Chapter 391 - Growing Children
Months passed since my admittedly pathetic confession to Speedy.
I was a grown man mentally in my forties, confiding in a beast that was, at best, five years old in terms of intelligence. That was assuming he could think at human-like levels after reaching the Qi Gathering stage.
After that whole ordeal things returned to this new normal, and autumn arrived earlier than expected.
The trees withered almost as soon as the season came, as if something was draining the life out of the world itself. The leaves were drier, crunching louder beneath each step, and the ground felt emptier than usual.
I played with one of those dry leaves while standing outside Song Song’s annoyingly white mansion, which was a place that made the Washington White House look modest in comparison.
Why had she chosen to break through here?
I had asked her that question several times already.
Her only response had been a casual chuckle and, “Because I like it.”
Despite that, I had set up a series of defensive arrays around the mansion, preparing for anyone foolish enough to interrupt her breakthrough.
If Song Song had given me more notice, more than simply showing up at my house and announcing she would break through today, I could have called my teacher and set up a proper Level 6 defensive array, something even Core Formation cultivators would struggle to break.
But Song Song had always been inconsiderate towards others and also toward herself.
The air suddenly shifted.
The Qi around the mansion twisted, thickening, and the windows rattled violently as her breakthrough began. A heavy, foreboding pressure settled over my chest.
Then–
A burst of crimson flooded the area as blood-colored Qi engulfed the mansion.
Normally, the idea of Qi having a smell would sound absurd. But I could swear there was a coppery smell of blood in the air, and it hadn’t been there before.
“Talk about overwhelming…” I muttered, a faint smile forming on my lips.
It was beautiful, in a way, as it showed just how deeply Song Song’s element had fused with her Qi, her techniques, and her very existence.
The crimson Qi surged outward, spreading like a tide before shooting into the sky, tearing through the clouds. The bright daylight was swallowed, replaced by a crimson hue as if the world itself had been dragged into an apocalypse.
This was the power of Core Formation.
At this stage, a cultivator’s strength began to grow absurdly. Their abilities started to bend logic itself. And once they stepped into Nascent Soul, that line would be crossed entirely.
Heh. The old elders in the sect were probably panicking right about now.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the aura condensed, folded, and disappeared in an instant as if it had never existed at all.
The world returned to normal, and I felt the air behind me shift.
A hand landed on my shoulder.
The odor of blood hit me again, and this time it was more prominent.
“Do you always have to be this dramatic with your breakthroughs?” I teased.
“Not all of us have the luxury or lack of talent to build a foundation that allows for seamless breakthroughs,” Song Song whispered, a soft chuckle escaping at the end.
“Which is exactly why you should’ve taken my advice,” I replied. “You could’ve broken through somewhere isolated and used your Sky Grade Technique to conceal your cultivation level.”
“Heh.”
She stepped beside me, draping an arm over my shoulders. Her left… bundle pressed lightly against my arm.
“Not all of us are cowards,” she said. “If someone wants to cause trouble, I’d welcome it. I haven’t had the chance to go all out since breaking through to Core Formation.”
I shook my head.
There was no point trying to convince her now. She was almost thirty now and wasn't going to change as a person anytime soon.
“So, what are your plans next?” she asked. “You’ve been quiet for a while. No big moves.”
“Why do you assume I’m always scheming something?” I said, shrugging off her arm and taking a step back to create some distance. “Also… keep some space. I’m a married man with kids now.”
Song Song raised a brow, clearly confused. Then it clicked for her.
Her eyes widened and the next moment, she burst into laughter.
Not just a chuckle.
A full, uncontrollable, belly laugh.
She leaned against the wall of her mansion, cackling like she had just heard the funniest joke in the world, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
It took her a while to calm down.
She looked at me again...
...and immediately started laughing all over again, pointing at me like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked flatly.
She finally managed to compose herself, though her shoulders still shook slightly.
“I just… never thought you were into that kind of thing,” she admitted.
“What?” I frowned, genuinely offended.
“You know,” she said, still struggling not to laugh. “You’re always so serious. I always assumed you married Fu Yating out of duty. Or guilt. Your family wiped out hers, after all.”
She wasn’t entirely wrong. But the way she was laughing about it made it impossible for me to admit that. I wouldn't hear the end of it.
“So you do have those kinds of desires after all?” she continued, barely holding herself together. “I always thought you were just born male because there’s no such thing as a ‘nonchalant scholar’ gender with the emotional range of a rock.”
Another laugh slipped out.
“And the fact that you reacted like that to me, does that mean you feel something too?” she added, grinning. “That’s hilarious.”
“Now that your breakthrough is over, can I go back to what I was doing?” I asked dryly. “And while I personally don’t care much, I’d rather Fu Yating and others not get the wrong idea. She’s the mother of my children.”
She might have been joking. And to me, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
But I knew how people talked.
There was no reason to create unnecessary tension… or make Fu Yating uncomfortable.
Better to set boundaries now than deal with problems later.
“Yes, yes, I get it,” Song Song said, waving a hand. “Sorry. I just imagined you being secretly embarrassed like some shy maiden while acting all calm on the outside…”
She shook her head, still smiling. “You have no idea how funny that image is.”
Song Song took a breath and nodded. “Alright. I’ll be more careful from now on, mister married man.”
Then she added, more thoughtfully: “Honestly, I should’ve expected this. You’re the type who avoids unnecessary chaos. Whether it’s techniques, plans, the fate of the world… or even your own marriage, you try to account for everything and make it perfect.”
“There’s no such thing as perfect,” I replied. “Fu Yating and I will argue eventually. That’s inevitable. I’d just rather eliminate as many unstable variables as possible.”
That did it.
Song Song burst into laughter again, nearly doubling over as she struggled to breathe between fits.
I couldn’t help but wonder what others would think, seeing her like this, cackling like a madwoman right after breaking through.
If I were in their position… I’d be uneasy too.
…
A couple of weeks after Song Song’s breakthrough, I stood in the yard with Fu Yating, watching our children sit on the grass. They poked at the grass blades curiously while my wife hovered over them like an ever-present guardian.
Fu Yating was many things. But she was not a bad mother.
There was a softness in her eyes as she looked at them, like a kind of tenderness I had never seen from her before. Whether she truly loved me or not no longer mattered. I knew that, no matter what happened, she would stay.
If not for me, then for them and I had no intention of betraying that, or making this marriage worse than it needed to be.
I walked up to her with a faint smile, slipping into the role of the ideal husband. I picked up one of the twins and set him down on his feet.
“C’mon, little guy. How long are you planning to just sit there?” I teased my older son.
He looked up at me with wide eyes, his chubby cheeks wobbling as he tried to say something, but only soft baby noises came out.
It felt like just yesterday they had been newborns. Now they were already over half a year old.
Was I really going to become one of those parents who constantly reminisced?
…Probably.
While my thoughts wandered, my older son wobbled forward, slipping out of my grasp.
He took a step, and then another.
Time seemed to slow.
Not because I was using any technique. But because of the strange, overwhelming excitement filling my chest as I watched him walk for the first time.
Right. These were his first steps.
I had not missed the first steps of my child like I thought I would.
He staggered, nearly falling backward, but Fu Yating was already there. She caught him and pulled him into a gentle embrace.
“Come to mommy, my little chubby tot,” she said softly, then reached out with her other arm to pull in the second twin as well. “You too, my little dumpling.”
Liu Sha had taken his first steps. Liu Ma simply stared at him with wide, innocent eyes, as if trying to understand what had just happened.
“What are you doing just standing there? Come here and hug your kids,” Fu Yating said, her tone almost like she was ordering a subordinate.
I looked at her and smiled. Despite her words, her voice was soft, and her face was full of warmth. I followed her instruction and joined them, stepping into my role as a father.
At that moment a strange sensation swept through the sect, and it was not the wind.
This felt more like something seeping into my bones, like a cold, internal chill, the kind that comes with the flu. There was no breeze, and barely even a trace of Qi brushing against the edge of my senses. But I felt the cold.
Was this Ye An? She broke through again?
From what I knew from our brief interactions, while I was searching for a way to stabilize her condition, she had been deliberately suppressing her cultivation, advancing only at carefully chosen moments.
The higher her cultivation rose, the closer we got to running out of time.
Had Song Song’s breakthrough triggered this?
Unlikely.
She was now on par with Song Song, even with Song Song’s monstrous combat ability. Each stage in Core Formation was quite a gap.
Still…
Breaking through to five-star Core Formation this soon was ahead of schedule.
Thankfully, she wasn’t someone close to me or someone I would have to rearrange my life for, sacrificing time with my children to focus on research.
“Something wrong?” Fu Yating asked, noticing the change in my expression.
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “Just an elder breaking through a minor stage.”
“Huh,” she replied, already losing interest.
Before the children were born, Fu Yating had been eager to recover her cultivation. I had even kept an eye out for natural treasures that might help her.
But now her attention was almost entirely on the kids, and a part of me envied that.
I couldn’t devote myself to them as completely as she did.
I enjoyed spending time with my children, but sometimes, it felt more like a responsibility on my schedule than something that came naturally.
I had never been a father in my previous life. There was no experience to fall back on.
Was this normal?
As I drifted through those thoughts, another sensation rippled through the air. This time, I recognized it instantly.
Someone was breaking through. But unlike before, this wasn’t a minor stage.
Wait... this was a major breakthrough, and it was close! Very close.
Right above me! On the second floor of my house!
Wu Yan was attempting to break through to Core Formation.