Eternal Reverence

Chapter 1: Li Fu Chen

“Li Fuchen, you still wouldn’t be my opponent even after you train for ten years.”

Crash!

On the training grounds, the delicate looking Li Fuchen was seen flung off the stage, and the one who threw him was a juvenile clad in green clothes.

“Heh. As I expected, you were defeated in three moves.”

“This is already the seventh time that Li Fuchen has been defeated by Li Yunhe within a year!”

“Ain’t that right! Just last year, Li Fuchen was considered a genius and had always suppressed Li Yunhe. But unexpectedly, after a year, the genius became inept. Not only did his abilities not improve at all, it seems stupidity set in. Knowing that Li Yunhe was not someone he could defeat, he still accepted Li Yunhe’s challenge.”

“You have wronged Li Fuchen, he always had a proud personality and never cowers from a challenge.”

“Hai, blame it on Li Fuchen’s fiancée Guan Xue, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t know that Li Yunhe likes Guan Xue as well. The three of them grew up together, but Guan Xue was already betrothed to Li Fuchen, making Li Yunhe extremely unhappy.”

The mocking laughter that came from all around rang in the ears of Li Fuchen, causing him to start breathing erratically.

A year, everything happened a year ago.

A year ago, within the Li Clan, he was rated a prodigy. Li Yunhe was never regarded as his rival.

Out of the blue, his talents seemingly vanished. More like his talents were unusable, everytime he tried to concentrate, he would have a splitting headache. The pain rendered him unable to cultivate in peace. After a duel, Li Yunhe realised Li Fuchen had not improved at all, he then began to repeatedly challenge Li Fuchen.

With his fists tightly clenched, Li Fuchen looked to the sky with an unyielding heart.

“Wretched heavens, when have I ever offended you, why would you take away my talents? Do you not know that in this world, having strength reigns supreme and the consequences of not having any talent.”

Li Fuchen’s heart was enraged.

A pity the heavens could not hear the voice of his heart.

Staring down at Li Fuchen with a sneer, Li Yunhe felt domineering. He had always felt jealous of Li Fuchen, jealous that his father was the Patriarch of the Li Clan, regardless of resources or treatment, it was all better than his own. If his own father had been the Patriarch, his growth would have definitely outshone Li Fuchen’s.

Now that Li Fuchen had fallen from grace, the Patriarch can no longer be biased. It was a known fact that the Patriarch does not have the final say in the Li Clan. Behind, there was a committee made up of clan elders. Once the committee made a decision, even the Patriarch would not be able to change it. However, most of the time, the Patriarch was able to make decisions, as the elders seldom interfered with the daily household affairs.

“Li Fuchen, I advise that you forget about Guan Xue. Such a inept person like you isn’t good enough for her!”

Once he was done berating, Li Yunhe turned and left the training grounds.

The bystanders all left one after another, leaving Li Fuchen by himself.

There was a pavilion in the distance, standing in it was middle-aged man wearing white, witnessing the whole commotion.

“Fuchen, though Father is the Patriarch, even I can’t help you in this situation, you have to rely on yourself.”

As a father, seeing Li Fuchen get bullied, he felt worse than anyone else. But he was clear, if he had helped his son, Li Fuchen would have suffered more humiliation and hate from the others. In this world, where the strong reigns supreme, and where ranks are highly desired, everything was about one’s abilities. Help from others could make one look good on the outside, but in the dark, everyone would hate him.

***

Deep in the night…

Li Fuchen sat on a futon, meticulously cultivating the Red Jade technique.

Red Jade technique, Li Clan’s only high-tier yellow class cultivation technique that has a total of seven ranks.

A year ago, Li Fuchen had already cultivated it to the third rank. But since last year, there hadn’t been any measure of progress. As for Li Yunhe, he was able to use that one year’s time to advance to the fourth rank, thus, being able to suppress him.

“Ahh!”

Even after trying numerous times, the pain in his head still haunted Li Fuchen, causing him to howl in pain.

This kind of pain was much worse than any bodily ache by a hundred times, its source of pain emanated from deep within the soul.

Drenched with sweat, Li Fuchen lifted his eyelids unwillingly, as blood trickled down his lips from him biting with force.

“Why is it still the same?”

Till now, Li Fuchen had yet to understand what exactly happened to him. The fights he lost were already a shock to him, but this verdict of losing his talent without any reason was yet another one. Just like the venom from a snake slowing corroding one’s bone marrow, by the time you realized it, the entire marrow is already completely gone.

***

As the night dissipated, daylight broke.

Early in the morning, a guest had came to visit the Li Clan. It was the Guan Clan’s Patriarch, Guan Yue.

In the conference hall, suited in white, Li Tianhan passionately went forward to welcome his guest.

“Guan Yue, what wind blew you here today?”

Guan Yue’s height was close to eight feet, having the back of a tiger and waist of a bear, he laughed awkwardly, “I was free today, so I came over to have a look, how is Fuchen lately?”

“He is… Still the same as ever, the loss of his talent has been hard on him, I hope he can endure it.”

Li Tianhan’s face bore a sad expression.

“No hurry, it may only be temporary, I believe he can overcome this.”

Hesitating, Guan Yue took out a jade bottle, “There is a reinvigoration pill inside, perhaps it may be beneficial to him.”

“Reinvigoration pill?”

Li Tianhan did not receive the pill, but instead offered a puzzled look.

The reinvigoration pill was not like any common elixir, but a high-tier yellow class elixir, just one was worth thousands of gold.

Even though Guan Xue was betrothed to Li Fuchen since young, no ceremony was ever held, and to give such a rare elixir, it confused Li Tianhan.

Guan Yue wasn’t pleased: “It’s just an elixir pill, is it not to your liking??”

“This isn’t about the elixir. Guan Yue, do you have something to say?”

Being friends for years, Li Tianhan knew he was hiding something.

Placing the jade bottle aside, Guan Yue reluctantly spoke, “Tianhan, this time I do have issues to discuss with you.”

“Out with it! You have my attention!”

Li Tian Han felt a nagging unease welling from the bottom of his heart.

Clearing his throat, “Just a week ago, my daughter Guan Xue’s cultivation broke through to the seventh level of the Qi Realm.”

“Seventh level, Qi Realm?”

Li Tianhan took in a breath of cold air… Guan Xue and Li Fuchen were both 14 this year, yet she broke through to the seventh level of Qi Realm.

If not for being old friends with Guan Yue, Li Tianhan would have thought that he was joking.

One must know that at the age of 15, the Li Clan’s current unparalleled genius Li Yunhai was only at the sixth level of the Qi Realm. Li Fuchen and Li Yunhe were only at the fourth level, a difference of three whole levels.

Li Tianhan asked, “If I recall wasn’t it half a year ago, when she had just broken through to the sixth level?”

Guan Yue laugh bitterly, “This girl is gifted, even to the point of cultivating our Guan Clan’s Water Moon technique to the sixth level. You too should know, that at some point, techniques are much harder to cultivate than advancing during the Qi Stage. Those that can cultivate the Water Moon technique to the sixth level, without exception, are able to reach the Origin-Returning(Origin) Stage.”

Li Tianhan feeling envious in his heart, “Talk about unfair!”

“Brother Tianhan, my daughter has been recruited as a disciple of the Cang Lan Sect, so I am afraid this betrothal is not able to happen.” Guan Yue felt he didn’t need to hide anymore and was more blunt.

Li Tianhan’s eyebrow twitched, “They are still young, matters regarding marriage can be discussed at a better time.”

Guan Yue began in a serious tone, “This is also what my daughter wishes for, I hope for Brother Tianhan’s approval.”

Anger flashed across Li Tianhan’s face, looking sternly at Guan Yue, “What is the matter!? Does the Guan Clan wish to break their oath? It was the Guan Clan who initiated this betrothal and yet it’s the Guan clan that is withdrawing it, what do you treat my Li Clan as!? Is this how you treat me!? Do you feel that, the Li Clan has weakened now and is not worth to be joined in marriage with your Guan Clan?”

“Brother Tianhan, my Guan Clan will make it up to you. Please keep this reinvigoration pill first, a few days later, my Guan Clan will offer our best inn in Yunwu City to the Li Clan.”

Guan Yue felt relieved, he had said what he came to say.

Yes, what Guan Yue said was not incorrect, a union in marriage needs to have it’s value. The Li Clan for the past ten years has not had anyone recruited by the Cang Lan Sect, yet the Guan Clan’s value was rising with a disciple being accepted into the Cang Lan Sect every other year.

This year, Guan Xue became a disciple of Cang Lan Sect even before the annual selection, and any disciple recruited in advance possessed great promise. Had it not been for this, the Guan Clan would never have backed out of the betrothal in such a hurry. Because the Li Clan was still considered one of the four major clans, and was still stronger than the rising Guan Clan.

Sadly, Li Fuchen was a disappointment, he did actually possessed great talent, but a year ago, be it karma or not, his talent suddenly vanished. Now being an inept, how could he still be matched to the shining star of the Guan Clan, which is why the Guan Clan couldn’t accept the marriage.

Besides, Guan Xue wanted no business with this engagement and this wasn’t the first time she proposed for the breaking of the engagement to Guan Yue. Guan Yue had it suppressed all these times, but he felt that he had treated the Li Clan with enough respect.

“My Li Clan will accept neither the pill nor the inn, we will not settle for anything else. Brother Guan Yue, this is the last time I will address you as Brother, from now on, we no longer have any ties.”

Li Tianhan feel his heart harden, the Guan Clan’s progress till now was because of the ample support from the Li Clan. But he never thought that the Guan Clan would burn the bridge after crossing the river(describing ungratefulness).

“Brother Tianhan, since we have reached this impasse, there is nothing more to say, it’s my Guan Clan’s at fault this time, I bid you farewell.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Guan Yue stood up from his seat and promptly left.

“Take your pill.”

Li Tianhan waved his hand, using qi subtly and sent the bottle flying towards Guan Yue.

Reaching out to receive the bottle, Guan Yue left in silence.

***

Smash!

Once Guan Yue left the hall, Li Tianhan crushed the armrests of his chair, his face black livid.

A few days later, the Guan Clan sent a messenger for the dissolution of the marriage. By this time, all of Yunwu City was abuzz with the news of this matter.

Imperceptibly, the Li Clan and Li Fuchen had become the laughing stock.

After their meals, people discussed either about this, or about Guan Xue joining the Cang Lan Sect. Deep down, everyone knew that the Guan Clan would experience a meteoric rise to the top, as being accepted in advance to the Cang Lan Sect was a rare occurrence only heard of hundreds of years ago.

Notes:

Qi Realm Classes

Qi Training(Qi) Realm

Origin-Returning(Origin) Realm: Able to manifest Qi

Earth Shattering(Earth) Realm: Able to control and release Qi

Heaven Dipper(Heaven) Realm: Able to walk and traverse through the sky

Reincarnation Realm: Possess primary spirit of life, Increased lifespan up to 250 years

Battle Spirit Realm (Ancestor): Spirit energy condenses into a true spirit soul. After one’s loss of life, the spirit soul can continue to exist for a period of time. Using this time to seize a new body for reincarnation. Lifespan increases to 500 years.

Primary Sea Realm (King): Controls a portion of power from the Heaven and Earth. Lifespan up to 1000 years

Law Phase Realm (Emperor): One’s sword can be manifested into threads. Able to cultivate the Law Phase. At least 5000 years of lifespan.

Soul Merge Realm (Saint): The path to one’s heart is open, the colour of the spirit turns to green. The best Saints will have the spirit colour of blue, blood vessels will evolve. One’s descendants for 9 generations will also have the Saint’s blood in them. Lifespan of 100,000 years

?? (God)

Techniques Classes(E.g. Red Jade technique)

1 star – 9 stars