by Catofdreams
As her imagination became more and more vivid, she mustered up enough courage to say the word that she didn't want to call Lang Jie with. She just imagined that she was calling the man in her imagination as she opened her mouth.
"F-father…"
Lei Wu finally managed to finish her sentence.
Xue Yan clapped as she heard her daughter's wonderful apology. Although it was clearly forced, the delusion caused by the happiness she felt from having a family clouded her judgment.
"No problem, dear. I forgive you.", Lang Jie responded with a blank expression. His voice sounded robotic, completely identical to an automated message. He forced out a response as his brain's circuit was shorted.
The happy atmosphere was now back. Well… for Xue Yan, at least.
While Lei Wu was still trying to forcefully replace the Lang Jie in her mind with the strong male cultivator from her imagination, and while Lang Jie's brain was trying to recover after going haywire due to Lei Wu's apology, Xue Yan's wide smile remained plastered on her face as she wanted to go back and relax with her family.
Xue Yan extended both her hands towards Lang Jie and Lei Wu.
"Let's go back to our home!"
And that is how the housewife managed to secure a family with a daughter that is a few centuries older than her new father.
CHAPTER 31 – “THE HUSBAND WANTS TO BE A CULTIVATOR JUST LIKE HIS WIFE”
One early morning, Lang Jie sat down on a chair in their dining room area. His wife happily served him a breakfast of bacon, egg, and rice, along with a fresh cup of coffee.
As his wife sat down in front of him and began eating her breakfast, a thought came into Lang Jie's head.
"Honey… is it too late for me to start practicing cultivation?", Lang Jie asked his wife.
Xue Yan spat out the food she ate as soon as she heard Lang Jie's words.
"Y-you want to try out cultivating, darling? Are you serious?", Xue Yan couldn't help but make sure if she heard her husband correctly. Although she had thought of it before, the path of cultivation was one that shouldn't be forced onto others, so she never brought up the topic with Lang Jie before. Now that Lang Jie was the one who asked about it though, Xue Yan felt ecstatic, but she also felt worried for him at the same time since the path of cultivation is a difficult road to take.
"Yes… I've thought about it before, but I always seem to forget about it. Now that I remembered it, I figured I should ask you about it…", Lang Jie responded.
At first, he wasn't quite into the idea of working so hard to become powerful since he was already busy with his job, but the thought came to mind first when he thought about how old Xue Yan was. Since she was an extremely powerful cultivator, it wouldn't be a surprise if she would live far longer than him if he passed away first.
That lingering thought became cemented in his mind after the incident with Lei Wu. He did try bringing up the topic of having a family with Xue Yan before he found out that she was a cultivator. He knew that was able to support a family on his own, but Xue Yan always seemed to avoid the topic. When he found out about her being a cultivator and had an approximate range of her age, he realized the reason why she didn't want to.
If he did become a cultivator, then he might be able to solve all those problems. After all, who wouldn't want to live a longer life together with their loved ones?
"Are you sure, darling? It's going to be a really difficult path to take…", Xue Yan asked one more time. Although she also liked the idea of her husband cultivating, the thought of him having to suffer through it made her feel conflicted.
"Of course! I can just try it out, right? If it doesn't work out, then I won't force it. I will still try my hardest though.", Lang Jie responded confidently, which made Xue Yan's conflicted feeling disappear. If her husband wanted to, then she'll try her best to support him.
"Are you really sure that you want to go down the thorny path that we took?"
A woman entered the dining room and joined in on their conversation.
"Lei Wu! You should talk to your father with a bit more respect.", Xue Yan scolded her as soon as she finished speaking. Lei Wu couldn't do anything but keep quiet since she still didn't have the heart, nor the balls to go against her master.
"H-honey… I think we should drop the 'parent and daughter' thing.", Lang Jie told his wife. In a way, he was supporting Lei Wu since he really didn't feel comfortable about calling someone he just met a few days ago and is hundreds of years older than him his daughter.
"Hmm…? But didn't you say you wanted to have a family?", Xue Yan responded.
"I did! But, honey… shouldn't we take it slowly? After all, it just happened so fast! And also… if I really am able to cultivate… you'll agree to have a child of our own by then, right? I could live together with you and our child for a long time!", Lang Jie's thoughts leaked out as he explained himself towards Xue Yan.
Xue Yan's conflicted feeling returned once again as he heard his husband's motive. Although the lifespan gap was one of her worries, after the incident in the tomb, that reason was replaced by another one.
The night after that incident happened, Xue Yan forced Lei Wu to stay in their home since she was technically her daughter. The amount of qi she exerted over the past few months was the highest she has ever used ever since she stepped into the Immortal Emperor Realm since the few years after she had broken through had been extremely quiet and peaceful after all.
After everything happened, she felt that there was something different. Xue Yan was able to conjure powers beyond any mortal's wildest dreams, but as she continued to use it, she realized the reason why there were no records of other cultivators reaching the Immortal Emperor Realm. Although she felt that she could continue living for as long as she wanted to, the new problem that popped up was a bit too hard for her to deal with.
When Lei Wu heard her explanation, she couldn't help but feel her heart ache after hearing the truth that Xue Yan revealed. Lei Wu urged her to tell her husband about it, but Xue Yan refused and instead told her to keep it a secret from everyone.
Lei Wu felt the feelings during that night returned as soon as she heard Lang Jie's words.
"If that's what you're after, then I suggest that you should give up on becoming a cultivator.", Lei Wu offered her own advice as she left the room as soon as she came in. She didn't want to continue listening, so she decided to leave and go do her unfulfilled duties back at her sect.
Lang Jie had no idea why Lei Wu was so upset after hearing his reason. He wanted to go after her and ask her, but he noticed that his wife also had a sad expression on her face.
"Darling… you don't have to cultivate for all that. If you really want a family, we could give it a try as you are now.", Xue Yan told Lang Jie as she tried her best to force out a smile. Lang Jie knew right away that she was just forcing herself, but the look on Xue Yan's eyes said that she didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he decided to take a step back on the conversation.
"Regardless of the reason, I still want to try my hand at cultivating!", Lang Jie told his wife, who stayed silent as she heard her husband's words.
Lang Jie didn't want to do this, but he knew he had to. He had an ultimate move that would make Xue Yan agree to anything he asked. In the span of their entire married life, he had only used this technique three times since it cost quite a lot of his pride and dignity to perform.
"Please? I just want to do it… Come on, honey… Pleaaaaaase!"
Lang Jie moved back and assumed a position wherein his eye level was a bit lower than Xue Yan's. He faced directly forward and moved his pupils upwards to make eye contact with Xue Yan. The angle at which Xue Yan will see his face was carefully calculated by Lang Jie in order to maximize the technique's efficiency.
"D-darling! That's so unfair!", Xue Yan knew that her husband was intentionally doing it, but her complaints went through Lang Jie's ears as he continued to corner her with his ultimate technique.
A few secon
ds later, Xue Yan's heart couldn't bear it anymore.
"Okay, fine! If there are any changes to your body, you have to tell me right away! Also, avoid fights or any dangerous situations at all costs! Do you understand?"
Xue Yan didn't want to agree, but her husband was just too powerful for her to resist. All she could do to contain the situation was to set-up a few conditions since she knew that her husband was an honest man and that he would always follow her orders.
"Yes, ma'am! I'll do my best!", Lang Jie stood up and gave Xue Yan a salute in an attempt to lighten up the mood. He looked like a soldier listening to his commanding officer's commands.
Xue Yan simply sighed in response and smiled as she looked at her husband's quick change in appearance. Just moments earlier, he was tarnishing his own pride by pleading with Xue Yan while using his ultimate forbidden technique, and now, here he was, already trying to pull off a gag in order to make Xue Yan smile, which, to his credit, did work.
"Okay, let's start right away."
Xue Yan stood up and moved behind Lang Jie. She rested her palms on Lang Jie's shoulders and started pouring an extremely minuscule amount of qi inside his body.
"Close your eyes and feel the flow of qi inside your body."
Lang Jie followed her instructions and closed his eyes. He could feel a warm feeling flowing down from his shoulders and slowly moving towards some kind of empty space beneath his stomach.
"What is this thing I feel near my stomach?", Lang Jie asked Xue Yan.
"That's what is called your dantian. It is the core of a cultivator. When your dantian is activated, it will generate qi using your energy, which you will use to train and to execute techniques.", Xue Yan explained.
"My qi is flowing through your meridians while it guides your consciousness into finding your dantian. Since you can feel it now, that means that it's already activated.", she continued as she pulled back her qi which was inside Lang Jie.
Lang Jie sat in silence as he felt his wife rub his hair. Xue Yan was treating him like a child who did a good job, even though he really didn't do much.
"You can open your eyes now. Your dantian is activated, so you're now a cultivator. Congratulations, darling!", Xue Yan smiled towards her husband and gave him a hug before going back to her seat. Lang Jie felt puzzled since it was far from what he expected. In the novels and manhuas he read, the path to starting cultivation involved either plenty of training or finding an extremely overpowered treasure which will then help them activate their meridians. He didn't expect it to be that easy.
Lang Jie tried to sense any changes in his body, but he couldn't seem to find any except for his dantian, which just felt like an empty space inside his body.
"I-Is that really it? I don't have to do any sort of training to activate my meridians or anything like that?", Lang Jie asked his wife, who had already finished eating while he was trying to figure out his own body.
"Yep, that's it. You only have to train if you want to become stronger. You also have to find some sort of base for your cultivation in order to find a way to gather qi, but since you won't be doing anything dangerous, you don't need any of those.", Xue Yan told her husband as she cleaned up her side of the table and moved towards the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Lang Jie quickly followed her and pressed her with a few more questions.
"Wait a second! If my dantian is activated, but I have no way of gathering qi, doesn't that mean I'm just a mortal with an activated dantian? I don't receive any benefits in my body without qi, right? I really don't think anything changed in my body other than my activated dantian….", Lang Jie rambled as Xue Yan continued to wash the dishes.
Xue Yan couldn't help but sigh in response. She knew that her husband had already strayed off his original motive. Lang Jie's excitement of being able to cultivate could be heard through his voice, so she knew that he just wanted to pull off some stunts to amaze himself.
"I granted your wish already and turned you into a cultivator, darling. I never said anything about helping you in cultivating qi.", Xue Yan immediately shut down her husband's excitement. She really didn't want him to be involved any further in the world of cultivation.
Lang Jie felt irked that his wife was being so strict about it. He wanted to use his ultimate technique once more, but before he could, Xue Yan quickly placed her palm in front of Lang Jie's face, completely stopping his technique before he could pull it off.
"Don't even think about it, darling! If I can't resist it, then I'll just stop it before you're able to do it!", Xue Yan told her husband as she showed him a smug smile.
"Hmph… as expected of a master…", Lang Jie responded as he started sulking. Xue Yan ignored him as she wiped the dishes clean, which made Lang Jie feel even more irked.
After cleaning the dishes, Xue Yan immediately went out to their backyard and tended to the clothes that were being dried. Lang Jie saw that she had no intention to teach him anything at all, so he decided to give up on asking Xue Yan to do it. Instead, he decided to ask other people to teach him.
"Fine! If you won't teach me, then I'll ask Lei Wu to do it!", Lang Jie told Xue Yan as he crossed his arms and looked away from her.
Xue Yan didn't even flinch as she heard it and continued to place the dried clothes in a laundry basket.
"You can't learn her techniques since her cultivation base is modeled around a woman's physique, so only women can learn from her.", Xue Yan immediately shot down Lang Jie's other option, but he quickly thought up of something else.
"Then, I'll ask Brother Cheng! He said I could call him if I needed anything and he'll try his best to help me.", Lang Jie told Xue Yan as he pulled out his phone from his pocket and started looking for Wen Cheng's number.
Xue Yan quickly turned around and took Lang Jie's phone from his hands. Wen Cheng definitely did have the qualifications to teach Lang Jie, and given the relationship between the two, Wen Cheng would most likely agree to help him. This time, Lang Jie had finally cornered Xue Yan.
"Okay, fine! I'll teach you! Just don't go around asking others for help, okay? If you want to ask something, just ask me!", Xue Yan angrily told her husband, who was now smiling from ear to ear.
"No problem, dear!", Lang Jie stood straight and gave his wife another salute.
Xue Yan once again sighed as she cursed herself for being so lenient with her husband. If she was just a bit stricter, then things wouldn't have come to this point.
"Follow me.", Xue Yan told her husband as she walked back into the house.
Lang Jie followed her right away. Xue Yan continued walking until they got to their bedroom. She opened their closet and took a small box, which was hidden underneath all her clothes.
Lang Jie had never seen the box before. Then again, he rarely rummaged through their closet as Xue Yan would prepare everything he needed before he even realized that he had to use it.
Xue Yan opened the box, revealing an old book. The book was covered with a blue-colored leather, which looked extremely worn out.
"This is the cultivation art I practice. This book only contains the philosophy in which my cultivation is based from. When you finish reading and comprehending everything that is written here, then tell me and I'll start teaching you a few techniques.", Xue Yan told her husband as she handed him the old book.
Lang Jie gratefully received the book. Although it was a thin book, Lang Jie felt that it contained vast knowledge about the matter he wanted to know about. He noticed a bit of writing on the leather which had faded over time. Lang Jie knew that it was probably the name of Xue Yan's cultivation base. He quickly skimmed through the book and noticed that the writing was incredibly compressed on each page.
Lang Jie looked at Xue Yan with a profound expression as he held the book in his hands.
"If you have any questions or if you ran into something you don't understand, don't hesitate to ask me.", Xue Yan told her husband, who still had the same intense expression on his face.
"Honey�
� there is indeed something that I don't understand.", Lang Jie immediately responded.
"Oh, what is it?", Xue Yan found it odd that Lang Jie already had questions even though he hasn't even started reading the book. Perhaps her husband had a photographic memory and was able to memorize everything as skimmed through it?
"Well, to be completely honest with you, I don't think I can understand anything at all.", Lang Jie continued.
Xue Yan looked extremely puzzled as she had no idea why her husband thought that way. Although her cultivation base was no longer being taught now, it used to be taught to children of all ages since it was considered the simplest and the easiest cultivation base to understand back in her time.
"Why is that?", she asked her husband, who opened the book to a random page and pointed at the writings on it.