After Ming managed to break through two levels of body refinement, his body tempering speed slowed down. Elder Muyue had explained to him that his body had been toughened decently over the years but it hadn't been fed and bolstered as well as it should have been, thus hindering his growth.

The reason why she had beaten him so savagely the past few days was to unearth this hidden potential that had been accumulating but which had never been stimulated and showered with the required amount of energy. Instead of building up lifeforce in a steady manner, Ming was counterbalancing the harshness of his training with adequate, yet insufficient chunks of energy. He was advancing at a fast enough pace but he still wasn't maximizing his momentum.

The body refinement level eight represented Ming's combined years of sufferings and could be seen as his achievable capacities for his age.

"Kid, you ought to thank this miss properly and behave like a good junior brother once we get back to the clan." Zi Muyue said with an amused tone. Right now, the two of them were seated on the front porch of his backyard. While he was celebrating his newfound strength and shadow-boxing around the garden, this elder came over before he even went to look for her.

They discussed his recent advancement and she offered him a logical explanation as to interpret and clarify the reason he made this big leap in his cultivation in such a short time.

"What do you mean by junior brother, miss Muyue?" The lad didn't comprehend so she decided to expound on the matter:

"Boy, how would you assess this current cultivation of yours?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

"...This is a difficult question. According to common knowledge, the body refinement realm is the first step towards immortality. I feel pretty strong but compared to you and the young master, I think I still fall short."

Zi Ming answered honestly. He didn't know much concerning the outside world but when he compared himself with the two young monsters who came to the village he knew he wouldn't reach them before several decades. Cultivation wasn't as simple as it appeared to be. Zi Muyue had told him that once a person reached the martial beginner realm, it wasn't enough to rely on absorbing energy in order to advance. A lot of other matters came into the picture, such as talent, willpower and Dao heart.

Even though he understood what willpower and talent stood for, he wasn't too sure about this Dao heart notion. He had a bit of knowledge about the "Dao" thanks to the village's library but other components linked to it were still far-fetched.

"Good, at least you know your limits. Boy, I think I misjudged you. If I had a little brother I would probably want one like you." Zi Muyue patted his head and ruffled his hair as she told in a warm tone. Her cold and aloof manner was replaced with a more cordial disposition.

Zi Ming was surprised but he didn't choose to avoid the show of affection. This woman looked a bit more approachable than before and he couldn't but marvel at her beautiful face.

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"Realistically speaking, I can't say yet if you're comparable to the previous Haofeng and I. At your age, I was already a martial beginner stage one peak..."

Zi Ming gasped for a second due to shock.

"But compared to the current Zi generation, you would definitely be able to stand among the top 10." She continued. As she finished her sentence she looked at the sky and sighed. Ming could see a hidden trace of disappointment and frustration in her traits.

"Really?" Zi Ming felt better instantly.

She nodded with a gentle smile in response.

"I wouldn't have thought you to be this sociable and diligent in teaching kids, Muyue!" A clamorous noise sounded over from the right side of the garden.

"Who?!" Zi Ming got up in a panic as he asked. Only now did he notice that somebody was hiding behind a tree and had probably been listening to most if not all the content of their conversation. 

"Sit down, boy, it's only an old owl." Muyue said in a dismissive tone. She appeared annoyed and ready to leave.

"If I knew you were into younger..."

"BANG!" Zi Muyue had already vanished from the porch when Ming heard a thunderous impact. The wind began to howl and whoosh in his small garden and the trees would soon be uprooted if the brunt had been more brutal.

When the wind and the dust stopped blocking his field of vision, Zi Ming could see the lady's fist grabbed by a man of great stature. The tree that was separating the sneaky individual from the two of them had been violently smashed, and right now it was reduced to bits and pieces.

Only at that time did Ming realize how much strength this unfathomable lady known as an elder by her clansmen was saving when they sparred.

"What's happening here?" As a matter of fact, the commotion had obviously been noticed by the nearby households. Zi Tao who was mourning over the incomprehensible loss of another jugg of wine rushed as soon as he heard the explosive sound.

"Who dares to cause trouble in the village at this time? Where are those people from the city, call the village chief at once!"

Zi Chang who had been heavily rewarded after the long journey from the city had also been alerted while he was proudly patrolling and greeting the villagers. His zealous personality would never allow him to miss the chance to look even better in the eyes of those citizens if he could.

When he was feeling elated over his popularity but bored, he decided to come and greet elder Muyue in hope of another reward. However, when the man was about to reach his boss' front door he heard a turbulent blast.

In such a comical manner, more and more people rushed over to Zi Ming's hut. Each and every one of them was flabbergasted by the scene they were greeted by as they arrived around the location.

Zi Muyun was laughing boisterously while evading and blocking vicious attacks from his ferocious daughter. Trees were uprooted and the ground was battered in several places. Before Zi Haofeng came and did his best to stop the fury from annihilating the property, the garden was riddled with uncountable holes.

"This is the strength of immortals?" the villagers were terrified.

But at this moment, three people were watching this disastrous show of strength with eager looks. Their eyes were shining with a brilliant luster and they couldn't restrain the demented smiles to creep on their faces. Those three were naturally the three young geniuses of the village. Zi Ming, his sister, and his girlfriend.

"I think I may have harvested a lot more than I was originally hoping for by coming to this place." Zi Haofeng looked at these three and shook his head in resignation.

"Father might come to be even more delighted than I am, actually..." The man thought joyfully as he was trying to wrestle his cousin.