“What?”
Li Shen’s brows furrowed even more as he stared at his father.
“You're holding back yourself in fear of the possibility that your friends could get hurt. That’s a poor excuse and I’m disappointed.”
Li Shen got irritated.
“So your saying me revealing my ability to cultivate won’t be without repercussions? That I won’t have anyone targeting me if I’m not in the Academy or Clan? Even my friends will face the same amount of danger, all because I was careless enough to put them in that danger. Don’t tell me protecting my friends is a poor excuse!!”
Li Shen yelled those last few words at his father.
He knew what his father was trying to say. That he shouldn’t let his desire to protect Jun and everyone else weigh him down.
But it’s not!
He was still improving and although his cultivation had stagnated at the Sea Expansion realm he now knew a way to overcome it. His Seven Sins plum blossom had made leaps of improvement and not to mention his physical strength and his Heavenly Cultivation.
Just because he hid his identity didn’t mean he was being held back, if anything it was giving him room to improve without any distractions.
Li Shu looked at his son’s angry expression and calmly said.
“Ever since you returned from the Ancestral Grounds I can sense a shackle that’s been placed on you. As if something was dictating your actions not allowing you to act freely.”
Li Shen’s heart thumped and his mind drifted to Avarice’s words to him.
‘Take up your responsibility for living this life the both of us.’
‘That’s not a shackle.’
Li Shen denied in his heart.
“I want you to take off your mask.”
“Didn’t you hear what I-”
“Stop hesitating!”
Li Shu raised his voice and cut Li Shen off.
“How long are you going to keep your identity a secret? How long are you going to hide behind a mask? You act as if you aren’t the Second Prince of the Maple Continent! As long as I’m here no one would dare try to target you!”
Li Shu looked at Li Shen, he didn’t know why his son couldn’t understand that.
“One thousand three hundred and forty-four.”
Li Shen suddenly said a number.
“That’s the number of Faction members currently under my command outside of the Academy. If you count the one’s inside then that’s six more, my two disciples and the others.”
Li Shu hearing that number was immediately taken aback.
“I know you can protect me, but are you planning on protecting them if I do reveal my identity? Do you think I enjoy having to wear a mask? I don’t, but I do it because it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make to insure the people under my command don’t die. The forces that are enemies of our family will surely target them if they found out my potential. What will I do if I’m the cause of their deaths?”
Li Shu remained silent for a moment before he asked.
“Is that the reason you chose to be independent? Because you wanted to separate your forces from the clan’s own to not have our enemies target them?”
Li Shen nodded.
“The public opinion of me amongst the top Powers is that because I cannot cultivate my life span is limited. If I were to reveal my worth then in fear of me as the Second Prince they will start watching my every move, they will target my force and carry out a massacre then. I just need time, that’s all I need before I will be able to stand on my own.”
Li Shu had to agree that his son's cautious nature is justified, however…
“When is that? When will you be able to stand on your own? What level of strength would you need to have to not worry about being able to protect those close to you? Is it the Foundation Realm? The Core Formation Realm? The Nascent Realm? The Soul Transformation Realm? Don’t you see the flaw in your logic son? As long as you're in the cultivation world you will always be weaker than someone. The fear of not being able to protect them will always be there.
“Even if you hide your talents now and become stronger than everyone on this Continent, then what will you do when you eventually leave? Will you hide your cultivation and talents so even more powerful experts won’t target those close to you again? You’ll go through your entire cultivation journey just hiding in fear of a possibility.”
Li Shen remained silent under his father’s questions.
“Son, people die in the cultivation, death and cultivation are synonymous. Regardless of the reason, they will die. Holding back yourself to avoid something that will eventually happen is meaningless.”
Li Shen clenched his teeth at his father’s words.
“But it will be because of ME. I will be the cause of their deaths. It won’t be an accident or anything else but ME. How can I live with myself knowing that I was the cause of Jun’s or anyone else’s deaths?”
“That’s why I brought you here.”
Li Shen looked up at his father confused upon hearing that.
“You no longer have to attend the academy. Since you're worried about your friends' safety after you reveal your cultivation you can enter seclusion with them. You can also disband that Faction your trying to form.”
“Why?”
Li Shen didn't understand his father right now.
“It's until you reach a sufficient cultivation realm where you can stop acting like a coward.”
Li Shen snap.
“You’ve been saying some weird things for a while now old man. I'm not disbanding my Faction, and you can’t force me to reveal my identity. What would be the point?”
Li Shu frowned.
“With our Li Clan weakening our enemies will believe they have a chance to attack us. If you reveal your potential and then go into hiding it will deter them from acting against us for the time being.”
“That’s why you want to force me to reveal my identity? Because you want to use me as a deterrence?”
Li Shen asked in disbelief.
“Why is that necessary? What about Ancestor Mei, she-”
“She has already left.”
Li Shen paused and looked at his father in shock.
Ancestor Mei was the majority of their power, now Li Shen was hearing that she was gone.
Li Shen clenched his fists.
“You said to believe in our clan and that we have a way to stand up against each force on the Maple Continent. Don’t tell me all that bravado was because she was here?”
Li Shen locked gaze with his father.
“Aren’t you as much of a coward as me? You avoid a fight with the Demonic Cult because you’re afraid. If you hadn’t left beforehand this situation wouldn’t have happened when Ancestor Mei leaves. That’s why the other Ancestors are leaving before elder brother becomes Emperor because you selfishly broke the rules and left.”
Li Shu’s expression became void of emotions.
“I refuse to have a little brat that doesn’t know anything lecture me. Get out.”
Li Shen didn’t hesitate and he spun on his heels to leave the throne room.
BANG
The doors were slammed shut unnecessarily hard behind him.
This conversation didn’t go anywhere. It just showed how an irresponsible father was forcing his son to make up for his selfish actions, and how a cowardly son who had trust issues was afraid of taking risks.
And though the reasons for their actions were equally justified from their point of view, from an outsider's perspective, however, like father like son, they both have flaws they need to work on.
Li Shu stared at the doors for a moment before he let out a sigh.
“You can’t blame him for going against your decision. He seems to be attached to those few friends he made in the academy.”
Li Shu released another sigh as Fulong appeared next to him.
“I’m not blaming him, and he’s attached to them too much. I can’t imagine how it will affect him if one of them dies.”
“Maybe that is a good thing.”
**
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