Fengying city's city lord Wang had one wife and five concubines. Wang Hui's mother was only the third concubine, and because of this, his status was naturally lower than the children born by the regular wife and the two higher-ranked concubines.
Thankfully, the city lord's favoured fifth concubine had not birthed any children yet; otherwise, Wang Hui's status would have fallen even further.
Wang Hui had always hated his low status, but it wasn't until he turned thirteen and had the chance to take the origin test that he had an opportunity to turnover.
As he thought of those days when he was suppressed everywhere by his other siblings, Wang Hui clenched his hands in anger.
He glared at the two boys who were quietly sitting at the corner of the restaurant, and a murderous intent crossed his eyes for a moment.
He had thought that no one could compare to him after he tested a grade four aptitude for the fire origin, so why had two monsters appeared in front of him?
Wang Hui hated them, and he reflexively wanted to walk over to pick a fight, but one of his bodyguards stopped him and whispered something in his ear.
He listened impatiently, but eventually, Wang Hui's ugly expression smoothened out and an amiable smile appeared on his face before he walked towards Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue.
'What a pain!' Yu Nianzhen thought as he watched Wang Hui approach.
He then glared at Jiang Yue and regretted that he had allowed the other to convince him to eat first rather than going to a store to buy talismans that could conceal their cultivation.
Jiang Yue shrugged helplessly when he saw Yu Nianzhen's glare, but regret was useless since they had already made the mistake.
"May I ask which family the two young masters belong?" Wang Hui asked as soon as he arrived in front of the two boys.
His bodyguard had reminded him that it was impossible for normal people to reach the seventh level of the meridian awakening realm at the age of thirteen.
It was likely that the two boys belonged to a prominent family in one of the bigger cities, and if that was the case, antagonising them could only bring trouble, but if he could make friends with them, there would be endless benefits in the future.
After testing a grade four aptitude, the city lord had not spared any efforts to nurture him and in the year that he had been cultivating, Wang Hui had used more resources than most cultivators used during the meridian awakening and origin forging realms combined.
Usually, a cultivator with a grade four aptitude for their origin would be able to unblock several heaven acupoints even without extra resources, but with good resources, it wasn't impossible to awaken nine low-grade heaven meridians during the meridian awakening realm.
The literal difference between an earth meridian and a low-grade heaven meridian was only one heaven acupoint but the actual difference wasn't just an additional force value of one hundred kilograms but a difference in potential.
The higher the grade of meridians awakened in the meridian awakening realm, the better the quality of origin formed when one broke through to the origin forging realm.
Origin was the basis of cultivation and its quality determined a cultivator's potential. It was because of this that the city lord wasn't stingy when acquiring cultivation resources for Wang Hui.
"Shouldn't one introduce themselves before asking for other people's names?" Jiang Yue asked as he looked at the arrogant boy who had appeared before them.
Wang Hui's face turned ugly for a moment, but he reminded himself that he was about to make connections to a prominent family and his unpleasant expression was quickly replaced by a smile.
"Of course." He said.
"I am Fengying city's young city lord; my name is Wang Hui." He said as he showed the identity jade that hang from his waist.
"I am surnamed Jiang and he is surnamed Yu, we are on a tempering journey with our master." Jiang Yue recited the story they had previously prepared.
After arriving in Fengying city, the two had realised that their cultivation was too eye-catching and if they didn't find a way to protect themselves, they would soon be in trouble.
It was not unusual for great families to capture young talents who didn't have a formidable background and force them to become part of those families.
Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen didn't want such an outcome, but for the time being, there was nothing else they could do but imply a powerful background.
They hoped that the threat of a 'master' that could nurture talents like them would be enough to force people to show some restraint when dealing with them
However, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen were well aware that this sort of bluff wasn't a lasting solution and they needed to find another way to protect themselves.
"Master?" Wang Hui asked as he looked at the two boys.
"Our master is a cultivator at the peak of the origin tempering realm." Jiang Yue informed and there was a collective gasp from the surrounding people.
The origin tempering realm was only the fourth stage of the cultivation path, but in a place like Fengying city, an origin tempering realm cultivator was an existence that could not be offended. Even city lord was only at the later stages of the qi transformation realm and wouldn't be able to resist if he offended an origin tempering realm cultivator.
"Turns out that the two's master is looking for an opportunity to break through to the core formation realm." Wang Hui surmised with a nod of his head but his body was almost shaking with excitement.
'If he could also follow such a master…' He thought as he looked at the two fervently.
Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen shivered in trepidation when they saw the other's fervent look, but in the end, they had to keep up with the charade. They just hoped that they could keep it up for the next few months and when the time came, they could quietly leave Fengying city without any problems.
Wang Hui lingered for a while and when he found out that the two had just arrived in Fengying city, he insisted on being a host. After eating, the group of three boys and several bodyguards left the hotel to walk around the city.
Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen were initially reluctant to get involved with Wang Hui but after walking around for a bit, their reluctance turned into appreciation.
Wang Hui was like a golden finger and every time they entered a store, the owner would bend over backwards to please them, which was very advantageous for the two boys who didn't have a lot of gold coins.
"What's that?" Yu Nianzhen asked as he pointed at something towards the centre of the city.
Wang Hui looked in the direction that Yu Nianzhen had pointed at and saw a stone wall that towered over most buildings in the city.
The wall was several kilometres from the group, but even then, they could still feel a faint aura that radiated from the structure, covering the entire city with a thin layer of fighting spirit.
"It is the border guard's arena." Wang Hui answered in a matter of fact tone, but he couldn't help but cast a suspicious look at the two boys.
Wang Hui had once accompanied his father to the county capital and he knew that all cities had a border guard arena. He found it very strange that the two boys had not immediately recognised the border guard arena.
However, Wang Hui suppressed his curiosity and continued to lead them to another store down the street.
"It's too late to visit the arena now, but we can go when you have time." He invited and the two boys immediately agreed.
Although Yu Nianzhen hadn't seen the border guard arena before, he had previously read about it and planned to visit when he could.
The arena wasn't just a Colosseum where people could watch fights, it was also a recruitment place for the border guards and more important, a gambling den where cultivators could fight for resources.
For casual cultivators like them, the border guard arena was an opportunity that couldn't be missed and Yu Nianzhen cast another look at the imposing structure before he followed Wang Hui to a miscellaneous goods store.
After several hours of walking around, the two boys returned to the Three Boars Inn while Wang Hui returned to his courtyard at the city lord's residence.
"Find out everything about them." Wang Hui instructed one of his bodyguards as soon as he entered his courtyard.
He didn't believe that the two boys had a higher aptitude than him, he believed that their master had better resources than the city lord's residence which had allowed the two boys to progress much faster than he had.
If that was the case, Wang Hui only needed to find their master and he trusted that the master would recognise his superior talent.
'There will be no need for surnamed Yu and surnamed Jiang after they introduce me to their master.' Wang Hui thought and a cold light glinted in his eyes.