บท 45: Returning Home
Shi clan, Shi Xingwan's room.
At the moment, Shi Xingwan sat cross-legged in the center of the room as he took a few deep breaths to calm his emotions. After making sure that his heart was as calm as water, he then started to peer inside his Energy Core.
As someone of the Grand Martial Master realm, also known as the Half-Martial Lord realm, the qi bridge within the energy core is surrounded by a small amount of liquid qi that would be at least as big as a puddle.
Shi Xingwan checked the Qi Bridge he formed and noticed that it was slightly denser than the Qi Bridge he formed around three weeks ago. That was a given though as he was able to add 500 more qi strands onto the qi bridge, making the total of qi strands forming the bridge 7000. Not only that, the radius of the liquid qi surround the Qi Bridge also slightly expanded, allowing him to have more qi at his disposal. Nonetheless, it was still far away from the limit of 9999 strands, plus he was still far away from reaching the true Martial Lord realm.
Peering into the current situation of his Energy Core, he started to converge all of the liquid qi surrounding the Qi Bridge and formed a spear above it as the Qi Bridge spat out an aura that exuded a terrifying sharpness, covering the spear made out of liquid qi. He then controlled this qi spear towards one of the nine gates that sealed a person's full potential, the First Gate: Power.
He manuevered through the channels and meridians as he could clearly remember the position of the First Gate, at the heart. Without hesitation, he shot the qi spear towards the First Gate at a fast speed.
Bang!
The qi spear collided with the First Gate, small spiderweb cracks forming along the point where the spear collided. But since the spear's collision with the First Gate ended up in failure, the spear significantly shrunk in size. Although Shi Xingwan knew that his chances of breaking through this time were diminished, he tried once more.
Bang!
The spear significantly shrunk in size while the cracks on the First Gate spread a bit more, bit not enough to truly crack the First Gate open.
Seeing that the qi spear he conjured only had a few dozen strands of qi holding it, he placed the spear back to his Energy Core and dissolved it as he opened his eyes.
"Haah..." he let out a sigh. "Although the final skirmish between the clan and the Huang clan wouldn't happen within the next two months, I can't help but feel that the earlier I break to the Martial Lord realm, the more beneficial it is for the clan."
As he was mulling over his decisions, an attendant barged into Shi Xingwan's room, making him frown.
"Didn't I tell you guys to knock on the door before entering?" After failing to break through to the Martial Lord realm, Shi Xingwan's feelings were a bit sour.
"I apologize Patriarch but this is important!" The attendant apologized as he explained.
"The Young Master is back!"
"Shi Li is back?" All of a sudden, his sour emotion became a happy one as he darted out of his room and headed for the entrance of the Shi clan. "Guard this place for a bit, I'll go and greet him!"
...
"Ah, I'm finally back home." After a few hours of sprinting back towards Verdant Breeze Town, Shi Li was finally in front of the Shi clan's gates while Moddy was still on his shoulder, looking at the surroundings since it was new to it.
As if the clan noticed Shi Li's presence, the clan gates opened up, revealing the ever familiar surroundings of the clan's insides to Shi Li. Not just that, a familiar person also showed itself in front of Shi Li's field of view.
"Father!" Shi Li ran towards his father with all of his strength and embraced him tightly while Moddy jumped off of his shoulder, slowly walking inside.
"My child!" Although it was only a week since Shi Li left, for Shi Xingwan who cared for his son very much, it felt like years, making him hug Shi Li tight.
After a while, the both of them let go of their embrace as Shi Li gave a knapsack to his father. "Here you go Father, 20 Rank 3 Beasts and 30 Rank 2 Beasts killed within a week."
Shi Xingwan received the knapsack and nodded as he said, "Okay then. I'll give you the 5 Grade 0 cultivation pills once I double check that there's exactly 20 Rank 3 and 30 Rank 2 Beasts in here. Well...the important parts anyway."
As his son nodded in approval, a fluffy white cat caught Xingwan's eyes, prompting him to ask, "Shi Li, what's that?"
Shi Li, who noticed that Shi Xingwan was looking at Moddy, replied, "Oh. Father, that's Moddy, a friend I made within the Forest of Ruin."
"Friend? You do know beasts are dangerous right?" Although his son told him that the cat was harmless, the fact that it came from the Forest of Ruin told him otherwise.
"Moddy." Shi Li went closer to Moddy and asked, "Could you show that you mean no harm?"
With a nya from Moddy as approval, Moddy walked towards Shi Xingwan and nuzzled its head on Xingwan's legs, making Shi Xingwan gradually relax. Of course, who couldn't resist such a cute cat?
"Alright, alright, I believe you," Shi Xingwan said. "But my child, make sure that it doesn't do anything reckless okay?"
Shi Li, who placed Moddy back on his shoulder, then nodded as he walked towards his courtyard. "Yes Father. This child will remember."
...
Shi clan, Shi Li's courtyard.
After getting home, the first thing he did was take a quick bath. Although he washed his body multiple times in the Forest of Ruin thanks to water from a nearby stream, Shi Li felt that taking a bath was better than just rinsing his body with water.
A few minutes later, Shi Li dried himself off with a large towel and wore a white robe, showing the handsomeness and masculinity of his chiseled face. If only his body did the same.
Moddy looked at Shi Li and said, "What do you do here nya?"
Shi Li scratched his head for a bit and honestly replied, 'For the most part, I just cultivate and hone my techniques. Other than that, not much."
Moddy nodded as it walked towards the training space. It then sent a wisp of world energy towards Shi Li. "I also want to cultivate properly. Although I may be Rank 3 in terms of spirit and body, I feel like it's lacking compared to yours nya. Are there any cultivation techniques suitable for me?"
Shi Li pondered for a bit as he tried to remember the layout of the clan library. After a while, he nodded as he replied, "There are some techniques meant for pets, but I feel like they'll still help you out in the long run. I'll check it after I receive the cultivation pills from my father."
After finishing his reply, Shi Li then did some light stretching and a few breathing exercises as a wisp of qi entered his mind all of a sudden. Shi Li listened to the message it contained and hastily turned towards Moddy and said, "Moddy, stay here for now. I have to go somewhere for a bit."
Moddy nodded and lied down on the ground as Shi Li started to head towards a certain place. The message contained within the wisp was...
"Shi Li, come here as fast as you can."
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TrueDawn
TrueDawn Sorry for this one being late. I forgot to schedule its release.