Family Issues

Everything felt like a dream. Chu Yunfan felt completely disoriented; he was unsure how much time had passed. His mind felt like he had lived 10,000 years, yet he also felt like only a few seconds had passed.

"Huuu…" Yunfan let out a long breath. He was pale and sweating, like he had seen a ghost.

The new memories felt indescribably wrong. Chu Yunfan's life was like a movie, and someone had spliced another movie into the middle with no transition, before continuing with Chu Yunfan's life.

Not only that, but every memory was experienced with perfect clarity. He almost felt that he really was living through the ancient Emperor's life and seeing the earth-shattering battle himself.

Normal people do not have exceptional photographic memory. Chu Yunfan was perfectly normal, and suddenly he was experiencing everything with enhanced clarity and memory. Similar to when someone puts on new glasses, he was completely disoriented.

He rushed out of the exhibition room and into the bathrooms. He vomited into the trash can.

Yunfan wiped his mouth and slowly tried to process what had just happened.

"That was… ugh, the Ancient Zenith civilization, wasn't it?" he mumbled to himself. The sound of his own voice felt strange.

'The Alchemy Emperor's inheritance… stored within the mythical Godhead and Mountain-River Diagram. The Godhead held the memories and the Mountain-River Diagram contained the physical inheritance.'

Chu Yunfan breathed heavily, trying to stabilize himself. "Was that some kind of dream? Acute schizophrenia?"

"No, no. Most schizophrenic people don't even know they have a mental illness and are deluded."

Yunfan decided that the memories were probably not hallucinations. After all, the Ancient Zenith civilization had many secrets and the heavenly artifacts used were clearly beyond comprehension.

He knew that historians theorized that the Ancient Zenith civilization was centered around cultivation and pursuing the Martial Dao. They believed that despite not being as technologically advanced as Earth, they had many secret magics and techniques.

After entering the Kunlun Era, people from Earth began practicing cultivation and mastering martial arts. They had begun the revival of the Martial Dao, but they were still far from the peak of the Ancient Zenith civilization.

Chu Yunfan knew they couldn't even begin to understand how amazing and powerful the Ancient Zenith civilization was. According to the many records the Federation had excavated, the Ancient Zenith civilization had lasted for thousands of years. The memories of the Alchemy Emperor confirmed that.

However, archaeologists also discovered that the Ancient Zenith civilization did not slowly die over time, but seemed to vanish overnight. Similar to the Anasazi Native Americans, they disappeared quickly.

As he adapted to his newfound clarity, he began asking questions.

'Why did the inheritance choose me? How come nobody else could see the Mountain-River Diagram?'

'I saw first-hand how powerful the Ancient Zenith civilization was. What could've been strong enough to end it?'

'Was the death of the Ancient Zenith civilization related to the Godhead War?'

The memories of the Alchemy Emperor provided little insight; Chu Yunfan realized that many parts had been spliced and removed. There were many parts where he could not remember anything within the Alchemy Emperor's life.

"I see…" he realized. "This is an inheritance, but I must prove myself in order to obtain it-- the Alchemy Emperor removed parts that he felt his successor needed to earn instead of easily handing it over."

The young man shook his head. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy."

For now, he ignored the Alchemy Emperor's memories, which he remained disassociated with. Chu Yunfan could feel that his body was different from before. His mind seemed hyper focused and everything felt more detailed and colorful.

He felt like energy was coursing through his veins. He did not need to focus to feel it; it was omnipresent within his body. Every movement made him notice the strange lightness.

"I've looked at most of the displays-- there's really nothing much," Gao Hongzhi sighed as he walked over to Yunfan. "I'm pretty much done, let's go."

Chu Yunfan looked up at his friend, before nodding. "Yeah, I've seen enough."

Many students were leaving, and most had already left. Compared to earlier, the room was much emptier. Several staff members from the Academy of Sciences were preparing to pack up the exhibits and take them back to their school.

Outside the window, the sun was setting.

Gao Hongzhi looked curiously at Yunfan. "Why do I feel like you're different now?"

He could feel that something about his friend had changed. However, he could not quite tell what.

"Have you just noticed my dashing handsomeness? I can't help it, I've always been this way," Yunfan joked with a grin.

"You're getting more shameless by the day, you bastard!" Gao Hongzhi teased. The strange feeling vanished as he laughed.

"Here's your ride. Alright, see you tomorrow Brother Gao!"

A flying car was waiting at the school gates. Gao Hongzhi waved as he got in, before the streamlined vehicle took off.

Chu Yunfan waved until he couldn't see the car, before he started walking towards the bus station. Most people used public transportation nowadays, but people in the upper-middle class like Gao Hongzhi had flying cars. His family could not afford the luxury of buying and charging a flying car, so he got to school on the bus.

Despite being designed for the lower-middle class, the bus was quite fast. Chu Yunfan scanned his bus pass, before sitting down on the seat and taking a short nap. Within twenty minutes, he had arrived home.

Yunfan's family lived in a quiet apartment neighborhood. Security cameras were placed on every corner and the area was well-lit. While this many security measures would have raised the property value during the Common Era, nowadays this was normal for ordinary homes. The wealthy lived in gated communities with even more protection.

Some rumors said that wealthy people who lived inside gated communities had increased cultivation speed. The gated neighborhoods had special Bagua formations that gathered Qi, purified Qi, and helped stabilized True Energy. People said that the Qi-density in top-quality gated home was almost as good as Qi-density in the Kunlun Realm.

Spirit Energy was incredibly good for the body. Simply living within high Qi-density areas would subtly improve someone's physique and enhance their meridians. Someone who had grown up in such Qi-density would have higher chances of becoming martial artists than those who grew up in ordinary places.

Obviously, the Spirit Energy that was concentrated inside gated communities had to come from somewhere. The surrounding areas had the Qi absorbed into the formation array and other ordinary people were unable to benefit from the Spirit Energy.

The difference between the rich and poor was shown; while the lower class no longer starved and everyone had homes, they were still at a disadvantage compared to the wealthy.

Chu Yunfan shook these thoughts away as he reached his apartment floor. 'I should stop thinking so negatively!'

He walked over to Room 402. Yunfan punched the password into the keypad above the handle and scanned both his thumbprint and face. The door opened, and he walked into his apartment.

"Mom! Dad! Sis! I'm home!"

While he was taking off his shoes at the entrance, his mother walked out of the kitchenette. Chu Yunfan threw his shoes aside and hugged her.

Yang Yayun was forty-something, but she looked thirty. Since everyone practiced cultivation, everyone looked younger and more healthy than their age. She was about 5'6, standing slightly shorter than Chu Yunfan. An apron with flowery embroidery was tied around her waist.

When Chu Yunfan hugged her warmly, she smiled and crinkles formed at the corner of her eyes. Yayun hugged him back and patted him on the back.

"Ah, welcome back Yunfan. I'm almost done with dinner, we'll eat when your dad gets home. I have cut some fruit. It's on the table, if you want it."

"Nn." Chu Yunfan nodded. "I'll eat some later."

"Bro, you're back!" He could hear the sound of wheels rolling on the hardwood floor before a girl in a wheelchair came around the corner.

She had brown hair and eyes like Yunfan. However, her face was delicate and thin, making her look quite pretty. Her name was Chu Qingxuan, Yunfan's sister.

Chu Yunfan walked over and patted her head with a gentle smile. He did his best to hide the pain that he felt every time he saw her. "Sis, how's your day been?"

Qingxuan was fourteen years old, but her body seemed like the body of an eleven year old. Her legs were atrophied and withered, covered with a blanket. She was afflicted with Myoshi myopathy, a congenital gene defect.

Myoshi myopathy is a muscle disorder that begins with weakness in the muscles that are located away from the center of the body, such as those in the legs. Normally, Myoshi myopathy begins in early adulthood. However, Chu Qingxuan was diagnosed to have a variation of Myoshi myopathy and began experiencing the symptoms very early.

Her condition was continuing to worsen slowly but surely. During the Common Era, there had been no definitive treatments for MM. The only thing people could do was prolong survival and improve quality of life. Even now in the Kunlun Era, where cancer, chronic heart disease, and HIV were relatively easy to cure, the gene therapy procedure was incredibly costly and risky.

The cheapest treatment would cost upwards ten million yuan and Yunfan's family could do nothing but agonize over Chu Qingxuan's condition.

His parents' total income was roughly 10,000 yuan. Not counting the costs of living, they would need to save money for over 80 years before they could afford the treatment. The management treatment which slowed down the atrophy of her legs was incredibly expensive; they would need to save money for over 100 years. By that time, her legs would have long been completely unsaveable.

Not only that, but Myoshi myopathy has been discovered to damage the meridians and make cultivation incredibly difficult. This further limited Chu Qingxuan's lifespan; by the time 80 years had passed there was the chance that she would've died from natural causes.

Chu Yunfan knew that if he joined the martial arts stream and entered a focus university, he could earn enough money to pay for the treatment. While it was possible to become a well-paid researcher or scientist in a liberal arts university, he knew that it was unlikely. However, Yunfan had average talent in liberal arts or cultivation.

"I did some online courses and other stuff. But more importantly, guess what?" Chu Qingxuan was practically bouncing in her wheelchair.

Yunfan tilted his head. What could get his sister so excited? "What?"

"Bro, I found a job!"

Chu Yunfan blinked. "What?"

His mom nodded. "Yes, she was talking to us about this last night."

"You and dad knew?" Yunfan looked at his mom in bewilderment.

"Bro, I'm a streamer!"

A wide smile appeared on his face. "That's great! What do you stream?"

"I mostly do commentaries on battle videos online. I'm gaining views and subscribers, which means I can get monetized pretty soon; I submitted my application today!"

"You… you're amazing!" Yunfan was filled with pride for his sister. She was the most level-headed and intelligent person he knew; of course she would be a successful streamer!

"Isn't this great? I won't be such a burden to you guys now!" Qingxuan said, smiling brightly.

Yunfan felt like someone had slammed a knife into his ribcage. His mom looked like she was holding back tears. "Never say you're a burden to us!"

"Don't be such a crybaby, bro! You too, mom! That's just the truth," she stated.

Even though Chu Qingxuan had never been able to go to school, she was incredibly smart. She followed an online homeschooling course and studied diligently. Both mature and intelligent, she understood that her family was always making sacrifices for her and never asked for anything. Chu Yunfan felt that she was more intelligent than most high school students like him; sometimes he would ask her for help on liberal arts problems he didn't understand.

She was an academic genius who could find success in liberal arts. Her upper-body meridians were examined by doctors. She would have good talent for cultivation if her lower-body meridians had not been damaged, blocking Qi circulation. Her talent in both liberal and martial arts was good.

Chu Yunfan felt that the wrong child had the gene defect; he was average in both liberal arts and cultivation. He would switch their positions any day. However, something like that was impossible. He had always sworn to find some way to earn the money to cure his sister.