CHAPTER 164: 164-

Fang Yuan’s gaze shifted, sharpening like drawn steel as it landed on the shadows near the courtyard gate.

"Focus on that while I entertain the elders who’ve been waiting."

Two distinct, slightly embarrassed coughs shattered the charged silence.

Elder Joshua and elder Chen stepped fully into the sunlight, their faces etched with a mixture of residual awe from the lesson and acute discomfort at their intrusion.

They had been statues in the archway, utterly absorbed, the urgency of their mission momentarily forgotten in the face of Fang Yuan’s revelation.

Fang Yuan beckoned them forward with a subtle tilt of his chin.

The gravel crunched under their boots as they approached, the air still humming faintly with the dissipating echoes of golden qi.

Fang Yuan didn’t waste words.

His eyes, scanned their grave expressions.

"Is it the royal family?" he asked, his voice low.

Fang Chen shook his head, a single, tight movement.

His voice was strained. "No. It is much worse, Clan Head."

"Worse?" Fang Yuan’s brow furrowed minutely.

Fang Joshua stepped half a pace forward, his weathered face grim.

He delivered the message, "The wells you placed within the Eastern Ravine Cultivation caves... they’ve all dried up. Every single one of them. The clan disciples are dissapointed by the setback and I’m worried this might escalate into something bigger."

Fang Yuan went utterly still for a brief moment.

Then, a soft exhalation followed.

"Ah."

He blinked, the distant focus snapping back to the present, meeting Joshua’s anxious gaze.

"That... is indeed serious." He paused, a fraction of a second where the immense gravity settled.

Then, with a movement startling in its suddenness, he turned towards the path leading out of the courtyard, already moving.

"Oh well. We should just replace the wells then, we can’t have our younger generations slacking off." His tone was almost casual, matter-of-fact. "Let’s go."

The two elders froze mid-step, their carefully prepared reports dying on their lips.

They stared at Fang Yuan’s retreating back, their expressions mirroring identical shock.

Two words flew through their head simultaneously.

TOO CALM!

Ignoring the two elders’ stunned stares drilling into his back, Fang Yuan turned to Fang Lian.

His voice cut through their silent disbelief, crisp and demanding.

"Lian. While I’m gone, i want you to try and manifest two Bravery barriers simultaneously. Also I want you to hold them stable."

And then he added with a wicked smile, "I’ll be back my midnight."

Fang Lian’s eyes widened.

The request felt monumental but her desire to protest ’But Master, the complexity! The time I’ll need to learn!’ rose instantly in her throat.

But instead of saying what she wanted out loud, she snapped her jaw shut, swallowed the doubt, and straightened her spine.

The bandages pulled taut beneath her robes.

"Yes, Master," she declared, the words firm despite the tremor of challenge beneath them.

With a final glance at his disciple, Fang Yuan strode past the frozen elders.

Fang Chen and Fang Joshua scrambled to follow, gravel crunching loudly under their hurried steps as they fell in behind his purposeful gait.

The silence stretched for several paces down the winding path before Fang Chen found his voice.

"Nephew," he began hesitantly, "where did Senior Doctor Mu go? I thought you paid a visit to the doctor..."

Fang Yuan didn’t slow down.

"Likely visiting the grave," he answered, his tone softening almost imperceptibly.

"It’s that time of year after all."

A heavy, unspoken understanding hung in the air.

Fang Chen opened his mouth, perhaps to ask which grave, then thought better of it.

"Ah," he murmured, and shut up, falling back into step with Joshua, exchanging a silent, weighted look.

They soon arrived at the unnaturally silent Eastern Ravine.

The absence of the usual hum was palpable, oppressive.

Fang Joshua stepped forward, gesturing respectfully towards the gaping, dark entrance of Cave #1.

"Clan Head, this way, please. The depletion began here."

Fang Yuan stepped over the threshold and into Cave #1.

The air inside was cool and still, carrying the faint, earthy scent of stone and damp qi.

With a thought, he summoned his system space.

A golden screen shimmered into existence before him, its glow casting sharp highlights across the cave walls.

He didn’t bother weaving intricate seals, just scrolled through the options, selected a minor spirit well, and placed it precisely where the old one had stood.

–100 Faith Points.

The counter ticked down, numbers fading like sand through his fingers. He exhaled softly.

Pop.

It wasn’t a loud sound, more a sudden, soft release of pressure.

Where moments before the cave mouth had radiated only cold, dead rock, a vibrant pulse of energy surged forth.

The faint, residual luminescence in the walls flared back to life, brighter than before.

The air thickened, rich and heavy with potent spiritual qi.

Fang Chen choked, staggering half a step back as if physically struck by the wave of energy.

His eyes bulged, darting from the revitalized cave to Fang Yuan’s impassive profile. "Nephew—! That... how?!" The question burst out, raw with disbelief. "What profound art was that?"

Fang Yuan threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing strangely in the newly charged ravine.

"Dark magic, Uncle!" he declared, his eyes sparkling with mischievous deflection. "A little trick from the sect I’m in. Quite useful, wouldn’t you say?"

He waved a dismissive hand, the lie smooth and utterly unverifiable, no one knew the gift’s true contents, not even Fang Yuan himself.

Fang Chen stared. Words tangled on his tongue only to dissolve into stunned silence.

The casual dismissal, the blatant untruth delivered with such breezy confidence, left him reeling.

He swallowed hard, the familiar term "nephew" dying unsaid.

His voice, when it came, was stiff, formal, acknowledging the gulf the display had created. "If... if you say so, Clan Head."

Fang Joshua, however, stood transfixed. His weathered face mirrored pure, unadulterated awe, untouched by skepticism.

He stared at the glowing cave mouth, then at Fang Yuan, his expression identical to when he’d witnessed this miracle the first time weeks ago.