In the morning, Zhenya would spend an hour cultivating. The routine had become as natural as breathing—circulate it through his meridians, let his flesh absorb it, repeat. Simple but effective. After finishing that, he got out of bed, stretching his whole body.
"A good night's sleep always does wonders," he muttered as he entered the living room where Yi Yun was waiting with breakfast on the table.
Bowing politely, Yi Yun looked at him. "Good morning, Zhenya," she said, scratching her cheek and trying to dodge eye contact.
Zhenya greeted her back. "Good morning, are you ready to start the training today?" he inquired, also dodging eye contact. He sat down and started eating the food Yi Yun had prepared, eating with relish.
"Wow, this is delicious. Well, compared to what I made before, this is a hundred times better. Great job," he said while stuffing his face and giving her a thumbs up.
Yi Yun giggled a little while she was also eating her breakfast. "Mind your manners, Zhenya. You're still the heir, so don't let other people look down on you for your manners." but even though she said that she liked this side of him, it made him easily approachable and likable.
"Well, it's only us two here; if others were present, I would mind my manners," he stated, still stuffing his face. "Also, don't worry about what happened yesterday; let's just forget about it. Things like that happen," he finished.
Trying to be mature, he wanted to just forget about it ever happening, and he hoped Yi Yun would share the same sentiment.
She nodded shyly, turning red again when he mentioned yesterday's incident. She also wanted to forget it ever happened, and she was looking forward to today's training session because as a servant she never got any resources to cultivate, but now she would finally be able to cultivate.
Slapping her cheeks lightly, trying to snap out of her daze, she would not miss this opportunity. She had to enter the azure cloud sect to get stronger herself but also fulfill her duties as a personal servant.
When they both finished eating, they got ready, and then it was time. They went toward the main estate where yesterday they had the conversation with Jia Hui to collect the resources allocated to them.
When they arrived where they had to be, they entered the room and saw other children standing in a line, so they quietly got in line, patiently awaiting their turn.
As soon as they arrived, however, the other children waiting in line started whispering to each other, their hushed voices barely audible but clearly focused on the newcomers.
"Is that the one that entered the ancestral tomb?" a young boy said softly to Xinyi, who stood all the way at the front of the row.
Jia Xinyi then turned around immediately to glare at Zhenya, who paid it no heed. "Yes, that's him. You can recognize him from the glowing crescent on his forehead," exclaimed Xinyi loud enough so everyone could hear him.
The other youth that was talking with him quickly took a step back, not wanting the ire of Zhenya Xinyi; he could handle it because his grandfather was the supreme elder, but he was just an ordinary main family member. The elders had also warned all the main family children to watch out for Zhenya.
Because the patriarch will be very cautious and overprotective, finally, after eons of decline, someone awakened the bloodline, so the patriarch was betting on him to make the Jia family rise again. But of course not everyone was happy with that, especially the supreme elder, as his grandson was the best candidate to become patriarch before this nobody awakened the bloodline.
And the patriarch knew that, so he had probably prepared protective measures for Zhenya and his servant. So the elders and supreme elder were also being cautious with their plans to let someone from the main family become the next patriarch.
Waiting for a while, it was finally Zhenya's turn to collect his resources; the attendant standing at the counter looked at Zhenya and bowed slightly. "The patriarch told me that I could expect you here with your and your servants resources, young master," stated the attendant.
"5 pure qi stones, 500 qi stones, 2 bone strengthening pills, 5 qi gathering pills, and 5 essence restorative pills. For both of you," he said while handing them both a sack.
"I'll explain everything for you two because the patriarch asked me to do so. Pure qi and qi stones can be used as currency, and to cultivate one pure qi stone is equivalent to a thousand qi stones. As for the pills, the essence restoration pills are of the mortal grade, and the other two are of the earth grade. They're all normal quality pills." while saying that, the attendant leaned in closer.
"Also do watch out for the other children, because the elders did not take kindly to your arrival and you being appointed as heir. It's also not just the elders but even the supreme elder. You remember that boy that said those things about you. That's his grandson, so be especially cautious around him," he whispered to Zhenya, still smiling.
Zhenya nodded, and after collecting both sacks with resources, they left the main estate, and they went back to their residence. On the way to their residence, he kept his guard up, looking around cautiously as he advanced toward the residence.
Only after arriving and closing the door did he relax. "You heard it as well, right, Yun?" he asked.
"Yes, young master," she said, smiling teasingly. "I will also be careful when going out with the main family children." Saying that she sprinted toward the garden where their training space was.
Zhenya just stared blankly ahead. "Is she that excited to start cultivating?" he mused to himself, but when he remembered when he started cultivating in the tomb, he smiled. "I guess I was the same back then."
Standing up, he also made his way toward the garden to start training to enter the Azure Cloud Sect.