Meng Hao took a deep breath, and his eyes shone with a brilliant light. After a moment, he sent some divine will into the terracotta soldier.

The terracotta soldier could not stay outside of the ancestral land for a long time. After receiving Meng Hao’s instructions via divine will, it faced him, then clasped hands and bowed. Meng Hao didn't feel like parting with it, and yet could only watch as it entered the rift and turned into a statue once again.

“One day I’ll do the same thing as the first generation Patriarch! I’ll use a piece of the Ruins of Immortality... to take you away. That way you... can accompany me as I wage war among the Heavens!” Meng Hao made this promise to the terracotta soldier deep in his heart. It was a promise, a guarantee, much the same as the one he had made to Han Shan that year in the Realm of the Bridge Ruins. He would never forget such promises.

After the terracotta soldier entered the ancestral Land, the rift closed, and then vanished.

The sky above the Fang Clan returned to its normal state. However, the land itself seemed wasted. Signs of withering could be seen on countless plants and trees, and the spiritual energy of the entire planet had apparently been reduced.

Although the upheavals in the clan had not resulted in any overt losses, in reality, the entire planet had been weakened, not to mention the loss of all the traitorous clan members.

Meng Hao stood there thoughtfully for a moment before coming to the conclusion that the weakening of Planet East Victory must have something to do with the first generation Patriarch’s awakening.

An intensely powerful ent.i.ty like that, a person willing to flip the game board over rather than continue playing, who could strike fear into the heart of Lord Ji himself, could obviously not be awakened easily.

By now it was evening and, off in the distance, the sun was scattering its twilight rays over the land. The resurrected clan members were lost in reminiscence, thinking about the many people who had once existed around them. No wild joy broke out because of the resolution of the chaos in the clan.

In contrast, heavy sighs existed in the hearts of all the clan members.

The ordinary clan members felt this way, and Fang Wei even more so. It was the same with Fang Shoudao, Fang Yanxu, and Fang Danyun, who hovered silently in midair.

“It’s over,” Fang Shoudao said softly, looking out over the entire Fang Clan. His voice was deep and archaic, and as it echoed out, all of the clan members looked up into the sky.

“Mortal bodies can sometimes contract vile ailments. If sicknesses like that are not expunged, they can lead to death.

“Clans can also be infected with ailments!

“Yesterday, a foul disease lurked deep within the Fang Clan. If it were to explode out, it would definitely affect the entire clan! Today, that ailment was rooted out. Although our Fang Clan is now grieving and in pain, at least we now have a new lease on life!

“Tomorrow will be a new day for us! We will cause all cultivators of the Ninth Mountain and Sea to recall the glory of the Fang Clan!

“I will no longer remain in secluded meditation. From now on, I will a.s.sume the office of Clan Chief. I will lead the Fang Clan to unparalleled heights of glory!” As Fang Shoudao’s words echoed out, it caused flames to ignite in the eyes of all of the members of the Fang Clan down below. It was as if his voice carried some mysterious power that entered the clan members’ hearts and caused them to burn with determination.

Fang Wei stood there silently, completely alone, with no clan members even willing to approach him. He had no friends left. His father, his grandfather, and all of the other members of his bloodline were all dead.

He was the only one who had been resurrected.

Fang Yanxu hovered in midair, looking at Fang Wei immersed in his bitterness, and sighed inwardly. He waved his finger down toward Fang Wei, causing him to shudder, and then suddenly lurch up into the air. All members of the clan watched as he flew over toward Fang Yanxu.

As Meng Hao watched what was happening, he suddenly realized that Fang Wei’s corpse had long since vanished from within his bag of holding.

“Are you still willing to defend the Fang Clan?” Fang Yanxu asked calmly.

Fang Wei began to tremble. After a long moment of silence, he looked down at the other members of the Fang Clan, and at Meng Hao. Finally, he turned back to Fang Yanxu, clasped hands, and bowed deeply.

“To defend the Fang Clan has been my primary aspiration in life!”

By this point, all of the members of the Fang Clan were staring silently at Fang Wei. All of them remembered the tragic scene in which he had died; those images were engraved deeply on their hearts.

Fang Yanxu looked at Fang Wei for a long moment, and it almost seemed as if he were looking into the young man’s heart. After a long moment, a slight smile appeared on his face.

“Henceforth, you will follow me. In the future... you must live up to your name and protect the clan! You will not be the sword of the clan; instead, you will become... its s.h.i.+eld!”

Fang Wei was shaking, and tears streamed down his face as he clasped hands and bowed toward Fang Yanxu.

Fang Yanxu sighed, then turned and bowed to Fang Shoudao. Then he waved his hand and departed with Fang Wei, the two of them turning into beams of colorful light that shot away from the Fang Clan in the direction of the Medicine Immortal Sect.

Fang Danyun and Fang Shoudao watched them leave, and sighed inwardly.

Fang Yanxu was the current generation’s s.h.i.+eld, and also its shadow!

Fang Shoudao was the clan’s sword, as well as its glory, boundless and supreme!

In every generation of the clan, there would be a blazing sun who shone with boundless light, and behind that person, there would be a shadow. That shadow was there to a.s.sist the blazing sun, to help that person accomplish many things they themselves could not, to endure more than was possible, to deal with things that could not be touched by the other. Such persons were not s.h.i.+ning swords that garnered ma.s.s attention. Instead, they became... s.h.i.+elds that others would eventually overlook!

A person like that had to be willing to remain silent and un.o.btrusive. They had to shrink from the light, give up all their status and position, abandon all glory. They were a shadow, and the s.h.i.+eld of the clan.

In this generation, Fang Yanxu picked Fang Wei as his future successor.

It was a path that ordinary clan members might not understand. However, Meng Hao understood everything, and it caused him to tremble. His expression was a complex one as he stared at Fang Wei, recalling what he looked like as a child, and the resolute words he had spoken in his tender, young voice.

“My name is Fang Wei! I want to become a powerful expert because I'm going to defend my clan for my whole life!”

The Seventh Patriarch, the Fifth Patriarch, and the Third Patriarch, the Ancient Realm experts also watched Fang Yanxu and Fang Wei leaving, their expressions gradually flickering with understanding.

This was the Fang Clan, a place where clan rules ensured the continued glory of the clan. In each generation, there were two important people, one who existed in the light, the other in darkness. One was the sword, the other was the s.h.i.+eld.

One basked in glory, the other was like a shadow.

Meng Hao now also understood why, although the first generation Patriarch had pa.s.sed away into meditation, his clone had transformed into a planet, to defend the clan. It was because the first generation Patriarch’s true self had been the clan’s sword, whereas his clone was the s.h.i.+eld.

Even though his true self ended up dying, his clone could continue to defend the clan throughout all eternity....

“The Fang Clan....” he murmured. Gradually, he was beginning to approve of the clan much more than he had before.

Fang Danyun bowed to Fang Shoudao, then looked down at Meng Hao with a smile. It was a smile of encouragement, praise, and even more, antic.i.p.ation, antic.i.p.ation that he could accomplish something momentous that was far different than what Fang Wei had done.

Smiling, he turned and left, heading back to his home in the Dao of Alchemy Division. His longevity was reaching its end, and even given the fact that he could split with his Unicorn Immortals, it would be hard for him to hold on for much longer. Yet, he was without any regrets.

He hoped to use the rest of his life to once again lead the clan’s Dao of Alchemy Division into glory.

Much about the Medicine Immortal Sect, the s.h.i.+eld of the clan, were merely stories that had been purposefully created by the Fang Clan. However, one thing was true: of the clan's three Holy medicinal pills, the Medicine Immortal Sect really could concoct two, something that the Dao of Alchemy Division was incapable of.

The clan members down on the ground below now burned with determination to see the clan rise to prominence. They began to reconstruct the many areas of the ancestral mansion that were in ruins, and wash away the blood that soaked the ground. It wouldn’t take long to restore them. Perhaps by the following morning... the Fang Clan would not look very different than it had before, at least not to any outsider.

Fang Shoudao watched Fang Yanxu and Fang Danyun leave, then began to leave himself. The Seventh Patriarch and the others all joined him.

Meng Hao blinked, then cleared his throat. The sound wasn’t very loud, but it was enough to echo out in the air and be heard by Fang Shoudao and the others. However, Fang Shoudao pretended that he didn't hear it and continued off into the distance.

Meng Hao was now starting to get the sense that something fishy was going on. Although the Ji Clan had come because of the legacy of Lord Li, and would likely still have caused a disturbance even if things had not played out the way they had regarding Meng Hao...

In Meng Hao’s opinion, he had been part of the plan all along, and although he didn't mind being used by the clan, what he did mind was... being used and not getting anything out of it!

“Hey, they should give me some money!” he thought. “I sacrificed a lot to help out! I was scared to death on multiple occasions, and suffered serious mental trauma! At the very least, they have to give me some sort of explanation, right?!”

Feeling very wronged, he stared at Fang Shoudao and the others receding into the distance, and then called out in a loud voice, “Patriarchs, hold on a moment!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Fang Shoudao and the others’ faces flickered. However, they waved their sleeves, and their bodies began to fade as they teleported away.

Meng Hao was now getting very anxious.

“Patriarchs, wait! Don't run away!! Hey, you old fogies, STOP ＲＩＧＨＴ THERE!”

Fang Shoudao and the others were about half faded away when Meng Hao suddenly burst out in anger. When the other clan members in the ancestral mansion heard his words, their hearts began to pound.

Fang Shoudao suddenly stopped in place, and his vanis.h.i.+ng form rapidly grew clear. Realizing that he had no way to get out of the situation, he turned and glared sternly at Meng Hao.

“You little hoodlum! I'm your grandfather’s grandfather! Do you really dare to call me an old fogey!?”

Thinking about how irritated he was, Meng Hao braced himself and retorted loudly: “Why wouldn't I dare? I didn’t do anything wrong! I performed some heroic services for the clan just now!”

Fang Shoudao stared at him wide-eyed, then suddenly swished his sleeve. In a flash, Meng Hao vanished from his position in midair, to reappear inside of a building.

He glanced around cautiously, then backed up a few paces.

Fang Shoudao laughed in spite of himself as he sat there off to the side, looking expectantly at Meng Hao.

“You feel wronged, huh?” he said. “Go ahead and explain yourself.”

“During the clan upheavals, I spilled blood for the clan!” replied Meng Hao instantly. As soon as the words left his mouth, Fang Shoudao waved his hand, causing a softly glowing light to wash over Meng Hao. Instantly, all of his wounds were healed. Actually, his wounds had already recovered by more than half, but now they were completely recovered, and even the pores of his entire body had opened up. In fact, his cultivation base was now even more stable than before.

“There you go, all healed up,” Fang Shoudao said with a slight smile. As he looked at Meng Hao with that smile, he looked like nothing more than a wily old fox.

“During the battle, I ate a ton of medicinal pills!” Meng Hao continued carefully. “I even had to absorb quite a bit of Immortal jade! AND spirit stones!” After he finished speaking, Fang Shoudao waved his hand again. This time, no softly glowing light appeared, but instead, a bright screen. Visible on the screen was a detailed accounting of everything that had happened from the moment Meng Hao had transcended his tribulation, to the end of the battle. During that time... he had not consumed any medicinal pills, nor had he absorbed any Immortal jade, let alone spirit stones.

Meng Hao’s heart trembled, but his expression was unprecedentedly solemn as he looked at fox-like Fang Shoudao. All of a sudden, he realized that he was up against a formidable opponent.