“Apologies for the absence of my father, honored guests, he had matters to attend to early this morning and asked me to pass on his good wishes in his stead.” Wang Qiang said in a respectful tone as Fan Zhong’s group made their way into the main hall of the central building within the estate.

The previous night had passed in a blur of drink and good spirits ending with them being shown to comfortable guest rooms inside a small building on the southern side of the grounds. After going through a few martial forms, and finishing a 10km run that Xing Zheng had called a ‘light’ sprint, everyone returned to take breakfast with their host. It was little surprise to Fan Zhong or Fan Yong that the master of the house was absent.

After all, despite knowing Wang Qiang for over a decade his father had only ever graced them with his presence on two occasions. The first was during a large clan event where the three had been formally introduced, it had been a rather unimportant occasion used mostly for making social and political connections. At the time all of them were rather young and as such, they mostly listened to their parents making small talk as they exchanged pleasantries.

Other than that the only other time Fan Zhong had seen the man was at his brother’s mastery ceremony. It had been a huge event in the valley and almost anyone with enough social standing to attend had done so. With the almost aggressive level Wang Qiang’s father took to curry favor with the various political factions in the valley, it was likely he would’ve attended even if he was on his deathbed.

As such Fan Zhong was fairly certain that he was doing just that even now, his career overriding even having such an important guest like the soon-to-be leader of the Fan clan.

“No worries, Brother Qiang, your father is a busy man and we wouldn’t dream of interrupting his business.” Fan Zhong said in a nonchalant tone while making his way to one of the seats at the table located in the center of the hall.

Looking around revealed the impressive decor that furnished the room. Along the wall, various portraits of the Wang clan heroes hung alongside artful depictions of the famous battles throughout the history of the valley. Set into the wall to the right of the table was a large fireplace with spectacular stonework.

Each brick that made up the piece was constructed from a barely translucent crystal with each one being a slightly different shade of azure. Small markings were interspersed between what Fan Zhong quickly recognized as Dao Runes that formed a set of formations. So interwoven were the runes and the arrangement of the crystal that without some amount of mental energy it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.

A small pile of wood burned inside the fireplace with a pleasant light that seemed to disperse and give a comfortable glow to the entire room. The fire itself seemed to dance in intricate patterns that eased the mind while the warmth of the flame itself spread out like a pleasant blanket instead of being too harsh or light. It was a marvel of formation technique and artistry and even after examining it with a considerable amount of his focus Fan Zhong couldn’t pick out how many formations made up the working. Above all of this sat a pair of crossed weapons. One was a trident with a haft made of gold with silver inlays that replicated waves as if the gold were liquid.

The prongs of the weapon were wrought from three giant teeth that seemed to give off an aura of savagery and untamed bloodthirst. Through some advanced refining technique, the metal and teeth had been joined seamlessly, and it gave off the pressure of a Spirit Earth Treasure. Laying across the trident was a spear made from what looked like ice with a sturdy rope attached to the butt end that had a net at its end.

Squirming marks seemed to writhe on the length of the rope and in the display, it was wrapped ornately around the shaft of the spear with the net resting in a bundle right below the spearhead. There were other things as well such as the finely made long rectangular table with high-back ornate seats that took up the center of the hall and a few exotic pieces of calligraphy set into fine clay tiles displayed in cases along the wall. On the table, the set of food was no less exquisite with dishes ranging from light and fresh vegetable mixes to an entire roast pig.

In all the spread was something Fan Zhong would’ve expected at a feast held by his parents instead of a breakfast his friend was hosting for their small party.

“Hmph, speak for yourself, disciple.” Xing Zheng’s grumpy tone intruded into his thoughts as they finally settled into their seats. “I’ll forgive the slight since your father is busy, Young Master Wang. Just remember that all things under heaven have their limits”.

For a brief moment, the old swordsman's face twisted into a wolfish grin, but just as quickly, he regained his trademark calm expression. Right at that moment a wet snout bumped into Fan Zhong’s face as Little White nudged him from a sitting position on his left shoulder. The growing beast king had reverted to staying in his small form at most times while using his master as a convenient mount to nap on!

Now it seemed the smell of food had awoken him from his normally mostly invisible state and through their bond Fan Zhong could feel a vague feeling of something like a request for permission. Pondering on the matter a bit he ultimately decided that the amount of food on the table might not be enough for his furry companion and decided to ask for something to be prepared specifically for Little White. Wang Qiang was puzzled at first but quickly requested another whole roasted boar be prepared upon Fan Zhong’s request while the beast king contented himself to nibble on a few strips of meat from his master’s plate.

After a while, the boar was delivered and Fan Zhong mentally nudged his bond with Little White to go enjoy the meal. As the small furry pup jumped from his shoulder it went from being able to fit within one’s palm to a large water wolf bigger than two horses standing together and half again as tall as them.

“Ahh!” Wang Qiang shouted in fright and almost fell from his chair before Fan Yong reached over and caught his arm and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Apologies Brother Qiang, some of us like playing pranks at the expense of others.” Fan Yong leveled an accusing gaze at Fan Zhong. “However, there's no need to fear! Little White is as kind and loyal as his name suggests, he would never harm a soul unless Young Master Fan permits it.”

“Ahem…” Fan Zhong coughed covering his mouth while sending a momentary withering glance at his ‘best friend’ before returning to a jovial smiling expression. “Of course, as Brother Yong says, Little White may look fierce, however, he prefers napping on people’s shoulders the most!”

“And tearing Spear Stags in half, I’d say the activities are equal in his estimation.” Xing Zheng replied dryly as he piled a few items onto his newly emptied plate.

“Indeed… In any case, Brother Qiang, while I appreciate the decor of your central hall it seems a bit excessive for receiving just us, yes?” Fan Zhong raised a questioning eyebrow at the wiry merchant as he spoke while his hands worked to move a few slices of grilled meat onto his plate.

“That would be on account of my presence, Junior Zhong.” a cold voice sounded from the entrance of the hall as a man walked into view within it.

He had a thin and narrow face that gave one the impression that he was lazy yet cunning. Flowing over his shoulders and to the small of his back his hair was a mixture of darkest black and deep azure. A nicely fit dark blue martial arts robe clung to the man’s well-built frame and his blue eyes gave off the impression that they were portals to the deepest waters.

Simply standing there he gave off the presence of a dragon among men, a pressure that forced others to acknowledge him! Although they had never met, Fan Zhong instantly recognized Wang Hei, the current leader of the Wang clan, from the various descriptions he had gotten from his brother. This very man had accompanied his parents to Wei City to try to broker peace all those years ago.

“Since you didn’t take it upon yourself to come to me I had the observers track you down. It's rather rude, you know. A clan leader, current or future, visting another's ancestral village without announcement or at least a visit.” Wang Hei’s eyes narrowed slightly and a touch of energy pressed down on Fan Zhong as his voice took on a playful tone.

“Sir, we meant no…” Fan Yong rose and bowed at the waist before attempting to apologize.

“SILENCE, BOY!” The older man’s eyes suddenly glowed a deep incandescent blue “ Is your clan leader a mute who cannot speak for himself? Has the deaths of Fan Long and Fan Cheng truly left the Fan clan in the hands of a useless coward?”

Heat rose in Wang Hei’s voice as his gaze bore down on Fan Yong until the young man kneeled before returning to Fan Zhong.

“Perhaps or perhaps not, isn’t that the question you are here to find out? My deepest apologies for not coming to see you directly Senior Hei. This junior humbly requests you let Brother Yong go, he is simply too good an aid and spoke before my wits came to me.” Fan Zhong’s eyes gained a sense of focus and command as he met the gaze of the Wang clan leader head-on.

For a moment the entire room was silent save for some clinking of dishes as Xing Zheng continued to enjoy his meal, seeming to not even notice the exchange happening. Just as Fan Zhong was starting to think the situation would escalate Wang Hei’s expression broke into a large toothy grin as he started to laugh boisterously.

“Good, good, good! It seems there is hope yet within your bloodline.” With a nod, Wang Hei started to approach the table to take a seat opposite Fan Zhong.

As he moved, another wave of pressure seemed to descend upon the room, and Xing Zheng looked up with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Junior Wang Hei, I understand your objective, but did you forget that I was here? Or do you presume that it's easy to bully these lazy disciples in front of me?" The old swordsman's gaze shifted from the serene calm of a sage to an eternal storm that threatened to destroy everything in its path. "Do you find it easy to pick on the disciples of Zhang Zheng, the Worldly Sword Sage?"

Wang Hei's expression became alarmed for an instant before he became stoic again, steeling himself as the force pressing upon all of them seemed to double instantly.

"Honored expert Zhang Zheng, please have patience. Junior Zhong and I have a prior relationship. For the sake of his dearly departed clansmen, I needed to test him. No offense was meant to you, senior. The Wang clan, of course, recognizes your might," Wang Hei spoke respectfully as he bowed slightly in Xing Zheng's direction.

"Hmph, indeed," Xing Zheng nodded in acceptance and went back to enjoying his food.

Instantly, Fan Zhong felt like a mountain had been lifted off his shoulders, and he shuddered to think how much pressure the Wang Clan Leader had been feeling. It would take different amounts of energy to subdue weaker or stronger foes, so the immortal would have had to use far more force to make Wang Hei submit so quickly. After that, the room was silent for a moment as everyone took their seats.

As everyone got settled, a small lump seemed to land on Fan Zhong's shoulder. He looked to the left just in time to see the last tuft of fluffy white fur turning transparent as the now pup-sized Little White stretched out and yawned while using him as a perch. Looking back at the dish that had been used to serve his companion's meal, he wasn't surprised to find that not even the bones of the roast were left.

"What kind of dogshit luck have the Primordial Ancestors blessed you with, junior? A beast king bonded to you?" Wang Hei showed an expression of shock as he sighed and shook his head. "Your father told me last we spoke, however… seeing it is another matter altogether."

"Little White is quite exceptional, thank you, Senior Hei. Now, perhaps we should move on to business. As much as your company is enjoyable, I would imagine that your duties make for a full schedule. I'll state it plainly: during my time spent training, word of troubles for your clan reached me. With the former closeness between our clans, naturally, my first response was to request for my teacher to allow us to arrive here and offer aid where we can," Fan Zhong spoke in a business-like manner, stopping only to take a small sip of the provided tea once he finished speaking.

“That; is exactly why I’ve come here, Junior Zhong. Recently the influx of river beasts has risen to an all-time high causing our expenditure of ingredients for talismans to diminish severely. Add on to that the cut-off supply from the Wei blockade and you start to understand what we are dealing with.” Wang Hei’s expression turned business-like as his tone carried just the slightest tone of bitterness.

“Of course, however, that isn’t what has caused the latest trend of problems. Am I wrong, senior?” Fan Zhong flashed the older man a sickly sweet smile as he spoke and saw the reaction of bewilderment on Wang Qiang's face.

To his credit, the wang clan leader showed no signs of reacting at all however the expression from his friend was all the confirmation Fan Zhong needed.

“Hmph, quite perceptive.” Wang Hei spoke dryly as he shot an exasperated look at Wang Qiang. “This recent trouble pertains to one of my Wang Clan’s most closely guarded secrets. To speak of it I would require an oath to the heaven’s that you would not mention this information without my permission.”

Fan Zhong’s brow wrinkled at the request. It was not that he intended to spread the secrets of one of the Fan Clan’s longest-time allies. Truly the issue was that those times were no more, his clan no longer held the same status as the Wang clan.

Oaths to the heavens were serious and could have dire consequences when broken, anything from bolts of heavenly lightning descending on the guilty to mysterious bouts of extremely bad luck leading to their death. At present, he had no idea the methods that the wang clan possessed, perhaps they even had a way to control such an oath to their benefit.

The possibility was small however, it didn’t sit well with Fan Zhong. Sighing, he decided to take the gamble. Worst case he would simply have to rely on the protection that Xing Zheng was still giving him.

“I, Fan Zhong, swear to the will of the heavens and all that bear witness here. Under no circumstance shall I reveal the clan secret Senior Hei will impart today. If I do so shall gods strike me down, devils haunt my soul and no place under heaven and earth shall shelter me from retribution.” His voice was filled with resolution and as he spoke Fan Zhong met Wang Hei’s gaze of approval.

Fan Yong and Xing Zheng took only a few moments more to utter similar oaths, with the old swordsman swearing under his pseudonym of ‘Zhang Zheng’.

“This puts my mind at ease, thank you all.” Wang Hei gave them all a deep bow as sincere gratitude filled his voice as he rose and continued speaking “What is currently going on is related to our clan’s ability to refine our talismans that give safe passage and travel on the river. Many people think that this ancestral village is the main manufacturing point for those goods, however, that is not the case.

Hidden in the deepest center depths of the river, at its center, is an island. Now there are many such islands as I’m sure you’re aware and common sense tells us that exploring them is more hassle than profit with the deep water spirit beasts. This is true except for a single one, Wang clan's ancestral island.”

“How is that possible, senior? Is this not Wang Clan Ancestral Village? Do you mean to say that your clan has multiple ancestral grounds?” Fan Zhong asked as his confusion grew.

According to what he knew, a large clan’s ancestral grounds were the location their foundation was stored! Powerful protective formations that had been built up over the years, stores of magical treasures, and libraries of techniques were all the sorts of things that would be accumulated over the long history of a powerful clan. Thus the base of their power would also be located near or around those sacred grounds to allow those resources to save the clan from calamities.

Having multiple ancestral grounds would be like dividing their foundation in half or leaving one of them weaker and thus susceptible to attacks! Knowing all of this Fan Zhong couldn’t understand the reason the Wang clan would do such a thing.

“It is and you're mostly correct. This is what brings us to our current predicament. You see the ancestral island was originally the only ancestral ground the clan had. With the natural defenses of the deep water spirit beasts the accumulation there focused on a formation that imprinted our talisman techniques! Over time it improved and the designs for those refining techniques were able to constantly exist in the minds of those who made talismans on the ancestral island with minimal mental energy usage.

The final improvement even allowed the stored knowledge to help the intuition of the refiner, warning them when they made mistakes. Talismans are risky investments as failing destroys the materials and leaves no salvage when the refining technique fails so the aid of the island formation is invaluable. Using it, our Wang clan has reduced the failure rate by over 40%!”

“By that much? Such a unique refining formation. Truly praiseworthy.” Xing Zheng spoke with clear admiration in his voice as he nodded sagely. “It must be the reason you’ve been able to bypass the expectations of the Wei and continue using such goods even with the trade blockade they’ve set.”

“Indeed, that is the case for seniors. Although our clan is too large now to stay on the small ancestral island we allow our talented talisman refiners to stay there during certain periods. Prolonged exposure causes mental strain and as such refiners rotate in and out. However… recently the island has had to be evacuated.”

Wang Hei’s expression turned solemn.

“A new breed of amphibious deep water spirit beast started coming ashore and assaulting our people. We evacuated the non-combatants however, the other beasts were agitated by all the motion and our forces could not slip through to reclaim it. Only with small ships that can carry half a dozen martial artists at most have we been able to approach.”

“I’m assuming the threat is beyond what such a team can manage?” Xing Zheng asked as he raised a single eyebrow in question.

“Yes and no. If we could bring the entirety of the clan to bear, a strike team of master realm warriors could solve the issue. As it stands… we don’t have the resources to organize such a team. Ideas have been thought of to allow me to personally go, however…” Wang Hei smiled bitterly as his last words were spoken.

“Wei spies would know in an instant.” Fan Zhong concluded without the need for any more input from the older man.

“And so we come to the issue. We need either a small team of master realm warriors or a few weaker combatants and a grandmaster to go and remove the creatures, perhaps even figure out what caused them to assault in the first place.” The Wang Clan Leader’s face returned to a normal stoic business demeanor as he faced Fan Zhong and formally made the request.

“Well, it seems heaven is smiling upon us. This sounds like an excellent training exercise.” Before Fan Zhong could even reply Xing Zheng spoke as a wolfish grin grew uncontrollably on his face.