, his voice turning grave. "But that very night, he suddenly died a violent death. No one could determine the cause."

"Not only that, but the clan members who acted alongside him all died within a few days."

Fang Yuan's expression grew solemn. This was the first time he had learned that the Ancestral Land held such mysterious power. It was enough to inspire awe.

"Afterward, they obediently returned the family head's token."

"For a long time, the people of the Wangdu Fang Family didn't even dare come to the Ancestral Land to pay respects to their ancestors."

"The family head who started it, along with those clan members, were completely erased from the family genealogy."

To be left out of the family genealogy meant the clan refused to acknowledge you. Even your direct descendants would struggle to rise, and your line would fall into ruin.

"Only after relations between us and the Wangdu Fang Family improved did the family head before last agree to let them return."

Fang Yuan hadn't expected the Fang Family to have such a history. It truly hadn't been easy for them to reach where they were now.

"From now on, the Wangdu Fang Family may stir things up again. Fang Runan is no ordinary man."

Fang Zhongwu's gaze was deep, as if he could see far into the future.

"Dad, even if I hadn't stepped in today, you'd have had a way to deal with it, wouldn't you?" Fang Yuan asked suddenly.

Fang Zhongwu smiled but didn't answer. He only said, "What you did today will win you the support of many clan members and help you establish your authority."

Fang Yuan still felt a strong sense of belonging to his family. Smiling, he nodded.

"To prevent any more trouble, stay in the Ancestral Land for the next couple of days. After the Baptism, refine the Yinshe Grass and break through to Foundation Establishment."

Fang Yuan nodded firmly, barely able to contain his excitement.

Fang Family Village was untouched by worldly strife. Ordinary people and cultivators alike lived there in harmony, and the latter rarely used their True Essence.

Everyone followed the same routine: work at sunrise and rest at sunset. Life was orderly.

There was no shortage of food or meat, and clothes and fabric were readily available. Fragrant grasses flourished and blossoms drifted on the breeze, making the place seem like a paradise beyond the world.

"Living somewhere like this year-round brings a peaceful calm to the heart and helps improve one's state of mind."

Along the way, many local clan members warmly greeted Fang Yuan.

Their smiles were pure and simple.

When he returned to the little country house, Fang Yuan felt a bit unaccustomed to it. He was used to having people attend to him.

"Time to work hard at cultivation!"

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and sank his awareness into the panel, tapping the "+" beside his cultivation.

[You cultivate painstakingly for a year. Your True Essence grows increasingly refined, but you have yet to condense Divine Sense, so your cultivation makes no substantive breakthrough.]

A familiar line appeared before his eyes.

Fang Yuan remained calm. He had seen this message many times before, and now he could only feel that the True Essence within him had grown a little richer.

Fang Lian's shock hadn't been without reason.

Anyone who hadn't personally fought Fang Yuan could never understand just how refined True Essence honed for over a decade could become!

"Even though I didn't break through, my refined True Essence will become higher-quality True Essence when converted."

Fang Yuan took a deep breath and swallowed the Spirit Gathering Pill. As he tempered his mind, he habitually reviewed the day's battle.

"If Fang Lian had gone all out from the start, or even brought out a Spiritual Weapon, I would've had a hard time dealing with him."

Fang Lian was also an heir to an Aristocratic Clan. The clan-protecting martial arts and Spiritual Weapons at his disposal were no weaker than Fang Yuan's, and might even be stronger.

Besides, a Spiritual Weapon could only unleash its full power once its wielder had reached the Foundation Building Realm.

If Fang Lian had brought one out, his strength could have at least doubled.

Still, knowing how to read and manipulate an opponent's mindset was also an important part of winning a battle.

"From now on, no matter what kind of opponent I face, I have to go all out!"

As the saying went, even a lion had to use its full strength to catch a rabbit.

Mad Blood Daoist and Fang Lian were the perfect examples.

Although both of them had lost, Mad Blood Daoist still had his strong points.

"I have you to thank for that."

Feeling the Jade Cup tremble faintly in his dantian, Fang Yuan smiled and praised it.

Spiritual Treasures could already give rise to artifact spirits of their own and possessed a degree of intelligence, but the Jade Cup was broken, and its spirit had long since been destroyed.

"One day, I'll repair you."

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

One by one, the elders left Fang Family Village. After all, such a large family had many affairs to manage, and someone had to keep things running.

And this was the day Fang Yuan would undergo the Baptism.

"Yuan'er, go with a sincere heart and receive the Ancestral Hall's Baptism," Fang Zhongwu instructed.

Fang Yuan nodded. After completing the many steps, including ritual purification, he entered the ancestral hall alone.

Following Fang Zhongwu's instructions,

Fang Yuan went before the spirit tablets of the ancestors and sat on the cushion below them, focusing on the Dao Rhythm of the ancestral hall.

But Fang Yuan's cultivation was too low. How could he sense the Dao Rhythm?

When he closed his eyes, he seemed to find himself in a boundless white world, where he was the only one walking forward.

No one knew how long this state lasted.

Immersed in his spiritual world, Fang Yuan suddenly saw a dazzling beam of light before him.

At the same time, countless white runes appeared on the walls of the ancestral hall, flickering back and forth.

Then rings of light rose from beneath the cushion where Fang Yuan sat. There were nine in all, shining with dazzling radiance...