Not an Ant, Then a Dragon!

Facing the piercing gaze that seemed to point straight into his heart, Zhang Tie met the Huaiyuan Hall elder's eyes without the slightest timidity. "I don't think there's anything special about me. I merely did what I should have done."

"What you should have done?" A cold, grim smile appeared on the Huaiyuan Hall elder's face. "Do you know that Huaiyuan Hall enforces military law here? What you think you should have done could cost you your head under military law. Huaiyuan Hall has stood tall from nothing until today, both within and beyond the clan, by relying on the family rules left behind by Duke Huaiyuan—and on those four words: orders must be carried out without fail. Within Huaiyuan Hall, the iron rules stand dense as forests, heavy as mountains. Over these past centuries, even Earl Changfeng's heir was stripped of his status and imprisoned for life by the clan for violating its rules. Do you think that because you can make Panacea Potions, the clan rules no longer apply to you, and Huaiyuan Hall would not dare kill you?"

"I'm nothing more than a small fry. I've never thought I was anything great. If I broke the rules and Huaiyuan Hall wants my life, then of course it would dare take it!" Zhang Tie raised his head. "But while one lives in this world, there are some things one must do."

"Oh, so you think you have a reason?" The Huaiyuan Hall elder laughed in fury. "Is your reason weightier than the clan's rules? Then tell me—what is your reason? Were those people worth doing this for?"

"One of those people once saved my life. I cannot fail to repay that debt. That is the first reason!"

"And the second?"

Zhang Tie fell silent for a moment. His