Jiahao had been making great strides. It was but a mere week since that electrifying battle between his master and the young master of the Song Clan. He had finally fully comprehended his master's notes on the solar dao, and his dao pillar was becoming stronger and stronger. In fact, the old man had finally surpassed his recent bottleneck. It was a liberating experience, a pressure that Jiahao didn't even know was upon him was gone. It was as if the sensation of popping your ears had encompassed his entire body. The qi that infused his body made him feel better than he had ever felt in his entire life. That wasn't even mentioning his recovered youth! Every time he reaches another level in cultivation his appearance becomes younger and younger. His hair had returned not long ago, and it was getting darker as he was cultivating. In time, it would stop being gray altogether and return to its original black.

Dai Yi ran past the old man cultivating, Jiahao looked on fondly. He had known the girl for her entire life. He was slightly disappointed in the girl's parents, sometimes when a child is found to have 'cursed blood' their relatives try to run away. It often works to, if they can get to a free city, they just need to get out of the influence of the Wei Dynasty. He supposed they just didn't want to risk their lives.

*Curse those Wei dogs.*

Jiahao stopped his cultivation for the day. It was about time for his daily sparring session with Little Yi. He exited his room, a fairly spacious place provided for all three of the guest cultivators. It was like many of the other rooms in this compound, only more spacious. This place was a compound, for all the houses that were controlled by the same clan were either connected to each other or arranged in a way that seemed claustrophobic to the old man. There were large roads or empty space separating the various groups from one another. Most building were a uniform rectangle box with traditional roof tiles. This made the city look awfully odd to Jiahao's country sensibilities.

Little Yi was waiting at one of the training grounds usually reserved for lower disciples. Even if it was at the outskirts of the compound, Jiahao was glad for the small amount of open space. It was odd, he didn't feel claustrophobic while staying inside for weeks on end, but actively living in a small city gave him the jitters.

"Are you ready Senior Brother?"

"Won't you call me Grandpa Jiahao? Like you used to?"

Little Yi smiled when asked that. She was very energetic since Master Fang had given her a proper fire technique. Apparently Master had spent a whole three days trying to optimize the technique for Little Yi. With the all clear, she was able to throw herself into cultivation like never before. He admired her dedication, it was something to be praised for, after all, cultivation was something that would be a major part of their lives from now on.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Nuh-uh, you're Senior Brother from now on!"

"Hah... Oh, but you used to call me Grandpa all the time."

Little Yi simply shook her head.

"You used to be Grandpa all the time. Now you're Senior Brother."

Once that little matter had been settled, the duo dropped into their fighting stances. Their stances were shockingly similar, though slightly different. This would be expected, because even if both cultivators are using 'Basic Fist Reinforcement' there are a few differences amongst the users themselves. Mainly one was a little girl and the other was an old man. Other little differences such as 'They are using different elements' and 'One's practically a master and one's a beginner' are present as well. That didn't matter though, Jiahao was here to teach Dai Yi how to use the martial art, not give himself a challenge.

Jiahao and Yi fall into their normal drills, imparted to them by their master. In between, and sometimes during, the bouts and drills the disciple duo continued their conversation.

"Little Yi."

"Hm?"

"Tell me, what do you think of our master?"

"Hmm, he's a great man."

"Yes yes, I know that. What I -Hah- mean is, don't you think he's a little odd?"

"I don't see how that's a problem Elder Brother."

"It's not a problem per se, but it could become one."

"?"

"Don't you think he's a bit, well, a bit too nice?"

"Elder Brother, neither of us would be here if not for Master Fang's kindness."

"I know, and heavens forbid I suggest we try to change him. It's just that I think that he could fall prey to the greed of others."

"I believe in Master. He is kind, not naive."

"I believe in him too, all I want to say is that we might want to try harder to get strong enough to protect Master"

"I -Gah- was going to anyways."

At that response, Jiahao had to stop the bout.

"Hahahahaha, of course you were Little Yi, of course you were."

"?"

Puzzled, Dai Yi started the practice again. While this practice was mostly for Yi, Jiahao also got some good training in, and by the end of the day they were both slightly better at manipulating their qi.