Invitation, Mockery

Fang Han was slightly taken aback. An invitation personally sent by Fang Hong, the number one in the Inner Hall?

He took the gilded invitation, cool to the touch and of exceptional quality.

It felt weighty in his hand, and the gold-powder cloud patterns along its edges glimmered darkly beneath the Martial Dao Room's light, proclaiming just how extraordinary this invitation was.

When he opened it, a faint scent of ink wafted toward him—like sandalwood, yet colder and sharper.

The writing within was vigorous and forceful, each stroke biting through the paper. Its contents were brief, yet revealed a great deal:

[Brother Fang Han is cordially invited to gather by Moon-Gazing Lake outside the city on the fifteenth of this month, to exchange martial knowledge and make friends through martial arts—

The Five Heroes of Liangshui: Fang Hong, Lin Ao, Yue Lingtian, He Qingyan, and Sun Qing, respectfully.]

"A gathering jointly organized by the Five Heroes of Liangshui... Is it that gathering?"

Fang Han's gaze swept over the five names listed side by side at the end, and realization dawned on him.

He had heard that every year, the Five Great Families would have the five most outstanding members of their generation—the "Five Heroes of Liangshui"—jointly host a gathering for the younger generation.

It was not merely an arena for the outstanding descendants of the Five Great Families to compete and flex their muscles, but a grand event open to all the young talents of Liangshui City.

Exceptional youths from other families and martial arts schools in the city would also receive invitations.

For the Five Great Families, it was likewise an important channel for uncovering and recruiting scattered talent.

Thinking of how he had barely left home these past months, cultivating bitterly every day with his nerves constantly wound tight, Fang Han made up his mind.

"I'll go out and see the world, meet Liangshui City's peers. I'll take it as a chance to ease my mind."

The atmosphere in the Lin Family's Inner Hall had been somewhat oppressive lately.

Lin Hu walked through the Inner Hall toward his private Martial Dao Room.

Thanks to the miraculous effects of the precious medicinal pills bestowed by the family, the terrible wound in his chest that Fang Han's Sword Qi had pierced through had long since healed, leaving behind only a faint pink scar.

Yet while the wound had healed, the humiliation of defeat was clearly not so easily mended.

At the bend of a corridor, he ran into Lin Ao, ranked first in the Inner Hall, and Lin Feng, ranked third.

Lin Ao was tall and lean, with a stern face and eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

Lin Feng, meanwhile, was somewhat effeminate, with a faint, ever-present smile at the corners of his mouth.

"Well, if it isn't the Lin Family's second-best fighter? Your injury all healed up?"

Lin Feng spoke first, his voice neither too loud nor too soft—just enough for the passing Lin Hu to hear clearly.

He sounded concerned, but his tone carried an inescapable note of mockery.

"You healed quickly enough. Shame that wounds on the body are easy to heal, while face thrown onto the ground isn't so easily picked back up."

Lin Ao merely snorted coldly, his gaze passing over Lin Hu with undisguised disappointment and indifference.

"Isn't that the truth! Brother Lin Ao, do you know what people outside are saying now? They say our Lin Family's second-ranked disciple isn't even as good as the Fang Clan's third!"

"Tsk, tsk. It's made us brothers and sisters still cultivating bitterly in the Inner Hall lose face whenever we step outside! Those who don't know better might think our Lin Family's Inner Hall truly can't compare to the Fang Clan's Inner Hall!"

Lin Feng immediately chimed in, raising his voice a little.

Every word was like a poison-dipped needle, stabbing viciously into Lin Hu's ears.

His steps abruptly halted. His clenched fists turned his knuckles white from the force, while veins bulged across the backs of his hands.

His face instantly turned livid, his chest heaving violently once as that familiar humiliation, so intense it seemed ready to burst him apart, surged into his heart again.

But he did not turn around, much less offer a retort.

He only strode forward with even heavier steps and violently shoved open the thick, specially made wooden door to his Martial Dao Room.

Bang—!

The door slammed shut with a deafening crash, making the corridor seem to tremble.

Outside, the two men's deliberately astonished remarks—"Oh my, what a temper," and "Not much skill, but his temper's certainly grown"—drifted faintly through the door, making him feel even more stifled.

He panted heavily, his eyes bloodshot like a trapped beast.

Ever since news of his defeat at Fang Han's hands had spread, his treatment within the family had plummeted.

The Inner Hall disciples who had once respected and feared him, flocking around him in droves, now avoided his gaze and treated him perfunctorily. Some even dared whisper behind his back.

Though those discussions were quiet, they always drifted into his ears with uncanny precision.

And core disciples like Lin Ao and Lin Feng, who had already been in competition with him, had found the perfect pretext to attack. Their overt and covert ridicule and needling had scarcely ever ceased.

All because he—ranked second in the Lin Family's Inner Hall—had lost to Fang Han, ranked third in the Fang Clan's Inner Hall!

To outsiders, this was undoubtedly proof that the Lin Family's younger generation had been overshadowed by the Fang Clan's.

They would not delve into what kind of monster Fang Han was. They would simply conclude that the Lin Family's second was inferior to the Fang Clan's third.

This had made him, in the eyes of many of his clansmen, the chief culprit who had brought shame upon the family and made them lose face.

"Fang... Han!"

Lin Hu squeezed out the two words through clenched teeth, filled with bone-deep hatred and unwillingness.

The fierce humiliation and indignation churned within his chest like rivers and seas overturning, ultimately turning into an even more resolute savagery.

His gaze suddenly swept toward the brand-new, sturdier Black Iron Wooden Dummy in the room, and a crazed light flashed in his eyes.

"The Moon-Gazing Lake gathering... Fang Han will definitely go!"

He was certain of it.

For an occasion like the Moon-Gazing Lake gathering, where one could make a name for oneself, the Fang Clan would never pass up the chance to present Fang Han, their Qilin Child, to the world.

Then would come his chance to wash away his humiliation.

"Just wait! When the time comes, I'll defeat you completely before everyone's eyes and wash away this shame!"

His low roar echoed through the sealed Martial Dao Room as his blood and qi erupted all at once.

Like a ferocious beast gone out of control, he threw a fist with a shrieking howl that tore through the air, smashing brutally toward the wooden dummy harder than refined steel.

Boom!!

The thunderous crash made the entire room seem to shudder.

On the morning of the fifteenth, beside Moon-Gazing Lake several miles outside Liangshui City.

The lake's surface was like a mirror, reflecting the lush green mountains around it and the several dozen pavilions and towers scattered like stars across the landscape.

Of them, the five grand pavilions at the very center were the most imposing.

The other pavilions surrounded those five like a host of stars circling the moon.

Fruit and pastries had already been laid out on the stone tables in every pavilion, while servants from the Five Great Families stood waiting nearby.

Descendants of Liangshui City's various families who had received invitations arrived one after another in carriages, some of which were exceptionally luxurious.

Those who stepped down from these carriages were all renowned Inner Hall disciples of the Five Great Families, each with a steady aura and bright, piercing eyes.

"Look, that's Yue Feng, ranked seventh in the Yue Clan's Inner Hall. I heard his Mountain-Breaking Fist has already reached major accomplishment!"

"He Qingwan, ranked fifth in the He Clan's Inner Hall, is here too. I heard that besides being skilled in fist techniques, she's also adept with concealed weapons..."

"Even Sun Miao of the Sun Clan came? I heard he's been cultivating in seclusion, trying to break through to Bone Refining!"

The arrival of these outstanding descendants of the Five Great Families immediately sparked a wave of attention and discussion.