Clan Building System: I'm not the Protagonist?!-Chapter 84: Fang Clan.

Fang Yuan joined his uncles and clan elders at the grand feast.

Wine flowed, laughter echoed, and plates were stacked high with delicacies.

The Phoenix Soul Pavilion glowed beneath the lantern light, warm with the joy of victory and reunion.

For once, Fang Yuan allowed himself to relax, just a little.

They drank. They dined.

And the night passed in bliss.

But as the embers of celebration died down, his gaze turned east.

There was still someone he hadn’t visited.

"I wonder how Fang Lian is doing..." he murmured to himself, half curious, half hopeful.

Without further delay, he slipped away from the main hall and made his way toward the Eastern Ravine, where the spirit mine was nestled deep within the mountainous fold.

That was where she trained now, within the spiritual pond hidden far below the earth.

Two guards stood alert at the entrance, spears in hand, their eyes sharpening when they noticed the approaching figure.

But when they recognized him, their postures straightened even more.

"Clan head!"

Fang Yuan gave them a slight nod.

"I see you two are fulfilling your duties well. Keep it up."

"Yes, Clan Head! We will guard this place with our lives!" one of them replied with conviction.

Fang Yuan didn’t say it aloud but he inwardly scoffed at that part.

’Laying down your life to protect a spirit pond would just make you a fool. I’d rather label you both cowards and have you run than see you die meaninglessly.’

Still, he appreciated the sentiment.

So instead, he simply gave them a nod of acknowledgment and walked past, letting the darkness of the mine swallow him whole.

The scent of damp stone and faintly glowing spiritual ore clung to the air as he descended deeper, the tunnel winding like a serpent into the earth.

Step by step, he moved through the twisting passages, qi lightly pulsing under his feet, guiding him until the subtle echo of a familiar voice drifted through the gloom.

A quiet, melodic hum at first... then words.

🎶 The world will and has never been fair~

So what if you wanted to be part of a pair~

If you’re not the one, you’re treated like air~

And the only thing you can do is despair... 🎶

Fang Yuan stopped mid-step.

That voice...

It was gentle and sweet.

And yet, tinged with something bitter.

A melody too soft to be angry but too hollow to be cheerful.

The spirit pond was not that far now.

As he turned the last curve of the tunnel, the glowing azure light of spiritual essence reflected across the rocks and there she was.

Fang Lian.

Sitting at the edge of the pond with her legs dipped into the shimmering water, hair slightly damp, and a blade across her lap.

Her eyes were closed as she hummed the last line, fingers lazily sketching ripples into the pond’s surface.

She didn’t seem surprised by his arrival.

"You’re late," she said, voice quiet, almost playful. "I thought you were never coming back."

Fang Yuan blinked. "...You were expecting me?"

She opened her eyes, those violet pupils glinting faintly under the glow and turned to him with a smile.

"I dreamed it."

Fang Yuan arched a brow. "Dreams can lie."

Fang Lian tilted her head, that odd smile still resting on her lips. "So can people."

That made Fang Yuan chuckle, a low, amused sound that echoed gently in the cave.

"Seems like you’ve been doing well," he said, stepping closer, arms folded behind his back.

His tone carried a rare note of warmth. "So... you’ve been cultivating here all this time?"

Fang Lian nodded, her wet hair clinging to her cheeks as she looked up at him with a crooked smile.

"You gave me permission," she said with a light shrug. "Some already started calling me a nepo baby... but I’ll be stronger than them. Just wait and see."

She glanced away for a moment, her gaze settling on the rippling surface of the spirit pond.

"This place gives me peace. Since, most of the time... I’m alone."

Her voice softened near the end.

Fang Yuan hummed thoughtfully. "The song... did you make that up?"

Fang Lian stared at the pond again.

"It came to me one night. I thought it was funny."

Fang Yuan raised a brow. "Funny?"

She shrugged, smiling wistfully. "Everything sounds funny when you’re the joke."

Fang Yuan went silent at that.

Then, he slowly sat beside her, their reflections swaying together across the glowing water.

"You’re not the joke," Fang Yuan finally said, his voice softer than before, quiet, yet firm.

The words echoed faintly in the chamber, brushing against the still surface of the spirit pond.

Fang Lian didn’t respond right away.

Her back remained turned to him, her arms loosely folded behind her.

The silence stretched.

Then came her voice, light but uncertain:

"Master... am I pretty?"

Fang Yuan blinked, caught slightly off guard.

His eyes narrowed, not in suspicion, but contemplation as he looked at her again.

That was a strange question. But not a dishonest one.

So he answered, voice calm and steady, as if sharing a truth carved into the fabric of the world:

"Of course you are. Beauty isn’t something granted—it’s something revealed. The more you cultivate, the more the impurities of the world are burned away.

We’re all born with light inside us. But as we grow, the dust of life, the scars, the burdens, they cloud it.

Cultivation is a return. A return to that clarity. That light.

The higher the realm you reach, the more the impurities fade... and what’s left behind is beauty in its purest form."

He paused, then smiled faintly.

"So yes... you’ll only grow more beautiful."

Fang Lian was still for a beat.

Then suddenly she giggled.

A small, playful sound that rippled through the quiet cave like a tossed pebble on water.

"I guess that only works for females then?"

Fang Yuan frowned slightly, confused.

And then it hit him.

...Wait.

His brow twitched.

What the heck?

Was this girl calling him ugly?

He turned toward her just as she turned her head, grinning mischievously.

Before he could say a word, she spun around on her heel and with a splash, she leapt straight into the spirit pond, water shimmering around her as if welcoming her back.

She laughed underwater, rising only halfway up, her cheeks flushed, droplets glimmering on her lashes.

All that melancholy from earlier was gone..

Fang Yuan stared for a moment longer, still processing what had just happened.

And then—

[ You just received 100 Faith Points. ]

[ "Faith Shop" is now unlocked. ]