Early in the morning, under the warm sunlight, Zhu Furong sat under the plum tree in his garden, meditating. It's his third day in Zhu manor.

After an hour he slowly opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Standing up he started practicing Martial Arts moves with utter perfection. Straight punch, elbow strike, low kick, high kick, every move of his is filled with power and rhythm.

But contrary to his perfect performance, his eyes seem to lack focus.

A part of Zhu Furong's consciousness is focused on healing of his Spiritual Body. His mastery of multi-tasking has taken a huge leap. He can now divide 50 percent of his focus into doing two different things at a time.

After exercising, Zhu Furong sat back in lotus posture. He took out some small vials filled with Spiritual Beasts blood essence and one by one he drank the blood essence and practiced the Blood Purification Art.

These blood essence are from rank 3 and rank 4 spiritual beasts. Also, one is of a rank 6 Black Lion he obtained in the Beast Pavilion market and another is from the rank 7 Cave Crocodile.

Running the Blood Purification Art, he felt like his blood started to circulate crazily all over his body. His veins popped up and he felt a burning sensation inside them. This process made Zhu Furong soak in sweat. After a few minutes he felt utterly tired and had to stop the Blood Purification Art. As soon he stopped, he felt a cooling sensation passing through his veins, making him drowsy.

He checked the progress of the Monster Race bloodline inside him and found it was still the same. Nothing changed unfortunately.

He sighed, "Guess this much is not enough."

"Of course, even if you use blood essence from a thousand rank 9 spiritual beasts, I don't think it will have any effect. You will need blood essence from spiritual beasts of insanely high Cultivation rank for even a percentage of your bloodline purity to rise." Zhu Xingzuo commented.

"Drop by drop forms an ocean." Muttering, Zhu Furong went back to meditate. He spent the rest of his day-time practicing in his courtyard.

In the evening, Zhu Wei and Zhu Gang visited him with some wine and snacks. They acted quite affectionately. Maybe because they fear Ming Zen a lot and want to get on the good side of his future brother-in-law?

Who knows, maybe in the future, Zhu Furong may end up becoming the family head with the help of Zhu Bohai and Ming Zen? It's better to have a good relationship with him.

Zhu Furong is not so heartless to kick people out who don't show any malice to him. He joined the brothers in their party in order to have some rest from practice. After the brothers left, Zhu Furong went back to practice.

The entire day just passed like that.

At night, a shadow entered the Great General's office.

"How is he doing?" Zhu Bohai asked.

An somewhat old man walked out of the shadow wearing black hanfu, he sighed, "Cultivating all day long. I didn't see him rest even for a second in these past two days. The two Young Masters visited him today to have some drinks, so he rested for about 40 minutes. But as soon as Wei and Gang left, Furong went back to Cultivate."

"I used to protect him secretly when he was just a small kid. Back then, I was amazed by his interest towards Cultivation and the sheer amount of effort he put towards Cultivation. But, even then he used to have a proper amount of rest."

"Now after returning from the sect, he continuously Cultivates and practices Martial Arts moves non-stop. He didn't even sleep last night. It's as if he is torturing himself." The man spoke with some worry.

This old looking man is none other than Zhu Bohai's sworn brother, Ou Peizhi(respectful). 

Ou Peizhi doesn't have any family of his own so he stays with Zhu Bohai, protecting him from the dark and is also the head of Zhu family's Secret Force team, consisting of Cultivators.

Ou Peizhi is in his 70s and is at the peak of Open Ascension rank. But unfortunately, he isn't talented enough to ascend to the upper realm. Nonetheless, he is quite satisfied with his current life. He is of average height and despite being old and having gray hair, he stands straight. His muscles are still filled with energy thanks to his good Cultivation rank.

"Maybe he is practicing some Cultivation art or technique? He had been in the Sunlight Sect which is one of the top ten sects for four years, maybe he acquired quite a lot of knowledge. Let him be, it's all good till he doesn't harm himself." Zhu Bohai suggested.

Ou Peizhi sighed, "I hope you are correct— I will continue keeping an eye on him, just in case something happens."

Zhu Bohai snorted, "You worry too much. Is he your grandson or my grandson?"

Ou Peizhi snorted back, "Of course I will worry. He may have not seen my face, but I have been secretly protecting him inside the Zhu manor since the day he arrived here 9 years ago. I have watched his growth and I know more about him than you do."

"And you also knew that he wasn't an ordinary child way before that heavenly tribulation day, right? Why didn't you tell me?" Zhu Bohai asked.

"Why should I tell you? If he wanted to let you know he would have told you by himself. What will he think of me if he finds out that not only I have been spying on him but also leaking his secrets? What will happen to my image? What will happen to your image, who asked me to keep an eye on him in the first place?" Ou Peizhi asked instead.

"Well that's true." Zhu Bohai couldn't help but agree.

Zhu Bohai mumbled, "He did share some of his most important secrets with me three days ago, so I don't think I know him any less than you do."

"What?"

Zhu Bohai shook his head, "Nothing."

In Zhu Furong's courtyard, under the starry sky, Zhu Furong sat on a flat boulder which is kept beside the fish pond, practicing Blood Purification Art while healing his Spiritual Body. He repeated the process again and again taking short rests in-between. 

But this small amount of rest wasn't enough.

After non-stop practicing for two days and two nights, Zhu Furong's body couldn't hold itself anymore and he collapsed around dawn. He lay limp on the flat boulder, sleeping soundlessly under the rising sun.

In the morning, a maid arrived to call him for breakfast but Zhu Furong wouldn't budge. For a second she thought something might have happened and she checked Zhu Furong's nerves in a panic but relaxed after confirming that he was just deep asleep. After reporting to Zhu Bohai, no one disturbed Zhu Furong and let him rest. However, Zhu Bohai sent some male servants to pick Zhu Furong up from the boulder and tuck him inside his bed.

Cultivating really makes one hungry. Though Cultivators can neglect hunger and sleep for days or years, Zhu Furong is not yet at that level. Also, to do so, he would need Qi, which he can't store in his dantian right now.

Waking up in the afternoon, he cleaned up several large rice bowls to everyone's surprise. But no one asked him why he was so hungry, on the contrary the two other Young Masters passed side dishes to Zhu Furong one after another— Stuffed to satisfaction, Zhu Furong didn't waste any time to burn the newly acquired calories. Getting back to his courtyard, he started Cultivating again.

...

In the evening, a secret guest arrived at Zhu manor, without anyone's notice, the guest was escorted to Zhu Bohai's office by the man himself. Soon, a servant was sent to call Zhu Furong to Zhu Bohai's office.

Arriving at the office, Zhu Furong noticed Zhu Bohai standing with an old looking man while a beautiful woman in her twenties, wearing a luxurious dress, adorned with expensive jewelry, was sitting on his chair. Standing behind the woman is a black clothed man wearing a mask, probably her bodyguard.

Looking at Zhu Furong, Zhu Bohai secretly gestured with his eyes.

Following Zhu Bohai's instruction, Zhu Furong quickly cupped his hands and bowed to the woman, "Zhu Furong pays respect to Her Majesty, The Empress."

Yes, the woman is none other than the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, Luo Xinyi(extreme happiness).

The Empress raised her hand and gestured to Zhu Furong to relax. After that she scrutinized Zhu Furong from head to toe and snorted with an unpleasant look. She didn't speak.

Looking at her behavior, Zhu Bohai felt a bit confused.

''Why is the Empress making such an expression after looking at Furong?' Zhu Bohai thought to himself but he can't ask the Empress directly, can he?

He humbly asked, "May I ask why Her Majesty has blessed our Zhu manor with her presence today?"

The Empress didn't speak but her body guard cleared his throat, "The topic is quite sensitive, so it would be better for unrelated people to take their leave first."

He is definitely pointing at Ou Peizhi with his words.

Zhu Bohai smiled gently, "There are no strangers here brother Yuan, please feel free to speak— But still just in case..."

Zhu Bohai ordered the servant outside the door to clear the premises and stop anyone from getting closer. It's also a signal for other people nearby to empty the vicinity. Now only 5 people are left inside the office with complete silence.

Brother Yuan got the answer that Ou Peizhi will not leave, so he didn't ask.

Zhu Bohai took out a tea set from his Spatial Bag and poured tea for the Empress and stood back in his position.

The Empress didn't touch the tea and started to speak in a calm tone.

"Great General, you have served the late Emperor and was quite close to him, just like a brother." "You see the current Emperor as your own nephew and have taken care of him since he was a prince. It won't be wrong to say that his current position is all thanks to you— You have my gratitude." The Empress slightly smiled.

"This old man was just doing his duty, Your Majesty, no need to be so polite." Zhu Bohai smiled.

The Empress continued, "Since you have taken care of the Emperor from his childhood, you know him quite well, right?"

Zhu Bohai nodded, somewhat confused about what the Empress was cooking.

The Empress made a helpless smile, "You know how much he loves his daughter. He always wanted a daughter— After having seven sons one after another, finally we had a daughter— Ming Lan is the jewel of his eyes." Finishing her sentence, she took a glimpse of Zhu Furong from the corner of her eyes.

This slight action didn't escape Zhu Bohai's perception, he somewhat got an inkling of where this was going. Same for Ou Peizhi and Zhu Furong.

"Of course, I love my daughter as much as my husband does, so I want the best of the best for her."

"Ming Lan is 12 right now and is already at the peak Foundation Establishment rank, she is close to forming her core." The Empress sounded quite proud.

"For such a daughter..." She again stole a glance of Zhu Furong.

'No need to continue, we got what you want to say.' Zhu Bohai, Ou Peizhi and Zhu Furong all thought the same thing.

If it was the past Zhu Furong, he would have waited for the Empress to keep twisting her words but the current Zhu Furong is quite impatient. He doesn't have the time to play mind games with other people, he would rather Cultivate.

Zhu Furong praised, "Peak Foundation Establishment rank at the age of 12 is quite out of the ordinary. I doubt there is anyone else with similar achievements. Calling her a genius would be an understatement— How should I say this... She is one in a million! No. One in a billion!" He nodded.

Everyone present is quite surprised by Zhu Furong's sudden statement. Especially, the Empress didn't expect any of it. She thought Zhu Furong is just a meek guy who stays in the shadow of Zhu Bohai— Her face turned quite awkward.

Zhu Furong didn't stop there, he cupped his hands and slightly bowed to the Empress, "It seems the current me is not deserving of such a wonderful woman. With my current strength, I would constantly be protected by her rather than protecting her. As a man it would be quite shameful."

The Empress' lips twitched with words. Another unexpected situation.

She came to annul the engagement but didn't expect for the other party to take the initiative. This saves quite a lot of work but at the same time the Empress felt as if she had lost a battle. She came prepared with all sorts of reasons and excuses, she was even prepared to use strength if necessary, but...

"Do you understand what you are saying?" The Empress asked with disbelief.

"Furong, what are you saying?" Zhu Bohai asked from the side with a frown. Standing beside him, Ou Peizhi also looked doubtful.

"Wasn't Her Majesty suggesting the annulment of the engagement? Given her position, it would be quite difficult to say it directly, so I took the initiative to help her with the awkward situation. Is my deduction wrong?" Zhu Furong asked with an innocent face.

The Empress replied, "No, you are right. And I am quite thankful for your understanding." "Though I feel pain to say this, a person who can't Cultivate Qi shouldn't be in a relationship with one who can— It will only end in regret."

Zhu Bohai opened his mouth to say something but decided not to speak after getting poked by Ou Peizhi.

Since, Zhu Furong is present here and he doesn't want to reveal the truth, Zhu Bohai should respect his decision. Though he felt quite angry and sad for Zhu Furong, he gulped his feelings down.

"Does the Princess know about this? And, The Emperor?" Zhu Bohai couldn't help but ask.

The Empress puckered her brows, "Lan'er has been traveling the world with Zen'er, her Cultivation has also risen by a lot, she is wise enough to know what's good for her. As for the Emperor, obviously he knows, else I won't be here."

"So you didn't talk with the Princess herself. I may be stepping my bounds but don't you think the children should talk among themselves before we come to a conclusion?" Zhu Bohai asked.

"Humph! What's there to talk about? You think a man who can't Cultivate can stand equal with my Lan'er? Even if they get married by chance, what about their life expectancy? I heard from the Royal Physician that Zhu Furong cannot Cultivate Qi, so at most he can only Cultivate to Meridians Opening stage. His life expectancy will be similar to that of a normal person. But, Ming Lan is already in Foundation Establishment rank and her life expectancy is 150 years! It will only rise with her Cultivation. How can you even think of them being together? It's impossible! I will never let that happen." The Empress snorted. "I am not letting my daughter to suffer as a widow."

"I understand your reasoning but it was the Royal Family that decided the engagement in the first place, don't you think—"

Zhu Furong interrupted, "Grandpa, let it be. Her Majesty's concerns are justified. I also don't want a woman's life to be ruined because of me."

"But—" Zhu Bohai wanted to say something but looking at the firm expression of Zhu Furong, he yielded with a sigh.

The Empress slightly coughed for attention, "Well, since we were the ones who initiated the engagement and we are the ones who are breaking it, the Royal family will take responsibility and provide the Zhu family with a proper compensation."

Zhu Bohai instantly cupped his hands in salute, "I appreciate the thought but we don't need any favors from the Royal family." He is definitely pissed right now.

The Empress didn't take the disrespect to heart, "Are you sure? I was thinking I would help your sworn brother to ascend to the upper realm— Didn't he try to go through ascension a few years ago and failed again? Even though he failed, it's a sign that he still has a chance. Even with an old body, he can ascend. He just needs some external help."

The Empress is talking about the thunder tribulations caused due to Zhu Furong in the Zhu manor. It seems Zhu Bohai covered it as Ou Peizhi tried to go through ascension.

This time it was Ou Peizhi who denied, "I appreciate your kind gesture, but no thanks." He snorted, not showing any respect in his words.

Zhu Bohai not showing any respect is understandable as the pride of Zhu family has been hurt by the Empress but what gives the right to Ou Peizhi to show disrespect to the Empress?

Suddenly a strange feeling crept upon Ou Peizhi's body and he groaned with pain. Droplets of sweat formed on his forehead.

As the Empress raised her hand, the pain went away.

The masked man snorted in the back.

A moment ago he attacked Ou Peizhi with his Divine Sense. It was a Spiritual Attack which inflicts damage to one's soul and Spiritual Body.

Since the masked man can use Divine Sense, he is definitely above Open Ascension rank. But what is such a man doing here in the lower realm?

"Are you alright?" Zhu Bohai supported Ou Peizhi with concern. "What happened?"

Since the masked man only aimed at Ou Peizhi, it is hard for other Cultivators without Divine Sense to take notice of it.

"I am fine. Just some old injuries relapsed suddenly."

Zhu Bohai frowned, "What old injuries? Why don't I know about it?"

"Since the things have been taken care of and you don't want any compensation from the Royal family, I will take my leave." The Empress stood up.

She walked to the door, followed by her bodyguard, "You have a pretty face and I heard that you are also quite a warrior on the battlefield. It won't be hard for you to get a beautiful wife and few concubines. You can't become a Cultivator but that in no way stops you from living a luxurious life— The life of a government official is not bad. Think about it."

The last line was the Empress' suggestion to Zhu Furong to become a government official. It was her own way of compensating the Zhu Family by promising Zhu Furong with a good post.

"I will think about it." Zhu Furong nonchalantly answered.

The Empress took out a black cloak and covered herself completely, with a flash, she and the masked bodyguard disappeared.

"That speed is definitely above Open Ascension rank and that masked man used Spiritual Attack before." Zhu Xingzuo stated.

Zhu Furong looked at Zhu Bohai who was glaring at the door and then looked at Ou Peizhi. Their eyes met.

Ou Peizhi laughed, "This is the first time we meet, grandson." He walked to Zhu Furong and patted his shoulder, "I am Ou Peizhi, your grandpa's sworn brother."

Zhu Furong cupped his hands in respect, "I am Zhu Furong, the third Young Master of the Zhu Family."

"Hahaha, you don't have to introduce yourself. I have watched every step of your growth since the time you arrived at Zhu manor. We are no strangers, hahaha..."

Pat!... On the side Zhu Bohai slapped his forehead. At the same time Zhu Furong's face is filled with confusion.

Ou Peizhi realized that he have spilled the beans and he stuck out his tongue like a dumb fool.

It couldn't be helped, they had to explain everything to Zhu Furong.

"Holy shit! I am being spied upon the whole time I stay in the Zhu manor and I didn't even get the wind of it? Open Ascension rank is really something— Me aside, how can you miss him, Xingzuo?"

"I can't always spread my Divine Sense out of your body without any reason, it will put too much strain on me in my current condition. Also, how will I know that someone will spy on us in our own house?" Zhu Xingzuo complained.

Zhu Furong sighed and just shook his head slightly after listening to Zhu Bohai and Ou Peizhi. He didn't say anything.

"You don't have anything to say? I spied on you for so many years and did it again this time when you came back, don't you feel angry?" Ou Peizhi asked.

"You did it to protect me, how can I be angry at you?"

"Though I would have preferred that you notified me before protecting me from the shadows." Zhu Furong let it go with just a few words.

Ou Peizhi blushed with slight embarrassment.

"Well, I am going back to my room. I want to Cultivate." Zhu Furong turned back to leave.

"Don't you think you were quite hasty in your decision earlier?" Suddenly Zhu Bohai asked.

"You know it Grandpa, I don't have time for such relationships. In the first place, it was a child's infatuation. Princess Ming Lan has grown up now, with age her mindset must have changed a lot. Maybe what the Empress thinks, Princess Ming Lan thinks the same."

"I don't think so." Zhu Bohai instantly denied. "The last time the Princess arrived here she was so desperate to meet you that she almost rushed to the Western Fort."

Zhu Furong didn't say anything and just stood still with his back turned.

"I don't know what you two are talking about not having time for any relationships, but if it's for Cultivation, I can somewhat understand. Still, grandson Furong, remember this; joy is not in living a long life but is in spending your whole life with the people you love, even if it is for a short while, it's worth it." Ou Peizhi uttered in a sorrowful voice, his eyes turned slightly moist as if he was reminiscing about his own past.

Zhu Bohai gently pressed Ou Peizhi's shoulder from behind, consoling him.

Zhu Furong didn't see any of these reactions but the melancholy in Ou Peizhi's voice was clear to him.

Zhu Furong returned to his room and started practicing the Blood Purification Art. Even without the resupply of blood essence, Blood Purification Art can still purify the bloodline. Though the process will be way slower.

Zhu Furong has nothing else to do in Zhu manor but he wants to stay here for a week before leaving for a long journey. He didn't waste his time though, he prepared a thorough plan for what he needs to do after leaving Zhu manor.

...

On their way back the Empress asked the bodyguard if he checked Zhu Furong's body the same time he attacked Ou Peizhi. That was their real motive.

"I did but as the Royal Physician said, I couldn't find a single drop of Qi in his dantian. Though I felt his physical body is stronger than average people. Maybe he is practicing some Body Cultivation technique?"

The Empress humphed, "I thought he may be hiding his strength like Zen'er but it seems I was just being delusional. Not everyone can be a genius like my son." She sneered.

"Body Cultivation technique alone can only take one so far in Cultivation. Even if he gets stronger he won't be able to compete with Qi Cultivators. Well, it is a good enough reason to not let my daughter be bonded with him. His Majesty will understand it too."

The Empress mumbled to herself, "And… This way, I can also keep my promise to the Elder."

...

A week soon passed by and it was time for Zhu Furong to take his leave.

Out of Dafan City, he changed into Zuo Rong's disguise at a hidden place. After that he ran wearing iron shoes towards his next destination while practicing Wind Steps.

His destination, The Gale Desert, far west of the continent.