Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

[ Bloodline Power: 16.87 (Founding - Low) ]

[ Bloodline Ability: Piercing Gaze ]

[ Founding Traits: Sword Bone ]

[ Common Traits: Great body cultivation aptitude, Vast Mind, 9th-grade spirit roots, Very Charming, Lucky, Long-lived, Fast recovery, Fertile ]

‘I actually managed to improve my Sharp Mind to Vast Mind.’

Shu Yang wasn’t too surprised, he had felt the difference as soon as Xinyue was born.

The reason his trait advanced even though he only received half feedback was mostly because his Sharp Mind trait had been improving over the past few years. Besides his now four great-grandchildren, he also had seven new grandchildren. Tianxu had four, and Tianzheng had three.

Tianzheng’s children in particular inherited his bloodline really well. All three of them had a slight talent for body cultivation, and two of them had the trait Clear Mind.

Even so, Shu Yang doubted his Sharp Mind trait would have advanced a tier if not for Xinyue’s trait being so strong. Shu Yang really felt it wasn’t far off from being a Founding trait, probably at the absolute peak of a Common Trait.

‘Even if we both have the same trait, I feel like Xinyue’s is a bit stronger than mine.’

As for Shu Yang’s other traits, not much had changed on the surface over the past five years, but with five new grandchildren born with slight talent for body cultivation, Shu Yang’s talent had also seen some improvement. It just wasn’t enough for his trait to advance to a Founding Trait.

Shu Yang didn’t know how much feedback he would need to reach that level, but it would probably still take a while.

His Charming Trait had advanced a tier, though. But that didn’t matter much to Shu Yang. What he was most excited about was that he had two new Common Traits. Fast recovery, quite obviously, made him recover faster after exerting himself. Unfortunately, the trait was very weak, and he barely noticed it as a Foundation stage body cultivator.

His other trait, Fertile, was something Shu Yang was very excited about, however. Spreading his bloodline was the foundation of all his power, and according to Bian Fenglin, conception became increasingly challenging as you advanced.

‘It’s still very weak, though, and will probably take a long time before it makes much of a difference.’

‘It certainly doesn’t make it so Qianyue has any chance of having another child.’

His wife was unfortunately just too old to have another child, now 63 years old. Shu Yang doubted even a Founding Trait could do anything about that.

Not to mention that Qianyue definitely wouldn’t want another child now even if she could.

‘This Bloodline Tree of mine is both a blessing and a curse.’

Shu Yang diverged from the path leading to his courtyard, feeling like taking a walk to clear his head.

The rate at which his strength was increasing was truly slowing down. The talent of his children and, in turn, his grandchildren, was just not enough to have much effect on him anymore.

If he had his own child at this point, it would probably give him more feedback than the entire Ji generation would give him in the next 20 years.

It wasn’t entirely about the feedback either. Shu Yang quite liked having children.

While seeing his grandchildren run around was also a source of joy, it couldn’t really compare to raising his own children.

Shu Yang had actually found himself thinking about having a child more and more lately. When Xinying was born, he was very happy that she had inherited her mother’s Founding Bloodline, and her Bloodline Ability.

But he also couldn’t help but think about how talented his own child would be. They would probably inherit his own Piercing Gaze Bloodline Ability, and Shu Yang could teach the little guy how to use it.

Shu Yang would proudly look at how the child grew up and astonished the cultivators in this place. Perhaps they would be able to compete against the geniuses of the Sword Sect.

Shu Yang would raise his head proudly and utter ‘Look, this is my Shu Bloodline.’

Then again, his bloodline was still only at the Founding stage. He really couldn’t compete with the Golden Clans of this place.

‘I guess taking a bit longer to have another child isn’t bad either, it will give my own talent time to grow, and will lead to the little guy having a better chance of inheriting stronger traits.’

Shu Yang really wasn’t in that much of a hurry. He was still young, considering his lifespan. Even if he didn’t advance a step further, he could live for almost 200 more years without an issue.

If he just waited for 100 of those 200 years before having another child, his talent was bound to have seen an incredible improvement.

Of course, if he continuously had children during those years, the effect would be a lot better.

‘I guess it’s always been obvious how to use my power for the best results. It’s just about striking a balance between how quickly I want to gain power, and how much I can divert from my morals.’

So far, Shu Yang didn’t feel he had made much sacrifice in terms of morals. At least he had kept true to his original intentions and not used his family as just a way of gaining power.

He felt he had done a good job in that aspect, and was proud of the life he had created for his wife and children.

‘It’s a good feeling. I don’t want to lose that, or living for hundreds and thousands of years will just be painful.’

Shu Yang smiled slightly, shaking his head. There had never really been any question about what to do. He just had to continue on the path he was on, the path that made it so he could charge ahead with a clear heart and a peaceful mind.

Another child was a matter for the future, there was no way to go about it at the moment without letting himself down. He would consider these things when it became a possibility. Until then, he just had to try his best to improve his bloodline, so that his next child, when it eventually came into the world, would be a truly talented little monster.

‘Huh?’

Shu Yang lifted his hand up into the air, and made a slow cutting motion with his finger.

The air sparked with small, powerful cuts, capable of slicing anything that came into their path.

‘My sword intent advanced.’ Shu Yang thought with a smile, putting his hand back down.

He had been trying to find a way forward for a long time now, often practicing with his swordplay and meditating while connected to his Sword Bone. But even a sword intent with such a seemingly simple philosophy as ‘just cut’ had its difficulties at the higher tiers.

Shu Yang took a deep breath, enjoying the great burst of power brought along with comprehending sword intent at the 5th tier.

[ Bloodline Power: 21.13 (Founding - Middle) ]

[ Bloodline Ability: Piercing Gaze ]

[ Founding Traits: Sword Bone ]

[ Common Traits: Great body cultivation aptitude, Vast Mind, 9th-grade spirit roots, Very Charming, Lucky, Long-lived, Fast recovery, Fertile ]

Shu Yang almost burst out laughing. He had struggled to improve his bloodline for so long, and just a momentary inspiration made it surge more than years of hard effort. He even finally managed to reach the ‘Founding - Middle’ grade.

‘I guess this is a bit of a reminder that I can’t just lay back and enjoy the blessing of my bloodline feedback. I still have to work hard myself.’

It used to be obvious back when he first started his journey of martial arts. He certainly couldn’t relax back then and just wait for his children to give him better talent. He had to work hard every day.

‘My Bloodline Power didn’t even reach 2.0 back then, but I didn’t let that stop me.’

‘So what excuse do I have to wait for my talent to increase now? If I keep thinking like that, will my talent ever be enough? It can always increase a bit more, and make advancement a bit easier.’

‘Look at Tianhu. He wasn’t born with a single trait, and he didn’t let that stop him. He practiced every day, refusing to limit himself. He refused to become what some stupid bloodline told him he was.’

Shu Yang shook his head. He hadn’t practiced body cultivation for over 5 years because he felt it was too slow.

And he had to admit that he been feeling a bit reluctant cultivating spiritual qi after advancing to the 4th stage of Qi Refining. He felt like it would be better to wait until his spirit roots improved, and his cultivation sessions would become more effective.

‘I almost lost my way there, didn’t I?’

So what if it wasn’t optimal? He was a body cultivator. He was a spiritual cultivator. He was someone who improved, grasping for every bit of strength that was within his means.

He was a father. He was a husband. He was the Head of the Shu Clan, the clan he himself had built.

Shu Yang stopped where he was and started punching out with his fists, just like he had back in Baishu Village many years ago. He didn’t use his deduced Shu Art, it was too focused on the sword, and Shu Yang felt like punching.

He really felt like punching.

One punch. Two punches. Three punches.

Nothing fancy, just simple movements. But even so, Shu Yang focused on each and every punch.

His mind cleared, and it felt like chains around his body that he had been unaware of were slowly sliding off him.

Time lost meaning. Only the next punch existed. There was no before. There was no after.

Shu Yang didn’t use any technique, he didn’t circulate his innate qi in any particular way. He just punched. He used his fists. The fists that were the beginning of everything. They were violence in its most primal form. They were protection. They were danger.

They were human.

They were him. They were Shu Yang.

Something clicked, and a loud boom sounded, waking Shu Yang up from his strange state.

“Haaah,” Shu Yang breathed out heavily. He was sweating, panting. He hadn’t even noticed.

He looked down at his fists, amazed at what he had just experienced.

He recognized the feeling somewhat. It was very familiar.

‘Intent.’

‘It’s so much more exhilarating discovering it completely on your own.’

‘And…it’s so powerful. It’s not just the 1st tier, is it?’

“Honey. Are you okay?”

Shu Yang turned around to see his wife looking at him worriedly in the distance.

Not only Qianyue. Tianren, Tianhu, Tianan, Tianyue, Tianxu, Tianzheng, Tianyi. His grandchildren.

They were all there, staring at him. His children looked at him in wonder. But most of the younger ones had something else in their eyes. It was fervor. It was eagerness.

Shu Yang smiled. “See that, kids? That’s how you punch.”