Both men had a gentle and charming demeanor that would have fooled a dumb person into thinking that they were harmless. Any trained or cautious person would be able to sense the domineering aura emanating from their bodies.

Even though they were still considerably far from her, Xinyi could feel their aura. WangWei's aura was warm, while ZhangYong's aura was sharp.

All of a sudden, ZhangYong looked at her and they made eye contact.

Xinyi’s heart somersaulted in fear and surprise, especially when he began to approach her with that fierce gaze of his. If she ran or hid now, she would only look suspicious and that would not end well. So, she could only mentally prepare herself for a confrontation.

“Zhang Yong!” A clear energetic voice drew everyone’s attention. “Where are you going? Are you perhaps lost?" Her tone was teasing. The girl was none other than HuiShan. She had come from the other end of the pathway.

"Goodness, I really need to cultivate harder. I didn't even notice you slinking away." WangWei remarked with slight astonishment.

HuiShan lightly punched him in Wang Wei's arm. "Wangye… You're already a genius for being reaching low-level Heaven realm at 15. Don't compare yourself to that monster there."

WangWei raised an eyebrow. "Are you secretly praising yourself? Although you're 14, you're already at the bottleneck before a breakthrough to Heaven realm."

HuiShan only grinned smugly in response, prompting WangWei to laugh aloud at her audacity.

ZhangYong also chuckled in the background. He had already forgotten about the girl by the tree and made his way to his friends.

Their entire conversation was overheard by Xinyi who had hidden herself behind the tree once she could.

‘And here I am, at least a year older than them, but still struggling to break through to Sky realm.’

[Does that matter? This is just the beginning, isn't it?]

BaoBao suddenly said. Just as she thought that he was trying to comfort her, what he said after that made her expression turn colder.

[As long as you'll eventually become a high-level God realm martial artist, all's fine!]

‘…What gave you the idea that I can achieve something like that? Didn't you say that you went through my memories of my life?’

[It doesn't matter! Your talent in Legacy Worlds is of the bodies you inhabit, not your own. Also, based on the history records of hosts transmigrating into cultivation worlds, hosts always do really well! If anything, the problem we face is having some of them do too well...]

‘...I'll definitely do all that I can, but please don't raise your hopes up.’

Xinyi was beginning to doubt if BaoBao had really found the right person.

At the dining area, a sudden fluctuation in the air caused a handful of people to look up from eating or pause their conversations. However, many resumed what they were doing, unbothered by the slight oddity.

"What happened?" HuiShan asked the boys, who had also been disturbed.

WangWei passed the question to ZhangYong to answer by looking at him. Zhang Yong was the highest level among them, so he could provide the most accurate answer.

"Did someone high level appear?" HuiShan enthusiastically guessed in a hushed voice.

ZhangYong shook his head. "It's just a breakthrough, and only into Sky realm."

Hui Shan relaxed, but WangWei and ZhangYong stayed pensive.

"HuiShan, do you know anyone invited who's around 12 years old?" ZhangYong asked.

"En, but from what I know, they've all broken through to Sky realm already." As soon as she answered the question, she caught on to their worry and so contemplated along with them.

‘Was this person a late bloomer or a genius?’

"It's also weird that there'd be a breakthrough right here and now. Who'd cultivate during a party?" HuiShan's question inadvertently made ZhangYong recall the girl by the cherry blossom tree.

ZhangYong had felt a gaze on him and a presence near the plum blossom tree. Fearing that it could be an attack against the prince, he raised his guard, but only found a lone girl sitting on the grass below a tree. She looked weak and harmless.

He instantly found her odd. Not only did she look out of place because of the way she dressed so simply despite the occasion for the day, she was sitting on the grass like some unlearnt maiden.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Regardless of her appearance, he had approached her. He did not want to be careless. Yet, HuiShan’s arrival completely distracted him.

ZhangYong frowned and mentally reprimanded himself. Should he investigate now?

He looked around and decided against raising the alarm unnecessarily. If the breakthrough belonged to that girl, she must be a late bloomer, and she really was harmless.

"I'll properly investigate later. Let's eat."

Meanwhile, Xinyi was searching through her courtyard for something that she could use as a weapon.

Now that she broke through to Sky realm, she was curious about the experience of fighting with spiritual energy. At Earth realm, attacks were just significantly stronger than the attacks by people without spiritual cultivation. It was at Sky realm that attacks would begin to release a little spiritual power, which meant it was possible to land an attack without making direct contact with the target. Xinyi’s curiosity led her to break her routine and begin her martial arts practice.

Her courtyard was dull, basic, and empty. There were thriving weeds among the small bushes with small white flowers, a white stone table, well, and her self-built stove. The only place left unchecked was the run-down tool shed tucked away in the far corner of her courtyard.

After rummaging through it, she finally found something useful. There were bamboo poles and gardening tools. Everything was in poor condition, but she could make do. She chose the pole that looked to be in the best condition, then warmed up before treating the pole as if it was a spear.

Unbeknownst to Xinyi, BaoBao had disconnected their telepathic connection to sulk by himself. He looked at the bamboo pole with disdain and compared it to the plethora of weapons in the system market.

[If only the system market was available for her to use…]

The sun began to set. The birthday celebration was ending.

Xinyi was just beginning to get used to having a pole as a weapon and transferring her spiritual energy through a weapon and into her attacks. Faint scratch marks were left on the floor and brick walls that surrounded the courtyard.

‘Okay, I think I can try maxing my output now.’

Xinyi spun 360 degrees to use the momentum in her next attack.

Just as she did so, BaoBao warned her that ZhangYong was quickly approaching her courtyard. His warning ended up meaningless because XinYi saw ZhangYong within the next second.

He was in range of her attack, but it was too late for her to stop her swing. The momentum she had gained steadily carried the pole to completion.

The leaves of the bushes that were beside him were harshly blown off.

The pole swung past his throat at a hair's breadth away.

Xinyi froze in shock with her eyes glued to his neck. It took her awhile to realise there was not a scratch or mark left on him. Sighing in relief, her gaze shifted up to meet a pair of obsidian black eyes.

‘What's he doing here?’

ZhangYong had carried out his investigation like he said he would. While the other two waited for him at his request, he quickly made his way to the plum blossom tree to check on the girl. When he found that she was not there, he wandered around aimlessly until he sensed brief and tiny fluctuations in the air. This happened whenever someone was practicing or whenever there was an ongoing fight.

Following the source of the fluctuations that people would normally miss or ignore, he found himself in her courtyard in no time. Because he had run so fast, none of the servants and maids saw him approaching Xinyi's courtyard.

Although he appeared while she was in the midst of executing a full spin, he did not bother to move. He was slightly amused to see panic fleet across her otherwise slack face. Everyone knew how strong he was, there was no way she could hurt him at the level she was at, unless she did not know who he was.

He waited patiently to get her full attention before he spoke, "It was you who just broke through to Sky realm, right?"

Xinyi stiffly nodded. She was afraid that this was a sign that something bad was going to happen. After all, nothing went well whenever Victor and Lucas paid attention to her.

"Why so late?"

Xinyi shrugged.

"What a pity. I can tell that you're very hardworking." He looked at her with a hint of admiration.

He would not be surprised if she had been regarded as a waste in her family. The wastes he knew and had heard of always stopped trying to change their fate, resorting to other underhanded means of living, but this girl did not give up. She fought valiantly against her fate to die a weakling.

This was an attribute greatly treasured in the military and on the battleground. It was what could turn a seemingly hopeless situation around. He had personally witnessed the few times when a weaker person overpowered and scared a stronger one through sheer tenacity and the desire to be stronger.

Although he was still considered an immature 15-year-old brat in his father's eyes, he felt like he had found a diamond that was waiting to be polished.

While Xinyi continued to stare at him dispassionately, he continued to speak. "You just skipped an entire grand celebration to practice by yourself. Would you not get punished or scolded for it? The baby's your… Brother? Half-brother?"

"Brother."

"All the more reason to expect your attendance. Will you not get scolded?"

Xinyi shook her head.

"Why?"

She refused to answer his question and instead ushered him to leave. "Thank you for your concern, Commander Zhang, but I believe that your companions are waiting. You would not want to be held back and bored by small little me."

Understanding that she was not in the mood to talk and that his companions were indeed waiting for him, he dismissed himself. "I'll see you another time then."

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him not to find her, but she knew that she could not be so rude, so she ended up saying through gritted teeth, "Have a good evening."

The moment ZhangYong left her courtyard, BaoBao started screaming excitedly in her head.

[He's interested! He's interested! I've cross-referenced his behaviour with my database! That was definitely a sign of interest! If you make use of such an overpowered character, I'm sure you can clear your mission with a perfect grade! Heck, you could dominate this world if you wanted! Oh, but, please don't overdo it. It won't be good if you overdo it.]

When he was met with dead silence, BaoBao tuned in to her thoughts. She was thinking about dinner plans!

BaoBao’s mood plunged as if cold water was poured onto him.

[Xinyi…?]

‘Hm? You're done fanboying?’

[Fan… Boying…?]

‘Now that you're done, let me just warn you. When a character like him pays attention to a character like me, nothing good comes out of it. Look through my memories again if you need convincing.’

[Xinyi…]

‘I'm sorry, BaoBao. It's just… Not possible. At least not with someone like me.’

BaoBao felt a strange ache and pain in his chest.