Chapter 163 (Patreon)

“Alright, time to take a break. Are you trying to kill your brother?” Tianxu asked, stepping out of his office and interrupting the spar between his oldest daughter and oldest son.

He was stationed in the Hall in the Inner City these days, as many kids of the Xin-generation had grown old and powerful enough to act as teachers, filling some vacancies in the old Hall.

Most days he took his children with him, letting them practice along with the other students there. But his two oldest never seemed to get enough, always finding time to spar when they should be resting.

“Grandpa said it’s the best way to comprehend fist intent. If it doesn't hurt, it doesn’t stick,” Xinzi answered, lowering her fists.

“It’s fine, Dad,” Xinhu said from the ground, wiping some sweat and blood from his face.

Tianxu grimaced slightly. He never quite got used to seeing his children hurt, even if it wasn’t anything serious.

“Are you sure that’s the way to go about it?” Tianxu questioned.

“It worked for me,” Xinzi answered with a shrug. 

‘True.’

But Tianxu didn’t think she managed to comprehend fist intent due to any specific method. It was just because she was naturally inclined toward the fist.

Otherwise, there was no explanation why she had managed to comprehend it when she was just ten years old. Not to mention that a whole eight years had passed since then, and Xinzi was still the only one in the Shu Family besides his father to have comprehended it.

A few years ago, she even managed to comprehend it to the 2nd tier.

She was truly Tianxu’s pride and joy. So what if she didn’t have spirit roots? So what if she didn’t have any special trait valued by the Sword Sect? She had comprehended fist intent, and she was the only one.

It was truly Tianxu’s saving grace, having given birth to such a talented daughter to the family. What did it matter that he himself was a failure? His daughter made up for it and then some.

‘Still. I don’t think this is the proper path for Xinhu.’

“Did your grandfather beat you bloody?” Tianxu asked, looking down at the injured Xinhu. “Why don’t I recall such a thing occurring?”“Well,” Xinzi said hesitantly, “No. But it hurt. It should work better if it hurts more, right?”“I think so too, Dad,” Xinhu said, rising to his feet, “I asked Xinzi to give it her all.”‘If she truly gave her all, you’d be dead.’

Still, if Xinhu was the one who wanted it, Tianxu didn’t feel like it was right to interfere too much. The boy was already 17 years old; he could make his own decisions.

“Do as you wish,” Tianxu said with a sigh. “Just make sure you have energy left for practice this evening.”“We can handle it,” Xinzi said. 

Tianxu nodded, turning back to his office. His tasks weren’t only concerned with teaching students; he had a lot of paperwork to handle as well.

“Dad,” Xinzi called out, running after him into his office. 

Tianxu glanced over her shoulder and saw that Xinhu had started throwing punches in the air already.

‘This kid.’

“What’s the matter?” Tianxu asked.

“I want to go out,” Xinzi said.

“Out? Out where?” Tianxu asked.

“The Heaven-Reaching Forest,” Xinzi answered.

“What? Why would you want to go there?” Tianxu asked.

“To hone my fists,” Xinzi answered. “I feel like I’m not progressing anymore, staying at home like this. I need to experience some actual fighting.”“You want to fight beasts?” Tianxu asked.

“It’s not like I can go around fighting humans, right?” Xinzi asked.

Tianxu frowned slightly. He knew there was some truth to it, but letting her go was far too dangerous. He had heard that the Sect Master of the Sword Sect was still missing, gone for seven years now, and people were starting to talk about something brewing within the Heaven-Reaching Forest.

“No way. You’re still far too young,” Tianxu said, shaking his head.

“I’m 18!” Xinzi argued.

“That’s young. Not to mention that you’re still weak. You’re strong for your age, but still only an Innate warrior. It’s easy for even Masters to meet their ends in the Heaven-Reaching Forest.” Tianxi said.

“But I need to improve,” Xinzi muttered. “I’ll be careful.”“Aren’t you still rapidly improving?” Tianxu asked, rolling his eyes. He couldn’t understand fist intent, but he knew body cultivation well enough to know that his daughter was very talented, making rapid progress. “When you advance to the Foundation stage, you can go if you want.”“The Foundation stage? That will take forever,” Xinzi said, mouth open.

“Well, that’s how it is,” Tianxu said with a shrug.

Xinzi narrowed her eyes slightly. “Don’t think I don’t know what you were up to when you were my age. Aunt Tianyue told me all about it. Constantly running away from home, not even as strong as I am.”Tianxu rubbed his neck awkwardly. ‘Why is Tianyue telling her this nonsense?’

“Well, I was stupid. And irresponsible. My mistake cost lives, you know. It’s nothing I’m proud of, and nothing you should try to emulate,” Tianxu said, the image of his Uncle Zhangye appearing in his mind.

“Mistake? I thought you met Mom on your journey? Do you really regret that?” Xinzi asked.

“Of course not,” Tianxu said. “Meeting her, having you and your siblings, is the best thing that happened to me. But meeting her was incredibly lucky; it was still stupid of me.”Xinzi pouted slightly, not seeming very convinced.

‘She’s not going to run away, is she?’

“And the area we lived in was very different from here, you know. There was only a single Foundation cultivator around,” Tianxu continued.

“I’ll obviously not go anywhere where there are Foundation Beasts,” Xinzi said.

“Well, unfortunately, that’s never a sure thing,” Tianxu said.

Seeing Xinzi's discontented look, Tianxu added, “It’s not impossible for you to go out and fight some beasts, though.”“What do you mean?” Xinzi asked.

“Your grandfather might arrange something. I’m not sure about the details. I’ll ask about it later,” Tianxu said.

His sister Tianyi had returned home almost a year ago, after spending several years in the west of the province. After she came back, she talked a lot about the importance of fighting, about putting what you’ve learned into practice.

Everyone knew that fighting was a great experience, but it was simply too dangerous to consider. Tianxu’s father hadn’t thought it was worth endangering anyone just for a small edge in power.

But once Tianyi had experienced it herself, she had been quite adamant about how important it was. Your power needed to be stress-tested, tempered, not only for a slight boost in power, but because it was crucial for advancement.

Tianyi could feel that both her body and spirit were strengthened significantly, and knew that it would be of great use once she advanced.

Their father had taken the account seriously and given it some thought. He considered starting to make some smaller excursions for family members to temper themselves against beasts. He would obviously make sure it was safe, with several Foundation cultivators nearby. As far as Tianxu knew, nothing had been decided yet, though.

‘If Dad went with her to oversee things, I could definitely send Xinzi away with peace of mind.’

Xinzi seemed appeased by Tianxu’s words, at least temporarily, and went to eat something.

As she left, Tianxu spotted Xinhu still practicing punches outside. Sweat was pouring down his face, mixing with the dried blood from his earlier spar.

Tianxu watched him practice for a while. Punch after punch. Tirelessly.

It was unfortunate, but the truth was that his son had no talent for cultivation. He was 17 years old now, but he was still only a 2nd-stage martial warrior. 

Not to mention his older sister, who had become an Innate warrior at the age of 13; his younger brother Xinzhuo had also surpassed him, being a 1st-stage martial warrior at 15.

It would have been wonderful if he could comprehend an intent to make up for his lack of talent; heaven knew he worked hard enough. But that gift had also been placed on his older sister.

‘He’s still young, though. Anything can happen.’

“Dad?” Xinhu asked.

Tianxu snapped out of his thoughts. He had apparently walked out of his office without thinking, standing just a few feet from his son.

“How are you feeling?” Tianxu asked.

“What do you mean?” Xinhu asked back.

“Well…” Tianxu found himself at a loss for words. He didn’t want to say something to discourage the boy.

But at the same time, Tianxu didn’t want him to be overly obsessed. There was a chance nothing would ever come out of all the time and effort Xinhu put in. 

It had never come for Tianxu. All those hours swinging the sword, wanting to catch up to his big brother so badly that he left his family behind to find an answer out in the wide world.

All for nought. Tianxu could never grasp that elusive intent, while his brother Tianhu kept marching on.

But was that something a father should say to his son? Give up?

‘No. Even if it crushes him, he has to do it. He has to try. He has to give it everything, or he will regret it forever.’

‘If it doesn’t work. If he fails. I’ll be there to comfort him. I’ll help him find a nice wife to settle down with.’

Tianxu patted his son on the shoulder. “Do you know who I named you after?” 

“Uncle Tianhu,” Xinhu said with a nod.

“Did you know that your uncle was even weaker than you when he was your age?” Tianxu asked.

“I’ve…heard about it. But is it really true?” Xinhu asked doubtfully.

“True,” Tianxu said seriously. “Still. He never complained. He was never jealous. He was never anxious. He was confident that all he could do was take the next step. Then the next. Nothing else mattered. No one else mattered.”“I can picture that,” Xinhu said, looking a bit dazed.

“Well, you’re certainly living up to his name. I hope you won’t stray from it in the future,” Tianxu said with a smile.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t give up,” Xinhu said with a serious expression on his face.

“You know, your uncle always said the same thing when I asked him how he did it. He said he had ‘decided.’”“Decided?” Xinhu asked. “Decided what?”Tianxu shrugged. “Decided to follow through. To swing his sword. To grow stronger. I don’t know, really. But I think I can see a similar decision in you.”“Well, I guess so,” Xinhu said.

“Good. Your uncle said that everything was easy after that. The decision was made, all that was left was to do it,” Tianxu said with a laugh. “So I won’t be going easy on you in the future. Just thought I’d warn you.”

‘Let’s hope you have some of whatever your uncle has, and won’t be pulled down by this useless father of yours.’