Chapter 160 (Patreon)

“He actually did it,” Tianhu said, reading the letter from his son with a wide smile.

“He’s a Core Disciple of the Sword Sect now, and he has always been advancing at lightning speed; what did you expect?” Xiaoshi asked. Her eyes gleamed with excitement, though, obviously excited by the news as well.

“You’re right. Still, we should write back and ask him to come home for a visit to celebrate. Didn’t they always say they’d be free to come and go once they reached the Foundation stage?” Tianhu said.

“Definitely. Hopefully Xinxi and Xinjiang will advance soon as well, and then they can all come back for at least a few weeks every year,” Xiaoshi said.

“They shouldn’t take much longer than Xinmo, another 10 years or so at most,” Tianhu said.

It had only been four years now since Tianhu himself advanced, and now his firstborn had already caught up.

‘I will probably have to get used to my children being more powerful than me.’

“Do you think he was taught any special technique on how to advance?” Xiaoshi asked, her smile gradually slipping from her face. “Maybe the Sword Sect has methods on how to make it easier.”“Maybe,” Tianhu said, taking her hand, “We’ll ask him when we meet.”Tianhu understood why Xiaoshi was hoping for something like that, as her father had failed to advance to the Foundation stage a few years ago. 

Shen Ye originally didn’t think he would ever be able to advance to the Foundation stage, but with Tianhu and Tianyi advancing right after each other, Shen Ye became determined to at least give it a try. 

Tianhu’s father had been generous with resources, so he didn’t lack anything in that regard. But unfortunately, he was just too old. Shen Ye was already over 70 years old at the time, and despite being at the peak of the Master stage, his vitality wasn’t the same as a young man in his prime.

Advancing was always easier the younger you were, and in the cultivation world, it was said that there was only hope of building a Foundation before the age of 60.

That was concerning spiritual qi, of course, but body cultivation shouldn’t be too different. 

‘It’s a shame. If Shen Ye had grown up in this place, and had all the resources he needed, he should have been able to advance without issue, considering his talent.’

‘Maybe there is still some hope, I guess.’ 

Tianhu didn’t really believe it, though. He would obviously do his best to support his father-in-law, but deep down, he felt it was impossible.

If there was a way to circumvent the passing of time, then his own mother wouldn’t have been a victim to it.

In the end, the only way to escape was through cultivation. But that was a hard path to walk, and not everyone could make it.

“Anyway, keep reading,” Xiaoshi said, forcing a smile.

“Right,” Tianhu said, and kept reading Xinmo’s letter out loud.

After he finished, Xiaoshi frowned slightly. “What do you think? Something is wrong, right?”“Yeah,” Tianhu nodded with a sigh. His son never told them any bad news; only the things that would make them happy made it through.

But how could they not know their own son well enough by now to read between the lines?

Xinmo’s letter had mentioned the disappearance of the Sect Master. According to him, everything was fine, just a few Peak Masters flexing their muscles. But with the Ancestor there, no one would dare make any real trouble.

The problem with that, at least to Tianhu and Xiaoshi, was that if there truly was no cause to worry, then Xinmo wouldn’t have added it to the letter. He would never share something trivial if it would upset them.

That meant that the trouble was big enough that Xinmo felt he had to make the two of them aware of the issue.

“This boy,” Xiaoshi said, rubbing her temples, “Can’t he just say what the issue is? Are we that fragile in his mind?”“I don’t know,” Tianhu said, shaking his head, “We’ll have to force it out of him when he gets back. Hopefully, Xinxi and Xinjiang can make it back too. They certainly won’t hold back from telling us about any drama.”“I long for the day when the girls gain a bit more freedom. If they were the ones who sent us these letters, I feel like we’d know every detail about what’s going on over there. Can you believe he didn’t mention anything about that girl Jiu Yinlin? We asked him outright, and he just ignored us!”

“Okay, don’t get upset. We’ll know once we see him,” Tianhu said, patting his wife on the head.

Tianhu didn’t feel it was strange that he didn’t mention her; he never really talked about Xiaoshi to anyone when he fell in love with her. 

‘I guess I don’t even know if he likes her, though. It’s all Xinxin and Xinjiang’s speculation. But they should have met now that they live on the same Peak, right?’

Tianhu shook his head; there was no need to think about it. He started writing a letter back to Xinmo. Xiaoshi also wrote a letter of her own, as she usually did. They also wrote to their daughters, which would be delivered by Xinmo.

‘I’m glad Xinmo’s master seems a bit more understanding than that Elder Renmeng. If Xinmo had been as cut off as them, I don’t think I could have handled it.’

Once the letters were written, the two of them got to work. They were now in charge of the Shu Sword Inner Hall. 

On the surface, they had established this branch in the Inner City for those who progressed far enough in their cultivation to give more advanced lessons to. But the reality was that basically none of their early students had the talent to advance that far, so the students they took care of were still mostly in the early stages of body cultivation.

The difference, of course, was the price they had to pay. The rent their Shu family paid wasn’t cheap, and that cost naturally had to be borne by the students who lived there. 

Fortunately, after his and Tianyi’s ceremony, their family had gained quite a lot of influence, so it wasn’t rare for the more powerful clans in the city to send their kids to gain some experience.

Their new branch had been filled in just two months, and even after expanding last year, the place was filled with people eager to study body cultivation, with a few even having quite a talent for it.

But most students only stayed for a short time, as many of them had spirit roots and would rather focus their spare time on the Immortal Arts rather than body cultivation.

“Do you think we should have Xinying join once she turns 15?” Xiaoshi asked, stepping up next to Tianhu, both of them overlooking the area below where a crowd of students was being taught by Tianxu and Tianzheng. 

Tianren and Tianan mostly spent their time with the students of the old branch.

“Probably, right? Everyone else in the family joins in from a young age. She can’t stay isolated forever,” Tianhu answered.

Their youngest daughter was already 13 years old, and she had a good talent for body cultivation. But unlike the other Shu children, Tianhu and Xiaoshi kept her close by their side, teaching her themselves, and not letting her join the other students.

The reasons were many, but mainly it was because of Xinying’s shy nature. She preferred peace and quiet, and didn’t like being around strangers. 

Truthfully, both Xiaoshi and Tianhu were quite relieved that Xinying preferred to stay close to home. They had already ‘lost’ three of their children to the Sword Sect, and the last thing they wanted was to say goodbye to Xinying as well.

It had even gotten to the point that they hid her talent for spiritual cultivation. When she reached the 1st stage of Qi Refining, Tianhu had asked his father for a method to hide her aura. 

It might seem a bit ridiculous to go to such lengths; she only had trash-grade spirit roots, after all. But Xinmo didn’t even have that, and he had somehow been accepted as a disciple to a Peak Master.

Needless to say, the two of them weren’t taking any chances with this child. Since Xinying didn’t wish to separate and join the Sword Sect, they would do their best to make sure no one from the Sword Sect took an interest in her. 

They knew that the Sword Sect wouldn’t force her to go against her will, of course. But they still felt more at ease if as few people knew about her as possible.

Xinying did inherit her mother’s Bloodline Ability, after all. Who could tell for sure that it wouldn’t spark an interest in someone who didn’t like to follow the rules?

But 14 was the cut-off age to join the Sword Sect, so once Xinying turned 15, there wouldn’t really be any need to guard her so closely. 

She would also be grown up, and they both knew that they couldn’t keep her so sheltered forever. Even if Xinying’s temperament wasn’t suitable for fighting or even socializing, she would have to know how to handle it. It was their job as parents to make sure she could handle herself in the world.

Once she had experienced what it was like to live a bit freer, and had matured a bit more, she could choose for herself what kind of life she wanted to lead. If she wanted to live a quiet life in the estate, perhaps studying formation or some other Immortal Art, that was just fine with them.

“Yeah, we should bring her around some more to prepare her, and once she turns 15, we’ll have her join our branch, where we can look out for her,” Xiaoshi said.

“Sounds good,” Tianhu said. 

‘Anyway. Back to work.’