Family Rewards

The banquet was quickly laid out, with delicacies worthy of serving as a city restaurant's signature dishes and aged wine stored for decades, rich with fragrance. Yet the atmosphere was strangely subtle.

Especially at the table of juniors like Fang Han.

I actually lost...

Lin Jiao sat at the table with his head lowered, barely speaking to anyone.

His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his flesh. An unprecedented sense of defeat and burning humiliation almost drowned him.

Meanwhile, the three young disciples from the Yue Clan, He Clan, and Sun Clan had developed a keen interest in Fang Han.

They all carried cups of low-proof fruit wine over to Fang Han and struck up conversations.

"Brother Fang, what incredible swordsmanship!"

"Brother Fang truly hid his abilities well. You've already broken through to Tendon Refining—impressive, truly impressive!"

"May I ask how Brother Fang usually cultivates?"

Faced with these "enthusiastic" peers, Fang Han was neither arrogant nor overly warm, exchanging a few words with each of them.

The banquet ended amid Lin Shan's forced smiles and the "delight" of both hosts and guests.

On the carriage ride back, the atmosphere was completely different from before. Fang Yuan's face was brimming with smiles, and the more he looked at Fang Han, the more satisfied he became.

"Good! Fang Han! You did exceedingly well today!"

Fang Yuan clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

"Not only did you raise the prestige of our Fang Clan, you even made that old bastard Lin Shan suffer a crushing setback! Satisfying! Truly satisfying!"

He paused, looking at Fang Han with approval as he spoke solemnly.

"By defeating Lin Jiao this time and crushing the Lin Family's momentum, you have rendered meritorious service to the Lineage. Once I report this to the Lineage, there will certainly be a generous reward!"

"The Lineage will reward me?"

At those words, Fang Han's heart jolted, and immense joy instantly surged through him.

He forcibly suppressed his excitement and hurriedly said,

"Thank you, Elder!"

Today, he had used Sword Art at the Proficiency Realm to defeat a stronger opponent, making him understand even more deeply the importance of Sword Art Talent.

Although he had received sixty taels of silver from Fang Lin, even all the silver he possessed combined was still quite a distance from one hundred taels—not enough to activate the second-tier enhancement of Sword Art Talent.

The Lineage's reward certainly would not be meager. Once it arrived, he should be able to gather one hundred taels and activate the second-tier enhancement of Sword Art Talent.

After seeing off the people from the four great clans, the smile Lin Shan had been forcing onto his face completely vanished, replaced by a dark and gloomy expression.

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed everyone else, leaving only Lin Jiao standing in the hall with his head bowed, his shoulders slightly slumped.

"Jiao'er."

Lin Shan's deliberately slowed, heavy voice broke the suffocating silence.

"Elder, I..."

Hearing the call, Lin Jiao raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and the unwillingness and humiliation within them nearly spilled over.

"A momentary defeat is nothing!"

Lin Shan interrupted him, his gaze sharp as a blade as it pierced through the dejection in Lin Jiao's eyes.

"The path of martial arts is long. Who has never fallen? If a single sparring match leaves you unable to rise again, then you are the true worthless fool!"

He stepped closer, placing his broad palm on Lin Jiao's shoulder. His tone carried both undeniable authority and consolation.

"You lost only because Fang Han's Sword Art realm was indeed one level above yours, having reached the Proficiency Realm."

"In terms of foundation and cultivation, you are only one step away from Tendon Refining Mid-Stage! Are you really afraid you cannot catch up to a brat who has only just entered Tendon Refining Early-Stage?"

"As long as you Breakthrough to Tendon Refining Mid-Stage and gain another measure of strength and speed, his little swordsmanship tricks will be nothing but a paper window lattice before absolute power—one poke, and it will shatter!"

"Tendon Refining Mid-Stage..."

Lin Jiao murmured the words, and the dimness in his eyes was rekindled.

That was right, he was only one step away! Once he crossed it, today's humiliation would be repaid tenfold!

"Put away that pointless despair and get your ass to the Martial Arts Arena immediately! Turn today's defeat into strength that fills your body!"

"Breakthrough to Tendon Refining Mid-Stage, then win it back openly and honorably! How could the Lin Family's Qilin Child be so unable to withstand a single blow?"

Lin Shan's voice was decisive as iron, carrying unwavering conviction.

"Yes, Elder!"

Lin Jiao abruptly straightened his back. All the unwillingness and dejection in his eyes were instantly replaced by blazing fighting spirit, and he became once more the high-spirited Qilin Child of the Lin Family.

He gave a deep bow, said no more, then turned and strode from the hall at a swift pace, racing madly toward the Lin Family Martial Arts Arena. Every step seemed determined to crush the shadows of the past beneath his feet.

The atmosphere at the Fang Clan residence was entirely different.

"You two return to the Inner Hall first."

The carriage came to a stop before the gates of Fang Mansion. After giving Fang Han and Fang Lin a brief instruction, Fang Yuan moved like the wind toward Pine Wave Pavilion, where Clan Head Fang Lingyuan resided.

Within Pine Wave Pavilion, sandalwood incense drifted faintly through the air. Clan Head Fang Lingyuan stood by the window with brush in hand, outlining a painting of ink bamboo, his strokes vigorous and forceful.

"Clan Head."

A trace of irrepressible excitement in Fang Yuan's voice broke the study's tranquility.

Fang Lingyuan's brush paused slightly, and a drop of dark ink nearly fell. He looked up, saw Fang Yuan, and his expression tightened.

"What is so urgent? Is it... the Lin Family?"

He knew that Fang Yuan had taken the newly admitted Inner Hall disciples to the banquet hosted by the Lin Family today.

"Clan Head, wonderful news!"

Fang Yuan crossed the distance in a few quick strides, his face filled with long-absent delight.

"Today, the Lin Family held a banquet under the name of exchange, but they were actually showing off their Qilin Child, Lin Jiao! Yet who would have thought they would lift a stone only to smash their own feet!"

Fang Lingyuan set down his brush, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

"Oh? Tell me in detail!"

"Fang Han!"

When Fang Yuan spoke the name, his tone was full of amazement.

"That boy has actually broken through to Tendon Refining, and his Breeze Sword Art has reached the Proficiency Realm!"

"Upon that Combat Platform, before everyone's eyes, he relied on exquisite Sword Art to defeat Lin Jiao, who had one foot in Tendon Refining Mid-Stage!"

"That old bastard Lin Shan's face was as spectacular as a dye shop thrown open!"

"Tendon Refining? Sword Art Proficiency?!" Even Fang Lingyuan, as the Clan Head, with his extraordinary composure, could not help crying out in surprise. An unbelievable light burst from his eyes.

"I remember that he only broke through to Flesh Refining Late-Stage not long ago. This speed...?"

As Clan Head, he knew of the speculation that Fang Han might have undergone Aperture Opening. Otherwise, the Lineage would not have promoted Fang Han's father, Fang Zheng.

"He has opened his apertures! He absolutely has! Without that, how could he undergo such a transformation, shedding his mortal frame and exchanging his bones? Heaven blesses our Fang Clan—our Fang Lineage is destined to flourish!"

Fang Lingyuan clasped his hands behind his back and paced twice before the window. Looking out at the layered rooftops of Fang Mansion, his gaze was deep and gratified.

He suddenly turned around, his tone decisive and brimming with force.

"A disciple of our Fang Clan has displayed his might beyond our doors, defeated the Lin Family's Qilin Child, and greatly raised the prestige of our Fang Clan! How could such merit go unrewarded?"

"Elder Fang Yuan, reward Fang Han three hundred taels of silver and one hundred Blood Vitality Pills. Our Fang Clan will never mistreat any disciple with talent, strength, and the ability to bring glory to the Lineage!"

"Yes, Clan Head!"

Fang Yuan answered in a ringing voice, the smile on his face no longer possible to conceal.