“Your inspiring words keep enlightening me!” Xu Yi expressed his gratitude towards Teacher Zhou. He now understood that an ocean of qi was the threshold for the soul. A forged body would physically enhance the defensive ability, but that was far from enough for Xu Yi. He was determined to surpass this first stage and step into the next realm – an ocean of qi, so that his soul would endure.

“I was paid to do so... Oh right, you better don’t forget that you owe me another kettle.. no, two kettles of wine!” The only thing Teacher Zhou cared about was the wine.

“Of course, you have my word. Please, go on!” Xu Yi urged his teacher.

“Alright, the last question – What role does the soul play in cultivating Wu Dao? Hmmm, honestly, I’m not able to provide you with an accurate answer. I’ve never heard of any special methods in forging souls. Probably, only those ultimate experts, who have already stepped into the realm of a grateful soul, can help you dispel these doubts.” Teacher Zhou continued.

“Ok, look at your greedy eyes, thirsty for knowledge, I’ll analyze this question from my own experiences. However, like I mentioned, I’m far from able to give you a definite answer and you should only use my answer as a point of reference. If you’re endowed with a powerful soul, then you’ll probably feel less fatigued in the process of cultivation. You know, all suffering, including fatigue, comes ultimately from our mind. If you have a powerful soul it’ll help you ease the body and the mind. Oh, plus, they also have a higher comprehension, making new knowledge easier understood. Compared with cultivators with weak souls, they can yield twice the results with half the efforts. Yet, this is only my personal opinion on this question. You’d better experience it by yourself, while you climb to the final stage – a grateful soul.” Teacher Zhou said in a relaxed tone.

This had corroborated with Xu Yi’s prediction, that he was blessed with a special soul. Suddenly, he saw a silver lining in his seemingly arduous revenge plan.

“Thank you! I’ll see you later.” Xu Yi turned around and walked away from the river, after he thanked Teacher Zhou once more.

“Hey, kid, don’t forget about the wine! Please send it to the Iron Cat Alley, Guanan....” Teacher Zhou shouted in a pitch voice several times louder than his normal speaking tone.

.....

Xu Yi hurried to the most famous restaurant in Hibiscus town and bought several boxes of take-out, before rushing back to the Mu Family.

Opening the uneven door, Xu Yi found Autumn was sitting in the yard.

A broken chair was used as a dinner table, and Autumn was merrily eating the steamed corn-bread and salted fish. These were actually only cold leftovers.

“Where have you been? You are supposed to stay at home. I count on you to cook dinner for me. Lazy uncle, look, I have left you half a fish.” Autumn pouted.

Since Elder Mu was always busy with his fishing business, these days, Xu Yi had taken the responsibility of taking care of Autumn. That was why he had bought the take-out food just now.

“You little naughty girl, you didn’t even wait for me for dinner. I’m so sad. Look, I have my own dinner, and I won’t share it with you.” Xu Yi jokingly told Autumn.

Xu Yi sat down on a nearby rock and respectively opened the hampers. He intentionally arrayed the dishes in a long line to grab Autumn’s attention.

Osmanthus stewed duck, special flavored sausage, chicken cooked with scallion oil, secret roasted suckling pig, fried carps with soy sauce..

The distinctive colors and fragrances made the dishes especially inviting. Under the subsiding sunlight, there even seemed to be some graceful luster glittering on the dishes.

Autumn was staring at the dishes, while drool was quickly dripping out of her mouth. Before she even realised it, she had already dropped the iron-bread she had been holding in her hands.

Looking at the drooling Autumn, Xu Yi lifted the chopsticks and picked some of the duck and put it into his mouth. He moved his jaws up and down, biting on the duck, making a distinctive chewing sound.

“Ah!” Autumn cried out and jumped on Xu Yi’s lap.

“It’s not fair, I hate you! Let me eat this delicious food!” Autumn acted like a spoiled child. She continued complaining and eventually grabbed the greasy chicken. Soon, she had wolfed down half of the chicken. At this moment she wished that she had two more stomachs, so that she could properly enjoy this dinner. Never in her lifetime had she eaten such delicate dishes, since all she knew was coarse buns, bread or some salted fish.

“Enough, or you will eat yourself to death!” Xu Yi eventually stopped Autumn.

Autumn was almost fish-bellied. She could hardly move herself and sank down on the chair. She patted on her belly, in the hope that the food in her stomach would quickly be digested.

Since Autumn had enjoyed the meal, Xu Yi devoured the rest of the dishes within several minutes. At his current stage, he took in nourishments to maintain his strength.

The carp, the suckling pig and the remains of the chicken were all eaten by Xu Yi, almost all at once. This beast-like apatite slightly petrified Autumn.

“Oh, no!” Autumn jumped off the chair, very much like the response of a cat whose tail got stepped on. She pointed at the empty dishes and looked at Xu Yi with an angry, yet adorable expression.

“Ah, I’ve finished it all. You little glutton. Aren’t you jealous of my big belly, haha..” Xu Yi roared with laughter. He felt a lot more spirited towards life, ever since he had met Autumn and Elder Mu. It astonished him, as he had started to enjoy laughter since arriving here, where before he would never laugh.

...

After dinner, Xu Yi went directly to the Department of the Guardsman, as he had an appointment there with General Gu.

Several minutes later, Xu Yi arrived at the department, where an arch-shaped gate was erected as entrance. He went through this stone gate and entered into a spacious yard. It looked similar to an arena for cultivation.

A group of strong and half-naked young men was practicing there. Actually, it seemed like they were doing body building exercises. They were standing on the iron-made fitness equipments, stretching their arms and legs until sweat was all over their bronze-colored body.

The sour smell of sweat was floating in the air. Honestly, it was a little bit disgusting. But the cultivators found a certain kind of joy in this, as it was the proof of their hard work.

“Who are you looking for? If you need to file a lawsuit, just beat that stupid drum at the doorway (an official ritual) and submit your written complaint. Do you understand?” One of the men asked Xu Yi rather unkindly.

However, when Xu Yi was about to reply, General Gu came out with a big smile on his face.

“I’ve been waiting for you all day long. Finally, you’re here!” General Gu was walking out from the main hall, while holding a pile of official documents in his left hand.

“I apologize for arriving at such a late hour. This, however, was due to my job back at the Mu Family.. You know, the nanny job.” Xu Yi replied with a rare sense of humor.

Looking around, Xu Yi began to visualize what it would be like to work at this place.