Spirit Continent.
On this particular continent, a decade had passed.
The father and son duo had long since emerged victorious from that great battle fought at the edge of the sea region years ago.
They were now situated right on the coastline, their pirate ships moored at the harbor.
In those days, they had possessed eight pirate ships, but following a great calamity, their entire crew had been lost. However, by a stroke of fortuitous coincidence, they had instead come into possession of the Rank 8 "Undead Pirate Ship".
In the present day, they had, moreover, carved out their own territory in a corner of the Spirit Continent. Over a hundred pirate ships now lay moored in their harbor.
Indeed, if any other cultivators in this southern land wished to venture out to sea, they first required the express consent of this father and son duo.
The cultivators of Spirit Continent referred to this father and son pair as the "Sea King" and the "Son of the Sea."
Yet, how could they truly live up to such resounding titles? At this very moment, they were seated upon the bow of a ship, facing into the sea breeze, their gazes fixed longingly on the distant direction of their clan.
Many years had gone by.
Li Chang'an, aside from donning an eyepatch when aboard his pirate ship, typically dressed in an unremarkable fashion.
The man he was today, having weathered countless hardships and pitted his wits and courage against many foes, had matured considerably. Perhaps it was due to the harsh conditions at sea, but now that life had become more comfortable, he had, quite contrastingly, developed a distinct fondness for cleanliness.
At this very moment, he was garbed in a magnificent golden long robe, his hair visibly elegant and flowing.
He bore not the slightest resemblance to a pirate weathered by storms at sea; instead, he looked for all the world like an aristocrat reeking of wealth, and his speech had acquired a certain air of deliberate profundity.
"Xingchen," he intoned, "you and I, father and son, are akin to these ocean waves. This Spirit Continent is like the reefs lining the shore. No matter how exceedingly solid these reefs may be, there will come a day when they, too, are submerged beneath the boundless seawater."
...
Li Xingchen remained silent for a very long while.
Only he truly knew the depths of suffering he and his old man had endured in this edge of the sea region all these years.
They hadn't had a single proper meal, nor had they known a single night of peaceful sleep. At sea, their diet consisted of nothing but seafood, day in and day out. If they wanted fresh water to drink, they had no choice but to wait for Old Man Heaven to send rain. And their clothes? Those had long since been corroded almost to tatters by the seawater.
Aboard the ship, apart from himself, everyone else was one of the dead. His old man, for his part, would pass the days reading from a few tattered, ancient tomes.
The moment they set foot back on dry land, his old man developed an intense aversion to dirt and an even greater fear of ever again enduring a life of hardship. And that, Li Xingchen mused, was how he had become the man he was today.
"Dad, what do you suppose our clansmen are up to right now? When will we be able to return and exact vengeance alongside them?"
Li Xingchen frowned, a persistent thought gnawing at him: he yearned, much like his 'younger brother' Xinghuo, to truly connect with their kin, to be able to serve the family clan. Otherwise, he always felt himself to be a cut below the rest.
Yet, every time he and his father entered the Ancestor Space, their clansmen invariably seemed to overlook the two of them. Regardless of whatever accomplishments they managed on the Spirit Continent, these feats always appeared so trivial in comparison.
He knew that what their clansmen had endured were trials that ordinary people could scarcely imagine.
"Our clansmen, you ask?"
Li Chang'an smiled. "Child," he said, "you must have faith in your elders, and you must also have faith in our bloodline. We lost everything out there on the open sea, but people will always encounter hardships. Once you overcome one difficulty, perhaps even greater challenges will lie in wait. Yet, you must have faith that beyond every hardship, there lies hope."
"We lost a fleet of pirate ships, it's true, but we gained the Undead Pirate Ship. We can no longer find that island from our early days, yet we discovered a vast new continent and have carved out a domain for ourselves."
"Our family clan finds itself in dire straits right now; we have lost many of our kin, we have lost Azure Cloud Region, and we have lost our hard-won prestige. Yet, I firmly believe that our clansmen will overcome Tian Xing—that seemingly uncrossable, towering mountain—and our family clan will emerge even stronger than before!"
Li Xingchen frowned once more.
He did not share his old man's optimism.
He only knew that his old man believed in such principles and, furthermore, had been engaged in a perilous undertaking for all these years.
Such as these several hundred ships now arrayed behind them; such as their dominion over this southern edge of the sea region; and also, the subordinates his old man had managed to gather over the years.
His old man had said he intended to use these resources, this foundation they had built, to carve out an empire for themselves on the Spirit Continent.
By seizing the Qi Luck of the Spirit Continent, that would be his critical opportunity to break through to the Golden Core realm.
"And once all of Spirit Continent was under their dominion," his father had declared, "that would be the opportune moment to return to the family clan and lend their strength!"
---
Donate on Ko-fi ➡️ [https://ko-fi.com/darktea] ⬅️
Get Early Access to 50 Chapters: Search for "Dark Tea" on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!