23 A Sorrowful Awakening

Updated Author's notes as of 2023/4/20:

Hi guys, I had to delete the original chapter 23 because it spoiled too much. I only posted it originally because I felt some people felt the plot was too slow, but looking back it was truly a mistake spoiling nearly half the book's twists.

Another thing is in regards to some changes I made in the previous chapters. First of all, I f*cked up the inter-clan competition. It's going to occur in 3 year's time, not 1. Yu Tian would be 10 by then.

Other thing is regarding [Infernal Chains]. I made a mistake and they're actually [Inferno Chains]. Fire Qi corrupted by demonic Qi would gain the "Infernal" title which means darkfire.

Anyways, I apologize for the rather later chapter. I have also begun working at my summer job.

EDIT: More people are liking this but I already decided not to premium this novel. Updates will be slow but this story won't die, I promise.

...

Waking up from the darkness, the first thing Yu Tian noticed was how much pain his body was in.

He didn't know how long he was unconscious for. His insides were like a dried-up sponge from the lack of Qi flowing through. Yu Tian couldn't remember the events that happened, blacking out.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar room. This place didn't seem like the Li residence.

"You're finally awake." A tired voice commented.

The former god turned and was surprised to see Li You Zi sitting at his bedside. His grandfather looked pale and exhausted, and his face seemed to have aged greatly with additional wrinkles.

"Drink this." The patriarch brought a bowl of water to Yu Tian's lips.

Nodding, Yu Tian was initially stunned as he drank. This was the most interaction he and his grandfather ever had in this life, which wasn't due to a disciplinary hearing.

"What happened?" Yu Tian croaked out after he was done drinking. "Where's mother?"

"You don't remember?" Li You Zi was surprised and became silent.

Yu Tian noticed his grandfather hesitate. He instinctively froze, fearing the worst when he heard the patriarch's next words. "Mei Ling... Your mother was injured badly."

Li You Zi watched as Yu Tian struggle to pull himself up and get off the bed. The boy's eyes were filled with worry and fear as he dropped to a knee in exertion. "Where is she?"

Shaking his head, Li You Zi tried to use his Qi to return Yu Tian to the bed, but the boy continued to resist, albeit weakly. He finally gave up and decided to let him see her. "Alright, come then."

Supporting his grandson, Li You Zi slowly brought him outside. Yu Tian analyzed the surroundings and realized that they were in the Shan clan's home. "Why are we in the Shan clan?"

Li You Zi sighed, his reply stunning Yu Tian. "Our Li clan's home has been destroyed."

"Most of our clan assets are all gone." He continued bitterly. "Our Li family are now refugees."

"..." Yu Tian became silent.

It was a slow, sombre walk. The former god wobbled along, supported by Li You Zi through the modest halls of the Shan home.

Yu Tian's heart dropped in his chest when they stopped outside of a room, seeing his mother's body lying on a bed. "Mother!"

The former god rushed in and stumbled, collapsing beside the bed. His eyes widened in sorrow when he saw the bloody bandage wrapped around her head.

Li Mei Ling appeared to be in a coma.

Suddenly, images began flashing in his mind. Yu Tian started to remember how Li Changpu appeared during the tournament, causing chaos.

In the middle of the battle, Li Mei Ling had tried helping him and Shan Qian Xue, resulting in her current injury. "Mother..."

He had trouble remembering what happened after.

"Your mother unfortunately suffered critical injuries to her head." Li You Zi informed him in a pained tone, also overfilled with emotion. "The best that we could do was preserve her life."

"What about medicine?" Yu Tian asked in a dark tone.

"We can't afford any aside from what the Shan clan gifted us." Li You Zi's buried his face in his hands. "The medicines capable of healing her would only be found in the royal capital."

Yu Tian's bangs hid his eyes, but tears began to leak down. His fists tightened as fury filled every single inch of his body. "Li Changpu..."

"One day, I'm going to find you and kill you." Yu Tian muttered ominously.

Li You Zi paused, sensing a massive change within his young grandson. However, he decided not to say anything because he felt the exact same way.

Nearly losing his daughter opened his eyes a lot. If Li Mei Ling was truly gone, his only blood relative remaining would be Yu Tian;

If only he wasn't so old and had responsibilities as the current patriarch. Li You Zi would then stop at nothing to tear Li Changpu in half.

Now, that duty could only be left to someone else. Even if his grandson's martial spirit was of the lowest tier, he still had potential in cultivation with the Divine War Physique.

Li You Zi's main goal now was to preserve and nurture the remaining talents of the Li clan.

"How long was I unconscious for?" Yu Tian's voice was cold.

"3 months." Li You Zi replied. "The Shan clan has been our life benefactors in taking us in for the time being."

Yu Tian nodded, feeling very grateful and burning this huge debt into his memory.

However, he still had no attachments to the rest of his own clan, especially those who wronged him and his mother in the past. The only exception was maybe Li Yaoyao.

"Patriarch Li." A maid called from the doorway, bowing. "Our patriarch is asking to meet you."

Nodding to her, Li You Zi turned to Yu Tian. "I think you should come too. Let your mother continue to rest."

The former god took one last lingering look at her sleeping face. With a heart filled with determined fury, he turned and followed his grandfather to meet with Shan Dong Hai.

...

They arrived in a large guestroom. Surprisingly, there were some other individuals there that Yu Tian didn't recognize sitting at the huge table, but looking at their robes he was able to discern that they were from the other clans.

One was an elderly man with slender, feminine features. His eyelashes were long and sat above big, bright eyes but the thick beard and moustache identified him as male. He donned a bright green robe, tied at the waist with a belt made of white rope.

The other unknown man was the one that stood out the most in the room. On par in massive stature with Shan Dong Hai, he wore a robe consisting of blue and black. Sima Kong's mammoth arms were crossed and he gave off an air of superiority and mild arrogance.

"Oh?" Sima Kong recognized Yu Tian as the boy that Li Changpu was trying to kill.

Using his shadow Qi to sense, he quickly lost interest when he realized that Yu Tian wasn't even a Qi Warrior yet. The cultivator couldn't see anything special in the boy to make a powerful demonic cultivator want to kill him.

Still, Sima Kong had his own doubts, but he decided to keep silent about them. Information itself was a form of power that's overlooked by many, and the boy could be hiding secrets.

Yu Tian felt the man's Qi testing him and shuddered instinctively, shooting him a cold look. Sima Kong snorted and took a sip of tea, ignoring the glare.

"You've arrived, old friend." Shan Dong Hai smiled amicably at Li You Zi with sympathy in his eyes, who clasped his hands together and nodded. He also noticed Yu Tian. "I see our young friend has finally awakened."

"Patriarch Shan." Yu Tian greeted the old man respectfully, his voice cracked slightly with emotion. "Thank you for everything."

The former god didn't care for the rest of his family members, but mostly by how the Shan clan had taken care of his mother.

Without them, she might have already been dead. This was a life debt that Yu Tian swore to repay one day.

Shan Dong Hai sighed, standing up and patting the boy's shoulder. They tried everything they could to help Yu Tian's mother, but the current medicine they had was non-effective in treating Li Mei Ling's head injury.

Even they couldn't afford the alchemists' lifesaving elixer. It was an outrageous sum of money, with only maybe the imperial family and a rich nobility family like the Simas able to aquire it.

"Child, if you want to save your mother, then you must be stronger." Shan Dong Hai shook his head at the pitiful child. "Once you're strong enough, the royal capital will be your main hope in reviving her."

Yu Tian nodded gratefully at the advice even though he already knew, tightening his fist. Li You Zi just looked sad, while the other 2 men remained stoic and uncaring of the whole ordeal.

"Shan Dong Hai, why did you call us here for a meeting?" The feminine elder interrupted the moment, opening a fan and waving it around.

"Yun Xiang, be a little more understanding, will you?" Shan Dong Hai growled back.

"I agree with Yun Xiang." Sima Kong yawned. "If you're going to waste my time, then next time I should ignore you on your request."

"You too, Sima Kong?" The Shan patriarch questioned, becoming angered.

Yu Tian recognized the names. These were the patriarchs of the other major families in Stardust City.

"Let's just start and tell them." Li You Zi finally spoke.

"Even without a home now, can the Li clan even be considered a major family anymore?" Yun Xiang commented poisonously. "I think the 4 great clans of Stardust City should be changed to the 3 great clans."

"You!" Shan Dong Hai was now enraged, standing up violently and breaking the chair he was sitting on.

Li You Zi became silent again. Yun Xiang merely gave a casual glance back at Shan Dong Hai, still waving his fan.

The Li patriarch only sighed defeatedly after a tense moment, trying to deescalate the situation. "It's fine, my Li clan isn't in a good position right now. Patriarch Yun has a valid point."

"Hmph." Yun Xiang folded his fan up in a smug manner. "Also, I think the boy should leave now and let the elders talk."

"Yu Tian..." Shan Dong Hai hesitantly spoke out while still giving Yun Xiang a dirty look. "Why don't you go look for Qian Xue? She should be in the courtyard."

"I will." The former god nodded and slowly exited the room. He gave one last glance towards the other patriarchs.

"Sima Kong... Yun Xiang. I'll remember you both." Yu Tian thought as the heavy wooden doors closed behind him.

...

After moving around and finding the courtyard, Yu Tian felt his muscles feel better from the movement. He then found Shan Qian Xue sitting on a round stone, beside a small pond with koi fish swimming in the water.

The tomgirl sensed someone's presence behind her and turned her head. She hesitated when she saw him.

"Qian Xue." Yu Tian greeted, doing his best to smile.

"You're awake, Yu Tian." Shan Qian Xue replied, although there was a strange tone in her voice.

Sensing something was wrong, Yu Tian paused in his approach towards her. "Yeah, I am."

She was looking at him with a strange sense of fear in her eyes. The former god felt as if his friend was now afraid of him. He didn't know why though, but it made his heart very uncomfortable to see her be like this towards him.

"Is there... Something wrong?" Yu Tian asked tentatively.

Shan Qian Xue continued to stare at him in the same manner. She didn't really know what to say after seeing him become like that.

The only two people to see Yu Tian in that form of his was she and Li Changpu. That cold, inhuman form where something terrifying was released from his body.

Even now, Shan Qian Xue could still see those demonic eyes in that black energy, staring into her soul from the dark void.

The tomgirl didn't know what she should do, still traumatised from the incident. She tried to say something, but no further words came out.

"I'm sorry." Yu Tian finally spoke out after the long silence. "I don't really remember what happened after I blacked out."

"Can you tell me?" Shan Qian Xue remained silent, unable to meet his eyes.

Her actions caused Yu Tian's heart to hurt again, causing him to grip the cloth in that area.

"If I hurt you or anything, I'm sorry." The former god's tone became bitter. "I'll leave you alone now."

Yu Tian turned and left. His lonely, depressed figure slowly disappearing from Shan Qian Xue's view.

The tomgirl sighed sadly, curling up and laying her forehead against her hands. "I'm sorry too..."