7 Chapter 7 - Fateful Entree

Chapter 7 - Fateful Entree

Xi stared at the man in front of him in shock, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. He asked, "Sorry, could you please repeat that?"

The man didn't repeat himself but instead dropped to the floor and performed three kowtows to Xi. In a loud voice, he proclaimed, "Zhang Wei pays respects to the master."

Xi felt a mix of shock and fear towards Zhang Wei. He couldn't fathom how he had become this man's master when he didn't even know him. Thoughts raced through Xi's mind, "I don't even know you when the hell did I become your master"."

Looking around, Xi noticed that no one objected to this situation. In fact, he wished someone would save him from this seemingly mad man. Zhang Wei looked at Xi with a matter-of-fact tone and said, "Master, there are more monsters in the area than usual. Let's move together."

Xi, feeling irritated and frustrated, thought to himself, "Is he assuming that I will just accept this? What the hell, I'm only 18 years old! Who becomes a master at 18? Can you even find a white hair on my body?!?"

Attempting to assert himself, Xi looked at Zhang and tried to speak in a kind tone, but his attempts were unsuccessful. He said, "Listen, I am not your master. Leave me alone."

Undeterred, Zhang continued to follow Xi as if he hadn't heard a word. This further annoyed Xi, and he nearly screamed, "Why are you following me?"

Zhang nodded as if lost in thought and replied, "I apologize, Master. I was trying to learn from you. I noticed that you walk with a leading right foot followed by a leading left foot. It's like you're taking one step twice. Very interesting."

Xi looked at Zhang, taken aback. He had indeed been walking like this since he became strong. If not he will get too excited and trip every time he walks. Even if he didn't want to be Zhang's master, he had to maintain some dignity for himself.

Clearing his throat, Xi spoke in a deep voice that sealed his fate, "Yes, I take twice the amount of steps to train my body better."

Although he didn't believe his own words, the caravan members and Zhang exclaimed in unison, "Genius!"

Feeling resigned, Xi asked, "So you will follow me no matter what?"

Zhang nodded naturally, and the rest of the men behind him followed suit. When Xi returned to his family, their expressions turned strange as they witnessed Xi being followed by a herd of people like sheep.

Shen nodded and guessed, "You offered to protect them while we were heading to Jade City, huh? Well done."

Xi was about to refute Shen's assumption, but Zhang interjected, "No, sir. We all just want to learn from Master. That's why we're following him."

Xi slapped his forehead in frustration. However, everyone else in the caravan nodded in agreement. Ming was the first to recover and asked, pointing at Xi, "You mean he is your master?" referring to Zhang.

Zhang nodded proudly, as if having Xi as his master was the greatest stroke of luck. Ling followed up with a question, "Then why are the rest of them following Xi?"

The leader of the caravan stepped forward and explained, "Yes, ma'am. We are a merchant caravan of the Wei family, heading towards Jade City to conduct trade at the tournament."

Shen finally understood and remarked, "So the ingrate has a student, and the rest of you are just following your young master. That makes sense."

Xi looked at his father, silently questioning what part of this made any sense. Zhang then asked, "Sir and madams, may I ask who you are to my master?"

Every time Zhang referred to him as "Master," Xi felt as though he were aging rapidly, sprouting age spots and white hairs all over his body. The pain seemed unbearable. Ming and Shen noticed this new weakness and exchanged amused glances. Ling shook her head, observing her family.

In a dejected tone, Xi replied, "They are my parents and grandmother. And please, just call me Xi. That's my name."

Zhang looked horrified and immediately dropped to his knees, followed by everyone else behind him. In a loud voice, they all proclaimed, "We have seen the Master's family."

Upon hearing this proclamation, Xi smacked his forehead even harder than before. Shen and Ming burst into laughter, while Ling looked at her son's forehead with concern.

The larger group resumed their journey, with Zhang watching Xi's every move as if he were witnessing an amazing performance. Xi became increasingly self-conscious about his walking style. He contemplated escaping, but when he looked back at his family, seeing them find great amusement in his predicament, he knew he was trapped.

Nightfall arrived as they continued along the path. Fortunately, the responsibility of watch duty rotated among the caravan's members, they did not even ask for help from their esteemed master. They even emptied a special wagon for the Long family's personal use. Xi wanted to offer payment for the service, but Zhang declared, "We owe our lives to master. This is nothing."

There were many instances when Xi's self-proclaimed student left him speechless, and this was one of them. He indeed saved their lives and he was taught by his father to always repay his debts, he couldn't refuse Zhang in this matter. Zhang offered some food from his spatial ring to the Longs, but they politely declined. Xi chimed in, saying, "I don't know about imperial chiefs, but I love my mother's and grandmother's cooking the best." With that, he secured himself a second helping. Zhang nodded but remained by their side.

Shen then asked, "Hey, now that we're eating, who the hell are you?"

The rest of the family also looked at Zhang, awaiting his response. Zhang cleared his throat and replied, "My name is Zhang Wei. I am the only child of the Wei family's current patriarch, Wei Xiang. I am 20 years old and have cultivated my physical body to Golden Body stage 3."

Xi and his family were very impressed. Shen couldn't help but say, "Aren't you a fierce one?"

Ming also understood and said, "An Elite Body is very rare, you're lucky, kid. You also started training at a young age."

Zhang smiled bashfully and said, "No need to exaggerate, ma'am. The master looks younger than me, and sometimes I can't even keep up with his walking pace."

Xi felt cold sweat running down his back. During the day, Zhang had been watching Xi walk so closely that it made him nervous, causing him to trip multiple times. Thankfully, he was able to catch himself each time.

Zhang then asked, "At what age did the master start training his physical body?"

Xi replied while sipping his tea, "At the age of 10."

Zhang was shocked and looked at everyone else for confirmation. The rest of the family nodded. Zhang exclaimed, "But you can't start training that early. Most of the muscles and bones are not fully formed yet, and there's too much risk of becoming a cripple."

Xi choked on his tea and thought, "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me that?" He looked at his family, and they suddenly started counting stars as if trying to avoid the topic. But the person he was most angry with he asked, "Oh great and powerful divine root grandma, why didn't you tell your only grandson that he might become a cripple?"

Ming Zhi felt embarrassed in front of her family and pressed forth, "Sorry, Xi. I wasn't part of any sect, so I never received formal education. I just traveled the world trying to get stronger. I had no idea how body refiners cultivate. I only know about different talents, like everyone else."

Xi felt a headache coming on and said, "Fine, but can you tell me about the levels of talent in body refinement?"

Zhang, eager to please Xi, quickly said, "The levels are Novice Body..."

Xi interrupted, "Dammit, you idiot! Don't tell me anything about Novice Body. What's next?"

Zhang stood up like a soldier seeing his general and began again, "Intermediate Body, Advanced Body, and then Elite Body."

Xi sighed, realizing that this moron had the best known-talent. Xi thought, If he had worked as hard as him, he might have become a god already. Xi then asked the question he had been wanting to ask all day, "Why do you want to be my student so badly? Your family is rich, and you have the best known talent."

Zhang reminded Xi, "But among all the people I have ever seen, the master is still the strongest. Who cares about talent when I could be killed by two forest serpents? To be honest with you, the only reason I was able to hold out against one of them is because my body is good against poisons for some reason. I wish to become powerful, not for any great reason like protecting the world, but to protect my father. Even in a great clan like ours, he is the only family I really have. I am the successor with the highest talent; otherwise, I would have been killed by others of the same generation long ago. But I need to become stronger faster; otherwise, I would die before being able to aid my father at all."

Ming nodded, recalling her own experience. She was once in a group and had the best talent, but she was not the strongest. This eventually led to her losing her spiritual root. Talent is important, but the ability to utilize it is even more crucial.

Xi summarized, "So you want to be strong, and you think I can teach you how to do it."

Zhang confirmed resolutely, "Yes, only the truly strong know how to get there."

Xi finally agreed to have Zhang as his student in his heart. Xi didn't know what changed his mind about being a master. Perhaps the fact that Zhang wanted to protect his father resonated with him. However, he made his terms known, "I won't be able to teach you anything, but if you want to be my student, then regardless, you have to do whatever I say from now on. Do you understand?"

Zhang, who thought Xi would just ignore him, was elated and jubilantly nodded his head like a child who had been given the sweetest candy in the world.

Xi then explained, "So if you were to ask me what I did to become this strong, all I can say is that I eat, sleep, and shit. Besides that, I really don't know how to help you. But if you want, you can just watch me like you did today."

Zhang, seemingly mystified, took a notepad out of thin air and began hurriedly writing, as if the words would disappear if he didn't write fast enough.

Xi, no longer concerned with him, stood up and walked to the wagon where he and his family would sleep that night.

And like this, four days went by.

Xi, who was watching the full moon, felt odd. The cold wind did little to chill him, yet he still felt uncomfortable. When he closed his eyes to focus on his sense of smell and sound, he was able to hear all the sounds of the campfire, but a strange sound was getting closer and closer to them. It was coming from the North.

Xi suddenly asked, "Father, what is north of us?"

Shen thought for a moment and said, "Nothing really. I think the good old Great Lake is the next interesting spot northwards. Why do you ask?" The smile on Shen's face during the second half of the sentence disappeared, replaced by a frown. Both men were farmers, and they loved the land and lived off it. That's why any abnormalities that could affect the land made Shen slightly uncomfortable.

Xi looked at the moon in the north direction and said, "I think a storm might be coming."

The large group of travelers started moving faster and longer, and they were able to reach Jade City the next day instead of two days.

The caravan leader, whom Xi learned was named Liang Feng, complained, "My back is killing me from all that. Young Master, we will set up shop close to the tournament venue that we rented. You all should go to the inn and rest up."

The Wei family was much grander than Xi could have imagined. They had a luxurious hotel in the middle of Jade City, which was also very close to the coliseum.

The sounds from the north still bothered Xi, and to clear his mind, he decided to go and roam the streets alone. Zhang wanted to follow him, but Xi said he wanted him to settle his family. Believing this to be his master entrusting him with an important task, Zhang had no way to say no.

The streets of Jade City were beautiful, and the name of the city suited it well. Everything in the city had a soft green jade color. The buildings, the lighting, and even the roads produced a soothing green hue. It was not only an astonishingly stunning sight but also a very calming one. Xi felt his mood improve with every step he took.

As he walked amidst the busy streets, he entered a street dedicated to food carts and restaurants. Various types of food could be seen here, and many people were enjoying the street food being presented.

While walking past the different food stalls, Xi came across a tantalizing smell. He found himself in front of a stall that was making his favorite dumplings. The savory aroma of fragrant meat and the incredible allure of the various herbs and spices used made him realize that he was famished.

Xi checked his robes and realized he did not have a single silver coin on him. However, the enticing aroma of the dumplings prevented him from leaving. He approached the man who was making the divine ambrosia and asked, "How much for a plate of dumplings?"

The man smiled kindly and replied, "Just a silver for one plate of six dumplings."

Though tempted, Xi didn't want to affect the man's business, so he hesitated to ask for a sample. Just then, he noticed a fair hand extending a silver coin towards him.

Turning to look, Xi saw a beautiful girl with azure eyes smiling at him. She said, "This time, I can help you."