Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“Here. That should be enough resources to keep the people here happy for a while,” Shu Yang said, handing over a storage ring full of food to Tianren. 

“You went and came back already?” Tianren asked in surprise, accepting the ring. 

“I’m a Saint now, remember? It’s just a quick trip for me,” Shu Yang said. He and Xiaorong had just gone to Fugu City and emptied the food storage of a few wealthy people there. If he was going to go after Tianxu, he needed to get his hands on enough food for the newly arrived refugees. Otherwise, there was no telling what kind of trouble would crop up.

“Right,” Tianren said. “Should I just ration it and hand it out, no strings attached? Or should we get them to work for it?”

“Do you need work done?” Shu Yang asked.

“Not me, but those who have gotten here recently need some kind of shelter,” Tianren answered.

“Then feed everyone enough not to starve, and offer extra to those who help with construction,” Shu Yang said.

“Okay,” Tianren said, nodding.

“Or if you have a better idea, just go ahead and do it,” Shu Yang said. “Whatever is easiest for you.”

“I’ll just do it as you said; there is no need to complicate it,” Tianren said with a smile.

“Good. By the way, how is your training going? Have you noticed any effect of the pills I gave you?” Shu Yang asked. 

While his grandchildren would have to struggle a bit to receive resources from him, that wasn’t the case for his children. He would give them whatever they needed, without any demands. 

Besides the fact that he himself would receive better feedback from their progress, Shu Yang also knew very well how hard his children had worked, and they were entitled to a share of the resources he had gotten.

“I definitely notice some difference, but it’s still slow work. The Master stage is nowhere in sight,” Tianren answered, looking a bit forlorn. 

Shu Yang patted him on the shoulder. “Unfortunately, the pills I got aren’t really made for body cultivation, so the effect is limited. I’ll see if I can figure out a way to make use of the spiritual medicine I have to make something a bit more suitable.”

“It’s fine,” Tianren said. “Even if I reach the Master stage, becoming a Saint is impossible. It’s better not to waste the resources.”

“I decide what’s a waste and what isn’t,” Shu Yang responded with a frown. “You just need to take the pills I give you and do your best. So what if nothing comes of it? At least try, so you don’t have anything to regret later.”

He might not have said something like that to Tianan, as he was truly content with his somewhat limited strength. But Tianren was different; Shu Yang could tell that he wasn’t happy with his increasingly unimpressive strength.

“That…Alright. Thanks, Dad,” Tianren said, shaking his head with a smile.

“It’s nothing. By the way, remember to urge your kids to try out alchemy and see if they have an interest in it. I’ll be generous with the rewards if they can get somewhere with it. Who knows, they might be able to concoct a pill suitable for us body cultivators someday.”

“I’ll remind them,” Tianren said.

The only resource Shu Yang had specifically for body cultivation was the Taihou fruit, but that was too potent for someone like Tianren; only an advancement to the Foundation stage could make use of it. Perhaps portioning it would allow it to become useful for weaker family members, but Shu Yang would never do that. Guaranteeing the safety of building a Foundation was too important.

‘I can probably look a little more freely for suitable resources once I get to the Sword Sect.’

‘If body cultivation is so rare that no resources for it exist even there, I will have to rely on the ingenuity of the younger generation.’

Shu Yang left Tianren’s house and walked back home. While it had been pretty quick to travel to Fugu City, he had still been gone for over a day, and he felt like taking some rest.

But on the way, his attention was pulled away by a scene from Tianhu’s yard.

Not only was Tianhu’s family there, swinging their swords, but several of his grandchildren were there as well.

‘Have they gotten tired of studying already?’

Shu Yang knew that the twins grasping sword intent had caused a lot of their cousins to pick up the sword as well, eager to wield the same power. But he had never imagined that so many of them were joining. Shu Yang counted twelve of them.

‘I guess there is no harm in practicing swordsmanship.’

If someone actually managed to grasp sword intent, it would be great.

Shu Yang watched them for a few minutes, but couldn’t see anyone close to grasping it. With his sword intent at the 4th tier, he had developed some sense for that sort of thing.

“Grandpa,” Xinmo noticed his presence and walked over to greet him.

“Hi there, kid,” Shu Yang said, ruffling the young boy’s hair. “How is your practice coming along?”

“It’s alright.” Xinmo answered, “I advanced to the 1st stage a few weeks ago.”

“Well done,” Shu Yang said. He already knew about it, of course, and while it was an impressive feat for a 10-year-old, it wasn’t very surprising for someone of Xinmo’s talent for body cultivation. At least when taking his hard work and access to resources into account. “How about the sword?”

Xinmo’s face twisted in a slightly awkward way. “I still haven’t comprehended it.”

“I know,” Shu Yang said with a chuckle. “I was just wondering how you felt about it. Is it fun? Interesting?”

“I guess…it’s fun?” Xinmo answered uncertainly.

“You know, the sword isn’t the only path. You can choose something else if you want. Like the spear? It could be worth giving it a try,” Shu Yang said.

“Is there spear intent?” Xinmo asked, surprised.

“There should be, don’t you think?” Shu Yang asked. “If it doesn’t exist, it would be up to you to create it, wouldn’t it? Don’t limit yourself.”

Shu Yang really didn’t know if there was any such thing as spear intent. He hadn’t heard about it. But the formation inheritance he had received had given him the idea that there were other kinds of intents out there.

That was because he had originally intended to copy the inheritance and give it to Song Hongchi, but found that it was impossible. The part of the inheritance concerning the higher stages of cultivation wasn’t just written in words; it contained something Shu Yang found to be very similar to a sort of intent. Not only was he unable to copy it, he couldn’t even understand it.

‘It would be very interesting if one of my descendants managed to comprehend some other sort of intent in the future.’

“I want to be a swordsman, though,” Xinmo answered.

“That’s fine too,” Shu Yang said. He had just brought it up in case Xinmo was forcing himself to use the sword because of his family.

“Dad,” Tianhu called out as he came walking over, seemingly taking a break from his practice. He patted Xinmo on the head, and the boy ran back to practice. “You’re back already?”

Shu Yang rolled his eyes. “It’s just a short trip.”

“Right. So, what brings you here?” Tianhu asked.

“Nothing really. Just stopping by,” Shu Yang said, but then thought of something. “Actually,  I’m going to go look for Tianxu in a few days. Do you want to come with?”

“Really? That’s great,” Tianhu said, smiling slightly. “But why should I come along?”

“Just figured you might want to get out of here for a small trip. You’ve been stuck here for ten years after all. Might be nice to get away,” Shu Yang said.

“I…I’ll think about it,” Tianhu answered.

“Alright. It’s up to you,” Shu Yang said. He didn’t really care, just asking in the spur of the moment.

He stayed and talked for a while longer before continuing home to his own house.

“Dad!” Another voice called out after Shu Yang had only made it a few steps. 

He didn’t mind, though. It was nice that things were lively.

“What is it?” Shu Yang asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as he saw Tianyi running toward him with Xinru and Xinxin right on her heels.

“Hehe,” Tianyi chuckled unnaturally, “I just thought, well, Xinru and Xinxin have been stuck here for so long. Why don’t I take them out for a bit? I promise we won’t go far. We’ll just search for treasure in the surroundings.”

‘Searching for treasure again.’ Shu Yang thought with a sigh. 

‘I guess there shouldn’t be any danger, but still.’

“You can go if Tianren agrees, and if you manage to convince Xiaorong to come along with you,” Shu Yang said.

“Really? Great! Thank you, Dad,” Tianyi exclaimed excitedly, running off again. She seemed to think fulfilling those two criteria would be a piece of cake.

“Thank you, Grandpa,” Xinru and Xinxin said before running off after Tianyi.

Shu Yang shook his head and smiled, watching them run away.

‘This is really nice.’

‘Does it really need to end once we leave for the Sword Sect?’

Shu Yang felt more and more that the idea of splitting the family was a terrible idea. He really didn’t want that to happen.

‘No. I have to do something. I’ll talk seriously with Tianren and Tianan and convince them to come along.’

‘I refuse to have this all end in just a year.’