Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

After Dai He and Liu Zhu's meeting, not much happened for a while. Liu Zhu focused on his cultivation, hoping that he could make a breakthrough to Bone and Marrow Tempering within the next three to four months given his ridiculously fast cultivation speed, while Dai He took care of the business they'd discussed and sent Liu Zhu the details.

In the week after Liu Zhu's return he found several chances to spar with others and test his strength. With his breakthrough to Late Flesh Tempering, along with his increase in strength, he was now able to use 3 D.e.s.i.r.es multiple times in a single battle. This allowed him to compare evenly with some Middle Bone and Marrow Tempering cultivators and unexpectedly raised his prestige within the Liu Clan and throughout Vermilion City as a whole. Liu Zhu didn't take advantage of this, preferring to focus on his cultivation , but even without his intervention factions began to solidify within the Liu Clan.

There had been factions supporting both him and his brother before, but due to how long there was until a second patriarch was decided upon, they weren't well-defined. Only a few people made their allegiance known, and neither side did much. However, with Liu Xuan's recent engagement and Liu Zhu's astonishing rise in strength everyone in the Liu Clan began picking sides. Ultimately Zhu Chao had the final decision as the grand elder of the Liu Clan, but if there wasn't any support behind the candidate he chose, then what would happen after he left? Wouldn't there be a chance of who he chose being removed from their position, or hired elders leaving en masse? That's why these factions mattered a great deal, and how Liu Zhu unintentionally began stabilizing his position among the Liu Clan. He was still behind his brother, but his situation was far less bleak than when he returned from Yu Mountain.

A month after Liu Zhu's return from Blue Mount City these factions had finished settling, and the atmosphere in the Liu Clan was uneasy. Funnily enough this happened without any intervention from the 'faction heads' in question, as Liu Zhu had focused on cultivating and Liu Xuan was in Blue Mount City, meaning that both of them learned about this after the fact. Luckily, before things got too heated between the two groups Zhu Chao made a few passive-aggressive remarks which calmed down the more zealous members of each side.

Once Zhu Chao made his stance clear things settled down, but what had already happened couldn't be undone after the fact. To escape the new, odd atmosphere and other juniors the Liu Clan had recruited telling him about their petty schemes to help him in the succession race, Liu Zhu simply spent even more time than usual cultivating. At this point he even requested for his meals to be sent to him. Amusingly enough, Liu Zhu avoiding his supporters didn't reduce their support for him, as most of the people supporting him were doing so because of his work ethic anyways. Dai He gave Liu Zhu occasional b.r.i.e.f.s on how progress was going with the garden and the other investments, while Liu Zhu gave him blood he'd saved up. Anyone who saw the sight would be both disgusted and terrified, but Dai He had already thought up a cover and managed to sneak it all out without anyone suspecting anything.

Two weeks after Liu Zhu had began secluding himself in training, Dai He finished setting up everything with the garden. Liu Zhu took a short visit to examine it, noticing that several farms and businesses were being constructed on the way there. Those were the people land was being rented out to as camouflage, and Liu Zhu was surprised that Dai He had managed to get that many renters in only in only six weeks. Vermilion City wasn't growing quickly after all, so the demand for land was mediocre at best.

The garden was hidden away in a clearing in the middle of a thick patch of trees. A stone wall with no gate surrounded it, and Dai He had to leap with all of his strength to reach the top. As Liu Zhu admired the unique security measures, Dai He bragged. "It was interesting getting this built. I had to get two independent groups of masons to construct each half of the wall to avoid it looking suspicious- otherwise they would've realized there was no gate. Anyways, no one'll wander in here now, right?" Liu Zhu stared back at him, a doubtful look on his face, but seeing how proud Dai He was he didn't want to say too much. "Er, yeah. The masons who built the wall won't come around here again, will they?" Dai He shook his head in response. "Nope! I had them build it elsewhere and then carried it here part by part and connected them myself. Took a lot of reading, but I got it done!" Liu Zhu was struck silent after hearing this and simply complimented Dai He on the good work, although he was internally wondering whether the wall was actually safe. Within seconds he had jumped off of the wall and into the garden, afraid of the wall toppling down while he was sitting on it.

Past the wall was a patch of level soil with various types of plants scattered across it. Walking paths split the garden up into squares, which allowed one to easily take care of the plants without stepping on them. This area was around 5x5m. Surrounding this were a few trees and plenty of space to expand the garden if needed. The Gold Silk Butterflies Liu Zhu caught fluttered about, occasionally stopping to perch on budding plants or nearby trees. Buried in the ground nearby, hidden under some foliage and gardening tools, was the diluted blood Liu Zhu had provided. Everything was neatly organized in the small area and Dai He had done a good job despite his lack of familiarity with gardening and construction.

Dai He went over some of the minutia as Liu Zhu looked around, telling him about the specifics of when the first harvest would be and when the Gold Silk Butterflies would begin to mate. Liu Zhu simply nodded his head, not too interested in the specifics, and left that to Dai He. After going over this there wasn't much left to speak about and Liu Zhu returned to the estate, happy that his assets were in mostly capable hands.

Seven weeks later, in the dead of night, Liu Zhu was training outside. He felt a massive amount of energy flowing through him, and couldn't help but extending his training long past reasonable hours. He allowed this energy to flow through him, trying to rapidly use it up by training at the highest intensity possible, but the sheer amount of energy within his body made that impossible. The better part of an hour passed like this before Liu Zhu felt a change in his body, and the energy suddenly converged in on a point directly above his heart.

Intense pain spread throughout his c.h.e.s.t when this happened, and the vitality in his blood began rushing towards this point as well. The pain came in bursts, and as Liu Zhu focused his attention on it, he noticed that this reminded him of something- when his c.h.e.s.t was pierced by that root in the cave. Still, the pain wasn't as bad as then, as eventually it plateaued at a level far more tolerable than that time. The pain continued for around half an hour before it settled down and the energy within him suddenly increased far beyond what had been in his body, bursting out and filling every nook and cranny of his body.

Liu Zhu let out a loud scream as this happened, pain clouding his mind for a moment. When he regained his senses he heard a cracking noise, and a layer of white dust and dead skin covered his body. Upon noticing this Liu Zhu's pained suddenly expression broke out into a smile, because he knew what this phenomena meant- he'd broken through to Bone and Marrow Tempering. The dead skin was from him completing Flesh Tempering, while the dust was from his bones expelling their weakest parts and using the energy from his breakthrough to remodel themselves and begin hardening.

Before Liu Zhu completely recovered from his breakthrough, he examined the point near his heart where the energy and vitality had gathered at, and later been provided from. He was hoping to find something there to answer his questions, but unfortunately he couldn't discover anything. For the time being he simply knew that whatever happened to him before had left something at that spot, and that he didn't understand it.

Liu Zhu was once again confused and curious about what had happened to him, but knew that it was futile to hope for any further information at this point and returned to bed with his focus turned to his breakthrough. He'd managed to go from Strength Rendering to Bone and Marrow Tempering in under 8 months, advancing his cultivation at a rate that would've seemed ridiculous to him before now. Thinking of this, Liu Zhu went to bed with a happy smile on his face.

The next morning Liu Zhu informed Zhu Chao of his breakthrough, and the news instantly spread throughout the Liu Clan. A small celebratory feast was prepared, and in a dark corner of the Liu Clan's manor a recently hired maid rapidly scribbled down a note. It was written in code, but translated read "Liu Zhu broke through to Early Bone and Marrow Tempering at 13 years, 7 months of age. Nearly half a year ahead of Liu Xuan in terms of cultivation. Situation will grow worse if given longer to grow."

The maid hurried to her quarters before strapping the note to the leg of a pigeon, opening the nearest window, and setting the bird free. The carrier pigeon flew south towards Blue Mount City while the Liu Clan remained happy, ignorant to what had just occurred and its the consequences it'd bring...