Okay, that's good; my grandfather obtaining a mortal-ranked physique did allow him to break through his bottleneck, although I'm not sure of the exact level of his cultivation base…
RUMBLE!
After a few more minutes of lightning flashing within the room and Huang Li forcing himself to endure the pain of the transformation, things finally settled down. The azure light that erupted forth from his body slowly disappeared as his ocean-blue eyes flashed with lightning.
He stood up from his position on the floor and gave a simple punch straight to the side—nothing fancy, just a normal punch.
BOOM!
The entire room shook from his fist as the formations that he had placed in the room struggled to maintain their defensive properties; in fact, he saw small cracks appearing all over the room before Huang Li waved his hand and reinforced the barrier, ensuring that none of the energy leaked out.
Seeing this, Huang Shi smiled as he also stood up from his sitting position and spoke a few words.
"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Grandfather!"
Huang Li looked at this grandson of his, thinking for a few seconds more before walking straight toward him and giving him a tight hug, causing some of his muscles and bones to creak.
Shit... that hurts a bit.
Seeing that he was hurting his beloved grandson, Huang Li took a step back, looking into his golden eyes before giving a grateful smile.
"Well... like I promised, I won't ask any questions... so thank you, Shi'er…"
Huang Shi was about to say a few words in return—something about not worrying about those things because they were family—when all of a sudden, his grandfather's expression grew a bit grim.
"Ahem..."
Seeing that something was a bit off, Huang Shi instantly gulped as he looked toward his grandfather with a worried expression.
What could it be? Did I really make a mistake giving him that gift?
He clenched his fists beneath his robes, his golden eyes flashing with trepidation.
Seeing the look on his grandson's face, he sighed before walking back toward him and pulling him into a single-arm hug, his arm wrapped around his shoulders.
"Aigh... don't worry, child... It's just... about you and your relationship with Mei'er…"
Instantly, Huang Shi's heart started beating so fast, his anxiety mounting to its peak, as he felt cold sweat run down his back.
Shit... shit... it's even worse than I thought... Grandfather found out about my relationship with Mei'er prematurely!
Truthfully speaking, he didn't much care what other people thought about his relationship with Li Mei. Considering that they weren't even blood-related, that it was he who pushed for the relationship in the first place, and that they truly did love each other, he didn't care what kind of opinions other people had of them.
However, his grandfather was different. Huang Li basically treated Li Mei as his own daughter, and the idea of his daughter having a relationship with his grandson probably didn't leave a very good feeling in his heart, even if they truly weren't related.
This means that if his grandfather openly disapproved of their relationship, Huang Shi and Li Mei would be forced to make a choice: do they end their relationship out of respect for Huang Li, hide their relationship from him and delay as long as possible, or do they cut Huang Li out of their lives for good?
None of these options seemed like a good idea, and so both he and Li Mei subconsciously acted as if the problem didn't exist, creating a slight strain in their relationship whenever they talked about Huang Li.
Of course, now that Huang Li knew about their relationship, it was clear that Li Mei was the first among the two of them to crack, as clearly she couldn't bear to hide something as significant as this from her father figure.
Damn it, Mei'er! You actually pushed me into the fire all alone without any support! I will get back at you for this!
With anger simmering in his veins, all kinds of nasty, perverted punishments appeared inside of his head, just waiting to be used on his beloved.
Huang Li, seeing the pale expression on his grandson's face, opted to speak out first. He stepped away from him for a bit as he looked deep into his eyes.
"You've probably figured it out from my words by now... but Mei'er told me about the two of you… engaging in that sort of relationship…"
Huang Shi gulped, his face turning white as if he had seen a ghost. The beating of his heart was so loud and fast that he seemed to hear it even with all of the noise-suppressing formations present in the room.
Huang Li sighed, as he spoke with a slightly aged voice, "All right, all right, don't look so scared… I'm just confused… why don't you talk me through what happened between you two in your own words, since I've already heard from Mei'er?"
Huang Shi gulped as he instantly nodded his head. He started speaking slowly, giving a brief but concise explanation of his current relationship with Li Mei, including major events, how he felt about her, and what his plans for their future were.
Huang Li didn't speak the entire time, opting to just stay quiet, just staring straight into his eyes.
Once he was done with his explanation, he waited for Huang Li to respond, his fingertips flashing with golden flames as he tried his best to calm his nerves.
Finally, after quite a long moment of silence, Huang Li opened his mouth. His expression changed a few times—from disappointment and anger until finally arriving at gentleness and acceptance—as he stepped toward him and gave him a deep hug.
"Alright… even if I don't understand it, I can see that your feelings for each other are genuine. I just hope that you don't disappoint Mei'er… God knows how hard she has had it these past few years, so I hope you can help ease her burdens…"