Chapter 140: Secretly Altering Body, Mind, and Soul

"That boy Fang Han is only at the Mortal Physique realm, yet he can actually withstand the aura of a Celestial Phenomena tribulation?"

Fang Xun had heard of such people before.

There truly were rare individuals like this in the world.

They were either born with the heart of an innocent child, possessing a soul so pure and flawless that it remained untouched by worldly temptations, or they were people of incomparably stubborn disposition. Once they accepted something as truth, not even ten thousand people trying to persuade them could make them change their minds.

Every one of them was rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

Yet without exception, such people possessed a resistance to Heaven's Reclaiming Lifespan tribulations that ordinary cultivators could never hope to match.

If nothing unexpected happened, simply cultivating step by step would give them a good chance of reaching the Celestial Phenomena realm.

With sufficient fortune, even the Creation realm might not be beyond their grasp.

A genius of this caliber would undoubtedly become the core successor of any of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Fang Xun looked at his nephew with entirely different eyes.

"The situation in Dongshan has become increasingly unstable. From now on, don't go wandering outside. Stay in the residence and focus on your studies and cultivation."

"Your parents passed away when you were young. You traveled thousands of miles to seek refuge with me, yet I've been tied down by official duties and haven't spent much time with you. Have you ever resented your uncle for that?" Fang Xun sighed wistfully.

Fang Han shook his head without hesitation.

"Of course not! Uncle is the Garrison Commander and the guardian of these thirteen counties. I understand what matters most. What I truly hate are those ignorant commoners who blindly believed all those rumors from outside!"

"A rumor is only a rumor. No matter how convincing it sounds, it can never deceive everyone. But these recent rumors surrounding me..."

Fang Xun frowned deeply. He stopped halfway through his sentence before letting out another quiet sigh.

"When something is abnormal, there is always something behind it."

At first, Fang Han did not understand what he meant.

Only after thinking it over for a while did his expression suddenly change.

"Uncle... are you saying someone is manipulating everything from the shadows?"

Fang Xun merely waved his hand.

"This isn't something you should involve yourself in. Just don't cause me any more trouble. Have you already forgotten how you were framed before?"

A look of shame appeared on Fang Han's face as he lowered his head awkwardly.

After pondering for a long time, Fang Xun spoke again.

"Come to think of it, I've neglected your education because I never had the time to teach you personally. Have you ever met my disciple?"

"Uncle means... Li Shun?"

Fang Han nodded.

"He traveled ten thousand miles to rescue his closest friend. Judging by the time, he should be returning home soon. Once he's back, I intend to have him guide your studies and cultivation."

"So it's him..."

Fang Han curled his lips dismissively.

Seeing this, Fang Xun immediately smacked him on the head.

"You little brat! My disciple's cultivation may be slightly inferior to mine, but when it comes to understanding and comprehending the Confucian classics, he surpasses even me! Furthermore, he carries the imperial bloodline. His future is limitless, and his achievements will certainly exceed my own. From now on, when you meet him, you will show him the same respect you show me. Understood?"

Rubbing the sore spot on his head, Fang Han quickly nodded in agreement.

Still, hearing his uncle praise Li Shun so highly inevitably stirred a trace of curiosity within him.

From then on, Fang Xun frequently spoke highly of Li Shun, subtly raising his standing in Fang Han's mind.

At the same time, he quietly waited for the tribulation aura to continue evolving.

On the fifteenth day of the fourth month, the calamity shrouding the Dongshan region underwent another transformation.

When Fang Xun looked upon the disaster relief grain that had finally been escorted there after countless hardships, an overwhelming urge to claim it all for himself suddenly arose from the depths of his heart.

'Giving all this food away to those lowly commoners is nothing short of wasting precious resources! As long as they don't starve to death, that's more than enough!'

The thought startled even Fang Xun himself.

It was absolutely not what he truly believed.

These were merely ordinary provisions needed for the common people to survive. To Fang Xun, they were worth less than a single stalk of Lengshan Grass.

Yet at this moment, an uncontrollable greed had taken root within him.

'This isn't my true heart.'

'The tribulation itself is forcibly transforming me into exactly the shameless villain described by those rumors.'

The instant Fang Xun realized this, most of his consciousness withdrew into the Fangcun space, leaving only a portion of his will behind to resist the alteration.

Slash!

It was as though an invisible blade was slicing across his skin.

In an instant, dozens of fine blood-red cuts appeared across his body.

Though they did not tear through his flesh deeply enough to cause blood to gush out, the sight was still shocking.

"So this is the price of resisting the tribulation's alterations."

"It won't stop with the flesh. Next, it will begin affecting my soul."

"In the end, no matter how unwilling I may be, I will gradually become exactly the person described by those rumors."

"My own will has no say in the matter."

"So this... is the true terror of Heaven's Reclaiming Lifespan."

"It seems the time I have left is running out."

Fang Xun knew the tribulation aura was about to erupt completely.

On the eighteenth day of the fourth month, Prefect Yin Fengshuo once again issued orders summoning every Garrison Commander to the provincial residence for deliberation.

Fang Xun arrived as scheduled.

Meanwhile, within the secluded courtyard of Dongshan Town, the phantom of Shentu Xin, which had long been suppressing the surging black aura within the well, suddenly descended into its depths.

The well itself was not very deep.

Yet at its bottom lay countless deep fissures resembling a vast spider's web.

The phantom followed those cracks downward.

The Heavenly Dao Severance Qi filling the surroundings became increasingly dense and viscous.

Looking into the distance, the surging aura resembled an endless underground river hidden beneath eternal darkness, roaring ceaselessly through the earth.

"The Heavenly Dao Severance Qi originates from the Heavenly Dao Severance Sea."

"It flows backward through the earth veins before finally surfacing beneath Dongshan."

"Judging by the traces, this wasn't formed naturally."

"Someone deliberately excavated it."

"Now that's strange. The Imperial Mausoleum has always remained sealed. Who could have done something like this right beneath its nose?"

While contemplating the mystery, the phantom sped through the dark earth veins.

Before long, it arrived at its destination.

"Let the performance begin."

The moment those words fell, raging flames suddenly erupted across the already unstable phantom.

He was detonating every last fragment of the little lifespan he still possessed.

Boom!

Like a volcano that had lain dormant beneath the earth for ten thousand years, it erupted with catastrophic force.

The violent explosion merged with the surging Heavenly Dao Severance Qi, instantly tearing through layers of solid earth and erupting skyward as an enormous pillar of black smoke.

Throughout Guling Commandery, the earth shook violently.

Inside the council hall, officials great and small lost their footing.

None understood what had happened.

Every face was filled with panic.

Even Yin Fengshuo, seated at the head of the assembly, abruptly rose to his feet, his expression changing drastically as his lightning-sharp gaze locked onto the distant pillar of black smoke raging across the horizon.

At that very moment, a voice filled with boundless hatred echoed throughout heaven and earth.

"Yin Fengshuo! You actually dared break your promise!"

"You swore you would help me reconstruct my physical body, yet now you've gone back on your word!"

"I should've known none of you Great Qian officials could ever be trusted!"

"If that's the case..."

"Then let's all perish together!"

"The Jun Clan is not to be insulted!"

The furious voice lingered in the air.

Immediately afterward, the trembling of the earth intensified even further.

One black pillar after another erupted across the land like blazing signal beacons.

None of the officials present, including Yin Fengshuo himself, recognized the owner of the voice.

But every one of them clearly understood its meaning.

"A descendant of the Jun Clan?"

"The Prefect has secretly colluded with the Jun Clan?"

For a moment, the entire hall fell deathly silent.

Every official turned toward Yin Fengshuo with eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

Yin Fengshuo himself was equally shaken.

An overwhelming sense of foreboding surged within his heart.

Even so, he forced himself to remain composed.

After clearing his throat, he declared,

"This is undoubtedly the slanderous fabrication of some villain seeking to frame me!"