Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 197 Reactions from All Sides: Power, Money, and Talent (5 words)

Bang!

A fine writing brush and inkstone were smashed hard in the elegant room.

The patriarch of the Er family looked increasingly embarrassed. Her emotions were in turmoil, and she could no longer suppress her anger, so she vented it by smashing things.

This action made the maids waiting in the pavilion hold their breath, and Erdaiyang himself also held his breath.

However, compared to the head of the Er family, Erdaiyang's complexion was actually worse. Her jaw was clenched, and after thinking for a while, she dared to speak:

“Mother, there must be something fishy about this. That guy surnamed Fang doesn’t even dare to come down the mountain normally. He only dares to stay in the Gu Hall and refine Gu.”

If there's nothing suspicious about it, what merit or ability does he possess to suddenly gain two hundred points of power?

Upon hearing this, the head of the Er family's expression shifted, also finding something rather suspicious.

However, after careful consideration, she suppressed her emotions and said, "Let's put this aside. Dai Yang, go down and invite Dai Yuan over. Remember, invite her over, and be polite to her."

Erdaiyang was still pondering Fang Shu's matter when she suddenly heard her mother's words. She was stunned for a long time, not reacting immediately. When she finally came to her senses, her expression turned ugly as she realized what her mother was trying to do.

So she hesitated rather than respond immediately.

The head of the Er family glanced at her, his expression displeased.

"Yes." Erdeyang could only bow immediately and then quickly walked out of the private room.

Not long after.

When Erdaiyuan was found, she had been in seclusion for the past few days and hadn't paid much attention to what was happening at the gambling den, so she was completely confused and had no idea why Erdaiyang, who usually liked to look at people with his chin held high, was so amiable today.

Once inside the elegant building, Erdaiyuan's expression became even more unusual.

The head of the Nar family then stepped down from the couch and gracefully approached her, saying:
“Daiyuan is here. Have you encountered any doubts during your cultivation these days? If so, please feel free to speak up. Your aunt is much older than you and knows some cultivation secrets.”

This made Erdaiyuan wonder what was going on, and she immediately suspected that the other party was hiding a knife behind their smile and wanted to scheme against her.

Therefore, her expression hardened, and she even took half a step back to avoid the other person's outstretched fingers.

Er Daiyuan immediately said politely, "Greetings, Aunt."

Upon seeing this, the Er family patriarch's smile froze, but he still wore a warm smile and began to inquire about Er Daiyuan's well-being.

Such behavior, observed by Erdaiyang nearby, infuriated the woman.

However, soon after the head of the Er family explained the situation, Er Daiyuan was ordered to go to the Gu Hall to repair the relationship between the Er family and Fang Shu. Er Daiyang himself was not spared either.

The head of the Er family said, "Dai Yang, you go with your sister Dai Yuan and apologize to Fellow Daoist Fang properly! If necessary, we can sell all our clan's goods to him at half price from now on."

Upon hearing this, Erdeyang's expression became even more unpleasant.

"Mother!" she finally couldn't hold back any longer, stamping her foot angrily and crying out:
"I'll go find Brother Pei and ask him about this."

After saying that, Erdaiyang stormed out of the pavilion in a huff, leaving Erdaiyuan standing in the pavilion, watching the mother and daughter as if they were watching a show.

Erdaiyuan has now fully realized what's going on.

The reason why this mother and daughter have changed their attitude so much and are now begging to mend their relationship with Fang Shu must be because Fang Shu did something extraordinary in the temple.

She pondered the matter repeatedly in her mind and soon thought of the increasingly heated competition among inner disciples.

"Could it be..." Er Daiyuan's heart skipped a beat, revealing a mixture of surprise and anticipation.

"Aunt, I'll head to the Gu Hall right away." She immediately bowed to the head of the Na'er family and hurriedly ran out of the pavilion.

After Er Daiyuan's figure disappeared, only the Er family head, his smile frozen on his face, stood alone in the pavilion, his expression uncertain.

At this moment, the head of the Er family was filled with remorse.

"Truly hateful!"

She thought to herself, "Regardless of whether there's anything suspicious about this, it proves that the man surnamed Fang is either truly capable or has a powerful backer..."

"What a treacherous son! If you possess such abilities, why did you wait until now to reveal them? Had you shown them earlier, would my family have let you go?"

Recalling the intelligence gathering conducted within the clan on the other party, the head of the Er family felt an increasing chill in his heart.

According to the intelligence, Fang Shu is not a nice guy. Since your family has already offended him, even though he says there is still some "kinship" left, that's probably all that's left.

For a moment, a feeling of missing out arose in the heart of the head of the Er family.

She pulled out the gambling den list she had just put away from her sleeve, and looking at the three characters "Pei Zhongshan" listed below Fang Shu's name, she secretly comforted herself:
"There's still a month left, and this kid has only suddenly surged into the top three. Once the Pei family scouts find out about this, they'll definitely work even harder to catch up."

She felt that with Pei Jiazi around, even if the clan lost the immortal seed Fang Shu, it wouldn't be too much of a loss. If the ancestor asked, she could still explain herself.

And the other side.

Pei Zhongshan was meditating and cultivating his inner energy in his study.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, and his brows immediately furrowed, filled with displeasure.

Especially when he realized that the person outside the door was Erdaiyang from the Nar family, his face was filled with disgust.

However, he suppressed his emotions, and his expression changed, eventually revealing a warm face. He finished his practice, stood up, and walked quickly towards the door.

Before he even arrived, his voice carried outside the door, laughing and saying, "Whose daughter is this, disturbing our peace and quiet so early in the morning?"

Hearing this from outside the door, Erdaiyang immediately spoke up: "Brother Pei, I have something important to tell you."

The door to the hermitage opened.

Pei Zhongshan led Erdaiyang into the house, and then learned from him that Fang Shu had stepped on his head and rushed into the top three of the inner sect list.

In an instant, Pei Zhongshan's originally warm expression changed abruptly, and his aura turned cold, as if he had become a completely different person.

Such a change sent a shiver down the spines of the nearby Erde sheep.

Fortunately, Pei Zhongshan regained his composure in the next moment. With a silent expression, he waved his hand, and several letters flew from the mailbox in the study and landed in his hand.

These letters were sent by his friends and henchmen who knew his address. However, they dared not disturb him casually, so they only sent letters.

After reading it, and realizing that what Erdaiyang said was true, Pei Zhongshan immediately began to ponder who this "Fang Shu" was.

He quickly recalled hearing Fang Shu from Erdaiyang and remembered Erdaiyang making fun of the child.

It seems that by now, your family has developed a rift with this boy, and the reason for this rift is somewhat related to Pei Zhongshan.

Patiently, Pei Zhongshan spoke up to confirm: "Is Fang Shu the immortal seed favored by the nobles, and the one who previously refused to let me use the Gu Pit?"

Erdeyang nodded his head like a chick pecking at rice, and said urgently, "It's this boy!"

"Don't worry, Pei Lang. This kid must have used some underhanded means to squeeze into the top three. We still have time to push him down..." she continued to ramble on.

But when Pei Zhongshan heard this, his brows furrowed even more, and he felt that this woman was really noisy.

He forced himself to speak and interrupted the other person, saying, "Dai Yang, I have a favor to ask. Can you do it for me?"

Erdaiyang nodded without hesitation and said, "Pei Lang, please speak!"

Pei Zhongshan finished speaking in one breath:
"Please select a few gifts from my room and go to the Gu Hall as soon as possible to apologize. Also, please arrange a meeting with Fang Shu for me. I want to resolve our past grievances and clear up any misunderstandings."

But when Erdaiyang heard these words, the woman froze.

Her expression showed some hesitation. She didn't understand why her husband, Pei, who had clearly been overshadowed and outshone by that man surnamed Fang, not only wasn't angry, but also didn't want to investigate Fang's background. Instead, he also asked her to go to the Gu Hall to apologize. Pei Zhongshan noticed Er Daiyang's hesitation and immediately thought of more about the Er family and Fang Shu's affairs. He understood that this woman was concerned about saving face and couldn't let go of her pride.

Fortunately, after some gentle persuasion, Erdaiyang was finally convinced to leave. She did not take the item that he had deliberately pointed at but did not offer, but instead said that she would use her own or Er's family's wealth to go to the Gu Hall to apologize.

Once the woman disappeared, the doors of the hermitage closed.

Pei Zhongshan's face instantly darkened. He gripped the letter tightly in his hand, looking at his ranking of only fourth on the list, his expression momentarily contorted with rage.

To earn so much Taoist merit, Pei Zhongshan not only fought tooth and nail at the foot of the mountain, but also used the last bit of his family's wealth to make a deal with the immortals in the temple, so that he could rank among the top!
This guy surnamed Fang is just an ordinary peasant. What merit or ability does he have to earn so much Taoist merit, and even surpass him!
"Could this boy be doing this on purpose?" Pei Zhongshan's mind was filled with countless thoughts, and his eyes flickered.

However, he couldn't quite figure out whether Fang Shu had done it on purpose, and he absolutely couldn't afford to make enemies and hate someone like that over something like this.

That would be extremely unwise.

On the contrary, just as he had just told Erdaiyang, now that they knew there were such people in the temple, they should try their best to repair the temple. Even if they couldn't repair it, they should at least try to avert the enmity between the two.

And when I think about this...

Pei Zhongshan felt a surge of resentment rising in his heart, but the object of his hatred was not Fang Shu, but the Na'er family, especially Na'er Daiyang!
"You worthless bastards, your whole family of idiots!" Pei Zhongshan cursed.

"I only asked you to contribute more capital to help me condense my evil energy and refine my qi, but it has instead caused me to offend others."

For a moment, Pei Zhongshan's expression became even more distorted.

Pei Zhongshan's entry into the mountain this time was all for the sake of obtaining the opportunity to establish his foundation and revitalize his clan. He was extremely humble and subservient.

He was even willing to do things like being called a descendant of the Er family's immortals, but in reality, a son-in-law of the Er family. While in the temple, he dared not offend any of the disciples with any connections, and acted as the perfect gentleman.

But as a result, those idiots in your family have only brought him resentment.

Snap!
A sound of debris being dumped echoed in the study, followed by loud cursing.

However, Pei Zhongshan forgot that Er Daiyang had consulted him about Fang Shu's affairs, and he was even aware of the Er family's tearing up of the supply contract with the Gu Pit.

At the time, Pei Zhongshan simply didn't take Fang Shu seriously.

And then there's the other side.

Er Daiyuan was ordered to rush to the Gu Hall to visit Fang Shu.

But a thought struck her, and she immediately went to the gambling den. There, at the entrance, she saw a sign that fluttered in the wind without any breeze.

The names on the signboard, under the gaze of the crowd, would faintly emit a spiritual light, and could be clearly seen even at night.

Looking up, Erdaiyuan started by looking at the end of the banner, searching for Fang Shu's name one by one.

In the blink of an eye, when she had only seen half of it and hadn't even seen Fang Shu's name yet, her heart was already pounding.

When she reached the third position, she finally saw Fang Shu's name and the number 314 after it. Er Daiyuan's breathing became heavy, her eyes widened, and she remained stunned for a long time.

At this moment, she also heard many immortals talking around the cloak.

One of the older disciples began to speak eloquently:

"Did you see the names of the top three? Although the disciples who make it into the inner sect each year come from all sorts of backgrounds, there are still some similarities every year. I have been observing for a long time. Would you all like to know?"

People around him immediately urged him, "Tell us quickly!"

The disciple cleared his throat and immediately said:
“Look at the first one in the rankings. His surname is Jiang. Isn’t that exactly the same as the surname of a Foundation Establishment Immortal in the temple? And I’ve heard that he works under that Immortal.”

"Alas! Everyone knows that Fellow Daoist Jiang is a descendant of one of the Three Capitals."

The eldest disciple then said, "Then look at the second-ranked one, his surname is Jin."

People in the room were talking amongst themselves: "Fellow Daoist Jin, I heard he's from the Jin family."

"Jin Family Treasure Hall? It certainly has quite a background."

Seeing that everyone was engrossed in their discussion and almost ignoring him, the eldest disciple quickly cleared his throat and clapped his hands, saying:
"No matter which year it is, those who become the top disciples of the inner sect will have quite a background. They are either the offspring of the three capitals, the offspring of the hall masters of various places, or at the very least, the offspring of the foundation-building immortals in the temple. This can be described as having power."

Those who rank second are often from slightly weaker backgrounds but are wealthy. Even if they are not descendants of a foundation-building immortal in the temple, they have certainly climbed up to some immortal clan, living off their wives, or have inherited a rich family fortune.

These words reached the ears of everyone present, attracting the attention of more than half of them.

Erdaiyuan, standing in the middle of the room, was no exception, listening intently.

"I see! And what about the third place?"

"May I ask, fellow Daoist, what commonalities might the third-ranked person share?"

The eldest disciple kept everyone in suspense for a long time before finally spreading his hands and saying:
"First, you need power; second, you need money; and third, naturally, you need talent."

He looked at Fang Shu's name, which ranked third, and sighed, shaking his head, "No matter if they are brave and daring or have outstanding talent, we disciples with no background can only compete for third place."

As he spoke, his words were filled with sighs, as if he had quite a story to tell, which made many people present pay more attention to the name "Fang Shu".

However, some voices rang out from the crowd: "I've heard that the third-ranked person is a disciple of a hall master... Doesn't that mean he has a powerful background?"

"Exactly! Talent is useless without connections."

Outside the gambling den, the noise of the crowd rose again. Upon hearing this, the older disciple merely looked embarrassed and said nothing more.

However, Er Daiyuan, who was among them, had already heard the words of the older disciple and kept them in mind.

She understood Fang Shu's situation. Although he was favored by the Dragon Maiden, he rarely even saw the Dragon Maiden herself.

Even though he obtained the two Gu pits, according to the information revealed in Fang Shu's words, the two Gu pits were not purely obtained through the Dragon Maiden's reward, but should have been earned by him on his own.

Lost in thought, Er Daiyuan slowly distanced herself from the crowd and headed towards the Gu Hall.

She murmured to herself, "Without relying on background, relying solely on talent, can one truly become one of the top three in the inner sect?"

Although Fang Shu had already put his name on the guise, and she had heard that the temple had no objections, she still couldn't understand how Fang Shu, with his insufficient spiritual roots, could have gotten to this point by relying solely on himself and without risking his life.

With these questions in mind, Erdaiyuan arrived at the Gu Hall and rushed to the Gu pit.

Unfortunately, both the Yin and Yang Gu pits are currently sealed off to prevent outsiders from visiting.

Furthermore, she wanted to find someone to inform Fang Shu, but there was no one in the hall who could relay the message, and no one knew whether Fang Shu was in the Gu pit or in the cave. This dashed Er Daiyuan's hopes of finding Fang Shu to clarify things.

And actually.

After Fang Shu gained two hundred merits, he immediately knew that his actions would attract the attention of many people in the temple.

To avoid trouble and to avoid being disturbed by irrelevant people, he simply went into seclusion again.

He hid in the Gu pit, and apart from guarding the Gu pit and letting it continue to complete the temple's tasks to help him earn Taoist merits, he completely forgot about the matter of being an inner disciple.

Instead, Fang Shu focused his energy on condensing evil spirits and began to make initial contact with this substance.

quickly.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

With the matter of the inner disciples settled, Fang Shu had thoroughly figured out the nature of evil energy.

His current foundation of true qi is extremely solid. He only needs to obtain the Six Internal Organs Nourishing Killing Method in the temple to verify and comprehend it, and then he can transform his true qi into killing qi!

(End of this chapter)