Fanghong was seething with fury after hearing all of the circumstances behind what had happened 10 years ago. He looked at Xiaomei resolutely and said, “I swear on my Bloodline that she will pay for all of this and that Grand Elder will also pay for this.” Hearing this, Xiaomei asked, “What does the Grand Elder have anything to do with it?” Fanghong said coldly, “The person behind her is the Grand Elder. Do you honestly think I would take her as a concubine if there wasn’t someone very high up in the Clan backing her up? He tried to match the two of us even way before I met you. Only he would have a method to tamper with the Tracking Formation the Ancestor personally laid on Zhifang.”

Hearing this Xiaomei thought for a while but the more she thought about it, the uglier her face turned as she finally asked, “Does this mean that-” However before she could even ask, Fanghong nodded his head grimly as he said, “This means that all of his preparations to take control of the Clan are complete but he didn’t want to lose a good seedling like me and tried to get me on his side with her.” Zhi just sat there in confusion. He had no idea what the situation in the Clan was so he had nothing to say on this matter.

As he sat there, suddenly Fanghong sighed as he said, “Maybe it is best if Zhifang didn’t go back to the Clan with me, it would be too dangerous for him. Also, the Clan will turn into a bloody battlefield soon.” As Fanghong sighed, Zhi coldly said, “I had no intention to go to that Clan any ways. I owe them nothing and I have no interest in their internal quarrels.”

Fanghong wanted to say something but he couldn’t find the words to do so. Like Xiaomei he understood very well that even though the two of them had been in the Clan’s kindness, it had only brought pain and suffering for Zhi. If their situations were reversed even Fanghong wouldn’t probably want anything to do with the Clan. He thought about it and was currently torn between two choices: To stay here with his son and give up the clan or vice versa.

It wouldn’t be such a hard choice usually but the Clan had raised him when his parents had died. He had been very young back then but the Clan had raised him nonetheless. His debt to them was very deep. As he was clearly torn between the two choices, Xiaomei chuckled as she said, “Why are you so torn between the two choices? Just tell the Ancestor that this place can be a safe place for the people still loyal to him. Since you will also stay here, the number of people who would dare to attack this place blindly would be minimal.” Hearing this Fanghong felt as though he had found the golden path that didn’t conflict with himself. Zhi’s cold voice however splashed cold water on their heads as he said, “Not going to happen.”

Both Fanghong and Xiaomei looked at Zhi in confusion as Xiaomei asked, “What do you mean?” Zhi just crossed his hands on his chest as he said, “I am not planning on taking an army of self important and arrogant jackasses here to squander away the resources I have accumulated. All the things I have didn’t come with no danger or no risk, so I am not going to have an army of young masters running around here looking down on everyone and using up all the things I collected with my life on the line.” Fanghong was visibly angered but Xiaomei just let out a hollow laugh.

She knew that Zhi’s interactions with people with a background were only hostile. He only managed to meet the arrogant and self righteous part of them but he hadn’t met the truly just ones that actually didn’t have eyes higher than the top of their head.

Before Fanghong could explode, Xiaomei said, “Since this is your Island, they will naturally follow your orders and won’t only leech off your resources. If they can’t do that, you can kick them off the Island, is that okay?” Zhi thought about it and feeling that it wouldn’t be that bad for him, he nodded his head. Although he didn’t owe anything to that Clan, his Father still did. Although he didn’t do it only like they wanted, he still came to meet them halfway. Hearing this, Fanghong could only sigh, naturally, he understood that he couldn’t force Zhi to accept the Clan just because he said so and him actually taking in some of them like this was already something that he should be grateful for.

He had been to the Ancient Battlefield and he knew that Zhi’s gains there would be enormous but they came at a very dangerous cost. He himself wouldn’t want to give everything up to people he knew nothing about just because his Father or Mother said so. Also, he felt as though he didn’t have the qualifications to order him to do anything at all. He felt that he had failed Zhi for not being there for him these past ten years. However, when he saw that Zhi had grown up this strong, he was proud, even though he felt that he had failed as a Father.

What Zhi asked next was actually something that made both Fanghong and Xiaomei smiled bitterly as he asked, “I understand that the Clan is currently in the doorstep of an Internal War but why do you even have to fight?” There was an extremely complicated look on both of their faces but before they could ask if Zhi had hit his head, Zhi explained his thoughts, “Why fight them for supremacy, let them take the name. You take all of the people still loyal with all of the resources you can and relocate them. Let them feel like a King in their box castle.”

Fanghong thought about it and it was actually a good suggestion but the Clan Grounds had a Secret Realm and various other Formations to aid cultivation. Fanghong said, “It is not that simple, there are various ancient Formations to aid cultivation there and there is also the Secret Realm of the Long Clan.” Zhi tilted his head and asked, “Who can open the Secret Realm and besides, Formations can all be rebuilt. On this Island itself there are many Formations that are extremely beneficial for cultivation.” Fanghong thought for a while before saying, “The Secret Realm can only be opened by the joint cooperation of the 3 Branches. Currently, on our side should be 2 of them, with the Grand Elder being the 3rd one.”

After Zhi suggested it, he started to weigh the plan carefully and as Zhi said, Formations can be rebuilt even if it will take a while, they don’t lack Array Masters and various other Pill Refiner, Artificers or such. If they had a solid base like this Island, they could rebuild themselves rather quickly.

However, there were two things he was worried about. First would be that what the Ancestor thought of this plan and second would be that how Zhi was going to manage everything here. However, he didn’t voice his thoughts out. Zhi could see that his previous words had actually made Fanghong debate over it carefully. He sighed as he said, “I honestly don’t care what you decide to do. On this Island I am planning on building my own force, if you want to join it, you can, if you don’t, you do not have to.”

This made Fanghong truly caught between a rock and a hard place but then he remembered: He left the Clan to search for his son without a second thought. To now deliberate like this on possibilities that may happen or not would be pointless. First things first, he had to ask the Ancestor what he would think about this plan. The rest can come after that. Like that, throwing all of the current problems to the back of their minds, they focused on the last hour of Xiaomei’s life. They spent the hour as a complete family. When the hour was reaching it’s end, sorrow was visible on all of their faces. However, Zhi and Fanghong both put on a smile for Xiaomei. They didn’t want their last memory of their time spent together to be a sad one but rather a happy one.

When Xiaomei had nearly fully faded away, her last words were, “Don’t lose yourself in revenge, it won’t bring me back. You should instead focus on living as a family now.” When the words faded, so had Xiaomei’s Soul Fragment. Tears streamed down both their faces as they cried. After they had cried their tears out, Fanghong fished out a bottle of alcohol and two cups.

He sat down and gestured Zhi to do the same. When Zhi sat down, he was handed a cup full on transparent liquid. Fanghong without saying a word raised the little cup in respect and when Zhi did the same, he downed it all in one sip. When Zhi did the same, it was okay at first but then his throat felt heated. It soon faded away but Fanghong poured him another cup as he said in a solemn tone, “What are you going to plan on doing from now on? I have honestly failed as your Father, I have no right to undermine any decision you take.”

Zhi looked at the sake in the cup as he sighed, “Honestly, I have no idea on what I am exactly going to do but one thing is certain: That bitch is going to get her dues.” Hearing this Fanghong also nodded. He asked, “Did you honestly mean it that you would take all of the Long Clan in?” Zhi looked at Fanghong and said, “I honestly meant it. It wasn’t something I said just so Mother wouldn’t have to worry. However, my condition on this matter is that they follow my rules. All of them.” Fanghong understood the meaning behind those words.

It would be a pipe dream to expect the Elders who used to be in a lofty position to follow Zhi’s rules just because they were told so. Following this little conversation took a small blue badge out of his Spacial Ring. He hesitated for a moment before closing his eyes and infusing Qi into it. A few moments passed and Fanghong opened his eyes again. He looked towards Zhi and said, “The Ancestor is going to come. It will take him a while to get here though.” As he said that, he refilled both his and Zhi’s cup.

As the two sat there in silence drinking, a tear in the fabric of space suddenly appeared next to them. This didn’t faze either of them but the old man who stepped out from the tear was surprised a bit by the sight that greeted him. The man wore long blue robes with golden dragon embroidery. His eyes were like Zhi’s but only the crimson part was azure. His hair was long but had turned grey from the passing of time. His physique was like a bag of bones, even a slightly stronger wind would be able to push him over. On his face were a few little scars but his attention was currently on Fanghong.

He opened his mouth as he asked, “What was this urgent thing you needed to speak to me about?” Fanghong took out another sake cup and passed it to the old man saying, “It is going to be a long story, it would be better if you sat down Ancestor.” Hearing this the old man raised his brows as he glanced towards Zhi as well. He could feel a sort of familiar aura on him. He accepted the cup and sat down to form a triangle.

As Fanghong poured sake into his cup he said, “The Grand Elder has finished his preparations and is planning on making his move.” The Ancestor who was about to take a sip froze. His eyes narrowed as he asked in a serious tone, “How do you know?” Fanghong looked at Zhi and said, “The one behind the incident that cost me the woman I loved and my son 10 years ago was the Grand Elder. To pull off such a bold move means that he is not afraid of the repercussions.” The Ancestor lowered his sake cup and looked at Fanghong seriously.

He asked, “Do you have any proof?” Fanghong just smiled bitterly and said, “You not recognising him is the most solid proof needed.” As the Ancestor thought about those words, it suddenly clicked to him as he asked in a disbelieving tone, “You don’t mean-” Fanghong interrupted him to coldly say, “Yes, the person sitting opposite of me is my son Long Zhifang. For you to not even recognize him even though he is directly in front of you, you should know that it means.”

The Ancestors face fell as sized up Zhi. He was dumbfounded when he discovered that he was already in the Early Nascent Soul Realm. Everyone else in his generation were at best in the Qi Sea stage. The Ancestors face turned cold as he asked, “What happened to them?” He knew very well that his kind of a cultivation was not something that could be obtained by simply sitting in a prison. Also the cold vibe Zhi gave away told him him that the past 10 years have not been nice at all to him. Most likely dancing with death had been a daily part of his life.

Zhi himself stayed quiet as Fanghong narrated everything Xiaomei told him to the Ancestor. The more Fanghong talked, the more the Ancestor’s face fell. If you also added the Tracking Formation being tampered with into the mix, it only left one suspect: The Grand Elder. The Ancestor had known for along time that he wanted to seize power and was gathering the backing to do so. He couldn’t deal with it openly and he couldn’t deal with it covertly either. Now it was too late to do anything, this was why he had such an ugly face.

Finally, he sighed and said, “You wouldn’t have called me here and told me everything without having a counter action plan, so lets hear it.” Fanghong filled everyone’s cups as he told him the plan they had thought of doing. Even the Ancestor couldn’t say that it was a bad plan, it was very logical. If the Internal War erupted, no matter which side won, the Clan would lose a huge amount of people. Why lose the people that are still on your side when you could actually just leave and save more lives. Even though he was currently an Ancestor, at one point in time, he had been the Patriarch. Keeping his people alive was the highest priority to him then. Face, resources? They were useless to dead men, to prosper you just had to sometimes take a step back and back out.

The Ancestor looked towards Zhi and asked, “Are you truly willing to take our Clan in after it has caused you so much pain?” This was something that bothered him, the actions of the Clan had basically ruined his whole life. It tore apart his family, killed his mother and threw him to fend for himself in a place he didn’t even dare to lower his guard. Zhi put on a solemn expression as he said, “As long as they follow my rules here, I have no problem with it but if they start demanding things from me, I honestly don’t give a damn and will kick the person out of the Island to fend for themselves.”

The Ancestor just continued probing, “What are the main Rules?” If he didn’t even know this, it would be hard to make a decision. Zhi took a sip of sake and said, “First of all, everything works based off of contribution. And the things obtained with contribution can’t be passed on to others. Be it the Cultivation Arts or Artefacts. This is to weed out the mindset that everything will fall into their lap. Second would be that they will have to follow the orders of the 4 Island Lords.” Both the Ancestor and Fanghong looked at Zhi in confusion.

Seeing this Zhi sighed as he said, “Currently, I am the Island Master aka the “Ancestor”. Under me are 4 Island Lords who deal with all the mundane things and no offense in me saying this but I trust them more. Although their cultivation isn’t anything high and is only in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, they gave me a Bloodline Oath to follow me and never betray me.” Hearing this, both of their faces showed astonishment. To get someone to swear a Bloodline Oath to follow you and never betray you was something easier said than done.

The higher the level of the person, the less likely would they be willing to swear an oath like this. Seeing their faces, Zhi just briefly explained the state of this World and why they swore that oath to him. After hearing everything, Fanghong just sighed, “No wonder you didn’t give damn about the Long Clan’s power. You could build something equivalent or something surpassing it with ease here.” The Ancestor could only nod his head. Give Zhi a few centuries and he would have quite a strong power under him.

The Ancestor asked one more question that puzzled him, “What are you going to do when the Long Clan can’t take this hit and will decide to retaliate against the people who moved here?” Zhi just smiled and said, “Do you honestly think that they can enter this Island if I activated all of the offensive and defensive formations it has? Not even a Peak Paragon could force his way inside. And I would like to see a Primadorial God who would actually lower himself low enough to forcefully break into a “mere” Nascent Soul Experts Island.”