The Li Family Estate was lively with celebrations. The patriarch had finally emerged from closed meditation. Many years ago, he had reached the peak of the core refining stage and hoped to make a breakthrough.
He was getting old, and his longevity was coming to an end. Once a person had reached the Core refining stage, they would live to be one hundred and fifty years old, and Li Zhang had already reached one hundred and thirty and had less than twenty years of life left. He had been cultivating every day for eight years and had yet to make any progress.
Li Zhang had to accept that he wouldn't break through his current cultivation level, and his family's reputation was almost entirely ruined by his eldest son during his absence. It was clear that he had a lot of work cut out for him.
'I know I said that I would look after the boy, but I have to prioritize the safety of my family.' Li Zhang thought as he felt guilty about letting Li Jun leave his family.
'I will do my best to keep him safe within spirit city, but I don't think this city could hold someone with his background. There will come a time when he ventures out further than I could ever imagine.' Li Zhang sighed as he looked down from his golden throne.
The one that Li Cui had placed up there had been thrown away for the moment. There was only one patriarch, and he was going to make sure that his family knew that.
He knew his son well. Li Hong was spiteful and held grudges. If he went back into closed doors cultivation he knew for a fact his son would find trouble with Li Jun once more. So in order to make sure that tradgedy didn't befall his precious family he had ordered his son to cultivate.
Li Hong was given a choice. He could step down from his claim to the patriarch's position, or he could cultivate diligently and break through to the core refining stage. If he couldn't break through within the next twenty years, Li Zhang would die and it wouldn't matter anymore. He might as well pass it on to his youngest son instead.
'This is such a headache.' Li Zhang thought as he watched dozens of people chatting and rushing around with trays of food, each of them wearing clothes with the Li Family signature red color. He wished Li Wei was still alive.
***
Three weeks passed from the incident at the Pill Tower. After Li Jun had told his master, the two workers both had their cultivation crippled to make sure that they didn't look to take revenge upon his student.
Li Jun spent his time cultivating at home and practicing the martial arts techniques he had got from the silver ring and every two days he would go up to visit Master Shen where he would split wood with an axe that seemed to get heavier each time he picked it up.
The sun beamed brightly and shone down upon Li Jun as he raised his hand above his head. In front of him was a wooden log; more specifically, it was ironwood. He slammed down with his hand. It slit through the air like a blade and sliced a thick gash into the surface of the wood.
"How's that?" He exclaimed with a proud smile.
Master Shen stood a few paces away and nodded his head with approval.
"That's good. But you just barely qualify." He said with a sigh. "We still have work to do."
"Qualify for what?" Li Jun asked as Shen Yun sat reading a book on a bench beside the house.
"Grandfather? You didn't tell him?" She asked with a surprised look.
"Tell me what?" Li Jun asked. Over the past couple of weeks he had begun to feel comfortable enough to drop the formalities, at least while they were alone.
"Must have slipped my mind." Master Shen hummed and poured himself a cup of tea as he sat down beside Shen Yun.
Li Jun waited for an explanation, but it seemed as though his teacher wasn't going to answer. He turned his attention to Shen Yun.
"What do I have to qualify for?"
She looked at her grandfather for a moment, but he didn't even give her a glance. So she figured it would be fine if she told him.
"We're going to be taking the disciple examination for the Misty Cloud Sect in six months. My family has a long history with the sect, and all martial artists within the family must become disciples." She explained.
Li Jun felt confused. He understood that was her family tradition, but it certainly wasn't his.
"And what makes you think that I would want to go to some sect? I'm not part of your family, so I'm not going anywhere." Li Jun protested and folded his arms stubbornly.
"Now you see why it slipped my mind." Master Shen grumbled and refilled his teacup.
"You don't have a choice. You accepted my grandfather as your teacher so what he tells you to do, you will do it!" Shen Yun demanded.
Li Jun shrugged his shoulders.
"I mean it. I don't want to go to some sect, especially not this soon. I have things I need to do." He said, but his heart felt heavy.
It had been over a month since his mother had vanished. Every day, he hoped to see her sitting at the table when he came home, but there had yet to be any word from her. He was worried, and the last thing he wanted was to go to a sect for an unknown amount of time and not get to see her whenever she decided to come back.
"You!" Shen Yun looked furious at his words, but Master Shen raised his hand and cut her off.
"Just think about it. That's all I will ask for now. If the time comes and you don't want to go then I won't force you. But becoming the disciple of a big sect like the misty cloud sect will open a lot of doors for you in the future." Master Shen spoke softly, he could see through Li Jun's expression, he could see something was bothering him deeply.
Shen Yun's face shone beat red. She was furious, she was forced to enter a sect far away from home and Li Jun had a choice. She felt it was unfair. If Li Jun had to go too she wouldn't feel as lonely.
Later that night Li Jun arrived home, his body ached despite the spirit gathering pill he had taken to restore some energy.
He entered his courtyard and sat down, as he tried to settle his mind and fall into meditation the sound of something moving alerted him that there was something lurking behind him.
Li Jun turned. There was nothing.
'Am I imagining things?' He thought as he stared into the darkness of his courtyard. He saw a shadow painted against the white limestone walls.
It looked like a cat but was much larger in size. It walked out from behind his house, it's shadow made it look as large as two people stacked on top of each other. But as the creature came into view Li Jun frowned.
A tiny black kitten ran towards him with a playful bounce. As it reached his feet, it rolled over, exposing the soft fur on its tummy.
"You scared me." Li Jun muttered with a smile as he petted the cat with a smile. He had thought it was a mutated beast or something. But as he looked at it again, he realized something.
There was no spiritual energy surrounding the cat at all. His heart sank. He knew what it meant.
The small kitten rolling at his feet was a mutated beast that had transcended the limits of a body refining martial artist. Its strength was probably equivalent to someone at the core refining stage.