Free Web NovelChapter 389: Chapter 304: Clearing the Road (3)
"Sect Leader Fang has had a change of heart?"
Fang Qingyuan looked at the Zhang Family’s mountain gate ahead but didn’t directly answer Xiao Yangxu’s question. He said,
"Thank you for your help this time, Fellow Daoist Xiao. There’s no need to visit the next few families. If we can’t take down the Zhang Family, visiting the others would be futile."
Xiao Yangxu fell silent. He could sense Fang Qingyuan’s resolve. It seemed the Qingyuan Sect and the Zhang Family were headed for an open confrontation, one that would only end when one side finally bowed its head. And this outcome was clearly what his own Sect Leader wanted to see.
Xiao Yangxu recalled the private instructions Xiao Chuan’gong had given him before they departed. He had hoped the Qingyuan Sect would take the initiative, shattering its own "golden body," wade into the muck, and maybe even take a tumble in the mud, ending up covered in dirt.
Fang Qingyuan gave the Zhang Family’s mountain gate a final few glances, then led his people back to his own sect. Xiao Yangxu also followed, taking up temporary residence at the Qingyuan Sect to serve as a liaison for future communications with the Zhang Family.
「Half a month later.」
The Zhang Family still refused to give a clear answer. No matter how many times Xiao Yangxu went to ask, they wouldn’t budge, clearly trying to use stalling tactics to make Fang Qingyuan back down.
Fang Qingyuan saw all of this but didn’t seem particularly angry. His disciples, however, were growing restless and wanted to array for battle to have it out with the Zhang Family.
Another half a month passed, exactly one month after the three families had feasted together. News came from the Zhang Family: their Patriarch, while circulating his energy in meditation that day, had suffered a mishap. His qi had gone awry, and he had fallen into a state of qi deviation, leaving him unconscious and gravely injured with little hope of recovery.
As soon as the news spread, it caused an uproar among the many surrounding sects. Of all the times for the Zhang Family Patriarch to suffer a qi deviation, why now?
But regardless of what others thought, Fang Qingyuan seized the opportunity to lead his disciples on a "condolence" visit, using it as a pretext to show how close the two families were.
The Zhang Family had three Foundation Establishment Cultivators. The Patriarch had always held all the power, and with him now unconscious, the remaining two didn’t unite against a common enemy. Instead, they began to fight amongst themselves, coming to blows over the position of the next Patriarch.
There were some clear-sighted people within the Zhang Family who were heartbroken to see this, but their words carried little weight. What were a few quiet voices compared to the seat of the Patriarch?
Later, it was only through the mediation of Fang Qingyuan, Xiao Yangxu, and several other surrounding Sect Clans that the Zhang Family was prevented from truly descending into a tragedy of kinsmen slaughtering one another.
But a family cannot be without a leader for a single day. So, under the witness of all present, the two Zhang Family Foundation Establishment Cultivators signed a contract to take turns leading until the original Patriarch awakened.
Seizing this opportunity, the Zhang Family also agreed to the Qingyuan Sect’s request to borrow their territory to open a trade route. And once the Zhang Family agreed, the smaller sects and clans that followed—all weaker than the Zhangs—naturally didn’t dare to object.
After receiving the series of signed contracts, Mao Cheng was grinning from ear to ear. He immediately dispatched disciples to the Barbaric Border to act as an advance party, preparing for the trade route to be fully established.
Meanwhile, Fang Qingyuan returned to the sect and began to reflect on the gains and losses of this operation.
It went without saying that the Zhang Family Patriarch’s fate was orchestrated by Fang Qingyuan, who had hired the "Black Hand" to do the job. He had previously considered facing the Zhang Family in open combat, with real swords and spears, but after much thought, he decided this method was better.
He couldn’t leave any evidence for outsiders. The "golden body" granted by the Great Zhou Academy for three generations, even if it had to be broken, shouldn’t be wasted on the insignificant Zhang Family.
It would have been easy for him to use his military formations to beat the Zhang Family into submission; their Patriarch was only a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, someone Fang Qingyuan didn’t even consider a threat. But if he had done that, he would have had to consider annihilating their entire clan. Otherwise, someone could use the Zhang Family’s name as a pretext to move against the Qingyuan Sect in the future.
Therefore, one either had to go all the way or not use such methods at all. Conveniently, according to intelligence from the Black Hand, the two remaining Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Zhang Family didn’t get along. The only reason things were stable was because the Patriarch kept them in check. With him out of the picture, an opportunity had presented itself.
And so, Fang Qingyuan had spent just under three hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones to have the Black Hand put the Zhang Patriarch in his current state. The reason it was so expensive was because it was a custom job; it actually would have been cheaper to just have him killed.
With this, the Qingyuan Sect had given a small demonstration of its methods. As for whether it would arouse the Dongming Sect’s suspicion, that couldn’t be helped.
Seeing the path cleared, Fang Qingyuan sighed. ’After all, the method wasn’t very sophisticated, and the traces are too obvious. Maybe next time I do something like this, I should consult my master, Lechuan, and have him advise me. With an expert in this area, I’m sure I could handle things with more poise.’
Having considered all this, Fang Qingyuan closed his eyes, his mind at ease, and began to meditate and cultivate in silence.
