The sounds of Huang Yi struggling against the guards died down slowly while Hong Zhao and Huang Ji watched from the fountain. As the young brat was being dragged out, the other citizens began leaving their homes once more.
"Did the Village Elder just kick his own grandson out of the village?"
"Yeah, and if you ask me, I'd say good riddance."
"Don't you think he went too far? What if the young master seeks revenge on the village because his own grandfather took the side of some random child?"
Hong Zhao and Elder Huang Ji didn't pay attention to the numerous discussions going on around them, instead they enjoyed each other's company.
"You have finished the books I have borrowed you." Elder Huang Ji implied in a business like manner.
"Yes, Honored Elder." Hong Zhao bowed slightly to the village elder. He had recently taken a liking to instruction books on cultivation ranks. If he was to gain as much strength as he could, he had to know where his limits would be, and how to break through them.
Huang Ji nodded slightly. "From now until you leave this village, I want you to make time to come to the estate and study." With that, he walked away, leaving Hong Zhao looking after him.
"Lan," Hong Zhao said under his breath. "I know you can hear me. I wish to help Elder Huang Ji recover from his illness." He then turned back to the Li family estate and went directly home to cultivate.
During the next few months, Hong Zhao continued his usual routine of cultivating, strengthening and training his abilities, after which he went to the village elder's estate and discussed what he had learned in the latest books Elder Huang Ji had given him to study.
Every once in a while, Huang Ji would show up at the Li family estate to observe Hong Zhao's rigorous training session, as well as Li Wei and Li Wuhan. He was impressed to see the siblings had already made it to the fourth star student rank. Soon, they would join Hong Zhao on his way to Yuan Academy.
At one time, Huang Ji had come to the estate at the precise time that Hong Zhao was training with his devouring qi claws. Hong Zhao swung his claws at invisible enemies with a ferocity that astounded the village elder. He had not seen such determination in a child so small, in many adults in that matter.
Sweat glistened off the young boy's body as he used his movement ability to sprint between the row of trees in the back yard of his courtyard. As he moved between, large gusts of wind blew the leaves of each one he passed.
Doing impressive jumps, spins and flips while the claws remained out showed the child's complete control over his body. Huang Ji watched as Hong Zhao used vortex thrust to propel himself up to a tree branch, where he hung by his legs and lifted his upper body up and down. After a hundred lifts, he canceled his qi claws and grabbed hold of the branch with one hand and dropped his feet. He hung by one hand for several minutes before switching to the other hand, then pulled his weight a hundred times before dropping to the ground.
Huang Ji stood in silence while a seven year old boy did more physical training than he had seen anybody do. Normally, one would rely only on the strength the increasing cultivation rank. Since the strength boost came naturally with the increase in rank, most people would forgo their own body strengthening. Yet by doing so, they remain at the low physical realm of that rank at all times. This boy had come to that conclusion all on his own, or maybe he had read it in one of the books the elder had borrowed him. Either way, he was astounded to see such commitment to improving himself.
"Elder Huang Ji?" Hong Zhao ran over to the old man and bowed in respect. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" he wiped a bead of sweat away from his eye as he straightened himself up.
"Sometimes by the way you talk, I forget that you are just a child." Huang Ji smiled and shook his head. "I've just come here to see what you do with your days while you are not reading. I'm quite impressed with the dedication I've seen."
"Your words are too kind, Elder." Hong Zhao smiled gently. "Surely there is something this lowly one can do for you?"
"Lowly one indeed." Huang Ji chuckled. "I believe by the time you grow into yourself, not many would think of you as low, my child." He cleared his throat. "That technique I saw you use, were those claws?"
Hong Zhao nodded as he activated the ability. "These are my qi claws." he said simply. It would be best if Huang Ji didn't look into the technique too much. If he did, he may find that they weren't simple at all.
"Do you know any other techniques besides this?"
Hong Zhao shook his head. To say he knew eagle eye and qi shot was to invite trouble. He didn't know if an equivalent still existed in this world.
"That means you only have an ability made to kill or maim an opponent," Huang Ji stated simply. "I don't think this will do."
"What do you mean, honored elder?"
"Simply put, what happens if you participate in a tournament to test your abilities against other opponents? Will you just kill them all?"
"Why would I need to test my strength against others?" Hong Zhao was used to going into the forest and killing shadow panthers. He knew his strength well enough.
"Tournaments are not just about showing your strengths and weaknesses, but also about gaining more cultivation resources, as well as silver, gold or even qi stones if you are lucky." Huang Ji hinted at the many prizes that went to the victors.
Hong Zhao grunted an approval. He did understand the need to continue to grow his wealth. fifty gold was a good amount for now, but he knew that life as a cultivator was not cheap. Lan had been kind to him so far in the way of resources, but in a way, she was molding him into something that could be used to her benefit. He didn't truly know how far she would go for him.
In the past few months since Hong Zhao asked Lan for her help, he had checked each room of his storage ring every night before he slept and every day when he woke up. His efforts continuously gave him the same thing, nothing.
Lan had simply not given him the time of day since the fight with Huang Yi. Instead of dwelling his runaway master, he had given himself over to his training. It was like Lan had once said, this was his chance to do it all over again. He was an old man stuck in a youthful body with complete control of his emotions. He would be crazy not to take advantage of the situation he was in. Other children his age would cultivate for just two hours a day if they were serious, then they would go hang out with their friends or pester their parents. While he conditioned himself, he often saw Li Wei chasing her brother around the estate. When he looked at them funny, they said they were 'conditioning themselves'. Though he could always hear them giggle when they ran off.
"Would you like to learn some more skills?" Huang Ji snapped Hong Zhao back to reality.
"If Honored Elder would lower himself enough to teach this unworthy student, then yes of course." Hong Zhao smiled graciously and bowed his head.
"Enough of that honored elder crap, just call me Huang Ji!"
"Yes, Elder Huang Ji." Hong Zhao said respectfully with a bow.
"Sometimes I feel like you are making fun of me. I don't understand why I might think that." The elder mused to himself before straightening and bringing a dark stone out of his pocket and handed it to Hong Zhao. "This is called a memory stone. Just hold it up to your head and insert a strand of qi into it."
Of course Hong Zhao was already familiar with the process, yet Huang Ji didn't know this, and he intended to keep it that way. Instead of bringing it to his forehead, he brought it to the top of his head and made an intense face, as if he were trying to make the rock explode.
"No!" Elder Huang Ji grabbed the stone from the child's head and put it to his forehead. "Like this. Now, focus your qi and put a strand of it into this stone."
Hong Zhao chuckled inwardly and did as he was instructed. He then glimpsed two abilities within the stone. Using his qi, he absorbed the knowledge and blinked to let Huang Ji know that he was finished. "Hurricane Kick and Shattering Palm?" Hong Zhao listed the abilities he had just learned.
"Yes. With the movement ability I have just seen you use, these will come in handy." Huang Ji smiled as he took a step towards a tree. "This is shattering palm." He spread his legs apart slightly and brought his hand level with his face. It then began glowing a pale yellow. When he hit the tree, it completely shattered. It didn't splinter or break, but shattered into thousands of pieces. "It will be quite some time until you are able to use it to this extent, but I'm sure with some practice, you will be able to hold your own in a match with an opponent of similar strength if not even a little more powerful than you.
Hong Zhao nodded his approval. Though he did enjoy his nightly excursions into the forest, he knew that the shadow panther population had taken a record breaking hit. If he were to continue for even a month more, he might cripple the race completely. "Are their any tournaments within Rantori Village?"
"There just so happens to be one coming up within the month!" Huang Ji slapped Hong Zhao on the back. "If you train both hurricane kick and shattering palm with the same effort I just witnessed, I'm sure you will have an understanding of both of them long before it begins." He chuckled as he played the image of a seven year old doing pull ups and upside down crunches on a branch.
"Thank you, Elder Huang Ji." Hong Zhao bowed once more. "If you don't mind, I would like to start my training now."
"Always in such a hurry." Huang Ji shook his head. "I have never met one like you before, and I am certain I will never again meet another." he turned to walk while humming a tune.
Hong Zhao walked the village elder back to the entrance to the Li family estate and bowed his thanks once more. He watched the old man walk back towards the market place, back to his own home. He then realized how alone the old man must feel without Huang Yi there to make a racket. "Maybe I should involve him in my training until the tournament begins." He pondered for a moment as he walked back to the courtyard.
He had a goal again, finally. Since Huang Yi forcefully left the village, he had been wandering the village aimlessly. Though he trained diligently day in and day out, he had nothing to truly work for. Li Wei and Li Wuhan were still only fourth star student rank, and he had promised not to leave until they had achieved the fifth star rank. This could take anywhere from three months to a year if they were slow enough. Even with all of the cultivation resources he had given the siblings, no amount of the resources could ever replace good hard work. Since it would take them some time to discover this on their own, at least he could bash in some heads while he waited.