"It's that important?" Leyvi was shocked.
"Of course! That is why cultivators delve into many kinds of fields and not just solely cultivate. We have alchemy, weapon refining, array and formations, arts, music, and countless more." Rustam passionately explained. He doesn't have any talent to go into any field he just listed, so he could only devote himself to the path of Chess.
"Although chess is considered a minor Dao, a Dao is still a Dao. As long as it could help them progress, nothing else matters. This is why chess is so popular." He continued.
"Isn't it because playing chess doesn't cost much compared to something like Alchemy?" Leyvi expressed his true opinion on this matter.
Rustam was stunned.
"Bwahahaha! I was trying to look mysterious but you are actually not that stupid. You saw the real reason right away. Many cultivators picked chess because they were broke and poor, including me!" Rustam laughed.
"If you don't have talent in Alchemy, you will waste countless resources and money doing it, but if you don't have talent in chess, you will eventually be good at it after a long time playing, and no resources were wasted. It can also sharpen your mind. That's the real reason it was so popular." Rustam explained the real reason without shame.
"But don't worry Tal, only talentless people like us will be broke and poor, if it was someone talented like you, you would be swimming in money if you keep winning in tournaments. There are always tournaments and competitions held for chess players to participate." Rustam turned to Tal and explained as if afraid he would lose interest in chess.
"How is it Tal?" Leyvi asked. In the end, Tal himself should be the one who makes the final decision.
"Master, I've made up my mind. I will join the Chess Association!" Even without all the things Rustam explained previously, Tal already made up his mind. He wanted to play chess as many times as he could.
"Bwahaha... good, good! What about you little missy? Do you want to join too? But you need to pass the test first." Rustam offered. The test wasn't about how well a person played chess but how determined they were to study, learn, and progress with chess. If their interest was just short-lived, there's no way a person like that would be able to touch the Dao.
"Ah! No, no, no!" Tasya immediately rejected it by waving her hands around. Although she knew how to play chess, she was not good at it and was not particularly interested. Ever since she found out she could cook very well, her interest in cooking shot up. She wanted to feed Tal all the delicious food in the world. After she heard the talk about Dao just now, she wondered whether there was a cooking Dao.
"So Brother Rustam, now that Tal joined the Chess Association, will he need to stay here?" Leyvi asked.
"No, no. We only provide chess lessons during the weekend. He can come at that time but if he wants to come every day that is also recommended because we have a lot of books and notes written by past players here that he could read. Also, there are plenty of people who come here every day to play chess. All in all, the schedule was relatively flexible. We don't want to hinder anyone's cultivation by having strict requirements." Rustam explained while resting his back on the chair.
"Haha good! Tal, it's up to you how you set up your schedule. As a chess player, this should be easy right?" Leyvi was satisfied with how everything went.
"Yes! Master!" Tal enthusiastically replied.
Afterward, Rustam gave Tal a badge as proof of his affiliation with the Bara City Chess Association. He also gave Tal a chess set made by the Bara City Chess Association as a gift.
Leyvi and the kids left the Chess Association and headed back to the mansion. Along the way, he was thinking about what Rustam said regarding Dao. What path should he focus on? Is there any Dao he was particularly interested in? He had never thought about any of this previously.
Leyvi thought about Anda. His panda wife was extremely lucky to obtain enlightenment and gain insight into the Dao of Fire. However, even if she wasn't lucky, he was confident that she would eventually touch the Dao of Alchemy.
Leyvi felt that all the people he gave talents to could tread the path given and reach the Dao with it. But what about him?
Leyvi was silent the entire way back. He recalled the benefits that he had. Is there anything he could reach the Dao with? The Dao of climbing trees? He would turn into a monkey first if that Dao was real.
What about Dual Mind? He wasn't sure how to use Dual Mind to reach Dao. What about Universal Language? This seems possible. Is there a Dao of Language? Maybe his joke about becoming a translator would come true.
Leyvi shook his head. He doesn't need to force himself. Maybe he would just let nature take its course. This fits his personality more than thinking endlessly. If he thinks too much right now, it will become a barrier for him. Furthermore, he was still in the Foundation Building realm. Whatever requirement for Dao should be in a much higher realm.
"Boss, we are here. Why are you still in the carriage? I want to resume eating." Mr. Bison complained.
Leyvi thought was back to reality. His thought was interrupted by Mr. Bison's complaint. He looked at Tal and Tasya who were waiting for him to get down.
"Hahaha! Look at me." Leyvi's mind cleared again. He decided to let nature take its course. He was always a cheerful person but because he was thinking too much, it caused the atmosphere to sullen a little and he didn't like this feeling.
"Let's go in." Leyvi got off the carriage and entered the mansion.
In Anda's room.
Leyvi was resting his head comfortably on Anda's heavenly mound.
"Maybe this is my Dao," Leyvi muttered.
Anda rolled her eyes. What nonsense is it now?
"I thought there would be a lot of bamboo here. Lilian's room was like a jungle." Leyvi joked.
"Hmm...Maybe I should bring in some bamboo here. So I can beat you with it!" Anda retorted while slapping Leyvi's ass.
"Leyvi, let's find some maids tomorrow. Soon we are going to busy ourselves with cultivation and other things, so we need a few maids to take care of the house, a personal maid for Lilian, a gatekeeper, and....what else do we need?" Anda asked for more suggestions.
"That's probably enough for now. We don't have that many people in the family right now." Leyvi said.
"Oh right! I have decided on a family name for us. Anda, go and help Tasya prepare dinner. We will have dinner together and I will announce it by then. Hahaha!" Leyvi raised his head and told Anda.
"Can't you tell me right now?" Anda was curious.
"Nope! Go go go!" Leyvi denied. He spanked Anda's round butt with each 'go'.
A few hours later, Tasya prepared different kinds of dishes with minimal help from Anda. She had bought various kinds of cooking utensils and all types of spices and seasonings available in Bara City during the time Leyvi and Anda were out of the city. She was determined to be a chef, Chef Tasya.
In the dining room, the same floor as the main kitchen.
Leyvi, Anda, Lilian, Tal, and Tasya were sitting around the oval dining table full of dishes made by Tasya. Anda and Lilian sat on Leyvi's right side while Tal and Tasya sat on Leyvi's left side. The aroma of the food instinctively made their mouth watery and they couldn't wait to taste them.
Tasya keeps glancing at Tal as if waiting for praise. Leyvi had to send a sound transmission to Tal making him aware of the situation. Tal immediately praised Tasya after Leyvi's reminder and Tasya's happiness instantly shot up. Lilian cheered at Tasya silently from the other side of the table.
"Ehem..." Leyvi adjusted his throat. It also made everyone pay attention to him.
"Welcome everyone, this place will be our house from now on. We might move in the future, but we leave that to the future us. Right now, this is our home. In this house, I won't restrict what you want to do, you are free to pursue whatever you want in your life. If you have any difficulties, please ask for help from the people around you, and don't wait until it becomes a bigger trouble that inconveniences other people."
Leyvi shot a glance at Lilian with a sly smile as he said the last sentence. Lilian blushed and pouted.
"At Anda's request, I had thought of a family name for this household, because we were orphans so we don't have one. I decided that the family name would be LEYAN. I know it's not the most awesome-sounding name, but I took 'LEY' from my name and 'AN' from Anda and Lilian." Leyvi felt that it was a good name where people could trace the origin easily.
"From now on, my name is Leyvi Leyan."