Chapter 159 (Patreon)

“There are just so many students now. I feel like I don’t have the time to give them my full attention,” Xinyang complained with a sigh.

“You don’t need to give them your full attention. Just give your classes, and answer the students’ questions if you have time,” Tianren said. “These aren’t your disciples. You don’t have to feel any responsibility for them, it’s up to me and your uncles to make sure everyone gets what they paid for. I don’t want you staying behind teaching students for no reason; that time should be spent on improving your own strength.”“I’m already a Master now; I feel like I’m not going to make much more progress,” Xinyang said.

“What kind of talk is that? You’re only 34 years old; there is plenty of time,” Tianren said with a frown.

Xinyang smiled awkwardly, “It’s just that my talent is limited.”Tianren slapped the back of his son’s head. “So what? Is your uncle Tianhu talented?”“Yes?” Xinyang answered, looking at Tianren like he was crazy.

“No,” Tianren corrected, “He’s never had any talent for body cultivation. All his progress is due to his hard work. There is always a way, son. If you don’t want to struggle anymore, that’s fine, but don’t blame your lack of talent.”“Alright, alright. I know what you mean,” Xinyang said, rubbing his head.

Tianren shook his head. “Either way, there is no need to waste time on those students of yours. You should just do the work, do it well, and not stick around a minute more than you have to. If you feel like teaching, you should focus on your own children.”Tianren knew it wasn’t a bad quality for Xinyang to care about the students he was teaching, but things had started getting out of hand lately. He spent almost every hour of the day in the Shu Sword Hall. Tianren was worried he might become estranged from his own wife and children if he kept at it like he did.

“Of course I know that,” Xinyang said. “It’s just that things are really busy lately; I don’t feel at ease just leaving like that.”“I know, things will get better in the future. Our family is getting bigger and bigger every day,” Tianren said.

Things really had been a bit hectic lately. After Tianhu’s and Tianyi’s ceremony three years ago, their Shu Sword Hall had exploded in popularity. And the students who started showing up weren’t the usual talentless young men from the outskirts of the city; they were members of proper clans, many of them members of the local Golden Clans.

Some of them even had spirit roots now, but still showed up in hopes of exploring both body cultivation and sword intent.

Tianren’s father also suspected it was a way for those branch members, not very favored within the clan, to meet with the Shu children with the hope of marrying.

Their family’s status had certainly risen a lot, and plenty of people were eager to form a connection to them.

His father expanded on the area of the Hall, and even increased the price of admission, but there were still more students arriving than they could fit.

So it was busy work each and every day, and everyone within the family who had reached the Innate stage had been recruited as teachers.

They had even hired a former student who managed to reach that grade to stick around and teach.

‘Hopefully things will get better once Tianxu’s and Tianzheng’s kids grow a bit older.’

‘And once the Ji generation grows up, the pressure will really ease up.’

‘Unless Dad decides to expand again.’

A few months after the ceremony for Tianhu’s and Tianyi’s advancement, his father had finally decided on opening up a branch within the Inner City. Tianhu and Xiaoshi had moved over there, and now the old branch was left in Tianren’s hands.

Luckily, his children were all grown, so he didn’t really mind the workload. Xinzhang and Xinchu had both married a year ago, and now only Xinxin remained unmarried of his kids. 

Besides, most of the Shu children spent the majority of their time in the Shu Sword Hall either way, so he would still see his children and grandchildren often.

‘Well, I guess a few of them won’t spend much time over there.’

‘They should be with Dad at this hour, right? Maybe I’ll go check on them.’

“Alright, if you need anything, just ask. Things are busy, but not that busy. I haven’t managed to comprehend the way toward the peak of the Master stage, but you have many in the family who have. You should go over to your uncle Tianhu and ask him about it, bring some wine, and I’m sure he’ll patiently explain what he knows to you.”“Okay,” Xinyang said nodding. “That sounds good.”“Good,” Tianren said with a nod. He patted his son on the shoulder and walked out of the house. 

He took aim at his father’s courtyard in the back of the estate. As he was walking, he saw a few new faces, in-laws who had recently married into the family. His children weren’t the only ones who had started getting married; many of Tianan’s kids had also found partners.

‘In the next ten years or so, Tianxu’s and Tianzheng’s kids will probably settle down as well. We’ll probably have to move to a bigger place by then if we want to keep the family gathered.’

It would probably not be an issue to house the entire Ji generation, even if there could very well be over a hundred of them, but Tianren wondered what would happen to the next generation. They would probably need a big spiritual mountain if they didn’t want to send anyone away to the Mortal Kingdoms.

‘Oh well, that’s for Dad to worry about.’

Tianren arrived at his mother and father’s house, circled around the back, and saw a gathering of eight children, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Three of them were his own grandchildren. Jiyang, Jiling, and Jizhu. They were Xinyang’s, Xinru’s, and Xinxiao’s children, all with at least trash-grade spirit roots.

Tianan also had three grandchildren there, Jihua, Jijing, and Jichu. 

The other two were girls of the Xin-generation, Xinyue, Tianyue’s daughter, and Xinxiang, Tianzheng’s daughter.

They were all the children of the Shu Clan old enough to cultivate spiritual qi.

Except Tianyi, of course, but she had left for Yuanchi Immortal Land to visit Song Hongchi a while ago, and still hadn’t returned. 

‘Considering the talents of the new in-laws, this place will probably grow quite crowded in the near future.’

Tianren noticed that his father, sitting opposite the group of children, had opened his eyes and looked over at him, giving him a questioning look.

“Nothing,” Tianren mouthed. He didn’t have anything urgent; he just wanted to see some of his grandchildren that rarely made it over to the Shu Sword Hall. He planned on taking them home after they were done and perhaps practicing some martial arts with them if they weren’t too tired.

His father nodded and closed his eyes again.

‘I wonder what Dad’s cultivation is now?’

Tianren only knew that his father was at the Foundation stage of body cultivation, but he didn’t know much about his progress in spiritual cultivation. 

‘I guess I can just ask; sometimes he answers my questions.’

A few minutes passed, and Tianren saw his mother come out of the house. She smiled and waved at him, and Tianren smiled back. 

‘She’s getting old.’

While his father sat there with his back straight, not looking a day older than Tianren’s first memory of him, his mother was different. Her back had started to hunch slightly as she walked.

It was strange, but it was the first time Tianren saw his mother as ‘old.’

‘I guess I’m starting to get old too.’ Tianren thought, rubbing his face. He was 52 years old now, and the image in the mirror wasn’t a dashing young man looking at him anymore. 

‘I wonder what it feels like.’ Tianren thought, looking at his father’s young appearance. He had to admit that he envied his father, as well as his brother and sister. It would have been nice to have a hundred years of youth ahead of him still.

But he soon shook his head. ‘It’s not for me. We all die eventually. A longer life doesn’t mean it’s better. Some of these cultivators just sit around all day, cultivating away their long lifespan.’

Tianren had heard several stories about cultivators locking themselves away for years, decades, in the hopes of breaking through their bottlenecks, only to fail in the end. They might have managed to live long lives, but what was there to show for it in the end? No wife, no children, no grandchildren, no impact on the world as it kept going without you.

‘Yeah. It’s better to make the most of what you have.’

Still, he looked at his father again and didn’t feel as much envy as he felt awe. When he thought of all his father had achieved, it was far from an empty life.

‘And despite that, he looks so young and full of life. Just what kind of strange talent does he have, really?’

Tianren had learned to stifle his curiosity about his father’s strange abilities. Some things were just better left alone. If he needed to know something, his father would tell him. 

It was better to just accept things as they were, take each day as it came, and enjoy the peaceful and happy life he had been blessed with.

‘Hopefully, things can continue like this forever.’

He was a bit worried, though. He had heard his father mention that the Sword Sect Master still hadn’t returned from the Heaven-Reaching Forest that she travelled to three years ago in order to investigate the Winged Tiger Clan.

Tianren didn’t understand what the implications of that were; it was too far out of his reach to understand that world. But his father had looked quite worried when he talked about it, and that was a look Tianren understood well enough.

‘Whatever. I’m sure we’ll manage whatever comes our way. We always have.’

‘For now, I’ll just focus on doing the best I can, and enjoy the blessings that have come our way.’