Xinyi took haggard breaths. She struggled to keep her eyes open. Everything was getting blurry. But her smile could not be hidden. The Spiritual Orb was clear in its assessment of her roots and potential. Immortal Peak Realm, the fourth rank.

She would eventually, if she worked and dedicated her life, become two lower ranks stronger than even the Bandit Lord Dong ZhenKang. She would be able to protect her loved ones and maybe even bring the glory of the Hu family to its illustrious past. Hu Shui would be able to enjoy her life as a child.

All that needed to happen was for her to survive long enough and continue building on her core. She couldn’t take risks and had to keep her head down from powerful cultivators and those that would be jealous of her talents.

How many young geniuses died because they were arrogant? How many more died because someone stronger couldn’t stand the thought of said genius becoming stronger than them. Even within the Hu family–she was far from the strongest or most talented–there had been ‘accidents’ and subsequent missions across the continent for the perpetrators.

Hu Xinyi looked up expecting to see something, maybe even recognition of her possible potential. But her smile froze on her face. The deep eyes of her Ancestor stared intently into the orb. No elation or begrudging respect appeared. Just stoic, unchanging, and utterly passive expressions.

She tried to straighten her back but the exhaustion was overwhelming. They sagged slightly. She could clearly hear her mothers voice in her head demanding she always sit with proper posture. To speak with proper language, to walk a certain way, to keep her expressions…

“Decent.”

It nearly crushed her. His pitch black beard and long mustache seemed to hang over her like a blade. He needed to cut some to even see his mouth move. It was with her soul she desired he would say more, to compliment her more.

Her face turned into stone. Of course.

Their ancestor had been part of the greatest era. A time where geniuses of her generation were merely commoners and servants. A time when even consolidating a golden core was not unheard of, much less the heavenly ranks.

What was some child with limited potential in the presence of a being that had stood at the peak of the cultivation world. A man who had warded off beasts and cultivators that could possibly bring everyone alive today to their knees. A true progenitor.

While she was but an insect…

Hu Xinyi looked away, her smile turned disdainful. “Thank you, ancestor.” She tried to bow, but he held her up. She couldn’t look his way. Xinyi feared the disappointment that would show on his face.

“Xinyi.” He called softly.

She bit her lip, eyes teary, and looked at him. A soft smile graced his face, ancient eyes crinkled with warmth. The dam to her emotions nearly broke then and there, but she kept a stronger lid. Years of determination forced her to show some semblance of dignity even if she had bawled her eyes out not too long ago in front of him.

“Cultivation in its essence is to reach beyond what we would be capable of naturally. And if you are naturally destined to a limit, then you fight to break through and exceed it all!” he said, reaching into his robe again.

He must have a spacial bag, there was no ring or bracelet on his hands, otherwise it would be impossible to keep grabbing things. Especially if they were as important as–

Xinyi’s eyes nearly popped from her head. She felt her mouth drop open and didn’t even care to fix it. It glowed a soft white light. Its aura seemed to caress her with the warmth of a mother. Her eyes drifted to her ancestor, Yin Hu. A man her entire lineage had been named after.

“I-I can’t.” She said, her voice sounded like it wasnt her own. It was distant and nearly unrecognizable. “That's too valuable. Hu Shui should get it. She’s an actual direct descendant. M-my blood is not pure. She–”

Yin Hu laughed. “You think your ancestor is so poor?”

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“What?” Xinyi was bewildered. Poor? What does that have to…

Her eyes widened as she understood what he had said. It crashed into her like a raging bull. This wasn’t just wealth. This was an empire's worth of value sitting before her and he just said he had many more. How is that even possible?

She let out a deep breath of turbid air. Then began to giggle. That turned into a chuckle, then to a laugh, before she fell to her side in a full blown stomach aching guffaw. Xinyi couldn’t even breathe.

Her ancestor looked on patiently.

It felt like hours before she could calm down enough to take everything he said and finally process his words. Of course everything would change when their ancestor appeared. Didn’t the patriarch, the elders, and her father sacrifice themselves to call for his aid? She remembered their dry husks after the ritual had been completed.

It had taken every single mana stone they had available to them and even their very cultivations for it to be successful.

Nothing less than this could have been worth it.

Xinyi bowed in her seated position. If she could have gotten up without making a fool out of herself–stumbling like a drunk vagrant–she would have only to kowtow fully just to show her sincerity.

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“Hu Shui!” her mother called.

She had never seen her eyes so wide. They were beautiful in every way possible. Her Mother was the epitome of…being a mother? The perfect person to exist. She had to be, how could anyone compare when she was the only one to make her food every day.

It's like her father. She saw him pick up a big piece of wood! There isn’t a person stronger!

“Hu Shui! Listen to me.” Her mother held her with a tight grip, in the darkness of some random house. She wasn’t sure where they were, but it wasn’t home. It was far away.

Her grip was tight, enough to hurt. “Mama. You’re hurting me.” She whined, but then suddenly paled. The aura of doom surrounded her very soul! The thought of escaping was fleeting, but even Hu Shui knew that there was no way to run from the fury and wrath destined to come.

Did her mother find out she was the one to eat all the candied sweets yesterday? Hu shui had made sure to cover all her tracks. She made sure to wipe her mouth from all the crumbs and even placed the jar back into the servants kitchen. Going as far as hiding it behind a few larger jars filled with things.

…Oh no. She forgot to clean the table after herself! The crumbs laid there as evidence of her crime.

Her mother had been speaking the entire time, but she couldn’t hear anything in her maelstrom of guilt and innocent fear. She was so going to get the paddle, her backside already ached.

She was suddenly taken into a tight hug. The unexpected turn of events left her bewildered. Anger meant bad. Sad meant bad. And hugs were a happy thing, right? That had to be correct, it was the rule.

Everyone had to follow the rules.

Hu Shui looked up at her mother, her confusion only became deeper. “Mama. You’re crying? Do you need more hugs?” Hugs always did the job. Her mother would smile afterwards no matter how much she had been crying.

But to her surprise it didn’t work.

“Xinyi.” her mother called to a girl standing a bit away. Her distant cousin, she was mean and always ran around with the guards. “Come here. Make sure you protect Shu-Shu. Please. I will buy enough time for you two to escape. They won’t know you guys got away, so make sure to never give them any hints. You are only two vagrant girls in the city over.” She caressed Hu Shui’s supple face. “Take this bag, it has everything you're going to need.”

“Yes, Matriarch!” Xinyi shouted. Her mother winced.

Hu shui noticed how scary Xinyi looked with her wooden sword. Then there was something deeper. Hu Shui let her inner eyes open and locked onto her cousin. She didn’t understand what was there, but it was not nice.

“M-mama.” Hu shui tried to hide behind her mother. Only to be dragged back out and handed to the broken soul girl. “She’s scary.”

Xinyi’s soul was marred with large gashes and a face of perpetual horror. It was so deeply intertwined into her very being, she didn’t think it was possible to heal. How did she hide the pain? What caused her to be so hurt?

“I will repeat this one more time, Hu Shui.” her mother reprimanded. “Make sure you do everything Xinyi tells you to do. If you don’t then…” she saw her mothers lip quiver. “...then expect the paddle, you little rascal. Now go.”

Her mother stepped towards the doors. She opened it slowly looking both ways before bolting away. Hu Shui heard a lot of shouts and men screaming. Did her mother hurt the bad people? She did that a lot lately.

“Shu-Shu.” Xinyi grabbed her arm and without warning manhandled Hu Shui onto her back. “Martial Rules! You must follow the highest rank commander available. Which means me! Let's go.” Was she playing another of her brutish games?

They ran out of the building and deep into the forest. It was the last time she smelled the flowers of her home…