With a Big Tree at Your Back, You Can Enjoy the Shade

After pondering for a long while, Long Haoyu gathered his thoughts and joined Long Haochen and Long Xingyu's sparring match.

Such practical battles had happened before. In Long Xingyu's words, they were meant to build coordination between the two brothers.

Of course, Long Xingyu used different levels of strength when fighting one-on-one and one-against-two, but he always kept it within a certain limit.

With Long Haoyu joining in, Long Haochen was visibly much more at ease, yet the Bamboo Sword in his hand showed no sign of weakening.

In fact, spurred on by his older brother, his attacks became even fiercer, as though he were determined to chop Long Xingyu down.

The sparring session soon came to an end. The sun was slowly sinking beyond the horizon, and fiery clouds sprawled across the sky.

The beauty of dusk fell over every corner of Odin Town. Beneath the fading glow, the father and two sons headed down the mountain.

The figures of the one adult and two children stretched long, long behind them.

By the time they returned home, Bai Yue had already prepared dinner. With this "unfilial son," Long Haoyu, constantly keeping watch, the family's living conditions had improved greatly over the past few months.

Chicken, duck, fish, and meat filled the table. One glance was enough to tell how lavish the meal was.

"YuYu, ChenChen, come eat."

Seeing the three of them return, Bai Yue looked at Long Haoyu, who was nearly as tall as Long Xingyu's shoulder, her face filled with nothing but a happy smile.

"Thanks, Mom."

Seeing that his mother looked much healthier, Long Haoyu went over and hugged her before sitting down at the table and digging into his food.

Long Haochen had spent the entire day sparring and was starving as well. After greeting his parents, he too began wolfing down food.

Long Xingyu did not move. His gaze met Bai Yue's, and there was a trace of relief in both their eyes, yet each also saw something else in the other's gaze.

Neither said anything. With a quiet sigh in their hearts, they silently sat at the table. Their eyes fell on Long Haoyu and Long Haochen at the same time as they watched the two brothers quietly.

Before long, Long Haoyu had eaten his fill. After telling Bai Yue that he was done, he returned to his room.

Night was gradually falling, and his Spirit Energy had reached 100 today. He did not want to slack off.

"YuYu really works hard at cultivating. He's probably gone back to meditate again, hasn't he?" Bai Yue said.

Long Xingyu gave a hum. "That child is the most outstanding child I've ever seen. Given enough time, he will surely stand at the pinnacle of the Alliance. He is a natural-born Knight."

"Xingyu, are you really..." Long Haochen soon finished eating and left as well. Bai Yue could finally no longer suppress the emotions in her heart.

Long Xingyu sat beside Bai Yue and gently wrapped his arm around his wife. "Yue, you know this is our fate."

Bai Yue fell silent. Leaning against Long Xingyu's chest, she did not speak again for a long time.

Long Xingyu said nothing more either. He merely gazed quietly at the rooms of Long Haoyu and Long Haochen.

Inside Long Haoyu's room.

The Wu Feng Sword Spirit was summoned.

It was not too late yet, and the sky had not grown completely dark. There was still enough light to see.

Looking at the Wu Feng Sword Spirit, which resembled a Black Coal Ball, Long Haoyu could not help complaining inwardly every time he saw it. It was truly black beyond reason.

"Little Coal Ball, keep watch for me. I'm about to begin my most special cultivation!" Long Haoyu said.

The Wu Feng Sword Spirit drooped its head. After being called Little Coal Ball for three months, it had more or less resigned itself to its fate. "Rest assured, Master. I'll keep watch. If anything unusual happens, I'll wake you immediately."

"Fine. If I find a suitable coal ball later, I'll introduce it to you."

"..."

Long Haoyu's consciousness grew hazy.

The next moment, just as he did every night, he entered the Shadow Space once more.

The Shadow Instructor's appearance had not changed. He still looked like Long Haoyu's Perfect Self.

His scarlet eyes retained their clarity, but also carried a trace of wickedness.

Long Haoyu had grown accustomed to those eyes. From what he knew, his maternal grandfather's True Form also had a pair of enormous scarlet eyes.

With the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon Clan Bloodline flowing through him, having such eyes was nothing strange.

"Your Spirit Energy has surpassed 100. You can begin cultivating Internal Spiritual Power."

The Shadow Instructor said, "However, you know I cannot help you undergo Sacred Awakening. The only thing I can do is simulate Internal Spiritual Power here."

"Or rather, it is not truly simulating Internal Spiritual Power. It is merely drawing out the bloodline power dormant within your body and developing your potential by every possible means."

"Until you can finally control it!"

Long Haoyu listened in silence.

He had long known that he could not truly cultivate Internal Spiritual Power.

Now that the Shadow Instructor had said so, he was not surprised. Still, he was looking forward to the cultivation about to begin.

After all, his perfect self stood before him. Over the past three months, he had challenged the Shadow Instructor, who had drawn upon his bloodline power, many times.

Without exception, he had been beaten for three straight months, each time getting cleanly and decisively cut down by the Shadow Instructor in the Shadow Space.

Put simply, it had been utterly miserable.

Yet precisely because of that, the more he understood just how powerful his Perfect Self was after drawing upon his bloodline power, the less he could ignore such strength.

"My current form is what you will look like in the Same Realm after fully drawing out your bloodline. In your future cultivation, you may use me as a reference until you surpass me!" the Shadow Instructor said again.

Long Haoyu nodded. "I understand that. Although my talent is already outstanding and I have enough backing—a Divine Seal Knight for a father and grandfather, as well as the current Demon God Emperor as my maternal grandfather—"

"In the end, they cannot do everything for me. I still have to rely on my own constant efforts to fulfill my aspirations. Only my own strength is true strength!"

"Surpassing you, Instructor, is beyond doubt. It is also a necessity!"

The Shadow Instructor did not waste any more words.

At the Shadow Instructor's signal, Long Haoyu did not engage him in a life-and-death battle.

Instead, he sat cross-legged in the Shadow Space, just as he meditated in the real world.

The chilling aura surrounding the Shadow Instructor turned into a gray mist that slowly enveloped him.

Long Haoyu already understood that this was the method the Shadow Instructor had mentioned for drawing out his bloodline power, yet the instant the gray mist wrapped around him, he could not help letting out a muffled groan.

Thump—

Thump—

The sound of his heartbeat was exceptionally clear.

Long Haoyu clenched his teeth tightly as a layer of cold sweat instantly covered his forehead.

His breathing also became incomparably labored.

Before his eyes, he seemed to see the phantom image of his own heart beating with difficulty.

Deep within his body, a power as overwhelming as raging waves was being drawn out, stimulating and ravaging every inch of his limbs and bones.

At the same time, a golden radiance shot out from within his body.

The golden light and gray mist quickly formed a stalemate.

"Hold on!"

At that moment, the Shadow Instructor gave a sharp cry. "The cultivation of the Perfect Self is the process of continuously refining your body with the dormant power within you."

"At the same time, it is also the process by which you deepen your understanding and control of it. If you cannot hold on, you will never be able to draw it out or understand its true power!"

Long Haoyu did not answer.

Even if he wanted to speak, he could not.

The stabbing pain throughout his limbs and bones made him want to faint more than once.

If he had not already died countless times in the Shadow Space and experienced all manner of bizarre deaths, he would not have been able to endure it now.

And the standoff between the gray mist and golden light, just as the Shadow Instructor had said, was continuously feeding back into and tempering his body.

The two forces were merging with one another, yet neither accepted the other. Both wanted absolute control.

Long Haoyu's face grew paler and paler, while his expression constantly shifted between contorted agony and relaxation.

After enduring the fiercest wave of pain, Long Haoyu's mind began to clear.

Feeling the two powers within his body, awakening and drawing out the dormant Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon bloodline seemed somewhat similar to drawing out his Innate Internal Spiritual Power.

Finally, the golden radiance and gray mist fused together. Golden light carried a hazy gray ethereality, while that hazy gray ethereality gained a great deal of golden holiness.

A rudimentary understanding surfaced in Long Haoyu's heart, and he sighed softly. "Looking at it this way, it seems I'm undergoing a very unusual Sacred Awakening ahead of time."

"But in my current state, I still seem far from the control you spoke of, Instructor."