The evening's cooking smoke carried the warm scent of firewood and food, drifting in wisps throughout the courtyard.
Fang Han pushed open the courtyard gate. His steps had lost their usual heaviness, replaced by a light spring.
The heavy boulder that had been weighing on his heart had finally been shattered today.
"Brother!"
The figure of Little Red Coat came waddling over. Fang Han's smile bloomed as he bent down, scooped his little sister Fang Ying into his arms, and tossed her high into the air.
The little girl's brief cry of alarm was instantly replaced by delighted giggles, her two high pigtails tracing joyful arcs in the air.
"I'm flying! Higher, Brother, higher!"
Hearing the noise in the courtyard, his father, Fang Zheng, and his mother, Lin Wan, came out of the house.
Their faces held a familiar, subtle worry, but much of it vanished when they saw the siblings laughing and playing in the courtyard.
Seeing the bright, genuine smile on Fang Han's face—one they hadn't seen in a long time—the couple exchanged a glance, each seeing the look of profound relief in the other's eyes.
Though they desperately hoped Fang Han would pass the family assessment and become a Martial Artist,
they could accept it if he failed. They just hoped Fang Han wouldn't put too much pressure on himself.
"Xiaohan, you seem... especially happy today?"
Lin Wan wiped her hands, her voice holding a careful, probing tone.
Fang Han set down his little sister, who was still squirming in his arms. His smile deepened as he met his parents' concerned gazes and took a deep breath.
"I've broken through to the Flesh Refining Realm!"
"What?!"
The account book in Fang Zheng's hand fell to the ground with a THUD.
Lin Wan clapped a hand over her mouth, her lips trembling. She tried to speak, but no coherent words came out.
Overwhelming surprise, like a warm tide, instantly flooded the small, humble courtyard.
"Good... Good!"
Fang Zheng strode over and clapped a heavy hand on Fang Han's shoulder.
"I knew it. My son... I knew my son could do it!"
All his deeply buried hopes and anxieties now transformed into an indescribable excitement.
"The heavens be praised! The heavens be praised!"
Lin Wan finally managed to speak, her face breaking into the most brilliant smile she'd had in months.
She pulled a bewildered Fang Ying into a hug, her voice trembling.
"Xiaoying, did you hear that? Your brother is a success! Our family... Our family is going to have a Martial Artist!"
That night, the lights in the small side courtyard burned late. The atmosphere around the simple dinner table was more jubilant than it had ever been.
Fang Zheng even made an exception and brought out a small jug of fine wine he had been saving.
The next morning, the news spread like wildfire throughout the residential area of the Fang Family's collateral branches.
"Have you heard? Fang Han from the neighboring side courtyard broke through to the Flesh Refining Realm yesterday!"
"For real?"
"It's the absolute truth! A bunch of people at the training grounds saw it!"
"Well, looks like Fang Zheng and his wife can finally hold their heads high."
As Fang Han stepped out of his courtyard and headed for the training grounds, a constant stream of faces, some familiar and some not, smiled and congratulated him.
"Fang Han, congratulations!"
"Kid, you've really made your parents proud!"
"Don't forget about us when you make it big!"
Fang Han smiled and thanked them, a warm feeling flowing through his heart.
His parents stood at the gate to see him off, their backs ramrod straight and their faces beaming as they soaked in the envious gazes and congratulations.
The joy of finally being able to hold their heads high was written in every unfolding wrinkle on their faces.
「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」
The atmosphere on the vast training grounds was tense. The setting sun once again gilded the bluestone slabs, but its light couldn't dispel the heavy solemnity.
Dozens of Fang Family disciples stood in silent formation. The air felt frozen, the only sound being the steady, deliberate TAP... TAP... of Fang Zhen's footsteps on the stone slabs.
He walked onto the high platform, his gaze sweeping over the faces below, some excited, some dejected.
"Today is the final deadline for the family's annual assessment."
Fang Zhen's voice wasn't loud, yet it cut through all other noise, clear as a final judgment.
He unfolded the roster in his hand and read from it impassively.
"Those who have passed the assessment and are granted entry into the Inner Hall are: Fang Han, Fang Lin, Fang Yue... A total of eight people."
Ultimately, Fang Han was the only one who managed to break through to the Flesh Refining Realm within that last month and pass the assessment.
Hearing this final judgment, some disciples turned deathly pale and swayed on their feet.
Others clenched their fists so tightly their nails dug into their palms.
Still others could no longer hold back; suppressed sobs began to sound, and large tears splashed onto the stone slabs at their feet.
A torrent of gazes—a mixture of resentment, jealousy, and deep envy—focused on Fang Han and the other seven like thorns.
Those stares were heavy.
They were the lucky few who had made it, but they were also the targets for all the frustrations of the failed disciples.
Fang Han could clearly feel the weight of those stares. He felt no pride, only stood there calmly.
'If the system panel hadn't appeared, my fate would have been the same as theirs.'
The next morning, before dawn, the air was bitingly cold.
Fang Han and the other seven disciples who had passed the assessment followed Fang Zhen through the multiple courtyards of the Fang Mansion. They headed toward a secluded, heavily guarded area—the Inner Hall of the Fang Family Martial Hall.
The architecture of the Inner Hall was noticeably more ancient and imposing than that of the outer sections. The air was thick with a richer, more settled medicinal scent, along with an intangible pressure that put one on edge.
An elder with a white beard and hair, whose posture was perfectly straight despite his age, was already waiting at the entrance.
He wore a set of blue-green robes. His face was lean and his eyes gentle, giving him the initial appearance of a scholar.
But when the elder's gaze swept over them, Fang Han felt a formless, sharp aura wash over him, as if it could pierce through skin and bone, straight to his internal organs.
Fang Han was deeply shaken.
'So this is an Elder of the Inner Hall?'
'To be an Elder, he must be an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist, a level above Bone Refining.'
'Coming from a collateral branch of the Fang Family, he'd never encountered such a figure and had no idea just how powerful an Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist truly was.'
'Now, he was finally getting a taste of it.'
'That unfathomable aura far surpassed Tutor Fang Zhen's. If this man wanted to crush me, it would be as easy as crushing an ant.'
"Elder Yuan, this year's new disciples for the Inner Hall, a total of eight, are all here."
Seeing the old man, Fang Zhen spoke respectfully, then signaled for Fang Han and the others to step forward.
"To enter our Inner Hall is to become a seed of the Fang Family's Martial Dao. I expect you to cultivate diligently and live up to the family's hopes."
Elder Fang Yuan's gaze swept slowly over the eight disciples, his expression calm and unreadable.
He paused. His tone was level, but his next words made the hearts of Fang Han and the others pound in their chests.
"As is tradition, new entrants to the Inner Hall are granted thirty taels of silver. Henceforth, you shall receive a monthly stipend of five taels of silver and ten Qi Blood Pills."
Thirty taels of silver?!
And five taels of silver and ten Qi Blood Pills every month?!
Even though Fang Han had tried to prepare himself, he was still stunned by a reward so generous it far exceeded his imagination.
'Thirty taels of silver! That's several months' salary for my father!'
'And the monthly Qi Blood Pills are even better than Qi Blood Soup.'
Overwhelming joy surged through his chest. He could almost hear his own heart pounding, the blood roaring in his ears.
The other seven were also breathing heavily, the excitement on their faces hard to conceal.