ZhangYong returned to his friends' sides and reported his findings. "I found the person. HuiShan, did you know your sister was a late bloomer?"

"Ah? Which sister? The only one who has not reached Sky realm is my Er Jie who can't cultivate."

"She can't cultivate?"

"Mm. She was born sickly and weak. Her body eventually collapsed when she was around 12 or 13 years old." Then, she added in a whisper, “Or was it 11 or 10...?”

ZhangYong's eyes filled with greater admiration for Xinyi. Besides WangWei, she was the only other person that had made him feel this much respect for fighting against their fate.

"So, it's impossible for her to be the one. Did the person give you a false identity? Is this a matter for concern after all?" HuiShan asked.

"No. Even if her identity's a mistake, I'm sure that she's a late bloomer, so there's no imminent danger."

HuiShan heaved a sigh in relief. "Alright."

Nonetheless, HuiShan decided to check on Xinyi after sending her friends off. For all she knew, Xinyi might have gotten better, and it was her knowledge that was outdated.

Later that evening, BaoBao was completely dumbfounded when Xinyi put on makeup to look sickly again. [Who would co-]

Just then, he saw HuiShan making her way into Xinyi's courtyard.

[HuiShan's on the way.]

Xinyi finished her makeup just in time, went to bed, and pretended to be deep asleep, coughing and wheezing every now and then.

HuiShan knocked on the door several times. When she did not get a response, she opened the door herself and peeked in. Witnessing Xinyi's small frame in the bed and listening to the sickly noise made her heart ache out of pity.

‘She still looks like she's on her deathbed...’

HuiShan slowly closed the doors, careful not to make a sound that might disturb Xinyi's rest. ‘ZhangYong must have made a mistake...’

On the other hand, ZhangYong was sure that he was right. Since he did not give them the details of how and where he met Xinyi, he knew that it was easy for them to think that he had gotten the mysterious girl's identity wrong.

The very next day, ZhangYong visited the Chen family with the intention of seeing Xinyi.

The servant that received him was floored when he found out that he had to call for someone else besides HuiShan or ZiYao. The servant insisted that Xinyi was still as sick as ever and could not receive guests.

Under ZhangYong's pressure to confirm Xinyi's health status, the servant obediently left, then returned with the same news.

ZhangYong became puzzled. ‘Did I really get her identity wrong? Impossible.’

“Please inform HuiShan of my arrival.”

ZhangYong ended up meeting HuiShan and spent a short leisurely time with her. During which, HuiShan brought up what she had done.

“Second sister still looks as sickly as ever.”

“Is that so?”

“Even if that impersonator is not a threat, someone faking to be my sister may be troublesome at some point.”

“That’s true...”

ZhangYong believed what HuiShan said but he also trusted his judgement. What was the truth that would make both stories check out?

“I’ll handle this.”

HuiShan beamed brightly. “You’re always so reliable. Let me know if there’s any way I can help, okay?”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

After they parted ways, ZhangYong secretly went to the place where he had found Xinyi the previous day.

In Xinyi’s room, Xinyi silently and icily stared at ZhangYong, while she kept up with her act of wheezing and coughing. When he had told her that he would see her again, she did not expect it to be so soon.

‘Does he have too much free time on his hands?’

There she was, lying in bed, sick and weak. Yet, ZhangYong stubbornly stood before her, as if waiting for something to happen.

‘Does he have no sense of decency? Barging into a female's room just like that.’

"Didn't you hear that I'm unwell?" Xinyi tried to make her voice as hoarse and weak as possible.

"Your poor acting can't fool me."

Xinyi sighed and gave up the act. She did not want to look stupid once she was seen through.

"Do you want to try practicing with a sword?" He asked and threw a sword onto her bed at the same time.

Xinyi stared at the sword, thinking, for a long while.

She eventually decided that it would be highly beneficial for her to take up this opportunity. So, she picked it up.

ZhangYong grinned and asked her to follow him out.

He dug out the bamboo pole that she had used and easily broke it into two.

His action made Xinyi's lips twitch in annoyance.

‘My only good pole…’

Seeing him hold the broken bamboo like he was dual wielding made her raise an eyebrow.

‘Bamboos against a sword?’

Zhang Yong chuckled and said confidently, "Just attack. You'll see."

He put a decent distance between them and assumed a defensive stance. It was an invitation for her to attack.

Xinyi observed him for a while before she finally made her move. She dashed directly at him, then swung her sword. There was no mercy in her attack, and she went straight for his throat.

However, he easily parried her blow and threw her back.

Her feet skidded across the floor before coming to a stop. She stayed still and reflected on their brief exchange.

It had felt like her spiritual power got swallowed up by something. The sensation gave her goosebumps. She then noticed how even though the wall behind him had a clear scratch caused by her attack, there was not a single mark on the bamboo.

Surprise flitted across her eyes.

‘It's not an issue with my attack. What did he do to the bamboo?’

She dashed forward again to exchange blows. This time they were held in a stalemate.

Pressing her sword against his crossed bamboo poles, she analysed their exchange more closely and noticed with shock that her sword was not even in contact with the bamboo.

When he noticed that she had learnt something, he smiled and threw her back again.

Xinyi took several steps back to regain her balance.

"I didn't know that it's possible to manifest your spiritual energy into things that way."

"There's much more to learn in the world of martial arts. There's only so much you can know without a proper teacher."

He gestured for her to come at him again and resumed a defensive stance.

Xinyi bowed formally this time out of respect before she jumped at him, trying for an overhead attack.

They exchanged a couple of blows repeatedly with Xinyi coming at him from different directions and angles.

ZhangYong parried every single attack.

When he saw her attacks repeating a second time, he finally parried the sword with enough strength to knock it out of her hand.

Her sword flew up, and he easily caught it with one hand as it dropped back down, while returning the bamboo poles to her with his other free hand.

"Now, do you understand that weapons can become meaningless in the face of a far stronger opponent? Practice your martial arts but never neglect your strategy and cultivation." ZhangYong repeated what he had been taught by his father.

Xinyi acknowledged his advice with thanks, then walked him to the courtyard's entrance to send him off.

She later sat down at the stone table and kept awfully silent.

‘He's really strong…’ It was not surprising. If anything, it was expected. However, to experience his greatness first-hand...

Xinyi’s thought surprised BaoBao. Usually, she would merely end her review with more plans. Was Xinyi finally dazzled by ZhangYong's might and charm? No matter how slight, it was something!

[So, we’re using him, right? Let's go get him!]

BaoBao then witnessed how Xinyi's expression fell completely flat. He did not know that it was possible for her expression to look any flatter until now.

‘How did feelings of awe, from learning something so significant in such a short amount of time, become something so twisted?’

Xinyi had been thinking to herself but BaoBao, of course, heard it. He blushed and lowered his head in embarrassment.

Xinyi spent the rest of her time reflecting on and reading up about the use of spiritual power, cultivation practices, and martial arts.

She learned that with enough skill, one would be able to cultivate all the time. However, the optimal state for cultivating was still by meditating.

There was nothing about spiritual power that she did not already know. However, she noted a caution to not be restricted in their thinking, because not all spiritual power applications were documented. Family secret arts existed, and it was possible for people to create new uses every day.

Suddenly, a memory about a story she had read back in her world resurfaced in her mind. That story had spiritual people but also spiritual beasts and spiritual plants.

‘How did I not think about this earlier?’

Xinyi closed the book and rushed back to her courtyard.

She dug out six small pots from the tool shed and planted nourishing herbs.

‘If I manifest my spiritual power into the soil to enhance it, would it raise the nutritional value of the herbs? What about manifesting my power directly into the plant while it is growing? Would there be a difference?’

Her mind reeled with possibilities.

Her thoughts ran so fast that BaoBao's eyes became swirls when he tried to keep up with her thoughts.

[Is this what happens whenever she gets an inspiration?] He complained after cutting off the connection between their thoughts.