Chapter 44 - 44 40 He's Not Worthy

44: Chapter 40 He’s Not Worthy 44: Chapter 40 He’s Not Worthy “Interesting,” Jiang Wang laughed.

“Are you going?” Ling He asked.

“Why not?” Jiang Wang turned his head to Anan and said, “How about brother takes you on a feast?”

Jiang Anan nodded her little head very seriously.

Ling He then straightened out his clothes and casually carried his sword with him.

“Hey!” Jiang Wang stopped him, “You don’t need to follow, we’re not going to fight.”

Meeting Ling He’s gaze, Jiang Wang added, “Don’t worry, the Fang Family isn’t that foolish.”

Ling He thought about it and felt there was reason in that, so he put the sword back down and sat cross-legged.

If there was nothing else, he could cultivate all day long.

Cultivation is full of mysteries, and there is joy to be found within it.

On the way to Wangyue Pavilion, Anan suddenly looked up and asked, “Is the Fang Family bad people?”

“Oh?” Jiang Wang looked at her with interest, “Why do you say that?”

“I see that even Brother Ling He wants to fight them,” said Jiang Anan.

Jiang Wang started to laugh.

With Ling He’s temperament, it was indeed rare for him to show hostility towards anyone.

“Then we won’t go for the meal,” said Jiang Anan again.

“No, that won’t do.

We must go and eat, and we must eat with style and skill,” Jiang Wang said deliberately, “Eating the bad guys into poverty is doing good deeds, understand?”

Jiang Anan, thumb in her mouth, thoughtfully nodded her head.

“Snap!”

“Don’t bite your fingers!”

Wangjiang City has a Wangjiang Pavilion that is very grand and famous far and wide.

Fenglin City’s similarly named Wangyue Pavilion, however, pales in comparison.

This pavilion is not tall, only three stories high.

Yet it is named for moon gazing, which inevitably leads to a disparity between name and reality, and breeds ridicule.

But the dishes inside the pavilion are hard to find elsewhere, which is why it’s always bustling with business in Fenglin City.

Carrying Jiang Anan, Jiang Wang walked into Wangyue Pavilion and was directly guided to a private room by the Fang Family’s servants.

A middle-aged man with a composed air and a somewhat scholarly face rose to greet them, “Esteemed nephew!”

His gaze fell on Anan, and his smile became even more affable, “Is this your younger sister?

She’s really adorable.”

Jiang Wang had met Fang Zehou before, long ago when his relationship with Fang Pengju was close, Fang Zehou had invited them to dine together more than once.

Back then, Fang Zehou showed a very caring and hopeful demeanor towards his nephew.

After Fang Pengju’s disgraceful death, not a single person from the Fang Family was willing to come forward to bury him.

Esteemed nephew were not titles Jiang Wang wished to be addressed by, so he greeted him, “Hello, Clan Leader Fang.”

“Not yet, not yet,” Fang Zehou smiled and waved a hand, taking a string of gold beads from a servant and offered it to Jiang Anan, “It’s our first meeting, let uncle give you a gift!”

Jiang Anan turned her head away and buried her little face in Jiang Wang’s arms.

In her small mind, she had already decided this man was bad and would not even speak to him.

While settling Jiang Anan into her seat, Jiang Wang said, “The little girl is shy, don’t mind her.

And let’s forget about the gift, Mr.

Fang, just speak directly, what is the purpose of inviting me here today?”

Fang Zehou had donated to earn the unofficial title of ‘Yuanwai’, though he truly held an official position.

Thus, the address as ‘Yuanwai’ was not out of place.

“No rush, no rush,” Fang Zehou’s face showed no embarrassment as he waved the servants to put away the gold beads and then said, “First, let’s try the house specialty here, lotus leaf chicken.”

Jiang Anan was already intent on eating the villain into poverty and was ready to begin, but Jiang Wang stopped her with a hand.

He stretched out his chopsticks and tasted each dish on the table, contemplated the flavors for a while, and then picked out a few dishes and placed them in front of Anan.

“Brother tasted them for you, these ones are the best flavored.”

Jiang Anan wanted to complain, but the aroma of the lotus leaf chicken wafted into her nose, and she had no time to gripe, immediately tearing into a chicken leg and gnawing on it.

Fang Zehou maintained an affable smile throughout, seemingly oblivious to Jiang Wang’s wariness.

“The sibling bond is really strong,” he admired.

“Good enough to raise together,” Jiang Wang replied nonchalantly.

Jiang Anan shot him an angry look, but her mouth was too busy to protest, so she bit fiercely into a chicken wing instead.

Jiang Wang didn’t mind and continued, “I wonder what Mr.

Yuanwai has in mind, this time calling on me, is it…”

Fang Zehou suddenly let out a long sigh, his expression becoming grave, “Regarding what happened with Peng Ju, our Fang Family owes you an apology.”

When it came to Fang Pengju, Jiang Wang couldn’t help but become serious.

Regardless of how things had transpired, Fang Pengju was dead, and so all debts and grudges should be settled.

He neither wanted nor needed to persistently pursue the matter against the memorial tablet of a dead man.

“It’s all in the past,” Jiang Wang said.

“Although the young master says so, our Fang Family cannot leave it unacknowledged,” Fang Zehou slid a small box across the table, “Here are a hundred taels of red gold as a token of our apology.”

“Fang Pengju has already paid the price for his actions,” Jiang Wang was not in the mood to beat around the bush; he didn’t even glance at the box of gold, “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Fang Zehou nodded, “Peng Ju was once the hope of our Fang Family, with boundless potential.

He was killed by you in a death match, and although it was due to his own fault, our Fang Family has not troubled you over it, right?”

“Correct.” Jiang Wang could not deny this fact.

“Now, your uncle has a favor to ask of you.”

Jiang Wang looked at him, signaling for him to continue.

Fang Zehou said, “After Peng Ju’s death, among the younger generation of our Fang Family, only Helling can be properly cultivated.

I have had to set aside my grief and transfer all the care I had for Peng Ju to Helling.

He has shown promise, diligently practicing his cultivation, having even surpassed you.

But…”

Jiang Wang’s eyebrows raised, sensing the crucial part was coming.

“After the previous fight with you, his confidence was shattered, and he’s fallen apart.

He’s locked himself in his room, drowning his sorrows with alcohol.

If this continues for long, I’m afraid he will become a wreck.” Even for someone as cunning as Fang Zehou, his voice trembled at the thought.

After all, he was speaking of his only legitimate son.

“So?” Jiang Wang asked.

“This is a difficult request to make,” Fang Zehou said, “but I still brazenly hope that you could admit wrongdoing to Helling, claim that you won the duel by…

by dishonorable means, to help him regain his confidence.”

Jiang Wang almost wanted to laugh, “How can I admit to something I’ve not done?”

“You won’t be admitting it for nothing, not for nothing!” Fang Zehou urged repeatedly, “Once this matter is resolved, besides this box of red gold, I will give you another hundred taels of red gold!

You would only be…

pretending to bow your head once…”

Jiang Wang tapped the box of gold with his finger, indeed breaking into laughter, “The Fang Family has produced cultivators before, if I’m not mistaken, the old master was a Grade-8 Zhoutian cultivator?

What significance does this so-called gold and silver have for cultivators?”

With a flick of his finger, he gently pushed the small box back.

Fang Zehou immediately took out a small embroidered box from his bosom, carefully opened it, and placed it in front of Jiang Wang.

The fluctuation of Path Origin energy within the embroidered box nearly instantly caught Jiang Wang’s attention.

“This is a Prime Stone.

For a cultivator, I believe it has meaning,” Fang Zehou stated earnestly, “Just bow your head a little, and it’s yours.”

This Prime Stone was certainly significant!

Compared to mundane treasures like gold and jewelry, Prime Stones were the true currency for cultivators, assisting in practice and replenishing energy reserves.

And this Prime Stone before him was unused, full-weight, containing a full one hundred units of Path Origin.

For Jiang Wang, absorbing this Prime Stone would almost instantly allow him to reach the foundation establishment benchmark!

He finally understood why Fang Helling had been able to establish his foundation so quickly, and even more so, nearly complete the Small Heavenly Cycle.

But Jiang Wang simply closed the box gently, “Perhaps as you say, my bowing is worthless.”

He pushed the embroidered box back too, “But Fang Helling, he doesn’t deserve it.”

The one who had been provoked was him, and he was the one forced into battle.

Where was the logic in him needing to apologize?

Who was to blame for the defeat and the ensuing collapse?

Was the weaker party inherently justified, their argument valid simply because of their weakness?

The Prime Stone was important, but principles were more important.

“Think of your sister as well,” Fang Zehou spoke slowly, “She’s still studying at the private school, isn’t she?”

At this moment, Jiang An’an was feasting voraciously, blissfully unaware of the serious adult conversations taking place.

Jiang Wang’s gaze suddenly sharpened, for the first time it bore an unmistakably clear and unrestrained killing intent.

Fang Zehou, barely maintaining eye contact, felt the impulse to jump out the window and flee.

He realized then that the youth before him was nothing like his son; he wasn’t a fragile seedling grown in a greenhouse, but a young wild beast who had endured hardships and struggled for survival in the storms of life!

“Hahaha…” Jiang Wang burst into laughter, suddenly stood up and scooped up Jiang An’an, “No more eating, we’re going home.”

Regardless of his thoughts, he would not show aggression or put Jiang An’an in danger in her presence.

“Woof…

Woof…” Jiang An’an struggled to swallow the meat in her mouth; although she was already in Jiang Wang’s arms, her eyes still lingered on the dishes on the table.

“Consider it…

me begging you!” That’s what Fang Zehou said from behind.

But Jiang Wang had already left with his sister, pushing the door open and leaving without hesitation.