Clan Building System: I'm not the Protagonist?!-Chapter 109- Clan Building [2] (BONUS)

The hall’s laughter finally subsided, leaving a comfortable, buzzing warmth in its wake.

Fang Yuan let the camaraderie linger for a moment longer, his faint smile softening the edges of his earlier exasperation.

Then, with a subtle shift in posture, shoulders squaring and gaze sharpening, he brought the focus back.

"Speaking of resources," he began, his voice dropping slightly, becoming steady and clear, "let’s talk about foundations. Specifically, cultivation foundations."

He paused, letting the significance settle. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Every elder leaned in fractionally, the jovial mood instantly replaced by focused attention.

"Effective immediately," Fang Yuan continued, meeting their eyes one by one, "I will personally fund the acquisition and distribution of cultivation pills for our promising juniors and core disciples.

We’re talking the full spectrum:

Qi realisation pills, Qi Condensation pills, qi transformation pills and also the golden core pills. And trust me, I’m more than welcome to share a nascent soul pill if you folks ever need one."

A ripple of stunned silence followed, thicker than the laughter moments before.

Eyes widened. Fang Sun’s weary gaze snapped fully alert.

Fang Ra’s jaw tightened slightly. Even Fang Jingyi’s playful smirk vanished, replaced by intense scrutiny.

The sheer scale and cost of such a commitment was staggering.

Fang Chen was the first to break the quiet, his brow furrowed not in doubt, but in dawning, almost pained recognition.

He leaned forward, his voice a mix of awe and mild accusation.

"Clan Head... surely... it cannot be? Not from the... gifts brought by the Divine Ice sect?" He practically choked on the implication, his loyalty warring with the sheer improbability of that source funding such generosity.

Fang Yuan threw his head back and laughed, "Oh, heavens no, Uncle Chen! The ice Sect’s generosity has its... limits."

He wiped a tear from his eye, his smirk returning,"No, this time, the benefactor is far more reliable."

He paused for effect, his gaze locking onto Fang Chen’s.

"This aid comes courtesy of my dear sworn brother, Xiao Pei."

The name landed like a spark in dry tinder.

Fang Chen’s eyes blew wide.

"Xiao Pei?" he echoed, his voice rising with incredulous excitement. "Xiao Pei as in...? The same Xiao Pei who...?"

Fang Yuan simply nodded, a satisfied glint in his eye. "Mhmm. The very same."

A wave of murmurs swept the table. Elders exchanged glances filled with disbelief, then burgeoning hope.

Fang Joshua tapped his fingers thoughtfully. While Fang Long’s composed mask cracked entirely, revealing pure astonishment.

"Clan Head!" Elder Ra burst out, voicing the collective thought. "When... when might we have the honor of meeting this esteemed benefactor?"

Fang Chen slammed a fist lightly on the table, his earlier agony replaced by fervent admiration. "By the ancestors! It is him! He stood with us during the Spirit Mine crisis ten years ago, pulled our hides from the fire when the supply lines collapsed! And now... now he extends his hand again?"

He looked at Fang Yuan, his expression one of pure awe. "Clan Head, your ability to forge such bonds... it humbles this old man. Truly."

Fang Yuan chuckled, warmed by his uncle’s genuine praise. "Alright, alright, enough flattery for now."

He raised a hand, snapping his fingers lightly towards the entrance. "Felicia!"

A figure materialized silently from the shadows near the doorway, Felicia, ever attentive.

"Clan Head?"

"Be a dear and fetch Xiao Pei for me. Tell him the elders are eager to offer their thanks... and perhaps bore him with some old war stories." Fang Yuan’s eyes twinkled.

"At once, Clan Head." Felicia bowed and vanished as swiftly as she appeared.

Fang Yuan turned back to the table, his expression shifting to brisk efficiency.

"In the meantime," he announced, gesturing towards neat stacks of parchment that an attendant promptly began distributing, "I want you all to take a thorough look at the draft proposals for the merit and reward system, the youth contribution guidelines, and the new oversight protocols for the treasury."

He spread his hands. "I am open to all suggestions. Let’s use this time productively."

The elders poured over the parchments, brows furrowed, lips pursed, the flick of sleeves and scratching of quills the only sounds in the hall.

One by one, they read through the merit drafts, the contribution guidelines, the treasury oversight.

Their expressions shifted, thoughtful, impressed... and then, inevitably, uncertain.

At last, it was Elder Fang Sun who voiced the unspoken doubt that had crept into every heart.

"Clan Head," he said slowly, lifting his gaze, "are you certain your... sworn brother can support this? This level of investment isn’t just generous... it’s sacrificial. You gain nothing tangible in return. At worst... we lose everything."

A heavy silence followed.

Fang Yuan stood.

His hands clasped behind his back, shoulders squared beneath the weight of leadership.

His gaze swept across the room, not cold, but resolute.

"Who says there’s nothing to gain?" His voice cut through the hush, calm and ringing.

"The stronger our juniors grow, the more doors will open for us. Opportunities that once passed us by... will finally be within reach. And not just scraps, but real contention."

His tone hardened, not in anger, but conviction.

"If our foundation remains weak, we will forever be pawns. But if we nurture strength, true, disciplined strength we can carve out a place worthy of our name."

He paused, letting the words root.

Then he smiled, slow and knowing, like the tip of a sword glinting through fog.

"Who knows..." he murmured, eyes distant yet piercing, "maybe what my brother said about three years wasn’t just a promise for himself... but a prophecy for our clan as a whole."

A pin could have dropped and echoed like thunder.

The temperature in the room seemed to fall.

Even the air dared not move.

Elder Fang Chen’s lips parted slightly, as if to speak but no sound came.

Fang Jingyi’s fingers froze mid-tap on the table.

Across the hall, even the attendants stood a little straighter, breath held without realizing why.

"Besides," Fang Yuan added, his voice steady as he turned to return to his seat, "my success... is my brother’s success."