Chapter 356: The Joy of Family

Su Che emerged from seclusion on the fifth day of the sixth month. He remembered this date not only as a memento but also for future “accounting” with Tian Yin.
After less than a month of seclusion, he had reached the Yuan Ying stage and successfully emerged. The several Yuan Ying elders of Tian Xuan Zong were not surprised by this, as they had already told themselves that anything this kid did was normal—even if he emerged after just three days, it wouldn’t be odd.
However, the impact a 27-year-old Yuan Ying cultivator could have on the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star was hard to predict…
“Congratulations, Junior Brother Tian Yu, on successfully reaching the Yuan Ying stage!”
Seven elders, including the Supreme Patriarch, spoke in unison.
“Tian Yu, I greet all my senior brothers,” Su Che replied with a bow.
After reaching the Yuan Ying stage, their mutual titles had to change completely. What were once elders became senior brothers, and Su Che was indeed a bit unaccustomed to it.
The Supreme Patriarch said with a smile, “Junior Brother Tian Yu, it seems the burden of leading the sect should fall on your shoulders.”
“Senior Brother Patriarch, it’s not urgent yet,” Su Che replied quickly. “After emerging from seclusion, I have a series of tasks to handle. I doubt I’ll spend much time in the sect for the next three to five years, so it’s not appropriate for me to take on the position of Patriarch for now.”
The Supreme Patriarch exchanged glances with the other elders before nodding and saying, “There’s no rush. Junior Brother Tian Yu can decide for himself.”
If Su Che became the leader of Tian Xuan Zong, his own fate would be closely tied to that of the sect, supporting and enhancing each other, giving them a chance to survive the great calamity expected within a hundred years.
But since the calamity was still far off, there was indeed no need to rush. Su Che also didn’t want to be tied down by sect affairs too early; he still had many things to do.
That day, Tian Xuan Zong announced externally that its top disciple, Tian Yu, had reached the Yuan Ying stage and been promoted to the first vice-patriarch of the sect.
As per tradition, the first vice-patriarch was always the future patriarch, a practice common among all major cultivation sects.
At the same time, Tian Xuan Zong released another announcement: a Yuan Ying cultivator from another cultivation realm had officially joined the sect, becoming its seventh Supreme Elder.
These two announcements would surely shock the entire cultivation world. With nine Yuan Ying cultivators now gathered in one place, it was obvious that Tian Xuan Zong’s rise was unstoppable, making it the foremost sect in the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star…
On Xuan Yu Peak, Yan Gu was still in seclusion, having been there for over two years.

Su Che thought this was actually a good situation. Excluding his own special case, the longer other cultivators remained in seclusion, the greater the likelihood of their advancement. If they failed to advance, they would usually emerge from seclusion early. If Yan Gu could succeed in advancing, he would become a high-level Yuan Ying cultivator, and as Su Che’s personal guard, he would be of great help. Additionally, news came from the Dark Hall that Tian Yin of the Wu Ji Gate was still in seclusion. Without a doubt, Su Che was the winner of that bet. This also resolved Lao Hei’s concern, though Su Che himself didn’t care much about it. That night, on Xuan Yu Peak, the Su family celebrated joyfully, holding a banquet to honor Su Che’s successful advancement to Yuan Ying. “Ancestors, see? Our Su family has produced a great Yuan Ying cultivator!” Su Che’s grandfather, Su Yun Tang, knelt before the ancestral tablets and declared proudly. Currently, Su Yun Tang served as the head of the Su family. Over the past few years since arriving on Xuan Yu Peak, he had consumed many precious herbs, greatly improving his cultivation level to the peak of the Qi Cultivation stage. He still had a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in the coming years. If he succeeded, his lifespan could be significantly extended. With Su Che’s strong support, living to 200 years old should not be a problem. The Su family had a heritage of over a thousand years, but before this, not even one cultivator had reached the Golden Dan stage, with the most powerful ancestor only reaching the late Foundation Establishment stage. Now, they had a great Yuan Ying cultivator—a direct grandson of Su Yun Tang! How could he not be happy and proud? Moreover, his grandson was destined to become the future leader of the Tian Xuan Sect, the supreme sect in the cultivation world… Thinking of this, Su Yun Tang was extremely excited day and night, feeling as if it were all a dream. Sometimes he would worry nervously: What if it really was a dream? If he woke up and everything returned to normal, what would he do? As for the pride Su Che brought to his parents, it goes without saying. Upon learning that Su Che had emerged from seclusion and successfully advanced to Yuan Ying, Su Qing Lin’s smile never left his face all day long. He couldn’t help but smile, even though his cheeks ached from the force of it, yet he still couldn’t suppress his immense joy. Yuan Ying! In the eyes of these Qi Cultivation cultivators, what difference was there between them and gods? After all, they were both at the pinnacle of the cultivation world.

Su Qinglin was also a cultivator, and he understood as well that his son was extremely special—possessing the power to challenge opponents beyond his rank, along with numerous treasures and divine abilities.
“My son, once he reaches the Yuan Ying stage, will be invincible in the cultivation world—absolutely!”
“No matter how invincible he becomes, he’s still my son, haha!”
Such thoughts kept flashing through his mind, making it impossible for the smile on his face to fade.
Regarding his son’s marriage, Su Qinglin had reassured his wife more than once: “Our son is destined to become an immortal. After attaining immortality, he should go to the immortal realm and marry a true immortal maiden—that’s the proper path. There’s no need to rush now.”
But Su Che’s mother always argued back: “If our son can become an immortal, his wife may not necessarily be able to. So we should find one in the mortal world first. When we go to the immortal realm later, he won’t be alone—we can find another then.”
In her eyes as a mother, her son was the best young man in the world, and it was only natural for him to have many wives. Any woman who could enter the Su family would be extremely fortunate—ten thousand times better than an empress in the mortal palaces!
That night, the Su family stayed awake all night, with laughter and joy continuing until early morning.
Su Che patiently accompanied his family. In truth, deep down, he still cherished these mundane family bonds and the warmth of home. After all, he was only 27 years old and had only been in the cultivation world for twelve years. He still hadn’t had enough of his ordinary life in his hometown of Cai Shi Town. Ordinary people also had their own joys…
At dawn, some ordinary family members who couldn’t cultivate, due to their physical limitations, could no longer hold on and went back to rest. But a beautiful and graceful young woman stepped forward in front of Su Che.
Su Nian’er, Su Che’s cousin.
She had joined Tian Xuan Zong nearly ten years ago. The little girl from back then had grown into a graceful young woman and had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage a year ago, becoming the only member of the Su family to do so—of course, excluding Su Che.
Su Nian’er had a triple attribute human spirit root, with only average innate talent. Yet she was able to reach Foundation Establishment at the age of 21, which, even with Su Che’s support, proved that she was extremely diligent and hardworking.
“Brother Su Che…”
She called him “brother” shyly. As she grew up, using that title no longer seemed as natural as it used to be.
“Not bad.”

Su Che smiled and nodded. “It should be at the age of 21 when the foundation is established, right?”
“Yes, a year ago,” Su Nian’er replied, who was already 22 in bone age.
Over the past two years, both Su Che and Su Nian’er had been in seclusion frequently. When the elder brother was in seclusion, the younger sister would emerge, and when she went back into seclusion, he would come out again… As a result, the siblings hardly saw each other during this time. Su Che had only heard about Su Nian’er’s foundation establishment and hadn’t had the chance to congratulate her.
Su Nian’er possessed spiritual roots of metal, water, and earth. Normally, girls preferred to focus on water-based cultivation techniques, but she chose metal. Thus, Su Che always thought it was because of her strong nature that she made such a choice.
In fact, only Su Nian’er herself knew that when choosing her cultivation technique, she was worried that focusing on water would create an irreconcilable conflict with her brother, so she resolutely chose metal.
Of course, this idea stemmed from her youth, when she was naive and misunderstood many things.
In reality, interpersonal relationships have nothing to do directly with one’s cultivation technique attributes. Unless it’s a competition, how could normal interactions involve mutual restraint? Those superficial fortune-telling methods of the mortal world are completely unsuitable for cultivators.
Su Nian’er’s choice of metal-based cultivation techniques didn’t change her personality. Though her spells were sharp, her temperament remained gentle and delicate, not turning her into a rough and masculine person.
“To celebrate your successful foundation establishment, I’ll give you a gift.”
Su Che suddenly took out a black, curved petal—clearly a petal from the Black Domain Immortal Lotus. Its effect was to enhance spiritual root quality, turning Su Nian’er’s triple-element spiritual root into a dual-element earth spiritual root, which would be extremely beneficial for her future cultivation.
“This is…”
Su Nian’er was shocked and guessed what it was. She had heard before that her cousin possessed the only Immortal-grade spiritual herb in the cultivation world—the Black Domain Immortal Lotus. Out of curiosity, she had even checked relevant ancient texts in the library and seen illustrations of the Immortal Lotus.
“The Immortal Lotus petal can improve your aptitude,” Su Che said seriously, removing his smile. “You passed my assessment, which is why I’m rewarding you with this gift. Otherwise, I wouldn’t waste it.”

Su Che was telling the truth. The fact that not a single petal of the immortal lotus had been given to Su Nian’er before was simply to test and temper her. He didn’t want her cultivation path to be too smooth or easy, nor did he want her to live under others’ protection forever without learning to strive and work hard on her own…
If she were worthless, even her own relatives wouldn’t deserve Su Che to waste precious immortal lotus petals on her. Even if the immortal lotus could be cultivated again, it wasn’t worth the effort.
For now, Su Nian’er still seemed like material that could be shaped, and Su Che was fairly optimistic about her.
“No!”
Faced with such a rare treasure, Su Nian’er shook her head repeatedly. “Brother Su Che, I can’t accept something so precious. My aptitude is too poor; it’s a waste to use it on me.”
Su Nian’er wasn’t pretending to decline out of courtesy. Inside the Tianxuan Sect, she had seen too many naturally gifted individuals, which surely gave her a sense of inferiority. In her view, the immortal lotus petals should be given to those with dual-type spiritual roots, allowing them to instantly transform into top-tier spiritual roots. Using them on someone like her with triple spiritual roots would be a complete waste.