The banquet was soon laid out, featuring delicacies worthy of being signature dishes at the city's finest restaurants and fragrant, aged wine treasured for decades. However, the atmosphere was unusually tense.
This was especially true at the table where Fang Han and the other juniors were seated.
'I actually lost…'
Lin Jiao sat at the feast, head lowered, barely speaking to anyone.
He clenched his fists so tightly his nails nearly dug into his palms. An unprecedented sense of defeat and intense humiliation threatened to overwhelm him.
Meanwhile, the three scions from the Yue, He, and Sun Families had developed a keen interest in Fang Han.
They gathered around Fang Han, holding cups of low-alcohol fruit wine, and struck up conversations.
"Brother Fang, your Swordsmanship is incredible!"
"You've really been hiding your strength, Brother Fang. To think you've already broken through to the Muscle Refining Realm! My respects, my respects!"
"How do you normally cultivate, Brother Fang?"
Faced with these "enthusiastic" peers, Fang Han was neither arrogant nor overly friendly, exchanging a few polite words with each of them.
The banquet concluded with Lin Shan forcing a smile, ending in a state of so-called "mutual enjoyment."
In the carriage on the way back, the atmosphere was completely different from the journey there. Fang Yuan's face was wreathed in smiles. The more he looked at Fang Han, the more pleased he became.
"Excellent! Fang Han! You did wonderfully today!"
Fang Yuan clapped his hands and laughed heartily.
"Not only did you bring glory to our Fang Family, but you also made that old scoundrel Lin Shan eat a huge slice of humble pie! How satisfying! Truly satisfying!"
He paused, looking at Fang Han with approval in his eyes, and said solemnly.
"By defeating Lin Jiao and dampening the Lin Family's morale, you've performed a great service for the family. Once I report this, the family will certainly give you a handsome reward!"
"A reward from the family?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Han's heart leaped, and a wave of immense joy surged through him.
He suppressed his excitement and quickly said.
"Thank you, Elder!"
Defeating a stronger opponent today with his Mastery-level Swordsmanship made him realize the importance of his Swordsmanship Talent all the more.
Although he had gotten sixty taels of silver from Fang Lin, the total silver he possessed was still a good ways off from a hundred taels—not enough to unlock the Level 2 Amplification for his Swordsmanship Talent.
'The family's reward is sure to be substantial. Once it comes, I should be able to scrape together a hundred taels and unlock the Level 2 Amplification for my Swordsmanship Talent.'
...
After seeing off the members of the four great families, the forced smile on Lin Shan's face vanished completely, replaced by a dark, somber expression.
He waved his hand, dismissing the attendants, leaving only Lin Jiao, who remained standing in the hall with his head bowed and his shoulders slumped.
"Jiao."
Lin Shan's voice, intentionally low and measured, broke the suffocating silence.
"Elder, I…"
At the sound of his name, Lin Jiao looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, practically overflowing with resentment and humiliation.
"A single defeat means nothing!"
Lin Shan cut him off, his gaze as sharp as a blade, piercing through the dejection in Lin Jiao's eyes.
"The path of the Martial Dao is long. Who has never stumbled? If you let a single sparring match leave you completely demoralized, then you're a true piece of trash!"
He took two steps closer, placing a heavy palm on Lin Jiao's shoulder. His tone was both consoling and yet left no room for doubt.
"You lost only because that Fang Han's Swordsmanship is a realm higher than yours. He has reached the Mastery Realm."
"In terms of foundation and Cultivation, you're just one step away from the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining! Are you telling me you're afraid you can't catch up to some brat who just entered the Early Stage of Muscle Refining?"
"As soon as you break through to the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining, your strength and speed will rise to another level. In the face of absolute power, his petty Swordsmanship techniques will be like a paper window—pierced with a single poke!"
"The Middle Stage of Muscle Refining…"
Lin Jiao repeated in a murmur, the darkness in his eyes rekindled into a burning light.
'That's right, I'm only one step away! As soon as I cross that threshold, I'll repay today's humiliation tenfold!'
"Now, cast aside your useless despair and get your ass to the training grounds! Turn the sting of today's defeat into your strength!"
"Break through to the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining, then go win back your honor fair and square! How can the Qilin'er of our Lin Family be so fragile?"
Lin Shan's voice was resolute, filled with unshakeable belief.
"Yes, Elder!"
Lin Jiao's spine snapped straight. All the resentment and dejection in his eyes were instantly replaced by a blazing fighting spirit. He was once again the high-spirited Qilin'er of the Lin Family.
He took a deep bow, said nothing more, and turned. He strode out of the hall like a shooting star and broke into a sprint toward the Lin Family's training grounds, each step seemingly crushing the shadow of his recent failure.
...
At the Fang Mansion, the atmosphere was entirely different.
"You two head back to the Inner Hall first."
The carriage came to a steady halt before the gates of the Fang Mansion. After giving a brief order to Fang Han and Fang Lin, Fang Yuan's steps were as swift as the wind as he headed directly for Songtao Pavilion, the residence of the Patriarch, Fang Lingyuan.
Inside Songtao Pavilion, the light scent of sandalwood filled the air. Patriarch Fang Lingyuan stood by the window, brush in hand, outlining an Ink Bamboo Painting with powerful strokes.
"Patriarch."
Fang Yuan's voice, laced with a hint of irrepressible excitement, shattered the study's tranquility.
Fang Lingyuan's brush tip froze, a drop of thick ink nearly falling from its bristles. He looked up, and upon seeing Fang Yuan, his expression tensed.
"What's the rush? Is it… about the Lin Family?"
He was aware that Fang Yuan had taken the new Inner Hall Descendants to attend the banquet hosted by the Lin Family today.
"Patriarch, joyous news!"
Fang Yuan strode forward, taking three steps in two, a look of long-absent exhilaration on his face.
"Today's Lin Family banquet was supposedly for 'cultural exchange,' but in reality, it was to show off their Qilin'er, Lin Jiao! Little did they know, they'd lift a rock only to drop it on their own foot!"
Fang Lingyuan set down his brush, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"Oh? Tell me everything."
"Fang Han!"
Fang Yuan said the name with a tone of sheer amazement.
"That kid has actually broken through to the Muscle Refining Realm! And what's more, his Qingfeng Swordsmanship has reached the Mastery Realm!"
"On the dueling platform, in front of everyone, he used his exquisite Swordsmanship to defeat Lin Jiao—a boy with one foot already in the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining!"
"You should have seen the look on that old scoundrel Lin Shan's face! It was as colorful as a dye shop!"
"Muscle Refining? Swordsmanship at the Mastery level?!" Even for someone with the extraordinary composure of a Patriarch, Fang Lingyuan couldn't help but exclaim in shock. His eyes instantly flared with utter disbelief.
"I recall he only just broke through to the Late Stage of Flesh Refining not long ago, didn't he? This speed…?"
As the Patriarch, he was aware of the speculation that Fang Han might have undergone an Enlightenment. If not for that, the family would not have promoted Fang Han's father, Fang Zheng.
"He's had an Enlightenment! He must have! How else could he have undergone such a complete transformation? The heavens are smiling on our Fang Family! Our family is destined to prosper!"
Fang Lingyuan clasped his hands behind his back and paced twice before the window. He gazed out at the layers of rooftops within the Fang Mansion, his eyes deep and gratified.
He spun around abruptly, his tone decisive and powerful.
"A scion of our Fang Family has won us glory abroad, defeating the Lin Family's Qilin'er and greatly bolstering our family's prestige! How can such a great service go unrewarded?"
"Elder Fang Yuan, reward Fang Han with three hundred taels of silver and one hundred Qi Blood Pills. Our Fang Family will never fail to properly reward any disciple who possesses talent, strength, and brings glory to our name!"
"Yes, Patriarch!"
Fang Yuan replied in a clear, resonant voice, unable to conceal the broad smile on his face.