CHAPTER 36: YOU HAVE TO TREAT ME

Kou Yifang quickly ended the correspondence to address the matter at hand.

He was genuinely grateful to Yin Shengong.

He knew that if the roles were reversed, there was no way that he would've tipped off the One Heart Church, yet Yin Shengong had done precisely that.

Yin Shengong was renowned for being a snide and underhanded man, but it was clear now that he also had a big heart.

Everyone was normally constantly sabotaging one another, but with real consequences on the line, Yin Shengong had shown his humanity, leading Kou Yifang to reflect on himself.

After some brief self-reflection, he began making efforts to rectify the situation.

The first order of business was to send out some people to wipe out the Ximen Clan.

If this had happened on the side of the Guardians, they would've moved the Ximen Clan to a safe area for their protection, but for the Divine Heavenly Church, cutting off the Ximen Clan was the only option that they would consider.

They couldn't allow the Ximen Clan to be used against them by the Protectionists.

In any case, the Ximen Clan was only a ninth-tier clan, so it was entirely dispensable.

Thus, it was quickly decided that the entire clan would be wiped out as soon as possible.

Three days later.

The entire Ximen Clan was discovered to have perished from poison.

However, no one in the city had any idea how it had happened.

The entire clan was already being closely monitored, so this was an inexplicable turn of events.

After the event, the Ximen Clan was searched, and evidence of collusion with the Divine Heavenly Church was indeed discovered in its estate, but the Protectionists felt no joy in the aftermath.

Instead, everyone felt like they had failed in their duty.

This was a golden opportunity, yet all they had to show for it was the eradication of a ninth-tier subsidiary clan.

Chen Ruhai and Gao Qingyu were both furious, and Fang Che was also a little dumbstruck by this news.

All they managed to do was take out the Ximen Clan? Is this meant to be a joke? I practically fed you guys everything, and that's all you have to show for it? Can you be any more useless?!

Sun Yuan came to visit that night.

"Ye Meng! My master's here! Would it kill you to serve us some tea?!" Fang Che roared in a furious manner as he kicked Ye Meng aside, then escorted Sun Yuan into the study.

"You need to be more gentle with women!" Sun Yuan sighed.

Fang Che rolled his eyes as he scoffed, "I saved her life, so what if I kick her around a little? What do you say, Ye Meng? Are you going to resent me for this?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"I thought so! Go and get us some tea."

Ye Meng hurriedly did as she was told, and before long, two cups of fragrant tea were sitting on the desk in front of Fang Che and Sun Yuan.

"Master, I heard that the entire Ximen Clan was wiped out. Is that true?"

"That's right. There were no survivors."

"It's amazing that they could pull that off when the Ximen Clan was already being monitored by the Protectionists!"

Fang Che took a sip of tea, then thrust it back into Ye Meng's hands with tightly furrowed brows as he complained, "It's too hot! Hold it for me!"

Ye Meng held the teacup in her hands with her head lowered in an obedient fashion.

"This is not really much of a surprise. The Divine Heavenly Church sent out Poison King and Snake King. Poison King planted poison in the bodies of snakes, which were then secretly sent into the Ximen Clan's estate under the control of Snake King.

“From there, they entered all of the water sources, and some of the poison in their bodies also permeated through the air, wiping out the entire Ximen Clan overnight. I have to say, the Divine Heavenly Church has set a glowing example for all of us!

“They managed to kill an entire clan of several hundred people right under the Protectionists' nose! Pope Yin has been using this as a case study in case our One Heart Church also encounters a similar situation."

Fang Che could only heave an internal sigh.

The Protectionists weren't to blame. There really wasn't much that they could've done.

Ye Meng had been standing off to the side with her head lowered this entire time.

"It seems like you're really beginning to trust her," Sun Yuan remarked with a smile.

In the past, Fang Che would always send Ye Meng away during his conversations with Sun Yuan, but she had been permitted to stay on this occasion.

"We don't really need to hide anything from her. She's not very bright, but she's a useful servant, and she does make my life a little easier. She's like a new wife. Whenever guests come over to visit, a new wife would always hide in another room, but as she grows accustomed to her role, she comes out of her shell, isn't that right?"

He gave Ye Meng a flippant pinch on the cheek as he spoke, and she immediately blushed.

That night, following Sun Yuan's departure, Ye Meng was busy clearing the desk, while Fang Che pranced around in a smug manner.

"I can't believe the Divine Heavenly Church was able to wipe out the Ximen Clan so easily! What do they even pay them for in the Hall of Protectionists?"

Ye Meng turned to him with a dazed and confused expression, as if she didn't understand why he was celebrating the fall of the Ximen Clan.

It had to be said that with her large eyes and childlike face, she could feign confusion and innocence better than anyone.

"What are you, stupid? I killed Ximen Xuri, so his clan was eventually going to seek vengeance against me! How could you not think of that? Now that the Ximen Clan has been wiped out, I don't have to worry about that anymore! When are you finally going to grow a brain in that thick skull of yours? And what's your cultivation base right now?

“Hurry up and go cultivate! All you do is stare at me like an idiot all day! I should just sell you to a brothel and be done with it!"

He pressed a finger firmly into Ye Meng's forehead as he spoke, pushing her until she fell onto her back in a spreadeagled fashion, where she looked up at the ceiling with a depressed expression.

***

The next day, at dawn, a secret report was received from Ye Meng.

"So that's what happened... In that case, doesn't that mean that Poison King and Snake King are in the area right as we speak?"

"Find them!"

***

Fang Che was already attending his first lesson of the day.

He had already created quite a disturbance, so for now, it was time for him to settle down and focus on being a student.

Otherwise, he was going to rouse suspicions from both enemies and allies alike.

One noteworthy thing to mention was that during the lesson, a high-ranking member of staff from the academy had visited their class to commend Fang Che for his recent heroic deeds, as well as to reward him with an additional twenty merit points.

In the wake of this latest reward, Fang Che's total sum of merit points had reached 176, an all-time high for new students in White Cloud Academy!

Even among the fifth-year students who spent all their time cultivating and completing missions, there were fewer than two thousand of them with more merit points than Fang Che.

A single merit point was enough to feed a student for ten days, provided they didn't eat anything extravagant.

Even if pills were thrown into the mix, a merit point would still last a student three days, with enough leftover to rent a star spirit power cultivation chamber for two hours.

Mo Ganyun was extremely envious of him.

He already had more merit points than most new students, but he may as well have been a pauper compared with Fang Che, not to mention that Fang Che also had a gold medal.

He also had a badge of honor that had just been sent over from the Hall of Protectionists, a medal of gratitude from Divine Cloud City, and a badge of merit from White Cloud Warrior Academy.

He had already caught the attention of people in high-up places.

After the lesson, Mo Ganyun stormed over to Fang Che and demanded, "Fang Che, treat me to a meal! Actually, cover all my food expenses for the next two months!"

"Why should I?"

"You have more merit points than you could ever spend on yourself!"

Fang Che shook his head as he sighed, "Envy really can bring out the worst in people."

"You can say whatever you want as long as you agree to treat me!"

"You're one of the few friends I have at White Cloud Warrior Academy, and I thought you wanted to celebrate with me. Given your background, I'm sure you're aware of the perils that I had to endure to get to this point."

Mo Ganyun fell silent upon hearing this.

Indeed, it was not difficult for him to envision Fang Che's recent tribulations.

Rewards from the academy and the Protectionists were not easy to come by, particularly for a first-year student.

Church members certainly weren't easy to kill, either, and while everyone else envied Fang Che's glory, they certainly wouldn't have envied the trials and tribulations that he had to contend with.

Fang Che patted Mo Ganyun on the shoulder as he put on an emotional display. "Honestly, I thought last night was going to be the final night of my life. Only when I walked into the classroom in the morning did it finally dawn on me that I had survived, and that I would get to see the face of my best friend again!"

Mo Ganyun was clearly moved by Fang Che's words, and he sighed, "I can imagine."

"Even now, it still all feels so surreal. I thought of the Titan Bear paw that we had at the academy cafeteria last time, and I thought I'd never get to eat it again. Do you still remember that, Old Man Mo?"

Mo Ganyun patted Fang Che on the shoulder as he promised, "I'll treat you to Titan Bear paws for lunch. You can have as many as you like!"

"You truly are my best friend!"

***

As Mo Ganyun watched Fang Che munch down one Titan Bear paw after another, he couldn't help but feel a little honored that Fang Che thought of him as his best friend and was willing to show him such a vulnerable side of himself.

Only when he stood up to pay for the meal did it suddenly dawn on him that something seemed to be amiss.

He turned to look at Fang Che's greasy face and lips, then looked at his student badge, which had already been handed over to pay for the meal, and he felt like something wasn't quite right.

Before he knew it, Fang Che had already left.

Someone greeted him on his way out of the cafeteria.

"You look like you had a great meal, Fang Che."

"I did. My best friend treated me."

"Mo Ganyun, right?"

"That's right!"

"I envy your friendship."

All of a sudden, the feeling that something was wrong faded from Mo Ganyun's mind.

This is my friend, my brother! He deserves a free meal after everything he's been through.

He could see the envy in the eyes of the person who had just spoken to Fang Che, and he felt even prouder upon seeing this.

He was under the impression that others were envious of their brotherly bond, but in reality, they were envious of the fact that Fang Che had a free meal ticket for a friend...

Having said that, it was not like Fang Che was solely taking from him without any reciprocation.

In fact, during their time together, Mo Ganyun was the one who had benefitted the most.

He was sparring with Fang Che every day, and even though he was beaten to a pulp every time, he had learned more things from Fang Che than he could count.

He learned how to stand, how to walk, how to punch...

Anyone could stand still, but the devil was always in the details. The distance between one's feet, the placement of one's hands... There were countless details that could be fine-tuned to ensure that one could spring into battle from a standing position as quickly and efficiently as possible.

What was the ideal leg placement to ensure maximal relaxation while simultaneously allowing one to react fastest to enemy attacks from any direction.

How should one balance oneself on their feet to ensure the smoothest and most explosive first step in case of danger.

These were things that had to be learned.

After learning the most fundamental standing posture, one had to learn how to best activate each muscle on their body from that posture to react to any given situation.

Any single one of these fine details could save one's life on a battlefield, and these were the truly foundational skills that a warrior had to hone.