Returning Home

The following week at the Huo Clan was peaceful for Xue Bai. He would wake up at his usual hour, eat a delicious breakfast, and then watch the Huo Clan members suffer through their grueling training.

Huo Chen's threat was effective, and the next day every clan member gathered at the practice grounds, ready to train.

The first day was rather chaotic since they all had very different cultivation levels, with some still under 11 without Martial Veins and some being elders in the Qi Sea stage with half a foot in the grave.

And with only the Wang Twins to assist him, Huo Chen spent the first day making groups to help him organize a training plan. These groups were made based on cultivation levels.

On the second day with groups made, Huo Chen led the groups in the early stages of cultivation and taught them how to cultivate more efficiently and essential fighting tips.

While Little Wang and Big Wang led the groups of elders. Teaching them higher-level tips. Like how to use their Spiritual Qi more efficiently and Spiritual Qi knowledge that a family without a foundation like theirs wouldn't know.

On the third day, Xue Bai planned a little competition to see who the strongest cultivator in each realm was.

Surprisingly, the winner of the Blood Exchange Realm tournament was the leader of the three bullies that Xue Bai had face-slapped earlier in the week.

And the winner of the Vein Transformation Realm was a face that Xue Bai actually recognized from the game. It was the childhood friend of Huo Long, Huo Siyan.

She was a love interest in the game for a while in Huo Long's story. However, she only had a Middle Yellow Grade Martial Vein and was destined to be left behind as Huo Long would get stronger.

But currently, the two were like two peas in a pod and were constantly near each other and unconsciously flirting. Even Xue Bai was getting jealous looking at them.

But seeing the two interact gave Xue Bai an idea. However, without a solid plan, he put it to the back of his mind.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth days were all intense training based on their weakness. So if someone had a glaring reaction speed problem, that was all they worked on for those three days, and so on.

Until it brings us to the seventh day, where every Huo Clan member stood in front of Xue Bai and his entourage as they were preparing to leave. Alongside Xue Bai's group, he had brought Huo Siyan and the bully leader, who was named Huo Yao.

Of all the Huo Clan members, Huo Yao was the most gifted in combat. Though he was only in the 7th stage of the Blood Exchange Realm, he had beaten multiple people in the 8th and 9th stages.

While Huo Siyan had also won her competition as she was at the peak of the Vein Transformation, it had been done using her stage advantage and not through combat.

Huo Siyan and Huo Long were on his Bear Griffen with Huo Chen. While Huo Yao sat with the Wang Twins.

Since while Xue Bai tried to befriend the clan, he didn't make any friends that weren't on the mounts already, so he sat quietly on the Bear Griffen during the send-off. But Huo Chen stood on his mount and looked coldly at the crowd.

historical

"I am leaving. However, I am still in contact with your patriarch and will know of any slackers. Thanks to the Young Duke, my visits will now be every six months instead of yearly, so any practice skippers will be dealt with when I return in half a year." Huo Chen threatened.

After some more threats, Huo Chen commanded the older Wang Twin, "Alright, Wang Shu, you can start to fly. We are leaving."

After seeing the twins fly off, Huo Chen then also ordered his mount to start flying away. Soon after, the two Bear Griffens lifted off the ground and started to fly back to the Dukedom.

"Commander, I said that you can return every three months. So why are you lying to them." Xue Bai asked from the side.

"Because I want to see the true slackers. If I say three months, then people will train all three months, but if I lie and say six months, some of these lazy bastards will definitely ignore my warnings. And these are the ones I want to catch." Huo Chen explained.

Xue Bai nodded approvingly. That was a really smart move by the commander.

After flying for a few minutes, Xue Bai closed his eyes. There was a whole day of flying in front of him. And Xue Bai did not plan to stay awake during it all, so he ignored the curious gazes of the two sweethearts and went to sleep.

Huo Siyan was only fourteen and still had her curious nature, so she had wanted to ask a ton of questions, but after seeing Xue Bai fall asleep, she was sad but didn't dare to try and wake him up. So after sitting in silence for a minute, she soon chose to follow suit.

On the other hand, Huo Long had just started to speak to Huo Chen about the spear once again. The two seemed to never run out of topics to talk about.

On the other mount, Huo Yao was feeling super awkward. He was sat in between Big and Little Wang and was at a loss on how to communicate with them. After flying and giving orders to their mount, the two immediately went into a cultivation state, ignoring everything around them.

Huo Yao had tried to talk to them before they started, but they just ignored him and started cultivating. So now, hundreds of meters in the air with his only protection being a Spiritual Qi shield, he was feeling in danger.

But thankfully, the trip was peaceful as they soon reached the Dukedom without encountering any troubles.

When they reached the Duke's estate, a group of soldiers and two commanders were outside to welcome them. Li Rou was also there, standing at the front of the group with a broad smile on her face.

Seeing his mother, a smile appeared on Xue Bai's face. Ever since he came to this world, his mother has been helping him. While he wasn't sure if his previous life was true or just some random memories that he somehow obtained, his mother still treated him as her own son.

"Commander, land the Bear Griffen. I don't want to keep mother waiting for us."

Huo Chen nodded and then told his mount to go ahead and land just outside the estate. After landing on the ground, Huo Chen then helped the three kids off the four-meter-tall Bear Griffen.

Xue Bai then walked up to his mother, to where she then questioned him, "Who are the extra people you brought along with you."

"Even though the Huo Clan is our subordinate, we don't interact with them and have given them the cold shoulder these past few years. So to fix that, I have decided to bring some talented youngsters over to the Dukedom for extra training." Xue Bai explained.

Li Rou was slightly shocked at this. Yes, what he said was true, but it was for a reason. The Huo Clan was declining more and more, so even though Huo Chen was a part of it, Li Rou and Xue Feng didn't care much about the clan.

"You're getting smarter every day, Bai'er!" Li Rou pulled him into a hug and praised, "But that still doesn't explain who the three people are."

While he was trying to escape from his mother's grasp, Xue Bai continued, "The young boy is the Young Master of the Huo Clan, Huo Long. Commander Huo looked highly on his potential, so I decided to bring him to the Dukedom for extra training."

Hearing that name, Li Rou's eyes flashed for a moment. 'This was the person Bai'er wrote about in his journal.' However, she kept her thoughts to herself and let her son continue.

"The other two are talents that I selected to come to the Dukedom. The girl is Huo Siyan, and the boy is Huo Yao. I had made a little tournament, and they won the competitions for their realms, so as a reward, I brought them here."

Hearing her son's explanation, Li Rou then looked at the two with a curious gaze. She could tell at a glance that both of them only had Middle Yellow Grade Martial Veins. But her son went through so much trouble to bring them over here, so she wouldn't try and ruin it for him now.

"Commander Huo, you can take the boys to the soldier camp. Little girl, you can follow me. Though Bai'er brought you here, we can't have a delicate girl like you, training with those rough army men. You'll be with me until Commander Song returns from her hunting trip." Li Rou spoke.

Though Huo Siyan was shocked from hearing that, the rest of the people from Xue Bai's group nodded at Li Rou's command.

"Brother Long, but what's going to happen to me?" Still reeling from the idea of training with the Duchess, Huo Siyan asked Huo Long nervously.

"Sister Siyan, don't worry. The Duchess is almost, if not just, as strong as the Duke. You are going to be in great hands. Me and Huo Yao will be fine, just go and train with a calm mind." Huo Long patted her back and calmed her down.

Calming down from his words, Huo Siyan then gave Huo Long a quick hug where, after which they separated following Li Rou's instructions.