Chapter 26: Terrible Parents

When Yaoguang returned to the Chihe Residence, his temporary home, it was already noon of the following day.

The first thing he did once back in Yunmeng was to head over to the Heart Nourishment Palace and retrieve the costly medicinal herbs he had ordered. Once home, he proceeded to sort them out and prepare the various infusions and pastes. After finishing the decoctions, he drank those meant for drinking and began cultivating.

In his mental world, the fourth branch had already begun separating from the main trunk on its own, though its corresponding secondary profession had yet to reveal itself fully. Aside from this new branch, only the Martial Artist branch remained, its sheer size making it obvious that it was the dominant one.

"Fourth tier... Its growth has already reached 45 percent." Yaoguang calmly sensed his condition.

Although his physique had yet to reach the limits of a grandmaster at perfection, his realm already rivaled a martial paragon at the proficient stage. It was a typical case of realm outpacing physical strength. Others would have considered this a blessing, but to him, it was merely normal. His body had never managed to keep up with his realm.

There were countless ways to deepen understanding and advance one’s realm: daemon hunting, martial cultivation, and even doing business could accelerate it. On the other hand, tempering flesh and blood was a slow process that relied on constant effort.

"I need to cut back on martial skill cultivation," he said quietly, lightly moving his right hand around. At present, his primary technique was Signless Infinity. He had picked the skill because, according to the information gathered through the "search engine," it was the signature technique of a top-tier sect, only passed down through the main lineage. It progressed from the Nine Palaces to the Eight Trigrams, Seven Stars, and Six Harmonies.

As the ancient tree uncovered more information regarding martial paragons, knowledge of the Five-Element Method surfaced as well. Compared to Signless Infinity's Six Harmonies, which mobilized the strength of muscles, bones, lungs, and viscera, the Five-Element Method refined the five organs and five qi, cycling them through the entire body. The faster the cycle, the more terrifying the destructive force.[1]

The principles existed clearly in his mind, almost as if he had received the complete manual directly. Whether he could master it, and how much power he could eventually unleash, depended entirely on him.

Martial skills, however, required repetition and familiarity. They consumed time that should have gone toward tempering his physique.

Before, he could still practice during recovery periods, but now that he planned to use medicinal ingredients to force his body’s potential and reach the perfection stage of the grandmaster tier as fast as possible, martial skill cultivation would inevitably fall behind.

It did not matter.

Skill only supplements strength. With enough raw power, I can break all techniques with sheer force. There's no need to waste precious time on polishing martial skills.

Yaoguang thought as he applied the medicinal paste across his body.

Once he eventually condensed qi into a core and completed marrow cleansing and blood renewal, acquiring a physique that surpassed human limits, every strike imbued with his core jin would shatter any technique head-on.

***

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His cultivation had not yet ended when a series of heavy blows struck the door.

It couldn't even be considered knocking. It was more like someone was beating the door.

"Su Yaoguang, stop hiding in there! I know you’re home! If you have the guts to hang up on me, then you have the guts to open this door!" A woman's shouting could be heard through the door, immediately disrupting his cultivation.

That voice...

Yaoguang frowned but did his best to ignore it, continuing his cultivation.

But the pounding persisted. In a moment of quiet, Yaoguang heard someone else speaking. "Madam, I can pick locks. A B-level lock like this can be opened quickly."

"Then what are you waiting for? Open it."

Metallic clicks sounded, followed by a soft snap.

Click!

The door swung open. A richly dressed woman in her mid-thirties stormed inside with several people behind her. The moment she saw Yaoguang cultivating in the living room, her anger erupted. "Su Yaoguang, are you deaf? I called you to open the door! Couldn’t you hear me?"

"So annoying." Yaoguang ended his movements with calm precision and turned to her. "If you want to speak, then speak properly. If you don’t, the exit is to your left. Don't come looking for me again."

The woman froze and stared, then exploded. "Who told you to talk to me like that!? Was it the Su family? What did they tell you? Tell m—"

"Quiet!" Yaoguang uttered a low, condensed shout. The Tiger-Leopard Thunder Technique caused a vibration through his organs and triggered a resonance in everyone nearby. The woman and her three companions immediately felt their bodies weaken, their organs churning uncomfortably.

This is a Martial Dao secret technique!

The middle-aged man behind her froze, his eyes widening in disbelief.

He was Zhang Hong, the cousin of the woman, Zhang Ya. In his youth, he had studied the Martial Dao earnestly, dreaming of becoming a martial paragon, being honored by the royal family, and founding his own lineage.

However, he was unable to endure the pain of tendon and bone strengthening, so he had given up at the threshold of a martial master. Even so, he still retained the discerning eye of someone who had once walked the path.

Yaoguang’s shout has shaken our organs and disrupted our bodily functions... This level of impact could very well be a grandmaster-tier secret technique!

Zhang Hong thought.

Zhang Hong had heard a year ago that his nephew enjoyed practicing martial arts, but he had never expected the boy to make any real progress. He certainly did not believe Yaoguang had reached the grandmaster tier within a single year, yet this single secret technique already proved that Yaoguang's Martial Dao foundation was far from shallow.

At the very least, his physique was extremely strong. Otherwise, he would not have possessed such powerful organ strength.

"Enough," Yaoguang said as he looked at the woman, Zhang Ya, his host's mother. "Say what you came to say. The truth is, I have been living perfectly well without you. So do not use the same tactics you used on Su Anping on me. If you push things, we will walk our separate ways and never see each other again."

Zhang Ya stared at him, stunned, then yelled back furiously, "Su Yaoguang! How could you speak to me like that!? I am your mother!"

"You should be grateful you have that title. Otherwise, I would have already kicked you out," Yaoguang replied calmly.

"What's with that rebel attitude? How dare you!"

"Cousin, calm down." Zhang Hong quickly stepped in. "Yaoguang has grown and has his own thoughts. If you insist on treating him like a child the way you used to, it will only make him resist you even more. And if the Su family tricks him again, wouldn’t that play right into their hands?"

At the words "play into the Su family’s hands," Zhang Ya finally forced her anger down.

After all, Yaoguang now had another option. If she pushed too hard, he might really turn to the Su family and sever ties with the Zhang family forever.

"Listen carefully, I am taking you to the Su family. I do not care whether Su Huaifeng lives or dies, but you are the sole heir of his bloodline. Whatever should belong to you must not be reduced by even a fraction. Our Zhang family will fight to secure every bit of it for you," Zhang Ya said.

She waved her hand dismissively, clearly unwilling to explain further. "In short, just follow our arrangements when the time comes."

Yaoguang calmly shifted his gaze back to her. He already understood enough about the host's terrible parents through lingering memories and what others had said.

Su Huaifeng had been a notorious playboy in the capital of Tiannan during his youth. Zhang Ya had married him despite her family’s objections and gave birth to Su Yaoyu, hoping that affection and a stable home would make him settle down. In the end, her plan had accomplished nothing.

When she later became pregnant with Yaoguang, Su Huaifeng openly indulged in other women. Enraged, Zhang Ya left him and, out of spite, quickly got together with her classmate Su Anping, a quiet and honest man.

This scandal had infuriated the Su family. The Zhang family, weak at the time, had been forced to cut ties with Zhang Ya to avoid further consequences.

Husband and wife became enemies, and she had even dragged her family into the mess. Her hatred could easily be imagined.

Two years earlier, after the Zhang family gained more power, Zhang Ya openly went back to the family.

The reason she had come to Yaoguang was that she could not accept that all her youthful devotion had been thrown away, and wanted to use her son to take a vicious bite out of the Su family.

"You want revenge on Su Huaifeng, and the Zhang family wants to wash away past humiliation. That is your business, do not drag me into it," Yaoguang said flatly and pointed toward the door. "See yourselves out."

1. In Chinese medicine, there is the concept of "five organs and five qi". The five organs here refer to the heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, and liver. ☜