The Zhang trio had been in the forest for three years to the day, they all showed signs of maturing greatly. In the forest were magical beasts and food was not guaranteed, clean water was hard to find, and shelter was what they could build. During this time they had grown and learned to survive even against packs of magical wolf beasts that would occasionally attack. Their cultivation had hardly moved upwards at all but their combat abilities had seen what amounted to a rebirth. Comparing them to three years ago would only be a fool's errand. They had survived life and death situations dozens of times now and came through all of it.

The trio stepped into the city gates and got many stares, they were wearing animal pelt clothing and it was all rough hand made leathers and furs. They stuck out like sore thumbs as they made their way through the city back to their old family manor. On the way they ended up running into Naath’s older brother Zhu Leng again. Upon meeting each other all four people froze, the trio had awkward expressions and Zhu Leng clearly recognised them at a glance. The three looked between themselves and all seemed to come to a silent agreement.

They all knelt in front of Zhu Leng and simultaneously shouted “ We the Zhang triplets apologize for our previous childish actions against Lord Zhu!”

Zhu Leng was surprised to say the least, this was the last possible thing he had expected from these three. After thinking for a moment he let out a breath of relief, he thought he would have to fight them. He nodded his head to them and accepted their apology and went on his way without any words. The trio were relieved seeing this, they had truly matured while they were in the forest and realised they were being childish and that their common sense before was very much so lacking. Now though they saw the error of their ways and were heading back to the family manor to accept any more punishments to be dished out.

It only took the trio 10 minutes to get an audience with their father Zhang Chu, the head of the family. He was sitting in the head of the family's seat which was slightly raised and looking down at the three of them. He was completely silent and said nothing, waiting for the three of them to speak first and show some degree of change or growth to him. He had given them three years in the wilderness to try and make them grow, it was obvious to him he had spoiled them a little too much and they needed a harsh lesson in order to properly grow and mature.

Thing one spoke first saying “Father in the three years we spent in the woods we at first had a hard time. It was as you said we were lacking and couldn't see the forest for the trees as it were.” Thing two spoke up “In that time in the woods we faced many challenges, food, water, clothing, shelter, even our lives were not guaranteed through all of it.” Zhang La continued seamlessly in sync with her siblings. “We were attacked by countless wild beasts and had to struggle and give it our all several times when packs of magical wolf beasts came. Through all of this we matured greatly, along the way the three of us saw Zhu Leng and have already knelt and apologized. More than anything we have gained a sense of family, trust and teamwork far beyond others.”

At this time all three as if they were of a single mind simultaneously kowtowed to their father in apology. They said simultaneously “Father we were wrong, we accept any punishment to be given!”

Seeing this their father smiled slightly saying “Okay I can see the three of you have truly matured, due to your growth I will punish you no further. In the time you all have been learning in the forest out family has become high silver rank and earned an energy gathering formation. The family now has a sacred cultivation grounds! You three go there and cultivate diligently you have fallen slightly behind in this time. Don’t come out until you reach at least the third stage of energy conversion!”

The three of them nodded their heads and simultaneously stood up and walked according to the directions given to them. Their father saw the three of them and thought to himself ‘teamwork beyond others? It's more like they are of one mind and three bodies now.’ Even as their father he was slightly creeped out by how they seemed to do everything in perfect sync with one another. Through that though he could tell they had grown and learned together in many life and death moments. They would not be causing trouble like the rambunctious children they had once been. He smiled lightly, glad that they had finally grown to act according to their age.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Zhu Leng was just now arriving back at the family estate and he walked directly to the backyard to find his father training as per usual. He told his father of the strange encounter he had with the Zheng trio and his father dropped the massive 1 ton boulder he was lifting in shock. He turned and faced Zhu Leng and gave him a curious look with a raised eyebrow. Zhu leng explained everything that had happened and that it had happened out of the blue. His father thought for a second and then slapped his knee in recognition as he recalled that the three had been banished to the forest for three years for their poor behavior.

He paused here and said “let's all talk about this more at dinner, I would like to hear everyone's input before I make certain decisions.”

Zhu Leng nodded his head and waved it off and went in to check on Naath only to see him meditating silently seemingly in very deep thought. With that he decided to go out into the city and explore the markets, it had been far too long since he had simply taken a day off and relaxed. The markets were only a short 30 minute walk from the family estate. When he arrived it was just as busy and crowded as always with dozens of tented places selling various knick knacks, jewly, toys, you name it. As he was browsing the market something caught his eye. He went over to the stall which had various items made out of jade and ancient woods. He saw one bracelet that was carved with some characters on one single bead.

The characters said “simplicity is best, even the dao returns to simplicity.” Thinking this was just the kind of odd trinket that Naath would enjoy he decided to get it, he also got a pair of jade earrings for his mother and a new throwing blade for his father. He didn't forget to also get himself a small necklace with a charm that supposedly would help one focus and cultivate, as well as a token of good luck for Zhu Shuan. After this he happily hummed back towards the family estate and enjoyed the city sights and sounds on the way there. All things considered it had been a quiet peaceful day for him and he didn't have much left to do at all except wait for dinner.

Naath’s mother was in the kitchen at this time getting started on exactly that, she managed the kitchen with some other chefs who had fire or ice based elemental cultivations. After all these were best for cooking and preserving various foods, she also likes working with the staff around the house. She wanted everyone here to feel like equals, of course her, her husband, and children were the heads of this large family. But she felt like every person that helped maintain the Zhu family home was a part of the family. She moved swiftly with the chefs, sometimes showing more skill with the knife than them.

Tonight was dumplings with soup for dinner and she had this strange feeling that tonight's dinner was going to be something special so she put her all into cooking it with the chefs. She was far stricter with them than normal and they all noticed quickly that something was different and that this meal would be special so they secretly prepared various sides and a few deserts. There were five chefs in total and each of them decided to do one extra side and dessert for each member of the Zhu family.

Zhu Shuan at this time was back at school bored out of his mind learning things he essentially already knew. He had picked all of what they were trying to teach up from his youngest brother Naath. He was proud of his little brother but also a little envious of his incredible knowledge and talents. Still his brother was the pride of his family and he would do anything to help him if he needed to. Letting out a sigh Zhu Shuan lazily stretched, he got up from his class seat and handed a packet of papers to the instructor. After handing him the papers he walked out of the class and simply left the school building.

The instructor was furious at first and wanted to yell at him but when he glanced down at the papers he noticed it was a list of mistakes he had made while teaching! He swallowed his anger and it was replaced with both fear and admiration. If Zhu Shuan had given this to the principle instead he would lose his job, maybe his cultivation too. The principal was generally a ruthless character, that's why the school was calm with no troublemakers. The last troublemaker was hung outside above the school doors tied by his arms for a full day and night as punishment. The instructor sighed but let Zhu Shuan leave as he pleased. After all, it was getting late and the class had run long due to some of the more curious students.

When Zhu Leng got home it was just in time as he smelled the scents of various foods being cooked. Dinner was just around the corner.