Chapter 131: Strength and Weakness

~~~~

The Young Master of the Eternal Flame Clan must always present a dignified image. He must be mighty, brilliant, and without peer. The slightest show of weakness will only invite vultures to gather around him.

“It is not fair!”

Feng Hao is not yet ready to be held up to that standard.

As much as he tries, Feng Hao is still very much a child, something that is on full display today as he angrily paces back and forth around the sparring room.

“Elder Brother… am I weak? Is that why this is happening?”

Feng Hao’s face is set on a mighty pout. Though they have yet to spar a single time, the child is already tired, his shoulders sagging inward and his head hung low.

“There are very few circumstances in which I would call Young Master weak,” Liu Jin answers, hands folded behind his back. “In fact, I dare say Young Master is stronger than over half the disciples in the Eternal Flame Clan.”

A conservative estimate, if anything. Even among Inner Disciples, those who surpass Feng Hao are not in the majority.

“Right? Right?” The young child raises his head and eagerly grasps Liu Jin’s words, pointing and nodding. “I am not weak! I do not need to be coddled! If one does not venture into the tiger’s den, one cannot snatch the tiger’s cub!”

“Tiger cubs are best left in their den, Young Master.”

However, Feng Hao is not listening anymore. He walks with new momentum, nervous energy infused into his every movement. Dozens of thoughts play out across his face with crystal clarity.

“Elder Brother!” His robes flutter as he suddenly turns on his heels. “Is there any way you can convince my mother against this?”

Liu Jin does not answer right away.

Instead, Liu Jin meets Feng Hao’s eagerness with silence and lets it drag on past the point of awkwardness. A cicada cries in the distance.

“Young Master,” he says once Feng Hao’s hopeful smile falters and dies, “just how much say do you think an Inner Disciple has over Lady Ling’s decisions?”

“Not much?”

“Not much,” Liu Jin agrees. “If Young Master’s pleas cannot move Lady Ling, how could this one’s possibly do so?

Feng Hao looks down.

“Oh.”

“Besides, Young Master is making a mistake if he believes I disagree with Lady Ling’s orders.”

The look on Feng Hao’s face is perfectly betrayed.

“Elder Brother, why?”

Guilt worms inside Liu Jin, but logic wins out. Dangerous though Lady Ling may be, it is not fear that stops Liu Jin from speaking out against her. Far from it. Though Feng Hao is unhappy with his mother’s choice, Liu Jin cannot say he disagrees with Lady Ling.

But how to make Feng Hao understand that?

“Young Master,” Liu Jin begins. “The Eternal Flame Clan is undergoing an ordeal right now.”

“Because of my father and uncle?”

Liu Jin nods.

“Quite. It is still not yet certain which of them will become the next Patriarch.”

Though from Liu Jin’s perspective, it is Lord Feng Gui who holds the advantage. The introduction of the Internal Force may have caused a bit of stir, but it hadn’t managed to take away the impact of Lord Feng Shang’s recent losses. The Trial. The Medical Pavilion. The Crimson Cloud Tournament. Even the pill-making contest during the feast. In their own ways, all those events have helped tilt the balance.

The end, unfortunately, is not yet in sight.

“In that struggle, Young Master Feng Hao is undeniably crucial.”

Feng Hao is a testament to the power of Lord Feng Gui’s bloodline. A true prodigy child the likes of which even Xiao Nan cannot be compared to.

When Liu Jin first met him, Feng Hao had been in the Third Level of the Nascent Realm.

The Feng Hao that now stands before him has reached the Ninth Level of the Nascent Realm.

Most people never leave the Nascent Realm. Feng Hao will do so before seeing nine springs. No one can deny Feng Hao is Lord Feng Gui’s biggest asset.

Paradoxically, Feng Hao is also Lord Feng Gui’s biggest weakness.

“Young Master’s successes put Lord Feng Gui’s heart at ease. By the same token, if any harm were to befall Young Master, your father would be greatly distraught. Even in the Eternal Flame Clan, there are some who would try to use this against Lord Feng Gui. Lady Ling knows this, which is why she has asked you to remain here until everything is over.”

Until Lady Ling deems it safe, Feng Hao cannot take a single step outside the mansion.

Considering what Liu Jin has learned from Elder Xue, Lady Ling’s concerns are more than valid. An Inner Disciple of the Apothecary was attacked and almost killed. Feng Hao is a far more tempting target. For him to wander about, even with guards, is a risk too big for Lady Ling to take.

“But that’s not fair!”

Of course, Feng Hao does not see it that way.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Feng Hao is a child being punished through no fault of his own.

“Elder Brother says I’m strong, but doesn’t this just make it obvious how weak I am? How can I be strong if I only give my parents cause to worry?”

“There is a world of difference, Young Master, between being strong and being the strongest.”

Feng Hao looks away and kicks some imaginary dust on the floor.

“Is there really nothing Elder Brother can do?”

“I am also not the strongest.”

“Much stronger than me,” Feng Hao mutters. “They call me a prodigy, but Elder Brother has grown far more than I have.”

“That is not, strictly speaking, true.”

Liu Jin’s growth over the past few months is rooted in a foundation that stretches back many years. By contrast, Feng Hao grows and grows even as he builds his foundation as a cultivator. One could even argue his growth is too quick for his own good.

“It is also not important. Young Master, do you truly believe I could protect you from a Core Disciple?”

“Elder Brother couldn’t?” Feng Hao sounds genuinely surprised. “But Elder Brother is so strong! Much stronger than people in higher levels of cultivation!”

Liu Jin smiles. “I appreciate Young Master’s confidence in me, but please, do not value me so highly. I am strong, but so are many others. Core Disciples, in particular, are all gifted people with far more age and experience than I.”

Against someone like Xi Mou, who had been chosen to participate in the Crimson Cloud Tournament, Liu Jin wouldn’t last three moves, not even with his increased power. Perhaps not even one. To even think about something like that, Liu Jin would have to be in the True Realm, and even then, that may still be an optimistic estimate.