Seeing Shi Yu frowning deeply, Fang Sheng slowly sat up and tilted her head, looking at her.
Shi Yu knew that although this child appeared dull and quiet on the surface, she was actually precocious. Thus, without beating around the bush, she spoke directly: “Sheng'er, your father previously gifted me a Celestial Lotus seed to nourish my Dao Foundation, and he also came to help in a time of crisis when my senior was breaking through. There is, after all, some gratitude between us. Therefore, I don't want to watch your father stray into evil ways and sink deeper and deeper into darkness.”
Her gaze fell upon the jade bottle gathering silver light within the spell formation, then she turned her eyes away and continued to Sheng'er: “I already know the truth about your physique. Your father's trick of swapping one thing for another defies the Heavenly Dao. Even if he consumes the Mengtian Pill, a day will eventually come when the backlash erupts. And you... I fear you will die an early death in the process.”
From the various pieces of information she had gathered at Wanzhi Tower, she could vaguely piece together the true picture. Fang Sheng, an innocent child, had likely become a tool for Fang Yushan in his pursuit of power, forced to endure this suffering.
To her surprise, after listening to her words, Fang Sheng remained silent for a long moment before finally opening her mouth, her voice raspy and dry: “Sister Shi, I did this voluntarily. Please don't blame my father. Just pretend you don't know anything and keep helping him refine the Mengtian Pill, okay?”
Shi Yu looked at her in surprise, her eyes then turning cool: “Sheng'er, pursuing the Great Dao requires an open and transparent heart. If I knew nothing of this and had never noticed anything amiss, refining this pill would have been fine.”
“But now that I know—knowing full well that you will die, and knowing that your father is defying the Heavenly Dao—if I still pretend not to know and continue refining it, I will be bound by his karma in the future, and my Dao Heart will be clouded.”
She had taken the risk to come here today precisely to uncover the hidden truths that even Wanzhi Tower did not know, before making her decision on what to do.
Fang Sheng pursed her lips, her fingers tracing the complex runes carved on the ground. Only after a long silence did she speak: “My mother was captured by Xuanyin Ruins to serve as a cauldron.”
“...” Shi Yu's eyelashes trembled, her fingers tightening.
The Fang Clan was, after all, an established family passed down through generations in Hengze Prefecture. For the clan leader's wife to be captured and made into a cauldron... Even Wanzhi Tower had not known or mentioned this detail, meaning it was an extremely well-guarded secret.
Xuanyin Ruins... That name sounded somewhat familiar.
Recalling briefly, Shi Yu raised her brows in surprise, thinking to herself, That evil cultivator, Pei Yanji, came from Xuanyin Ruins.
Back in the Yanyang Spiritual Realm, after disposing of Pei Yanji, she had found a token engraved with the words "Xuanyin Ruins" inside his storage ring. At that time, her cultivation was too low to thoroughly investigate the token, and fearing it might bear a tracking spell, she had simply abandoned it inside the realm.
Shi Yu had a faint hunch that in the future, she might cross paths with Xuanyin Ruins again.
Fang Sheng continued: “Xuanyin Ruins is immensely powerful, and Father is no match for them. Grief and rage overwhelmed him, so he wanted to use me to reach the Nascent Soul Realm. Only then would he have the power to fight Xuanyin Ruins.”
“So... that's how it is,” Shi Yu let out a low sigh.
“It's just that Father's obsession grew too deep, giving rise to inner demons. At first, he still exercised restraint, unwilling to hurt me. But now, to raise his cultivation, he no longer cares about anything else.” Restricted by the heavy chains on her body, Fang Sheng could hardly move, repeatedly tracing the uneven runes on the floor. “Yet I, too, want Father to avenge Mother.”
Shi Yu herself had sensed how deep Patriarch Fang's obsession was. Whenever he brought Sheng'er along, he held her tightly, forbidding anyone from touching her out of fear that others might disturb the aura of fortune around her.
Having said this, Fang Sheng glanced at Shi Yu and persuaded her, “Now that Sister knows the full story, please refine the Mengtian Pill for Father as before. Just consider that he has his troubles, and that Sheng'er is doing this voluntarily without anyone forcing me.”
It seemed to be the first time Fang Sheng had spoken so much at once; her chest heaved as she panted slightly.
“Do not harbour thoughts of trying to gently persuade him or turn him from his path. Father's obsession is too deep, and his inner demon is beginning to surface. If you attempt to counsel him, it will only enrage him. At that point, I fear you will be unable to protect even yourself, Sister.”
This was precisely what Shi Yu was worried about.
At this point, Fang Yushan was not as gentle and composed as he appeared on the surface. Instead, he was suppressing madness that could explode at any moment.
If she foolishly stepped forward with a "doing this for your own good" attitude to try and persuade him, the wrath of a Golden Core powerhouse—even just the leftover ripples—would likely slay her on the spot, destroying her body and Dao.
Many thoughts raced through her mind. Finally, she took another look at the formation beneath Fang Sheng and said to her, “Sheng'er, I understand everything now.”
With those words, Shi Yu flicked her finger, and a drop of milky-white liquid flew straight into Sheng'er's mouth. It was Life Spring water.
Before Sheng'er could react, Shi Yu flipped her palm and produced a small jade bottle about the length of a finger. The bottle was crystal clear, revealing a plump, round pill spinning gently inside.
“This is the Mengtian Pill.” Wrapping the jade bottle in spiritual power, Shi Yu tossed it into Fang Sheng's lap.
This Mengtian Pill was precisely the one Shi Yu had refined using the spiritual herbs she had secretly kept back that day.
“Sheng'er, I will not pass judgment on your clan's affairs. Today, I am giving you a chance to survive. Whether you use it or not is up to you.”
“After your father consumes his Mengtian Pill, if you consume this one as well, your aura will be concealed, and he will no longer be able to affect you.” Shi Yu turned, preparing to leave. “His mental knot is hard to untie, and his inner demon is hard to dispel. If this continues, I fear he will suffer backlash before he can even seek revenge... His wife is gone, and if his only remaining bloodline dies by his own hands—if your father is still sane, would he really want that?”
*
Fang Yushan was anxious. He gathered all the required spiritual herbs earlier than expected, returning in just a month's time to invite Shi Yu to refine the pill once again.
This time, Shi Yu performed steadily without any mishaps, successfully refining a Mengtian Pill.
Overjoyed, Fang Yushan reached out and carefully collected this hard-won pill into a jade bottle.
Watching him try his hardest to suppress his ecstatic, frenzied expression, Shi Yu silently turned her gaze away.
She had done everything she could. What happened next would depend entirely on the choices made by father and daughter.
...
After leaving the Fang Clan, Shi Yu stayed in Hengze Prefecture for another seven or eight days.
She purchased many local specialty spiritual herbs and materials from the market and exchanged all her low-grade spirit stones for medium-grade spirit stones, obtaining several hundred in total.
Having no other immediate plans, she, President Song, and Master Ji decided to head back.
Their trip to Hengze Prefecture had lasted nearly two full years, far exceeding their original expectations. It was time to return.
However, shortly after the three of them set off and summoned their cloud boat outside the main city, a loud shout came from behind: “Friends, please wait!”
Turning around, they saw Fang Yushan hurrying toward them.
Shi Yu's heart tightened, unsure whether his arrival boded good or ill. She exchanged vigilant glances with President Song and Master Ji.
Fang Yushan stood atop his flying sword, hovering in the air far off. As if aware of their suspicion, he did not come any closer.
Seeing that his expression seemed relatively calm, Shi Yu plucked up her courage and asked, “How is Sheng'er?”
She wanted to know what choice Fang Yushan had ultimately made.
However, Fang Yushan did not answer her question. He merely pulled at a smile and threw an object toward Shi Yu: “Sheng'er wanted you to have this.”
Without another word, he turned into a streak of light and departed.
“This is...” Seeing his figure rapidly recede, Shi Yu looked down at the object in her hand. It was a long, tube-like rod, and she could not tell what was inside.
Reasoning that if a Golden Core powerhouse wished to harm her, he would have acted directly just now rather than going through unnecessary trouble, Shi Yu pulled out the plug at the top of the rod.
In the next instant, a flash of silver light flickered. Shi Yu froze, watching helplessly as the silver light darted straight into her brow center, flowing down through her meridians until it settled atop her Yellow Sprout Dao Foundation, swirling endlessly around it.
President Song's and Master Ji's expressions changed drastically. Worried that some harm had befallen Shi Yu, they immediately drew out their spiritual energy to inspect her.
After a long moment, President Song withdrew his hand, murmuring, “It is actually... a strand of the Heavenly Dao's aura.”
Shi Yu blinked.
President Song cast an indescribable glance at Shi Yu: “With this strand of aura present, when you enter Foundation Establishment, you can channel the power of the Heavenly Dao to potentially achieve a Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.”
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