Fang Qingli rode her green phoenix across Xuanyuan Lake towards Sterling Hall, and Fang Yuewei obediently tagged along without daring to say anything.
"Were the three lifebound beasts converted into lifebound spirits?" Fang Qingli asked, her eyes a little puffy and her fists tightly balled up.
"Yes, Grandmother," Fang Yuewei answered.
"And one of his arms was completely vaporized, is that it?"
"Yes."
"Then even if his arm gets restored in a few years, it wouldn’t be able to match the same refinement of the body that’s been using a body refining technique, as it won't be able to sustain a lot of force. This is a huge side effect. That means our precious boy is now half crippled," she said, almost stuttering from her shaking tongue. Memories of a kid learning his first words surfaced in her mind.
"Yes."
"Your mother left the two of you at an early age, so I was the one who brought you up. Sigh! With how spoiled he is, his days ahead will no doubt be difficult." She couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
"Grandmother...."
"Wei'er, why did he have to fight the one who has Her Eminence's favor, of all people? Thankfully, he’s still alive. If he wisens up, he can still get by in the future." Fang Qingli felt that this matter was just unfortunate no matter how they looked at it.
"Grandmother, even if Li Tianming has that kind of status, can't you do anything for your own grandson as the palace lord of Godservant Hall? Shouldn't you be the most important person to Her Eminence?"
Shaking her head, Fang Qingli said, "Her Eminence is a god, while I’m just a lowly servant. She doesn’t care about my grandson. Her Eminence said that she intended to forge Li Tianming into one of the strongest people in the whole Archaion Divine Realm within the next ten years, so there's not much I can do about it."
"What about dad?"
"Your father? He’s nothing before Her Eminence. Yuewei, that's enough talk about this. It’s already fortunate that Xingque managed to survive. Even if he only has one lifebound beast left, he’s still a beastmaster. As long as he puts in the effort, he’ll still be able to amount to something as long as I’m here. As long as he doesn't offend Li Tianming, nobody else can bother him."
"I understand."
"Living is always better than dying. It is about time Xingque grows up." The thought that her grandson might be suffering in despair caused her to want to go back to Sterling Hall as soon as possible.
"Grandmother, you haven't been back to Sterling Hall since the assassination attempt on Her Eminence."
"That's right."
Soon, they landed in the courtyard.
"By the way, Li Tianming left a kind of powerful seal on Xingque. It’s really chaotic, so take a look at it," Fang Yuewei said.
"Okay." Fang Qingli immediately entered with Fang Yuewei following behind.
"Are you asleep, my dear?"
There was no reply.
"Over here," Fang Yuewei said and pointed to a room.
They entered and saw Xingque on the bed, then the color drained from the faces and they struggled to find their voices. They saw his head on a bloodied pillow; it was a gruesome sight, especially with his eyes wide open in fear and hopelessness. Blood came gushing out of Fang Qingli's orifices as she collapsed unconscious.
......
By then, most people had left the Dimensional Battlefield. Fang Yuewei rushed over to the viewing room of the Fangs. "Dad! Dad!"
She looked around, seeing many important figures of the house leaving the room with Fang Taiqing at the very front.
"What are you making a commotion for?" he asked.
"Dad—" She knelt on the ground, still pale with shock.
"Speak."
"Xingque... is gone."
The whole place fell silent when that was uttered as everyone stopped chanting and turned to her.
"How did he die?" Fang Taiqing asked, his voice now much colder than before, but his reaction was still far too calm as a father.
"Li Tianming left a kind of seal on his body. I thought it’d be fine and went looking for Grandmother after converting his dead lifebound beasts to lifebound spirits. However, the seal took effect and jumbled up his body.... Xingque suffered too much. Even now, the seal is still on his body!" She broke down in tears.
"So that means Li Tianming killed him, right?" Fang Taiqing asked.
"Yes! It's all my fault, Dad, for not taking the seal into account...."
"Where’s your grandmother?"
"She... she feels horrible about it, but didn't say anything else and returned to Godservant Hall."
"How did she react?"
"She was grieving so hard that she vomited blood, but what’s worse is that there's nothing we can do for Xingque. All he did was hurt one of Li Tianming's lifebound beasts, yet he went straight to killing him! Since when has our house allowed others to treat us like this?" Even though she didn't really like this little brother of hers, his death was a sting to her dignity as the sect master's daughter. "Dad..."
Everyone was looking at Fang Taiqing, angry at what had transpired.
"Come, let us bury my son," Fang Taiqing said as he left first.
......
Fang Qingli stepped into Soulburn Hall with a smile on her face.
"Your Eminence," she greeted.
Feiling nodded and returned the greeting.
"There is something you must know, Your Eminence."
"What is it?"
"Li Tianming has obtained a spot at the Deepstar Pool and ranked first in the Deepstar Battle. He has improved too much," she said with her head lowered.
"Is that so? Good," Feiling praised.
"Your Eminence's foresight is truly amazing. Not even I could tell that he was special when he first came to the sect. To think that he rose to prominence in only two months...."
"Li Tianming is indeed amazing. He will no doubt be a magnificent dragon of the Archaion Sect," said Xuanyuan Dao. It was high praise coming from him, considering that the Archaic House of Xuanyuan's signature lifebound beasts were dragons.
"If you give him more time to grow, he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the sect." Even though she sounded calm, Feiling was actually elated about the news.
"Rest assured, Your Eminence, I will make sure to pay attention to him and help him grow," Xuanyuan Dao said.
"Very well."
Fang Qingli merely stood there respectfully without saying a word.
......
During the night outside Xuanyuan Lake, Fang Qingli flew over like a spirit. "What is the matter?"
A lone figure stood on the hill ahead of her. He turned and revealed himself to be Fang Taiqing. "Mother!"
His hands shook and his face was pale as he knelt there crying. "My only son... gone just like that without even a complete corpse!"
He grabbed her hand and looked up at her, despair filling his eyes as he respectfully put down an urn before her. "These are Xingque's ashes."
"What are you doing?!" she snapped in a hoarse voice.
"Mother, talk to him for a bit. You’re the one who was closest to him."
Fang Qingli picked up the urn with shaky hands and said, "Let's lay the child to rest in the earth."
"His death was horrifying. He shall get no rest until it’s answered for...."
"What would you have me do, Fang Taiqing? Deal with Her Eminence to avenge Xingque? Do you know what Li Tianming means to her Eminence?"
"Avenge him? Mother, you’re overthinking this. All I hope is for you to not stand in my way when misfortune befalls our house."
Fang Qingli silently looked at him for a long while.
"You’re someone who stands by Her Eminence's side. If the Sterling House of Fang perishes for good, at least you’ll survive," he said as he kowtowed.
"You’re going too far!"
"Please understand. Our ancestors have knelt and shed blood to achieve what we have today. I can't bear to see more of us suffer the fate of Xingque, innocently sacrificed to the vain goddess of the Xuanyuan house. If I’m mistaken, may our ancestors strike me down. It would only mean that the Sterling House of Fang's fate is to perish in obscurity!" He kept on kowtowing and crying.
Fang Qingli held the urn in her hands and felt blades cutting through her heart. "Leave now! I serve the Godservant Hall both in life and in death!"
"But we are your real family, I and Xingque both!" He kowtowed one last time before disappearing in the blizzard, leaving Fang Qingli rooted to the ground.
......
Right after that, Fang Taiqing met up with Fang Shenyu. His expression was neutral and refreshed, unlike before.
"How’d it go?" Fang Shenyu asked.
"It’ll do. I planted a seed in the form of her precious grandson's ashes. I doubt she’ll continue being a loyal hound."
"That's just how the Godservant Hall is. Her benefactor was far too important to her, and she’s been the bearer of the blood of the goddess all her life. It’s only to be expected that she’s insanely loyal."
"Let's go. All we need is for the seed to sprout at the right time. Xingque really did have a good future. It's such a shame, but no matter. If we can change our fate at the crucial moment, his death won't have been in vain."
......
In Draconis Sword Hall, Jian Wuyi stood at the balcony and watched the snowstorm.
"Big Brother," greeted a one armed man with messy hair.
"What’re you doing here away from your bodyguard post?" Jian Wuyi asked.
"Someone from the Tai'e House of Jian wants to meet you."
"Oh...." Jian Wuyi smiled.
"Will you meet them?"
"Of course. Why wouldn’t I?"