Walking out into the courtyard, Wudi saw a man standing with incredibly rigid posture. He wore the minimalist, lightly adorned robes of the Imperial Court, and a sharp sword hung at his waist.
"First Brother," Wudi said, a faint smile gracing his lips as he awaited his sibling's reaction.
Tian Peng showed absolutely no surprise at seeing Wudi up and speaking. Instead, he moved swiftly, grabbing Wudi's wrist to check his pulse while holding his breath. After a moment of tense silence, Tian Peng let go and let out a soft sigh.
"It's a wonder you're alive, let alone moving," Tian Peng said. His tone was characteristically bland, but for a split second, a deeply doting look flashed in his eyes.
Wudi smiled warily. He knew his eldest brother well and had almost never seen him express that kind of warmth. Tian Peng was a strict, unyielding man carrying an immense mountain of imperial responsibility. Sure enough, the tender look vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by his usual stern glower.
"Well, if you can already move, you should keep yourself busy," Tian Peng lectured. "You cannot remain stuck in the lower martial realms forever."
Somewhat expecting this exact drill-sergeant response, Wudi asked with mild amusement, "You're really not surprised to see me breathing?"
Tian Peng side-eyed him coldly. "Mother already told me you were awake. Why on earth should I be surprised?"
Stunned by the flawless logic, Wudi's expression contorted into that classic facial arrangement of not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Fortunately, Tian Peng didn't notice his younger brother's internal crisis. His gaze had already fixated on the courtyard gate—or more precisely, on the man leisurely strolling through it. The newcomer exuded an effortless, aloof aura, wearing a plain Taoist robe and a completely carefree expression.
"Brother Fuyun," Wudi said, his smile turning genuine. He knew his eldest brother meant well, but it was always infinitely easier to get along with his second brother, Tian Fuyun.
Fuyun blinked, his jaw dropping. "Whoa, you're alive?"
Tian Peng's stern face twisted into a look of genuine confusion. "Did you not already hear the news?"
Fuyun scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I mean, I did... but it was heavenly lightning. I might be acting overly shocked, but you, on the other hand, seem to be here forcing a man who was practically declared dead to work overtime."
Tian Peng nodded righteously. "Exactly. He isn't dead, which means he needs to work on his cultivation. He is still young and shouldn't be allowed to become a completely hopeless, lazy lost cause—unlike some people."
Tian Peng directed a pointed glare straight at Fuyun. Both Fuyun and Wudi looked back at their eldest brother wearily, completely exhausted by his lack of a chill pill.
"I should have expected that line of thinking from you," Fuyun sighed. "But you do realize he almost turned into ash, right?"
Wudi nodded along quickly. "Brother Fuyun is right."
Finding himself an ally, Fuyun joked, "And here I feared our little brother would grow up to be a stiff clone of Tian Peng." He looked visibly relieved as he spoke.
Tian Peng's face darkened into a grimace. Before he could even formulate a retort, Tian Fuyun leaned toward Wudi and added, "See, Little Brother? Take life too seriously, and you'll end up with a permanently constipated face just like your eldest brother."
"If you have enough free time to crack jokes, then you clearly have enough time to cultivate," Tian Peng barked. "Why don't you help Wudi out by giving him a few pointers? Step up, and let me evaluate your skills."
Seeing that his eldest brother was utterly incapable of handling banter, Tian Fuyun smoothly replied, "Of course, of course."
However, his physical movements completely betrayed his words. Fuyun seamlessly took a massive, perfectly executed backward stride toward the outer gate. His retreat was so incredibly fluid and natural that an untrained eye might not have even realized he was fleeing the scene.
Not remotely surprised by the cowardice, Tian Peng snorted loudly. From a distance outside the courtyard walls, a light laugh echoed alongside Fuyun's fading voice: "Glad you're okay, Tian'er! We'll catch up later!"
With a wry smile, Wudi turned back to Tian Peng. "You might be just a little too strict on Second Brother."
Switching his glare to Wudi, Tian Peng's expression actually softened by a fraction. "Your second brother is immensely talented. If he put even a modicum of effort into his work, he would be the one inheriting Father's imperial throne."
Wudi was genuinely shocked. He opened his mouth to speak but held his tongue. In that moment, he realized that his eldest brother truly, deeply cared for the future of the Empire, harboring absolutely no greedy or zealous attachment to the title of Crown Prince.
Noticing that Wudi had uncharacteristically swallowed his words, Tian Peng actually felt a bit awkward. He cleared his throat roughly. "I... need to attend training with Commander Sun." Glancing lightly at his third brother, not wanting to get his hopes up too high, he muttered, "Practice hard," and began walking toward the gate.
"I will," Wudi said firmly.
Tian Peng paused mid-stride. He looked back at Wudi, visibly startled by the sudden, genuine determination ringing in the boy's voice. The eldest brother nodded silently, a flicker of approval crossing his face, before turning and leaving the grounds.
Left alone, Wudi stared off into the quiet, darkening courtyard. To an outsider, he might have painted a lonely figure standing in the shadows, but internally, he was incredibly happy. His family members might have arrived like a whirlwind and left even quicker, but they were the rulers of an entire empire. Putting their massive responsibilities on pause just to check if he was breathing was profoundly endearing—especially his father, the Emperor.
The Tian Clan... Wudi thought, looking up at the sky. In my past life here, I never thought much of them. I really took a wonderful family for granted.
Coming back to his room, Wudi didn't even go back to chat with Old Li. As he entered, there was a nice smell that filled the air. Seeing the chicken and soup on the table, he knew that Old Li must have brought it by during his conversation with his brothers.
"Smells good, it seems they were extra generous with the herbs in the soup because of the lightning," Wudi thought as he picked up the spoon on the table and sat down. "At least they have a conscience, these herbs will actually be very useful in breaking through."
Wudi was actually very close to the next stage. Though he was still young, and actually very strong for his age, many only believed so because of his background. In comparison to his brothers at the same age, they were much further along than he was.
His first brother might be strict, but he really did mean well. Despite what his first brother wanted, he actually didn't have much confidence in his third brother. It wasn't that he didn't believe in his brother, it was just a stigma that had been instilled for a long time.
Everyone doted on Wudi and didn't expect much from him. His brothers were strong enough to take care of everything in the Empire for him. Even his father, who was very strict with his brothers, never made Wudi do anything. It was an odd situation, it just seemed that everyone was content with his brothers, as they were outstanding. His parents were already happy and didn't seem to have the ambition to push Wudi. Even his strict brother, who made everyone around him work their bones into the dirt for the empire, never forced Wudi to do anything.
Wudi refused to let this dynamic continue. He didn't have a burning ambition to prove himself, but he had an unwavering desire to become stronger and to follow his heart. With this in mind, he sat down cross-legged and began to focus on breaking through.
Tian Wudi didn't feel quite right after sitting down. Others cultivated while in seclusion, but why? They were afraid of cultivation deviation. Wudi felt that he had a dao and needed to cultivate it, rather than just his body. Others didn't typically have a dao, but if, for instance, one had dao in medicine or forging, then why couldn't they break through while doing those things? Wudi knew his dao was tyrannical and he needed to cultivate in this manner. He believed that if one didn't cultivate while following their dao, then they would likely never achieve much. Wudi was true to himself and wouldn't conform to anything other than that.
Standing up, Wudi made his way towards the courtyard, leaving behind the confines of his secluded space. Meanwhile, outside the walls of his courtyard, his second brother, Fuyun, was perched atop a nearby peak, gazing up at the moon. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a deep sense of worry for his younger brother. Fuyun had a rare look of contemplation etched onto his face, which was against his nature as he typically did not worry about much.
Despite his lack of concern for the politics and theatrics of the empire's nobles, Fuyun had a soft spot for those he loved. Moreover, his mother had asked him to keep a close eye on his third brother. Suddenly, Fuyun felt a surge of strong Qi emanating from someone in the martial realm, indicating that someone was breaking through. Taken aback by this discovery, he averted his attention from the moon and cast his gaze towards Wudi's courtyard.
There, Wudi stood tall with a subtle glow surrounding his hand as he charged up his Qi, preparing to throw a powerful punch. Fuyun was astounded by the sight and had the impression that Wudi was an immovable mountain, unfazed by any force.
The scene before Fuyun was both shocking and incredible. Wudi was not only breaking through a bottleneck in his cultivation, but he was doing it while practicing a fist technique. This was madness, as it was common for cultivators to experience deviations by using their Qi while breaking through, and it was too easy to lose control of their Qi in this situation. Furthermore, for most cultivators, their entire focus would be on breaking through, but Wudi was dividing his attention between breaking through and forming his fist. This was unthinkable for most, as even the slightest deviation would cause their Dantian to explode, killing them instantly.
Fuyun had the intention to interfere, but at that moment, Wudi unleashed his fist. The glow disappeared, and the fist looked as ordinary as ever. However, it had a property that made one believe it could shatter all obstacles. The rock the fist was aimed at blew into thousands of tiny pieces, and in that very moment, Wudi broke through his bottleneck.
Stunned by what he had just witnessed, Fuyun whispered to himself, "One fist to shatter the rock and to shatter his bottleneck…" Fuyun began to smile slightly, feeling like he may have comprehended something significant, and thought to himself, "Perhaps I'm not the most talented in the family," while staring at Wudi who stood straight like a heavenly pillar, feeling the Qi and world around him.