Sa Juan bowed, her fists pressed together in greeting. "Father, I was w—" she began, but Sa Huiqing interrupted with a snort. “It’s alright, we can wait for you,” he sneered.
"No, no, I was here—" she tried to explain, but he shook his head in disappointment.
"I apologize for making you wait," Sa Juan muttered with a resigned face , seemingly accustomed to such treatment.
Sa Min glanced at her and noticed smoldering anger in her eyes. This made him recall the early months after he’d taken over this body.
The parents back then had harbored a deep hatred for him—especially the mother. They had avoided it like the plague
Perhaps they’d been still grieving their real son and couldn’t stand him. Or perhaps they’d been simply terrified by the situation the Immortal had thrust on them, fearing some disaster might crash down at any moment.
However, despite this animosity, they did their best to treat him well, but only out of fear of the Immortal's threats.
Sa Min understood that fear was not a lasting foundation, and he had no intention of relying on it indefinitely.
Coming to know the dynamics within the Sa Clan, he decided to take a different approach—one that would make them care about him and accept him.
Sixty years ago, an incident involving Sa Huiqing's father, Sa Liuo Long, had led to the banishment of their influential Liuo family from the Sa Clan. Now, despite him being a True Master cultivator, Sa Huiqing was not recognized as an Elder and had no say in clan decisions. nor could he enter their territory.
Hence, he couldn't even enter the clan's territory.
Despite all this, he was still considered a member of the clan and was tasked with overseeing the Sa Clan's Drinks Barn, located in the mountain near their house. However, his wages were low compared to those of the true Elders, and with only a 2-star aptitude, he struggled to advance in cultivation.
Even living in the mountain, where the world's force was much higher than in the city, he lacked both the resources and the talent to advance in his cultivation..
Realizing this with the fact that Sa Huiqing had little hope of returning to the clan, Sa Min saw an opportunity.
What if his son possessed 3-star aptitude—or even 4-star? Three-star aptitude was already rare; only two cultivators in this city had it, while the 4-star Grand-Sea Core was something unheard of in Tetra Blessing City.
Such exceptional talent would surely prompt the Sa Clan to welcome him with open arms.
As soon as Sa Min grasped the situation, he immediately began to display typical traits that common people associated with heaven-gifted children — He walked the moment he could, started speaking and reading and writing way earlier than most people, claimed to receive visions from heaven, showcased his natural talent for swordsmanship, and so on and so forth.
To avoid unwanted attention, he was careful about when and how to display these traits.
And just as he expected, Sa Huiqing began looking at him differently—not so much as a suffocating bomb that had been forced into his throat, but as a luminous gem that could solve all his problems.
While they carefully nurtured this invaluable treasure, Sa Juan seemed like a dull stone, barely worth his attention. They hardly noticed her presence.
"Be more like your brother," he often reminded her, their tone admonishing. "Learn from your exemplary brother."
She had tried—Sa Min had seen her efforts—but she had failed every time to live up to her parents' expectations. To her, her younger brother was special, unique, destined for greatness. It was someone she felt she could never compete with.
This led her to develop feelings of envy, anger, and fear toward Sa Min, along with a deep sense of shame about herself.
Hearing her apology, Sa Huiqing let out a frustrated sigh. "I think you all know why I called you here," he said; the fake smile returned as he turned towards Sa Min. "You know the situation of our Liuo family. Since you can't participate in the awakening ceremony, the clan will send an Elder with force apples to supervise the opening of your sea cores and awakening your Borned Kas.”
"He should be here by now…" Sa Huiqing lifted his arm and checked the watch on his wrist. When is the outer circle competition?" he suddenly asked.
"In two days… after the awakening ceremony," muttered Sa Jua with a depressed tone.
"Two days..." Sa Huiqing repeated, patting Sa Min’s shoulder, as though he's the one who had answered him. "I'm sure you won't need to fight in the outer competition anyways. With your aptitude." His smile widened. "You will go straight to the inner circle."
Sa Min smirked to himself. Of course, he was hoping for good aptitude. The better it was, the quicker his cultivation would be, obviously. But what if it wasn’t? He couldn’t help but picture the look on this man's face if things didn’t go as expected.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Sa Huiqing then looked at Sa Juan with cold eyes, beckoning towards the room at their side. "And you, go, go ask the Higher One in heaven his blessings, may they grant you a good sea Core or at least help in the competition.
Sa Huiqing then shot a cold look at Sa Juan. "And you—go. Go ask the Higher One for blessings,” he says, nodding toward the ancestors' room beside them.
"Yes, father," Sa Juan said with teary eyes then hurried inside.
Sa Min watched as she stepped into the dim room, where smoky incense burners filled the air, and flickering candles cast shadows on the walls. She approached the altar and knelt down.
As Sa Min turned, Sa Huiqing suddenly approached him and draped an arm around his shoulder. "Son, I need to talk to you about something important," he said kindly.
This tone. I know this tone, Sa Min thought. A faint smile crossed his face. He will try again, hehe. How many times now—nine, ten? But I have to give it to him, he's persistent
And as if to conform his thought, something came out of Sa Huiqing's sea core, and Sa Huiqing hastily snatched it up as if he were worried someone might see it. It was a rank 2 Ka, the Pointed Jade Box Ka—the same Ka the mysterious immortal had entrusted to Sa Huiqing to pass on to Sa Min when he opened his sea core.
"My son, my righteous son. You know our family’s terrible situation, and you understand how unlocking this Ka could truly help us." He paused, looking at Sa Min with hopeful eyes. "Won't you give it another try?" he asked gently, offering him a knife.
"Yes, of course, father," Sa Min replied calmly. "I'll do everything I can to help the family."
This Ka’s Yantra was one of those Yantras that was activated not by a cultivator’s pure force but by blood. The person whose blood activated the Yantra would be the only one able to unlock its Ka.
If the blood the cultivator used to activate the Yantra wasn't his own, even he would not be able to unlock the Pointed Jade Box Ka.
And the Ka that Sa Huiqing was holding required the blood of Sa Min himself to unlock it.
Over the years, as the greedy parents had grown less fearful of the immortal, they’d attempted to unlock it using the blood of Sa Min when he was child. However, to their surprise, it didn’t work.
To open this Ka, not only did it need the owner's blood, but the owner must also be willing to activate it. Sa Huiqing was aware of this prerequisite, so it didn’t come as a surprise to him.
What truly shocked them was that a child, who still had no idea about Kas and Yantras was unwilling to activate.
They tried multiple times, but each effort ended in failure. And when little Sa Min reached a point where he appeared to understand more, Sa Huiqing decided to make up a story in hopes of persuading him to unlock the Ka.
In this story, Sa Huiqing’s brother was on a relentless quest to figure out why they’d been kicked out of the clan. After searching high and low, he finally stumbled upon some evidence that could clear their name. But just when things seemed to be looking up, he found himself up against a dangerous enemy. To keep the evidence safe, he hid it in the Black-Slowed Hold, activating its Yantra using Sa Min's blood and then he just… disappeared without a trace.
This was the story Sa Huiqing had concocted.
"My righteous son," he kept saying, "the family has no honor now. We’re a disgrace to the clan. Do you know what they call us? The traitorous family. There’s only one way to prove we’re not: you have to unlock this Ka. I know you can do it; you’re the only one who can!"
But, damn, that Ka just wouldn’t unlock.
Even though Sa Min had never refused to give his blood and always showed a willing expression, the Ka still wouldn’t open.
And now, here was Sa Huiqing again, hoping in vain that this time Sa Min could finally unlock the Ka.
Sa Min cut his finger, letting a drop of blood fall onto the Ka. Sa Huiqing watched with bated breath. One second passed. Two seconds. Ten seconds later, nothing happened. The Ka did not glow; it did not budge.
It did not unlock.
"I'm sorry, father, I don’t know what’s wrong," Sa Min said, sounding sheepish. "I did exactly as you told me, but—but—"
"It’s okay, it’s okay," Sa Huiqing said with a pleasant tone. "Don’t blame yourself. Maybe it’s because you haven’t opened your Sea Core yet. We’ll try again once you do. Go on, son."
Sa Min could see the twitch in Sa Huiqing’s face, barely holding his friendly expression together.
"Thank you, father," Sa Min answered and he strolled away.
The moment Sa Min was out of sight, the smiling mask of Sa Huiqing dropped, revealing a scowl of frustration and anger underneath.
He let out an exasperated sigh, composing himself before heading to his study room. He flung open the door aggressively and slammed it shut behind him.
"This little bastard… still trying to play dumb with me," he said wrathfully. "Does he think I’m stupid?"
"Still refusing to open it?" Sa Qiao, his wrinkled wife, scowled as she spoke. She had been waiting eagerly in the room.
"This boy is too clever." Sa Huiqing sighed heavily. "I don’t know what he thinks the Ka contains, but he clearly doesn’t trust us. I don’t even know how he can…."
"What are we going to do, then?" she asked, frustration in her voice. "We’ve tried everything. Maybe... maybe we force him?"
Sa Huiqing turned sharply, his face reddened with anger. "Are you stupid?" he snapped. "This boy has the talent to reach the Ba Awakening Stage—rank 4! He’ll be a major figure in the empire. How can we make an enemy of someone like that? And that’s not even counting his... powerful background. If we force him, we’d have to make sure he’s dead before he surpasses me. But if we kill him, the Ash Leaf Ka will burn, and who knows what disaster might follow."
"So we’re just going to let him play us like that?" Lin Qiao yelled, her face twisted with hatred.
"Calm yourself down," Sa Huiqing said coldly.
Lin Qiao gritted her teeth but stayed silent.
Sa Huiqing walked over to the small wooden window. "The reason he’s acting like this is because he thinks he doesn't need anyone; he thinks those few force apples he accumulated these few years will be enough for him. He’s arrogant and proud. But that won’t last much longer. After tomorrow, when he opens his sea core, he’ll realize just how valuable we really are."
Outside, the gentle drizzle of spring began to fall once again.