Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Faint footsteps could be heard on the quiet and narrow lane.
Rong Jiexuan opened his eyes and asked, “Have you seen him out?”
“Yes, Elder Jiexuan.” Rong Yiyao walked over to the elder and said, “I’ve already sent him out of the Hall of Spiritualists. The two martial arts practitioners from the Ability Testing Hall who sent him here were still waiting outside the door.”
Rong Jiexuan laughed quietly and said, “Those fellows from the Ability Testing Hall have some foresight and know that they have to build a good rapport with this boy.”
Rong Yiyao hesitated for a while before saying, “Elder Jiexuan, I have a question, but I’m not sure if I should ask it.”
“Ha-ha, you want to ask me about why I’m delaying Kaixuan’s training even though I already know that he has a rare gift, right?”
Rong Yiyao’s face turned a little red as he replied, “I know that you must have your own special reasons for doing that.”
“You don’t have to bother buttering up to me.” Rong Jiexuan laughed quietly and said, “Make a guess, tell me why you think I would do such a thing.”
Rong Yiyao thought about his answer for a moment before saying, “Elder Jiexuan, given his gift, any Spiritualist Mentor would fight to take him in as their disciple.”
Rong Jiexuan scoffed coldly and replied, “A Spiritualist Mentor within the clan? Do you think they’re worthy to do so? If I allowed any of them to take this boy in as their disciple, that would be like feeding pearls to pigs.” After a short pause, he finally explained to Rong Yiyao, “I’ve done this because I just want to see what sort of person this boy is.” There was a glint in his eyes as he started mumbling quietly as if he was talking to himself. “If this child can remain humble despite being showered with such great respect and honor and can remain loyal to the clan, then I will recommend him to my master when he reaches Peak Stage Spiritualist Mentor.”
“Ah…” Rong Yiyao looked up with a start. There was great envy in his eyes.
“Even though I had the great honor of following my master, my gift is too poor. I’ve been stuck at the Spiritualist Gifted Fighter phase for so long without being able to breakthrough. I’m so embarrassed to even call myself a disciple of my master.” Rong Jiexuan shook his head and said, “But Kaixuan is different. As long as he is of sufficiently good character, I’m sure he will flourish under the training of my master.”
Rong Yiyao took great efforts to suppress the strange feeling in his heart. He said, “Elder Jiexuan, if Kaixuan can become a disciple of your master, then that would be Kaixuan’s good fortune.”
Rong Jiexuan laughed mischievously and said, “I’m going to test his character. It’s fine that you know about this, but don’t tell anyone else.”
Rong Yiyao nodded and asked, “But Elder Jiexuan, what happens if his character doesn’t pass your test?”
Rong Jiexuan chewed on this thought for a while. He sighed and said, “If his character doesn’t pass, then I’ll find a senior Spiritualist Grandmaster to take him in. I’m sure someone will take Kaixuan in given his gift.”
He laughed for a long time. He took a new teapot out from the bamboo house, turned around, and left. Rong Yiyao continued standing where he was for a long time before he finally let out a sigh.
He was extremely envious of Kaixuan, but he knew very well that this was not something that he could attain.
****
Outside the Hall of Spiritualists, Rong Kaixuan stood in front of his two elders. He awkwardly scratched his head as he said, “Grandpa Ming, Uncle De, the elder has said that I can report to the Hall of Spiritualists after helping around the house for a while.”
Rong Jieming’s eyes lit up. He asked, “So, did you get to meet an elder after all? Which elder was it?”
“Elder Jiexuan.”
Rong Jieming and Rong Yide exchanged glances. There was surprise in their eyes.
There were several elders within the clan, but Elder Jiexuan was certainly the most famous among them.
“Kaixuan, you’re really lucky,” Rong Jieming said with a sigh. “You actually got a chance to meet Elder Jiexuan.”
Rong Yide asked, “What happened after you met the elder?”
Rong Kaixuan looked at them awkwardly and replied, “Elder Jiexuan instructed me not to tell anybody else.” He looked cautiously at the two in front of him and said, “You won’t be angry, right?”
Rong Jieming and Rong Yide’s expressions changed. At the same time, they said, “Since it’s an instruction from Elder Jiexuan, then we won’t dare disobey it.” They even specially instructed Rong Kaixuan to never mention this matter to anybody else.
They were both incredibly curious. Since Elder Jiexuan had given instructions, even if they were twice as bold, they didn’t dare dream of trying to find out.
Even if Rong Kaixuan broke the rules and attempted to tell them about it, they would find all sorts of reasons not to hear about it.
“We’ve been out for a long time now, so let’s go back.” Rong Jieming laughed merrily and quickly changed the topic. “Since Kaixuan has become a disciple at the Hall of Spiritualists, we should throw a banquet and celebrate.”
“Indeed, indeed,” Rong Yide replied. “Kaixuan, Uncle Ming and I have already booked a private room in our family’s best restaurant in the city. Tonight, you and your father have to come.”
There were no more than 30 spiritualists in the entire Rong Clan.
If Rong Kaixuan could get into the Hall of Spiritualists, then his position and status in the family would rise tremendously.
If they didn’t quickly take this chance to get close to the boy and butter him up, it would be impossible to do it in the future.
Rong Kaixuan blinked and said, “If my father goes, I will go.”
Rong Jieming and Rong Yide were both stunned. They both cursed themselves for being idiots.
No matter how gifted Rong Kaixuan was, he was still an ignorant young man. At this age, the people who had the most impact and influence on him were his parents.
They had just left Rong Yiyang behind at the Ability Testing Hall instead of taking the chance to build rapport with him. They had been so stupid.
They immediately took Rong Kaixuan back to the Ability Testing Hall. Of course, Rong Yiyang had not left. He had been anxiously waiting with the other disciples inside the Ability Testing Hall for them to return.
Rong Jieming and Rong Yide both had faces full of smiles as they invited both father and son to the dinner. Even though Rong Yiyang could see that his son could become someone important very soon, he didn’t know what to do when he saw how these two men suddenly seemed so polite and friendly toward them. However, he quickly agreed to go to their dinner.
He looked up at the sky and said, “Uncle Ming, Yide, it’s getting late, so I’ll take Kaixuan to the marketplace to get some clothes. I’ll see both of you tonight to show my appreciation.”
Rong Jieming and Rong Yide looked at the father and son. Rong Jieming laughed and pulled a coin from his pocket. He carefully placed it in Rong Yiyang’s hand and said, “Yiyang, I don’t have much on myself, but you can have this Spirit Coin. You can exchange it at the marketplace for some money and other things.”
Rong Yiyang’s expression changed a little as he quickly replied, “Uncle Ming, this is a Spirit Coin. How could I take it?”
Rong Jieming’s expression darkened as he asked, “Now that you’re successful, don’t you even want a present from me?”
Rong Yiyang quickly shook his head and smiled bitterly as he said, “In that case, I’m very grateful for Uncle Ming’s generosity.”
Rong Jieming’s anger turned to happiness while Rong Yide sighed to himself. This wily old fox had been quite generous. Rong Yide didn’t have anything as precious as a Spirit Coin to give away, so he had to find another time to make it up to the father and son.
Rong Yide coughed a little and said, “Yiyang, you can take Kaixuan shopping at the marketplace. Uncle Ming and I will go and make sure everything’s ready at the restaurant.”
This was a big thing for Rong Yiyang and his son. For these two martial arts practitioners, who wanted to get close to Rong Kaixuan, this was something that they could not overlook.
If they were unable to forge a friendly relationship with Rong Kaixuan now, it would take ten times the energy and effort to do so in the future. It would become difficult to reach the level of closeness they wanted.
Rong Kaixuan walked out of the Ability Testing Hall with his father. He followed closely behind his father. He clearly saw that his father’s footsteps were lighter. Even though his father didn’t turn back, Rong Kaixuan was sure that his father had a huge smile on his face.
After they had gone a long way out of the Ability Testing Hall, Rong Yiyang finally stopped and turned around. He patted his son’s shoulders hard and excitedly said, “Great, Kaixuan, you’ve done such a wonderful job.”
When Rong Kaixuan saw how brightly his father was smiling, he felt warmth in his heart. It was as if he had just eaten honey.
All the pain of learning and practicing boxing for the past ten-plus years instantly vanished. For the sake of being able to see a sincerely joyful smile on his father’s face, Rong Kaixuan would have no hesitation to do anything, even if he had to sacrifice even more.
Rong Yiyang held his son’s shoulders. He suddenly let out a long sigh. “I never thought that you might have the gift of a spiritualist. If I had known back then, I would have sent you to test for that gifting at the Ability Testing Hall earlier, even if I had to go bankrupt.”
He was a direct descendant of the Rong family, but he had been sent to that rural farm when he was 15.
Even though he drew a monthly salary and didn’t have to worry about making ends meet, it wasn’t easy to accumulate enough wealth to be able to pay for a test at the Ability Testing Hall.
Now, he started to regret that. His hesitation to do that held his child back for many years.
What he didn’t know was that it was a fortunate thing that he hadn’t done so. If he had sent Rong Kaixuan to the Ability Testing Hall a few years earlier, he would have been sent right back to the rural farm without achieving anything.
He carefully put the Spirit Coin from Rong Jieming away. It was a very valuable item, so he couldn’t bear to use it.
After that, Rong Yiyang took his son to the noisy marketplace.
Several large and small marketplaces were located within the Rong house. They were all noisy and lively.
After walking for a long time in the crowd, Rong Yiyang finally found a tailor shop. He used normal silver coins to buy two new sets of clothes.
Even though these two sets of clothes weren’t cheap, Rong Yiyang wasn’t bothered by it. He knew that as long as his son could fly high in the future, he would get back what he spent now thousandfold.
After buying the clothes, Rong Yiyang noticed that his son’s gaze kept wandering around the marketplace. There was so much curiosity in that gaze. He looked like a newborn animal that had opened its eyes for the first time. He looked at the world both warily and curiously.
Rong Yiyang sighed quietly and said, “Kaixuan, let’s take a walk around here. It’s a marketplace for everyone. If you see anything you like, I’ll buy it for you.”
Rong Kaixuan’s eyes lit up. He was a bold and youthful young man, so everything he saw in this lively and crowded marketplace was new to him.
He nodded profusely and started dragging his father all over the marketplace to look at things.
This father and son duo kept walking and walking. It was as if they were going to walk through the entire marketplace.
This was the first time Rong Kaixuan had come to such a lively place, so he was very excited. He had already walked around for more than two hours, but he was still not tired.
When they walked past one of the stalls, Rong Kaixuan suddenly stopped. He turned his head. His gaze landed on one of the things in the stall.
“Kaixuan, are you interested in something from here?” Rong Yiyang asked in a low voice.
Rong Kaixuan nodded and replied, “Father, I’d like to buy something.”
“Sure, I’ll buy anything you want.” Rong Yiyang agreed without hesitating. It was as if he wanted to make up for the past ten or so years.
Rong Kaixuan smiled and nodded. He walked over to that stall and pointed to a black book that was only about an inch thick. He asked, “How much are you selling that for?”
A man in his 40s was the owner of the stall. He looked at Rong Kaixuan and replied, “That’s going for one Spirit Coin.”
“What? One Spirit Coin?” Rong Yiyang was shocked. He loudly and angrily asked, “Do you think we’re easy to cheat?” He pulled at his son and said, “Let’s go.”