A month passed in the blink of an eye. Xu Ziyan remained at the sixth level of Qi Refining, while Xu Zirong, to everyone’s astonishment, had reached the second level.
Seeing such a dramatic improvement, many Xu elders who had initially opposed Zirong’s admission changed their attitudes and became noticeably more courteous toward Xu Xiao.
With two such outstanding sons, Xu Xiao’s position as head of the Xu family was all the more secure.
Xu Xiao himself did not attach much importance to Zirong’s progress. In his view, however good Zirong’s comprehension might be, the limitations of his three spiritual roots meant that his cultivation would eventually proceed very slowly. The Xu family had no shortage of low-level cultivators. Only its strongest fighters could determine its standing.
Within the Xu family, Xu Xiao had placed all his hopes in Xu Ziyan. Xu Zirong was merely an illegitimate son whom he had only just begun to acknowledge.
Xu Zirong gradually settled into the Xu family, while Xu Ziyan cultivated diligently and worked on building his own following.
Admittedly, that following currently consisted of exactly one person: Luo Dashan.
After undergoing the test, Luo Dashan had been fortunate enough to discover that he possessed three spiritual roots. His aptitude was nothing special, but for a man who had never even dreamed of becoming a cultivator, it was cause for tremendous joy.
Because Luo Dashan was not a Xu clan member, his cultivation resources came from Xu Ziyan’s personal allotment. Xu Ziyan did not expect extraordinary results from him overnight. After all, he himself was only twelve. There was plenty of time to train a loyal follower.
Everything proceeded along its expected course. Xu Ziyan steadily improved his cultivation, and Xu Zirong collected a considerable amount of demonic-beast blood essence during their practical training sessions.
In his previous life, when he first began cultivating the Blood Sea Heart Scripture, he had been forced to limit his advancement for fear that his violent impulses would backfire on him. But with a lifetime of experience behind him now, he could absorb and refine demonic-beast blood essence with far fewer restrictions.
Outwardly, Xu Zirong was only at the second level of Qi Refining. In truth, he had already reached the fifth, just one level behind Xu Ziyan.
Late at night, Xu Zirong sat quietly beside his bed. A bright-red droplet of blood spun over his outstretched palm.
It was blood essence from a sixth-level demonic beast he and Xu Ziyan had hunted the day before. Refining it would allow him to advance to the sixth level of Qi Refining.
He slowly closed his eyes. The red droplet separated into fine strands that entered the channels in his hand and flowed into his body. When those strands met his own blood, his blood voraciously devoured and broke them down, extracting every trace of energy and sending it into his dantian.
A faint cracking sound came from within him. Under the force of his breakthrough, his dantian expanded to twice its former size. Spiritual energy poured toward him and formed a miniature whirlpool around his body.
The room’s spiritual energy was rapidly exhausted. Xu Zirong turned his wrist and produced a low-grade spirit stone. He had already set up a Spirit-Isolation Formation in the room; while it was active, no fluctuations of spiritual energy inside could escape outside.
The stone was quickly drained of energy and crumbled to dust. Xu Zirong opened his eyes, a brief red glimmer flashing across them.
Sixth level of Qi Refining!
He lowered his head, clenched and unclenched his fists, and savored the wonderful sensation of growing stronger.
He stood and stretched, his body crackling. Every increase in cultivation tempered the body, but cultivators of the Blood Sea Heart Scripture could also compress spiritual power into their blood.
At his current level, Xu Zirong might not win a head-on fight against a Foundation Establishment cultivator. But with the special properties of the Blood Sea Heart Scripture, a surprise attack was already enough to kill someone at the early Foundation Establishment stage.
Calculating how long the breakthrough had taken, Xu Zirong’s expression shifted. He had expected one shichen to be enough to reach the sixth level. Instead, the beast’s blood had contained unusually pure energy, and he had not only advanced but accumulated a considerable surplus.
Ordinarily, that would have been excellent news. Unfortunately, the process had taken far longer than planned.
He took another spirit stone from his storage bag, looking rather pained. Thanks to Xu Ziyan, he lacked no cultivation stones, but secretly setting any aside without Xu Ziyan noticing was another matter.
He had gone to enormous lengths to hide these two stones. He had not expected to use them both for a single breakthrough.
He drew spiritual energy from the second stone to fill the room, then deactivated the Spirit-Isolation Formation and opened the doors and windows until the energy inside and outside reached equilibrium.
Under his original plan, he would have gradually opened the formation and let outside spiritual energy flow in slowly. Now, pressed for time, he had no choice but to use the spirit stone to make up the difference.
Not long after he opened the door, Xu Ziyan arrived carrying their late-night meal.
Since both brothers cultivated so diligently, an extra meal at night had become routine. Xu Ziyan could have asked the servants to prepare it, but for some reason Xu Zirong showed little enthusiasm for anything they cooked.
The kitchen still provided their ordinary three meals a day. It was not that its food was bad; Xu Ziyan, accustomed to modern eating habits, simply preferred cooking for himself.
As a twelve-year-old in the middle of a growth spurt, he used up a great deal of energy in training each day. He also practiced extra after returning from the training hall, so feeling hungry at night was hardly surprising.
Thus, the Xu family’s young master developed an odd habit: preparing himself an extra meal every evening.
Xu Xiao had been surprised when he first heard, but soon dismissed it. He had seen how diligently Xu Ziyan trained. Although he was not particularly keen on his son cooking for himself, a small hobby was acceptable so long as it did not interfere with cultivation.
Since even the family head raised no objections, no one else dared comment. Some servants were pleased to have less work, while the kitchen staff remained on edge, worried that their cooking had offended the young master.
Xu Ziyan had no idea how distressed the cooks were. Even if he had known, there was little he could do. He simply wanted to indulge his appetite. Other people’s overthinking was beyond his control.
Xu Ziyan also had another reason for making Zirong a late-night meal: Zirong happily ate absolutely anything he cooked.
For someone who loved cooking, a diner who was not picky and could polish off three enormous bowls at a sitting was a kindred spirit. Watching Zirong enjoy the food he made was pure delight!
“I’m full.” Xu Zirong set down his bowl and chopsticks and wiped his mouth. Xu Ziyan’s food might not be especially refined, but it tasted of home. For someone who had never known that feeling, it was deeply comforting.
Perhaps even he did not realize it was the warmth of a family that he loved. He instinctively sought that warmth from Xu Ziyan.
From his warm embrace, from the meals he prepared, from the care and consideration he showed at every turn…
Xu Zirong was now like a greedy beast longing for the warmth that radiated from Xu Ziyan. For the moment, merely basking in it was enough. But once he realized that the warmth might one day leave him, devouring and possessing its source would become the only way he could imagine keeping it!
“Zirong, don’t push yourself too hard. Diligent cultivation is good, but you need a balance between effort and rest, understand?” Xu Ziyan said with concern.
Xu Zirong nodded. He felt no embarrassment about pretending to be a sweet, obedient eight-year-old. On the contrary, he thoroughly enjoyed being cherished. If he did not have to see the Xu disciples who had bullied him in his previous life every day, he might even have thought that living peacefully with Xu Ziyan forever would be rather pleasant.
Unfortunately, the Blood Demon Lord still firmly believed that only sufficient power would allow him to fulfill every desire.
The original Xu Ziyan was dead, his body taken over by someone else, but Lin Xiaotian, Mo Ziyuan and Bai Hua were still alive. How could the Blood Demon Lord settle for a quiet life before seeing those three wretches meet miserable ends?
After their evening meal, Xu Zirong tactfully informed Xu Ziyan that his fondness for the color pink had passed.
Xu Ziyan had previously worried that Zirong’s fondness for pink might make him too effeminate. Hearing this, he finally relaxed.
He patted Zirong on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll have someone change the color of your room. What color do you like?”
Xu Zirong smiled. “Whatever color Big Brother’s room is.”
“Really?” Xu Ziyan’s eyes brightened. “You like me so much you even want your room decorated like mine? Why not just come live with Big Brother?”
Xu Zirong was immediately tempted. He loved the feeling Xu Ziyan gave him. Living even closer to him might be pleasant.
But…
After thinking it over, Xu Zirong decided against it. His cultivation of the Blood Sea Heart Scripture was now progressing smoothly. Living separately was manageable, but sharing a room with Xu Ziyan might accidentally expose his secret.
Seeing Zirong so conflicted, Xu Ziyan burst out laughing. When Xu Ziyu was little, their family had not been well off and the two brothers had shared a room. Later, when they moved into a bigger house and Ziyu learned he would finally have a bedroom of his own, he had flown away happily like a little bird. Zirong, in contrast, was genuinely considering sharing with him.
Xu Ziyan himself did not mind sharing a bed with his little brother, though Zirong might not enjoy sleeping so close to another person. In just a month, he had already noticed that his brother, despite being adorable and obedient, had a strong mind of his own and was not easily swayed.