In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 164: The Ruthless Marshal Father (7)

“Wow!”
Two tiny, childish voices chimed in unison in his ears. Qi Sheng looked at the two furry little ones, their ears perked and eyes shining bright with excitement, and he almost wanted to join in and say “wow” too.
Inside the mech simulation combat room, the little tiger, who had only just gone in, successfully killed a Tier 4 mutant beast.
Even before he began cultivation, the little tiger found it difficult to take down a Tier 4 mutant beast at his peak. While he could handle Tier 3 beasts with ease, the leap from Tier 3 to Tier 4 was significant—it marked the jump from beginner to intermediate level. Mutant beasts grew exponentially stronger at that stage, becoming a major bottleneck for federal beastmen that could only be overcome through relentless training.
But ever since he began cultivating, in just three short days, the little tiger’s abilities had undergone a fundamental transformation.
If his progress on the first day had already been considered rapid, then over the following three days, his improvement left Qi Sheng utterly speechless.
The level that had taken Qi Sheng an entire month to achieve—this little guy had surpassed it in just a few days.
Qi Sheng, who had worked so hard on his own cultivation: …
He helplessly rubbed his face, feeling like life had just gotten a lot harder.
Over the past few days, the mindset of the whole Qi family of five had shifted significantly. Thanks to the visible results of Qi Sheng and the little tiger’s cultivation, Bu Qiongyu and the two younger cubs also came to understand the benefits of cultivating.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard they meditated and tried to comprehend it, they still hadn’t managed to get through the entry level…
Previously, only the little tiger needed emotional support. Now, things had flipped—the little tiger didn’t need comforting anymore, but the other four definitely needed some soul-soothing encouragement!
Take Qi Sheng, for example. Despite having a “cheat” and years of experience traveling between worlds, his cultivation speed was completely crushed by the little tiger’s progress. He didn’t even stand a chance.
Qi Sheng reluctantly played teacher to the little tiger for three days before finally giving up and just handed over the entire incantation and its meaning to him. As for the little guy’s cultivation speed—Qi Sheng was done. “I can’t teach you anymore. Go figure it out on your own.”
Fortunately, Qi Sheng wasn’t the slowest learner in the family. If he was the important male supporting character beside a genius protagonist, then Bu Qiongyu and the two little ones were so slow they couldn’t even qualify as sidekicks.
One day, the whole family gathered to share insights again. Cultivation required quiet, so usually they practiced alone in their rooms. But since this method of cultivation was like groping across a river while feeling the stones, it was helpful to share early-stage experiences.
The two little cubs still hadn’t achieved the first step of guiding energy into the body, and their moods were noticeably unstable. Especially the little white tiger, who had been fantasizing about quickly becoming powerful. Her big tiger eyes brimmed with tears when reality didn’t match her dreams.
The little white fox hadn’t started crying yet, but his mood was just as low. Their slow progress even made Bu Qiongyu forget her own frustrations about not making progress.
“Don’t worry, sweethearts. Look, Mommy hasn’t made any progress either,” she said gently.
Qi Sheng echoed her comfort: “Mom is right. Dad also took many days just to figure out the basics. Keep at it, and you’ll definitely succeed!”
The little tiger looked at his sad younger siblings and felt bad for them, but instead of saying comforting words, he leaned over and nudged their furry heads with his own.
The little white tiger looked up at her brother, eyes full of grievance. “But… but big brother is so amazing.”
Qi Sheng laughed. He was no longer worried about over-praising the little tiger. “That’s because your brother is a special case. Trust Daddy—if you calm your heart and truly focus, you’ll both achieve great results.”
The little white tiger wasn’t the type to give up easily. She blinked away her tears, trying to encourage both herself and her brother: “Soon… we’ll succeed very soon!”
The little white fox nodded firmly beside her. Then, as if making a solemn vow, he lifted his little head and walked off toward his room. He would succeed!
With the two little ones finally coaxed back into a good mood, Qi Sheng relaxed a bit. He exchanged a glance with his wife, both amused and helpless.
What was originally meant to solve the little tiger’s problem had somehow turned into a challenge for the other two.
Luckily, Qi Sheng didn’t have to worry for long. On the seventh day, the little white fox finally succeeded in completing the first step of cultivation. Perhaps encouraged by her younger brother’s success, the little white tiger also managed to guide energy into her body the very next day.
And so, of the five in the family, only Bu Qiongyu was still stuck at the entry threshold.
Bu Qiongyu, now the one lagging behind: …Fine. Whatever… as long as the little ones aren’t crying.
Bu Qiongyu, who was nearly driven to a Zen-like state by the torment of cultivation, only managed to break through and officially enter the path after a full month. With no external references for comparison, it seemed within the family that Bu Qiongyu had the weakest aptitude. However, if any ancient Blue Star beastmen familiar with cultivation were still alive, they would be utterly shocked by the talent of the entire family.
Because even Bu Qiongyu, the so-called weakest among them, had a cultivation speed that would’ve been considered top-tier back in the ancient days of Blue Star. As for the little white tiger and little white fox, their cultivation speed would definitely earn them the title of monster-level geniuses.
This was partly due to the exceptional quality of the cultivation technique Qi Sheng had provided, and partly due to their own innate talents.
The little tiger’s case was the most unique. If he had lived during the ancient cultivation era of Blue Star, members of prominent cultivation clans would’ve instantly recognized what was going on.
The little tiger, whose bloodline had undergone atavistic regression, possessed a natural physique perfect for cultivation. Once he stepped onto the cultivation path, he would naturally outpace others, even without putting in much effort.
Such an extraordinarily rare physique—one in ten thousand—would have caused a mad scramble among powerful ancient cultivators during the height of the cultivation era. Even during the declining magic era of ancient Blue Star, knowledgeable people would have treated him like a priceless treasure. But now, in the interstellar age where cultivation civilization has long been lost, such superior talent is viewed instead as odd or even laughable.
Qi Sheng didn’t know the exact nature of the little tiger’s talent, but based on recent events, he could at least now tell—it absolutely had something to do with cultivation aptitude!
Even though Qi Sheng felt a bit bitter about being outpaced by the little tiger, he still devoted time every day to serious cultivation. It wasn’t just for his own strength; he also had the responsibility of guiding the two younger cubs.
Though the little tiger progressed incredibly fast, he couldn’t explain his process at all. In fact, he was often confused himself—he would fall asleep and somehow wake up having broken through a bottleneck. This left the rest of the family both envious and helpless.
During this time, Qi Sheng also had a “friendly” chat about beastman life with the little leopard’s biological father. The level of friendliness was such that the big leopard remembered it with deep trauma, and the surrounding Federal beastmen, witnessing Qi Sheng’s terrifying strength once again, all shut up in fear, not daring to say a word.
Of course, there were always exceptions—like a certain lion who loved to fight.
Huo Zhen, Marshal of the Golden Lion Legion—one of the eight major legions—had always been a rival of Qi Sheng, matching him in strength. The two had fought since they were kids, until eventually Qi Sheng refused to spar with him anymore.
Why? Because this lion couldn’t handle losing. After losing in mecha combat, he’d insist on fighting in beast form. And when that didn’t work, he’d go even lower—he had no sense of Federal cultural refinement and would end up biting with his mouth!
Thus, the original Qi Sheng, who considered himself elegant and refined, simply didn’t want to deal with Huo Zhen. At most, he’d give the guy an eye-roll and walk away.
After learning about Huo Zhen’s illustrious battle history, Qi Sheng didn’t want to fight him either. Normally, he wouldn’t go so far as to end up in close-quarters combat that ended in mutual biting. Most importantly, the idea of getting a mouthful of fur—or worse, losing a patch of fur—was just… unpleasant to say the least.
But Huo Zhen didn’t think like that! Just because he lost the mecha battle didn’t mean he had lost the fight. There was still the beast form showdown—who said the match was over?
Feeling scorned, Huo Zhen spotted a new opportunity. He cheerfully returned home, saw his eldest son doing physical training, and excitedly walked over.
“Xuan’er, let’s go. Daddy’s taking you to Uncle Qi’s place to play.”
Huo Qixuan was the same age as the little tiger. The two cubs had been classmates since they were small, but unfortunately, in beast form, he could never beat the little tiger. It frustrated him to no end—and his father even more so.
So Huo Zhen, as a good father, decided to teach the little lion how to turn the tables. And to everyone’s surprise, it actually worked once.
Huo Zhen didn’t teach much else—just that the cub should use every possible advantage his beast form had in a fight. If the claws didn’t work, use the tail; if the tail failed, use the teeth; and if even the teeth failed, well—you’ve still got body weight!
As a result, the little tiger—who usually fought with elegance—was clawed, kicked, and bitten by the little lion, and was finally defeated by his shameless tactics! So now, just like his father, the little tiger didn’t think much of the little lion.
Back in his room, quietly cultivating, the little tiger had just felt a new change in his body and was full of excitement—until he heard news that the Huo father-and-son duo had come to visit.
His previously excited little tiger face immediately turned into one of disdain. He said to the housekeeper who had come to inform him, “Just tell them I’m not feeling well.”
Unfortunately, just as the words left his mouth, the sneaky little lion appeared right in front of him.
Huo Qixuan, upon seeing his most important rival, instantly shifted from human form to beast form, full of fighting spirit. “Jun Ye, let’s have a match! I’ve been training my beast form seriously!”
The little tiger flicked his tail and rejected him. “No. I’m going to sleep.”
“How can you sleep at a time like this?! Get up, let’s fight!”
The little tiger closed his eyes, not wanting to pay him any attention. But just like his father, the little lion was a natural at being shameless.
Seeing that the little tiger was pretending to sleep, he immediately followed him in, jumped onto the soft cushion, and started bouncing around. Not only did he enjoy shaking the little tiger awake, but he also delighted in deliberately falling on top of him.
His aggro-drawing skills were clearly inherited from his dad—completely maxed out.
So, the little tiger, fed up, smacked the little lion in the face with a paw.
That move was like flipping a switch. The little lion, instead of getting angry, got excited and pounced. Today, he was determined to defeat the little tiger in beast form!
It was a nice thought—unfortunately, the next second, he got slammed into the cushion.
The little lion lay there, stunned: ???
Hmm… he must’ve messed up his posture just now!
So he quickly got up, struck an attack pose, and lunged at the little tiger again while he seemed relaxed and off guard—only to get flattened once more.
Face-down on the cushion again, the little lion blinked in confusion. Was his stance still not right?
Yes! That had to be it!
Completely undeterred, the little lion got back up, shook his slightly numb front paws, and studied the little tiger carefully.
It was still the same tiger—maybe just a tiny little bit bigger? The little lion couldn’t help but look puzzled. What was going on with this tiger?
Frowning with his lion face, the cub started circling the little tiger, who lay limp on the cushion, showing no attack or defense posture whatsoever. This completely upended the little lion’s view of beastman combat.
That guy was full of openings!
Qi Junye flicked his tail, rubbed his nose with a paw, lazily lifted his eyelids to glance at the circling little lion, and then shut them again in disdain.
Even though this guy didn’t actually interfere with his cultivation, he was seriously messing with his mood!
The little tiger dropped his chin back onto the cushion, hoping the dumb lion would just go away already.
But of course, the little lion wasn’t going to leave so easily. After circling a few more times and failing to find anything special about his opponent, he took another shot and launched a surprise attack.
And this time, he got slammed straight into the floor.
The dazed little lion: ???!!!
It had only been a few months since they last saw each other, and the rival who was once evenly matched suddenly felt like he’d been juiced up with hormones and become ridiculously strong. The little lion could not accept this at all.
He couldn’t seem to win anymore, but he wasn’t willing to accept suddenly falling behind his rival. He’d trained hard in beast form, just to beat the little tiger—on top of his physical training in human form!
Lying on the floor, the little lion rolled his eyes thoughtfully, then in the next second, he got up and said in an extremely flattering voice, “Junye, Junye, you’re amazing! How did you suddenly get so strong?”
Dad had said: if you can’t beat your opponent, try building a relationship—then wait for the right moment and sneak in a few moves to copy their techniques.
The little lion remembered his father’s words very well. So, wagging his tail, he pitter-pattered over to the little tiger, his lion face full of flattery.
The little tiger sighed helplessly in his heart. He knew this would happen!
He propped himself up on his front legs and covered his ears with his paws, lying on the cushion with a look of misery. Seriously—could someone please kick this annoying guy out already?