A young boy with long white hair sat in a courtyard, with a straight back and violet eyes that seemed too sharp for a lad his age. This was Chen Haoran, the fourth young master of the Chen Clan.
Across him sat a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties, with silky brown hair and blue eyes. A warm gentle aura surrounded her, making her approachable. This was Xie Meilin, his mother. Though she looked youthful, she carried the grace of a mother.
Chen Haoran's focus wasn't on his mother. It was on four big bowls of steaming hot meat in front of him.
Four bowls of spirit beast meat, laced with spirit herbs, lay in front of him. He was devouring chunks of spirit beast meat with an appetite that would put a grown man to shame. Yet somehow, it still looked elegant.
Xie Meilin sipped her tea and watched this unfold with a smile. She has seen this happen three times a day for the past twelve years, yet it never fails to amaze her.
Any other direct descendant of the Chen Clan can only eat one bowl of spirit beast meat every three days. That is the limit, any more than that and their bodies wouldn't be able to absorb the essence in the meat.
But her son, since he was three years old, had been eating three bowls a day. Over the years, that number kept increasing. Now at twelve years, he eats twelve big bowls each day. Pride filled her heart, her son is able to eat so much spirit meat without repercussions, which showed how much of a genius he is.
When Chen Haoran finally finished eating his food, he wiped his mouth with perfect manners and looked up at his mother.
"Little Lion." She said with a serious tone. "You just celebrated your twelfth birthday a few days ago. You are now finally old enough to start cultivating. After breakfast, I will be taking you to the clan treasury. You may choose any of the three top essence techniques of the Chen Clan. If none catches your eyes, i will allow you to pick one of the Xie Clan's top technique instead."
Her tone softened. "I know you've read every cultivation book in the library ever since you could read, so I am not going to bore you with a long talk about basics of cultivation. So tell me, what are the seven mortal spirit realms?"
Chen Haoran sighed softly in his mind. He knew far more about cultivation than the books in this little Chen Clan. But because he knew his uniqueness and vast knowledge about cultivation would make others suspect him in the future, he forced himself to read all the books about cultivation in the Chen and Xie Clan libraries. That way, if he ever revealed knowledge he shouldn't know, he can always say "I read it in the library."
Relaxing in his chair, he answered leisurely. "Origin Spirit realm, Essence Spirit realm, Profound Spirit realm, True Spirit realm, Earth Spirit realm, Heaven Spirit realm and Sovereign spirit realm.
Xie Meilin's lips curled into a satisfied smile. "That's correct. Every one starts cultivating at twelve years. My hope for you, my little lion, is for you to join the primal heaven sect. To be accepted into the primal heaven sect as an outer court disciple, you must reach the true Spirit realm by the age of fifteen. To be accepted as an inner court disciple, you must reach Earth Spirit realm by the age of 16. To be accepted as a core disciple, you must reach Heaven spirit realm by the age of 17, but that's not easy. Only the greatest geniuses can accomplish that."
She sighed with regret and longing. "I was full of hope when I was age and wanted to join the primal heaven sect in the future. Unfortunately, I entered the Profound Spirit realm at 17, True spirit realm at 27 and I am currently in the earth spirit realm at 40 because of my subpar talent. But I believe in you. No pressure though. For now let's go get you a proper technique."
Chen Haoran merely smiled and nodded. Heaven Spirit realm at seventeen? He could've entered the saint realm at the age of five if he reincarnated into the primordial ascension world like he planned. Unfortunately, things didn't go as he wanted.
Breaking into the Earth spirit realm before fifteen is still achievable as long as he had enough essence stones or treasures to absorb. But that wouldn't be easy.
'For the sake of fulfilling mother's dream, I guess I will just have to make it possible then.' He thought.
In truth, when he was reborn into this world, he didn't see Xie Meilin as his actual mother. Yet, over the years, he had grown fond of her. Because she had always been by his side ever since he was born and showered him with constant love and affection. In his past life, he had been an orphan, his parent died in a war when he was only three years old. Alongside his two siblings, he clawed his way from the filth of mortality to the pinnacle of immortality. Together, they founded the Chen Clan.
His greatest wish in his past life was to resurrect his dead parent. Though immortals were capable of resurrecting dead mortals, his parent were cultivators. Unless he was able to transcend immortality and become Celestial, he would never be able to resurrect their true souls.
So in his current life, he had grown addicted to the motherly love Xie Meilin showered him with.
And so with a smile tugging at his lips, Chen Haoran followed his mother toward the Chen Clan treasury.