"Dad, improving one's cultivation isn't something that happens overnight," Terry Yang said.
"A thousand years is enough for you to absorb all the yin energy in your body. Don't tell me you haven't absorbed any all these years!" the man said.
"Dad, you know my cultivation method works this way. I don't want it either, but it's to fit the method—otherwise, Grandpa wouldn't have chosen me as the next clan leader," Terry Yang said.
"You!" the man was momentarily stunned.
"Dad, I'm telling the truth. Besides, let me rest for a while now. I used to cultivate every day—I almost got sick from it. Now that I've finally reached Emperor-Realm, I can go out and explore. But after running into this trouble, I had to come back. I'll rest for a while before doing anything else," Terry Yang said.
"You mean you're still planning to go out?" the man said angrily, his eyes nearly blazing.
Terry Yang knew that if he kept arguing, he'd really anger his father, so he could only turn to his mother for help.
The woman sighed when she saw this, "Five hundred years, then. A thousand is too long."
"I said a thousand years, so it's a thousand. No bargaining. One year—after one year you must go in. If I come back in a year and you're still here, I'll send you in myself," the man snorted and left.
Terry Yang was left feeling frustrated, "How can he be so unreasonable?"
"You can't blame your father. After all, you are now the Yang Clan's hope, and the only one who carries that bloodline," the woman sighed.
"But that doesn't mean you should keep forcing me to cultivate just because of that," Terry Yang said, frustrated.
"Don't forget, in a thousand years you'll have to compete in the Heaven-Battling Tournament," the woman reminded him.
"Heaven-Battling Tournament? It's coming up that soon?" Terry Yang suddenly realized.
"You've been cultivating for so long you've lost track of time. This last outing, you rushed out wanting to prove yourself, and now look—you've realized your shortcomings. It's best to follow your father's orders and cultivate for a thousand years. If you lose at the Heaven-Battling Tournament, you'll have forgotten the oath you made back then," the woman said. The mention of his old oath made Terry Yang's expression turn to surprise.
"That's right. If you can't achieve what your grandfather expects, you'll learn what consequences await you," the woman sighed.
"Seriously, it's only because I'm the last one with real potential in the family. It's so frustrating—they made me swear that oath," Terry Yang muttered.
"There's no helping it. One of your uncles went mad, and the other hasn't cared about the family since the last Heaven-Battling Tournament—he's like a living corpse, so your grandfather ended up driving him out," the woman said helplessly.
"But I'm different. My blood is the purest. Grandfather said I might even advance to become half Flameblood," Terry Yang said proudly.
"Even if it's only half, that's already impressive. It's been so many years since even a half Flameblood appeared," the woman sighed.