A Future

The appearance of a happy Huang Yang almost brought tears to the eyes of the guest. At least Huang Mei cried a bit, but nothing compared to the old patriarch. It was as if he saw the sun for the first time in years.

Depression had struck him in reasoned times, due to the current mood of the Huang family. The delighted expression of his little boy greatly helped him.

The birthday continued as the children began playing. Any fool could clearly see that Huang Yang, hadn't fully returned to a silly little boy who simply loved fighting, but at least he smile more.

He didn't hide from conversations and even gave out hugs. The elders talked to his parents, trying to figure out, what happened. How could the distant child revert so fast?

Huang Shi leisurely explained what the true problem had been, while his eyes followed all of his son's movement.

Enlightenment smashed into the others' heads as they realized that they such a thought, hadn't even crossed their minds for one second. It was painfully simple. All children feared loneliness.

Huang Yang also noticed Zhou Ru. The two began talking about martial arts, which made Huang Mei pout her lips in irritation. She wasn't a monster like Huang Yang and, therefore, hadn't even advanced to the opening realm yet.

The guest slowly began to leave, even Huang Canfeng who had a hard time leaving behind his grandchildren. Before he left he looked at Huang Yang, "I'm sorry that your grandmother couldn't come, she has gotten worse... come visit her tomorrow and talk to her".

Huang Yang gently nodded his head, before giving him a hug and walking towards his home with his family and Lei Nianzu. Pen Min decided to walk with them, leisurely drinking from his gourd.

From a distance, Huang Yang saw his sword. The Bronzefire greatsword was quite short for a greatsword but weighed a lot for a young boy like him, if not for his supernatural body strength. He had learned a lot from using it.

The problem lay in a feeling he had begun noticing. It felt as though the sword was somewhat wrong for his martial arts. It was weird as he found in useful in power and the fact that it was immovable at times.

The Scorched Steel sword art was about being furious like fire, while using the metal elements to be unmovable. The greatsword gave him power over momentum while making him almost like a mountain for others.

He felt as though he needed to train with a smaller sword, in order for him to not overly rely on the weight of his sword to stand his ground. He needed to use the metal elements in order for him to be unmovable, not just a heavy sword.

Huang Yang shifted his gaze between Lei Nianzu and Pen Min, clearly showing them that he had a question on his mind. The two hardly noticed this, especially not Pen Min who had been drinking.

"Grandpa Zu, Uncle Min, I have a question", he said with a sigh, finally drawing to him, their fleeting attention.

"In order for me to improve my swordsmanship I think the use of a small thin sword is necessary", Huang Yang said with a determined look, after which he explained his thought process.

His two elders nodded along with what he said. Even his father walking by them agreed with his point of view. In some ways, he would likely need training with a greatsword and small sword.

"Don't worry little Yang, I'll get you a sword, you just need to focus on how to use it", Lei Nianzu said with a warm smile. By the side Pen Min, gave a thumbs up with a dazed expression, his check would often redded after he barbed. Huang Yang could only shake his head over this sword master of his.

An idea seemed to cross Huang Yang's mind after talking about using the elements to move his sword. "Won't I be able to fly earlier if I learn how to fully control the elements in a sword", he asked.

His father smiled as he nodded, "Indeed you will Yang'er, there are actually many ways for a martial artist to fly, but true flight is only possible at the Soul-Spirit realm", Huang shi said.

Pen Min then explains that some people have martial spirits, with the ability to fly. This counted for his father with his Skyfire Lion. A person may possess wings as a martial spirit, while rare people had a weapon with the natural ability to fly.

Some sects had a flying sword manual. This greatly helped those with a sword martial spirit fly in the Spirit Core realm when it became solid.

The biggest advantage lay, however, with people like Huang Yang, who could learn to control metal elements, he may even have the change to fly at the awakening realm, when his qi had become more abundant and his mastery over metal had been enhanced.

As all kids would, Huang Yang began imagining himself flying up high in the sky. A sword underneath his feet as he broke the clouds with nothing more than his fingers.

The others looked at him with a smile, as it was good to see the boy dream again, instead of simply walking around with a nightmare haunting him.

A memory suddenly awakened in the mind of Huang Shi as he also looked at the training field. His palm met his forehead as the gave himself a self deprecated smile. "I have forgotten something, my brain is really in another world", he said, before continuing.

"Our family will be participating in the three families tournament in one and a half years time, I know that it's far away from you Yang'er, but I and your grandfather have made the desition for you to participate".

Huang Yang who had never heard of this tournament showed curiosity, yet his main feeling was a joy, even though it was well hidden. For months he had been sad and distant, it wouldn't fully change in a day, maybe it would never really change.

He enjoyed martial arts and would indeed like a good fight. This would be a good idea for him to improve and test his strength. His mind only found one problem.

"But can a person in my own age group fight me?", He said with skepticism. He honestly sounded really arrogant, which made the elder laugh. The boy was indeed strong, and his words did make sense.

Slowly finish of their laughing contest his family looked at him, as they had been walking for some time now, the had arrived by their house, which signaled for Pen Min and Lei Nianzu to take off.

His mother and brother entered the house, while he still stood with his father. Huang Shi smiled foolishly as it showing off his trademark. "You are indeed stronger, which is why you get to show off in front of your future wife", he said with a burst of laughter.

His future wife from the Yan family was apparently going to show up to watch. This would allow him to make a strong introduction. He also learned that this daughter of heaven was a year older than him.

Huang Yang wasn't really knowledgeable about the whole marriage thing, but he was excited over the opportunity to fight others his age and above. The fear of the fight ending the same way as it did before, with the death of Zhilan, hardly crossed his mind.

The fear of losing his family was greater than killing another person or ending up dead himself. the urge to train flared up in his eyes. He would only train with people far stronger than him, which mostly removed the intensity.

There was nothing on the line, but know there was. While he may just be a child, he still had pride, and he would do what he could to retain it, even if it meant that he needed to destroy his opponent.

Seeing the fighting spirit in his son, Huang Shi smile. "Your future father-in-law will by the way come to greet you in a few months, do make a good impression", His father said before entering the house, leaving behind his speechless son.

While Huang Yang was a bit worried about him making a good impression. Huang Shi knew that his son would just have to show his strength in order for them to soar into the clouds out of happiness.

Huang Yang had the talent of a devil mixed with a god. He couldn't wait to see the face of his future brother-in-law when they all met. "No pride can hold up in front of my son HAHA", he laughed to himself.

The night had come and people fell asleep, except for Lei Nianzu and the drunk Pen Min who was still walking in the night.

A "Purp!", came from Pen Min

"Why me?!", Lei Nianzu said with tears in his eyes

He always had to walk home with this drunk...