Huo Long's Training
As Xue Bai clocked out for the day, a few courtyards away in Huo Ming's office, both he and Huo Chen stood across from each other with some spiritual wine poured out.
Spiritual wine was a simple yet beautifully done concept. Instead of using basic mortal fruits and using them to create wine, cultivators would use natural treasures in replacement.
This way, not only would the alcoholic effect be enhanced, but also the taste. In fact, some spiritual wines were like Spiritual Stones and could help facilitate a breakthrough in a cultivator.
And as adults, hundreds of years old, Huo Chen and Huo Ming naturally loved spiritual wine. They didn't drink it for the Spiritual Qi effects but rather just for the taste.
"Cousin Chen, why did the Young Duke come here to Frontier City?" Huo Ming asked after he took a sip of the wine in his cup.
Huo Chen didn't answer instantly and instead downed his whole cup first.
"I don't know, either. I had just left the training grounds when a maid called me over to the Duchess. After that, she asked me if I could bring the Young Duke along with me. And though she asked me, how dare I say no?" Huo Chen spoke as he savored the taste of the wine.
Every time he returned home to the clan, Huo Chen would always bring along a fine piece of wine. And this time, he had outdone himself and brought a spiritual wine that was made from mostly high Yellow-grade natural treasures.
Not only was the taste heavenly, but he even felt his Spiritual Qi advancing a little. Of course, this wasn't enough for him to advance to the 7th stage of the Law Manifestation realm, but it was still something.
Even a mosquito had meat.
However, as Huo Chen went to pour himself another cup, he remembered something.
"I remember that the Duchess did say that this trip was for the Young Duke to gain experience. The Young Duke should almost be old enough to attend some gatherings of nobility. So maybe this trip with me is to train him?" Huo Chen speculated.
Huo Ming was going to pour himself another cup, but after Huo Chen spoke his thoughts, he paused and started to think about what his cousin said.
But after he found the words to be reasonable, he stopped thinking about it and changed the topic.
"Then who were those men with the Young Duke? I couldn't even sense their cultivation bases." Huo Ming asked curiously.
Huo Ming had a cultivation base that was in the early stages of the Law Engraving realm, so he was unable to see through the cultivation bases of the Wang twins. This made him curious about the identities of the twins, and since Huo Chen was stronger than them, Huo Ming assumed he would know who they were.
"Those are his bodyguards. And it's normal for you not to be able to sense their cultivation bases. Most members of the dukedom have an artifact that conceals it. But even if they weren't wearing them, they are at the peak of the Law Engraving realm, so it's good you didn't try and probe." Huo Chen answered.
"Hiss~~ Duke Xue gave his son such strong bodyguards?" Huo Ming was in awe.
His son's guards were merely in the Organ Tempering Realm. But the Young Duke had two guards, and not only that, but both of them were strong enough to level the entire city he lived in.
It was hard to believe.
Thankfully before Huo Ming's worldview was destroyed, Huo Chen continued.
"It's not as simple as that. The Young Duke's two bodyguards were up-and-coming prodigies in the Duke's army. And they are the two with the greatest chances of becoming a Domain Lord, so in order to prevent any assassinations, he gave them the job of being the Young Duke's bodyguards around five years ago." Huo Chen explained.
"Since they got their new promotion, they have only actually guarded the Young Duke a handful of times. This is one of them. The promotion was only to give the twins more resources without angering the other soldiers." Huo Chen calmly explained, relaxing Huo Ming.
Huo Ming nodded. While it wasn't what he would do in that situation, it still was an intelligent move from the Duke.
"Then what about the Young Duke? As the son of the Duke of Snow, has he shown any immense talents or broken records from birth?" Huo Ming asked
His son was already showing great talents. Huo Ming couldn't help but wonder what Xue Bai had already done.
"I truly don't know." Huo Chen, however, didn't have any gossip for his cousin and just shrugged his shoulders.
"The Young Duke was a big hermit in his early days and didn't leave the Core Region more than a handful of times until last year. It was only until this last year that he started to leave the estate. But it's only to visit Marquis Li in Snowy Wing City." Huo Chen continued.
Huo Ming's anticipated voice dimmed at this. But as it did, Huo Chen suddenly remembered some gossip he had heard recently.
"But one thing I have heard is from some maids that he has recently started to learn archery from the Mistress." Huo Chen said as he stroked his chin in thought.
Huo Chen used to have a beard in his early days, and he had also gotten into the habit of stroking it whenever he thought. But now, without it, Huo Chen could only stroke his bare chin.
'I should grow it back out.'
"He isn't learning swordsmanship from the Duke?" Huo Ming was somewhat shocked.
The Duke of Snow had earned his title through bloodshed. And throughout the entire way, he held a sword in his hand and persevered forward.
There were even hundreds of poems and stories about his feats told by bards throughout the Great Xuan Empire. So it was only natural that Huo Ming assumed the Young Duke would carry his father's mantle.
Huo Chen scratched his head at this question. He was also as confused as his cousin when he first heard this, but what could he reply with? While he was a commander, he didn't know about his Lord's family situation.
So he could only awkwardly respond, "Maybe the Duchess is scared of the Young Duke hurting himself with the sword. She does dote on him quite a lot."
Little did he know just how right he was.
The two cousins' discussion continued late into the night and into the morning. But, since the two were in the late realms of the Houtian Great Realm, they were able to go a few weeks without sleeping perfectly fine.
So once they realized that the day had changed, they used their Spiritual Qi to push the alcohol out of their bodies. And immediately, they felt refreshed.
Seeing the sun start to rise, Huo Chen gave his numb body a good stretch.
Sitting for so long made his muscles sore.
"Where does Xiao Long live? If he wants to join the dukedom, he has to learn that training starts at sunrise." Huo Chen spoke after he felt his body return to its full power.
"He lives in a courtyard not far from here. Just follow me. I'll show you." Huo Ming answered.
He didn't have any qualms with Huo Chen walking his son up this early in the day. If anything, he agreed with the man.
As the two were planning to put the young Huo Long through a hellish training regiment, Xue Bai woke up peacefully.
"I don't like this world's norms about waking up. I miss being able to wake up at noon and waste the day away. Now I have to wake up at the crack of sunrise." Xue Bai sighed as he wiped his eyes.
After some stretches, he learned from his mother Xue Bai called over a maid and asked her to bring a bucket of water and some mints to freshen up with.
But while he was freshening up, though, he heard a gut-wrenching cry of pain from a few courtyards down. And even though it was far, Xue Bai could still manage to hear its pain.
Curious, he halted his morning routine and decided to follow the noise. But once he did reach the source of the screams, he witnessed an odd site.
Huo Long was fighting for his life against Commander Huo while his father was in the back on a reclining chair, cheering them on with a jug of wine in hand.
As soon as Xue Bai entered the courtyard, all three people inside turned around to see the new guest. The three had different reactions, but of the tree, Huo Long had the biggest.
"Young Duke, save me! Your commander is trying to kill me." Huo Chen cried.
Then by taking Huo Chen's powerful spear thrust head-on, Huo Long used the backward momentum from the lost exchange to retreat away from the armored man.
Then without missing a step, Huo Long rolled backward toward Xue Bai. Soon Huo Long was hiding behind Xue Bai and using his tiny body as a shield.
Xue Bai, who had witnessed all of this, was genuinely impressed.
Though Huo Chen was far stronger than Huo Long, he had suppressed his cultivation base completely, going down to the strength of a mortal. However, while he did that, Huo Chen's body still had the strength of someone in the Law Manifestation realm, so he was still stronger than Huo Long.
And Huo Long knew this, so in order to escape, he used his opponent's strength as momentum to leave safely.
It was a brilliant move for someone so young and inexperienced in fighting.
While only ten years old and years away from his awakening, Huo Long's combat intelligence was terrifying.
However, he suppressed his shock and acted confused instead. After giving the scared Huo Long an odd gaze, he looked over at Huo Chen with a raised eyebrow.
"Commander Huo, while I don't like to interfere with family policies, attempting to murder your nephew at sunrise isn't something a righteous man like you should do." Xue Bai said.
"Young Duke, why would I try and kill my nephew? I'm training him. Xiao Long wanted to become a commander, didn't he? So I'm training him for it." Huo Chen replied respectfully.
Xue Bai wanted to continue talking, but Huo Chen had explained himself too well for him to continue. So after giving the shivering Huo Long a look of pity, he stepped away.
"Well, don't be so loud then. I was awoken by Huo Long screaming bloody murder first thing in the morning. Imagine the other Huo Clan members." After warning them, he pushed Huo Long back in front of Huo Chen and left the courtyard.
With his protection gone, Huo Long was quickly taken back into the spartan training regiment.
"No! Young Duke, come back!" However, Huo Long's cries weren't heard and soon turned back into screams of pain.
Xue Bai ignored the cries and went back to his courtyard. There he found the maid, who handed him the mints to freshen up, cleaning up his room.
"Excuse me, sister. Where could I get breakfast here?" Then, putting on his brightest smile. Xue Bai asked.
After being in this world for more than a year, Xue Bai learned that no woman could resist his smile. He was a playboy incarnate. Of course, he wouldn't use this to seduce random mortal women, but it was still helpful.
And sure enough, after seeing Xue Bai's face and his polite tone, the maid was heart-stricken.
Then with as much effort as possible, she guided him to the Clans cafeteria. At the same time, she made sure to converse with Xue Bai along the way.
The cafeteria that the maid guided him to was the one specifically for core members of the Huo Clan.
But since not many people were even allowed in there in the first place and it was early in the morning, the cafeteria was still empty.
"Young Duke, all you have to do is order one of the maids, and they'll help you. But, sadly, this is where we have to part ways. I have to clean your courtyard, Young Duke. But I'll assist you if you ever need help later today." And after giving Xue Bai a respectful bow, the maid left.
'How can I call you idiot? You didn't even leave a name, and I can't send spiritual messages yet, either.' Xue Bai thought.
But he didn't bother to mention it and just found a seat and called over a maid.
"Sister, can you just bring me a glass of fruit juice and some meat buns?" Xue Bai nicely asked as he tried his strategy again.
His strategy worked, and after brightening up, the servant nodded and went to retrieve Xue Bai's order.
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