Fang Xiong stopped walking upon hearing Hao's murmurs. With his strong abilities, he couldn't overlook them, but he chose not to dwell on it. He had taken precautions during Hao's birth to ensure no other soul could replace his son's – there was no doubt that Hao was truly their kin.
But something must have happened, and Hao had strange memories. He had not asked Hao about it, as he was afraid of scaring him.
His wife, Fang Jing, had scolded him and slapped him when he mentioned it, remembering her fierceness of her, he shut up. She was the only person that really struck fear into him.
Observing Hao's growth, Fang Xiong felt unfamiliar with the role of a father. Even with little Xiao, her mother shouldered most of the responsibilities. Yet, he always kept an eye on them, even during their playful moments or his teachings to disciples and guards. A profound affection blossomed within him – Fang Xiong was now a father, and he cherished his son dearly!
They informed Hao that his mother had entered closed-door cultivation, which was indeed true. Giving birth diminish one's cultivation and strength considerably. However, this didn't apply to him.
Cultivation wasn't necessary for him at the moment; 5 years was a brief span. He understood that achieving substantial advancement would likely demand a minimum of 200 years. Even his daughter had completed several 50-year cultivation cycles already.
He made a secret decision, keeping his wife unaware of his intentions. He wanted answers and would not stop until he got them.
--
Fang Xiong was never good at talking or pondering matters beyond cultivation. Instead, he did what he was best at. He instructed his disciples and aides to oversee the city and assigned guards to safeguard the castle. With the formations activated, he embarked on his journey.
As he looked at the castle in the distance while flying away, he had a resolute expression on his face. Summoning the sword from the spatial ring, he left their territory and headed first to the sect for answers.
The sect answered him, as they were considered allies with mutual benefits. Fang Xiong asked where to find information about oracles and fate, getting straight to the point once he arrived at the main hall and ignoring the tea he was offered.
''Fang Xiong, this information is classified. As you are no longer an elder, we can't offer you this,'' the sect leader said, sitting in the room and shaking his head.
''Oh? Do you think I will take no for an answer? You should know that this involves something personal for me to come here. As a once disciple of this sect, I showed you my way of doing things more than once. You should be well aware of it, as even your uncle need to clean my problems without daring to say a thing,'' Fang Xiong said, looking threatening to the sect leader with his sword buzzing and ready to attack.
"Fang Xiong, do you even realize where you are? This is the Sword Hall," Zhang Wei, the sect leader, retorted angrily, rising to his feet. His aura surged, creating sparks that crackled in the tense air between them.
Taking a deep look at Zhang Wei, Fang Xiong replied, ''So be it,'' and the sword materialized, making the room shake from the pressure.
"Fang Xiong, you really have not grown up," a voice echoed from deep within the sect, and it turned out to be one of the grand elders. "Sect leader, pass him the jade."
The sect leader, Zhang Wei, frowned but still passed Fang Xiong the jade.
"Thank you, I won't forget this," Fang Xiong made a small bow to the voice with a serious face, got up, and left. However, he stopped as soon as he was outside the sect.
''I really wanted us to have a fight like we did in the past, fellow Daoist Zhang,'' Fang Xiong said before vanishing, holding the jade in his hand.
''Grand Elder...'' Zhang Wei opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, sighing.
''Good, at least you are not blind. You are currently weaker than him, and also, don't forget he owns one of the three main cities of our sect. We have to maintain a good relationship with him,'' the Grand Elder replied, seeing the sect master's hesitation.
The Grand Elder muttered inside his head, 'Just give him the fucking jade. Why did you delay? Fang Xiong was about to strike us, and then it would cause too many issues. That person has not grown up since then.'
Fang Xiong travelled to the locations on the jade, asking for help from clans and other oracles. He offered them resources or a blade strike, but to his surprise, the majority didn't take him seriously and refused.
However, they soon found a massive sword hovering over their sect or clan, escalating the situation, and they quickly chose the first option of free cultivation resources. I mean who would deny them right?
Despite his relentless efforts, Fang Xiong couldn't uncover any answers. He had gone so far as to have them check the blood and the small soul fragment he had taken from Hao without him feeling it, but all their results yielded the same conclusion: there was no issue with this soul and body; it was the original one.
After four years of relentless searching and growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of answers, Fang Xiong made the decision to explore the territories inhabited by various powerful beasts, hoping to find any clues that might help.
However, his presence and actions in these territories attracted the attention of some powerful beasts, leading to confrontations.
Annoyed by the warnings and threats posed by these territorial beasts, Fang Xiong ended up engaging in battles and even killing a few of them.
His actions didn't go unnoticed, and they attracted the attention of one of the leading beasts in the area, which tracked him back to the city. Fortunately, he managed to fix the situation without any major incidents, and he even managed to profit from the beast.
After obtaining a strong bloodline, he embarked on a refining process that spanned 5 years before he deemed it ready to call for Hao.
Standing before the stone, he produced a token that activated a protective array. Clearing his mind, he softly uttered, ''Little Hao, come,'' rousing his son's consciousness from slumber.
Fang Hao, still lost in thought from the news his father shared with him, walked forward. The pretty lights of the array's protective barrier, with complicated runes and lines connecting everything in a complex manner, made it a beautiful sight that woke him up.
''Father, what is this?'' Fascinated, he traced the intricate lines all over the place.
''This is a protection array. The Talent Marble is something rare and can't be stored in space rings, so we protect it here.'' Seeing his son find some joy, he continued, ''The sect gave me this when we built the city to find any talented youth and test them. Normal talent stones don't work as well.''
Hao arrived near the big marble-like stone, adorned with all types of small symbols representing weapons such as swords and sabers, as well as various elements, making it resemble an ancient cave wall from Earth.
''Take a deep breath and close your eyes. Focus the energy in your body, even if it's little, you have it since you are at the Early Shell Realm. Then slowly move it, making it reach your hand and touch the stone,'' Fang Xiong calmly instructed him, standing next to him as he looked at the marble.
Hao followed the instructions of his father, closing his eyes and concentrating to feel the tingle of energy. It was the first time he felt it—a small drop of water-like sensation inside his body, slowly moving. He exerted great effort to control it, guiding it towards his hand.
The energy inside him transferred to the stone, causing it to shine lightly. Fang Xiong closely observed the mark of the sword on the stone, as this was their lineage.
The Marble displayed small signs of various weapons, lighting up one by one with a very faint white glint, indicating that Hao was not talented in any of those weapon types. Then, it was the turn of the sword symbol, and it lit up a bit more, emitting a light yellow hue. However, Fang Xiong's face froze, and he frowned deeply.
The result was below average, leaving him puzzled over how this could be possible. While his daughter had displayed exceptional talent, his son's potential appeared to be rather ordinary in comparison. The color of the emitted light indicated the level of talent, with its brightness serving as a gauge. However, the light representing his sword talent only appeared faintly yellow, a far cry from the brilliance he had anticipated.
The talent grading system began with white, indicating basic talent, which was considered almost worthless. The subsequent colors were yellow, green, blue, purple, and finally black, representing different levels of talent.
The sight of the faint yellow light for his son's sword talent left Fang Xiong perplexed and concerned. After all, his daughter had shown black light talent, which was considered the peak. He couldn't understand how his son, with such a talented sister, had ended up with only a faint yellow light, representing mediocre talent, for his sword.
Watching Hao's anticipation as the light grew brighter, and he smiled in excitement, not grasping its meaning, Fang Xiong let out a sigh.
Turning, he looked at the other symbols to discover where his son's true talent lay. He refused to believe that he, Fang Xiong, didn't have a talented son.