Jin Zhu led Jin Shu over to a seat so that they could talk, conveniently forgetting about his son. "Come, sit and talk with me. Your grandfather here has a story he'd like to share with you. Ah, but before we get to that, I'll give you permission to practice combat techniques now. I know that your mother gave you an Earth-tier combat technique last year, and that you haven't begun practicing it yet."

Jin Shu looked at his grandfather in surprise. "Ah, I'd actually forgotten about that. If you don't mind me asking, Grandfather, why is it that you banned practicing combat techniques, and why let me practice them now?"

Jin Zhu chuckled. "Ah, there's no real profound reason. The only reason is that none of my sons or their children had any real talent for cultivation, so I had them focus on learning blacksmithing and runesmithing instead. As for you, since you've shown such talent in cultivation, you needn't focus on blacksmithing and runesmithing alone and could make a name for yourself in the cultivation world instead."

"Now, on to the main issue. As a reward for your incredible talents, allow me to share a story with you." Jin Zhu called a maid over and had her prepare tea for Jin Shu and himself.

Jin Chen, seeing that there was no seat or tea for him, couldn't help asking, "Uh... Father, where am I supposed to sit?"

Jin Zhu huffed and shooed Jin Chen away. "What the hell are you still doing here, you brat!? Get out before I beat you again!"

Jin Chen quickly scrambled out of the great hall. "OK, OK, I'm leaving!"

Jin Zhu turned back to Jin Shu. "Now that that brat is gone, I can get on with my story. Let us see, where should I start? Hmm... let's start at the beginning."

Jin Zhu paused to wet his throat with some tea. "One hundred years ago, I fancied myself an adventurer, so I set out to explore the world, or as much of it as I could manage to see in one lifetime. During my exploration, I crossed over to the Eastern Region. To get there, I had to cross two other dynasties and met with great peril along the way, nearly losing my life quite a few times. But I digress. Once I made it to the Eastern Region, I stumbled upon an ancient tomb. Inside the tomb, I found the runesmithing method that our family uses. I also found the living spirit of the tomb's owner. He gave me a task: to lead someone of immense talent to him within two hundred years, before his spirit dissipates. He told me that he would give the one I lead to him a unique cultivation technique and a more advanced runesmithing method. I had originally given up hope after your father was born. As he is the youngest of my sons, and he had the best cultivation talent amongst my other sons, your uncles, and their children. And yet, his talent was still only slightly above average. But now I've finally found the one that the spirit was looking for. It's you."

Jin Shu took a moment to take it all in. "So you want me to go find a spirit that will teach me a unique cultivation technique and a runesmithing method? From what I've read in a book in the past, certain spirits have the ability to possess others, thus reviving themselves. And they are also impervious to physical harm."

Jin Zhu nodded. "That is all true. However, there are two reasons that I dare send you. Firstly, without the help from that spirit, our family would not have the wealth and power that we do now. We would still be a powerless family of blacksmiths, if our family could even survive this long. Secondly, the combat technique that your mother gave you just so happens to counter spirits. Your mother stole the perfect technique for you, huhuhu."

Jin Shu was surprised that his grandfather knew what technique his mother gave him. "How do you know the technique my mother gave me? I haven't even practiced it yet."

Jin Zhu laughed and looked behind Jin Shu. "Huhuhu, I have my ways."

Turning around, Jin Shu noticed a young maid standing behind him. He had no idea when she had appeared there. This was quite surprising to Jin Shu, as a soldier in his past life who had survived in various battlefields for most of his life, he prided himself on his environmental awareness. Yet this unassuming maid had managed to sneak up behind him. After looking her over for a few seconds, he managed to recognize her; she had been the one to serve him and his mother tea a year ago. 'Ah, no wonder Grandfather knows about the technique that my mother gave me. He had this maid spying for him.'

Jin Zhu noticed that Jin Shu recognized the maid but didn't choose to comment on it. "This is Su Bing. She will be your personal maid from now on, and she will accompany you when you head to the Eastern Region. As she was originally born in the Eastern Region, she will make for a great guide for you on your travel."

Jin Shu turned back to his grandfather. "Uh... I don't need a maid, but I will take her along as a guide when I leave. Ah, when do I need to leave?"

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Jin Zhu raised his cane up and reprimanded Jin Shu. "Just because you are our family's greatest genius doesn't mean I won't give you a beating like I did your father. Su Bing will be your maid from now on, and that is final. As for when you leave, that's up to you. I would recommend that you wait until you have gained a good understanding of the Phoenix Claw technique before you set out."

"Ah, haha... OK, thank you for the advice, Grandfather. Well then, I'll be on my way now." Jin Shu laughed nervously and bid his farewell.

Jin Zhu waved him off. "Right, be off with you then."

Jin Shu stood and walked out of the great hall while Su Bing silently followed close behind.

---

Jin Shu stepped into his courtyard and was shocked by what he saw.

"Ahaha! Big Sista Mei'er, Biwu, again! Again!" Yin'er, Jin Shu's mother, and Fan Biyu were playing in the snow. The three of them were having a snowball fight. Sun Mei'er was using her Qi to form the snowballs and then throwing them at a snow fort that Yin'er and Fan Biyu were hiding behind.

"Ah!"

Jin Shu heard a sound behind him and turned to see Su Bing watching the three playing in the snow with a look of longing. So he asked her if she would like to play with them. "Do you want to join them?"

Su Bing glanced over at him and quickly put on a look of nonchalance, then she coughed into her fist and shook her head.

Jin Shu gave her a skeptical look and turned back to watch the three girls playing. Well, two girls and one woman; however, if Sun Mei'er heard that, she would probably blow a gasket.

Soon after, Yin'er collapsed in exhaustion, so they stopped playing. Fan Biyu, sweating from the snowball fighting with her hair in disarray and her robes clinging tightly to her body, turned around and saw Jin Shu watching them. She gave a startled yelp, blushed furiously, and quickly hid behind his mother to hide her embarrassing look. His mother, while not as sweaty as Fan Biyu due to her higher cultivation, looked quite exhausted herself. She walked over to a stone table on the side and ordered Su Bing to prepare some tea for her.

Jin Shu walked over to the snow fort while chuckling to himself. He made sure not to look too closely at Fan Biyu, who now had nowhere to hide as his mother had walked away. When he reached the snow fort, he bent down and picked up the exhausted Yin'er from the pile of snow she was using as a bed. As Yin'er felt someone pick her up, she struggled to open her eyes. However, due to her exhaustion, her eyes refused to open wide enough for her to make anything out. So she resorted to sniffing instead. "Sniff... Sniff... Hehe... smells like Dada." And with that, she fell asleep.

Turning around, he saw that Fan Biyu was still standing in the middle of the courtyard, like a doe caught in headlights. So he smiled and said to her, "If you'd like, you can go inside and find a set of my robes to change into, Miss Fan."

She hiccuped in surprise and quickly bowed, then dove inside his room. "Hic! Ah, uh, thanks!"

His mother, who had been silently watching all of this from the side, giggled and beckoned him over to the table. "Hehehe! Come here, Shu'er."

Jin Shu was going to sit across from his mother, but she told him to sit next to her. After he sat down, his mother rested her head on his shoulder. "Oh, my little baby Shu'er is all grown up now."

Jin Shu glanced at Su Bing, who was standing off to the side, and coughed in embarrassment. His mother then asked him how his meeting with his grandfather had gone. "Your father stopped by a while ago and told us that you were meeting your grandfather. What did he want to talk to you about?"

Jin Shu told his mother about his grandfather wanting him to make a trip to the Eastern Region. "Grandfather told me about the tomb where he found our family's runesmithing method and how there is an opportunity waiting there for me. I'm going to travel east after I've finished learning the technique you gifted to me last year. I'll be bringing Su Bing with me as a guide since she was born in the Eastern Region."

His mother looked at him worriedly. "That is going to be a dangerous journey, but don't worry because Momma will go with you and keep you safe, OK?"

Jin Shu flusteredly tried to deny her. "Uh... ah... well... you don't need to come along. I'm sure we'll be fine on our own."

As Sun Mei'er was about to insist on coming with him, Fan Biyu stepped out of his room, dressed in a white robe that looked to be about two sizes too big. "Master, you can't go with him. Don't you remember? The Sect Matriarch has called us back to the Sect."

Sun Mei'er looked at Fan Biyu and protested, "Ugh... I don't want to. I'm going with my baby."

Fan Biyu tried to reason with her. "Master, the Matriarch said it was urgent. We should have already left this morning, but you said you needed to say goodbye to Jin Shu and Yin'er first."

Sun Mei'er heaved a stubborn sigh. "Ugh! Do we really have to?"

Fan Biyu nodded. "From what the disciple who brought the summons said, it seems to have to do with the Demon Worshipers in the Southern Region."

Sun Mei'er sighed in defeat. "Haa... ugh... I guess we have to go back then. I really hate those damn Demon Worshipers! Why did our Sect have to be in the south of the Western Region?"

Jin Shu looked at his mother in confusion. "What is a Demon Worshiper?"

"They're crazy bastards who sacrifice humans to creatures from hell. Or at least that's what they say they're doing. I've never seen one of these supposed hell creatures," Sun Mei'er explained.

Su Bing was listening to Sun Mei'er speak while pouring tea and accidentally spilled it on her. "Ah! I'm sorry! Let me get a towel to clean you up!"

As she turned around in a fluster to get a towel, she tripped and fell face-first into a snowdrift. Jin Shu quickly stood up and helped Su Bing out of the snow. When he picked her up, he couldn't help laughing slightly at the bump on her forehead. "Aha! Ah, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh."

Su Bing blushed and hurried off in search of a towel. By the time she made it back, Sun Mei'er had already dried the spilled tea with her Qi, which had a slight fire effect due to her cultivation technique.