Chapter 33: The Tanyan Clan

Page 1 of 3

Yu Qi walked over and sat down beside him. “What is it? Still angry?”

Mu Qingnan said nothing. He continued tugging at the flower in his hand, which had already been reduced to a pitiful, tattered mess.

“Qingnan, Big Brother is only thinking of what is best for you.” Yu Qi smiled faintly. “Uncle Mu cannot protect you forever. Sooner or later, you will have to grow up.”

“I’m angry because I was bullied in my own home,” Mu Qingnan muttered.

“Qingnan, you cannot stay in Windflower City for the rest of your life. What if, one day, you leave the city and offend someone, and they kill you? What will become of the Mu family then? Do you want your mother to spend every day washing her face with tears?” Yu Qi spoke earnestly. He had to persuade Mu Qingnan.

“Then I simply won’t go out anymore,” Mu Qingnan said haughtily.

“So you plan to be a coward hiding in his shell for the rest of your life? Let people laugh at you and say that the General God’s son is nothing but a frightened weakling?” Yu Qi looked at the fish in the stream and reached out to scoop one up. “Any fish with ambition will swim toward a larger lake. Who would willingly spend every day living in a narrow stream, becoming an object for others to admire?”

At last, Mu Qingnan turned around upon hearing those words. He knew that although he spent his days in the city telling stories to others, how many of those who came to watch him were not merely there to make a spectacle of him?

Right now, he was exactly the fish Yu Qi had described—something for others to observe.

Splash!

Yu Qi opened his hand and released the fish back into the stream. “Uncle Mu is human. He will grow old, and he will die. When that day comes, who will protect the Mu family’s vast estate? Qingnan, Big Brother does not want you to end up like me—to watch your family be destroyed while being powerless to do anything, not even possessing the right to know your enemy’s name.”

“Big Brother, you...” Mu Qingnan stared at Yu Qi. In his eyes, he saw a helplessness that had never been revealed before.

Yu Qi gave a bitter laugh, his eyes already glistening with moisture. “Qingnan, I’ll tell you the truth. I am the last surviving bloodline of the Yu family. That Yu Mo you know was also my elder brother. I do not want you to experience what I did.”

Mu Qingnan froze. He had never imagined that Yu Qi was a member of the Yu family. In his eyes, Yu Qi had always been an exceptionally strong man. Even when facing the world’s foremost poison experts, Black and White Impermanence, he had remained calm and composed. Yet he had never expected that even such a man could shed tears.

Complex emotions moved through Mu Qingnan’s eyes. He could not truly understand what Yu Qi had endured.

If he were in Yu Qi’s place, having lost every member of his clan, he knew he could never have remained as strong and continued living as Yu Qi had.

As he thought about Yu Qi’s words, the image of Yu Mo, who had once taught him how to cultivate, surfaced in his mind. His hands clenched tightly.

He did not want to become a fish for others to admire. Nor did he want to watch others carve up the Mu family’s wealth in the future. As the General God’s son, he certainly could not become a coward hiding in his shell.

Mu Qingnan looked toward Yu Qi. “Big Brother, I understand now.”

“Good.” Yu Qi rose to his feet and brushed the grass clinging to his clothes. Then he turned and walked away. “It’s late. Go back and sleep.”

***

The following day, before Yu Qi had even risen from bed, Mu Qingnan’s knocking sounded outside.

“Big Brother! Big Brother! Get up!”

Yu Qi opened his heavy, hazy eyes, got out of bed, and opened the door.

“Big Brother, why did you take so long to get up?” Mu Qingnan asked.

Yu Qi went to the table, drank a mouthful of tea, rinsed his mouth, and then asked, “You came looking for me so early. Is something wrong?”

“Cultivation, Big Brother! They say the whole day’s work depends on getting an early start. I’ve thought it through—I can’t go on like this anymore.” Mu Qingnan’s face was filled with determination. Before Yu Qi had even finished dressing, he seized his hand and dragged him toward the pavilion where they ate.

Although Yu Qi was somewhat surprised, he was pleased in his heart. At least Mu Qingnan had finally found the will to strive forward.

After breakfast, the two of them arrived at the Mu family’s martial training grounds.

The place was enormous, far more expansive than the one within the city. Weapons were arranged all around, along with practice dummies specifically designed for training martial techniques.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

There were countless martial techniques in the world. The lowest-grade techniques, such as the Seven-Cry Sword, could be found anywhere that martial arts manuals were sold. These were the most common techniques of all.

The highest-grade techniques, such as the Light Rain Sword, were inherited by the great powers of the world. They were exceedingly rare and were never passed on lightly.

In the entire world, there were only a few dozen supreme martial techniques.

Movement, physical cultivation, and attack techniques each had their own corresponding methods, ranging from ordinary to supreme, from commonplace to rare.

The Mu family possessed one supreme offensive technique known as Battlefield Muster. It was also Mu Wenfeng’s signature technique.

Legend had it that once this technique was cultivated to its highest level, it could condense the souls of a hundred battle-hardened generals from thin air. Their battle intent would soar to the heavens, powerful enough to make anyone tremble. This was the origin of Mu Wenfeng’s title, the General God.

However, no one had ever seen Mu Wenfeng unleash the technique’s full power.

In the past, before Mu Wenfeng had entered the Unification Realm, he had already been able to fight three experts of the True Evolution Realm to a standstill with nothing more than the souls of several dozen generals.

It was easy to imagine just how formidable this technique was.

Mu Qingnan stood in the center of the training grounds. Golden radiance flowed through his eyes, and the space before him twisted like a whirlpool on the surface of a lake. Golden rays of light gradually appeared and formed the shape of an ordinary soldier.

However, the soldier he summoned was vastly different from the one summoned by Mu Wenfeng.

The soldier called forth by Mu Wenfeng was like a veteran of countless battles, its gaze sharp and fierce.

The one summoned by Mu Qingnan resembled a deserter. Its eyes were unfocused, and its body was far less sturdy.

Even the battle intent it emitted was merely equal to that of a dozen guards. Its intimidating force was far too weak.

Of course, that was only in comparison with Yu Qi. Had an ordinary person been standing beside Mu Qingnan, they would probably already have been scared out of their wits.

Yu Qi did not delay any longer. He walked to the other side of the grounds, putting some distance between them.

The Forged-Heaven Form had now reached perfection, and he could finally cultivate the next form of the Seven Forms Demon Seed—the Swallow-Treading Form.

The cultivation method of the Swallow-Treading Form began to rise within his mind.

He had originally assumed that it would be an offensive martial technique, but he had never expected its description to reveal that it was actually a movement technique.

Swallow-Treading Form: tread upon swallows and travel freely across the four corners of the world.

Once cultivated to its highest level, the body would become as light as a swallow. Even in midair, one could borrow force and move rapidly forward.

Yu Qi sat cross-legged, feeling somewhat tense.

Cultivating the Swallow-Treading Form required him to burst apart his original meridians just as he had when cultivating the Forged-Heaven Form, and then reforge them with demonic energy.

He had already endured that agony once and knew all too well how unbearable it was. He did not want to experience it a second time.

Even so, he still had to cultivate the Seven Forms Demon Seed, because he desperately needed greater strength.

He began circulating the cultivation method of the Swallow-Treading Form.

The seed within his dantian trembled rapidly. Threads of baleful energy radiated from it before simultaneously pouring into the two main meridians in his legs.

The originally narrow meridians suddenly filled with an enormous surge of baleful energy and swelled at once.

Pain began spreading through his legs before invading his mind. His brows furrowed, his face instantly drained of color, and beads of sweat the size of beans emerged one after another.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

Yet this was only the beginning.

Boom!

A deep roar reverberated within his body.

His meridians snapped apart inch by inch, as brittle as dried stalks.

The pain grew increasingly violent as it surged into his mind, as though someone were repeatedly smashing his skull with a massive hammer. Waves of dizziness spread through his consciousness.

The objects before his eyes gradually blurred into overlapping shadows.

“I absolutely cannot faint.”

If Yu Qi lost consciousness, the baleful energy within his body would run wild without control, like an untamed horse with no rider. The consequences were obvious.

Yu Qi bit the tip of his tongue, forcing himself to regain a little clarity.

Then he continued directing the baleful energy into his meridians.

The meridians broke apart inch by inch, while the great hammer in his mind continued its relentless assault. Blood had already begun flowing from his mouth—the result of biting through his tongue.

At last, the final section of meridian exploded apart. Fine streams of blood seeped from the pores of his legs, and the ground had already been stained red.

The most agonizing part was finally over, and Yu Qi relaxed.

However, every meridian in his legs had been shattered and was now beyond his control. He would not be able to stand until the baleful energy condensed into a new meridian.

The baleful energy slowly settled within his legs, gradually solidifying before transforming into two entirely different meridians.

With the slightest circulation, internal energy flowed into his legs like a river. The speed of its condensation was far greater than that of his former meridians.

By then, it was nearly noon. He rose unsteadily to his feet, only to feel a slight coolness across his back. His clothes had been soaked through with sweat.

“Big Brother, are you all right?” Mu Qingnan had come over as soon as he noticed that something was wrong with Yu Qi. However, he had not dared interrupt Yu Qi’s cultivation and could only wait anxiously nearby until he finished.

Yu Qi smiled. “I’m fine. This is simply what happens when I cultivate my technique. I’m going to wash up. You should focus on your cultivation.”

Back in his room, Yu Qi removed his clothes and lowered himself into the bath. The lingering fragrance in the room filled him with an exquisite sense of relief.

“Grandfather once said that the Seven Forms Demon Seed was a supreme sword technique. But why, now that I have cultivated the second form, is it still a technique for refining the body?”

He had assumed that cultivating the Seven Forms Demon Seed required an exceptionally strong physique, which explained the first form, the Forged-Heaven Form. But now that he had reached the second form, it was still not an offensive technique—it was a movement technique instead. He could not help but find this strange.

“I wonder what the third form will be. It ought to be an offensive technique, shouldn’t it?”

The lack of an offensive technique was truly inconvenient for him. Although he possessed the Light Rain Sword, if he used it and others discovered that he was a member of the Yu family, it would likely bring catastrophic disaster upon him.

Still, he would not trouble himself over it. Although the Light Rain Sword could expose his identity, if he killed the person who discovered it, then there would be nothing left to worry about.

Page 3 of 3