[Bonus chapter]The Aftermath

Yu Tian waved goodbye to his newfound friend, and continued on his way. He will definitely visit Shan Jun again in the future.

The serene weather made the journey much easier as it was neither too sunny nor too cold.

Eventually, he noticed the familar bearings of the open area behind the Li clan's residence. Yu Tian's face darkened upon seeing the ruined rubble and destruction caused from the aftermath of that battle.

Approaching the place of where his home used to be, Yu Tian kneeled down to closely observe the countless huge craters in the grass. The stage that the tournament had been held on was already beyond recognizable, with crumbs of shattered tile scattered all over the grass and dirt.

Closing his eyes, he tried to feel for any traces of Qi but failed. Yu Tian cursed his current condition and looked around for anything that can give him more hints on what happened after he blacked out.

Yu Tian soon saw a severed arm that has already began to shown some signs of deterioration. Walking closer, he recognized it to be Li Changpu's from the design and colour of the tattered robe.

He wasn't able to see anything initially, but by activating his eye, there was a strange, faint dark energy around the stump of where it had been detached.

"What is that?" Yu Tian murmured. To his surprise, the energy suddenly vanished into himself and he could no longer detect it.

Putting a hand on his chest, Yu Tian pondered about what he just saw and what Li Changpu did to his body. It could be fatal for him in the future if it caused any Qi deviation when he could start cultivating again.

However, he had no choice. Yu Tian knew he had to get stronger for Li Mei Ling in order to save her. It only seemed like yesterday since reincarnated, and before he could really cherish his new mother, she was already bedridden with a dire condition.

The former god felt his nostrils sting and took a deep exhale, looking upwards to stifle his emotions. He thought deeply for a long time about everything that has happened, and then took a deep glance at his right hand.

"Are you there?" Yu Tian asked to see if his second martial spirit would reply.

He received no answer in return, with only the soft wind soothing his sorrow. Rage and frustration began to bubble up within him as he slowly clenched his fist, kneeling down and slamming it into the hard ground repeatedly with a slow, mechanical pace.

When Yu Tian finally stopped, his knuckles had already become rubbed bloody from the amount of times he punched the solid dirt and rock. Rolling onto his back, he glared at the sky in deep thought.

Judging from Shan Qian Xue's fear towards him, Yu Tian deduced that whatever Li Changpu had put into him caused him to behave abnormally. The little tomboy was still a child, and that void seed also had an effect on his second martial spirit.

He wasn't completely sure, but hopefully Shan Qian Xue will warm up to him again and then tell him what she saw. Until that time, he needs to recover and train up.

Stardust city was very small, and Yu Tian knew that his talent wouldn't keep him here for long. If he wanted to enter the royal capital, the best way to start was to enter Celestial Academy with Long Qing Yuan's recommendation.

Before that though, he had to quickly improve to a Qi Warrior.

Suddenly, Yu Tian heard a weird sound that broke him out of his thoughts. He looked beside him to see a familiar small fox.

"Is that how foxes talk?" Yu Tian smiled sadly. "Hi, Zi Jin."

Hearing him call her by that dumb name, Yae rolled her amethysts in annoyance, stamping her little paws.

She had been watching the aftermath of what happened after Yu Tian blacked out. Yae saw the Li family members moving their injured and any items they could take with them to the Shan clan.

The demonic beast didn't want to expose herself, so she hid in the shadows with the aid of her cultivation. Yae had kept an eye on Yu Tian this entire time, and when he woke up, she followed him back to the Li clan residence.

Seeing him take out his frustration and sorrow, Yae made herself known to him. She knew that he wasn't in a good mental state right now, so the little fox decided to pity him.

He did save her life after all.

Yu Tian was surprised to see her approach willingly and climb onto his chest. He stretched out his arms to cradle her and gently patted her smooth, silky golden fur, before all of his bottled emotions finally leaked out.

"Boom." The skies began to immediately darken as the first few raindrops fell, before accelerating to a light downpour.

Yu Tian's hot, flowing tears mixed in with the cold rain as his painful cries were aimed at the heavens. He felt so useless and helpless, unable to protect Li Mei Ling.

"Mother... I'm so sorry." Yu Tian gasped.

Yae was surprised to see Yu Tian cry like a regular kid. During their first meeting, she felt that he was an immovable being with an ageless aura.

However, in the short amount of days that she had observed him, Yu Tian felt more and more human to her. She couldn't match those cold, calculated eyes and dominating presence with the heartbroken kid who was now currently hugging her tightly for comfort.

The boy and the fox in his arms laid there for seemingly eternity. Yu Tian couldn't remember the last time he cried in this manner, even before his birth in this world.

She met the former god's red tinged eyes, giving him a gentle nuzzle. Yu Tian laid his cheek against her soft fur that had already become soggy in return.

"Thank you." He murmured softly, closing his eyes.

...

Almost 2 years had passed since that time.

Yu Tian exhaled deeply as he exited his meditative state. He was now almost 10 years old, yet his cultivation only just managed to just reach the bottleneck of Qi Warrior.

His eyes were now much serious and lacked the old mischievousness they once had. A mature air also seemed to have also developed around him.

The Li clan had rebuilt their home, but it was much shabbier than what it used to be. They had lost nearly everything that day when Li Changpu made his appearance, and were struggling on rebuilding to what they had before.

However, it was still enough for them to move out of the Shan clan, and to live back on their own property.

Once Yu Tian felt his cultivation stabilize, he began training as hard as he could. The other children of the Li clan at first became respectful and fearful at him for his ferocity in training and changed attitude.

However, most eventually caught up and some even outpaced him within this time, causing them to start viewing Yu Tian as inferior again. Some even blamed him for their current situation, because if he had lost to Li Hao Ran, maybe Li Changpu wouldn't have stepped in.

There were a few exceptions such as Li Yaoyao, who still treated him kindly, which he was very grateful for.

Unfortunately, ever since that day, his cultivation simply stagnated to a slow crawl. The former god couldn't figure out why his speed was reduced so much as opposed to before.

Even with the Qi quality and amount being lower in the Tian Qi continent, his ability with absorption hasn't changed. He has already swallowed 2000 to maybe 3000 times the amount he did before the tournament.

He suspected it was the void seed in his body. No matter what Yu Tian tried, he couldn't sense it in his body and was unable to expel it.

Regardless, he put his full effort in and pushed himself everyday, allowing him to nearly become a full Qi Warrior.

The former god sighed. This entire time, he kept trying to call out to Qiu Xue but there was no response. She continued to remain in a deep sleep, and there was nothing Yu Tian could currently do to wake her.

Without her, he could no longer use [Martial Spirit Fusion] either.

Long Qing Yuan had also made a couple of visits around this time to check up on his progress. He was shocked and outraged at the events that had occurred, as well as taken note of the abnormality Li Changpu placed within Yu Tian's body.

Unfortunately, even for the old grandmaster, he could not determine what was in the former god's body or what effects it had. Even his symptoms were something Long Qing Yuan was unable to find a solution for, nor for what has happened to Qiu Xue.

"A martial spirit falling into a deep sleep for prolonged periods is something out of my hands." The old man shook his head in resignation. "I can only recommend a strong stimulus medicine to revive her, but those spirit medicines are just as hard to obtain as the elixir to cure your mother, if not more."

Helpless, Yu Tian could only thank him for the small amount of cultivation materials he kept gifting him with each visit.

The inter-clan tournament was about to happen this year. The winning family will not only be awarded as the leader, but the ranking participants will also obtain cultivation resources and money.

However, every clan could only send 2 representatives. This is why each clan seeks out their best seedlings every year with inner competitions.

Of course, with what happened to the Li clan, they hadn't been able to have another one since because they were focused on rebuilding.

The inter-clan tournament occurs every 5 years with the Vermillion Bird Nation's governor donating the rewards and managing the competition. The purpose of this was to promote young geniuses within each major city under his jurisdiction, and to seek out the best of the best for reports to the royal capital.

Each inter-clan tournament has a different time for each major city, and this was to accomodate the governor's speed of travel as well as the time required setting up.

But will he be strong enough without his martial spirit?

The children from the other clans have also matured quickly and better than the younger generation of the Li clan. The others had a continuous supply of cultivation resources when they could only rely on absorbing Qi.

Yu Tian's eyes narrowed. It didn't matter what he had to do, but he had to find a way to win somehow. By making a name big enough for himself, that was the only way to enter the royal capital and save his mother.

Returning to his meditation, Yu Tian inhaled deeply and gritted his teeth as he willed his absorption to increase. Forcing with all his might against the bottleneck, the former god's body trembled as he kept crashing against it.

The 10th, 11th, 12th time...

Letting out a roar, Yu Tian finally broke through Qi Novice and into the Qi Warrior stage. Panting heavily, his whole back was drenched with sweat and an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion overtook him.

"Finally." Yu Tian clenched his fist with tired eyes, which crackled with electricity.

He was now able to use Qi techniques. Even if all of the Qi techniques in the clan were incompatible with him, Yu Tian could now start cultivating ones he remembers from his past life.

"Mother, Qiu Xue. I'll definitely wake you both." His eyes flashed with determination as he vowed to the heavens.