Meeting's Over (Part I)

"Fang Zhou, are you listening to me?"

Fang Zhou, drifting together with his thoughts, was abruptly pulled back to the conversation. He turned his attention to the figure seated at the head of the table. 

The man's aged face carried a rugged fierceness, and his black hair and dark brown eyes resembled Fang Zhou's. 

The man sitting before him was Fang Gu, the Fang Clan Patriarch. 

"Yes, Father." 

Fang Zhou replied, his gentle tone like a sailboat gliding against the stormy boom of his father's deep and gruff voice that echoed through the room.

Fang Gu smiled, his stern demeanor softening. 

With a laugh, he continued. 

"I knew that! I was just making sure. Anyways, as I was saying, you'll need to stay on the estate grounds until you reach the peak stage of the Energy Circulation Realm."

"Father, isn't that excessive?" 

Fang Zhou couldn't hide his frustration, his exasperation evident. The prospect of being placed under house arrest was hardly welcome news. After all, who'd want to find out that right after they rushed home, they would be confined there indefinitely? 

"No. There have been some unsettling movements among the underground cultivator groups recently, especially in Red Poppy Pavilion, and as you mentioned earlier, the Li Clan is facing its own troubles. Clan Head Li Mu and I were both looking forward to this marriage. I can't believe he had to lose his daughter on her marriage day… Well, through kidnapping, of course."

According to the clan's teachings, cultivation began as an individual engaged in trial and error to understand the process of core formation, involving piecing together portions of gathered energy and crystallizing them within their center. 

Alternatively, some individuals could kickstart their core formation by utilizing the diluted energy from a spirit stone. However, this external energy was not a good foundation for building a core, eventually leading to the problem of preventing a mortal from fully forming their core by themselves. Extensively absorbing spirit stones before forming one's core could cause a cultivator to not only become addicted but also a fool who could no longer sense energy. 

The clan only ever rejected those who tried to forcibly absorb spirit stones as mortals to form their core. Not only would the addiction to absorption make them turn their heads towards other means, but their future would be limited as they would become dependent upon a foreign substance. They would no longer be able to cultivate and absorb energy. 

The underground cultivator groups tended to consist of these rejects, along with a few others who had nowhere else to go. After all, not all cultivators who chose to leave their families left Jade City.

"Father, you do remember that I haven't even formed my core yet, right?"

"Of course! That's precisely why I'm having you stay here under Steward Lang's supervision. The world is much more dangerous than a young chick like you can imagine, and I can't have my successor wandering around at this time. Anyways, it'll probably only take you a few more weeks to form your core, and with the resources I'm giving you, it should take around a month for you to advance past each minor stage."

After forming a core, a cultivator was said to have reached the Energy Circulation realm. At this stage, they could freely channel the energy from their core throughout their body, enhancing their physical strength. The vast majority of cultivators in the clan were at this stage.

At the Energy Circulation realm, cultivators only required half as much food and sleep, being able to naturally recover lost fatigue with energy circulation or by 'eating' Spirit Stones, refreshing the body by replenishing the core.

Each cultivation realm was also divided into 9 minor stages. Depending on their access to spirit stones and other resources, it could take up to a year to pass through each minor stage. 

In addition to number, these minor stages were also grouped into the beginner, intermediate, advanced, and superior stages, with the final minor stage being called the peak stage. It was called such because those at that stage were the closest to breaking through to the next major realm, which was the Energy Infusion realm. 

Cultivators at the Energy Infusion realm barely needed to eat and sleep. Unlike Energy Circulation realm cultivators, they could infuse energy into any weapon or object currently in hand, enhancing their properties. All elders of the Fang Clan were at this stage. 

As Fang Zhou's father elaborated on the necessity of remaining within the Fang Clan estate, Fang Zhou's expression conveyed that he felt cornered by his father's decision. However, his thoughts were elsewhere, taking clues from the information his father gave him. For one, his father recognized that the current dangers were very serious, and two, he expected them to take longer than a year to resolve.

Fang Zhou had already pretty much figured out the first part due to the information Steward Lang had been slyly feeding him over the past few days. However, he was a little surprised at the timeline his father had presented: A year to subjugate the forest!

At the most, he figured cleansing Hilden Forest would take a few months to deal with the miscellaneous beasts and the individual or group who had kidnapped Li Ting, but he was mistaken.

Could Steward Lang be hiding some more information from him? That old man was able to get around a lot despite his age, and although he was a trusted aid, he had come from outside of the family.

"Father, I rushed here with Steward Lang earlier because he had said that the elders made their decision. As the officiator, I'm sure you will be able to tell me the conclusion. You wouldn't have just called me here as a trick into locking me up."

"Well, that was pretty much it."

"Father!"

"Okay, okay, don't get your feathers in a twist."

"The expression is 'don't get your feathers ruffled' or 'don't get your knickers in a twist,' Father." 

"Ah-Ahem. Right…" He said, while also eyeing the servants quietly standing near the end of the dining hall. 

"Leave us." 

Consequently, they bowed deeply before swiftly exiting the room with a clink of the doors.

"You know, I was really looking forward to you getting married, Zhou. I had even prepared this large red pouch for you and my future daughter-in-law."

Fang Gu explained as he lifted up a red pouch that he had been gently caressing in his hands for the past few days. 

"With the current circumstances, it's probably too late for her. The Li Clan Head, Li Mu, must be going through a very hard time… I just know that the tea ceremony would've been splendid… I could forget about the sect's politics and focus on my son and daughter-in-law with a freshly poured cup…"

Fang Gu spoke wistfully as his eyes glazed over. He had been friends with Li Mu ever since they were kids. When they first met, they had immediately kicked it off, noticing that they were both rather similar, despite being from different families.

At that time, the relations between the Li and Fang families were a lot worse, which created a lot of obstacles in the two's friendship. After growing up, they decided to mend their clan relations and worked very hard to do so. 

Unfortunately, the cracks between the two clans were too deep. So, when Li Mu bore a daughter and Fang Gu a son, they immediately knew what to do, especially when a common danger appeared in the form of Hilden Forest.

Extracting himself from his memories, Fang Gu looked down at his son, his now soft tone in contrast to his stoic expression. 

"I wasn't planning on telling you this, but I think you should know about it now. There's a big problem in the center of Hilden Forest, which is known to all of the elders. However, there's another reason why we are working to subjugate the forest, which is known only to Grand Elder He and I. In Hilden Forest, there exists a… Spirit Spring."