Back to the real world with his senses restored, Raz spread what qi he had left outwards around him to see if anyone was watching him but found no one.
Then he examined his new dantian and compared it to the one he had been given as Xin.
During his time as Xin, his dantian was always in balance with a light and dark side like yin and yang.
Yet as his qi entered his body and examined his new dantian, it was completely different. It was plain looking with no real theatrics or flair besides the very hard-to-see word of Immotus seemingly etched in, but it had a rather imposing aura.
Before finally heading to sleep, Raz decided to fill his dantian with qi and do a small cultivation session yet as he searched his environment for qi. He noticed something was slightly off.
The qi in the environment was slightly more abundant. However, the difference was practically minuscule and almost undetectable, but after cultivating in various places in this world for over five years. Raz could just tell.
After finishing his cultivation session, Raz quickly went to sleep, and soon only his breathing remained in the room.
As the sun rose up, servants started to bustle around the compound to attend to their duties, though almost none approached where Raz was staying as it was within the Patriarch's area.
Still soundly sleeping, the door creaked slightly open, which did wake Raz, but when he momentarily squinted his eyes to see who it was.
All he saw was his parents, who held hands as they fawned and smiled, looking at their son, who appeared to be peacefully sleeping.
Seeing the smiles on their faces, Raz didn't mind continuing to pretend to sleep as it made them happy.
A few minutes later, he suddenly felt the blanket lift as Fay grabbed Raz with a gentle and mighty hug as she whispered, "Come on, my darling. It's going to be noon in a few hours, and breakfast is already prepared."
Stretching his body like a cat that had just woken up and giving a small yawn, Raz nodded and responded, "Are we going into the city after breakfast?"
"Yes, assuming nothing happens," William replied as he also stretched his arms out before Fay gave him a small love tap.
"Don't say that. Now you've jinxed us. Something surely will happen now," Fay sighed as she carried Raz slowly out the door, who didn't complain as a mother's warmth and embrace were new but enjoyable for him.
William clicked his tongue while also walking outside down the hallway and replied, "You are overthinking it, sweetie. There's no way something will happen."
As Raz heard the conversation play out, he thought, 'After living for centuries, I'm not liking all these red flags that my stupid dad is raising.'
Soon the family reached the giant open courtyard that Raymond's complex had, which included a fish pond, garden, and more.
A long, well-maintained dining table was in the center of such beautiful scenery. Raymond sat at the head of the table with some sort of drink in his teacup, which he sipped while looking at The Howlis Post like Viscount Malfe.
Sensing the trio approaching, Raymond looked up and put down his beverage and newspaper while putting his arms out in a hugging motion as he expressed, "Oh, my precious little grandson, come give your Grandpa a hug.
Fay gently lowered Raz until his feet could touch the ground, and he went to give his Grandfather a hug, who also patted his grandson on the head.
"Enjoy yourself! There's plenty of good food to go around," Raymond heartily exclaimed.
The family reunited as they all sat down and ate. Even Ed came a few minutes afterward, caked full of sweat, seemingly from an early morning workout, as he also greeted Raymond before eating.
Full of conversation and cheerful laughter as they ate. The family were all smiling and enjoying the morning.
As breakfast slowly came to an end, two pairs of footsteps echoed throughout the complex as two people approached.
Raymond and William immediately noticed as they glanced over and scrunched their brows in annoyance and slight anger.
Soon an older man with a scraggly, messy white mustache and monocle that seemed to be around Raymond's age walked forward with a similar-looking man feature-wise but much younger and timid looking.
"Elder Jude, what brings you all the way to my villa so early in the morning? I don't believe we had anything scheduled," Raymond asked.
Smiling, the old man named Jude stroked his beard lightly as he took out some ledger while replying, "I was supposed to bring the expense reports to you, Patriarch. Usually, I'd have a servant give this to your assistant, Rachel, but it's been so long since I've been here and seen you in person, so I thought I'd make the trip."
Taking the ledger from Jude's hand, Raymond continued to look at the old man, who was technically his cousin, with skepticism as he raised an eyebrow and remarked, "If that's all you may leave."
Elder Jude nodded, and just as he was about to turn around, he looked at William and Fay with slight disgust that appeared for only a split second before looking towards Raz as he said, "Is this the child I've heard about? The one that made Patriarch take a visit to Levir himself?"
Raz squinted his eyes as this old man was quite sly. He showed enough disdain for those around the table to pick it up but didn't show enough for them to really do anything about it.
"Get to the point, Jude," Raymond rolled his eyes.
"Well, if you say so, I just realized that while the boy here is a little young. I wanted to wonder if he was interested in sparring with my two grandsons. After all, wasn't William excellent at physical combat? I wonder if the genes carried over," Jude pondered out loud.
Although what Jude said sounded weird, Raz read into the lines and could see the disguised insult embedded in the compliment.
During his years of studying, William did not neglect to teach Raz things about the Alden clan, including some of his relatives.
From what he remembered, Elder Jude was the cousin of Raymond, who lost the battle for succession decades ago.
He had an arranged marriage and had one son named Al, who was presumably the timid-looking man next to Jude.
Al also had an arranged marriage and had two sons.
The older one was named Alistair, who even his Father said was quite talented compared to the mediocre talents of the Iron Wolf Kingdom but nowhere near the potential Raz had.
Allegedly his magic circuits started developing when he was six and a half, which was considered very talented.
Meanwhile, the younger one was named Camden, with nothing notable enough that William mentioned except that he had a rather up stuck, arrogant personality.
As Raz recalled this information, he thought, 'It seems like he's trying to imply that just because Dad married Mom, who doesn't come from a successful family or a Magus family, I would be inferior to his grandchildren.'
"Isn't Alistair ten? Even Camden is seven. Raz is still approaching his sixth birthday," William replied with his brows furrowed as he no doubt picked up on the backhanded compliment.
Jude didn't relent as he responded, "While that's true, your boy there is already the same size as Camden! In fact, he might be a bit bigger if I were to be totally honest."
Smiling with a grin that went from ear to ear, Jude continued, "Plus, it's just a spar with some wooden weapons. What's the harm?"
As William appeared to want to protest again, Raz looked the old man in the eyes as he smirked, "I wouldn't mind a little exercise after breakfast. What's better than starting off your day with a few wins?"
A vein silently bulged from the old man's bald head as he retorted, "A confident little bugger aren't you? If you accept, come to the training ground in half an hour."
As the Elder left, Al walked forwards with an apologetic look on his face and bowed while trying to apologize, "I'm sorry for everything, William. It's ju-"
"I understand, Al. You were always a well-behaved person. You aren't at fault for the grudge your Father bears," William interjected as his expression softened.
Sighing as his body slumped slightly with relief, Al nodded and went to join his father.
As the people at the table saw the duo completely disappear, Raymond groaned with annoyance, "How come that old man is such an ass, but his son is an actual good person? I'll never understand what went wrong with that old man's childhood."
Sitting up straight and looking toward William and Raz, Raymond continued, "Are you sure Raz will be ready? I do not doubt his abilities as I know how talented he is, but Alistair and Camden have been training in physical combat for quite a while now."
"Actually, Ed and I have taught Raz something here and there, which he picks up well, but honestly, we haven't done too much…" William warned.
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I'm no slouch when it comes to combat," Raz smirked as he reflected on his life as a cultivator.
On the other hand, Fay sighed as she lamented, "He'll never accept us, will he."
William hugged his wife and replied, "We don't need his acceptance or recognition. Our love and family are enough for me."
Meanwhile, Ed and Raymond couldn't bear all the love in the air and either went back to eating or reading.
After half an hour, the group left Raymond's villa complex and headed towards a large field and building near the entrance that had a large sign with the words, Training Ground, carved into it.
Already waiting, there was both Jude and Al. Meanwhile, two children whose faces Raz had never seen before stood next to them, who he would soon face in a practice spar.
Little did the two boys know they were about to face a man who had undergone centuries of training.