Chapter 387: New Life

Cultivation Nerd

Spring had come, and with it a new year, and with each passing day, I learned once again just how much of a cheat it was to have an Extreme Physique.

Wu Yan sat cross-legged on the grassy ground beside the library, and I no longer bothered hiding her presence or her eventual breakthrough.

She had finally recovered her cultivation back to the peak of Qi Gathering and resumed her usual training, while we kept a careful eye on her. It was amazing seeing someone recover her cultivation so seamlessly, as if failing a breakthrough that would have left most people crippled, for her it was more like a misstep on her path and nothing more.

Also, no more secretly raising her.

After all, her previous failure might have been caused by cultivating inside the mirror’s miniature world. In theory, that shouldn’t have mattered, but theory and reality sometimes didn’t agree, and I wasn’t willing to gamble on even the smallest chance when it came to Wu Yan.

“Don’t worry about it too much. She seems stable,” Song Song said, standing next to me. Tapping her index finger on her forearm.

Judging from her casual tone, she didn’t seem overly concerned, and was probably only saying it to comfort me. I tried to hide my anxiety, but Song Song had spent enough time around me to see through my carefully crafted mask of confidence.

“She also seemed stable last time,” I replied. “And if something goes wrong, try to contain the explosion this time. We’re in the middle of the sect.”

“Of course,” she nodded.

Things she shouldn’t have known.

Tingfeng was supposed to be here too, but he couldn’t care less about any of this.

“When is she going to break through to Foundation Establishment?” Song Song asked. “You called me here, so I thought something interesting was about to happen.”

“No. I forbade her from advancing to Foundation Establishment until she builds a better foundation in her knowledge,” I said. “I only asked you to observe.”

Song Song shrugged and looked around like someone searching for an excuse to leave. But despite her boredom and despite how she would clearly rather be anywhere else, she stayed without complaint, if only to ease my mind.

Soon, I would become a father. But Wu Yan was the closest thing I had to a daughter.

She was such a kind and gentle child that the thought of her suffering felt unbearable.

There was another reason I had asked Song Song and Jiang Yeming to come.

I was almost twenty-three now, and Wu Yan was three years younger. By this age, symptoms of an Extreme Physique usually began to surface, even with the advantages we had given her.

Her Change element should have delayed the worst of it, but we were already behind schedule with her cultivation. The plan had been that by the time the physique began acting up, she would be strong enough to suppress it with her own cultivation.

“I think you’re worrying for nothing and babying the girl too much,” Song Song said. “Sooner or later, eagles have to learn to fly on their own. Their parents can’t keep bringing them food forever.”

With that, she turned and began walking away.

I understood why she said it. The anxiety from Wu Yan’s previous failed breakthrough still lingered in my mind.

But this was one thing I couldn’t control.

Her Qi was hers alone.

…

After spending hours watching over the young woman I had saved on a whim from a terrible home, someone I had grown deeply attached to, I finally headed back.

The soft spring wind accompanied me on the way, and it felt much colder than it should have.

Fu Yating was in the yard when I floated down. She sat in a rocking chair, leaning back slightly as she watched me land, a small smile forming on her lips.

Her belly had grown large now, and it looked like she would give birth sometime during spring. A good season for it. Perhaps the best, neither too cold nor too hot.

From now on, I wasn’t planning to leave the house much.

I was worried about Wu Yan, but my children were about to be born. Just thinking about that filled my chest with a strange, restless anxiety.

This world had advanced alchemy, so infant mortality wasn’t nearly as high as one might expect from the technological level. Tier 5 and Tier 6 alchemists could produce medicines capable of pulling someone back from the brink of death.

But still…

I couldn’t help worrying.

No matter how I felt, though, I was the pillar of power in this household. I couldn’t show weakness.

So I smiled.

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Before my feet even touched the ground, I leaned down and kissed Fu Yating on the forehead.

She chuckled softly.

Fu Yating loved this sort of affectionate “love-bombing.” Even if I sometimes found it a little awkward, I indulged her.

She probably knew my performance wasn’t entirely sincere, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“How is my lovely and favorite wife doing?” I asked.

“Favorite? Do you have other wives?” she chuckled. “Well, you’re my favorite husband too.”

“But I’m your only husband, so there isn’t much competition,” I said with a grin, at the joke we had made a thousand times.

I floated cross-legged in the air beside her, leaning back as if resting against an invisible wall.

“Oh, by the way, I’ll be around the house more from now on,” I added. “At least until the kids are born.”

“By that, you mean you’ll be around all the time,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

Fu Yating saw through the smile I used to hide my worries and sighed.

“That’s unnecessary. You’re worrying about nothing.”

“Stop being like a cat,” I teased. “Some cats love their owners… until those owners start spending too much time at home.”

She opened her mouth, clearly about to respond. But the words caught in her throat. Her expression changed slightly as she stared at me.

Finally, she said, “I think my water broke.”

Time slowed to a crawl as a thousand thoughts exploded through my mind.

“Wait… seriously?” I asked.

“Yes,” she nodded, far calmer than she had any right to be.

…

After that ordeal, I brought Fu Yating to the inner sect’s Medicine Hall. The healers I had arranged were already on standby, tending to no other patients and waiting only for her. They were among the most experienced elders when it came to childbirth, and most were women who had given birth themselves and delivered many children over the years.

For an entire day, I waited outside while she remained in the birthing room.

Fu Yating was receiving the best treatment this world could offer. These were the same women who would attend even the Sect Leader’s family during childbirth.

Jiang Yeming stood beside me, leaning against the wall as we waited. She had already been there when I arrived.

At least she was a familiar presence. Someone standing beside me during the wait. It was strangely comforting.

I usually kept empathy at arm’s length. But Fu Yating was my wife, and she hadn’t had an easy life with me. Her family had been massacred by my clan and she had every right to hate me.

Yet she was far more forgiving than I would have been. Perhaps, behind those smiles, she did hate me.

But despite everything, I wanted to love her properly and to give her something real, not just the strange arrangement we had been pretending was enough. Especially now that we have children on the way.

I genuinely cared about her.

The feeling was confusing. Nothing in my previous life had prepared me for something like this. At least not in the way of how to care for the mother of my children. There was an extra feeling there that went beyond just mere girlfriend or wife, something that was hard to describe.

Suspicion was also second nature to me now, something that tried to push me to use logic in these feelings. It was something I had developed in this world, and had for the moment taken a backseat.

For example, why was Jiang Yeming here?

Was it because she knew the exact date my children would be born? That would be strange… unless she had known them in the future.

And if she had changed the past, would the dates still remain the same?

Another possibility was that she possessed some kind of sensory technique that could predict childbirth.

Even now, with my children about to be born, my mind kept turning the situation over and over, generating possibilities.

It was a strange mindset I had learned here. But I couldn’t deny that a part of me liked it. It felt like reading a book with multiple possible endings.

Still, I tried to push those thoughts aside and focus on the only thing that mattered, whether Fu Yating and the children would be safe.

I folded my arms, keeping my face neutral.

Yet no matter how calm I tried to appear, a heavy anxiety pressed against my chest, making every breath feel shallow.

Was this what becoming a parent felt like?

Everything suddenly felt fragile. As if a brand new weakness had been carved into my existence.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to name your children?” Jiang Yeming asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes,” I nodded. “I have two names in mind. Liu Sha and Liu Ma.”

One of them sounded a little odd for a cultivator. In the local dialect, it sounded more like the name of a farmer than that of someone destined for greatness.

“Oh?” She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing in subtle curiosity.

“I chose them to commemorate two friends who died,” I explained. “No one else will know. But in my own way, I want the world to remember them.”

“Huh.” Jiang Yeming smiled, and whatever tension she had been carrying seemed to ease. “You’re already becoming sentimental as a father.”

It always surprised her whenever I showed more human emotions. Strangely enough, it also seemed to make her happy.

What kind of person had my future self been in her eyes? Some cold, robotic fool?

I nodded in response and was about to continue speaking when the cries of babies suddenly filled the hall.

My heart leapt into my throat, and a wave of pure, overwhelming joy and relief burst through my chest.

The sliding door opened.

The head nurse stepped out, an elderly woman who was also an inner elder. She carried two crying bundles in her arms, with assistants bustling behind her.

“Your lady is in good health,” she said with a warm smile. “And it is twin boys.”

Her eyes twinkled as she added, “You’re a lucky man, Elder Feng. Though perhaps you should try to be less overbearing as a father. Unlike how you treated us, forcing us to wait at your command. Others may have needed help during that time.”

Perhaps she was hoping to take advantage of my new fatherly tenderness with those last words. But I barely heard her.

My eyes were fixed on the two small bundles in her arms.

My sons. Just looking at them made my heart feel like it might melt.

“Twins?” Jiang Yeming said, sounding surprised.

But I ignored the implications and stepped forward to hold them.

“Careful with the heads,” the nurse reminded me.

I gently took them into my arms, one in each hand. As I held them close, their cries softened.

Perhaps they sensed something.

A father… huh. This was a strange feeling…

I was happy. Genuinely happy.