Another full month slipped by beneath the shifting skies of the Five Star Lakes. The changing weather brought cool winds and frequent rain but the harsh conditions did nothing to deter Li Yu from his grueling routine. He spent his days sitting by the water edge to cycle his internal arts while dedicating his evenings to the relentless struggle against the dark staff.
His progress was slow but asurable. By maintaining the delicate harmony of his five soul resonance alongside his peak physical strength and his vast Qi reserves, he managed to pull Star Abyss a good six inches out of the stubborn ground now.
The starry speckles on the dark tal glowed faintly whenever he forced it upward but the weapon always felt like it was fighting back. He would hold it there for as long as his stamina allowed before the crushing pressure inevitably forced him to let go.
He was in the middle of a short resting period when the ambient space near the garden rippled. The air grew heavy with an imnse pressure as a towering figure stepped out of the void. Zhan Tian surveyed the serene landscape with a bright grin before locking his eyes on his grandson.
Chapter 1004: The Weight of Family
Another full month slipped by beneath the shifting skies of the Five Star Lakes. The changing weather brought cool winds and frequent rain but the harsh conditions did nothing to deter Li Yu from his grueling routine. He spent his days sitting by the water edge to cycle his internal arts while dedicating his evenings to the relentless struggle against the dark tal staff.
His progress was slow but asurable. By maintaining the delicate harmony of his five soul resonance alongside his peak Paragon physical strength and his vast Qi reserves, he managed to pull Star Abyss a good six inches out of the stubborn earth. The starry speckles on the dark tal glowed faintly whenever he forced it upward but the weapon always felt like it was fighting back. He would hold it there for as long as his stamina allowed before the crushing pressure inevitably forced him to let go.
He was in the middle of a short resting period when the ambient space near the garden rippled. The air grew heavy with an imnse pressure as a towering figure stepped out of the void. Zhan Tian surveyed the serene landscape with a bright grin before locking his eyes on his grandson. The old warrior wore his usual simple robes but his re presence commanded the surrounding natural laws to bow in reverence.
"You look like a farr trying to pull up a stubborn root." Zhan Tian asked with a booming voice as he crossed his thick arms over his chest. “Are you so weak you can’t even take out a little stick from the ground?”
Li Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath to steady his racing heart. He gestured toward the dark weapon protruding from the soil. "Khaos left this new staff for . I have been training for months and I can only get it up six inches. Why don't you give it a try since you enjoy standing there watching suffer?"
Zhan Tian let out a loud chuckle and walked closer to the buried tal. "A gift from that little crab? Let us see what he considered a worthy tool for my amazing grandson."
He stepped forward and casually wrapped his large hand around it. He pulled upward with a relaxed posture but the weapon did not budge right away. Zhan Tian blinked in surprise as a ripple of unexpected resistance traveled up his arm. He paused and analyzed the density hidden within the dark shell material.
After a short ti, a faint smirk ford on his weathered face.
‘That little crab was not that bad for training my grandson this way. Void Claw had created a test for Li Yu before he could obtain the weapon.” Zhan Tian thought to himself.
However, Zhan Tian was a Worldkeeper and his own pride would never let him lose face in front of his only grandson. The brief mont of surprise vanished as he planted his feet firmly onto the grass. He channeled his terrifying power and the air around them distorted violently.
With a smooth and powerful motion he forcefully ripped Star Abyss from the ground. The earth groaned as the restrictive forces on the weapon holding the weapon was shattered under his overwhelming strength. Zhan Tian spun the heavy staff around his body in a blinding flurry of motion to show off. The dark staff cut through the air and created a localized storm of wind that flattened the nearby grass and whipped the water of the lake into a frenzy.
He brought the weapon to a sudden halt and examined the balance. "This is a great weapon," Zhan Tian noted with genuine approval. "The weight is good and its durability is not sothing anyone can complain about."
Li Yu watched the display in pure awe at his grandfather. He had spent months agonizing over a few inches of movent and his grandfather had just pulled it out and twirled it like a simple wooden stick. His face was full of worship as he looked up at the towering warrior. The genuine admiration in his eyes made the old man incredibly happy.
Zhan Tian roared in joyous laughter as the sound echoed across the valley and chased away the lingering morning mist. In his rising excitent he raised the staff high above his head.
"You have a long way to go boy!" Zhan Tian shouted with a wide grin. He slamd the weapon back down into the exact sa hole with a devastating amount of force.
The impact sent a deep shockwave through the ground that rattled Li Yu to his bones. Zhan Tian did not just return the weapon to its original depth. He pushed it even further down than Khaos had left it.
As the tal sank into the soil, the old man infused his own martial intent into the earth surrounding the staff. He wove an invisible restriction to further bind the staff in place, leaving his own personalized test for Li Yu to overco. He laughed boisterously and turned to walk away toward the main pavilion.
Li Yu stood frozen in place as the realization of what had just happened washed over him. His face transitioned rapidly from starry worship to hatred. He glared at the back of the retreating Worldkeeper and felt a surge of intense frustration bubbling in his chest.
He thought his grandfather was helping him out but now his highly difficult task was even worse because he had buried the weapon deeper into the ground. He did not even realize yet that Zhan Tian had added additional restrictions on top of the physical depth.
"What is wrong with you!" Li Yu yelled while pointing a shaking finger at the old man. "I barely got it out six inches and you just drove it straight to the core of the realm! Pull it back up to where it was!"
Zhan Tian did not turn around but he remained laughing loudly. He waved a dismissive hand over his shoulder. "Grow big and strong Li Yu! That is the true way of the Zhan. Do not complain about the weight of your own weapon!"
A day later the air over the estate humd again. Zhan Tielan stepped out of a swirling rift and brought the faint scent of ozone and battlefields with her. She smiled warmly upon seeing her son but quickly noticed the deeply frustrated expression on his face as he wrestled with the dark staff in the garden.
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"You look like you are trying to move a mountain," Tielan noted as she walked over and examined the dark tal. "Is this a new training thod?"
"It is a staff Khaos gave ," Li Yu explained while rubbing his sore shoulders. "But grandpa ca by yesterday and slamd it even deeper into the ground just to show off."
Tielan found the situation amusing and decided to test the weight for herself. "Let see how heavy that old crab’s shell really is."
She took a firm stance and gripped the staff with both hands. She surged her powerful battle aura and pulled upward but the staff remained locked in the soil. Tielan frowned deeply and increased her Qi output until the ground beneath her boots began to crack. The weapon still refused to move at all.
Zhan Tian had overpowered the original test Khaos left behind because his cultivation and strength exceeded the threshold. His daughter was an elite warrior but she was not on the sa level as her father.
She could not overpower the origin restrictions left in combination with the new restriction Zhan Tian had maliciously added. Because the staff was forged specifically for Li Yu and tied to him, any outsider attempting to lift it required an absurd amount of power to bypass the attunent. With both the crab and the Worldkeeper layering their tests on the staff, the power required to force it out was simply too much for her current stage.
Zhan Tian strolled out onto the wooden porch holding a cup of hot tea and he watched her struggle. He let out a booming laugh as she finally let go of the hilt while panting softly.
"You are losing your edge, Tielan," Zhan Tian teased while taking a slow sip from his cup. "Perhaps you need to spend more ti with strength training."
Tielan looked at the staff and then glared at her father. She knew instantly that he had sothing to do with this impossible resistance that even she couldn’t lift the staff. Her competitive pride flared and she abandoned the weapon to charge directly at the old man.
"You tampered with it!" Tielan accused as she pointed a finger at him while running across the grass. "You always have to make things unnecessarily difficult!"
"I rely provided so strength to the soil," Zhan Tian laughed while stepping back from the porch railing. "The boy needs to build character and so do you apparently!"
"I will show you character!" Tielan yelled as she vaulted over the railing.
Li Yu saw his chance for revenge and joined the pursuit. He activated his movent techniques and chased after his grandfather alongside his mother. The two of them worked together to corner the towering warrior near the edge of the water.
"Get his legs!" Tielan ordered as she dove for the old man.
They tackled him in a coordinated strike and the three of them tumbled onto the soft grass in a chaotic heap. They wrestled playfully while trying to pin the Worldkeeper to the ground. It was a loving family brawl that lacked any real killing intent but featured plenty of physical strength. They finally managed to get him down after a brief struggle.
"Help! Help !" Zhan Tian laughed hysterically while thrashing his heavy legs. "They are beating ! I am going to be beaten to my death this very day by my own blood!"
The air near the pavilion rippled just as Zhan Tian made his dramatic plea. Li Canghai stepped smoothly out of the void wearing his refined white robes. He paused and surveyed the ridiculous scene unfolding on his front lawn.
"Well," Canghai comnted dryly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I never thought I would live to see this day. The great and terrifying Zhan Tian, finally felled in a garden by a woman and a young man."
The comnt broke the remaining tension and the whole family erupted into genuine laughter. They untangled themselves from the grass and brushed the dirt from their clothes. The warmth of the mont washed over Li Yu and filled his chest with a sense of peace. Having his family gathered together like this felt like an invaluable treasure.
"Co inside," Tielan said while swatting her father on the shoulder. "Canghai and I will cook. It has been too long since we all shared a proper al together."
Li Yu stepped forward. "Let help chop the vegetables at least."
"Absolutely not," Canghai replied with a warm smile. "We want to treat you today. Go rest your tired muscles and let us handle the kitchen."
His parents worked together seamlessly and served up a grand feast a short while later. The wooden table was covered in delicious dishes featuring stead river fish swimming in a light ginger broth, thick cuts of spiced boar belly and bowls of rich lotus root soup. The aroma filled the open pavilion and made everyone eager to eat.
"This fish is excellent," Zhan Tian praised as he scooped a large portion into his bowl. "The water in these lakes must be very pure."
"Li Yu maintains the waters well," Canghai agreed while pouring a cup of warm wine for his wife. "It is a peaceful place to return to after dealing with the chaos of the outside."
They shared stories from the front lines and joked about their past travels. The family enjoyed each other's company deep into the night while the cool breeze rolled off the lakes to carry the sounds of their laughter across the valley.
Another week passed in a blur of intense activity. Li Yu was no longer training in isolation. He was receiving direct and brutal tutelage from his parents and his grandfather.
"Keep your stance lower!" Zhan Tian shouted during a grueling physical sparring session. "Your foundation needs to be like iron if you want to lift that staff!"
"Focus your intent before you strike," Tielan instructed as she guided him through a series of explosive charging drills. "Do not waste energy on the windup. Let the montum carry your weight."
Canghai sat with him during the quiet evenings to refine his internal Qi cycles. "Smooth out the transition between those points and let them co together there." His father advised softly. "The clash of energy is bleeding away your stamina. Let them flow into one another like a river joining the sea."
Li Yu’s growth was explosive during this week. The combined wisdom of three experts pushed his foundation to new heights. He felt stronger and faster than ever before. Yet despite his rapid advancent, he still could not pull the dark staff out of the ground. The dual layered restriction proved to be a monuntal hurdle that required far more ti to conquer.
The family was gathered around the table for lunch one afternoon when Canghai brought up a new developnt. He took a sip of his tea and looked at Li Yu with a serious expression.
"The Li Clan is preparing to host a grand knowledge gathering soon," Canghai explained to the group. "Various clans, sects, kingdoms and powerful organizations from across the cosmos have been invited to attend our ho estate."
"What kind of convention?" Li Yu asked while setting his chopsticks down.
"It is designed to focus primarily on the Sword and Qi paths," his father replied. "It is a rare opportunity for the younger generation and seasoned experts alike to share their insights without the constant threat of war looming over their heads. There will be lectures from senior masters and technical demonstrations."
"Will there be sparring tournants?" Zhan Tian asked with a raised eyebrow. "A convention without a good fight sounds rather dull."
"There will be no fighting against one another allowed during the event," Canghai stated firmly. "The convention is built around a strict code of conduct. It is ant to foster peace and build relationships between factions, rather than create conflict."
"No fighting at all?" Tielan frowned slightly. "How do they enforce that with so many different groups gathered in one place?"
"The rule is enforced with an iron fist," Canghai noted. "Anyone disrupting the harmony of the convention will be taken care of quickly and ruthlessly by the Li Clan enforcent elders. No one in their right mind dares to cause a scene at this specific venue because the consequences are far too severe. We have invited the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Violet Gale Clan, the Azure empires and many others."
Canghai looked back at his son. "It might be a good experience for you Li Yu. You have been training in isolation for too long. Stepping away from the physical grind to listen to lectures on the Dao might be the exact catalyst you need to break through the frustrating bottleneck in your laws for example."
Li Yu thought about the days he had spent wrestling with the staff and cultivating in the quiet courtyards of the Five Star Lakes. His mind craved a different kind of stimulation and the chance to observe new philosophies was highly appealing.
"I will go," Li Yu decided with a firm nod. "I have hit a wall with my laws anyway. Perhaps listening to others will help find the missing step."
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