Chapter 166: 166- Captives in the Basement.

[Hidden Quest Cleared!

Your wife, Lin Zhaoyue, has successfully orchestrated the merger of the Lin Family into the Fang Family.

Their banners now fly as one.

Rewards Obtained:

+10,000 System Points

Exchange Function Unlocked:

Convert Faith Points (FP) to System Points at a 1:10 Ratio.

New Shop Items Available!]

Fang Yuan’s gaze snapped to the shimmering system interface.

A slow, genuine smile spread across his face, wider and more satisfied than any he’d worn in weeks.

His eyes scanned the list, instantly drawn to one entry glowing with particular intensity:

🔸 [Minor Resource Well Reservoir] –10,000 FP

Creates a crystalline reservoir deep within designated land. Instantly replenishes any Minor Resource Well linked to its network.

Capacity: Sufficient to refill ONE HUNDRED Minor Resource Wells to their peak spiritual saturation.

A low whistle escaped Fang Yuan’s lips. A hundred wells capacity and instantly replenish? Was this not the comfort I asked for earlier?

This wasn’t just convenient, it was transformative.

It meant stability, continuous cultivation resources without the agonizing need for him to personally refill every week!

Just below the item description, a separate, urgent note flashed in a distinct, insistent gold:

[ The system recommendation is that the host should acquire this immediately.]

The smile on Fang Yuan’s face sharpened.

His fingers tightened slightly.

Ten thousand Faith Points was no small sum, but the thought of never again having to trudge from cave to cave every week was far too tempting to ignore.

"One hundred wells..." he murmured, savoring the words like fine wine.

The path ahead seemed to blaze with possibility, bathed in a golden light only he could see. "Yes. That will do... very nicely indeed."

Fang Yuan turned to the waiting elders, his earlier satisfaction hardening into focused authority.

"Before I repair the remaining caves," he declared, his voice cutting through the stillness, "I have a new task. Fang Joshua, Fang Chen, mobilize a work crew. I need a reservoir excavated beneath the compound, connected to the caves via reinforced conduits."

Fang Joshua, ever the pragmatist, didn’t question the purpose.

Instead, his brow furrowed in practical assessment. "Understood, Clan Head. What dimensions?"

"A kilometre square," Fang Yuan stated calmly.

Fang Chen choked on air. "Nephew!" he sputtered, stepping forward, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"A kilometre? That’s not a reservoir, that’s an underground lake! The labor, the time, forget all that, that is madness!"

He jabbed a finger toward the ground, his voice growing sharper. "Tell me why. Give me the purpose, and I’ll calculate the optimal size myself. Blind digging on that scale is lunacy!"

Fang Yuan blinked, realizing what he had just said.

He coughed lightly. "Ahem... you’ve seen the size of these small wells. I just need a hole that can hold the capacity of a hundred wells, maybe a hundred and fifty for good measure."

Fang Joshua’s brow furrowed, his voice steady and precise. "Noted. By my calculations, if we dig only a meter deep, the total length would exceed a kilometre, Clan Head."

Fang Yuan’s lips curved into a faint, contemplative smile. "Huh... I suppose that works. If you need more space, feel free to dig further, no complaints from me."

"Hey, hey!" Fang Chen threw up his hands, his voice pitching higher.

"If we dig to ten meters, the most we’d need is about a hundred and twenty meters across! We don’t own the kingdom, you two buffoons!" His words came out in bouts of half-panicked, half-exasperated sputters.

Fang Yuan couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing.

"You two are the seniors here, and far more experienced than I am. I’ll leave the exact size to your judgment. Just... make it happen."

Fang Yuan dusted his hands and turned toward the elders. "Alright then, you two will work out the numbers. I’ll also go around adding these minor spirit wells to the rest of the cultivation caves. Let’s depart here."

The pair bowed low. "Yes, Clan Head."

To their surprise, Fang Yuan inclined his head in return, a gesture of courtesy that carried the weight of unspoken respect, before striding away.

He moved quickly, his steps light but purposeful, vanishing into the network of caves like a shadow chasing the wind.

Not long after, the faint hum of spiritual energy began to ripple through the mountain.

One by one, each of the fifty cultivation caves gained a new heartbeat, a minor spirit well set into the stone, glowing faintly as qi swirled upward, infusing the air with a richer, denser vitality.

By the time he was finished, the mountain itself seemed to breathe deeper, its veins of qi running richer with each well he had placed.

Just then, a thought flickered across his mind.

"Hmm... I wonder how those two family members are faring."

With that, Fang Yuan pivoted on his heel and strode towards the basement under the phoenix soul pavilion.

It had been some time since he last paid a visit to the Gu father-and-son captives anyways.

The air grew heavier as he descended, the stone steps damp beneath his boots.

The faint scent of rust and blood curled in the dark, wrapping around him like an old acquaintance.

In the far corner, under the cold flicker of a spirit lamp, the two men hung in their chains, skin bare, muscles taut from strain.

Blood trickled from cuts and punctures, tracing dark paths down their bodies before dripping to the floor in soft, steady taps.

The chains rattled faintly as they breathed, each movement betraying the weight of their misery.

Fang Yuan stepped forward, his shadow spilling across the cold stone floor until it reached the two chained figures.

He stopped just close enough for them to feel the weight of his presence.

"Gu Jian," he said softly, almost as if they were sharing tea instead of a cell. "My father most trusted friend. Also a sworn brother and maybe even his only ally."

His eyes didn’t waver, but there was a stillness in them that felt like the moment before a blade fell.

"So tell me... why did you kill him?"