50 Rising in the Wind like Ashes

"Mom, look at him. And understand what you will go through in your Evolution." Han LI said from the side, making Yue Li even more focused.

Li Yun sat above the platform in the lotus position and Li Xingguang stood to the side. Giving him some last-minute advice, "No matter how painful it might be, no matter how blurry your head gets, don't give up. If you surpass that one moment of weakness, you will no longer be the you of this moment."

Nodding, Li Yun closed his eyes and got his mind into a calm and meditative state.

Yue Li was familiar with the process since she had also gone through the same. Even though her talent was non-existent and she failed, she knew the process. But Liyue was very much clueless since Evolution was quite far from her.

"Evolution is the first barrier in a man's cultivation," Han Li said, "It is where the true legendary cultivators who still have their name sung throughout the generations find their confidence. This trial, it is as much of a blessing as it is a curse."

Liyue and Yue Li nodded.

Breathing calmly, Liyun made his hands rest on his lap, and a white spark started to burn on his palm. It was his Starlight Spark.

"A 3 baby-fist-sized Spark. He should have a High-Level Soul Cultivation talent," Han Li said with a pondering face.

Yue Li raised an eyebrow. "Why not Body Cultivation Talent?"

"Because his Spark is of Ethereal type and not Transformation Type."

A cool wind passed by them and the silent audience calmly looked at Li Yun. He looked back at them and started to go through his Evolution attempt.

Rising his hands lit up in the beautiful white spark. He commanded the spark to leave his hands just like he had once made it leave the barriers.

It was slow, but the spark slowly started to rise up and soon left his hand by an inch. The place turned dead silent.

Han Li whispered, "A cultivator of the Ethereal type makes their Spark leave the confines of their body. That will make their senses expand."

Feeling a slow headache building up, Li Yun calmed his mind as much as he could.

"But that leaves them unprotected. This time, it is not going to be a gentle expansion of senses like it was when we Awakened, it will be Senses on a whole other level. He could even sense an ant's footsteps in a 6-meter radius of him. And that comes with a severe toll on our psyches."

Li Yun gritted his teeth, all around him, he could feel it. There was dust flying around, and a faint sensation of coldness lingered after the rain. Some people in that radius smelled horrible.

All these senses assaulted his brain with no barriers. At the same time, he felt as if he had left his body behind.

Yet, the weakening heartbeats of his own sounded clear to him. He felt as if he was losing himself.

"Steady your breathing," said a calm but loud voice.

Li Yun instinctively did as it said. "Let your heart beat freely, don't try to constrain it."

He felt as if he would really lose himself if he let it beat freely. He kept his heart tight.

Han Li shook his head from the seating area in pity. But he was as calm as ever.

When the Spark first comes out of the body, it is the same as a dead Power Born's Spark rising up to the sky. The world will attract it.

And thus the connection the Cultivator feels with it will keep reducing and reducing. But if they let that feeling dominate them. It was over.

This was taught multiple times to these people by their seniors. But at that moment, they just end up losing themselves.

The Spark rose higher and higher from the man for a while before it vanished like a flame in the wind.

The whole crowd turned silent. Li Yun opened his eyes with a bitter expression and before he could do anything, coughed up some blood.

Li Xingguang sighed and patted his back. He didn't say anything and Li Yun's eyes leaked some bit of tears.

But the man held it back and wiped his face before standing up.

The Head of the clan looked at the man for a second. Li Yun clenched his hands.

"Don't be bitter… Cultivation is like this…" Li Xingguang looked at the people and sighed once more.

"Hea…Family Head, did I fail because my mind wasn't strong enough? Because I didn't let my heart beat freely as you said?" He asked. He could already feel his chest starting to ache weakly, that was probably his disease from now.

"Maybe? I don't know. It is a battle with the world to take the Spark under your control… I just advised what I felt were good methods. Even I don't know what really is the reason for your failure." Han Li looked at the interaction with a raised brow. On a day when they were supposed to show the clan their strength, the Head himself was showing his weakness.

On the other hand, he was also rather sure the Head should know the real reason for the Failure. It was simply a weak mind.

In that moment of Breakthrough, the mind should be empty of any other thought and focus entirely on the Spark.

And this man had directly focused on something like his heart. It was just courting failure.

"But not all hope is lost, Young Friend Li Yun," The Head said, "They say heavens always leave a path open. Maybe, you might not be someone who will soar high into the sky, but what about your descendants? They will make you proud. They are our hope for the future."

Li Yun sighed.

"Indeed, not all… are meant for the path of cultivation."

Xingguang patted his back and turned around with a smile. Soon, his figure faded into the surroundings and he vanished.

Han Li looked at the scene with deep eyes. So, Xingguang doesn't really care much about the impression of the clan and is just doing everything while he's at it.

No wonder. If this man really cared, the clan should've been much more united.

But Han Li knew he was the same. The higher the Stage of cultivation you reached, the more meaningless a Clan or Family became.

Of course, he would never think like that about Yue Li. Since she was half his reason for existing. But a Clan under him or something like that?

They were always more of a burden than an asset. He would never want one if it didn't really help in his ambition.

Most wouldn't willingly take that burden to heart. Especially when they knew most of the clan members were just going to live for 100 years at most and they would live far more than that.

Even the Head himself was more than 200 years old after all.

But still, the man was experienced enough to push any probable suicidal thoughts away from Li Yun, he gave Li Yun some hope to look forward to before heading off.

But, by the way that he acted, Han Li could tell he didn't really care too much about anything happening here.

'I didn't remember him like that…' he contemplated. 'Indeed, my past self at this age was far too naive. I shouldn't completely rely on those memories as judgment.'