"This situation is getting tricky to handle. The maternal uncle of the emperor, Official Li's mother, used to be my father's wet nurse. With that connection, Fang Chen can't lay a finger on her, yet doing nothing isn't an option either—we're caught between a rock and a hard place, haha..."
Outside the palace gates, a growing crowd was gathering.
Taking advantage of the moment, members of the Li family began telling everyone how Fang Chen had slaughtered the innocent.
Hearing this, the onlookers found it hard to believe, casting reproachful glances and pointing fingers at Fang Chen.
Right then, the old woman let out a sudden, miserable scream, clutched her chest, and slowly sank to her knees. Seeing this, Official Li rushed forward to support her and roared furiously at Fang Chen:
"How dare you attack my mother!"
"I didn't do a thing. So many people are watching," Fang Chen said calmly.
"You're a martial artist—a Pill Qi Warrior! You wouldn't even need to lift a finger to kill my mother; your inner Qi alone is more than enough!" Official Li yelled as he checked the old woman's condition.
His words made the surrounding onlookers completely change the way they looked at Fang Chen.
"You... you must avenge Huang'er..."
Seemingly experiencing a brief surge of clarity before death, the old woman grabbed the collar of Official Li's robe in a death grip and pointed one trembling finger at Fang Chen. "Avenge Huang'er... kill him... confiscate his property..."
With those final words, the old woman kicked her legs out and breathed her last.
Official Li immediately let out a harrowing roar.
"Mother—!"
"Did the Military God Fang really attack a defenseless old woman?"
"Don't talk nonsense! The Military God Fang hasn't fought back at all!"
"A Pill Qi Warrior doesn't need to lift a hand to kill. I think there's more to this than meets the eye."
Amidst the whispering crowd, a young scholar suddenly stepped forward and shouted at Fang Chen, "Military God Fang, no matter what, you shouldn't have laid a hand on the people of Daxia!"
Up on the city wall, the Crown Prince watched the scene unfold and smiled. "Qinghe, do you know what it feels like to be condemned by thousands?"
"Uh, I wouldn't know..." Ye Qinghe replied, shaking his head slightly.
"Just look at Fang Chen and you'll understand. He's in deep trouble now. It's practically impossible for him to make a comeback," the Crown Prince said with a faint smile.
Ye Qinghe thought about it carefully, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. He turned to the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, this move of yours is simply brilliant! Even if His Majesty wants Fang Chen to lead troops again, he has lost the mandate of the people—no one will agree to it!"
The only reason Official Li was at the palace gates today was because he had received word from the Crown Prince.
"What is Fang Chen doing?"
The Crown Prince suddenly frowned. Hearing this, Ye Qinghe looked over and saw that Fang Chen had squatted down in front of the old woman, seemingly taking her pulse.
***
"What are you doing? Let go of my mother!" Official Li raged.
"She merely fainted from sheer exhaustion and emotional distress. If she isn't treated immediately, it really will be too late to save her," Fang Chen said with a faint smile.
A surge of spiritual power poured into the old woman's body.
Spiritual power naturally possessed the property of nourishing all things. Once this spiritual power had cleansed her body from top to bottom, even some chronic, long-standing ailments were completely cured.
She slowly opened her eyes, looking somewhat dazed. "My son... has your mother arrived in the netherworld?"
Official Li stared in disbelief.
The surrounding onlookers also wore expressions of profound shock.
"Official Li, you know very well what Li Huang did at the Qingsong Superior Pavilion. If you're bitter that I killed him, use whatever means you have to come after me.
"But don't use an old woman as a shield. I no longer command troops; fame and fortune were cast aside long ago, and I couldn't care less what the people of Daxia think of me."
With a light chuckle, Fang Chen walked past Official Li and headed straight into the imperial palace.
Eunuch You hurriedly gestured for You Longchang to follow.
Official Li stood rooted to the spot in silence, fully catching the implicit threat in Fang Chen's words.
Up on the city wall, Ye Qinghe looked stunned. "Fang Chen has tricks like that up his sleeve?"
The Crown Prince's face turned ashen. He had hoped to use this incident to drag Fang Chen's name through the mud, only for the man to bring the old woman back to life instead. His scheme had completely fallen through.
***
Inside the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Study.
Fang Chen saw the Emperor once again. Unlike him, You Longchang kept his head down, his body rigid and clearly extremely nervous.
"Look at the mess you two have made."
The Emperor stared coldly at them. "Who authorized you to move against the Qingsong Superior Pavilion? Do you have any idea what kind of consequences this will bring?"
You Longchang immediately dropped to his knees, not daring to utter a sound.
Fang Chen, however, smiled faintly. "Your Majesty, the Qingsong Superior Pavilion is a cancerous tumor right here in the capital of Daxia. Over the past five years, it has ruined countless innocents."
"You think I wasn't aware of this?" the Emperor said coldly.
"Daxia's situation is already hanging by a thread. Even if you've recovered your cultivation and become a Pill Qi Warrior, so what? Can you match the strength of tens of thousands of troops? The Wolf Army alone numbers one hundred thousand—can you take them all on by yourself?"
"Daxia has long since lacked sufficient military force. If the Qingsong Kingdom dispatches troops to attack over this, Fang Chen, I ask you: can you resolve this crisis?"
The Emperor glared fixedly at Fang Chen. Even You Longchang perked up his ears, desperate to know whether Fang Chen had a foolproof plan behind this move.
"Your Majesty, you don't understand the temperament of Army Commander Xiao. He won't make a move unless he is completely certain of victory," Fang Chen said with a faint smile.
"As long as he remains unsure of my current condition for even a single day, he won't dare attack Daxia for a single day."
"That is merely your conjecture. I ask you: if trouble really does break out, can you bear the responsibility?" the Emperor asked in a deep voice.
"I shall bear all consequences myself," Fang Chen replied with a nod.
"Very well."
The Emperor nodded. "Your actions this time were indeed reckless. Representatives from Guyher, Longdu, and Yizhou are all watching me to see how I will deal with you. If we don't give them an account, it won't do. Daxia is already at mortal enmity with Qingsong; we cannot afford to alienate these three other states."
"Your Majesty need only give the order, and your subject will obey," Fang Chen said.
"Starting today, your father Fang Canghai will be demoted by three official ranks, and I will order him to surrender the tiger tally of the Eastern Tiger Camp. As for you, you are forbidden from ever setting foot in the imperial court again, and you are barred from commanding troops for the rest of your life. This is the promise I make to appease them; only by doing this will they let the matter rest."
The Emperor looked at him flatly. "Do you have any objections to my verdict?"
A look of sheer disbelief crossed You Longchang's face, immediately followed by a cold shudder in his heart. If even Fang Chen faced such a punishment, what about him?
Could his position as deputy general of the Western Tiger Camp possibly be saved?
"Your subject has no objections. I respectfully obey the imperial decree."
Fang Chen cupped his fists and bowed, his expression completely calm, his inner state without a single ripple.
Seeing this, a flicker of deep-seated aversion flashed in the depths of the Emperor's eyes before he waved a hand. "You may withdraw."
"Understood."
Fang Chen offered his farewells and departed.
You Longchang was left somewhat dazed. It was over just like that? The Emperor wasn't going to punish him? Seeing that the Emperor had already gone back to reviewing memorial scrolls, he didn't dare say another word and hurriedly followed Fang Chen out of the Imperial Study.
"Mil—Military God Fang..."
Seeing that Fang Chen hadn't said a word the entire way, You Longchang finally couldn't help speaking up.
"Something on your mind?" Fang Chen glanced at him and smiled.
He can still laugh?!
You Longchang inwardly cursed before lowering his voice. "Military God Fang, His Majesty has barred you from the imperial court for life and forbidden you from ever leading troops again. Don't you feel any resentment at all?"
"Why should I feel resentment? Such a judgment is precisely what my heart desires right now. Court affairs are far too draining on the mind and spirit; it's much better to stay home and live the carefree life of an Heir," Fang Chen said with a smile.
You Longchang could sense the genuine sincerity in Fang Chen's words, which made it all the harder for him to believe. After all, the Fang Chen of the past was nothing like this!
Back then, Fang Chen was full of vigor and ambition. Despite his youth, during morning court he would stand shoulder to shoulder with Chancellor Li Guozhu, making him a truly pivotal figure in the Daxia court!
The officials he had promoted were countless, his disciples filled the ranks, and privately, some even referred to them as the "Fang Faction."
Yet after Fang Chen's defeat at the Battle of the Three Boundary Mountains five years ago, the seemingly flourishing Fang Faction collapsed almost overnight. Countless people began distancing themselves from him, and some even penned essays denouncing Fang Chen, listing ten major crimes against him!
Precisely because of this, You Longchang believed that now that his cultivation had recovered, Fang Chen should be fighting to reclaim his former glory. If he were in Fang Chen's shoes, that is undoubtedly what he would do!
"Time to go."
Upon stepping out of the imperial palace, Fang Chen waved to You Longchang and then headed in the direction of the Fang Estate.
How could he not know what You Longchang was thinking? But some things simply didn't need explaining. Even if he explained, their states of mind were different; the other man would never understand.
His former self had indeed been practically obsessed with power. While employing every means to protect the people of Daxia from foreign invaders, he had also scrambled desperately upward.
The Battle of the Three Boundary Mountains had ended in such a disastrous defeat only because the Qingsong Kingdom had hired an expert from an eighth-grade empire.
Yet wasn't it also true that his own arrogance had caused his forces to bunch up in a single location, attempting to crush the Qingsong Kingdom in one fell swoop, ultimately resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers?
Hundreds of thousands of loyal souls buried their bones at the Three Boundary Mountains—weren't they also buried deep in Fang Chen's heart?
Five years had passed. Fang Chen had blamed himself and felt deep regret, but some things could never be undone.
"All I can do now is take good care of those around me, protect the people of Daxia, and perhaps... try out what it feels like to become an immortal."
A smile touched Fang Chen's face.
The Yunhe could roam thousands of miles through the spirit realms. Once his cultivation reached that realm one day, he would be able to do the same. That was true freedom and leisure.
Before he knew it, Fang Chen's path took him past Dahua Temple.
Li Huafeng was standing in front of the temple gates, staring fixedly at Fang Chen. "How did His Majesty punish you?"
"Barred from the imperial court for life, and forbidden from leading troops ever again," Fang Chen said with a smile.
Li Huafeng broke into a gratified grin, then glanced toward the prison warden. The warden nodded slightly and immediately ordered his men to bring Huang Sihai out.
"The Abbot has spoken: Huang Sihai eats ten pounds of beef and five pounds of rice every day here at Dahua Temple, and the temple can't afford to keep feeding him. Take him back with you," Li Huafeng sneered and turned away.
"Heh, Heir."
Huang Sihai looked at Fang Chen and flashed a silly grin.
Fang Chen also smiled. "Let's go. Xu Ge and Tiedama have been missing you."
***
The next day, the Daxia imperial court officially promulgated the imperial decree.
The news of Fang Chen's lifelong ban from the imperial court and military command quickly spread among the people of Daxia.
The matter sparked heated discussions from all sides. Some said the Emperor's move was cutting off Daxia's own arm, while others argued that it would appease the wrath of the Qingsong Kingdom.
Over at the Fang General's Estate, Fang Canghai had already surrendered his tiger tally, stripped of his post as General of the Eastern Tiger Camp, and demoted to guard the East City Gate.
Ordinarily, this should have been terrible news, but the Fang Estate was decorated with red lanterns and bustling with excitement.
The direct and collateral branches had all gathered together, solely because the news of Fang Chen's recovered cultivation was now common knowledge.
It was no exaggeration to say the Fang Estate was the only family in the capital backed by a Pill Qi Warrior—not even the imperial palace possessed such an expert!
Xu Ge, Tiedama, and Huang Sihai were busy catching up.
As a Dragon General, although Huang Sihai hadn't served in the same military branch as Xu Ge and Tiedama back in the day, the three of them had crossed paths before. Having not seen each other in a full five years, they naturally had endless things to talk about.
"Chen'er, once your aunt finishes this meal, she'll be returning to the palace today."
The Empress looked at Fang Chen with a gentle smile. "You're already twenty-three, and it's high time you settled down. Is there a young lady you've taken a fancy to? Your aunt can go propose on your behalf."
Fang Canghai, his wife, and Fang Cangyou all turned to look at Fang Chen, a flicker of anticipation in their eyes.
"Chen'er does have someone in his heart." Fang Chen smiled and nodded.
A look of surprise crossed everyone's faces, and Fang Zhixue hurriedly asked with curiosity, "Big Brother, whose family is she from?"
"I don't know," Fang Chen replied with a shake of his head and a chuckle.
For the past five years, that figure had often surfaced in his mind, as if deeply branded there, impossible to ever forget.
With strange expressions, the others let out an "Oh," assuming Fang Chen was just making up an excuse. Still, they knew Fang Chen was different from ordinary people, and matters of the heart couldn't be rushed.
"Father, is Grandfather still in seclusion?" Fang Chen asked casually.
"Mhm. Your grandfather is still in seclusion. If he succeeds in breaking through, our Fang Family will gain yet another Pill Qi realm expert," Fang Canghai said with a smiling nod.
Everyone looked excited. A Pill Qi Warrior was the hallmark of a ninth-grade empire. The reason Daxia had grown so weak was precisely because its lineage of Pill Qi Warriors had suffered a generational gap.
Before Fang Chen advanced to the Pill Qi realm, Daxia hadn't produced a single Pill Qi Warrior for well over a decade. It was precisely during those dozen years that Qingsong—whose national strength had once been far inferior to Daxia's—was able to surge ahead.
By evening, the Empress returned to the palace.
Fang Chen also returned to his small courtyard to continue making Violet Lightning Talismans. Doing so not only yielded talismans, but also served as a way to expend his spiritual power and hone his cultivation.
Before he knew it, midnight had arrived.
Fang Chen's gaze suddenly shifted. His grey-white eyes slowly stared out toward a certain spot in the darkness, and he said calmly, "Goddess Xiao, you didn't return to Qingsong, yet you've doubled back here. What is the meaning of this?"
In the gloom, Goddess Xiao glared fixedly at Fang Chen, her eyes filled with bone-deep hatred.
She was in a wretched state. Her clothes were torn to shreds, and her body was covered in a dense web of injuries—some scabbed over, others with raw flesh exposed, occasionally seeping blood.
"I never would have imagined that the so-called Military God Fang is merely a treacherous, faithless wretch. My father held you in the highest regard, but he clearly misjudged his man!" Goddess Xiao gritted her teeth.
"What is the meaning of this?" Fang Chen frowned, his nose twitching slightly. "You're heavily injured."
"On the surface, you let me leave, but behind my back, you sent an expert to hunt me down! Are you still going to play dumb? The moment I returned to the capital, I heard that you slaughtered the Qingsong Superior Pavilion. You truly are despicable!" Goddess Xiao said coldly.
"I did wipe out the Qingsong Superior Pavilion. Why leave such a cancerous tumor alive? As for you... I didn't send anyone after you," Fang Chen said mildly.
"If not you, then who? You still refuse to admit it even now?" Goddess Xiao's eyes were venomous.
"If I killed them, I'll own it. Why would I take credit for something I didn't do?" Fang Chen smiled. "Since you ran all the way to my doorstep, you must have some doubts in your heart, I suppose?"
Goddess Xiao's expression shifted slightly.
Fang Chen had hit the nail on the head.
Although she suspected Fang Chen was behind it, a sliver of doubt lingered in her mind, driving her to ask him face to face—even if it meant dying for it.
She had nowhere left to run after fleeing back to the capital of Daxia; the methods of the person hunting her down were utterly bizarre!
"Tell me what happened to you." Fang Chen stood up.
He, too, felt a shred of curiosity regarding this matter. Was someone of high standing in the capital unwilling to let Goddess Xiao return alive, and thus sent assassins?
Goddess Xiao was gradually starting to believe that Fang Chen had nothing to do with this. Hesitating for a moment, she spoke in a low voice:
"Not long after I left the capital—about a day's journey—I ran into a Daoist priest along the way. His methods were extraordinarily bizarre. Not only was he impervious to blades and spears, but his strength was terrifyingly vast; a hundred of our wolf soldiers were no match for him at all.
"A dozen wolf soldiers escorted me away while the rest tried to buy time by stalling the priest. But no matter where I fled, the priest easily tracked me down, and my wolf soldiers died one by one.
"With no other choice, I seized the chance to flee back into your Daxia capital."
At this, Goddess Xiao said coldly, "That priest's strength has likely reached the Pill Qi realm. Daxia truly is a land of hidden dragons and crouching tigers; these past five years, you lot have never once stayed quiet."
"A Daoist priest?" Fang Chen's expression grew solemn.
Judging by Goddess Xiao's description—possessing boundless strength and invulnerability to weapons—it sounded an awful lot like a Vajra Talisman or a Might Talisman.
These were entry-level talismans in the cultivation world, not exclusive to the Three Thousand Taoist Gates; ordinary cultivators could generally craft them.
If this guess was correct, it meant there was a cultivator hiding in the Daxia capital!
"Then again... it could also be a martial arts technique," Fang Chen thought to himself.
There were quite a few martial arts techniques capable of granting invulnerability and godlike strength.
"Fang Chen, do you know who this person is? And at whose behest has he come to kill me?" Goddess Xiao asked slowly.
"You just said that no matter what you did, you couldn't shake him, and he could always track down where you were hiding?" Fang Chen suddenly asked.
Goddess Xiao was slightly startled and subconsciously nodded.
Without missing a beat, Fang Chen swept his hand outward, and a wave of spiritual power immediately descended upon Goddess Xiao. Moments later, his spiritual sense locked onto a peculiar object.
"What are you doing?!" Seeing Fang Chen walk toward her, Goddess Xiao's eyes flashed with panic.
"Don't move," Fang Chen barked coldly. He reached out and grabbed Goddess Xiao's shoulder, channeling a continuous stream of spiritual power into her body. The next second, a pale, wriggling white worm forced its way out from beneath her skin, writhing desperately.
Upon seeing this, Goddess Xiao froze in terror.
How on earth was there such a worm inside her shoulder?
"The priest you spoke of used this thing to track your movements."
With those words, Fang Chen's spiritual power vibrated sharply, instantly grinding the white worm into dust.
He could now be certain that the priest was indeed a cultivator, though he couldn't yet tell what realm his cultivation had reached.
"What kind of bizarre sorcery is this?!" Recovering her wits and fighting down the urge to retch, Goddess Xiao glared fixedly at Fang Chen.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Fang Chen looked toward another direction.
Subconsciously, Goddess Xiao followed his gaze. There, standing quietly in the shadows, was a figure draped in a pale red Daoist robe. He was middle-aged, with a gloomy and sullen expression.
***
Goddess Xiao trembled as bone-deep hatred flashed in her eyes. The person standing before her was precisely the eerie Daoist priest who had hunted her all the way here!
"Security in the estate has really grown lax lately. First Goddess Xiao sneaked in, and now this Daoist priest has sneaked in as well. Old Huang must still be fast asleep; he hasn't noticed a thing."
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Fang Chen's divine soul instantly left his physical body, hovering silently in mid-air to quietly observe the Daoist priest.
At this moment, he was in the out-of-body state; everything around him was within his absolute control, and he could react instantly to any disturbance whatsoever.
"It's him?"
Recognizing the Daoist priest's face, a flash of surprise crossed Fang Chen's eyes. He vaguely remembered seeing this man at some banquet in the capital five or six years ago.
However, too much time had passed, and Fang Chen couldn't quite remember whose banquet it had been. Back then, he used to attend at least a dozen banquets of all sizes every single month!
"Only someone possessing spiritual power could force out my mother-child silkworm."
The Daoist priest looked toward Fang Chen and slowly spoke.
Spiritual power?
What was that?
Goddess Xiao didn't quite understand, but she knew that the bug from moments ago was called a mother-child silkworm.
"You are a cultivator. Why target her? What is your objective in Daxia?"
Fang Chen's soul returned to his physical body as he spoke in a calm voice.