Begrudgingly trudging back to his home, Xue Chang carried his beaten and battered body back slowly.
While his physical body was mostly healed, his soul injuries were still there. Luckily they weren't serious enough to the extent of being fatal.
Yong Heng rubbed his chin calmly within purgatory. Glancing at the soul form of Xue Chang currently meditating beside him, he sighed to himself while waving his arm over in his general direction.
A burst of energy erupted from his body and entered into Xue Chang's soul, causing the cracks and gashes surrounding his spiritual body to slowly shut close.
"I can't believe I had to use some of my hard won pseudo nascent soul energy just to heal this fool. But it's better than just letting him waste time trying to recuperate himself."
Yong Heng waited patiently as the spiritual body continued to meditate.
After a couple of minutes, it finally slowly opened its eyes and turned to face Yong Heng.
"Thanks for the help"
Yong Heng replied with a disgruntled groan, "Don't expect me to help all the time. And if you really want to thank me then work harder so that you can unlock the seals."
Xue Chang nodded as his mind reentered into his physical body.
With a faint smile on his lips, he couldn't help but look down at his palms slightly.
Although it took longer than expected, he finally succeeded in avenging all of those who died.
Fixing the robes on his body, he made his way into the villa.
As he opened up the gates, he was met with a surprising sight.
Xue Ai was twirling around the yard, several wooden practice weapons in hand, having a one versus one duel with Tian Hai.
Since Tian Hai didn't use any of his spiritual, the two of them were shocking even in skill. But it was clear that in pure martial arts, Xue Ai actually held a slight advantage.
This was evident by the fact that Tian Hai was using a sword, his specialty, while Xue Ai kept interchanging from weapon to weapon of varying types.
With more practice, she could reach the point of origin where her skills were equal no matter what weapon she used.
Whether it was sword, saber, spear, or fist; the point of origin signified that she was an expert in all of then.
That was quite a frightening concept.
The point of origin was not a rare milestone among the martial arts community, but to see it achieved by a seven year old child was something astounding.
Especially considering what it symbolized.
Point of origin was a huge criteria one must obtain before achieving a new level of martial mastery.
For martial warriors, point of origin was not something they needed to worry about. It was better for them to slowly learn the basics, master their current weapon, and form their own style.
But that changed in the later stages. A martial master like Xue Chang needed mastery over at least three weapons. Xue Chang himself was at the point of origin for four weapons. And for Xue Ai, although she was improving her mastery over five weapons, she had yet to truly reach the point of origin for them yet.
But if she did reach that point for those five weapons, she'd just need to improve her martial prowess and experience before breaking through to the martial master level.
And if she was able to further increase her origin from five to seven, she'd meet half of the criteria for a martial lord!
Tian Kai, who was sitting a short distance away, shook his head somberly.
Even for people with tough mentality like him and Tian Hai, comparing themselves to a little girl with that much talent was really killing their confidence.
"That's what we get to comparing normal civilians like us to the Xue Family."
Tian Hai laughed out loud as he gave Xue Chang a small wink.
Shaking his head in response, Xue Chang couldn't help but laugh as well, "Even among the family, my siblings are far more special than anyone can imagine."
"Don't sell yourself short Xue Chang, you're the biggest monster out of all of them." The two friends continued to converse casually as Tian Hai and Xue Ai completed their sparring session.
Tian Hai collapsed next to his brother and friend completely out of breath with sweat flowing profusely from his forehead.
But in the other hand, Xue Ai was still in an excited state, jumping around wildly, especially now that she saw her big brother was back.
"Da Ge!" Dropping the practice weapons onto the ground, she rushed over and jumped into his arms.
Xue Chang quickly stood up and caught her in his embrace as he spun her around, chuckling the entire time.
"You've improved a lot."
"Mhmm, uncle and father have been both been giving me advice on my practice."
Although Xue Chang chose to keep his strength a secret, Wu Jie and him both realized it was better to tell Zhou Wei about Xue Ai's talent.
While they were both gifted in their own way, among the three of them Zhou Wei was the best person to advise Xue Ai.
Not only was he her biological father, but he too was a martial master. And one who had achieved a six weapon point of origin.
He was the closest person within the city to a martial lord, and that was why Xue Chang risked revealing his secret when asking him about martial arts advice.
After all, who else was could call themselves a specialist in this field while he was around?
"Speaking of father, Da Ge, will you be coming to my party?"
"Hmm?" Xue Chang's ears perked up at Xue Ai's words.
Thinking about it, Xue Chang realized that it was almost that time.
"The date for your eighth year celebration has been decided?"
The little girl nodded her head adorably.
Most people, especially in prominent families like theirs, usually had a celebration for a child's eighth birthday months before the actual date. This was because the day they became eight would be the first attempt at testing their talents in cultivation.
And such an event was usually held in private, else accidents could occur due to trouble makers.
Although Xue Chang knew he was usually not allowed at the house during large celebrations such as Xue Ai's birthdays, he couldn't say no to his little sister who looked at him with such pleasing eyes.
Calculating a couple of things within his mind, Xue Chang gritted his teeth as he muttered out, "Of course I'll be attending. When will it be."
It was as if lightbulbs replaced Xue Ai's eyes as they gleamed with excitement. Quickly giving her brother another hug she began to leave the villa and return back to the mansion as it was getting late.
But before she disappeared off into the distance, her voice rang out in the air, "It will be held a little under one month from now!"