The Yan Clan estate was a fortress. High walls, stern guards, the whole nine yards. Li Xuan walked through the main gate, his clear eyes taking it all in.
'High walls, grim-faced guards… these mortals do love their theatrics,' his internal voice was a dry, dismissive thought. 'A decent show of force for a backwater town, I suppose.'
They were met by Captain Gao, who, after a warm greeting, suggested Li Xuan go see the children. Feng, looking like a man on a mission, practically jumped on the excuse. "An excellent idea! A brilliant idea! Master Li, you go! Lu Wen, you accompany him. The Patriarch and I have some… dry, boring, extremely important old-man business to discuss!"
Li Xuan looked at Feng's overly eager face. The old man was practically vibrating with a hidden agenda, his eyes wide with a manic energy that was frankly unsettling. 'Is he up to something?' he thought, a flicker of genuine amusement in his eyes. He had no interest in mortal politics, but the old fool's plotting was an interesting diversion. 'Fine. Let's see what game he's playing.'
"Fine," he said simply.
As Li Xuan and Lu Wen were led away, Feng watched them go, his expression tense. He then turned to Captain Gao, took a deep, steadying breath, and puffed out his chest like a proud rooster. "Lead the way."
He was brought to the large, austere study. The Patriarch, Yan Tian, sat behind a massive redwood desk, his son Yan Zheng standing beside him. Before the guard could even announce him, Feng strode into the room.
"Yan Tian!" he barked, forgoing all pleasantries.
The Patriarch looked up, his face a mask of pure annoyance. "Feng, you old goat, have you lost your mind? This is my study, not your dusty old shop." His eyes then widened, his jaw going slack as he felt the surging, unstable aura of a newly-promoted Rank 3 Alchemist. "Wait a minute… you… you actually did it? After thirty years of whining and complaining, you finally broke through?"
"Never mind that!" Feng said, waving his hand dismissively as if his own, life-altering breakthrough was a trivial matter. "We have a much, much, MUCH bigger problem!"
The Patriarch frowned, sinking back into his chair. "Bigger than you becoming one of the most powerful men in the kingdom?"
"Infinitely bigger!" Feng whispered, leaning over the desk conspiratorially, his eyes darting around the room. "Patriarch… this morning, while in seclusion, this old one was... inspected."
"Inspected?" Yan Zheng asked.
"A spiritual probe!" Feng clarified, a shiver running down his spine. "A gaze of impossible power that made my Rank 3 soul feel like a firefly before the sun!"
The Patriarch's eyes narrowed dangerously. "A hidden expert? In my town?"
"That's what I first thought!" Feng said, starting to pace the room like a caged, hysterical chicken. "But then I started to think! Think, you old fool, I told myself! Connect the dots! For the past week, a seven-year-old beggar has been selling a revolutionary formula for lipstick! Lipstick, Yan Tian! He then diagnoses a poison that I couldn't see! He provides a formula for a Lesser Soul-Healing Pill that defies all known alchemical principles! He creates a hundred-year-old herb from a sapling! He invents a Starlight Vision Pill from trash ingredients! And then… he lectures me for five minutes and gifts me a breakthrough I have sought for thirty years!"
He threw his hands up in the air. "It doesn't make sense! How can a child know these things?! It is impossible!"
Yan Tian and his son exchanged a look. The old man was losing his mind.
"Unless..." Feng whispered, his eyes widening. He slammed his hands on the Patriarch's desk. "There are only two possibilities! One: he is the secret, one-in-a-billion-year prodigy disciple of some ancient, hermit Grandmaster! Or two: he is the Young Master of some colossal clan who was either kicked out or ran away due to vicious family politics!"
The Patriarch's jaw tightened. Both theories were insane, but they fit every single impossible fact.
"And the probe I felt," Feng continued, his voice now a triumphant, horrified whisper. "It doesn't matter which theory is true, the result is the same! It was either his Master or his Protector! That gaze wasn't a threat. It was a test! My breakthrough… it was a job interview!"
The weight of that statement settled in the room. The Patriarch, a man who had faced down beast tides, felt a cold sweat bead on his forehead. It didn't matter which theory was true. They had a baby tiger in their house, and its ancient, fire-breathing, and very protective mother was watching them from the shadows.
Suddenly, Yan Tian held up a hand, a sharp, cunning light in his eyes. "Wait. One flaw in your theory, you old fool. His eyes. He healed them yesterday. If he is who you say he is, why would he arrive in my town as a blind, starving beggar? His guardian would have healed him long ago."
Feng froze. The Patriarch was right. It was a massive plot hole. His beautiful, perfect theory was crumbling! He started to panic, his mind racing for an explanation. Then, his eyes lit up with a new, even more terrifying, and absolutely brilliant realization.
"You're right!" he gasped. "But you're also wrong! The blindness wasn't a flaw in his condition! It was a flaw in ours!"
"What in the hells are you talking about?" the Patriarch growled.
"It was a test!" Feng declared, his voice full of a prophet's mad conviction. "Don't you see? The Grandmaster left his disciple in that state deliberately! He wanted to see what we would do! He wanted to test the character of Yan Town! Would we let a blind, starving child die in an alley? Or would we show him compassion? It was a test of our entire town's virtue! And we failed! Until he stumbled into my shop, we all failed!"
A heavy silence fell in the study. The Patriarch's face went from confused, to angry, to utterly, profoundly pale. The word "failed" echoed in his mind. He, Yan Tian, the ruler of this land, had failed a divine test being conducted right under his nose. The implications of that failure were terrifying. He sank back into his chair, his usual commanding aura completely gone, replaced by the weary stress of a man who just realized he's in a much deeper, more dangerous game than he ever imagined. He pictured a wrathful, god-grandma in the sky, shaking her head at him in disappointment.
"So let me get this straight," the Patriarch said slowly, his voice a low growl of dawning horror. "What you're telling me is, not only do we have a baby tiger in our house whose mother is watching us, but we've already been graded on our performance… and we got an 'F'."
"Precisely!" Feng said, relieved that the Patriarch finally, truly understood the gravity of the situation.
Yan Tian stood up, a bitter, weary expression on his face. "Kicked out due to politics... sent to this remote border region..." he murmured. The "Young Master" theory resonated with his own damn story.
He turned back, his eyes no longer blazing with strategic light, but with a new, profound, and deeply pragmatic terror.
"This changes everything," the Patriarch declared.
"The boy is no longer just a guest or an ally," he said, his voice absolute. "He is a precious ancestor we must worship. His safety is not a priority; it is our only reason for existence. If he gets a splinter, that Guardian might burn our entire clan to the ground as a punishment for our incompetence!"
He looked at his son, his face deadly serious. "And his every desire, no matter how small, strange, or utterly insane, will be met without question. If he wants a pet dragon, you find him a dragon. If he wants to paint the town walls pink, you hand him a brush. If he wants to rename this town 'Li's Fun Land', you start drafting the paperwork. Am I understood?"
(Author's Note - The Path Ahead!
Hey everyone, your author MythicNovelist here with a quick update!
First off, I've been working hard editing the future chapters (and putting in some extra time!) because I'm committed to making your reading time absolutely worth it. Quality comes first! 💪
Second, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the future direction of this novel. My previous drafts just weren't hitting the mark, didn't quite capture the story I really wanted to tell.
So, I've decided to focus more on developing that special kind of character... you know the type. The ones who just exude that cool, powerful presence, an effortless mystique or quiet intensity that commands a room without even trying. As a man, I know that's something many of us find compelling. Li Xuan is definitely heading down that path, but you can expect to see other characters in the future who are masters of cultivating their own unique vibe. Think powerful old masters, mysterious rivals... it's going to be epic! 🥶
As always, your precious feedback is welcome! Let me know what you think of this direction in the comments. Your thoughts help shape this journey.
One Last Thing: From now on, I won't be constantly nagging you guys to add to library, comment, review, or vote with Power Stones. This is the last time I'll mention it. I believe the story itself should earn your support. If you enjoy the ride, you know what to do. 😉
Thanks for reading! 🔥
* MythicNovelist
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