"Decisive Sword that doesn't question its path.
"I like this direction."
Zhiyin found this path the best since it didn't lean into either demonic or righteous cultivation.
It stayed in the middle, which was the path that influenced a cultivator the least.
Shen Liqian nodded.
"Thank you.
"I should cultivate to help the medicine close my wounds faster, but we can still talk or move on to the next quests."
He sat in the lotus position and closed his eyes.
Zhiyin leaped into his lap and curled up.
She always did this when Shen Liqian cultivated, as though she needed to claim or warm the spot.
Cold winds swept past them, but neither flinched, and they kept talking.
Meanwhile, Shen Liqian's wounds slowly began closing as he flooded the Meridians around them.
Zhiyin spoke about the next quest.
"We will trigger the Clan Cultivation System's Main Function early, which benefits you most.
"It rewards you for each breakthrough in your clan.
"Shen Clan is not yet yours, but you can still activate the Main Function by recruiting vassals and helping them reach breakthroughs."
Even the idea behind his system sounded good.
People rarely helped others without any motive unless they were blood-related, but as the clan's future chief, Shen Liqian naturally wanted everyone to improve their cultivation.
And now, he'd get rewards for each breakthrough?
A single person could give him six to nine rewards at the first stage alone!
"Rewards and your guidance will play a huge role, Zhiyin.
"I will not neglect my cultivation, but I don't think all rewards will benefit me.
"It's best to share those rewards with others.
"This will be crucial for cultivating my clan.
"The more they cultivate, the more rewards I'll also receive."
Shen Liqian's paperwork would come in handy soon.
Zhiyin mewled.
"I exist to guide you, so I don't mind helping you guide your vassals and clan members.
"Do you have any idea who you can trust right meow?
"Not many clan members will side with you, given that your father is badly injured."
That was the main problem.
Shen Liqian had a few friends he could trust to watch his back, but they were all still teens, and in their small clan, parents would always find out.
He didn't want to burden those who overlooked his low cultivation and still spent time with him.
[You have received a new quest—Cultivate your vassals.]
[Objective: find vassals and cultivate them to breakthroughs to earn rewards to help in your uprising against Shen Junce.]
[Reward: Body Cultivation Manual.]
"You're getting crafty, Zhiyin."
Zhiyin: (=＾ω＾=)ﾉ゛
———
Shen Liqian spent an hour cultivating to mend his wounds.
Just as he thought nothing more would surprise him today, his mother told him he had a guest waiting for him outside the Clan Chief's Manor.
"You look troubled, Mom," Shen Liqian said.
"It's Shen Yiren… and he's bleeding as we speak.
"I wanted to invite him in, but I can't…."
That explained everything.
Shen Yiren was Shen Junce's oldest son, the same age as Shen Liqian.
The two hadn't spoken much because of the rivalry between their fathers.
Shen Yiren hadn't taken up the sword for his cultivation, so there wasn't even room for them to exchange pointers or have a proper spar.
"What's Father's opinion?" Shen Liqian asked.
"He said to leave everything to you," Shen Lexi replied.
Shen Liqian nodded.
"Leave it all to me."
"Be careful."
"Yes."
"Qian'er…" Shen Lexi called her son when he was about to leave her side.
"Yes?"
"Why do you bend your arm this way?"
Zhiyin: (=－_－=)
Shen Liqian laughed awkwardly.
"Uh, well… haha!
"It's a part of my cultivation!"
He couldn't tell her the truth.
And how could he even put it into words?
Cultivation Cat Purrse?
Shen Liqian slipped away from his mother's confused gaze and ran to the manor's entrance.
He draped a warm blanket over himself and walked out, finding Shen Yiren leaning against the manor, his hand trembling against his face.
He turned around and looked at Shen Liqian.
His hand dropped from his face, exposing a deep laceration cutting through his left eye.
It looked ugly.
"Who?
"And why?" Shen Liqian asked.
Shen Yiren greeted Shen Liqian with their clan's gesture, striking his bloody right fist against his left palm and bowing slightly.
Shen Liqian set Zhiyin on the cold floor and did the same.
"Sorry.
"I should have greeted you first."
Shen Yiren shook his head.
"Don't worry.
"I know you must be wary of me, but I have no intention of siding with my father.
"I already took my mother away from him.
"And guess what?
"He doesn't care."
In Shen Junce's household, three wives each had one child.
All three fulfilled their filial duties and tended to the head of the household as much as they could.
But Shen Junce made it clear early on that he had no intention of creating a proper family and followed his whims.
Shen Yiren's mother, however, believed he'd change down the line.
He did.
But not for her.
"His third wife, Shen Yan, found her way into his heart by helping him plot against Shen Lijian.
"She sneaked around the clan and eavesdropped on your father's vassals to learn their frustrations and desires.
"She then met those desires with my father's help and won them over to his side.
"Shen Yan knows my father wants your mother.
"She's fine being second to her.
"So she will not stop until my father's goal is fulfilled."
It turned out that there was someone else Shen Liqian needed to weed out from his clan.
A crafty individual who plotted his father's downfall.
I can't see how Shen Junce would benefit from this information being leaked.
On the other hand, it only tells me there's one more person I must defeat.
So I can assume Shen Yiren is telling me the truth.
Only someone strong could have left that wound on him.
No one from the opposition would do that to him.
"Thank you for telling me this.
"Do you know how much time we have left?"
Shen Liqian wanted to know how long Shen Junce would wait.
"He's taking his time.
"He said he has waited twenty years, so he might as well wait a little more.
"He enjoys the fact that your mother has to make a choice again.
"This time, he believes things are completely in his favor.
"I know all of this from him.
"And that's the price I paid for it."
Shen Yiren pointed at his missing eye.
It must have hurt more to lose his father's support than to lose an eye.
Shen Liqian pitied Shen Yiren even though he hadn't gotten to know him well.
"What are you planning to do now?" he asked.
Shen Yiren grew solemn.
"I will leave my mother with our friends.
"I will then leave the village and live alone among beasts.
"If I survive this, I will return stronger to kill him.
"If I don't survive it, I will at least die trying."
Shen Yiren picked up his long spear, which had been resting against the manor wall, and clenched the shaft tightly.
He looked into Shen Liqian's eyes one last time and turned around.
"I wish you and your family all the best," he said as his gaze slid away from Shen Liqian.
Shen Liqian stopped him in his tracks with a single sentence.
"I will be the one to kill Shen Junce."
Shen Yiren froze and turned around.
"You?"