Chapter 321

Across Shang clan city’s tea houses and streets, people spend the following days replaying how Fang Yuan, at rank three peak stage, overcame a rank four opponent and forced Ju Kai Bei to admit defeat after his killer move djinn transformation failed him. Nearly a thousand witnesses saw the match decided by pure strength with no trickery, so the outcome is not in question, only its meaning. Fang Yuan spreads false information tying the strength qi Gu’s origin to Gu Yue clan. Many now call him lord. ^{ch. 321}

Many pair him with Bai Ning Bing as the Black and White Demons, and even more call him the Little Beast King for the way he fights, charging and crashing with eight controlled phantoms. He is not called simply Beast King, a title already held by an established demonic Gu Master, a rank five figure who rules Bai Shou Mountain with an army of a hundred beasts and is feared by both the righteous and demonic factions as unreasonable, ruthless and evil. Fang Yuan, still only rank three peak stage, remains far below that rank five bar, so people reading Little Beast King into his future mean it as high praise for a young man still rising. Defending his position for eighteen battles would make him Shang clan’s newest external elder. ^{ch. 321}

Onlookers debate who could still match him: Ju Kai Bei has lost his djinn mind Gu to him in what onlookers call a ruthless move and can no longer complete djinn transformation, leaving Yan Tu, Ju Kai Bei’s old equal for the title of half the sky of the battle stage, as his likeliest remaining test, and many now favor Fang Yuan since strength qi Gu answers his old weakness at range. Some also raise Bai Ning Bing, who has broken through to rank four initial stage since her loss to Yan Tu, and speculate, given how close she and Fang Yuan are said to be, that she might yield to him if the two ever met on the stage. That Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing share quarters at Nan Qiu Garden is no secret, and gossip goes further, assuming without confirmation that the two are intimate. ^{ch. 321}

Then, at the peak of this speculation, Fang Yuan abruptly announces he is retiring from the battle stage, and the news stuns the city just as external elder, a position Shang clan has not filled in over ten years, stood within his reach. Demonic Gu Masters, already wary by nature, wonder whether Shang clan is quietly ending its policy of accepting demonic Gu Masters as external elders, or forcing him out specifically. Unsettled by the speculation, Shang Yan Fei uses his authority to shut the matter down quickly, since he had secretly used Ju Kai Bei and Yan Tu as pawns to control the battle stage and cannot afford that to come out. ^{ch. 321}

A few days later, Fang Yuan announces in public that he will help Shang Xin Ci compete for the young master position left vacant since Shang Ya Zi’s ouster over falsified accounts, and onlookers link the two events, reasoning he gave up a certain path to external elder in order to back her instead. Some praise his loyalty, some suspect a secret bond with Shang Xin Ci, and when Bai Ning Bing also retires from the stage days later to help her too, gossip widens into a rumored triangle among the three of them that spawns plays and dramas across the city and sells briskly. With two proven fighters behind her, Shang Xin Ci becomes the second most talked about young master candidate, behind only Shang Yi Fan, who until then had been seen as the clear favorite. ^{ch. 321}

In his study, Shang Yi Fan, a short man with an eagle nose, tiny eyes and a sharp gaze, receives a visit from the disgraced Shang Ya Zi, who warns him that Fang Zheng is scheming and devious and accuses him directly of causing his own downfall. ^{ch. 321}