Chapter 3: Planning to Leave
1092 Words
“By the way, have you kept that cultivation manual safe?”
Cultivation manual? Fang Tianyun froze for a moment upon hearing his grandfather's words.
“You didn't lose it, did you? Even though you failed the awakening ceremony last year, you'll have another chance in four years. Don’t give up.”
Seeing his grandson’s bewildered expression, the old man became anxious. After all, he had gone to great lengths, behind his wife's back, to steal that spiritual gathering manual for Fang Tianyun. If it was lost, all his efforts would be in vain.
Reminded by his grandfather, Fang Tianyun quickly responded, “Oh, no, I haven't lost it. I put it away safely.”
Hearing this, the old man finally relaxed. However, what the old man didn't know was that Fang Tianyun had casually tossed the spiritual gathering manual into a corner after flipping through a few pages, dismissing it as garbage.
In reality, the spiritual gathering manual the old man brought was of high quality—Eva and Arthur both used the same manual. However, in the palace of the Divine Ruins Mirage, Fang Tianyun had obtained a manual called "Divine Essence Qi." This comprehensive manual combined body refinement, meridian clearing, and spirit gathering, far surpassing the spiritual gathering manuals of this world.
The core of this world's spiritual gathering manuals was "gathering"—storing original spirit within the body, with the more stored, the better. The awakening ceremony involved guiding the accumulated original spirit through an array, followed by the array's operations to complete the profession imprinting. The more original spirit stored, the higher the success rate. If it failed, the guided original spirit couldn't be reverted, meaning the years of spirit gathering would be wasted, and one would have to start gathering from scratch. Hence, the efficiency and speed of spirit gathering were the standards for judging the quality of a spiritual gathering manual.
Too crude.
After practicing "Divine Essence Qi," Fang Tianyun realized what true superiority was. Concepts like refining, qualitative change, and control didn't even exist in 90% of this world's spiritual gathering manuals.
Last year, during the awakening ceremony, Fang Tianyun earned derisive nicknames like "24k Pure Waste" and "Original Spirit Insulator." The three profession arrays didn’t even light up from start to finish, without the slightest reaction. Even the mages conducting the ceremony were shocked. They had seen failures, but never one so thorough. Even ordinary people who didn’t practice spirit gathering had a trace of original spirit. But this fifteen-year-old was truly "void of spirit."
Fang Tianyun became infamous for a while; achieving such an extreme in one aspect drew attention. He still remembered Amos’s gnashing expression at that time—having a son like him was truly "impressive." Fang Tianyun almost laughed out loud at that. However, as an illegitimate child, the family had no expectations of him, so the attention quickly faded.
No one could have guessed that Fang Tianyun’s failure in the awakening ceremony was deliberate. If original spirit was a bucket of water, the ceremony was like drilling a hole at the bottom; others had their spirit drain away, but Fang Tianyun froze his water into ice, leaving nothing to leak out.
Thanks to his practice of "Divine Essence Qi," his control over original spirit had reached an extraordinary level. He did this to prepare for his departure from the family the next day. Everyone in the family thought this illegitimate son would strive for a better status within the family, but Fang Tianyun never planned that.
The Wilson family? They meant nothing to him. He didn’t need their recognition. Leaving this cage, he would find his own path. Fang Tianyun, who had built a life from scratch in his previous life, never lacked confidence, especially with the Divine Ruins Mirage as his golden opportunity. If he showed no value, the family wouldn't exploit him. Success in the awakening ceremony would have tied him down.
“Sigh… I’m a nobody in original spirit, my eldest son is too, and now my grandson, Tianyun, is the same. I don’t know what our Fang family did to anger the heavens.”
The old man drank bitterly. Seeing the only elder who cared for him so sorrowful, Fang Tianyun stood up, patting his grandfather’s back gently.
“Grandfather, don’t be so pessimistic. My fate is determined by me, not the heavens.”
My fate is determined by me, not the heavens?
Fang Yingjie stared at his grandson, whose serene smile seemed to blow away his sorrow. Shaking his head, he noticed that Fang Tianyun had already turned away to clean up.
Was it… an illusion?
…
Early the next morning, Fang Tianyun went to handle the formalities. When Amos heard that Fang Tianyun wanted to see him, he was surprised. His son had never sought him out in sixteen years. Not once.
In fact, Fang Tianyun’s impression in the family was of a quiet, solitary, and introverted person. Amos felt the same.
Amos wasn’t particularly satisfied or dissatisfied with his son. Compared to his troublemaking twins, this illegitimate child was quite well-behaved, never causing any trouble that required his intervention.
Relatively worry-free.
But on the other hand, this child was unremarkable. Aside from his good looks, he had no outstanding qualities. The failure at the awakening ceremony was particularly disappointing…
“Let him in.”
Amos put aside his documents.
“Greetings, Father,” Fang Tianyun greeted formally, leaving no room for reproach.
“What do you need?” Amos asked, used to his son’s emotionless demeanor.
“I plan to apply to White Maple Academy in Yunfei City and came to bid you farewell.”
Hmm?
Amos had thought his son was in trouble, but instead, he wanted to study.
“Did your mother agree?”
Hearing this, Fang Tianyun smirked. As expected.
They had no bond, but after sixteen years in this castle, Fang Tianyun understood his father’s nature well. Spoiling his children, valuing appearances, having average psychological resilience, and being somewhat of a mama's boy. Of course, this didn’t include Fang Tianyun, as they didn’t even share the same surname.
“I’ll seek Grandmother’s approval next.”
“Go ahead then, as long as my mother agrees.”
Amos waved dismissively. He had no deep feelings for this illegitimate son and didn’t care where he went. In fact, he preferred him gone, as his presence often caused friction with his wife, Lisa.
Fang Tianyun left the room, but going downstairs, he unexpectedly encountered people he didn’t want to see.
- Writer
