Chapter 174: Worth

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Word of their return reaches every corner of the Eternal Flame Clan before they even make it to the main gates. Some disciples saw them nearing Ember City and, instead of helping them, decided to rush back to the compound and spread the word. By the time Liu Jin and the others make it there, a large crowd has already gathered.

The disciples cheer and point and whisper among themselves. Until now, disciples returned from the Dead Plains one or two at a time. The sight of a group as large as theirs is a shock to many. Only the presence of powerful people like Feng Zhi, Senior Brother Guo, and Mud stops them from getting close.

A Core Disciple guides them to the baths, where they clean themselves and are given new robes. Once that is done, they are taken to the main house to deliver their stones to the Patriarch. Feng Zhi goes first, then Feng Hao. The Core Disciples follow. One by one, they are all called.

It does not take long for Liu Jin’s turn to arrive.

The first time he was invited to the main house, there was a bountiful feast full of guests. This time, the place is silent. There isn’t a single servant to be seen. An older disciple shows him the way but does not go with him. Liu Jin walks down several stairs and across an impossibly long hall until he arrives at an imposing set of double doors. Liu Jin stops in front of them, unsure if he is expected to knock or wait.

The doors open for him before he decides.

Enter.

That one word hits him like a rush of fierce wind. It is the whisper of someone who has left behind the Human Realms of Cultivation and stepped into the Realm of the Divine. Liu Jin steels himself and steps into the room.

It is red.

Red walls, red floors, red ceiling, and even red furniture. Liu Jin struggles to see any other color in the room. It is as if he has stepped into a different world.

The feeling is not helped by the man waiting for him on his crimson throne.

When Liu Jin thought of Patriarch Feng, he imagined a man similar to Old Jiang, not in disposition but in appearance. A man with wrinkled skin whose hair has long since turned white from age. However, the Patriarch of the Eternal Flame Clan does not have a single white hair. Though visibly older than his two sons, his hair retains its red color, and his body looks healthy and strong.

Liu Jin can barely feel his presence.

At his young age, Liu Jin has already been in the presence of more Emperors than most people will meet in their entire lives. He expected Patriarch Feng’s presence to be even more oppressive than theirs. However, it is the complete opposite. The Patriarch is undoubtedly holding back the full weight of his Qi, but there is something else at play. The Patriarch’s power does not spread. It does not rise. It does not subdue.

It just… is.

“Have you brought a stone?” The Patriarch asks him. He speaks normally, yet the words do not hit him nearly as hard as that first whisper.

“I have, Patriarch,” Liu Jin replies.

“Advance and place it three steps before me.”

Liu Jin does.

“Good. Now leav-”

“Patriarch, this disciple wishes to ask a question!”

Silence.

Even Liu Jin is shocked by his own interruption. Gathering the necessary nerve to speak took so much out of him that he just blurted the words out and, in doing so, interrupted the Patriarch. His heart stops as he waits for the man’s response. Anything is possible when dealing with a high-level cultivator, and death is never far.

To his surprise, the old cultivator merely hums and strokes his beard.

“Interesting.” His voice is nothing short of amused. “You are the first disciple to ask me a question. Even my grandsons limited themselves to speaking when spoken to.”

“They merely showed prudence.”

“Are you suggesting you are not prudent? Or that I am such a volatile person that speaking before me at all is an imprudence?”

Liu Jin bows his head lower. “This disciple means no disrespect, Patriarch.”

“And yet, I feel not a shred of respect in you,” Patriarch Feng notes dryly. “Go ahead, disciple. Ask your questions.”

“Patriarch, how is this contest being judged?” Liu Jin asks. “We were sent to the Dead Plains and told to bring back a temple stone. We were told this would determine the next Patriarch of the Eternal Flame Clan. Most assumed this was a race to see who could bring back a stone first. However, it has been a long time since the first disciple returned, and the Patriarch has yet to make a choice.”

“Is that what you think?” Patriarch Feng asks. He places his elbows on the armrests of his throne and leans back. “How can you be sure I haven’t already made a choice and simply not told anyone about it? Perhaps, I allowed you all to be brought before me just so that you may have the opportunity to see a cultivator who has taken a small step out of the Human Realms of Cultivation.”

“As the Patriarch says, that is a possibility.”

“But not one you believe, it seems. It is quite rare when a disciple calls me a liar to my face, but I shall allow it.” The Patriarch’s eyes twinkle. “Tell me, then. What do you believe I meant to do?”

“I…” Liu Jin frowns. “I am not so sure anymore. At first, I was sure the contest’s purpose was to evaluate the quality of your son’s followers.”

“Interesting. Elaborate.”

“Elder Xue once told me that your sons are equal in cultivation and achievements. That is why a choice between them had to be determined by the people below them. Back then, she referred to the disparity in talent between Feng Zhi and Feng Zhuo. However, it occurred to me this contest could simply be an extension of that type of thinking. The contest was set up in a way that encouraged your sons to only look at the Core Disciples.”

Between several Inner Disciples chosen because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and a small group of Core Disciples handpicked by the brothers themselves, it was obvious which one would seem more reliable. It is only natural that not a single relevant person had any faith in the Inner Disciples from the beginning.

“However, it was us, Inner Disciples, who had more opportunities for explosive growth,” Liu Jin says, putting a hand on his chest. “Because we are weak, we had to struggle more to survive. I mean no disrespect to my senior brothers when I say we are the ones who grew the most.”

The Dead Plains held far fewer threats for people like Mud and even Feng Zhi and Xi Mou. For Liu Jin and the others, it was always one danger after the next, and that forced them to grow by leaps and bounds. Even if Liu Jin hadn’t made so many pills, the flesh of all the high-level Spirit Beasts they ate would have still forced several of them to advance.

“Judging a man’s worth by the quality of the least among his followers.” Patriarch Feng hums. “A quaint idea, young one, yet you just said it is one you have lost confidence in. Why?”

“Death Fashioning Scripture.”

The air in the room shifts. Suddenly, the shadows grow, and the red becomes ominous.

“That is not a name you should utter lightly,” Patriarch Feng warns him, “You are lucky to be in my presence and, thus, in the safest place in the entire compound.”

“Perhaps that is something the honored Patriarch should share with every disciple who just returned. The name has become rather popular after their attempt to kill us,” Liu Jin replies, his tone perfectly deferential. “According to Senior Brother Mud, they were there because they knew we would be. It wasn’t just them either. Some of the disciples supporting Lord Feng Shang acted oddly during the contest.”

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“In what way?”

“They tried to kill us.”

The look Patriarch Feng gives him is amused and pitying at once.

“I realize such things are unfortunately common, but this was different,” Liu Jin defends himself, willing the heat on his cheeks to go away. “They seemed to have no interest in the contest at all. Though they should have had no problem getting here before us, they are nowhere to be found. I… doubt they will return.”

“Quite possibly, yes. They’d be fools to do so.”

“Is that an admission?” Liu Jin asks with far more rudeness than one should use against one so powerful. However, he feels he has a good enough grasp on Patriarch Feng’s personality by now.

Patriarch Feng is allowing him to speak because it amuses him.

It is as his master once told him. When one gets old enough, amusement is all the reason one needs to do something.

“It is an observation,” Patriarch Feng replies. “You have yet to finish explaining your thought process.”

“There is also Feng Hao,” Liu Jin continues. “This began because Xun Huwen was released and tried to kill Feng Hao, yet the answer was to place Feng Hao in danger once more. The conditions of the contest invited Lord Feng Gui to kill his son and Lord Feng Shang to keep him safe. It needlessly placed attention on someone so young.”

“If we go by your first theory, perhaps I merely wished to test Little Hao’s mettle.”

“Feng Hao’s potential is well-known. Placing him in the Dead Plains was cruel and needless.”

“It was certainly cruel.”

But not needless.

Liu Jin narrows his eyes.

“Was it because the Patriarch knew there were other interests at play? Ones that wouldn’t resist the opportunity to grab someone with the Eternal Flame? Did they try to take Feng Hao because he is weaker than his brother, or is there something special about his talent? Did you merely wish to identify those not loyal to the Eternal Flame Clan?”

Liu Jin takes a deep breath.

“Patriarch, how much did you foresee?”

“Foresee,” Patriarch Feng repeats. “That’s an interesting word.”

The Patriarch lightly bounces the stone Liu Jin presented him in his hand. Only when he does it, does Liu Jin notice he picked it up from the floor at some point

“Have you taken the time to play with one of these?” Patriarch Feng asks. “I imagine not. Too worried that you would damage it even though it is far beyond your ability to break. Did you at least try doing this?”

A second stone appears on his other hand, and he brings them against each other.

Sparks.