Following his older brother, Shen Bo, Shen Yu walked straight into the study room, pausing only to give a slight knock on the door as per traditional etiquette. The study was a gorgeous arrangement of old wood, leather and carpet. Due to the nature of this work space, not many decorations adorned the wall, the furniture layout was simple with only one desk, a side table, cabinets and couches. It perfectly resembled the modern minimalism concept of 21st century Earth, a rarity their father appreciated. With a few glazed windows and floor to ceiling viewing bay, the entire space felt cozier than it actually was.
From inside the room, Shen Yu could see the magnificent view of the woodland and lake, the whole atmosphere was too peaceful to discuss a staggering bundle of hard decisions, it sapped Shen Yu of all his energy.
The fight hadn’t even begun yet and he already felt uncomfortable. Pursing his lips, he decided to stare at the small flickering lamp kept for decoration in his father’s study, an old spiritual lamp which never burned out. People called it ‘Heavenly Lamp’ not that Shen Yu had one, so he didn’t see the point of keeping something so high maintenance.
“The Council has been waiting for your decision to select a mission world,” his father was as always, to the point man, he didn’t appreciate pleasantries when at home.
Shen Yu was also curt in his response, “I want to wait for a bit longer, father.” There was no point in talking in circles.
Noticing the spark of friction, Shen Bo left the study without hesitation, closing the door behind him to give more privacy. Not that Shen Yu wanted that privacy, there was no need for it, he would have cherished prying eyes for once.
His father was a 5th Stage Core Formation Cultivator, well known among the 5th Stage Cultivators for his martial arts and skills. He was among the few who didn’t make any pact with a Beast of Light, a rare situation in their society.
The man was oppressing enough when he was just standing, so when scolding Shen Yu, he was the worst nightmare. Some may think Shen Yu was exaggerating, but Shen Yu understood how dominating this man could be. If one had to confirm, then yes, Shen Yu hated his father. There was no other reason within. This man had left him to rot when he wanted a father’s support the most, but now that Shen Yu got his Golden Ticket, this man was running around in the clan circles to get him recognition. It was humorous.
Shen Yu knew of his situation better than anyone else, he couldn’t just go against his own father, despite everything, he was family, and without his father the family won’t be where it was now. Even if their branch was on the verge of falling apart, the one holding on to it was their father, so no, Shen Yu didn’t want to ruin whatever peace they had between them. There will come a day for that when Shen Yu was strong enough to make his own decisions and protect the ones he loved, but now was not that day.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“What are you waiting for? You should be more specific.”
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Shen Yu glanced at the sharp sculpted face of his father, the man who looked to be in his 30s, yet was already 187. Their family was a mixed race, and over time there were several changes in their customs and heritage. What remained was the name Shen. His father was called Shen Teng.
But somewhere around the 1567th century, majority of family sported a strange trait, that is, the pale white hair with sharp gold eyes. Shen Yu had the exact same combination of golden gaze and white hair. But his small face and soft features were inherited from his mother’s side, so he didn’t look so much like an aristocrat, rather he had a subtle androgynous beauty to him which clashed awkwardly against his generally cold temperament.
His sister always reminded him to smile more often, a smile invited happiness she said, she liked to see his delicate face lighting up like sun shine, it was a rare occurrence, he didn’t smile that often, not since his body started to fail him. There hadn’t been much to smile at when he was struggling every day, not that anyone in their family ever had a reason to be that happy.
“Your social account,” Shen Teng spoke, placing the file in front of Shen Yu, urging him to look, “I have asked Laoyang to set it up for you, just select a name ID and we will go with it. Remember to do a live session when you are training, the onlookers are curious about you. The more you shine the better the investments…”
Shen Yu flinched at the term ‘investment’, his training was mostly a pointless charade, but taking a look at the IDs, they were all professional enough, as expected, so there was no harm done.
[ShenYu_ShenClan]
[Yu_ShenClan]
[GoldYu_ShenClan]
“This one,” Shen Yu pointed at the 1st ID, he felt it was best to go with the original. “What else did the clan say?” he hinted at what he wanted to hear the most, his voice coming out feeble, he felt a nervous tremor inch closer to his spine.
“The council is worried about your physical disparity, you won’t last long if your body is on the verge of collapse, so they want to give you some pills to take to that world. You already know how the missions go, you have learned enough, so your priority is both mission and your body, do you understand?”
“Yes, father.”
“Good,” Shen Teng took out a ring from a desk drawer, it was the space ring, which could hold any number of spiritual objects, a good start at preparation. “Keep this, the clan head himself arranged this reward, you are lucky.”
Shen Yu didn’t feel lucky being at the center of all this buzz, but he wasn’t stingy when it came to gaining profit. So, he took the gift. Somewhere in his heart he felt grateful to be born in a wealthy clan, of course he didn’t say it loud. The future may not be as brittle as past if he got better both body and soul. Luck went to those who fought for it.
“And, did you ask for an assist with finding details about Hunter?” His father asked cordially at first, although Shen Yu knew better, here it comes… “Do you know Hunter? For your information he is a Black Ticket Holder, it doesn’t suit your purpose to get into contact with someone like that. Or did you forget what a Black Ticket means? He is a defaulter in every mission world, further contact with him will only lead to negative advertisement. Our Clan won’t allow it, even if they didn’t talk about it, the clan head knows.”
Shen Teng’s voice got colder the more he spoke, and Shen Yu forced down an urge to shiver, despite his negligible cultivation base, even he could feel the pressure of spiritual energy leaking from his father. His body was reacting according to their past interactions, and Shen Yu felt sick, he hated his body for fearing their father still.
“F-Father,” he also hated himself for stuttering, “you are thinking too much, I am not looking for him to be friends with him, I have my reasons.” he just wanted to leave, this was not the evening he envisioned.
“Oh?” his father frowned, his forehead wrinkling into a tight crease, his eyes heavy and piercing, “What reasons can you have to look for that good for nothing rogue. Don’t look for that clan, think about your reputation.”
“…yes father.”
“Good, you can leave.”
Shen Yu bowed his head before leaving the study. He had thought there would be more friction, but thankfully it didn’t accelerate. Although… he might have to look for his eldest sister this time, she would know more about MWI Teams, short for Mission World Investigation. They were costly but they gave accurate information about mission worlds, and they were safer, they worked under the radar.
But his sister would know…
Well, he had no other choice, he couldn’t miss this opportunity. Because the upcoming mission worlds had a time limit of 5 years or more, and if Shen Yu missed his chance, he won’t be meeting that senior for another half decade, it would be a pity.
Hunter… Shen Yu never called him by that name, he preferred his original name more than his code name. But for now he had more things to worry about. He would have to do a live session by tomorrow, or his father would chew him off for that as well.
“Little Yu, you done?” a pleasant voice called Shen Yu, it was Shen Meng, his eldest sister, 56 by age, but still 20 something in appearance. She was soft, like their mother, beautiful long hair, graceful presence and a kind personality. Among their siblings, she was the only one who smiled the most often, she was their star light.
“Sister,” Shen Yu nodded, his frosty face melting into a more subtle gentleness that only his family members could tell apart. “Can we chat for a bit,” he whispered at the end, “urgent.” Shen Yu didn’t want his father to hear, his father’s senses were sharp.
Shen Meng seemed to note the subtext, and readily agreed, shooting a look towards her room, their rooms were thick with sound proofing spells, so it wasn’t easy to hear what was going inside.
This father… Really, f family honor and all that. Even if that Hunter kid is a rogue or his family is kinda sketchy, as long as they’re more affectionate than that it’s all good. Another bright spot is that Shen Yu’s siblings, or at least his sisters, treat him well.
I still don’t quite get what the Black Ticket and Golden Ticket means, but it feels like it’ll get clearer during the Mission Worlds. Maybe a favorable identity/persona?
Thank you for the chapter! 🙂
Can’t wait to see how this develops!
Thanks for the chapters Dear writer 🤣❤️
💜💜💜