Chapter 592: The Pan Family

Puff! Puff!

A dozen wooden thorns emerged, piercing Fei Wu's dantian and limbs, instantly neutralizing him and reducing him to a cripple.

Only then did Fang Xing appear leisurely, gazing at Fei Wu.

"You? Fang Xing? Impossible… you've established your Dao foundation?"

Fei Wu's eyes bulged, blood streaming from them, his voice like a cuckoo's mournful cry.

"Since you know it's me, you should know why I've come."

Fang Xing strolled calmly to Fei Wu's side, sat down lightly, and watched the new head of the Fei family kneeling on the ground, blood pooling beneath him: "You'll likely be the shortest-reigning head of the Fei family…"

"It's not my fault! Fei Shentong acted alone—he's gone mad!" Fei Wu hurriedly said.

"See? You knew all along."

Fang Xing chuckled, then suddenly asked: "Where is the Dao foundation relic from the Qiao family?"

"How do you know?" Fei Wu was stunned again: "I can give it to you, but you must promise—"

Slap!

Before he finished speaking, he was slapped clean off his feet.

Fang Xing reached out casually, a streak of emerald light yanking Fei Wu's flying-mouse pouch into his hand.

Fei Wu, lying on the ground, saw this and turned ashen.

"Of course… you're a petty man, and petty, treacherous men trust no one—the Dao foundation relic must be on your person…"

Fang Xing chuckled, opened the flying-mouse pouch, rummaged through it, and pulled out a jade vial.

The jade vial was a uniform sky-blue, containing a pale blue pill inside.

Its pill aura swirled, radiating multicolored arcane light—clearly extraordinary.

"The Qiao family truly has no strength—they acquired only the lowest-tier Dao foundation relic: the Dao Foundation Pill!"

Fang Xing sneered: "It can protect the meridians, enhance primordial qi… raise the chance of establishing the Dao foundation by one or two percent…"

【You don't want it, then don't take it…】

Fei Wu felt stifled, his spirit utterly crushed.

Fei Shentong's assassination attempt on Fang Xing failed—apparently he confessed everything.

Today, he was certain to die, and perhaps the entire Fei family would too…

"If I die here today, I have nothing to say—only hope you'll spare the Fei family. I'll leave a will naming Fei Yong as the new head."

He closed his eyes and spoke gravely.

"Oh? Now you finally remember we're in-laws and try to cling to ties?"

Fang Xing chuckled: "Once you're dead, and I'm a Dao foundation cultivator, wouldn't Fei Yong naturally become head? But since the Fei family was truly unaware, I have no need to create more bloodshed…"

The Fei family is a Dao foundation clan; its destruction would cause major repercussions.

Moreover, if the Fei family falls, the Lu family of Poison Dragon Hill benefits most—and Fang Xing has no interest in the Lu family.

Better to keep the Fei family intact, support Fei Yong, and have them manage the Qingli Marsh for me.

Such a precious land, if not fully planted with trees, would be a terrible waste.

"Thank you. Do it."

Fei Wu closed his eyes.

The next instant, his head flew off.

…

The next day.

Poison Dragon Hill.

Lu Feng rushed into the ten-thousand-mu bamboo forest, face pale with panic: "Uncle Fang… disaster! The new Fei family head, Fei Wu, died mysteriously…"

"What? Fei Wu is dead?"

Fang Xing tried feigning shock, then gave up.

"Yes… the Fei family is stunned now. No one knows if Fei Shentong will step forward again to temporarily assume leadership."

Lu Feng laughed with malicious glee.

"You got news this fast—you've planted spies in the Fei family. And Fei Shentong?"

Fang Xing shook his head. How could a dead man return to become head?

"So… what do you intend to do? Invade the Fei family? Do you even have the strength?"

Lu Feng fell silent.

He had no such strength—even with the head dead, the Fei family still had many late-stage Qi Condensation elders.

What could one man do?

Precisely because of this, he wanted to drag Fang Xing into it.

"Your priority now should be notifying Song Yunqian and bringing Fei Yong back as soon as possible."

Fang Xing regarded Lu Feng curiously: "Fei Yong has the support of Qingmu Ridge. If you offer the Fei family enough benefits, he'll surely become head. Also, watch out for the Pan family."

"The Pan family…"

Lu Feng's expression changed. The Pan family had three Dao foundation experts and controlled the profits of Yunlai Market.

If they wanted to insert themselves into the Qingli Marsh today, it was certainly possible.

"I'll go right away!"

Thinking this, he immediately rose and hurried toward Dongfeng.

Fang Xing watched this and shook his head.

…

Several days later.

In the sky, two flying lights sped toward the Qingli Marsh.

Inside them were two Dao foundation cultivators.

One, a middle-aged man, had a leopard's head and tiger's eyes, his appearance fierce.

The other was a young scholar, with delicate features and a serpentine aura.

They were the Pan family's two famed Dao foundation experts: Pan Hu and Pan She.

"The Fei family's trouble has prompted our Ancestor to send us… what's the final plan?"

Pan Hu looked at Pan She casually: "Are we going to swallow the Fei family whole?"

Pan She said: "We're both Dao foundation clans under Qingmu Ridge—such direct annexation would be improper. My Pan family has long-standing ties with the Fei family; we've come merely to mourn the new head's death… and to lend them a hand."

"Oh? You've planted someone in the Fei family? Who are we backing today?"

Pan Hu asked curiously.

The Fei family was merely a Qi Condensation clan; with two Dao foundation experts here, installing any head was a single word away.

"No…"

Pan She smiled: "Fei Shentong and Fei Wu may lack strength, but they ran the Fei family well. I never interfered before. But this time, no matter who becomes head, he must marry a woman from our Pan family."

In orthodox circles, annexation was never crude.

It involved marriage alliances, apprenticeships… constant negotiation and maneuvering.

Though it took longer and demanded more effort, it left fewer long-term problems—and for the annexed, it was better than demonic clans who slaughtered entire families.

Qingli Marsh.

Not a single word, not a single line, not a single detail in here!

Fei family.

Now draped entirely in white.

Today was Fei Wu's seventh day—many relatives and friends had come.

Song Yunqian and Fei Yong were among them.

"Lord Lu of Poison Dragon Hill arrives!"

As the master of ceremonies announced it, Lu Feng arrived at the Fei family estate with Song Yunqian and others.

"Condolences…"

He gripped Fei Yong's hand, face filled with sorrow: "Fei Wu was my friend. Seeing him dead is truly heartbreaking. You must also grieve…"

This speech mattered little—what mattered was who he said it to.

Several young Fei family members saw Lu Feng treating Fei Yong as the new head and grew angry.

But some elder Fei family members found it perfectly natural.

Fei Yong was half of Poison Dragon Hill—why shouldn't these outsiders support him?

Moreover, the head's death was suspicious. Until the truth was uncovered, the truly shrewd wouldn't touch that burning seat.

Other visiting factions whispered among themselves, sensing Fei Yong, the young man, had a high chance of becoming the new head—perhaps they should invest more?

…

As the Fei family ancestral hall erupted in chaos over who should become head, above the Qingli Marsh…

Pan Hu and Pan She arrived.

But they exchanged glances and grew solemn: "Who is this Daoist friend? Playing a joke on our Pan family?"

Hummm!

Unseen, clouds scattered—each one was a swarm of winged, mutated cold-white ants.

After Fang Xing's years of mutation induction and breeding, these cold-white ants were utterly different from the first generation.

Among them, the king was as large as a thumb, sporting two or even three pairs of wings, its aura already reaching the Late Sensing stage.

Their numbers were astonishingly vast, spreading unnoticed across the heavens, even catching the two Pill Foundation cultivators of the Pan clan off guard.

"Fang Xing of Poisonous Dragon Slope… greets you both, fellow cultivators."

Fang Xing appeared gracefully, gazing at Pan Hu and Pan She: "I am a relative by marriage to the Fei family. Since you've come to pay respects, shouldn't you have landed your cultivation light ten li away and walked here? Isn't that proper etiquette?"

Pan Hu and Pan She exchanged glances. According to the etiquette of Pill Foundation clans, this was indeed correct—anything less would be disrespectful; to fly in so brazenly as guests would suggest bullying the weak with strength.

But today, they had come to pressure the Fei family.

Besides, the Fei family had no Pill Foundation cultivators—without deterrent power, there was no need to show caution.

"Poisonous Dragon Slope?"

"You're a relative by marriage to the Fei family?"

Pan Hu and Pan She exchanged glances, both deeply startled.

"The Fei family didn't even cultivate their own kin, yet they helped an outsider achieve Pill Foundation?"

Pan Hu widened his eyes, convinced the entire Fei family had gone blind.

"This can't be right—this Fang cultivator must be a natural genius who achieved Pill Foundation on his own?"

Pan She glanced at the pale white ants, forcing a smile onto his face while inwardly reeling in shock.

Regardless of this newly ascended Pill Foundation beginner's other abilities, just this mastery over insects is truly unparalleled—he could easily hold off both of us.

Even within our Pan clan, only the ancestral elder could stand against him.

Pan She's Pill Foundation was named the "Linglong Heart," granting him extraordinary cunning and an uncanny intuitive sense.

At this moment, he knew—even with Pan Hu beside him—he was no match for Fang Xing.

"Precisely so. What do you intend to do now?"

Fang Xing smiled pleasantly.

"We came to mourn, and lost our composure—this is indeed our fault…"

Pan She immediately stopped Pan Hu, smiling warmly: "We shall return ten li away and walk in to pay our respects—that is proper etiquette."

"That is excellent."

Fang Xing nodded, watching Pan She and Pan Hu depart, then floated gently down outside the Fei family's main residence, beyond the funeral hall.

BOOM!

A ripple of bamboo shadows swayed across his body, his Pill Foundation power suppressing the entire scene.

"Pill Foundation?"

Fei Yong froze: "Grandpa Fang is a Pill Foundation cultivator?"

"Pill Foundation?" Lü Feng also froze: "How is this possible?"

He suddenly realized his prior schemes and confident planning were all a joke.

"Fei Yong shall be head of the family—who opposes?"

Fang Xing paid them no mind, sweeping his gaze across the crowd and speaking coldly.

(End of Chapter)