Once again, here are the cultivation realms in this story, listed from lowest to highest: Body Refining, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Primordial Soul, Eternal Soul, and finally, Immortal.
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Thank you for reading, and I hope you're enjoying the journey so far.
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Night had settled quietly over the Li Family compound. The blue glow of the spirit pond shimmered beneath the moonlight, and the soft rustling of the spiritual trees near the edge of the property filled the air with a subtle hum of life. Inside the main villa, a single lantern burned, casting long, steady shadows across the room.
Li Qing sat at the desk in his office, flipping through a stack of documents. The doors creaked open in front of him, but he didn't look up.
"You're here," he said.
Li Qianhu stepped inside and offered a slight bow. "Father."
Li Qing gestured for him to sit. He waited until his son had taken his seat before continuing. "When you head to Hongye City tomorrow, take Tianlei with you."
Qianhu blinked. "Tianlei?"
"He's never left the compound. It's time he sees how the cultivation world truly works."
There was a pause. Qianhu leaned back, thoughtful. "You think he's ready?"
Li Qing gave a small nod. "Wu Shitao's love has kept him sheltered. I don't blame her—but if he's going to grow, he needs more than quiet routines and kind words. He needs to see the world. Even just a glimpse of it."
He tapped his finger lightly on the table. "Take the long route. Pass through the outer edge of the Forest and let him get some practical experience."
Qianhu raised an eyebrow. "You want me to throw him to the beasts already?"
"No." Li Qing looked up at last. "Don't go too deep. Stay near the fringe. Let him face a few stage 0 monsters, get used to what it means to fight something that wants to kill him. He has to learn how to keep calm when the stakes are real."
Li Qianhu could understand taking his son to the forest to get some fighting experience, as he had gone through the same thing when he was a little kid. However, it was never this early, and he didn't understand why his father was in such a hurry. "Is he really that talented?" He asked after much consideration.
Li Qing didn't answer right away. His fingers paused on the document before him, then resumed their slow movement as he replied. "He learns faster than anyone I've ever seen. What most people take a year to grasp, he absorbs in a week, sometimes in a day."
He paused, then added, "It's not just how fast he improves. It's how he improves. Every mistake is immediately found and corrected, and every correction becomes a permanent change. It's like his body remembers and adjusts as if it was always meant to wield a sword."
Li Qing finally raised his eyes. "Speed like that isn't normal. It's a sign that he was born for the blade."
Hearing all that praise, Li Qianhu hesitated, his lips pressing into a thin line before he finally spoke. "Do we have any sword techniques for the lightning element?"
Li Qing shook his head slowly, the motion deliberate and thoughtful. "Not yet," he said, voice low and steady. "But I'll figure something out before he reaches the Qi Refining realm."
Hearing that, Li Qianhu leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms on the table, a flicker of urgency in his eyes. "Then why not let people know? If word of Tianlei's real talent spread, even the sect leader would—"
Li Qing's gaze lifted sharply. His eyes, calm just moments ago, now cut like blades.
"Do you not remember why we're hiding it?" He said, raising his voice for the first time in a while.
The air grew still, prompting Li Qianhu to recoil instinctively, glancing away with a sheepish laugh, his fingers reaching behind his head to rub the back of his neck: the posture of a boy caught misstepping in front of his father. Li Qing let out a long, quiet breath. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his shoulders rising with fatigue before settling again.
"If we had announced that he had Heavenly Lightning spiritual," he murmured, "your grandmother would've taken him away before you even held him."
The term "grandmother" lingered between them. She wasn't related to them by blood, but neither of them questioned the bond.
"At least," Li Qing said after a pause, "you gave me a good daughter-in-law. She helped keep the secret when it mattered most."
Qianhu smiled faintly and didn't say anything.
Li Qing smiled too, slower, more reserved. "We'll probably see her again during the next grand auction the Spirit Sword Sect hosts."
Qianhu nodded. "I know."
The silence settled again, but it wasn't heavy, just nostalgic.
Li Qing eventually pushed aside the documents on the table, the rustle of parchment echoing faintly in the room. He leaned back, fingers steepled beneath his chin. His brow creased.
"Your sister told me the Zhang and Wu families are getting more hostile. Something happened in Hongye City."
Qianhu's expression tightened. "What should I do if I get caught in it?"
Li Qing's gaze didn't waver. "Keep calm," he said, his voice firmer now, carrying the weight of years of experience. "Think first. You're not just a cultivator, you represent our family. Every choice has consequences."
Qianhu nodded, slowly at first, then with more certainty. "Understood."
Li Qing continued, folding his hands atop the table, his voice calm but edged with steel. "We've always supported the Wu family, for obvious reasons. But you know how the Zhang family is. They don't act recklessly because they fear we'll retaliate. If they think we've grown soft, they won't confront us head-on, as our hard power is ten times stronger than theirs, even if we don't have as many people. But they'll scheme in the shadows, trying to chip away at us from behind. That's how they operate."
"But the Mu family won't interfere, right?"
Li Qing's eyes narrowed slightly, the corners tightening with old experience. "They're friendly with everyone and never pick sides. That's their strength, and their weakness. They won't help, even if a real war between those two families starts and the county burns because of it."
Qianhu's gaze dropped briefly to the table before he looked back up, resolve sharpening in his eyes. He gave a nod, this one shorter and firmer. "I'm not a child anymore. I know how to hold my temper."
Li Qing studied him for a moment, really looked at him. Then he smiled again. "Good," he said quietly. "Then go rest. You'll have a long road ahead tomorrow, with your son trailing behind you."
Qianhu stood, brushing the folds of his robe into place, and bowed deeply. "Good night, Father."
The door closed behind him with a gentle thud.
...
After the deep conversation with his father, Li Qianhu returned to his villa in silence. The sky was beginning to lighten, stars fading slowly as dawn crept in. The familiar quiet of the compound greeted him. With only five members in the entire Li Family, four of whom lived here, it was a place more tranquil than lively, more solemn than bustling. But in its quietude, it carried a sense of shared determination.
He walked inside and headed to his office before sitting at his desk. Then, one by one, he summoned each of the spatial rings from his robe and laid them out. Carefully, he began checking the contents, reconfirming the number of orders they received and whether each order was well prepared. After making sure there were no errors, his eyes moved around his room for a little while before landing on the crimson long spear attached to the far wall.
It wasn't a decorative piece. It was his weapon, refined by the best weapon forger in the Spirit Sword Sect. He had paid a lot of spirit stones, hundreds of thousands, to get it done.
Li Qing had once hoped his son would follow his path with the sword. But when the blade felt dull and lifeless in Qianhu's hands, his father hadn't clung to pride or tradition. Instead, Li Qing personally guided him through a dozen different weapons, testing and adjusting until they found the one that made Qianhu's soul stir. It hadn't taken more than two years after he started cultivating at age ten.
Polearms! That was his Dao.
He wasn't the only one, either. His younger sister, Li Qianmei, had shown a similar brilliance with long-handled weapons like halberds, spears, and glaives, while utterly failing to connect with the sword. It had stung their father at first. But since discovering Tianlei's natural sword talent, Li Qing's spirits had lifted.
As Qianhu adjusted the rings and secured them back into his robe, his thoughts drifted to the conversation they'd had earlier, especially the mention of his wife.
He smiled faintly, remembering the past.
At sixteen, he had gone with Li Qing to the Spirit Sword Sect to sell level 2 supplies. While his father reconnected with old friends, Qianhu had slipped away, drawn by curiosity and wanderlust. It wasn't his first time in the sect, so he was familiar with its many corners. While wandering the martial arts arena, ready to accept challenges as he usually did, he met her—a beautiful girl with a quick wit and clear, discerning eyes. She was the personal disciple of the Second Grand Elder, with talent and status matched by only a handful in the entire Jinghai Province.
But Qianhu hadn't been intimidated. He hadn't needed to be. His position and status in the sect's eyes weren't lesser than hers, even if he wasn't officially a disciple.
Their conversations turned into secret meetings. Friendship ripened into love. And before long, that love bore fruit: a child, born when they were both just seventeen.
The Second Grand Elder had been livid when she found out. Her fury was said to chill the marrow of even Golden Core cultivators. At the time, she had vowed to erase the offender's entire family and ensure they didn't enter the cycle of reincarnation—until she learned the father's identity: Li Qing's son.
When she discovered that, her wrath faded into silence. Then, unexpectedly, into approval.
The old bond between her and Li Qing, once dormant since his departure from the sect, had found new soil to take root. Her disciple had given birth, and though the girl was confined within the sect for breaking its rules, no exile or punishment followed. She could still receive visits from them, but only within the sect's grounds.
Qianhu's smile turned somber as his fingers lightly stroked the jade pendant she'd once given him. "Soon," he murmured. "We'll see her again in a year." He stood, slung the long spear across his back, and stepped into the morning light.