The sky was clear, the flowers were in bloom, and the birds were singing.

Accompanied by Fang Lanxi, Fang Yang left his small cabin and headed for the General Affairs Hall to take care of various matters.

Among these was the task of officially assigning a territory and completing the settlement of the White Feathered Eagle Bronze Tribe.

Right now, Fang Lanxi was chattering away to Fang Yang like a lark.

"Brother, do you think I’m suited to study as an Alchemist Doctor?"

"You? You’re relatively suited for it."

"But I don’t want to be cooped up in an apothecary all day like Father. I want to command the Flying Eagle Group, achieve great things, and become a young prodigy!"

"Achieve great things? A young prodigy? You don’t even have a B-grade Spirit Body. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Besides, if not for a series of accidents, I think I would have become a pretty good Alchemist Doctor."

"Then... can you tell me about the battlefield? Like how you led the Leran Grassland garrison to repel Liu Manlou?"

Fang Lanxi’s bright eyes blinked, a ripple of excitement in them.

She wore a peach-blossom pink floral dress, a phalaenopsis orchid clip tucked in her hair bun. She skipped along, full of life.

Hearing this, Fang Yang glanced at her.

Before Fang Yang could reply, Fang Lanxi asked again about the war on the front lines, even pressing him about the blood sacrifice!

It seemed the blood sacrifice of thousands of tribes wasn’t just a matter of curiosity for those on the front lines; even the people of the Changkong Clan in the rear were incredibly intrigued.

But forget the blood sacrifice; Fang Yang didn’t even want to talk much about repelling Liu Manlou.

Fang Yang said, "War is no game. There’s nothing to talk about, so don’t ask again. Speaking of which, how are you not a Tier One Pill Master yet?"

A Tier One Pill Master...

"Fine, don’t talk about it then." Fang Lanxi pressed her lips together and quickened her pace, heading straight for the General Affairs Hall.

’If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. But you didn’t have to bring up my studies to put me down.’

’I’ve only just started cultivating. I can’t even condense enough True Essence, so how am I supposed to handle a Pill Cauldron?’

’Do you think everyone is a genius like you?’

...

The General Affairs Hall was situated atop a mountain peak, amidst the clouds. It was a sprawling complex of cyan palaces.

From a distance, it looked like a great cyan flood dragon resting silently yet menacingly among the clouds.

When Fang Yang arrived with his cousin Fang Lanxi, he ran into one acquaintance after another.

Lin Yaoguang, Le Shiyu, Hong Qishang, and the others.

It was clear that after returning to the clan, they hadn’t slacked off, retaining the swift and decisive style they had on the battlefield.

By unspoken agreement, they all chose to handle their various affairs first before taking a proper rest.

Lin Yaoguang: "Zhi Lingwu, is this your younger sister?"

Le Shiyu: "Little sister, I came in a hurry today. Please, take this artifact."

Hong Qishang: "Oh? Clan-sister Lanxi is also interested in studying the art of enslavement? Hahaha, perhaps these brief notes of mine will be of some help to you..."

Fang Lanxi’s expression was a bit dazed.

She wasn’t a child anymore; she could tell right from wrong.

But right now, she still felt an immense shock.

’Is... is this my brother’s charisma...?’ Fang Lanxi wondered hesitantly.

But under Fang Yang’s guidance, she obediently greeted each of her clan-brothers and clan-sisters.

"Don’t overthink it."

Fang Yang narrowed his eyes and chuckled. "Just accept them. Back then, Second Uncle Fang promoted me in the same way."

Seeing the astonished look on his cousin Lanxi’s face, Fang Yang offered a few words of reassurance. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Then, he continued walking forward.

They passed through one palace after another, finally arriving at the very core: the Outer Cyan Hall.

The Outer Cyan Hall was the core of the General Affairs Hall, responsible for planning the territorial allocation for the other Silver and Bronze Tribes.

Outside the Outer Cyan Hall, there were stone pavilions and long rows of benches.

At this moment, these pavilions and benches were almost completely filled with people.

"Fang Yang?"

"Zhang Ye?"

Just then, Fang Yang caught sight of Zhang Ye, who was seated in the front to the northwest.

That Zhang Ye... it looked like he was being left out in the cold?

After several years, the two met again officially. This time, however, there was far less hidden turmoil between them.

CREAK~

In the very next moment, a lean, middle-aged man in a cyan robe hurried out from inside, heading straight for Fang Yang.

The man’s appearance instantly drew everyone’s attention, especially Zhang Ye’s.

This was because he was the one who had given Zhang Ye the cold shoulder earlier, making him wait outside and deliberately slowing down his business.

Now, the middle-aged man was all smiles as he greeted Fang Yang. "Zhi Lingwu, I am Clan Elder Qingma of the Outer Cyan Palace. Please, come with me."

HISS~

Seeing Clan Elder Qingma treat Fang Yang with such a humble attitude, the others secretly sucked in a cold breath, their scalps tingling.

Everyone knew that Qingkong from the great Qing lineage had already become a Saint. Consequently, the power and prestige of the Qing lineage had soared once more.

Because of this, everyone from the Qing lineage was proud and arrogant, acting as if no one else mattered.

Who would have thought that Clan Elder Qingma would greet Fang Yang with such an attitude?

"Zhi Lingwu?"

Fang Yang repeated the title to himself, as if he’d thought of something, but he didn’t ask Clan Elder Qingma to address him differently.

Then, he took his cousin Fang Lanxi and stepped into the Outer Cyan Hall together.

’The gap between Fang Yang and me has already started to show.’

Zhang Ye’s gaze was profound as he let out a quiet sigh.

For some reason, he felt a humiliating pain, as if a python were wrapped around his heart.

But he also understood that Fang Yang had earned this through his own strength.

’In the end, your status determines the solutions available to you.’

HUFF... Zhang Ye took a deep breath, quickly clearing his mind of stray thoughts.

’The one who starts first has their advantages, but the one who comes after has their strengths too. I won’t give up on chasing Fang Yang so easily.’

Meanwhile, inside the Outer Cyan Palace, Clan Elder Qingma was diligently explaining the various advantageous locations to Fang Yang.

On a huge light-screen map, one prime location after another was marked.

This was a level of access that, let alone a Bronze Tribe, not even a Silver Tribe would necessarily have.

But because of Fang Yang’s status, the White Feathered Eagle Bronze Tribe was being given an exception to choose.

At this moment, Fang Lanxi felt as if her horizons had been broadened.

In the past, never mind a Clan Elder like Qingma, even a regular member of the General Affairs Hall would have been haughty and wouldn’t have deigned to pay them any attention.

But after her cousin returned, everything had changed!

At that moment, Fang Lanxi looked up to Fang Yang, thinking, ’One day, I’ll become a great figure just like my brother.’

In the end, Fang Yang and Clan Elder Qingma finalized the decision: the White Feathered Eagle Bronze Tribe would remain in the Beast Rushing Mountain Range.

However, the tribe’s territory wouldn’t just include the northern part of the Beast Rushing Mountain Range, but the entire range!

Night fell, and the stars were dim.

In the courtyard, Fang Lanxi was recounting the day’s events to Second Uncle Fang, Fang Xuan, and the others, chattering away like a lark.

She was especially delighted when she talked about Zhang Ye’s setback and Fang Yang’s success.

She knew that Zhang Ye was the Qilin of the Zhang family, yet the importance placed on him within the clan was far less than that given to her own brother!

「Three days later.」

Before long, Fang Yang finally finished all his miscellaneous tasks. He could now look for Sen Hui and then head to the Sen family’s Scripture Pavilion to investigate.