Growing Concerns

Two years later, a 7-year-old boy could be found fighting with a kind of puppet.

The boy, although he was only 7 years old, seemed to be a few years older with short messy black hair, black eyes with red spots on the iris, and a smile on the mouth with two fangs protruding.

The boy was fighting in a pretty fierce way, dodging the punches at the last second or just holding the punches before hitting the puppet.

While the boy was fighting in the garden against the puppet. Next to him was a huge cat with a lazy look in its eyes watching the boy fight the puppet.

"Li Shaoran, what did I tell you about using the combat puppet at level 2? Don't put it on that level, which is above yours when you're still a little boy" He was scolded by a beautiful woman with black hair and red highlights.

Li Shaoran, seeing his mother scolding him quickly stopped the puppet before saying.

"Mom, level 1 is very boring. It doesn't give me any emotion when I fight the puppet. Grandpa Lan told me that a grandson of his should fight at higher levels and the uncles told me the same thing, that if I want to be a grandson of the Lan family I should be able to do that "

Lan Suyin, upon hearing what her son had said, she wanted to go home and kick that bunch of crazy people for saying those things to her son. As if over the years her child was not becoming more hyperactive and energetic.

She still remembers that little sleepyhead who just wanted to sleep all day.

"Your uncles will discover the meaning of the word fear the next time I see them. Influencing my little one so that he becomes a maniac like them" Lan Suyin said through clenched teeth.

Listening to his mother, Li Shaoran was nervous about his mother taking away his combat puppet and also about his uncles if his mother intimidated them and then they paid for it with him.

"Mom, don't be mad at the uncles, I think Grandpa Lan made them say that. When the grandfather said it, he looked at the uncles until they said the same thing" Li Shaoran lied to save himself from the "education" of his uncles.

Although she knew that her brothers were practically the same type of person as her father, Lan Suyin could also believe that her father did that.

'Dad being so old, how is he still as naughty as a little boy for some things? I can't imagine what Mom had to go through every year watching over him so he doesn't run from one place to another causing problems'

Thinking of her troublesome father, she dropped the matter, knowing there was nothing she could do about it.

"Well, that the grandfather and the uncles tell you what they want, but you must listen to Mom. If you put it on a higher level than yours, you can do yourself a lot of damage if you are not careful" Lan Suyin warned Li Shaoran, although she knew it would be useless after repeating this conversation several times before.

Li Shaoran looked at his mother nodding, agreeing with her on the outside, but on the inside wondering if he should raise it to level 3 next time.

"Mommy, is Grandpa Li coming today?" Li Shaoran asked thinking about the conversation two years ago when his grandfather promised him a gift.

"Yes, your grandfather is coming today. He said that you are going to love the gift he has brought you and that he is going to become your favorite grandfather" Lan Suyin told him, not understanding how those cultivators who in ancient times were worshiped as cold and austere gods could be so expressive in the current era.

"Grandma is coming too? I haven't seen her in many years. If it weren't for the conversations we have on a video call, I couldn't remember her voice" Li Shaoran asked hopefully.

Lan Suyin listening to her son's question gave him a sad look, saying him.

"Your grandmother cannot come, she says that she has many things to do and that she is always busy"

"But don't worry, she told me that you can call her whenever you want and that she will call you when she has free time"

Li Shaoran was sad for a moment upon hearing that her paternal grandmother was not coming. But after this happened many times before, it was a momentary sadness before he forgot about it and started thinking about the gift he was going to receive today.

"Mom, where's dad? I haven't seen him all day" He asked after remembering that he had not seen Li Xiong since he woke up until now.

"Your father has gone to get some things and to train a little, don't worry, he will come before dinner" Thinking of her husband, Lan Suyin became a little melancholic because of the war that was coming.

Having improved his instincts and perception over the years because of his lineage and with the exposure that these last two years when his father was away from home for days or weeks, and he asked his mother where his father was, she always turned like that.

Knowing that he should not mention that topic, in an attempt to change it he said

"Mom, why do I like fighting so much and always find that I have energy to spare all the time? According to Tang Zhu, the same does not happen to him, if his mother does not force him, he does not even bother to exercise. He says that cultivating qi only and cultivating nothing else is fine, that the body is overrated and that he wants to be an administrative cultivator so fighting is the last thing he thinks about " Li Shaoran told her, wanting to know that he was different from his friend Tang Zhu, longing to fight and move all the time.

Lan Suyin listening to what her son had said about Tang Zhu the son of the Tang family. She laughed that a family as prestigious as the Tang in this sector with almost a thousand years of history and with the lineage of the Celestial Titan, had a son who wanted to be an administrative cultivator. With a family tradition of sending their children to combat and military schools to train them and then send them to harden.

The Tang family should not know about Tang Zhu's ambitions, because with the temperament of Tang Zhu's father or grandfather they would have him all day practicing and training if they knew he wanted to be an administrative cultivator.

"Well, Shaoran, being like this means that you want to be a cultivator specialized in combat. Furthermore, how did Tang Zhu come up with that idea? "Lan Suyin asked knowing the circumstances of the Tang family. All of them being hard and stubborn as stones always eager to show their worth in combat

Hearing his mother's question, Li Shaoran thought about that conversation he had with his good friend Tang Zhu.

"Mom, I think Tang Zhu told me that while his parents were not home, on JadeTube he found a video about the advantages of an administrative cultivator over those of a combat cultivator and was convinced that this was the best for him. But mom, don't tell Tang Zhu's parents, Tang Zhu told me not to tell anyone, and I told you, mom" Li Shaoran asked his mother, quite concerned.

"Calm down Shaoran, I won't say anything to Tang Zhu's parents but know that his parents are going to find out at any time if they don't already know, so your friend Tang Zhu has little time left to relax and in a short time, you will have him fully occupied" Lan Suyin said to her son while laughing.

"It's a promise mom, you can't break it. If you break it, I won't let you pamper me anymore" Li Shaoran said with a look that he thought was threatening.

Lan Suyin on the other hand was quite amused by the situation, with her 7-year-old son threatening her that he was not going to let her pamper him.

"Okay, Shaoran, Mom won't break the promise and I won't tell Tang Zhu's parents. Well, keep training carefully, okay?" Lan Suyin said with affection in her voice as she stroked Li Shaoran's head.

Li Shaoran upon seeing that his mother was gone looked at Taiyang before saying to the latter.

"Taiyang, come on, create a magic projection for me to train with. If I change the level of the puppet and mom realizes she will be angry "

Taiyang upon hearing Li Shaoran raised his head lazily and looked at him for a moment before continuing to sleep.

Seeing Taiyang's answer that he hadn't even answered, Li Shaoran pulled out his secret weapon.

Approaching Taiyang he launched himself into his body and he fell on Taiyang's back and scratched the back and behind Taiyang's ears, he said.

"Taiyang, create a magic projection so I can train. It won't tire you much, after all, you are a powerful dao beast of core formation stage, a small projection that does not have the power of a cultivator will not consume much your magic power"

Hearing what Li Shaoran said, Taiyang concluded that the former was right. Then, with a little magic power, he created a small projection.

Although it was called a small projection, that was relative to the combat power it had. It was actually a cat about 2 meters tall and several meters long with huge saber-toothed fangs and a body full of powerful muscles.

Seeing the cat forming in front of him, Li Shaoran felt his body burn like an oven. With the boiling blood of battle hunger.

Once he prepared to fight, his mental state changed. If once it was a smoldering ember now it was a blazing fire burning uncontrollably. According to his family, this was due to the combination of both lineages, which mutate his bloodline in a sense.

They both stared at each other for a moment before the projection roared and lunged for Li Shaoran with his left front claw outstretched.

Li Shaoran reacted quickly and with a small lateral step dodged it. Using his left leg as a pivot, he hit the leg with all the force he could muster on his leg, pushing the claw upward before launching himself towards the cat's body.

Using what he called a basic martial arts compendium, which brought together, mixed and simplified different styles, a gift from his grandfather Lan when he discovered the talent that Li Shaoran had in this aspect.

The compendium, although it had a very normal name, gathered a lot of basic martial arts without any supernatural power, and through the perception of a cultivator in Divine Soul Stage they were improved by removing the unnecessary or erroneous parts and merging the correct ones.

So while it was a mortal martial arts compendium, to put it mildly, and prepared for a young child, it was quite powerful in itself. In the words of its creator, Grandfather Lan or Lan Xue.

"Shaoran, although this doesn't work as well when you peak or late qi condensation stage, don't underestimate it. These movements serve to strengthen the body when you cannot use spiritual energy, control the functions of your body, and control your body to be able to turn it into a weapon"

"Don't be like those stupid cultivators of elegance, who instead of cultivating the path of dao, cultivate the path of elegance. Those weaklings who believe themselves immortal when they are mere qi condensation, when they arrive at the ancient battlefields, all they know how to do is use too showy movements that are useless. A true cultivator can use his whole body and have a thousand different methods to achieve his goal. Even if they don't walk the same path as you and me, and they walk the path of pure dao spells, they can't be underestimated"

"So going back to the topic, these movements that you think will be useless later on with the circulation of spiritual energy and therefore magic power, can be strengthened, so grandfather recommends that you master them as they will be very useful to you in the future"

Recalling his grandfather's words, Li Shaoran put it into practice, reaching the last part of the first stage, which is to master the different styles and movements according to how they are in the compendium.

Moving his body in such a way that he could use every bit of force from as many muscles as he could control using different styles and movements, he punched the cat in the jaw, knocking him to the side.

Feeling the pain in his body after using that move, Li Shaoran winced before he jumped back, dodging a lash from the cat's tail.

While Li Shaoran trained with Taiyang's projection, in another part of the house Lan Suyin was smiling as she said.

"You think I don't know what you're doing just because I'm not there? How many times have you forgotten that with the divine sense I can see what you are doing? Dad, brothers, and Shaoran are the same, always thinking of fighting like this, taking risks and exchanging wound for wound, if it is not because they heal faster than normal, they could not endure it "

Thinking about the slightly suicidal tendencies that her son was showing in these last two years, Lan Suyin worried, thinking about a way to control the impulses that Li Shaoran was having as he grew up.

Knowing that she had to ask her father about it apart from also asking her husband's family if they knew of a method or some way to reduce its effects. Not wanting her son to become a machine with only a hunger for combat and war, Lan Suyin began checking the cultivation net for anything that might help her with Li Shaoran's problems.