Chapter 12: Arrogance

  "Brother!" Just as Fang Li was immersed in his reverie about the future, a soft and angry voice came over.

  Fang Li turned his head to look, and found that his sister and mother were standing on one side looking at him, both of them covered in dust. His mother was fine, just looking at the real energy vines on her body in surprise, while his sister glared at him angrily, obviously blaming him.

  "Brother is too naughty, the house has been messed up by you, and there's no place to sleep tonight."

  Fang Liu'er glared at Fang Li with indignation.

  Fang Li looked around and only then discovered that the thatched hut which had originally sheltered him from wind and rain had been toppled by the True Energy Vine Grass, and he couldn't help but laugh awkwardly.

  "Mother, Liu Er, are you both alright?" Fang Li asked with embarrassment, feeling a bit guilty. It seemed that in the future, he couldn't practice in his room, or else it would be easy to hurt his mother and sister.

  "Don't worry, Li Er, fortunately Liu Er was alert and discovered the house shaking, immediately pulling me out to run outside, so we didn't get hurt. The house is gone, and our family doesn't know where to rest tonight." Looking at the collapsed thatched cottage, Ye Xiang felt a bit worried. She didn't have much contact with her relatives, and there were only a few people she had a good relationship with. Now that the house had collapsed, she didn't know who to ask for shelter for the night.

  Fang Liu'er pouted, "At first, I found the house shaking, and I thought it was a dragon rolling over. I was even ready to pull you out, but who knew you were the culprit!" Fang Liu'er hummed, still angry that this foolish brother had destroyed their home and almost harmed her and their mother, and she must teach him a lesson.

  Fang Li let out a sigh of relief, "As long as you're not hurt, that's all that matters. Brother won't practice at home again in the future." Fang Li dissipated the true energy from his body, and those wisteria shadows immediately disappeared. Then he walked forward and rubbed Fang Liu'er's head.

  Fang Liu'er didn't say anything else, but was somewhat curious about the disappearance of the rattan grass on Fang Li's body, and a hint of envy flashed in her eyes.

  Fang Liu'er's thoughts naturally didn't escape Fang Li's eyes, and he couldn't help but smile slightly: "Little girl, are you also thinking of becoming a cultivator like your brother?"

  "Of course, who wouldn't want to become a powerful cultivator? At that time, Liu'er won't need Brother's protection anymore. Maybe she can even turn around and protect Brother and Mother." As Fang Liu'er said this, her eyes suddenly flashed with a hint of loss, and she continued: "But what's the use of just thinking about it? There is a rule in our family that any female member of a branch family cannot learn the family's martial arts. If they do, their cultivation will be abolished and they will be expelled from the family."

  Fang Li furrowed his brow, sensing Liu'er's longing to become a cultivator. However, the family rules regarding martial arts were extremely strict. Only the elders and direct descendants had the right to enter the Martial Arts Pavilion. As for collateral descendants, males could learn the most basic guiding techniques, while females were not allowed to learn any family martial arts, lest they marry out and leak the techniques.

  "Alright, Liu'er, what's the point of becoming a nun? When you have nothing to do, you can learn needlework and female virtues from your mother." Ye Xiang saw Fang Li frowning tightly, knowing he wanted to help Liu'er become a nun, but this would definitely violate the clan rules, and who knows what trouble it would stir up. Ye Xiang didn't want to put Fang Li in a difficult position, so she spoke out to dispel their idea.

  。

  "Yes, Mother. With elder brother's protection, it doesn't matter whether I become a monk or not." Liu'er smiled and obediently walked behind his mother.

  "Does it really matter?" Seeing Liu'er's current appearance, Fang Li suddenly felt like laughing.

  "Of course it's true." Fang Liu'er nodded affirmatively.

  Fang Li shook his head and gently patted Liu'er's head, "Little girl, lying is not a good thing, it's not something to be ashamed of, why hide?"

  "But the family rules..." Fang Liu'er's eyes darted back and forth, not daring to meet Fang Li's gaze.

  "There's nothing else, but my younger sister wants to become a nun, and no one can stop her." Fang Li said seriously to Liu Er.

  Fang Liu'er wanted to say something else, but before she could speak, a strong light shot over and instantly appeared in front of the three people. Fang Li turned his head to look, and found that it was an old man with crane hair and a youthful face, who was none other than the Supreme Elder.

  "Have met the elder." Fang Li stepped forward and paid his respects. He still had a good impression of this elderly member of the family.

  "I've seen the Supreme Elder." As soon as Fang Li spoke, Ye Xiang and Fang Liu'er finally knew who the visitor was, and they were extremely surprised while also hastily paying their respects. Especially Ye Xiang, who was just a simple and honest woman, not to mention the Supreme Elder, even ordinary elders were figures she looked up to, suddenly feeling a bit flustered.

  The elder waved his hand and said to Ye Xiang, "No need to be so formal. I've checked the family records, your husband Fang Yang sacrificed himself for the family ten years ago. In fact, I should apologize on behalf of the family."

  The elder Taishang slightly bowed his head and actually bowed down to Ye Xiang.

  "It's unbearable, how can a foolish woman like me accept this?!" Ye Xiang was shocked and hastily dodged to the side. The Supreme Elder was an existence that was above all others, how could she dare to receive his bow?!

  "Your husband gave his life for the family and is completely deserving of it," said the Elder.

  Seeing the serious expression of Tai Shang Lao, Ye Xiang didn't speak again. Her husband had sacrificed for the family, this was the honor he deserved, it's just that this honor came ten years too late.

  "Great Ancestor, can I place my father's memorial tablet in the ancestral hall?" Fang Li suddenly spoke up and asked the Great Ancestor.

  。

  "Put it in the ancestral hall?" The Taishang Elder asked in puzzlement.

  Fang nodded, "My father has always been proud to be a member of the family, if we can put his spirit tablet in the ancestral hall, it would fulfill one of his wishes. Besides, this is originally his honor."

  "Alright, this is what the Fang family owes him." The Elder didn't even consider it, and directly agreed. For him, placing a branch descendant's spirit tablet in the ancestral hall was just a small matter. If it could make Fang Li more identified with the family, then it was worth it.

  "I will thank the Great Elder on behalf of my late father." Fang Li said solemnly.

  Ye Xiang heard that Taishang Laojun agreed and was overjoyed to tears. The spirit of her husband in heaven can also rest in peace now.

  "This time I've come, there's something I'd like to discuss with you." After beating around the bush for a long while, the Taishang Laojun finally stated the purpose of his visit.

  "What's going on?" Fang Li asked in confusion.

  "I heard that you have made a two-year agreement with the Guardian Elder, this matter is likely not suitable." The Supreme Elder kindly reminded, implicitly wanting to advise Fang Li to give up his duel with the Guardian Elder.

  "It's just a little sparring with the elder of the Guardian Pavilion, what's wrong with that?" Fang Li blinked lightly and then glanced at his mother and sister.

  The old man understood immediately and realized that Fang Li had not told his family about this yet, and did not want to discuss it in front of them, fearing they would worry.

  "Li Er, what's this about a two-year agreement? You want to duel with Shou Ge long elder? That's the elder of our clan, how can you possibly win against him..." Upon hearing the conversation between Tai Shang Long Elder and Fang Li, countless thoughts flashed through Ye Xiang's mind, connecting them to the incident where Fang Li killed Shou Ge Long Elder's grandson Fang Lin Bao, causing her to worry immediately.

  "Mother misunderstood, I was the one who asked to spar with Guardian Elder, it's just to set a goal for myself and push me to work harder on my cultivation. And Guardian Elder agreed to spar with me only because he wanted to teach me some things about cultivation, there won't be any danger." Fang Li explained hastily, not wanting her to worry.

  "My son, don't deceive me again. As for the character of the elder of the Guardian Pavilion... I also know a thing or two about it." Ye Xiang looked at her foolish son, and from the beginning she didn't believe that the elder of the Guardian Pavilion would do anything to harm his own kin, let alone teach Fang Li how to cultivate. However, she also knew that Fang Li was deceiving her only because he didn't want her to worry, and she didn't have any intention of blaming him."

  。

  Fang Li suddenly fell silent, and after a long time, he spoke again: "Sorry, mother."

  "I know you just don't want me to worry, I'm not blaming you." Ye Xiangci said lovingly, looking at Fang Li's lowered head in admission of his mistake. Her thoughts suddenly went back to several years ago, when the young boy did something wrong and also hung his head low, no matter how powerful he became, he was still her silly son.

  "Mother, I have indeed made a bet with Guardian Long, and it's a life-or-death bet. But please believe me, two years later, I will definitely be able to defeat him." Fang Li said solemnly to his mother, this was his promise.

  Ye Xiang heard the words "life and death duel" and her pupils visibly constricted, softly advising: "Why must you duel him, can't it be cancelled?"

  The Unparalleled Patriarch immediately responded, "Naturally, it can be cancelled. As long as Fang Li doesn't acknowledge the agreement with Guardian Patriarch, I can stop this duel from proceeding." If it were someone else, the Unparalleled Patriarch wouldn't have said something so against his principles, but Fang Li was different - he was the hope for the rise of the Fang family and couldn't be ruined by the hands of his own family's patriarch.

  Fang Li smiled lightly, "A real man should keep his word, since I've already made a promise to someone else, even if it's just a verbal agreement. I couldn't deny it even if you asked me to. Besides, I have my own reasons for dueling him."

  The elder Taishang gently shook his head and said, "If you don't cancel the duel, you'll only give the Guardian Elder a legitimate reason to kill you."

  A faint smile spread across Fang Li's face. "What does it matter? The reason I agreed to a duel with him is because...I also need a legitimate reason to kill him!"

  Fang Li's voice was not loud, but the determination revealed in his words could not be moved even by ten cows. As early as after killing Fang Linbao, Fang Li had already had the idea of killing the Guardian Elder, he did not want another powerful enemy to exist in the clan. If it were just himself, there would be no problem, come what may, but he also had his mother and sister, with a powerful enemy lurking on one side, he could not rest assured.

  The elder's pupils slightly opened, staring blankly at Fang Li. He found that he didn't know enough about this young man. The words "I also need a proper reason to kill him" kept echoing in his mind. A cultivator of the fifth level of Qi Refining was so determined to strike down an eighth-level elder, what kind of arrogance was this!

  "An extraordinary person does extraordinary things, it seems that my trip this time is unnecessary," the Supreme Elder shook his head and then looked at Fang Li seriously and said: "Two years later, I hope to see a male eagle soaring into the sky!"