Chapter 139 - New generation

“Is it true?” Tianyi asked, circling around Shu Yang, scrutinizing him closely.

“Is what true?” Shu Yang asked, glancing up from the latest report on the Shu Sword Hall students that Xiaoshi had compiled.

“That you advanced to the 4th stage of Qi Refining,” Tianyi said, pouting slightly.

“Where did you hear that from?” Shu Yang asked.

“Xiaorong told me,” Tianyi said.

‘Since when did Xiaorong start telling anyone anything?’

“Well, it’s true,” Shu Yang said, nodding. “Are you here to congratulate me?”

“How did you advance so fast?” Tianyi asked. “Just what kind of spirit roots do you have, Dad?”

“Is it fast?” Shu Yang asked. Thinking back, he had advanced to the 3rd stage of Qi Refining a few months before they opened the Shu Sword Hall. That was about five years ago now. Shu Yang didn’t think it was that fast.

“It is. It took me so much longer than you,” Tianyi complained. “I only got to enjoy being stronger than you for a few months. It’s not fair.”

“Since when have you been stronger than me?” Shu Yang questioned with a laugh.

“I didn’t count body cultivation,” Tianyi said, throwing herself on the couch.

They were in the pagoda of the Shu Sword Hall. Shu Yang had stopped by to take a look at how things were going, and Tianyi had insisted on coming along, apparently bored at home.

Shu Yang looked out the window; there was no unified practice at the moment, but he spotted Tianan answering questions from a few of the newer students.

“If you’re bored, you should grab a few of the girls here for a lesson,” Shu Yang said. Tianyi had advanced to the Master stage two years ago, and Shu Yang thought it would be good for the girls in the Hall to see an example of a strong body cultivator who was also a girl. Xiaoshi really couldn’t do it, as she was a Foundation stage cultivator and couldn’t lower herself to teach students who only paid a few low-grade spirit stones each month.

“Why just the girls?” Tianyi asked.

“Special privilege,” Shu Yang said. “Perhaps it will entice more girls to join. Or at least the few ones we have to stick around.”

“Those little perverts have complained to you, haven’t they?” Tianyi questioned.

“That’s no way to speak of your nephews,” Shu Yang said.

“You knew who I was talking about,” Tianyi said with a shrug.

Shu Yang smiled and shook his head. “It’s normal for boys their age to want to meet girls.”

Shu Yang definitely thought filling his Hall with more potential partners was a good idea.

Even discounting that, it was true that the ratio of their students was a bit too skewed. Not even a tenth of them were female.

“Maybe I should teach them a thing or two,” Tainyi said, nodding as she rose to her feet. “Let them know to stay away from those brats. They have ill intentions.”

Shu Yang just looked at his daughter in stunned silence.

“Too bad I couldn’t help Mingyi, and let that brat Xinyang get to her,” Tianyi lamented.

“On second thought, maybe you should just stay here,” Shu Yang said.

“You’re probably right,” Tianyi said, throwing herself back onto the couch. “I need to keep an eye on you.”

Shu Yang skimmed over the report, thinking about plans for how to expand things now that they were filled with students.

“Aren’t you going to ask why?” Tianyi questioned.

“Why?” Shu Yang asked.

“There is a bet on when Xinyang’s kid will be born. Xinxin guessed that it would be today. I would follow her normally, but everyone thinks like that. There isn’t much money to be made even if you’re right. So I bet on tomorrow. If I’m right, I will earn a lot of spirit stones. Hopefully, it will empty my nephews' savings, and they won’t be able to run around pestering girls anymore.”

“Shouldn’t you be at home then?” Shu Yang asked.

“Isn’t it just as good to follow you? I know you’ll know when it happens. Don’t try to fool me, Dad,” Tianyi said, narrowing her eyes.

Shu Yang just shook his head.

‘This kid is too curious. Is she testing me now?’

Shu Yang took a seat behind his desk and started looking through a few other reports.

‘These past few months, things have really started taking off.’

The Shu Sword Hall took off rather slowly. Even after a full year, they only had 30 students. And it took almost four years before they finally had 100 students and started breaking even.

But now, it seemed that word had started to spread, and students were signing up at an exponential rate. Two months ago, they finally reached 300 students.

Luckily, Tianhu and Xiaoshi had foresight enough to expand the living area in advance, so they didn’t have to turn anyone away as students kept on coming. But things still moved a bit faster than they expected, and now they were completely full at 400 students.

Shu Yang didn’t like losing potential students, so he had worked on solving the issue quickly by taking over the neighbouring property so they could keep expanding.

‘Things over there should be ready next week. And once we’ve built all the dormitories we could reasonably fit, we should have room for about 800 students.’

‘But that might not actually take that long to fill. Not if words keep spreading at the same pace.’

Shu Yang hadn’t really decided on how to proceed. He could either take over another property nearby, or open up another branch at a different location.

He didn’t think they were quite ready to expand into the inner city yet, but they could open up a slightly more advanced Hall in an area with access to a high-tier 1st-grade spiritual vein.

‘But would we have that many students willing to go there?’

‘I’ll have to talk things through with Tianhu and Xiaoshi, and see what their opinion is.’

A few hours later, Shu Yang felt a surge of power in his blood. He could tell immediately that it was due to the birth of a child of the fourth generation.

‘Xinxin actually guessed correctly? Why does it feel like that girl is even luckier than I am?’

Shu Yang looked toward Tianyi. She had stopped lazing around and was studying formations.

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She had actually been quite diligent in her studies. Not long after the Shu Sword Hall opened, Shu Yang had set aside a part of the store there for Tianyi to fill with formation plates. If she didn’t want to work hard herself, she would have to teach her nieces and nephews so they could do the work for her.

At first she had been a bit reluctant, but when her first formation plate was sold, and she saw the spirit stones she had received for her work, her attitude had changed. Now she was even in the process of opening up a separate shop for the family, solely dedicated to the sales of formations.

‘Should I tell her?’

Shu Yang contemplated it for a moment. He could just wait until the end of the day and act like he didn’t know anything.

‘Never mind. I should take a look at the child.’

“Alright. I’m finished. Do you want to go back with me?” Shu Yang rose to his feet and asked.

“No way? Has the child been born?” Tianyi asked.

“We’ll know when we get back,” Shu Yang said. “Let’s go.”

“Keep pretending,” Tianyi muttered.

Before leaving, he went to get Tianren. The child was Xinyang’s firstborn; he would definitely want to be there.

Once they were on the flying ship, Shu Yang took the opportunity to examine his new descendant.

It wasn’t his first great-grandchild. Xinru had snagged a handsome young man from the students at the Shu Sword Hall a few years ago, and already had two daughters with him. Xinye, Tianan’s fourth child, also got married two years ago, and had a daughter as well.

Their partners weren’t particularly talented, though. They only had trash-grade spirit roots, and their children reflected that.

But Xinyang’s wife was different. She actually had spirit roots. They were only of the 9th grade, but she was the first real cultivator to marry into the family.

‘She should have been the second.’ Shu Yang thought to himself, a bit annoyed.

But he soon forgot about that unpleasant incident and focused on Xinyang’s child.

[ Bloodline Power: 1.12 (Mortal - Middle) ]

[ Traits: Slight body cultivation aptitude, 9th-grade spirit roots ]

‘Excellent. The boy has spirit roots!’

Unfortunately, it didn’t do much for Shu Yang, as he only received a quarter of the feedback from his great-grandchildren. But it wasn’t entirely useless; his spirit roots should have seen a slight improvement.

‘Three more great-grandchildren like that, and I think my spirit roots will advance to the 8th grade.’

Once they got back to the Shu Estate, they all headed toward the small courtyard that had been allocated to Xinyang after he got married. Neither Tianren nor Tianyi questioned why they were heading there, already certain that it was because a child had been born.

“Husband, you’re here!” Li Xia was the first to spot them. “Look, we have a grandson now.”

Xinyang was holding the baby in his arms, surrounded by his siblings and cousins.

“Dad, Grandpa,” Xinyang called out when he saw them, smiling brightly.

“Am I invisible to you?” Tianyi questioned.

“Aunt,” Xinyang added reluctantly. Despite being 26 years old, and now a father, he couldn’t escape the fate of being a generation below Tianyi.

“He looks healthy,” Tianren said, smiling at the boy. “What will you name him?”

Xinyang looked to Shu Yang and answered, “I would like to call him Shu Jiyang. What do you think, Grandpa?”

Shu Yang laughed, “How could I have any objections? It’s a very fitting name. He’s the oldest boy of the Ji generation, after all.”

“Shu Jiyang,” Tianren repeated, nodding. “It’s a good name. Do you think he’ll have spirit roots, Dad?”

“It’s too early to tell,” Shu Yang answered.

Tianren, Xinyan, and Tianyi looked at Shu Yang’s face closely, trying to see any hints, obviously not believing his words.

‘Whatever. I won’t tell you.’

Shu Yang currently had a very long streak of not revealing the children’s talent too early, and he wasn’t going to break it now.

‘I’ll tell them about it when Jiyang gets old enough to start cultivating. It doesn’t really matter until then.’

“How is Mingyi?” Tianyi asked.

“She’s fine. Just resting,” Xinyang answered.

Shu Yang looked toward the bedroom where his granddaughter-in-law was, thinking that he should send word to her parents.

Mingyi’s family name was Duo, and she was Duo Wengze’s niece. As someone with spirit roots, she wasn’t really interested in body cultivation, but Duo Wengze had practically forced all his nephews and nieces to at least try learning the Shu Sword Art for a month and see if they had any talent for it.

That was where she and Xinyang met, and apparently, they kept in contact even after she left the Hall.

A few years later, they got married, and Mingyi moved into the Shu Estate.

Shu Yang was very happy with the match. Even if Mingyi didn’t really have any status in her Family Clan, she carried the Duo name, and she was a cultivator.

It was a very favorable connection for his family to make.

‘I’ll have someone send word to Duo Wengze as well. He should be happy at the news once he’s finished breaking through.’

Duo Wengze had gotten his hands on a Foundation Pill a month ago, after many years of hard work.

His talent wasn’t enough for the Duo Clan to give him one; there were countless family members at the peak of Qi Refining within the clan who were all competing for it. So, he had to go through the Sword Sect, working in Jingli Immortal City, and earning merit.

‘Hopefully, he is successful.’

Shu Yang stayed and talked to his grandchildren for a while, and then left with his wife to return to their own courtyard.

Qianyue was still the one with the most experience in delivering children, though things were rarely as complicated now as they used to be. With the resources they had at their disposal, the risk of childbirth was practically eliminated.

“You know what,” Qianyue said, coming to a stop, “You go home first. I’ll go check on Tianyue first.”

“Alright,” Shu Yang said, nodding.

“Oh! There is Luzei. I’ll go with him,” Qianyue said, smiling brightly.

Shu Yang couldn’t help but frown at the young man, though.

His wife patted him lightly on the cheek. “There, there. No frowning. Don’t tell me you’re still holding a grudge? How long has it been?”

“I don’t hold a grudge,” Shu Yang answered, but the frown wouldn’t disappear from his face.

Qianyue laughed and shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. You should be happy that such a talented young man took a liking to our daughter. If he didn’t show up, I don’t think Tianyue would ever settle down.”

“Where is he talented?” Shu Yang muttered. The man just had a 9th-grade spirit root. It wasn’t anything special.

“You can be grumpy on your own. I’m going,” Qianyue said, sticking out her tongue like a little girl.

Shu Yang watched as she ran up to their son-in-law with a bright smile on her face.

Qianyue really thought of Luzei as their daughter’s savior. She had practically given up hope on Tianyue when, even after arriving in Jingli Immortal City, she didn’t seem to be thinking about finding a husband. She just spent her days busy with her bookstore.

Who could have guessed that that bookstore was the very reason she actually found a husband?

Qu Luzei was, for lack of a better word, a bookworm, and even found the mundane books in Tianyue’s bookstore interesting.

He and Tianyue had quickly become friends, often meeting at her store and talking about books together. It went on for years before his wife caught wind of this man’s existence.

Qianyue had pressured her daughter for details, and became ecstatic when she found out that Tianyue actually liked Qu Luzei, and wouldn’t object to marriage if he were to be the husband.

Shu Yang then got dragged into it, pressured by Qianyue to talk to Qu Luzei and arrange the marriage as soon as possible.

Shu Yang did as told. He was also concerned about his daughter’s marriage, after all. And when he met Qu Luzei, he quite liked the young man. He felt like a good fit for Tianyue, and the fact that he had been to her store for years already showed that he was serious in his affection and a very patient man.

But it would turn out that Qu Luzei was also a very stubborn and prideful man. He was only a Qi Refiner at the 5th stage, and had little hope of advancing much further. He didn’t come from any background either, having been born in a Mortal Kingdom, and journeying to the cultivation world after discovering his spirit roots.

He was a so-called loose cultivator through and through. And yet, he absolutely refused to marry into their family.

Shu Yang tried to convince him for over a month, but his wife and daughter were getting impatient. They didn’t really care if Tianyue married into Qu Luzei’s family or the other way around.

So Shu Yang had to give up, and the couple married not long after.

Now, Tianyue was almost nine months pregnant, and Shu Yang would soon see the birth of the first of his descendants who wouldn’t carry his last name.

‘A Qu in the family.’ Shu Yang lamented, making his way back home alone.