After the crowd dispersed, Yao XinYue darted forward, latching onto RenJie with both hands.
"You can cultivate!" she exclaimed, eyes shining with delight as she shook his shoulders so hard his teeth nearly clattered. "Grandmother allowed it, you're coming with us to the Xia Clan!"
RenJie staggered under her assault, more bewildered than anything. Cultivate? Me?
Yao Zixian, noticing the dazed look in his eyes, quickly caught XinYue by the arm before she rattled him apart.
"Ling gege, what's happening?" RenJie steadied himself, confusion still written across his face.
Zixian gave a patient explanation: every few years, the Xia Clan extended an invitation to their vessel clans for a three-month exchange. The selected disciples from the vessel clans would study within the Xia Clan, trade martial knowledge, and forge connections with the disciples of the main clan.
Naturally, as direct descendants, Yao Zixian, Yao Bin, and Yao XinYue would attend. But rules were strict. Personal Servants and attendants were barred. If they needed anything, the servants from the Xia Clan would assist. Under such restrictions, RenJie, whose status was only that of a servant boy, would never have been allowed to accompany them.
But things are different if he could cultivate.
When RenJie shielded XinYue earlier, he had unconsciously stirred spiritual energy. The entire pavilion had felt the faint ripple of power. RenJie himself noticed nothing as he was solely focused on shielding the incoming blow.
It was an immature use of spiritual energy, but it would have done its job and maybe a little more. Should Yao Bin land the attack on Renjie, the one being flung away might not necessarily be RenJie.
For a commoner, such a revelation was nothing short of miraculous. Cultivation was a path most could only dream of, a key to resources, strength, and standing. With talent, one might even rise to the level of master, commanding respect across the cultivation world.
Yao Zixian was genuinely happy for RenJie, yet a faint unease gnawed at his heart. Meridians capable of channeling spiritual energy are often inherited. If RenJie could cultivate, then his father was almost certainly a cultivator as well. Yet RenJie himself knew nothing of the man, only that his mother, a maid, had raised him alone.
Yao Zixian's brows furrowed. Surely Grandmother Yao had not overlooked this point. Yao Zixian wasn't sure why Grandmother Yao allowed RenJie to be kept. If his father one day appeared with goodwill, the Yao Clan would benefit and gain an unexpected ally. But if his father's intentions were hostile, depending on who the Yao Clan is facing, they might not be able to protect RenJie. In the worst case, they might not even be able to protect themselves, and the elders could very well cast RenJie aside to avoid inviting calamity.
RenJie himself harbored no such tangled worries. To him, this discovery was nothing but a blessing from the heavens. It meant he could stay by the side of the Yao family, with Zixian and XinYue, and one day repay their kindness for saving him from the streets.
Though he should have joined the other disciples, Zixian insisted he remain in their small courtyard, saying that RenJie is shy around strangers and needs to adjust. The excuse was flimsy, yet none dared challenge a direct descendant. Even Grandmother Yao turned a blind eye, for she held a favorable impression of the boy who had shielded XinYue.
Three months remained before their departure to the Xia Clan. Zixian did not worry for XinYue; though playful, she had trailed after his training for years and was no beginner. RenJie, however, was another matter.
But RenJie had never trained properly; his muscles were never developed for martial arts. Yao Zixian calculated that by the time they depart for the training, RenJie would be unlikely to be ready to take part in the actual combat training. There should be no issues with the lectures, but combat training requires actual usage of spiritual energy. He may have fluked it once against Yao Bin, but to consciously use spiritual energy and control it takes years of practice.
Yet RenJie proved Yao Zixian wrong.
RenJie was no pampered child. His childhood had been honed through hardship, helping his mother out in the restaurant, then scrapping with urchins and even grown men for food and shelter after her passing. That raw agility and survival instinct resurfaced under training. He threw himself into the clan's training drills without complaint and even added extra training on his own.
He even followed Zixian into the backwoods for extra practice. When Yao XinYue caught them once, she demanded that she be allowed to join. Yao Zixian could only sigh at the two and agree.
In the evenings, RenJie devoured Zixian's books with alarming speed. Still fumbling with literacy, he nevertheless tore through volume after volume, ten a night by Zixian's count. At that speed, was he truly reading or simply burning the words into memory with sheer will?
Yao Zixian didn't know what had gotten into the boy. Most who awakened their ability to cultivate would revel, holding banquets, celebrating their new life of cultivation. RenJie, on the other hand, was doing intensive training as if he was preparing for war. By the time their departure neared, he had progressed to the level of one who had trained diligently for years.
Yao Zixian had once asked RenJie, "Why the rush?"
RenJie had replied without hesitation, "so that I can catch up to you."
That earned him a sharp rap on the head. But the words lingered. If the boy truly managed to close the gap within three short months, then either RenJie was a monster or Zixian himself had been complacent. Although Yao Zixian doesn't make it a habit to brag, his current cultivation is not low. It's even considered above average for his age, and RenJie was younger still. To think he could catch up in so little time was unthinkable.
He has his pride after all.