A month has passed by since Zhu Furong had started living with the Zhu Family as their Third Young Master of the family.

Yes! By coincidence or by design, our protagonist has again become the 'Third Young Master' of a family.

Hope the same tragedy doesn't follow him this time.

Though, things aren't looking that good here too, but this time there are people who care for Zhu Furong in the family very much.

Great General Zhu, Zhu Bohai, treats Zhu Furong just like his other grandsons. Or maybe, he loves Zhu Furong much more than them.

Little Ling or Zhu Ling, takes care of Zhu Furong more like a mother than an Elder Sister.

And at last, Zhu Da(big), Zhu Furong's Fourth Uncle, loves little Furong just like a father.

Furong feels blessed to be surrounded by these people. He couldn't expect more than this.

There are still people who don't like the presence of Zhu Furong in the family, but as Xingzuo had said, which family doesn't have any issues?

Speaking of Xingzuo... Ehem! Now we should call him Zhu Xingzuo.

Since the Big Brother has taken a surname, it's obvious for the Little Brother to take the same surname. 

So after being punished by Zhu Furong for a whole month, the Behemoth Egg was again able to start Cultivating. 

This time, the now Zhu Xingzuo behaved very well. He is very happy as he has received a full-name even before being born or hatch in this case. 

There were no ill feelings for being kept away from receiving any Spiritual Qi for a whole month.

...

Few more months have passed by. With the passing of time, Zhu Furong was able to gather a lot of information about the Zhu Family.

Even though he is just a five-year-old, he already has a Spiritual Body. With his Divine Sense he is able to spy on a lot of things around the manor. He couldn't do it twenty-four-seven a day, but releasing his Divine Sense for two hours everyday was enough to gather all the needed information.

Using Divine Sense constantly also helped in improving his Spiritual Cultivation. Even though the improvement is negligible, it's still there.

"Sigh!... This family really has many issues. I expected it to be bad, but this bad!?" Little Furong shook his head with disappointment while murmuring.

He is sitting cross-legged in his room, which is in his new private courtyard allocated to him after his full health recovery and adoption in the Zhu Family. The location of his courtyard is at the back corner of the Zhu manor.

It's quite peaceful here. He usually spends his daily time observing the people staying or working in the Zhu Family.

He is wearing a loose white t-shirt and black trousers. Aha! Very comfortable. Probably the reason why he is wearing such attire even though he should be wearing something Young Master like.

Well, it's not like anybody will see him like this anyways. Zhu Furong didn't accept any personal servants.

Someone cleans his room when he is strolling in the garden and delivers the food in set times.

Zhu Ling visits him from time to time to play with him.

Other than his grandfather Zhu Bohai, his Fourth Uncle Zhu Da and his mother like Elder Sister Zhu Ling, Zhu Furong has only met the other family members one time. That was during his adoption ceremony.

Unlike a normal adoption ceremony, where people from outside the family are invited as guests, Zhu Furong's adoption ceremony was concluded with only the family members and servants.

Someone said that there is no need to hold a grand ceremony just to adopt a grandson!

Well, indirectly the person said to Zhu Furong that you are not welcome here.

Zhu Furong didn't give a shit about that. All he cared about were the three people who cared for him. Others don't matter. 

This kind of treatment wasn't something new for Zhu Furong. But Zhu Ling cried all night while holding her little brother during sleep.

Zhu Furong was adopted as the son of Zhu Bohai's late Second Son and Daughter-in-law, Zhu Ling's parents.

They died three years ago in an accident leaving a six-year-old Zhu Ling behind.

Now Zhu Ling is nine years old.

Zhu Furong has gathered quite a lot of information about the Zhu Family's situation.

The treatment of Zhu Ling wasn't good in the family and the main reasons for this was Zhu Ling's engagement to the Second Prince.

The Second Prince's mother, the current Empress of the Ming Dynasty, used to be close friends with Zhu Ling's mother. The engagement was decided by them.

After the death of Zhu Ling's mother, many people saw it as an opportunity to break up the engagement and get the ladies from their own house engaged to the prince. Some people of the Zhu Family have similar aspirations.

Zhu Ling's First Uncle also has a daughter, she is the same age as Zhu Ling and the Second Prince. He wants his daughter to replace Zhu Ling for the marriage and hence always mistreats her along with the other members of the family.

If not for Zhu Bohai they wouldn't even care to get their hands dirty.

Zhu Bohai is a widower and had four sons, no daughter.

The eldest son works as a General of the army and has two wives, one son and one daughter of age 15 and 9 respectively.

The second son was Zhu Ling's father who died in an accident.

The third son works as a Squad Leader in the army. Have two wives but only one son of 13 years old.

The fourth son is better than the Third Son and works in the army as a Captain, but unfortunately he is still a bachelor. Or maybe he is fortunate to not be nagged by a wife all the time. Who knows.

Just like any other aristocratic family, there is power struggle inside the Zhu Family. The first and second sons are always fighting for the position of the next head of the family. Great General Zhu also sees this as a competition between the brothers and doesn't stop them. He will die someday and have to pass the baton anyway.

Zhu Bohai decided to stay away from the skirmishes between the two brothers till they stay under certain limitations.

The fourth son, Zhu Da, doesn't have any high aspirations and just wants to live a peaceful life. Er... Kinda similar to Furong from his past life isn't it?

Well, Zhu Furong also doesn't have any intentions to step in the muddy waters and just wants to Cultivate his Martial Arts.

He won't get involved with the family matters till they don't get involved with him. And they better not get involved with him or things may get nasty this time.

Our Furong in this life won't be some grass you can just step on. He's gonna become a tough nut to crack and a spicy one too.

So this is the gist of the current condition of the Zhu Family. The rest will be known as we move on.

...

It's the season of summer, the sun is high in the sky.

Little Zhu Furong is sitting cross-legged under a peach tree in his courtyard garden. He is wearing the same t-shirt and trousers. His hair is tied into a bun without any ornaments.

"It's been a while since I have started living here. I have already somewhat adapted to my new family. I guess it's time I start Cultivating. What do you think?" Zhu Furong asked while looking at the flowerbed in the garden. He was all alone here.

"It should be alright to start now, your mental state is stable and your Physical Body is healthy." Suddenly Zhu Xingzuo answered with Divine Sense.

"So what are you waiting for? Pass me the techniques my Masters had given you." Zhu Furong said excitedly.

"Urgh!... You remember your masters told you to do everything in a proper order? Why are you in such a hurry?" Zhu Xingzuo complained.

"Ah, ehem!... I was just a bit excited, that's all. Forget it. Just tell me what to do and where to start." Zhu Furong said while scratching his cheek with a finger in embarrassment.

"Ok ok,I got it. Don't worry I won't tease you or anything. I don't wanna lose my access to the Spiritual Qi again." Zhu Xingzuo resented.

"Well let's see..." Saying this Zhu Xingzuo fell silent. Probably browsing through his memories.

After about 10 minutes Zhu Xingzuo spoke. "It's Body Transformation technique. That's where you should start according to your masters. But..."

"But what?" Zhu Furong asked.

"It says you should start Cultivating this technique only after reaching 7 years old. But you are only 5 years old now." Zhu Xingzuo answered.

"So you mean I have to wait for about one and a half years? Won't it be a waste of time?" Zhu Furong said with disappointment.

"Well, usually human beings start Cultivating Martial Arts at the age of 8. Demons can start at 4. Monster Beasts start as soon as they are born and spirits start at the age of 3. So since you have the Human Race bloodline mixed with the other three, you can somehow start Cultivating at the age of 7." Zhu Xingzuo explained.

"Siiiii... What a huge difference. Doesn't this mean the other races get more time to Cultivate than a Human? They should be stronger than a human of the same age, but..." Zhu Furong seemed confused.

"Well the starting point may differ, since each race is born with a different body composition, but one's Cultivation strength depends on different factors." Zhu Xingzuo said.

"That's true." Zhu Furong nodded.

"Well, what should we do now then?" Zhu Furong asked.

"Let's see... Hmm... You can Cultivate the first few techniques of the Human Race Martial Arts. Like the three stages of Body Preparation rank. Strength Training, Bone Strengthening and Organ Tempering." "Well, it's basically Cultivating the Body Preparation rank itself." Zhu Xingzuo enthusiastically answered.

"Wait! Didn't you just say I need to be 8 years old to start Cultivating these Human Race Cultivation techniques? Are you playing with me or what?" Zhu Furong shouted angrily with Divine Sense.

"Er... Umm... It's not like that Big Brother, it was just a silly mistake. You see, the Demon Race doesn't require to Cultivate the Body Preparation rank since they are born with a stronger body than humans and you are quite similar to them in that regard, so..." Zhu Xingzuo quickly answered Zhu Furong meekly.

"Ehem! I am sorry, that was quite unbecoming of me." Zhu Furong apologized.

"So you want to say that my Physical Body is quite strong compared to normal humans so I don't need to Cultivate the basic Human Race techniques and I can directly start from the Body Transformation technique my Masters left for me?" Zhu Furong inquired.

"Yes! That's what I am saying. Big Brother you are quite smart." Zhu Xingzuo answered.

"Stop boot-licking." Zhu Furong quickly stopped Zhu Xingzuo from speaking any further.

"So for now we will practice the Human Race techniques for Body Preparation rank."

"Hmm... Let's increase the practice difficulty by several notches. Since I am different from human beings, I need a different training method." Zhu Furong said.

"Well, you have experience with the Body Preparation rank from your past life right? You can manage it yourself, I will focus on my Cultivation." Zhu Xingzuo replied.

"Ah ok, no worries. The first Cultivation Rank of the Human Race is basically training the Physical Body, it's far away from any proper Cultivation. I can manage it myself." Zhu Furong complied.

"By the way, people here think I can't Cultivate, what about it?" Zhu Furong asked. This question has been bugging him since he first heard someone mention it. Then he just thought of it as some conspiracy of the people in the family who didn't like his presence so he just ignored it.

"Ah, it may be because of me." Zhu Xingzuo started explaining.

"You see, when that doctor came to diagnose you. He sent a strand of Essence Qi inside your body to check your condition. When the Qi passed through your dantian it got sucked in along with the Spiritual Qi I was absorbing inconspicuously." 

"The doctor must have thought of it as some birth defect and your incapability to hold Essence Qi in your dantian, so he must have concluded that you are not capable of Cultivating Martial Arts." 

"What the hell! There's such a thing?... Well, not that I care. It's better this way. I can stay low-key and won't attract any unnecessary troubles." Zhu Furong said.

"Well, you practice your Cultivation or do your training, whatever it is, I am going back to absorb Spiritual Qi. See ya later Big Brother." Saying this Zhu Xingzuo went silent.

Both the brothers started their own Cultivation. Zhu Xingzuo kept absorbing the Spiritual Qi through Zhu Furong's dantian silently and Zhu Furong started Strength Training, the first stage of Body Preparation rank of the Human Race.

In Body Preparation rank a human being goes through three major changes. First, his stamina and muscle strength increases drastically. Second, his bones become stronger than any metal and third his inner organs become more flexible and hard to damage. These three changes are the three stages of the first Cultivation Rank.

Usually people start Cultivating at the age of 8 when their body is developed enough to handle the harsh and rigorous training. All the three Body Preparation rank stages are further divided into three levels to lessen the burden on the Physical Body and to strengthen the whole human body slowly and thoroughly avoiding any hidden injuries.

From the age of 8 to age of 11, it takes about three years for a normal Martial Artist to complete all the three stages of training and achieve the Body Preparation rank.

For the genius and talented, they may take far less time. Well it's the same for them in whatever they do, isn't it?

Well our protagonist Zhu Furong can also be called a genius, because he decided to do things in a drastic way. You will see it soon.

...

After making his decision to start Cultivating from the age of five, Zhu Furong rushed to his grandfather and asked him for different kinds of Martial Arts books and some physical training materials.

Great General Zhu was surprised by the little kid's demands but nonetheless he fulfilled all of his wishes without asking any questions.

'Well, what can a five-year-old even do with all these heavy weights, he must have seen someone in the house do some exercise and wants to copy them. So cute. Just... I hope he doesn't hurt himself.' That's all Great General Zhu thought before ordering the servants to rush to the warehouse and markets for books and training materials.

Soon the materials were gathered inside Zhu Furong's room.

He arranged all the books in order in the bookshelves and stored the physical training equipment inside a small storehouse at the corner of his garden.

From this day onwards Zhu Furong spent most of his time reading Martial Arts books and fishing in the small pond in his courtyard.

His days were passing peacefully.

One of the following days, Great General Zhu brought a few private tutors to Zhu Furong. There were teachers for each and every subject. 

This was something every Young Master out there had to go through. So it didn't surprise Zhu Furong. He just went with the flow.

All the tutors took turns to teach Zhu Furong for a few days to check his talent and aptitude.

At the end they were all surprised to see Zhu Furong being good at everything. He wasn't a genius in every field but was somewhat decent in every subject. He just needed some polishing.

Well, not everything, as the Martial Arts teacher went back the first day he came with a face full of disappointment.

Now, Great General Zhu was at a loss and couldn't decide which subjects Zhu Furong should focus on. 

He couldn't just make Zhu Furong learn everything. It was too much to ask of a single person. Zhu Furong has his own life to live and things he wants to do.

Great General Zhu doesn't want to make Zhu Furong feel restricted.

After some deliberation, the decision was handed over to the five-year-old himself.

Without thinking too much, Zhu Furong selected a few subjects like music, calligraphy and painting, which will help him in keeping his mind calm and sharp. Which in turn will help him with his Cultivation. 

He also kept the class times to minimum to save as much time as possible for Cultivation.

With these arrangements, Zhu Furong's daily schedule was somewhat set.

Wake up early in the morning, do some physical exercises, read books, take classes, do the assignments given by the tutors and revise what he has learned in the classes, do physical exercises, read books and then sleep. Of course common activities like taking his meals and bathroom breaks were included. Also, sometimes keeping company to Zhu Ling.

...

Everything is going well and all but there's one thing that concerns Great General Zhu very much.

That is, the little five-year-old beauty in their house doesn't like to go out of the manor. From the day he was kidnapped... Ehem! rescued and brought in the Zhu Family by Great General Zhu to this day, Zhu Furong has never once stepped out of the main door of the Zhu manor.

No one in the manor knows what the little kid is doing all day long. Since, Zhu Furong doesn't have any servants serving him, he is always alone in his courtyard or room.

Just like some fairy tale princess, who's beauty is well known to everyone, but no one has ever seen her, Zhu Furong's beauty was well known in the whole nation but no one has ever seen his face, except for the people inside Zhu manor.

Well, he wasn't causing troubles for anyone, that was for sure. So the reason, Great General Zhu didn't mind it very much. He just thought it would get better with time. The little kid mustn't have adapted to his new environment yet.