Zao Ning releases the Ki that his body hungrily absorbed and takes a long, deep breath.

There was hardly any repercussions this time to absorbing and fusing the Ki into my body. This will be very useful from now on.

With Zao reaching 5th Mortal Realm, it seems that his body has grown used to fusing Ki, something that only a Spirit Realm cultivator should do.

Zao then starts to walk towards the hallway on which he sent his father to.

Going through the shattered wooden door, Chan is waiting for Zao Ning and begins following his master once again.

"Chan, search for any valuables within the castle while I finish my business."

Zao doesn't let him stay for long and commands his powerful butler to essentially raid the castle for everything it is worth. Lord Fan's butler hears this but doesn't talk back due to the monster that is Zao Ning and his 6th Mortal Realm butler.

"Yes master."

Chan disappears, rummaging throughout the castle at high speeds. Zao continues down the hallway and sees a streak of blood leading down the stairs of the tower.

"Trying to runaway huh?" Zao sneers loud enough for everyone in the tower to here. Zao can smell a thick layer of fear spreading throughout the whole castle as Lord Fan was the strongest person here and Zao had defeated him so easily, causing everyone else to be put on edge.

Following the bloody streak on the stairs, when Zao reaches the halfway mark down the stairs, he finally finds his father, Lord Fan.

Lord Fan can feel the terrifying gaze of Zao Ning and turns around while crawling down the stairs. A horrified look spreading across his face.

Lord Fan's once handsome face is now disfigured and broken, causing Lord Fan to look like he was born with a smashed in skull. Zao just simply smiles at his father and grabs him by the hair and pulls him upwards, causing the two to be face to face.

"Son, what is it you still want from me?" Lord Fan says whimperingly. It is weird to see such a huge man whimpering like a baby but this is how must spoiled nobles act after being soundly defeated and their lives are being put on the line.

"First of all, I am taking anything and everything of value within the castle. Secondly, I want you to bring your sorry ass to Heaven's Pavilion and you will grovel and apologize to mother till she is satisfied. After that, never speak my name out of your mouth ever again. Someone as weak as you has no right to even be related to me."

"W-W-What is with these ridiculous demands?! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" Lord Fan tries to retaliate and charge up his Lightning Ki again but Zao simply doesn't let go, stares at Lord Fan with a dead serious glare, and charges his own Lightning Ki.

Remembering the beat down that happened minutes ago, Lord Fan relaxes his Ki and has a defeated expression. Zao lets go of his father's head and lets him fall to the ground once more.

"You have five days. If I hear nothing of you trying to get into Heaven's Pavilion, I will come here and rip you to pieces myself."

Zao is being unusually cruel this time around but you have to remember, Lord Fan knocked up Zao's mother and than threw her to the streets, forcing the single mother to work as a prostitute to even be able to feed her own child. Just thinking about his mother's past makes Zao want to rip his father's head off, but his father doesn't deserve the sweet release of death.

Zao, leaving his bloodied and defeated father behind, walks down the tower and to the entrance of the castle. The respect the soldiers once had for the son of the Lord is now fear as Zao's robe has now turned more crimson and the sounds of battle emitted from Lord Fan's towering.

Zao waits at the entrance for ten minutes before Chan arrives from within the depths of the castle.

"Anything worth taking?"

"Yes master."

"Good, we should take our leave now."

Zao and Chan leave Lord Fan's castle and outside, the sun has set and the night life of Xi'an has taken over. As Zao and Chan walk through the poorly light streets, thugs and prostitutes litter the allies, both trying to lure Zao into many different kinds of traps.

"Heeyyyyy baby, wanna have a good time."

"Hey, I have some killer deals, you should come check them out. Kekekekeke."

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"Look at this little boy, dressed like he just bathed in period blood. He is so young he probably doesn't even know how to read."

Zao just rolls his eyes and keeps walking to the weak provocations and calls of the under belly of Xi'an.

What weak and petty insults. Humans should learn how to trash talk better. Also these women showing off skin and wearing shitty perfume are really revolting. Are human men really attracted to that?

Zao Ning shakes his head at the idea of making love to someone like that. The only thing beautiful is power to Zao Ning, and if a woman is not his mother or someone at the Fiend Realm, Zao could probably care less about them.

Finally making it back to Heaven's Pavilion, Zao enters his estate with Chan.

"Leave all of the loot within my room. I will go through it later but for now I need to check on mother."

Zao Ning wishes to see how his mother's cultivation is going as she had broken through to the 2nd Mortal Realm two days ago and needed to speed a long time learning how to actually cultivate Ki.

"Yes master."

Arriving at Wei's room, Zao puts his ear to the door to see if he can sense or hear anything. A slight stir in the Earth Ki in the room tells Zao that his mother has finally successfully figured out how to manipulate Ki to some degree. Sighing in relief, Zao knocks on the door to his mother's room.

"Ah! Coming!"

The sound of someone falling over, and then rushing to the door comes within the room and soon Wei Ning opens the door for her son.

"My baby Zao Ning, what is it you need from your mother?" Wei Ning smiles warmly when she says this and her eyes are full of motherly love for her son.

"Mother, I have come to see how your cultivation is going. Looking from your aura, you are still 2nd Mortal Realm. Have you made in progress in comprehending the actual cultivation technique?"

"Y-Yes! I have finally learned how to actually take the Earth Ki and absorb it into my cultivation veins!"

"Haha, good! You're progressing well mother."

Before, Wei Ning had only opened her cultivation veins, but now she was actually taking in the Earth Ki around her. This is a memorable moment for any cultivator.

"It's all thanks to you my son. Now, when will be having dinner. Mother here is a little hungry." Wei Ning says while playfully laughing.

"I will check on the maids right now to see if they are nearly finished."

"Thank you."

Zao Ning hugs his mother and then leaves, letting Wei Ning cultivate more as now is an exciting time for her. Being able to sense and move Ki for the first time is an exhilarating feeling for anyone who hasn't experienced it before.

...

Zao Ning walks into the kitchen, expecting to see the hustle and bustle of his very few but capable maids. Instead, Zao is met with an empty kitchen with the ingredients to tonight's dinner being laid out but not touched. 

Zao Ning's face grows cold and a sharp glint forms in his eyes.

Something is wrong. The maids have never slacked for a second before... What happened exactly?

Zao Ning walks around the kitchen to look for any clues but even using his acute senses, Zao Ning sees no signs of struggle or like being within the kitchen at all.

Zao Ning begins to sniff the air and then an extremely faint hint of smell gently touches his nose. Zao Ning then runs back to where his mother's room, a panicked expression covering his face.

"Mother. MOTHER! WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW."

Without even caring about his mother's privacy, Zao Ning bursts into his mother's room. Wei Ning is startled and jumps out of her bed in fright.

"W-W-What is the matter-?!"

Wei Ning's question is cut off by Zao's body absorbing the Lightning Ki in the room and him rushing towards his mother at top speeds. Zao picks up his mother and puts her over his shoulder as she is stunned and completely baffled.

Without saying another words, Zao looks to the wall to his left and rears back his left palm.

"Rock Cracking Thrust!" 

BOOOM!

The wall explodes as Zao sends his most powerful palm thrust at it, creating a hole in his mother's room that leads to outside. 

With a quick step and a bright flash of lightning, Zao carries his mother outside and sprints away from his estate as fast as possible. 

Wei Ning's heart can't take anymore and she manages to speak a question even while being carried at speeds nearly too fast for her body to handle.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?"

KABOOOOOOOOM!

As Zao and his mother was about 200 meters away from the Ning Estate, Wei Ning's question is drowned out by the deafening explosion of their new house. The shock wave hits Zao Ning in the back and Wei Ning in the face but Zao's 5th Mortal Realm isn't affected by it as the shock wave weakened compared to being right next to the explosion.

Wei Ning's hair is blown backwards and her face is pushed back by the force of the shock wave though. With the shock wave passing and the ringing leaving his ears, Zao Ning puts his mother down and looks back towards the fiery estate. 

As Wei Ning tries to recover from the shock of watching her son's new house explode, Zao Ning just stares at his explode house as several cultivators begin to gather around the destroyed Ning Estate.

Zao Ning grinds his teeth and clinches his fist till they nearly begin to bleed. His body is hungrily absorbing the Lightning Ki in the air as his rage and fury at the moment is pushing Zao to push his body to the limits.

"Whoever tried to kill my mother... I WILL FIND YOUUUUU!"

Zao Ning roars loudly that echoes throughout the whole city of Xi'an. In the distance, Grand Elder Chi and Chan stand on a hill, watching the Ning Estate burn.

"Master, do you think it was wise to push the Wu Chang Sect to attack Zao Ning due to making their clan lose face? What if he isn't even alive anymore."

"If he didn't live then he doesn't deserve to be my disciple. If he does live, I'll drop him a hint on who did it. This might be the push he needs to grow even more monsterous before the sect's tournament in 40 days. We need to see what truly resides in Zao Ning."

"As you wish master."

"If Zao Ning's mother died, that would help him cultivate quicker as well for revenge but if she didn't give him this from me as a reward. If she lived then he is quick witted and could sense the Earth Ki in the air that was flammable gas."

Grand Elder Chi hands Chan a sword and Chan's eyes goes wide. The legendary sword the Grand Elder Chi might finally be passed down and unsheathed after years of slumber.

'Zao Ning better pray his mother is still alive, because if so, lady fortune is coming his way.' Chan thinks to himself when reminiscing the epic stories of what this legendary sword has been through.

If only Chan knew how Zao will react when receiving this sword. Chan would probably vomit blood in surprise.