After his mother's burial, Fang continued training for a whole year, and sometimes went to the place where his mother was buried to cry.
During this time, Fang devised numerous plans and strategies to become stronger more quickly and achieve his goals with maximum efficiency.
Fang also talked a lot with the system and asked it for its opinions.
The first thing he did after turning 12 was go to the elder's building.
Elder's building, as the name suggests, was the place where 20 lower elders, 10 high elders, and 1 supreme elder joined each other daily for discussions like the budget or new talents.
Out of these 31 elders, only the supreme elder was allowed to miss meetings and do whatever he wanted, not because his presence was too big for these small matters, but because he was too powerful that no one could ever show dissatisfaction with his demeanor.
Every child of the Xiao clan was given the privilege to have a personal meeting with the high elders once every 10 years, and the same went for Fang.
In the building, he met an attendant who politely received him and asked him his purpose for the visit.
After telling the attendant that he wanted to use his chance of meeting the high elder, the attendant politely nodded and asked him, " Young master, is there any specific elder you want to meet, or should I call one of the elders who is free at the moment?"
Fang, with an indifferent voice, said, " I would like you to call Elder Xiao Zhong."
Elder Xiao Zhong was the 2nd strongest high elder out of the 10 high elders. He was also in charge of the treasury and personal allowances.
Hearing this, the attendant just nodded and said in a polite tone, " Young master, Elder Zhong is busy at this moment, but if you only want to meet him, then you can wait for 30 minutes in the guest room."
Fang just nodded along and, without saying anything, followed the attendant.
After reaching the guest room, the attendant, with a polite smile, poured Fang some tea and told him that if he needed anything else, he could just ring the bell and a servant would come to his service.
After waiting for 30 minutes, the attendant finally came back and told Fang that Elder Zhong was calling for him.
She quickly showed Fang the elder's room and then just left them both alone to talk in private.
Elder Zhong was an old man who was about 500 years old. As for his cultivation base, Fang couldn't quite put a finger on it because even in his previous life, the elder had died while fighting an old rival, before 'Fang' had the opportunity to meet him.
The Elder gestured Fang towards a chair, and started speaking, " So, tell me, young man, what do you want from me?" he went straight to the point, while slowly sipping his tea.
Fang sat down calmly. To ordinary people, it might not seem big deal for someone to drink tea in front of them, and that might also be true for normal people, but this person sitting in front of Fang was known for his cunningness.
The elder, right now, was assessing Fang's demeanor and checking if he was worth his time. The calmer Fang will behave, the more elder will pay attention to him, and take him seriously.
Fang then calmly started speaking, "Elder Zhong, I would like to leave the family and completely cut all my connections to the clan."
Hearing this, Elder Zhong, who was known for his calmness, spat the tea he was drinking and said in a shocked voice, " You want to do what, you brat? Has your mother's death made you go mad?"
Fang, now with a little sad voice, said, "Elder Zhong, in this whole clan, I had no one besides my mother, and now that she is gone, I have no one to call my own. I already know no one here likes me, and I also feel like the longer I stay here, the more my Dao heart will become unstable."
Continuing the act, he said, " Elder, my mother's dying wish was for me to roam the world and live a happy life. She made me promise that I would live a happy life, and my mother's whole life revolved around me; how could I not fulfill a single promise made to her?"
He even started to cry a little.
Elder Zhong, with a sympathetic voice, said, "Calm down, brat. If you want to see the world, then go see it. It's not like someone from the clan is stopping you, leaving the clan is no small matter, think it through."
"Just what is this brat thinking? Does he have some secret that I am not aware of? No, there is no way. The only thing his mother gave him was that old ring with a few gold coins and spirit stones." Elder Zhong made many speculations but rejected them in his head.
Seeing a puzzled look appear in Elder Zhong's eyes, Fang thought to himself, "Think old foggy think, the more speculations you will make, the easier it will be for me to get what I want."
Fang had already decided to leave, but what he needed was a solid plan to safely leave the clan. After thinking for some time, Fang formed a plan. He started visiting his mother's grave regularly and started crying there, making everyone believe that his mother's death was taking a toll on him.
This way, he would look more vulnerable and believable. All those times when Fang was crying, those were just crocodile tears, for why would Fang cry for someone whom he knew he would save in the future?
Fang, continuing his act, "Sir, I have already decided that I will leave the clan and venture into the world. It's just that I needed some help with that."
"I already know that I don't have enough talent. I was thinking if I could get my mother's inheritance so that it would be helpful in my journey."
There was a rule in the Xiao clan that, after the death of the parents, children whose parents were not able to leave anything behind for them would receive an inheritance from the Xiao clan as a way to honor their parents' sacrifice. This also made the servants of the Xiao clan very loyal towards them.
In reality, it was a simple stick and carrot method; parents were giving away their lives so their children could get some resources to cultivate, but Fang didn't care less, and as his mother was a mistress of the current patriarch, he was about to get a hefty sum.
Elder Zhong, unable to see through Fang, just nodded in acceptance and told him that if there was nothing more, he could leave and collect his inheritance from the attendant, but Fang was one greedy man; how could he let this golden opportunity slip out of his hands?
He then said something which baffled the elder, "Elder, I would like to know when I will receive the money, will my inheritance be together with my mother's, or do I need to ask for it separately?"
Elder Zhong was beyond confused, and in this confusion, he asked, "What are you talking about, brat? I am already giving you your rightful inheritance. What is this thing about your inheritance?
Fang jumped at this question like a hungry hyena, just waiting for Zhong to ask this exact question, "Sir, now that I will be leaving the clan, I would be considered dead according to clan rules, so that means, I also have that inheritance which I can claim as mine."
Hearing this Elder was baffled and retaliated by saying, "What are you talking about, you are standing right here in front of me? How could you be considered dead?"
As a response, Fang said, "Elder, according to our clan rules, anyone who wants to leave can do so as long as they have a valid reason. They'll be considered dead to the clan. Then there's the inheritance law, which says that the person's inheritance will go to whoever knows them best. No clause says this rule doesn't apply to someone leaving the clan."
Elder Zhong was stunned and quickly started reading the rule book on his desk. This rule book was written by the first generation patriarch, who was also known as the greatest scholar of his time.
Other righteous sects and clans had only a dozen, if not fewer, rules, while demonic sects had none. The Xiao clan was the only clan with many rules, and all of them were fully detailed.
The first generation patriarch was thorough, unlike other righteous sects that merely called for the extermination of demonic sects. He authored ten books for the Xiao clan's library to guide future generations in making wise decisions against injustice, emphasizing that these books were meant as reference points rather than strict rules.
After reading the rule book for some time, Elder Zhong let out a disappointed sigh and said, " You can take your inheritance together with your mothers. If there is nothing more, just leave."
Hearing this, Fang stood up, bowed his head in respect, and left the room as fast as he could. He was worried that the leader might change his decision.
Even after Fang left, Elder Zhong kept reading the book to see if there was something he had missed. He even called his attendant and told her to cancel all his meetings for today.
Suddenly, Elder Zhong heard a laugh from the corner. He stood up, bowed his head, and respectfully said, "How can I help you, supreme elder?"
In the whole Xiao clan, there were only 3 people who could sneak up on Elder Zhong. They were the 1st high elder, the supreme elder, and the patriarch. When he heard the laugh, he immediately realized it was the supreme elder.
Supreme elder, in an amused tone, replied, "That kid, he is a crafty one. I am interested in just how far that kid will go in the future."
Elder Zhong, in a respectful manner, asked, "Supreme elder, aren't you angry that that kid just robbed us right now?"
"Elder Zhong, have you lost it after all these years at the estate? What's there to be angry about? That kid not only found a clever loophole but also had the nerve to follow through. Don't blow this out of proportion, and update the rule book now. I want to see a revised rule book before dawn tomorrow."
Elder Zhong just nodded in agreement and said, "Maybe you are right, supreme elder, I was being too narrow-minded. "
Supreme Elder didn't say anything after that and just vanished in thin air.
After talking with Elder Zhong, Fang was again taken to the guest room by the same attendant.
The attendant said politely, "Young master, just wait here for a bit, I will bring you your money in a moment." Saying this, the attendant left the room in a hurry.
After waiting for some time, the attendant came back with a card and ring in her hands and said, "Mister Fang, this card right here is the VIP card of the Yang Du bank, and it has a balance of 10 trillion gold coins, and this ring right here is a spatial ring with 100 billion high level spirit stones and 10 million supreme spirit stones."
Fang was a little surprised by the sudden shift from Young master to Mister Fang, but he didn't expect less from the Xiao clan, who were known for their straightforwardness.
He received his 'inheritance' and happily went his way.