Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“Ah! I think my hand is broken,” Xinping cried out, shaking his hand.

“It will heal,” Shu Yang said, rolling his eyes. He didn’t believe he had hurt his grandson, he had barely used any power.

“Did you feel it? That feeling of inevitability?” Shu Yang asked.

“I…guess?” Xinping answered uncertainty.

“Internalize it. Think about a way to make that kind of power your own,” Shu Yang said. He turned to the rest of his grandchildren and asked. “Anyone else?”

“I’ll try it.”

Surprisingly, it was Xingu who decided to step forward, not discouraged by the pain Xinping seemed to experience.

“Alright, then. Throw a punch my way, give it your all,” Shu Yang said.

Xingu was only 9 years old, Tianzheng’s oldest. He had good body cultivation aptitude, though, and was already at the 2nd stage.

He threw a punch, and Shu Yang threw his own to meet him, using a tiny bit of fist intent. Not enough to harm the boy, just so he could get a sense of how it felt to be up against it.

“Argh!” Xingu cried out, taking a step back and massaging his hand.

“It’s really broken, isn’t it?” Xinping asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Xingu said, letting go of his hand reluctantly.

‘Aren’t these kids a bit too soft? Maybe it’s good to give them a beating for more reasons than comprehending fist intent.’

Shu Yang had found that fist intent had an advantage over sword intent, and that was that it was a lot easier to teach.

Sword intent could never really be felt by them. It wasn’t like Shu Yang could cut them with his intent, right? He wasn’t that desperate to make them comprehend it.

But fist intent was different, they just had to take a small beating, and they would get to experience what it felt like to be struck with fist intent head on.

Shu Yang believed that experiencing what it was like to be actually punched with his intent worked a lot better for comprehending it.

“Anyone else?” Shu Yang asked.

No one answered.

“Tomorrow. My hand is still a bit sore, grandpa,” Xinzhang said awkwardly after a while.

“Fine,” Shu Yang said. He wouldn’t force anyone, it did hurt a bit, after all. Shu Yang couldn’t go too easy, or being hit with intent wouldn’t have any effect. “Go show off at the Sword Hall.”

Shu Yang waved the kids off and turned around. He wouldn’t be visiting the Hall himself. He mostly left it to Tianhu and Xiaoshi to handle.

‘Maybe I should arrange a tournament of some kind, something with actual fighting.’

Shu Yang had been told a bit of how things were done at the Sword Sect when he visited Xinmo and the twins a few years ago. They constantly held competitions, making sure their disciples weren’t just good at learning spells, but actually knew how to use them in a fight.

Shu Yang wouldn’t go as far as pushing them into a fight where they could actually hurt each other like the Sword Sect, though. It would probably make them better fighters, but at what cost? Did they need to be so good at fighting? Would they stand a chance against a Foundation cultivator in the future even if they fought to the death every day?

No. They were limited, in the end. Shu Yang just thought it would be nice to develop their abilities a bit. A competition seemed like a fun way to do it.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t limit to just the Shu members, but all students of the Sword Hall. That would perhaps make those kids develop a bit of a fighting spirit.’

Shu Yang was pretty confident he could stop any serious attack before they landed now that he had his divine sense.

‘That would have to be a competition using swords, though. Unless I actually start a Shu Fist Hall.’

Shu Yang shook his head slightly; he would think about it later.

‘There is so much to do.’

Shu Yang cultivated both spiritual qi and innate qi every day, and tried getting used to using his divine sense. He also fought with Xiaorong and taught his grandchildren.

He then needed to keep a watch over the family’s businesses, and make sure everything was going well, as well as plan for future development.

Then, he needed to study spells, formations, alchemy, and many other things.

It was truly busy every day.

‘I guess it’s enjoyable, though. I’m making progress. The family is making progress.’

Shu Yang walked over to the Art Hall, where he quickly saw Xinxiao, Xinru, and Xinchu being busy preparing materials for the Shu Body Refinement Elixir.

‘We’re going to need more people soon.’

His three grandchildren barely had time to produce all the elixir needed as it were, and the students at the Shu Sword Hall were constantly increasing.

Tianhu had also mentioned that about 10 percent of their elixir was actually sold to outsiders. Mainly from old students who had left the Sword Hall but kept up with body cultivation on their own. That portion of customers was also bound to increase in the future.

‘Perhaps I should buy a new property in the outer city and hire a few alchemists to make it. There really is no reason for Xinxiao, Xinru, and Xinchu to make it themselves anymore; it’s not like they’re learning anything new.’

‘Another thing to take care of.’ Shu Yang thought with a sigh.

“Dad, you’re here. I just dug up a new batch. Here, try it,” Tianan stuck his head in through the door with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

“Oh? Is it better than last year’s batch?” Shu Yang asked.

“Some are better, some are worse,” Tianan said with a shrug. “But this is definitely one of the better ones we’ve tried.”

Shu Yang shrugged, took the glass from his son, raised it to his lips, and took a sip.

‘It has a nice sting to it. And…Hm?’

Not only did it give a nice burn throughout the chest, giving a nice benefit for body cultivators, there was also a small trickle of spiritual qi that Shu Yang started moving through his meridians.

‘It’s right on the edge. Not quite useful enough for Innate warriors to be worth drinking it. Though, I guess it doesn’t hurt. As for spiritual qi, a glass is worth about a day’s cultivation session for me, but the burn is a lot worse on the meridians; the strain is not worth it at all.’

“Well, the taste is nice. But it’s not very practical to drink for cultivation,” Shu Yang said.

“Really? Why not?” Tianan asked.

“Give me a sample of all the batches, and I’ll write down notes for each one,” Shu Yang said.

“Great! I’ll go get things ready,” Tianan said, running off again.

Shu Yang took another sip.

‘The burn is nice, though. It’s worth taking a few days off for.’

Tianan had started making whiskey again a few years ago, this time experimenting with new ingredients, mostly using spiritual plants for a greater effect.

But he was a bit of a perfectionist, and didn’t want to mass-produce anything that wasn’t useful for Innate warriors or Qi Refiners at the 4th stage.

So, thus far, they only had a variety of bottles kept within the family, with nothing being sold outside.

‘I hope he finds something that works soon.’

Tianan wanted to open his own shop for the family once he made the perfect whiskey, and Shu Yang was quite looking forward to it too.

‘Oh well, if not now, next year.’

Shu Yang walked over to the other side of the Art Hall while waiting for Tianan to get things ready.

Inside one of the rooms on the top floor, Tianyi was busy teaching formations.

Shu Yang looked in through the window and smiled.

Tianyi had tried teaching a lot of her nieces and nephews, but no one had the patience or talent for it, and not a single one had lasted for more than a few weeks.

But that had changed a few months ago, when a student finally showed some interest, and even a slight amount of talent for the art.

It was none other than little Xinxiang, Tianzheng’s second child and first daughter, now 8 years old.

‘She has trash-grade spirit roots, so there should at least be some kind of future for her with formations if she keeps at it.’

‘Maybe she is ready to start cultivating? If she can keep up with Tianyi’s lessons, she should be.’

She had been born when Shu Yang was making his way to get Tianyi, when he first arrived in Yuanchi Immortal Land. She was the reason his spirit roots advanced to the 9th grade.

Back then, Shu Yang had looked forward to teaching her cultivation one day.

‘To think I’d be able to do it on a 2nd-tier spirit vein. How far we’ve come.’

Shu Yang took another sip of his whiskey, enjoying the burn. He then put the glass away and stepped inside the room.

‘No time like the present. Let’s see if she has a knack for it.’