The following two weeks were rather funny for the people who ended up wandering in the Chang patriarch’s house, be they workers, servants, or outsiders there to negotiate deals.

  In the morning, they’d see a kid and an elderly man flock around the place, often asking random people for pieces of paper as they spewed out words impossible to understand, at times followed by servants carrying trays of food for the kid to munch on.

  At lunch, the patriarch, his son, the elder, and the kid with his family occupied the main hall for lunch, chaos ensured between their bickering and joking, especially the day Chang Jian found out his cousin was actually one year his senior- the same cousin who, despite looking short and thin, ate for two or three people alone.

  An hour or two after that, during which the two boys cultivated on their own, Chang Heng was often seen being dragged against his will into the courtyard for training, his complaints loud for all to hear, followed by him being either beat down and humiliated, or made fun of and humiliated.

  The evening and night were the only calm times of the day. Cultivation resumed, the times Qi training happened it was with far more calm than the fighting one.

  The visitors didn’t notice it, but the servants who knew their Young Master for longer could see his mood worsening as the days passed, his calm but arrogant expression getting darker by the day, his jokes and puns exchanged for a sharp sarcasm.

  What they didn’t know was that, on one of the first nights, he had visited his cousin, after being told of his illness. He had seen him sleep, rolling in his bed and mumbling in pain all the while.

  His condition gets worse every passing day, and yet he still finds the time to complain. As if he doesn’t understand the first thing I said to him and have repeated over and over. He is in this damned, constant fight that is Cultivation, standing there with a timer on his head, and yet he prefers to cling to his old habits and act like a petulant child instead of doing all he can.

  More than anger, inside him, disappointment was mounting, growing bigger and bigger.

  He had seen someone who could challenge him, be his peer, who he thought had the potential to become great, but was proven wrong.

  He lacked the talent, battle IQ, brains, and especially the will to grow into the one thing Chang Jian lacked: a true rival of his generation, one who he could sharpen against as they grew together.

  And here he was, once again a big fish in the small pond that was this city.

  He didn’t even have someone to train with, as everyone else in the Acclimation stage was far too weak for him, and in the Second Awakening far too proud to fight someone still in the middle of a lower stage.

  This kind of thinking, from me… it’d only make sense if he was on his own. But I’m his teacher now. I can find different ways to push him, if he doesn’t find his own sick conditions enough.

  Ha, this could be a good one. The kid is sick. His mentality is sick. No…

  His musings alternated between ideas to make Chang Heng want to finally give his best and bad puns, as he walked random corridors of his home.

  As always, he kept part of his mind dedicated to deciphering his surroundings and the potential hidden threats, even if he knew the place like the back of his hand.

  His expression slowly came back to his usual arrogant calm, with a hint of a smile of dubious cause.

  …

  Chang Heng woke up calmly that day, even if he knew he shouldn't.

  It was his first break day from training since it started, only because he was going to fight in the annual tournament the next day.

  He had a decent healing speed on his own, and an even better one when aided by the oldest Cultivator of the clan.

  He was supposed to have a technique just for that, but it has been too hard for him to learn. It was still a good inspiration for when he worked on his others, giving him ideas on how to improve his Cultivation Technique.

  As every morning, he checked his Cultivation. It hadn't increased in his sleep.

  He was still perfecting his skill to gather Qi while not fully in a meditative state, so to do it while sleeping was probably something he wouldn't be able to for a long while.

  But the difference since he started was stark. His growth had followed a steady pace, his reserves were bigger, he could hold a bit more Qi and his control, the one thing he mostly worked on, had gotten better by leaps and bounds.

  Training under the Blue Moon, even if he had to sleep longer in the morning, was showing its results. Maybe that was why powerful people were known for their weird sleep habits, or lack of.

  As he put on his clothes, he gladly noticed how, instead of scrawny and looking like he'd fall from the slightest breeze, he now just looked very thin. Even his skin was getting a healthier tone.

  He was still jealous of his younger cousin's beauty, height, and perfect physique, but it was an improvement. He was sure that, sooner or later, girls would start liking him too.

  When he got to the dining room, he was blocked by that same cousin.

  His parents and sister were waiting there, their faces grim.

  “You'll stay with me this morning. I have something to tell you.”

  The boy’s voice was cold, commanding.

  “But in the morning-”

  “No buts. You are coming.”

  “Alright, alright, let me just-”

  Chang Jian didn’t let him finish, grabbing his wrist and walking away. His family looked at him with worry as he was dragged outside.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  He was brought out of the neighbourhood of the clan for the first time in a month, where a carriage waited.

  Its driver was a chubby man, everything in his looks saying how friendly he was, from his puffy face to his natural smile. The only exception, a scar on his left cheek.

  He was an outsider, his brown robes and black hair clearly not belonging to the Changs.

  “Where are we headed, Young Master?”

  “The usual place, Lung.”

  “Of course.”

  Chang Jian threw him inside the nice carriage, walked in, and closed its door. He didn't say a single word as it started moving, refusing to answer any question from the other boy.

  The carriage started moving, and in about one and a half hours, they ended up in a distant part of the city, closer to the walls; It had been a while since Chang Heng last saw them, their dull, gray stone one of the symbols of the safety of their city.

  They were at the beginning of a long road that led to the gates at their base, in front of a house. Lung left the carriage there and walked inside.

  “I awakened in the same period as you did, just a bit closer to the beast hordes. At that time, I had already been practising my skills for years, learning to fight against other mortals who also practiced for years. Whether I’d awaken or not, I was going to be a warrior. The day I did, I finally had a reason to waste money on a sword.

  When I got it, all that changed was that I had more weapons to train, and opponents to sharpen them with. In the span of a few days, I challenged all of the young generations, young talented people of all origins.

  And I won. Every time, I won. Sometimes, I was beaten, my skills proved to be not enough, my body too weak, my Cultivation too low. But I never lost. I may have been thrown on the floor, had my sword broken, been kicked and punched until every part of my body hurt and bled.

  But I didn't lose, even if they did win those fights. Because I was the one winning when the tournament came.”

  He finally started walking down the road, Chang Heng following with an annoyed look.

  “What then? How does that have anything to do with me? I don’t like to fight, unlike you, I just enjoy my own studies, the understanding that comes with it, sharing ideas. That is my path, not punching and kicking. I don’t get why you all prefer to waste my time on that!”

  “Do you want to live long, Cousin?”

  Chang Heng paused, caught off guard by the question.

  “Yes, of course. And growing in Cultivation faster is the key, obviously, not all this pointless training.”

  “How many?”

  They were in the middle of that road, slowing down. People started to recognize his cousin, for some reason, whispering about him or shouting hellos and compliments at him. He just waved back lazily. Some were bringing him gifts. He refused everything that wasn’t handmade.

  “What is going on? Why are all these people grateful to you? What happened here?”

  “You’ll see later, Cousin. So, how many?”

  “How many what?”

  “How many Cultivation stages and ranks will be enough for you? How many years will you be happy living? When will your illness end?”

  “I… I don’t know. I want to live long enough to, I don’t know, have my own family, see my parents and sister get old with me. That kind of stuff.”

  His tone got lower, his eyes stuck on the ground. They were barely walking.

  “So, you have no idea when it will be enough? You don’t know how far you’ll have to go before being satisfied?”

  He asked it as if the answer didn’t shock him, voice sounding condescending.

  “No… I don’t know…”

  “Every other Cultivator has an answer to that. They have the possibility of reaching the peak, so that is how far they want to grow. They have a chance at becoming immortal, so that is how old they want to grow. And believe it or not, you are the same.”

  “No I’m not! I told you what I want.”

  “One day, you’ll get to see your grandchildren be born. You’ll love them. You’ll see them grow, have their own children, and love them too. Over and over. And why would you not? You love them.

  But to get to see them, with your shorter lifespan, you’ll need to get resources and treasures that neither this clan nor this city can offer you. Resources everyone else wants, some even for the same reasons as you. And they will fight for them. They will kill for them. They will have no hesitation as they destroy your hopes and dreams, not even for something that is barely relevant to them.

  And you are doing nothing about this, not without us forcing you. But, as I found out later than I should have, you are my senior, and I have to respect the choices of my elders.”

  Chang Heng was speechless. He didn’t know if his cousin was right, only that he had no answer to him.

  “So, I’ll let you do whatever you wish, Cousin. If you are right, and the world wants to serve everything on a silver platter for you, then you’ll have no issues winning in tomorrow’s tournament. But if you are wrong, well, the Chang clan doesn’t need a slacker that is going to die before next year, so you’ll lose the family name and support.”

  At that, his eyes widened. Losing the support was bad enough, but the name… it came with implications. He’d lose much more than that.

  “W- what?! You can’t do that! I… You…”

  “This is your challenge to take on. I know it is a hard challenge, so I will show you just how much a Cultivator can achieve in a short time if they put their heart and mind in it.”

  They were now close to the walls, at the end of the road. The gate was different from how the boy remembered it being, all those years earlier. It was… new. Recently rebuilt.

  The people around looked at Chang Jian with reverence now. They didn’t approach him, but rather waited in the distance, seeing him busy. They were waiting for a moment when he would call them, doing nothing.

  “When this happened,” he gestured at the renewed wall and gate“I wasn’t supposed to be here. I should have been guarding a random section of the walls, as a recently awakened. But instead of waiting there, where it was safe, I came here. Few else did, as all the powerful Cultivators were busy fighting off more powerful beasts swarming the other gates.

  Here, all the beasts and monsters were still in the Acclimation stage, so their attention wasn’t demanded. And this is a poor district, so mine shouldn’t have been either. Yet I came. Do you know why?”

  The boy looked around, a bit worried and embarrassed by how all the people were watching them.

  He wanted to talk about their arrangement for tomorrow, but he could also see how the decision had already been made. Now, he knew why his family was acting like that. His shoulders slumped.

  “You wanted to protect the people, I suppose, Cousin.”

  “That is partially true, I admit. But more than that, I wanted to test myself again, be forced to reach my limits and surpass them. The risk was great, but worth it. My contribution earned me both a great training and a great amount of merits.”

  He patted the sheath on his side as he walked them to a huge rock, just a few meters from the walls.

  It was as tall as a small house, and thicker than a man, with a rough texture. It looked like a monolith and lacked the refinement anything human-made had, as if it just came out of the ground like that. It carried a faint aura of Qi.

  “This was made by the beast that breached the walls. I have no idea what it was, just that it was far too strong for an Acclimation stage creature, and used these walls as defence. I fought it slowly, learning about it, but I still had a hard time taking it out.”

  He gently patted the wall. Under his palm was a small cut, just like those that littered the ground of their courtyard.

  He stepped back.

  Chang Heng had seen those steps far too many times. Chang Jian walked like that when he was going to give a simple, straight attack.

  But that time, it felt much more dangerous. The Qi around them vibrated with energy, as if it knew something great was going to happen.

  He slowly extracted his sword from the scabbard. The Qi was screaming.

  Then the sword disappeared. The gigantic stone wall crumbled down. The world got silent again.

  The people around them kneeled.