“You two! Get up already – it’s time for the peak try-outs!”

Sun Quan was particularly merciless this time round. He clashed the pots and pans in his hands together to create a great din, causing the two young boys to groan in protest.

“Da-Niang, it’s so early…”

“Nonsense!” Sun Quan snorted. “It’s never too early to get up and prepare for the day. Look, last time your elder disciple brother was lucky – nobody wanted to join our peak back then. But this time, a number of people actually do! If you aren’t prepared enough, you won’t end up joining us, do you understand?”

Hearing this, the two boys sat up and stretched.

It was always in Xian Ye and Xian Yang’s minds that they would join Sun Guang Peak someday. Their mother’s peak, Xian-Nu Peak, wasn’t particularly ideal for men to cultivate in. Although Sun Quan himself got along famously with the female cultivators there as he was peddling novels to them, the two young boys didn’t have much in common with their martial sisters. Even the food they liked weren’t the same.

The boys hurried over to wash their faces and do warm up sword exercises with Sun Ying. With his guidance, over the weeks the two had advanced their sword skills to match their cultivation levels. While Sun Ying was exceptionally good with the spear, he was also good at almost every weapon available. To the boys, his pointers, together with Sun Wu’s, were more valuable than gold was to Sun Quan.

Breathing in the fresh morning air, Sun Wu smiled pleasantly while watching the three practice. In all honesty, he’d never expected that so many people would willingly and so happily want to join his peak. If he hadn’t hired Sun Quan as a servant that day, would things have played out differently? Now he had three geniuses with advanced cultivations under his tutelage, and perhaps many more to come.

“What are you grinning about?” came Sun Quan’s suspicious voice beside him. “I hope it’s not another mah-jong gathering again. You only have a few coins left to bet, you know? I’m not giving you any money until the end of the month.”

“Ah, well, no, it isn’t that,” said Sun Wu, grinning sheepishly. “I was just thinking about how nice and lively things are at our peak now.”

“Indeed it is,” replied Sun Quan, folding his arms with a satisfied smile. “Anyway, come in all of you. I’ve especially made dim sum for us this morning. After this you two will put on new clothes and head right to the try-outs, you hear?”

The twins shouted with glee when they heard that there would be dim sum. Sun Quan’s dim sum had a lot of pork and chicken in them, and one of the little dishes even tasted a bit like herbal chicken. It was like eating all their favourite side dishes at one seating. Even Sun Ying looked rather excited, his thick, handsome brows lifted up almost to his hairline.

The three rushed like children to clean up and sit at the table, followed by the more leisurely Sun Wu and Sun Quan. After a hearty meal, they rested a bit before getting Xian Ye and Xian Yang to try on their new clothes.

“I can’t believe their mother would buy them new clothes when it’ll only be worn for one day at most,” Sun Quan clicked his tongue. “What spendthrift habits…”

Sun Wu chuckled when he heard Sun Quan talk about another peak master like that. Truly, this spiny youth knew no limits.

“Now, now,” Sun Wu said breezily, “the Xian-Nu peak lord, no matter which peak her sons cultivate in, will always be their mother before anything else. Even if after this they’ll mostly be wearing our peak’s colours, at least for today they’re still from her peak.”

“If I had sons like that, they’d be wearing old clothes,” Sun Quan scoffed, but his expression softened a little. “A-Ye, A-Yang, are you done?”