The next day, Tian Xuan woke up and saw Long Zhang was sleeping beside him.
Tian Xuan remembered that Long Zhang was searching for the elder, the master painter. Although Tian Xuan felt doubtful in his heart, one must think that nothing is impossible in this world.
The elder might be a master painter and a great cultivator but can a painter win against a cultivator master?
Maybe but on a normal calculation, one doesn't really think that such a thing will happen.
Thinking about it, although Long Zhang had born as a baby even though he was a painting, his childhood is not the same as anyone else's.
Tian Xuan patted Long Zhang head softly as he pitied the man. While Tian Xuan might be abandoned by his parent to the orphanage and with all the unlucky event in his life, he still had pretty much a good childhood and have friends when he was a child.
He was bullied but the bully was never too aggressive. He also had the fun time playing with his teachers and other kids. Sometimes, the school will bring him and the other orphan children to festival and sea to play.
He never feels unsatisfied over his childhood.
Meanwhile, Long Zhang had to learn everything that he can from the elder that take care of him. He has no other friend than the dragon which is the friend of the elder and small animals are pretty much his only friends too but since they can't talk, they can't be considered as socializing with a friend.
Suddenly, Tian Xuan's hand was grabbed and he fell flat on top of Long Zhang's chest. He grunted in pain and rubbed his chin as he looked upward.
His eyes trembled slightly when he saw the blood-red pupils looking at him so intimidatingly.
"Ah Zhang..."
"I don't like people touch my hair." The man is expressionless as he speaks in a straight tone.
"Ah… Sorry." Tian Xuan was about to take his hand away but Long Zhang pulled him in and peck on the boy's lips.
Tian Xuan was stunned and quickly push the man away from him. He moved backward and wiped his mouth.
It's not that Tian Xuan hate Long Zhang and it is not like the intimate action make him nauseous. It is just that, when Long Zhang kissed him, it was as if the man was looking at a woman. The eyes are locking onto him as if they are seeing something else.
In addition to that, Tian Xuan feels that Long Zhang treated kiss as simple as holding a hand.
Just as he was about to say something, Li Yiyuan voice called out from the outside of the courtyard.
"Lord Tian, this humble elder wants to discuss something with you." Li Yiyuan addressed himself as an elder.
Tian Xuan quickly took the white falcon with him and stepped out of the bedroom with the same clothes he wore last night. He saw Li Yiyuan with few young kids wearing the white cloak standing behind him.
Tian Xuan exclaimed in surprise when he saw the kids. "Yiyuan?"
"We greet esteemed leader!" The kids bowed and cupped their fist in unison.
They are only looking about seven to eight years old. The girls look even younger but their real age is above nine years old. They were children of the servants so naturally, their body couldn't be compared with average kids that have wealthy parents.
His eyebrow rose upward. Tian Xuan looked at Li Yiyuan and the man smiled helplessly.
"The four of them couldn't feel spiritual energy no matter how many hours they spent to meditate."
"Ah..." Now he knows.
Tian Xuan nodded his head and quickly beckoned them over to the hall. He told them to sit down as he helped them open their meridian. The process is painful but after they open their meridian point, they could feel the spiritual energy that is surrounding him.
He imparted them low tier cultivation manual and let Li Yiyuan watch over them. As he also sat by the side, Li Yiyuan spoke in a low voice.
"There's already a student that reached Martial King. Her name is Xuyin and she is just thirteen years old this year."
Tian Qiu that has been quiet suddenly spoke out in Tian Xuan's mind. <
'Alright. In the future only tell me how many have broken through and what reward to I get.'
<
"Hm, that was a pleasant surprise." Tian Xuan replied for both the surprise he heard from Tian Qiu and Li Yiyuan.
Li Yiyuan smiled bitterly before he continued. "She was a commoner child."
When Tian Xuan listened to Li Yiyuan that speaking as if it was a huge matter, he frowned. "... What is the problem?"
"The girl said that she doesn't want her family to join Ethereal Demonic sect."
"Does she speak of the reason?"
"No. I tried to ask her but she quickly waved her hand and tell me to forget about her request."
If the girl had told the reason, Tian Xuan can speculate and judge the situation. In case the girl is just throwing tantrum, Tian Xuan would tell the family by himself to join the sect but the girl told Li Yiyuan to forget about it.
Tian Xuan was truly concerned now. "Where is she staying at? Let me meet her."
"She is staying with Wu Linyi and the other girls to cultivate this morning at the second Plum Courtyard."
Tian Xuan left the hall and walked toward the Plum Courtyard. On the way, he saw Wu Yunfeng is practicing sword art with Wu Xian using only a wooden sword and a roughly carved heavy stone sword.
For the sake of becoming proper sword master teacher, Wu Xian had told Tian Xuan that he wanted to learn other sword arts. Tian Xuan asked Tian Qiu if there is a way to make it so that even if Wu Xian and Tian Xuan learned other sword art, it won't implicate the Twelfth Heaven Crashing Sword.
The system answered with a simple solution. <
Thus, with the solution that Tian Qiu gave, Tian Xuan allowed Wu Xian to learn other sword arts. It was still strong even when they used a wooden sword and if their understanding has reached a maximum point, they would be able to use the technique just by pointing a finger of theirs as the sword.
Of course, Tian Xuan bought plenty of sword manuals for it and had to spend the time to read and understand. Then, he imparted his spiritual energy into Wu Xian mind to impart the knowledge. He also gave the manuals to the man just in case there is any question that his student going to ask about.
His eyes looking around and saw the silhouette of a boy after Wu Yunfeng. Instead of Yi Ling sparring with Wu Yunfeng, her little brother Yi Zhao is Wu Yunfeng's sparring partner.
Yi Zhao has already formed his cultivator core and he is a 3-Dan martial warrior. Wu Yunfeng is already a 2-Dan martial king stage cultivator and not surprisingly, his true essence is an intermediate grade. What more, his true qi is water essence.
Perfect for the Gale Storm sword that Tian Xuan gifted to him.
Wu Xian's true qi was stolen by Shao Xinyue precisely because Wu Xian had water essence.
Water is flexible and can support other elements. Even fire essence cultivator can be supported by the water essence if the essence is pure.
Shao Xinyue possessed Lightning essence so she is very compatible with Wu Xian. The Shao Clan wanted to pair them so that Wu Xian can help Shao Xinyue getting stronger. Wu Clan doesn't want to offend the prominent clan at that time, thus, they sell out Wu Xian.
Even though Wu Xian is not talented or a genius in cultivation, the boy is considered above average too because he reached Martial King 2-Dan. Just because the boy lacked the material to assist him in cultivation, he reached 2-Dan martial king later than his peers.
That's why Shao Xinyue mocked him so much. She is, after all, younger than Wu Xian by three years but she reached Martial King earlier than him.
Once Tian Xuan arrived in the second Plum Courtyard, he saw the girls are diligently cultivating in the hallway while gripping a spiritual stone.
He recognized Wu Linyi that is wearing a blue dress, Yi Ling liked to wear red clothes and Wu Chiyun wear yellow but he doesn't recognize the other girl that is wearing white as lotus dress.
Yi Ling opened her eyes after noticing a presence entering the courtyard and saw Tian Xuan.
"Student greet Esteemed Leader." She stood and cupped her fist.
The other girls followed suit behind her.
"We greet Esteemed Leader."
"En." Tian Xuan nodded his head lightly and looked at the girl in white dress.
"What is your name?"
The girl looked hesitant before she spoke in soft and low voice timidly. "This one given name is Xuyin, surnamed… Shao."