Hu was the son of the village's strongest hunter. His father Wang Tai was well known in the area for being strong enough to hunt down the iron skin boars that wandered outside the village. Their village may have been small and nameless but everyone who lived there affectionately referred to it as home.

“Hmph, a dirty little place isn’t it.” The girl was about his age with an arrogant expression. Her long dark hair was tied into a bun and her impossibly clean robes shined in the morning light. Or they would have been that clean if it wasn’t for the obvious marks on her knees from when Hu first found her crawling down the mountain path.

He didn’t often go into the forest but the old man didn’t have any work for him and the beast man was always busy working out if he wasn’t in the forge. Hopefully the pitfall Hu left next to Hen Ri’s favorite boulder would catch him this time. Seriously though, what kind of adult had a favorite rock?

Hu found the lost girl, and being the biggest and strongest child in the village he had taken it upon himself to bring her back to old Long and help her find her way home. The fact that she was cuter than any girl in the village had nothing to do with it!

“Old man!” Hu shouted as he made his way to the back. Long Fa was working steadily. Slow precise movements flowing even as he glanced behind to where the children stood. He paused for a moment when he saw the girl.

“Fallen Mountain? What are you doing out here girl?” She froze at his statement, but he didn’t press further.

“Damn brat!” A deep booming voice rose from not far away. Hu froze for a moment before grabbing the girl's hand and bolting in the opposite direction of the shout.

He might not have been able to help the girl find her way home but at least the trap was a confirmed success.

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My pants were caked in mud. Hu had left me a little gift for when I got out of the river this morning and I was furious. It was a perfect trap that ended up dragging me down past my knees. Even if I was impressed I still needed to vent a bit. I rushed to the forging area and found old Long laughing his ass off and pointing towards the village.

The rule was no pranks in the forge, and Hu made use of every loophole he could think of. I grumbled as I sat down on the bench next to the doorway. Looks like the brat was going to get away with it this time, but I still had a few plans for dinner since the kid was staying here with us now. The food here was mild. Very mild. So the orange gnarled, wild pepper plants I found in the woods should put enough kick into his meal to remind him not to mess with my boulder!

A maniacal laugh almost escaped me as I thought about how I would give him the spiciest meal this village had ever seen.

Once I started on dinner I was able to confirm what I found. The peppers seemed to be pretty much the same as habaneros, even the size. Though these were actually hotter. I’m the sort of guy that eats straight peppers but these were a bit too much even for me. Which made them perfect for Hu.

My evil plans were interrupted when a strange feeling washed over me. It felt like someone had tried grabbing me and inspecting me as if I was a piece of meat in a market. Deep breath in, slowly out. I refocused myself to control the sensation and it went away almost immediately. Then I heard a voice pipe up from outside.

“Excuse me…” They seemed a bit hesitant. I went to the front door and a thin man with elegant silk robes and an iron fan stood at the entryway looking down his nose. Or at least he tried to. He barely came up to my shoulders which forced him to hold his head at what couldn't have been a comfortable angle.

The man stood tall with one hand cupped in the other upon seeing me.

“I apologize for the intrusion.” He spoke tensely despite the expression that screamed superiority complex.

I crossed my arms and nodded for him to continue. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. Then he eyed me up and down and that feeling like I was being measured came again. My eyes narrowed unintentionally and he flinched backwards.

“I-” Before he could actually get the words out Long Fa appeared from behind me.

“They're not here.” He waved the man away and shut the door in his face. The sensation didn’t come again after that.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Hmph, damn sects always barging their noses in other people's business.” The old man was grumbling.

“Wait, that was a cultivator?” There was no way. The guy looked like he would get blown over if there was too much wind.

“I thought you noticed since you overwhelmed his spiritual sense like that.” Long Fa looked at me with the expression that seemed to say ‘how do you not realize what you’re doing’.

“Is that what that slimy feeling was?” I almost shivered thinking about it.

“Probably, everyone’s spirit feels different. It depends on the person. He didn’t try checking my spiritual power so I couldn’t tell you.” Long Fa shrugged and sat down to wait for dinner.

Hu did return eventually. He could tell just by being near the plate I set aside for him that something was wrong. His eyes began to water looking at it. I’m not too cruel, I think. I did make my own plate almost as spicy. Though that was because I enjoy spicy food.

After only one bite the kid nearly fell over gasping. Old long and I both laughed as we passed him tea to wash it away.

“Don’t waste food boy, finish everything.” There was a bit more seriousness in his voice than I expected as old Long grabbed some of the peppers for himself, but he was right about not wasting food.

After dinner Hu disappeared for a bit while Long and I shared a drink over what had become our daily ritual. The kid seemed like he needed to work off some extra energy so we didn’t bother him. Instead the old man took the opportunity to tell me more about cultivation and the “Realms” as he called them until I passed out from the boring lecture.

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Once his apprentices were asleep Long Fa inspected how Hu’s cultivation was coming along. The boy had accidentally entered the opening realm over the past few days. It would usually take a few years for a child to reach that stage.

The strange pathways that seemed intent on carving themselves into the qi passages of the boy were so large that it was unlikely for him to have a bottleneck for collecting energy at any point in the future. What should have been tiny threads spreading throughout him were instead twisting and churning rivers.

The realm was further solidified since Henry had decided to give the boy Fire Bells for dinner. They were rare and powerful spiritual plants that could have harmed any cultivator that wasn’t focused on using extreme yang techniques. Thankfully, the boy had already learned the proper breathing technique by watching so he didn’t even need to teach him that part. Instead Long Fa just pushed his energy out slightly and helped the boy's swirling mass of power focus into the proper place.

Normally it should have calmly collected together in his dantian, but whatever body cultivation the two had been doing was preventing it. Instead of collecting calmly as it should have, or flowing out smoothly like Henry’s did, the boy instead began to develop a whirlpool of power inside him. The overwhelming passageways constantly pumping more energy to the whirlpool.

It wasn’t like anything Long Fa had ever seen. It brought a smile to his face. This was a boy that could reach the heavenly realm with proper guidance.

The old man sighed and stepped back. He needed to forget any form of greed or resentment. This kid would have been considered too talented for someone like him to train back in the day and even now he didn’t know if he could do it well enough. So he would just do what he can. He would help the boy focus his energy and learn how to smith, but he would let Henry teach him how to train. He might refer to it as a broken technique, but even a small waterway could bring life to a desert.

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Bai Xiu always returned to her sect before nightfall in order to avoid the patrolling senior disciples.

The little village below the mountain she visited today had been a bit interesting, if dirty. The boy that had guided her around the area had an air about him that even the young masters amongst the inner disciples couldn’t compare to. He was soft and young but also seemed like he was carved from stone at the same time. A strange feeling overcame her.

Why was she thinking so much about some foolish farmer boy?

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a cough as she slipped past the hole in the wall. She looked up and saw an old man she didn’t recognize. He had a light smirk on his face as he looked at the dirt and leaves stuck in Bai Xiu’s hair. He stroked his long, well trimmed, white beard that reached his paunchy belly as he watched her.

Bai stood as elegantly as she could and bowed to the old man. Someone like this in the outer sect could only be an elder of some sort, even if he was wearing such simple robes. He took a few moments to inspect her and she even felt his spiritual power wash over her for a moment. It was soft and inviting, not like the strange eeriness that usually overcame her when someone used their spiritual sense on her.

“What’s your name child?” His voice was calm but something in his eyes screamed his excitement.

“This one is Bai Xiu.” She bowed even lower as she said it.

“Very well then. You will follow me from now on, as long as you promise to use the front door in the future.” He held back a laugh and Bai snapped her head up towards him. An elder was going to take her as a direct apprentice? She hadn’t even thought it was possible. Usually only core disciples could get an elder as their teacher.

The old man waved for her to follow as he made his way to the inner court of the sect.