CHAPTER 181: 181- XIAO PEI [1]

Fang Yuan’s lips barely moved as he whispered back, his tone steady, almost reproachful.

"She’s an elder of the clan, Zhaoyue."

The soft rebuke was quiet enough that only she could hear it.

Lin Zhaoyue’s lashes fluttered, and her smile faltered. Disappointment flickered across her face, settling into something small and wounded.

She looked down, her hands folded neatly in her lap, but the sadness in her eyes lingered like a shadow cast too long.

Fang Yuan didn’t linger on it. He turned away, his voice rising to address the hall once more.

"Right now, our clan is not in its brightest state and so we must not forget the sleeping dragon at our borders.Tell me, have the royal family sent any words regards my younger brother?"

"No, Clan Head," one of the elders replied swiftly.

Fang Yuan nodded, his expression unreadable.

"Then it remains as we all thought. The royal family is likely still waiting, hoarding their army even. It’s a shame they’re still under the pretext that my younger brother kidnapped the third Princess... when he did no such thing."

At that, Fang Mei rose from her seat, her movements abrupt and trembling. Her voice, when it broke through the air, carried the edge of a sob she tried in vain to hide.

"But... if he truly did not, then why is he still in hiding? Why—" her voice cracked, her eyes glistening, "why is he not here with us?"

Her hands balled into fists at her sides as though she could anchor her emotions, but tears still welled, spilling despite her will.

Hastily, she lifted her sleeve and wiped her eyes, bowing her head under Fang Yuan’s gaze.

Fang Yuan slowly rubbed his temples, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.

"About that," he began, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial tone that hooked every single soul in the hall. "Before he was forced to depart, I had my younger brother hold on to a specific communication talisman. And guess what message he sent me the last time he used it?"

The hall was utterly silent. Not a rustle of silk, not a cleared throat.

Every elder, from the most senior to the newest, was leaning forward, their breaths held.

Fang Yuan’s grin widened, a flash of triumphant brotherly pride.

"He wrote... that he has officially stepped foot into the Nascent Soul Realm!" Fang Yuan announced, his voice ringing with genuine awe. "Amazing, isn’t it?"

For a long, suspended moment, the entire hall was frozen in pure, unadulterated disbelief. The silence was absolute.

They knew their Clan Head would not lie.

Not about something like this, not when it was easy to verify.

But the news was so monumental, so utterly world-shattering, that their minds simply refused to process it.

Fang Tian? Nascent Soul?

Memories flashed for almost every elder present: of the boy stuck for years at Qi Condensation, the subject of pitying sighs; the young man whose potential was always overshadowed by the blinding sun of his genius older brother.

They had believed in their hearts that the clan’s luck had been hoarded by one son, leaving the other with only scraps.

And then, this very year, he had begun to soar.

And it all started after his engagement was broken with the prodigy from the Gu family, it felt as if he grew wings of his own.

But to go from the foundations of cultivation to the peak of what they once considered legend, the Nascent Soul realm, in under a year?

It was beyond incomprehensible. It defied all laws of cultivation, all reasoning in their heads.

They had only just begun to reconcile with the fact that their Clan Head was a Nascent Soul expert, a being of myth who had redefined the peak of power in Coldwind City.

No, not just Coldwind City, the entirety of Tharz Kingdom!

And now, they were being told that the "unlucky" younger son had also reached that same mythical realm.

The shock on their faces was a mixture of awe, joy, and utter shock.

Jaws were slack.

Every elders were all thinking the same thing: The Fang Clan didn’t have just one once-in-a-millennium genius. It had two. And they are siblings!

Fang Chen did not let the moment slip past.

Rising to his feet, he cupped his hands and bowed deeply toward Fang Yuan.

His chest swelled with pride, and when he spoke, his voice carried warmth and sincerity,

"Both brothers... like dragons soaring across the heavens. It makes one wonder, truly, just how wondrous your parents’ bloodline must have been."

There was no jest in his tone, only reverence. Fang Yuan’s father was his elder brother, after all, he spoke not just as an elder, but also as family.

Fang Yin, ever guileless, tilted her head, her voice soft yet tinged with innocent wonder.

"But... it’s such a pity your parents passed away, Clan Head." Then, as if caught by a whimsical thought, her lips curved into a wistful smile. "If they were still here, we could also have a third genius too! Ah... how wonderful it would be if that genius was a girl as well!" she added, her voice laced with a dreamy, wishing tone.

Her words, so thoughtlessly pure, fell like stones into still water.

The hall turned silent. Breath caught. The weight of her remark sank deep into every heart.

Fang Yuan’s eyes flickered in surprise, stunned for but a heartbeat.

Then, to the astonishment of all, his lips curved, and laughter spilled out,

"Indeed... indeed. But Elder Yin, who is to say the next dragon must be my sibling?"

The tension eased as his smile grew. His gaze swept the hall, steady, luminous.

"Perhaps... the next dragon may rise from among our own clan’s children."

Fang Yin’s eyes widened, shimmering with starlight.

"Really? That’s possible?" Her voice brimmed with wonder, like a child catching sight of fireworks.

Fang Yuan’s chuckle was warm, reassuring.

"Really. And perhaps, with the right resources, even you, or any one of the honored elders seated here, could soar to become that very next dragon. The third pillar of the Fang clan."