Chapter 14

Fang Yu watched this scene, feeling somewhat moved.

Fang Han had not yet risen; he was merely a horse slave of the Fang family. First beaten by a maidservant, kicked by her, and now he kept kowtowing without stop.

Fang Yu considered whether he should do something, but in the end he did nothing.

This Second Young Lady had her own rules.

Within the residence, aside from the Viceroy, everyone else had to act according to her rules, or the Fang family's rules.

Sure enough, Fang Qingwei spoke: "Give him ten lashes, let him remember this lesson."

Fang Qingwei gave a slight wave of her hand from atop her horse.

Immediately a maidservant picked up the horsewhip and lashed Fang Han viciously.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Each strike carried tremendous force; the whip flew through the air, producing explosive sounds, and when it struck Fang Han's body it nearly shattered his entire skeletal frame, yet Fang Han did not utter a single groan.

After the ten lashes, Fang Han nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Thank the Second Young Lady for the lashes!"

After the whipping ended, Fang Han summoned his last breath and shouted loudly.

This was the rule for being a servant.

If the master struck you and you did not say this line, it meant you were defiant in your heart, and then it would not be as simple as a whipping — you might very well be killed on the spot.

"Good."

Second Young Lady Fang Qingwei, seeing this, nodded. "I have always been clear about rewards and punishments in what I do. You failed in your duty today, so I must whip you. However, you have always been diligent in feeding Qianli Xue, and you did not secretly withhold the horse feed, so I should reward you — take it."

A piece of silver was tossed down by Fang Qingwei, landing in front of Fang Han.

It was still official silver of the Dali Dynasty, a full five taels.

Five taels of silver was already equivalent to Fang Han's annual stipend.

"Thank the Second Young Lady!"

Fang Han thanked her loudly once more.

"Remember, as a servant, if you do wrong you must be punished; if you do well you must be rewarded. As long as you keep your mind on your master and do your work well, there will always be benefits for you."

After tossing down the reward, Fang Qingwei said to the young men and women beside her. "Let's go, we needn't waste too much time on this servant — we must not delay the fine hour for our hunt."

"The Second Young Lady truly has a fine way of running the household."

A young man beside her laughed and said.

"A great house with great business — managing servants naturally requires rules. It is but four characters: kindness and severity applied together. Of course, how to apply the kindness and how to establish the severity is another branch of learning — one must grasp the measure."

As Fang Qingwei spoke, she and the young men and women headed off into the distance. As for Fang Yu, Fang Cheng, and the other Fang family youths, they all mounted their horses and followed behind.

Fang Yu could still faintly hear, from the direction of the stables, several horse slaves enviously congratulating Fang Han.

"Oh, Fang Han, you've gained a great benefit this time. Though you took a whipping, you got five taels of silver — what a bargain."

"Right, ten lashes for five taels of silver — if it were me, I'd take that bargain too."

"Fang Han, you've made a fortune — you've got to treat us, haven't you?"

"You must treat us. Five taels of silver — that's a whole year's stipend for us. Fang Han, you little rascal, you've struck it rich."

The horse slaves over there looked at the silver, their eyes gleaming, yet none dared to snatch it; otherwise, if the Fang family's steward found out, they would certainly be severely punished.

"Fang Han being whipped seems to be the opening of the Eternal Life Realm. Doesn't that mean Bai Haichan, the incarnation of the Creation Immortal King, will soon come to deliver benefits to Fang Han, and Fang Han's path to rising will also begin?"

Fang Yu watched this entire event unfold, and a sense of urgency rose within him.

In the Eternal Life Realm, Fang Han being whipped is the beginning of everything. Soon he will receive the newbie gift package sent by the Creation Immortal King, obtain the fortune of the Huang Quan Great Emperor, and rapidly walk the path to rising.

Yet now his realm was actually still only the Hardness-Softness Realm.

He had to seize the time and break through his cultivation base to the Divine Power Realm first.

At that point, he would have a little more confidence to traverse the Shrouding Heaven Realm.

Of course, things like accompanying the Second Young Lady on a hunt could not be refused — this was the way of the world.

After a hunt in which several dozen fierce beasts were slain, Fang Yu returned to the Fang family and resumed his cultivation.

"I now have a total of seventeen Essence Yuan Pills in hand. If I had a few more, it would really be possible to cultivate to the Divine Power Realm — this realm can be achieved simply by popping pills."

Fang Yu swallowed another Essence Yuan Pill and cultivated within the Ten Thousand Phenomena Garden.

Time gradually passed, gradually reaching dusk, then night. The bright moon traveled through the lotus clouds, and the night breeze blew past, adding an even more subtle artistic conception.

However, Fang Yu knew that something major seemed to happen tonight, but with his strength he had no qualification to take part.

The Fang family would go to encircle and suppress Qunxing Sect disciple Bai Haichan, but they could not succeed, because Bai Haichan was a clone of the Creation Immortal King, whose purpose was to deliver to Fang Han the supreme-grade elixir Nine-Orifice Jin Dan and the ultimate-grade Dao artifact Huang Quan Diagram.

Even if the Fang family's eldest young lady, Fang Qingxue of the Divine Ability Secret Realm, took action, she could not obtain the Huang Quan Diagram.

This contained a kind of mysterious calculation within it — no scheme of anyone would be of any use.

So Fang Yu cultivated, and at the same time did not let Fang Cheng and the other Fang family youths sleep, making them cultivate together.

"We are really getting more and more diligent now."

"Brother Yu has already cultivated to the Hardness-Softness Realm and is still so diligent — how could we not be diligent?"

"People whose cultivation base is higher than ours are this diligent — what's the use of us being diligent?"

Two more Fang family youths complained; they had accompanied the Second Young Lady on the hunt for an entire day and now just wanted to sleep.

But Fang Cheng's expression suddenly brightened with joy, and a remarkable change came over his body: "Brother Yu, I seem to have broken through to the 4th Stage of Physical Body, the Hardness-Softness Realm!"